Texas Tough (The Tylers of Texas 2)

The horses lowered their heads to drink. Lauren slid off the mare, flung back her hat, and crouched to splash water on her hot face. Sky eased off Storm Cloud, looped the reins around a branch, and joined her, wetting his face with his hands and slicking back his hair. “Now this is more like it,” he muttered.

Lauren shot him an impish glance. Lifting her hat free, she scooped the crown full of water and dashed it over his head.

“Why, you little—” Grinning, he made a grab for her. She laughed and scooted out of reach.

“I’ll show you a thing or two!” Sky lunged to his feet. In a lightning move, he caught her up in his arms. He’d meant to toss her in the water. But her closeness put entirely different ideas in his head. Her wet shirt clung to her half-exposed breasts. As his body responded, he lowered his head and nuzzled their softness. Lingering traces of her perfume crept into his senses, rousing him to a fevered ache. He cursed silently. The woman was driving him crazy.

She arched against him with a little purring sound. Her hand dropped to brush his swollen sex. “Sure . . .” she whispered.

He’d tucked a condom in his wallet, so the only problem was where. Lifting his gaze, he glanced around for someplace that wasn’t either wet or prickly. Damn it, he’d take her standing up if he had to, but there had to be a less awkward way.

As he turned with her, he felt his boot heel come down on something slick and rigid that gave beneath the pressure of his weight. Sky tensed, his danger instincts quivering.

“What is it?” Lauren had sensed the change in him.

“Something isn’t right.” Sky had an idea what it was, but before he checked it out, he needed to make sure Lauren was safe. “I’m going to put you on the mare,” he said quietly. “Ride out of here the way we came, slow and easy, like nothing’s wrong. If you hear anything—a voice, a gunshot—get away fast. Otherwise just keep going easy till I catch up with you.”

“And if you don’t show?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He boosted her into the saddle. “If something goes wrong, don’t take any fool chances. Just go. Got it?”

She nodded, her eyes wide and questioning. Sky gave the mare a light slap on the haunch to get her started, then watched until she was clear of the brush and headed back toward the ranch. Only then did he crouch to examine what he’d felt on the ground.

What he found was what he’d expected—a length of three-quarter-inch black PVC pipe, lightly buried under a layer of dirt and leaves. Emerging from under the water in the spring, the pipe ran back through the tamarisk and beyond. Keeping low, Sky followed it through the scrub to a battery-operated siphon pump, duct taped to a half-dozen black hoses, running off in different directions like the legs of a spider.

Too bad he hadn’t brought a gun. Unarmed as he was, it would be risky to go on. In any case, there could be no doubt what he’d find if he followed those black hoses far enough.

Somebody was farming marijuana on his land.

Right now he needed to get back to the horse and make sure Lauren was all right. But he planned to return and investigate when he was better prepared. Something told him he’d stumbled on the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle—a piece that could connect to Jasper’s shooting and to Marie’s appearance in Blanco Springs. But he couldn’t be sure of anything until he had more evidence.

Picking up a broken branch, he began brushing out his tracks as he backed away. At the same time, he scanned the ground. There were no horse signs and no vehicle tracks, which meant that the weed growers were coming and going by some other route. But marijuana plants needed water, especially in this drought. Somebody would need to maintain the pump and make sure the pipe was clear.

The tracks, when he found them, appeared to be several days old. But they were distinct enough for Sky to recognize the same motorcycle boot and the worn, narrow print he’d seen near the spot where Jasper had been shot.

Sky used his cell to snap quick photos of the pump and the tracks. He had just slipped the phone back in his pocket when a faint but unmistakable sound reached his ears. It was the metallic rumble of a big motorcycle—a Harley, he guessed—approaching fast from the direction of Blanco Springs. The rider might have a camp near the marijuana patch. For a fleeting second, Sky was tempted to sneak back for a look at him. But he’d left the horse by the spring, and there was Lauren. If she was headed for the ranch, she’d be in the open, exposed and vulnerable.

The sound of the approaching bike had grown to a roar. Abruptly it stopped, the silence more unnerving than the noise had been. Sky reached the horse and freed the reins. Springing into the saddle, he kneed Storm Cloud to a lope. For once the unruly gelding behaved. Soon they were clear of the brush and headed back toward Rimrock land.

Had the biker heard him ride away, or even seen him? If so, the marijuana growers would be on high alert. Anyone getting too close would run the risk of being shot—like Jasper had been shot. Except that Jasper hadn’t been anywhere near this place. One more missing piece of the puzzle.

Slowing the horse to a walk, he scanned the parched grassland ahead for Lauren. Taking the mare at an easy pace, as he’d told her to, she couldn’t have gotten far. But there was no sign of her.

Sky’s throat jerked tight. How much time had passed since he’d sent her off? Five minutes? Ten at most. Even riding away at a gallop, she’d have left a trail of dust that would linger in the air.

Where was the woman? Had one of the bastards grabbed her? He’d seen no one, heard no one except the biker. But anything could have happened.

So help him, he would kill anybody who’d laid a hand on her.

He was about to go back and look for her when he heard the rapid pounding of hooves coming up behind him. Turning, he saw Lauren on the mare.

He waited for her to catch up. By the time she did, anger had flooded the hollows worry had left.

“I told you to get away,” he snapped. “What the hell were you doing?”

“Hiding in the brush while I waited for you. Did you really think I was going to ride off and leave you when I knew something was wrong?”

“Blast it, Lauren, don’t be stupid! Anything could’ve happened to you back there. And it would’ve been my fault. The next time I tell you to do something, just do it.”