Colorado Abduction - By Cassie Miles & Marie Ferrarella Page 0,56
live in?”
“I’ve got a duplex in Capitol Hill. You?”
“A condo. Twelfth floor. Downtown.”
They lived less than five miles apart. They probably went to the same restaurants, shopped at the same stores, walked past each other on the street. But they had to come all the way to Carlisle Ranch to meet.
He sat on a burgundy upholstered chair beside her trophy case. “I wanted to give you an update.”
She’d been thinking about something far more sensual, but Burke had gone into his get-things-done mode. Instead of stretching out on the bed, she perched on a chair opposite him and shoved her feet into her boots. “I’m ready.”
“The sniper’s name is Wesley Tindall. He’s former military—and that’s where he learned to shoot. We’re holding him in FBI custody.”
She touched the bruise below her shoulder. “Was he the guy who shot out the window of your van?”
“Don’t know. He’s not talking. Hasn’t said anything about Nicole, either.”
“So, basically, he’s not much use.”
“Except that he won’t be riding with Logan when they go to pick up their big shipment. He’s down a man. And that’s good news for us.”
“Why?”
“On Monday night, when Logan and his men go to pick up the shipment, they’ll leave the Circle M with fewer guards than usual. That’s when we’ll make our move. We’ll go in, get the women and children out. And search for Nicole.”
She liked the way that sounded. If Sunny was any indication, there would be plenty of other women who were ready to leave the SOF. “I want to be a part of that action.”
“No.”
“But some of the women know me. I can talk to them.”
“This isn’t up for negotiation.” He stood. “I almost lost you today. I won’t put you in danger again.”
She rose from her chair to face him. “That’s my choice.”
“I’m in charge here, Carolyn. It’s my job.”
But she didn’t want to sit on the sidelines. “I’ll be careful.”
“We were careful today,” he reminded her. “We went the long way around to avoid being seen.”
Which brought up a question she hadn’t considered before. “Why was Tindall there?”
“It wasn’t an ambush,” Burke said. “If Logan had been planning to trap us, there would have been more men. I think Tindall was posted as a lookout on the Indian Trail. It was our bad luck to run into him.”
“Why did he shoot?”
“My guess? Logan has put out a bounty on you. He wants revenge. That’s a damn good reason why you’re not going to be involved in any more action.”
“You make a good argument,” she conceded. “But I still think I could—”
“No.” He closed the distance between them in three quick strides. Reaching out, he caressed her shoulder. His hand came to rest behind her neck, and he held her so she couldn’t look away from him. “Today, when I thought I’d lost you, my heart broke. If anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with myself.”
His tone struck a chord within her. “If I’m not there at your side,” she said, “who’s going to protect you?”
“I’ll manage.”
He kissed her hard, silencing her objections. Her body fit perfectly with his. Every contour matched. In his arms, she felt soft and feminine.
Just as quickly as he’d kissed her, he stepped back. “I wasn’t planning to do that.”
“I don’t mind.” She rested the flat of her palm against his solid, muscular chest. “Not a bit.”
He caught her hand, brushed his lips against her knuckles. “There’s more.”
“I’m listening.” She flopped on the bed, wishing that she was wearing a sexy negligee instead of jeans and boots.
“The sheriff’s deputies finally got to do a forensic workup inside the cave. They found some fibers that look like they’d purposely been pulled from a sweater. The color matches the sweater Nicole was wearing when she was kidnapped.”
“She was at the cave,” Carolyn said. “Leaving us another clue.”
“Here’s the timeline I’ve got figured out,” he said. “Nicole was grabbed at the creek by two guys associated with the SOF. They took her to the Circle M. Logan must have realized that there was a search underway.”
“Right,” she said, “my brother and his posse going door-to-door and asking questions.”
“They had to get her out of there. Logan’s men—Butch Thurgood and Pete Richter—took her to the cave, planning to wait until the search died down. The next day or late that night, he knew the FBI was involved. There’d be choppers and surveillance. The cave wasn’t safe.”
“So he had her brought back to the SOF compound,” she said. “That’s why Nicole keeps giving