Son of Texas (Count on a Cop) Read online

  He placed the photo in front of her.

  “Yikes. That doesn’t look like me.”

  “At the time it did.” He hadn’t looked at the photo in a while and he never realized how much she’d changed in the last year. No wonder no one recognized her—not even her family.

  She studied the picture. “I look…”

  “Traumatized.”

  “Yes.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and he knew she was forcing herself not to think back to that time, right after she’d been rescued.

  “Did you find out anything at the police station?” she asked, as if she needed to get her mind on something else.

  Dr. Oliver said she could handle things and Caleb didn’t want to keep anything from her. He told her about Teri, the missing persons report and Mason.

  Her brow knotted together. “Yes. Teri was seeing Mason.” She pushed back her long hair. “He has this bad-boy image that some women seem to like. When he was nineteen, he killed a man in Laredo in a bar fight. Had to spend some time in prison before Boone could get him released. Ever since, he’s been meaner and wilder than ever. He’s well-known among the female population around here and a few husbands have tried to kill him.” She paused. “But why would he not want me found? Especially if Lorna and I had this big argument and I said I wasn’t coming back.”

  “A lot of this doesn’t make sense.”

  She frowned. “I wish I could remember that night.”

  “It was probably traumatic and you’re still blocking it.”

  “I suppose,” she mumbled in a faraway voice.

  A plate with a single slice of chocolate quesadilla sat beside her. “You’re finishing the quesadilla?” he asked to change the subject.

  A smile rippled over her lips and she picked up the slice. “Want a bite?”

  “No. I…” She held the piece to his lips and his heart accelerated to an alarming speed at the light in her eyes. He took a bite without a second thought. She then took a bite and there was something sensual about her eating after him. Even the way she chewed was sensual; his eyes were fascinated by the movement of her mouth and throat. He knew at that moment that his feelings for Josie were going to be very hard to control.

  She licked her lips. “You have chocolate on the corner of your mouth.”

  He ran his tongue around his mouth.

  She shook her head. “No. Still there.” She licked her forefinger and wiped the corner of his mouth, removing the chocolate.

  Her touch was wet, warm and as sensual as anything he’d ever experienced. When she put the finger in her mouth to taste the chocolate from his lips, he knew he had to kiss her, to taste her sweetness. Nothing else mattered at that moment. He didn’t even hear a warning. He leaned forward and she met him halfway.

  Before their lips could touch, an earth-shattering chant ripped through the house. “Ah ye, ah ye, ah ye, ah yeeee, Josie Marieee!”

  “Caddo,” Josie cried and jumped off the bed, running for the back door.

  Caleb followed more slowly, getting his emotions under control.

  “Loco,” Lencha muttered, looking out the window as Caleb entered the kitchen.

  He joined her and saw a man somewhere in his early thirties astride a brown-and-white paint stud. In tattered jeans and worn boots, his shirt was unbuttoned revealing a bronzed chest. His head was bare and his long dark hair hung around his face. Riding bareback, he circled in the pasture chanting, “Ah ye, ah ye, ah ye, Josie Marieee!”

  “Who is he?” Caleb asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. But he knew this had to be the man Boone was talking about—the half-breed.

  “The spawn of the devil.” Lencha clucked her tongue and went back to stirring the pot.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Go outside and meet him and you’ll understand.” Lencha didn’t even turn around.

  Josie flew through the gate and Caleb watched as Caddo trotted forward and held out his hand. She placed hers in his and he pulled her up behind him and they galloped away into the endless land, plumes of dust obscuring them from view.

  Walking outside and shooing chickens away, Caleb wasn’t worried, just curious. Who was Caddo? Spawn of the devil. That didn’t tell him a whole lot. But obviously he was someone Josie trusted. Another step in completing her memory, in finding herself, her true personality. He didn’t expect this to be easy, but he never realized how deeply he’d come to love Belle. Damn. Josie. She was Josie Marie. When he finally accepted that, he could go on with his life.

