Texas Outlaw (Rory Yates #2) - James Patterson Page 0,43

and bound through the canyon, their antlers still in velvet.

The terrain opens onto a spacious view of the Rio Lobo winding through the canyon. Ariana was right—it’s beautiful out here. Some of the prettiest country I’ve seen in West Texas.

We’re tucked deep into the hills. I check my phone and see that I have no service. The police radio in my truck has gone to static, and I turn it off.

The dirt road splits from time to time, but Ariana always knows which fork to take. Finally, we cross the river on a wide and sturdy wooden bridge.

“This is the road from McCormack’s place,” Ariana says.

The route is wide and graded enough to support a tanker truck, and by the look of the tread marks in the dirt, they’ve been doing it regularly for a while now.

“No wonder McCormack wanted this designated open space,” I say. “The only decent way to get here is from his property.”

The sun is high in the sky, and I can feel sweat running down my skin inside my shirt. I ask Ariana if she wants to find some shade and eat lunch, and she tells me to keep driving. Twenty minutes later, we stop at a spot that’s worth the effort. Next to the river, there’s a flat patch of shore where the water makes an S-shaped bend. The roots of a big bur oak jut out the side of a cut bank.

“I used to come out here to swim when I was in high school,” Ariana says. “The water is deep enough to dive.”

We sit in the shade of the oak and unwrap our sandwiches, our second lunch along a riverbank. I decide to ask Ariana what I wanted to ask her the first time.

“Have you ever thought of applying for the Texas Rangers?”

When she doesn’t answer right away, I explain how she’d meet the qualifications. Beyond her experience in Rio Lobo and with the highway patrol, she would need only a job with the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Ranger Division, before she could take the entrance exam that precedes an in-person interview. There are six Texas Ranger companies, and even fewer female Rangers. We need more of them, in my opinion.

“It sounds like a long shot,” she says.

“I’d vouch for you,” I say. “That will count for something.”

She gives it some thought, looking out over the river. We can hear insects chirping and the trickle of the river as it works its way past us, but otherwise the landscape is silent.

And peaceful.

“The truth is,” Ariana says, “I’m not sure I’m up to the task of being a Texas Ranger.”

“You’ve got a knack for investigation,” I say. “I’ve worked with good detectives and bad detectives, and you’re one of the good ones.”

“It’s not that,” she says. “It’s the other part of the job. The physical part.”

She says she’s not strong like the chief and can’t shoot a gun like me. “I’ve never been in a situation where I had to draw my gun, let alone shoot it,” she says. “I’m not sure how I’d handle a situation like you faced in that bank.”

I’m crushing on this vulnerable new side of her, maybe even falling for her.

“Listen, Ariana,” I say, resuming a professional dialogue. “It doesn’t matter how big your muscles are. It doesn’t matter how fast you can draw a gun. What matters is what’s in here.” I point to my head. “And here.” I point to my chest. “A Ranger needs to be smart and good-hearted above all. And you have those qualities in spades.”

She smiles brightly and genuinely, touched by my words. “Thanks, Rory.”

After we finish our sandwiches, I ask if she’s ready to head back to town.

“Is there any reason to hurry?” she asks.

“I guess not,” I say. “What do you have in mind?”

Ariana gives me a sly grin I haven’t seen before.

Chapter 48

“CLOSE YOUR EYES,” Ariana says, “and don’t peek.”

I do as she asks. I hear her strip off her jeans and drop them in a heap. I don’t hear her take off her shirt, but I assume that’s what she’s doing.

“Now you can look,” she says.

I glance up in time to see Ariana in midair, suspended over the river—wearing only a bra and underwear—and then she’s gone in an explosion of water. She comes up laughing, throwing back her wet hair.

“You coming?” she says.

I want to encourage this intriguing new side of Ariana, so I undo my gun belt and hang it over a branch