A Texas Hero. Linda Warren

in the shade and take breaks. Who knows—” he added at her despondent look “—there could be a convenience store just beyond those trees.”

      “Yeah, right.”

      From her tone, he sensed the woman didn’t want him to sugarcoat anything so he’d stick to the facts. “I’m guessing we were in the van from thirty to forty minutes so we’re out of Austin and apparently deep into deer country, but where I have no idea. We turned right from the bank. That means we headed south, and then we turned east, but there were so many turns after that I lost track.” He looked at her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”

      “Abby Bauman.”

      “Of the banking Baumans?”

      “I married Douglas Bauman, Jr., but we’ve been divorced for over a year.”

      “And you have to work?”

      “I didn’t want anything from him but my freedom and custody of our daughter.”

      “How did that work out?”

      She glared at him. “You’re...very abrupt. I guess it comes from your line of work.”

      He studied the tight lines around her full lips. “I think you meant to say I’m a bastard, and you’d be right. A lot of my attitude comes from my job. I deal with the seedier, horrific side of life. And it isn’t pretty or uplifting.”

      “Then why do it?”

      “It’s who I am. A hard-nosed bastard who’s gonna get you if you’re stupid enough to cross a line to kill someone and think you can get away with it.”

      Her baby blues opened wide. “I’ve come to the conclusion that all men are jerks and you’ve just proven my point.” She wiggled her hand back and forth. “With you, though, it might be borderline insanity.”

      “You could be right.”

      “I’m sorry. That was rude.” She changed her mind a lot, as most women were known to do.

      “Ah, lady, you’re...”

      “Don’t call me lady,” she snapped. “My name is Abby.”

      “Well, Abby, it takes a lot more than that to hurt my feelings. You want to know what really gets me upset? It’s when an airhead stops in the middle of a damn highway.”

      “Don’t call me an airhead.”

      He shrugged, realizing they both were venting their frustrations of the morning on each other.

      “I’m sorry I stopped like that. Doug has our daughter every other weekend and he pulled a no-show like he usually does. I had to scramble to call my dad to take care of Chloe and to get to work on time. I was fuming and missed my turn. I’ll admit I wasn’t thinking, but I’m really grateful you were at the bank this morning. And it was incredibly heroic of you to offer to take my place.”

      She did the unexpected with her honesty, took him out of his don’t-get-involved comfort zone and made him see her as a person with everyday problems. He didn’t like that she did it so easily. “Lady, I—” He held up a hand as she made to object. “Abby, I’m not a hero. I’m just trying to get us out of this situation alive.”

      One eyebrow arched. “You really are a bastard.”

      “Remember that and you and I will get along fine.”

      “Jerk.”

      He scooted up against the tree, his shoulder touching hers. “Save all that energy for later.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “We have to walk out of here in the heat.”

      “How will we know where to go?”

      “We’ll follow the trail the van made coming in and out. Hopefully, we’ll come to a dirt road and we can flag someone down.”

      “We can do it, right?”

      “Yep.”

      He looked into her concerned blue eyes and saw a lot more than he wanted to. Femininity. Beauty. Strength. Trouble. His defenses were rock-solid against the fairer sex. He’d been burned too many times to let his guard down. But there was something about her that made him feel weak. And that brought out the true bastard in him. There was no way a woman was taking advantage of him again.

      CHAPTER THREE

      WALTON JAMES GLANCED at the wall clock in the kitchen one more time. After eleven. Ethan had said he’d be home at least by nine and to make sure Kelsey was up and ready to go riding. The poor kid had been in the kitchen three times to ask if Ethan was home.

      She didn’t call him Dad or Daddy and he supposed that was understandable since they’d just met two years ago, but it grated on the one good nerve he still had. It was just plain disrespectful.

      The girl’s attitude was a little hard to take, but Ethan had asked him to make an effort to get along. And he’d do anything for his boy, even put the skids on his cussing. He was an old cowboy and cowboys cussed. That was just a fact. Facing seventy, he was doing his best to tame his colorful tongue.

      He glanced at the clock again. Where was Ethan?

      A knock sounded at the door and he ambled toward it. Ross Logan, Ethan’s partner, and Levi Coyote, a friend and neighbor, stood outside.

      “What are you boys doing here? Ethan with you?” He looked around them, but only saw Rowdy, his blue heeler, wagging his tail for another biscuit. He’d already given him two. He wasn’t getting any more.

      “Walt, could we talk to you for a minute?” Levi asked.

      “Sure. Come on in.” He followed them into the living room and sat on the edge of his recliner while they eased onto the brown tweed sofa. Walt knew trouble. He’d seen it a lot of times in his life. And he was looking square at it in the eyes of Ross and Levi.

      “Just tell me about Ethan. Where is he? I know that’s why you’re here.”

      “Have you had the TV on this morning? Or a radio?” Ross asked.

      “Nope. I had calves to feed and then I fixed breakfast for Kelsey. Ethan said he’d be here by nine and I’ve been waiting and waiting.” He looked directly at Levi because he knew the man would give him a straight answer. “What happened to my son?”

      Levi twisted the hat in his hand. “There was a bank robbery off I-35 this morning. Ethan’s truck was parked outside, but he’s nowhere to be found. A woman teller is missing, too.”

      “Holy...sh—crap.”

      Levi’s lips twitched. “Still trying to curb those curse words?”

      “Yeah. And there’s a bunch burning my tongue right now. What was Ethan doing at a bank? He didn’t say anything about stopping. He was anxious to get home to Kelsey.”

      “We don’t have any answers yet, but...” Ross’s cell rang. He stood as he talked. Closing his phone, he said, “Gotta go. A white van was identified on the security cameras. I want to be with the SWAT team when they make contact with the owner.”

      “I’ll call you later, Walt.” Levi followed Ross to the door.

      “Just bring my son home safe.”

      “Ethan’s been kidnapped?” Kelsey asked from the hall doorway.

      Walt had to blink every time he looked at his granddaughter. Long black hair hung around her face. Dyed black hair. That crazy mother of hers let the child dye her hair with a purple streak. Her T-shirt and jeans were black, as were her fingernails and toenails. It felt like an alien had been dropped among them.

      Levi took a step toward her. “We’ll do everything we can to find him.”

      “Like