  He leaned his forearms on the board fence, waiting. Soon he saw the dust and the horse and riders racing for the house. Caddo pulled up short and Josie slipped to the ground, her hair in disarray, her eyes shining. Swinging his leg over, Caddo jumped to the ground without making a sound.

  The first thing Caleb noticed was that he was tall and his skin was browned by the sun, not race.

  “Caleb, this is Caddo, my friend,” Josie introduced them.

  Caddo shook his hand with fingers like steel—callused steel. Caddo was used to work, that was evident. As Caddo looked directly into Caleb’s eyes, Caleb received a jolt. He had startling blue eyes. Beckett eyes. It was no question that Caddo was a Beckett and as Caleb studied him he knew who Caddo’s father was. Mason. Caddo looked just like him, except for the darker hair.

  “Josie Marie says you lawman, Ranger.”

  “Yes.”

  “You find bastardo who tried to kill Josie Marie and Caddo’ll string him up for the coyotes to feast on.”

  The man didn’t smile or flinch. He was dead-serious.

  “The law will take care of him.”

  Caddo reached for the horse’s mane and swung onto his back. “Law out here means squat. Only Boone Beckett’s law.” The horse pranced around, ready to run. Caddo patted his neck with a gentle hand. “Ranger, Caddo make his own kind of law.” He nodded to Josie, kneeing the horse. “Adiós, prima.” Then he was gone.

  Josie raked her fingers through the long tresses, trying to straighten her hair. She sank onto a bench by the garage.

  “So that’s Caddo,” he said, easing down by her. “Obviously you remember him.”

  “Yes.” Her eyes followed the dust. “I met him the first day I came here. I had a flat and while I was fixing it, he jumped the fence on his horse and scared me to death. I didn’t know if he was going to murder me, rape me or what, and my gun was in the car. I soon found Caddo was a gentle yet different type of person. When he rode away, he said, ‘Adiós, prima.’ I knew that meant cousin, but I didn’t know why he thought we were related. Then I met the Becketts.”

  “It’s uncanny how much he looks like Mason.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “You noticed, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “Everybody sees it, but Boone. All he sees is the Mexican part.”

  “What is Caddo’s story?”

  “When Mason got out of prison, he was wilder and meaner than ever, but he was like a magnet to women, as I already told you. Caddo’s mother, Theresa, was no exception. She was eighteen, very pretty, and married to a man in his forties. Her family worked on the Silver Spur, as did her husband. When Mason set eyes on her, that was it. They had an affair and when Caddo was born with those blue eyes, her husband left her and the Silver Spur. Theresa died in childbirth when Caddo was five.”

  There was silence for a moment. “I’m guessing Mason was the father of the child.”

  “Lencha said Theresa never saw anyone else. After her death, Caddo lived from family to family, but basically he’s been on his own since then. The Becketts provide him a house and he rarely stays there. He lives out on the prairie with the elements and the animals. No one ever made him go to school all that much so he has very little education.”

  “Does Mason claim him?”

  The eyebrow lifted again. “What do you think?”

  “I think not.”

  “You got it, but Mason marked Caddo for the world to see.”

 
Spellbound, Caleb watched the chickens scratch in the grass. For the first time he wondered if he looked like Joe McCain. Could people tell by looking at him that he was Joe’s son? Althea had said many times that he and Jake were lean and lanky like Joe. But what about the face? He had his mother’s brown eyes, but the angles and planes of his features were not hers. He’d never thought about it before and he had to admit he probably did favor his father. That was a sobering thought. He didn’t want anything from Joe McCain—not even his DNA. And he was betting Caddo didn’t want anything from his father, either.

  “Does Caddo know that Mason is his father?”

  “Caddo knows everything and he pushes Mason’s buttons any way he can, just daring Mason to fire him or force him off the Silver Spur. Mason never crosses him and pretty much gives him free rein. Because if there is anyone wilder and meaner than Mason, it’s Caddo.”

  “That’s why Mason was taking up for Caddo this morning?”

  “Yes. Mason doesn’t want Boone to find out about Caddo’s paternity. He fears he’ll be disinherited, so it all remains a secret—to Boone.”

