Her Texas Ranger Hero (Lone Star Lawmen 4)

“Cy helped me compare these rap sheets to the list of names we got from the express mail services. I feel in my bones this has to be the guy, but I haven’t tied his name to any aliases yet.” Luckey told him about the Komodo dragon analogy and the residue of DMSO on the sleeve of the victim.

His friend’s black brows lifted. “You figured all that out from the secret writing?”

“With Ally’s help.”

“Maybe she’s in the wrong field of work.”

“If Dr. Duncan had been anywhere except at her office that day, we would never have met. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“What more can I do to help? Use me before the boss calls me in on another case.”

“You pulled off today’s sting with your usual finesse. I’ll never be able to repay you. Now go on home and be with your family. Tonight I’ll be making phone calls here and overseas, trying to zero in on this guy.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“If something comes up and you need me, I’m only a call away.”

Luckey knew that. He watched his friend walk out the door before he started scrolling through his latest emails. Good! The one from Las Vegas had come through. He opened it and called the phone number given to him by the police department for a Lieutenant Hayes.

“Hayes speaking.”

“Lieutenant? This is Ranger Davis from Austin, Texas. You’re the one who investigated the case involving Robert Martin?”

“No. That was Lieutenant Torelli. He passed away a year ago.” Luckey frowned. “But I’ve looked up the file on Robert Martin for you and can see he’s still at large,” Hayes continued. “Do you want me to send you a copy?”

“Please. He’s responsible for a human trafficking ring out of China. I need to find him ASAP.”

“I’ll send it now.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Anything to help.”

Once he’d received the file compiled by Lieutenant Hayes, Luckey read through it carefully. Several pieces of news leaped out at him. Martin was the adopted son of a Caucasian mother, Anna Martin, a gymnast from Freeport, Texas, and a Chinese father, Sima Wang, who was a sports facilitator from Beijing. Through Wang, Martin had a Chinese passport. The family had traveled back and forth to mainland China, and then one day none of them were heard from again. Years later the news broke that after committing the robbery and deaths of the guards by DMSO injections in Las Vegas, Nevada, Martin had evaded arrest. It was presumed he’d fled to China under one of his many aliases.

Luckey was puzzled. Who were the birth parents? Why was the child given the adoptive mother’s last name? What happened to the adoptive mother and father? It didn’t sound like an ordinary adoption. Something was fishy from the get-go.

Tired and hungry, he left the office for home. After a visit to the barn, he made himself a meal and worked until late. He wrote down two addresses from the UPS carrier that had delivered cream to Freeport, the town Robert Martin’s adoptive mother was from, neither of them Martin’s aliases. The answers Luckey sought about the recipients and Martin’s birth parents would have to wait until morning, when he planned to drive there and investigate.

In his gut he knew another clue was hiding that would bring him closer to capturing the sick man who’d destroyed so many lives. Luckey finally fell asleep with the knowledge that Saturday was coming and he’d soon be taking Ally home to meet his family.

* * *

ALLY DIDN’T KNOW you could love a whole family on sight, but after meeting the forty people gathered for Luckey’s father’s birthday in Dripping Springs, she sure felt as if she did.

Everyone was so nice and laid-back. Randy was more reserved, like his father, and had his darker hair. Luckey took a little more after his dark blonde mother, Melanie, who was outgoing and the sweetest, warmest person Ally had ever met. The woman had a charm she’d passed on to her son.

Everyone congregated around Luckey, especially Randy’s kids and the children of his cousins, as he showed Ally the ranch on horseback. The whole family rode together and it was obvious they all loved their Texas Ranger, but she was way of ahead of them in that department.

A stream ran through a portion of their property. When their group reached an oasis-like area shaded by a grove of oak trees near the creek, they dismounted. A fabulous spread had been prepared ahead of time, with tables and chairs for everyone. Between three-legged and gunnysack races, with prizes for the winners, Ally had never laughed so hard or had so much fun.

Gifts appeared for the patriarch of the Davis family. To her surprise, Luckey gave his father a scarf exactly like the one she’d given Jeremy. “You’re now an honorary Ranger, Dad,” he told him.

She’d bought his father a black domino mask. Luckey’s shock was visible when his father opened her package. He put the mask on and tied the ends at the side of his head.

Randy grinned. “Good grief, Dad. You look like the real thing! Do you know something we don’t? Is retirement already too hard on you?”