Linda Warren - A Texas Child

To save a child

Regret. Assistant District Attorney Myra Delgado knows all about it. She’s spent seven years regretting a foolish betrayal of her ex, Levi Coyote. But now Myra needs Levi, a private investigator, and the stakes are bigger than their history—a baby has been kidnapped. And only Myra is brave enough—or crazy enough—to go after a Mexican drug lord and attempt a rescue.

Levi might not be able to forgive her, but he can’t let Myra face the danger alone. As they work to save an innocent child, he learns a shocking truth about their shared past. If they make it through this, he and Myra just might get a second chance at not only love, but family.

Her heels sank into the dirt again, and she reached down and yanked them off

“I’m not going to rehash the past with you again. It’s done. It’s over. I was young and stupid. I’m not sure what your excuse was other than being a total asshole with a high-and-mighty attitude. I’m human. I made a mistake. Get over it.”

She swung toward the door, heels in her hand, and just as quickly swung back. “Good luck with your marriage. I hope she never disappoints you, because you’re one unforgiving bastard.”

Levi drew a sharp breath and slung his hat across the barn. It landed softly on bales of alfalfa. The horse skittered away and he stroked it to calm her, but nothing was going to calm the churning in his gut. Myra made him madder than anyone. She knew how to push his buttons. Damn her!

Dear Reader,

A Texas Child is the third book in my Willow Creek, Texas series. In the first two books—A Texas Hero (July 2013) and A Texas Family (October 2013)—I shared how the ideas for the stories were born. A Texas Child was a little different, created by pure imagination and a little luck. Myra Delgado is a character from The Texan’s Bride (Mills & Boon Superromance, October 2011), and Levi Coyote is a character from Her Christmas Hero (Mills & Boon American Romance, December 2010). Both have very strong personalities and I knew one day I would write their story.

First, I had to have a way to bring them together. Second, I needed a plot. Myra is an assistant district attorney and Levi is a private investigator. They both work in law enforcement, so I started by giving them a past. Voilà! That worked. I still needed a plot. One day on the news was a story about a woman who’d married a man from Mexico and he’d taken their child and disappeared. She couldn’t get the law to help her, because the man was the boy’s father. My imagination wheel began to spin and I thought I could work that in as part of the plot.

Believe me, it wasn’t easy. My editor suffered through many emails and talks about how the story wasn’t working. At times, I wanted to admit defeat. Miraculously, I finished it. Now you’ll be the judge of whether it works or not. I have to say, though, that after all the frustrations and changes, I like this story. I hope you do, too.

Until the next book, with love and thanks,

Linda Warren

P.S.—You can email me at lw1508@aol.com, or send me a message on Facebook, www.facebook.com/lindawarrenauthor, or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/texauthor, or write me at P.O. Box 5182, Bryan, TX 77805, or visit my website at www.lindawarren.net. Your mail and thoughts are deeply appreciated.

A Texas Child

Linda Warren

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Two time RITA® Award-nominated and award-winning author Linda Warren loves her job, writing happily-ever-after books for Mills & Boon. Drawing upon her years of growing up on a farm/ranch in Texas, she writes about sexy heroes, feisty heroines and broken families with an emotional punch, all set against the backdrop of Texas. Her favorite pastime is sitting on her patio with her husband watching the wildlife, especially the injured ones, which are coming in pairs these days: two Canada geese with broken wings, two does with broken legs, and a bobcat ready to pounce on anything tasty. Learn more about Linda and her books at her website, www.lindawarren.net, or on Facebook, www.facebook.com/authorlindawarren.

To my dear editor, Kathleen. Thank you for patiently listening to me moan about this book for almost a year. And thank you for your continued support and faith in me and my stories. I’m honored and blessed to have you as my editor. You’re the best!

Acknowledgments

To the people on the internet who helped me sort through a lot of problems.

A big thanks to Tammy Medina for sharing her visits to Matamoras, Mexico.

And a special thanks to Crystal Siegert and Sarah Stanley for sharing all things baby.

All errors are strictly mine.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

AN OLD LOVE slept on her conscience, gnawed at her heart and tortured her soul. Betraying Levi Coyote had scarred Myra Delgado for life. She’d spent the past seven years regretting, blaming and cursing herself, but it hadn’t changed a thing.

As an assistant district attorney in Houston, Texas, she didn’t quite understand what she was doing in Willow Creek, Texas, following the GPS in her Lexus to Levi’s home. But then again, she did. Levi was the best private investigator in the state and she needed his help.

She’d called his office and left messages, but he never returned her calls. After all this time, she’d thought he might have mellowed enough to forgive her. Since she couldn’t forgive herself, it was understandable that he couldn’t, either. It just made her very aware Levi was not a forgiving man.

The GPS said to turn right, so she pulled over on the country blacktop road. Up ahead, bordered by ranch land, were a cattle guard and a mailbox. On the box was written Henry and Levi Coyote.

Had Levi moved here permanently?

He’d often talked about retiring to his grandfather’s ranch, but Levi was too young to retire. They were both thirty-four; he was older by five months. But it might explain why he was never at his office. She’d waited there for an hour this morning and he’d never showed.

Driving over the cattle guard, she gripped the steering wheel as the pipe grids jarred her and the car. Barbed-wire fences flanked her on both sides. Cattle grazed on the left in the warm September sun. Horses frolicked on the right. The graveled road led to a small white-frame farmhouse with a wide porch across the front. A chain-link fence surrounded it. Barns, pens and sheds were in the distance. A typical ranch one would see all across Texas.

She stopped at the fence gate. Two trucks were parked in a carport, and a car was behind one of the trucks.

An elderly gray-haired gentleman sat in a rocker on the porch. Myra got out of the car, but loud barks had her scurrying back inside. A black-and-white dog barked ferociously at her and then darted through a hole beneath the fence and joined the old man.

Once again she stepped out, using the door as a shield. “I’m looking for Levi Coyote,” she shouted to the man.

“What?” He evidently couldn’t hear her, so she had no choice but to step away from the car. She left the door open, though. Seeing her, the dog made a dash for the hole.

“Come back, John Wayne,” the man called, easing out of the rocker. “Pay him no mind, missy. He’s harmless.”

His dog’s name was John Wayne. Missy? She didn’t have time to react as the dog sniffed around her feet.

Please don’t lick my shoes, she silently begged. Not my Jimmy Choo heels. Deciding the shoes weren’t that tasty, the dog dashed back to the man.