  “Boone has to be deaf, dumb and blind not to know.”

  “Or he chooses to ignore it.”

  Caleb leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped. “I’m trying to figure out what this has to do with you.”

  “Me, too. I’ve remembered almost everything, except that night.”

  He turned his head to look at her. “And Eric.”

  She looked away. “And Eric.”

  Caleb took a breath, not wanting to talk about this, but also knowing he had to do what was best for her. “Eric was very upset about what Teri had done and he asked me to try and get you to talk to him.” He paused. “Why won’t you?”

  Raising her arms, she gathered her hair in both hands and looped it over her shoulder. “You want me to be honest?”

  “Nothing else.”

  Her eyes held his. “Because…when I remember Eric, my feelings for you will change.” She swallowed visibly. “And that’s what has kept me going for the last year, kept me sane and kept me focused.”

  When she said honest, she meant gut-wrenching honesty. A part of him reveled in her answer, the other part knew it was wrong. They couldn’t cling to something that wasn’t meant to be.

  “That’s what you meant about me being nice.”

  “Yes. You’ve been my haven and I’m not sure I can give you up.”

  Being nice was hell. Now he had to do what he’d just told himself—what was right for her. “Let yourself remember, Josie. You don’t need me anymore.”

  “I wish it was that easy,” she murmured, then jumped up and sprinted into the house.

  He sucked air into his lungs. No, it wasn’t going to be easy, and whatever happened he was never going to be the same again. He thought of leaving, but he couldn’t do that until Josie was safe. Eric could take over, but he had started this and he had to finish it. No matter how painful it was to him.

  The sun began to slowly sink into the western sky, dimming the horizon for a second in a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges and yellows. Breathtaking. He could feel the allure, the mystery of wide-open spaces and the pull of something he couldn’t define or explain. And he was getting in too deep to think straight.

  He slowly stood and made his way to the house.

  THEIR SUPPER WAS SOMETHING Caleb had never eaten before, but it was tasty and he ate it. Mainly because Josie was eating it. As Lencha took Chula outside and he helped to clear the table, he said, “I’m not even asking what that was.”

  She grinned. “Just be thankful it wasn’t pig feet, calf tongue or menudo.”

  He set his plate in the sink. “Lencha is a very unusual person. She told me she’s not a bruja.”

  “She doesn’t like to be called that, but she knows a lot of the rituals. All the Mexicans trust her and her healing methods. Some of the white folks, too. She’s helped raise a lot of children, including Caddo and me. She has six of her own scattered across the country. When you grow up on the Silver Spur, you either love it or yearn for freedom. Lencha made sure all her children chose freedom.”

  He leaned against the cabinet. “So Lencha raised your mother?”

  “My grandfather, Rafael, was the foreman of Silver Spur under Boone’s daddy, Enos. Rafael traveled a lot with him to choose cattle appropriate for Silver Spur. On a trip to a large ranch in South America, Rafael fell in love with the rancher’s daughter, Joscelyn.”

  “That’s who you’re named after?”

  “Yes. And my mother.”

  “So they married?”

  “Yes, and he brought her to Texas, but she was never happy here. She loved Rafael, but she missed her home, her family. She lost a little boy a year younger than my mother. He fell off his horse and cattle trampled him before my grandfather could reach him. He was only three and Lencha said Joscelyn grieved herself to death.”

  Josie wiped the table with a dishcloth. “She died when Marie was six and Lencha and her family lived next door. My mother lived with my grandfather and cooked and cleaned the house, but Lencha kept an eye on her, helping her. Lencha hoped that one day Marie would marry one of her sons, but when Marie was fourteen she started working in the summertime in the Beckett house. Once she and Brett looked at each other, that was it. There never was another man for her.”

  He folded his arms. “Did Marie have healing powers like Lencha?”

  She gave a slight smile. “No, nor did she want to. She left the Silver Spur, trying to put her Mexican heritage behind her. She worked as a maid during the day and took night courses at a junior college to better herself. When my father joined her in Corpus, it was the happiest day of her life. She tried to get him to go back to face his responsibilities, but he refused. He…” Her brow wrinkled in thought. “There’s a reason he wouldn’t. I know there is, but I can’t remember.”

  Caleb moved toward her, hating to see her go through all this. A knock at the door stopped him.

  Seeing her distress, he said, “I’ll get it.”

  Ashley stood on the doorstep. “May I speak with Josie, please?” she asked.

  Before Caleb could decide if this was wise, Josie said from behind him. “Come in, Ashley.”

  Caleb stepped aside and Ashley walked in. “I just wanted to let you know that I don’t feel the same way as my mother.”

  “Have a seat.” Josie gestured toward the sofa and the sisters sat down side by side. Caleb took the overstuffed chair, watching them. Two sisters as different as night and day—one dark, the other light.

  “My mother has a hard time dealing with the past,” Ashley said. “She’s never gotten over my father’s betrayal and in the past few years it seems to have gotten worse.”

  Father’s betrayal. The phrase rolled around in Josie’s head but it didn’t sound right—didn’t sound like the father she was remembering.

  At Josie’s silence, Ashley touched her arm. “Josie, you’re not the cause of the past and neither am I.”

  Josie nodded. “We’re just the results of it.”

  “When you first came here, I tried to hate you because you had Brett as a father and I didn’t. But as soon as we met there didn’t seem to be any hate at all, just a curiosity about each other.”

  “We talked a lot about Brett Beckett,” Josie replied, suddenly all those talks coming back. Though she remembered something still didn’t feel right.

  “I’d never met him. I’d just seen him in photos, but everyone told me I had his eyes.”

  “Yes.” Ashley had the Beckett blue eyes. That didn’t bother Josie. She had the eyes of her Mexican ancestry and the love of her father.

  “I hope we can still be friends.”

  “Me, too.” Josie tucked her hair behind her ear. “Right now I’m struggling to remember what happened to me. Once that happens, I’m not sure what my life will be like.”

  And that’s what she was afraid of. Josie suddenly recognized the truth. Some
thing in her life had been so horrible and it was safer to suppress it—safer to cling to Caleb and his security. But she was stronger now and she could face her past.

  Ashley touched her arm again. “I’m so sorry for all you’ve been through. I could never survive anything like that. You’re so strong. I wish I were more like you.”

  Josie remembered that Ashley was completely controlled by her mother and Boone. She went away to boarding school at an early age and spent a lot of time in Europe. At thirty-two, she was the most shy and insecure person Josie had ever met, especially when she was at home on the Silver Spur around the Becketts.

  Josie gave a small smile. “Still trying to have a life of your own?”

  “Yes.” Ashley grimaced. “I planned to spend the summer in Switzerland with a friend, but Pa is insisting that I marry and settle down. I don’t love Richard Wentworth, but he’s wealthy and has clout in Austin. Pa says I need to learn to use power because the Silver Spur will be mine one day and I have to think about my heritage.” Her cheeks flushed as she’d realized what she’d said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “No offense taken. I have no interest in Silver Spur,” Josie told her. “And I’ll tell you the same thing I told you before. Until you stand up for what you want, you’ll always be under Boone’s thumb.”

  “I wish I had your strength.”

  “When you want something bad enough, you’ll find the strength.”

  The truth of those words echoed in Josie’s mind. She wanted her own life back.

  “Like my father,” Ashley whispered.

  “Yes, like our father,” Josie corrected.

  There was a moment of awkward silence, then Ashley stood. “I’m glad you’re home and safe.”

  “Thank you.”

  Ashley walked out and Josie stared at Caleb. “Something’s not right.”

  Caleb moved to sit by her. “What? You doubt her sincerity?”

  “I don’t think so. I don’t have bad feelings toward her. It’s what she says that makes me uncomfortable.”

  “It probably has to do with your father.”

  “Yes. I’m sure it does.” But Josie wasn’t sure. What was it that bothered her about Ashley?

  Before she could add anything, there was a knock at the door again. Caleb got up to answer it.