The Outsider's Redemption. Joanna Wayne

apparently Dan wasn’t the only one who knew she had the disk. The guy who’d nearly taken her head off had known it, too. Only how did he know and who was he? Had Calderone outsmarted everyone again? Had he found out what Dan was up to and decided to send one of his own men after the disk?

      If so, Dan Austin was in big trouble. They all were.

      SARAH STARED out the window. The late afternoon sky was bordered by a band of gold that gilded the rolling hills. Cows, horses, fences, all far different from what she was used to seeing on her morning commute.

      She really didn’t mind riding in a pickup truck. In fact, she liked it. She just wasn’t about to admit it to the cocky cowboy behind the wheel.

      The same way she hadn’t admitted that she’d bought the tote because she’d always fantasized about falling in love with a cowboy and having him fall right back in love with her. Now she was with a cowboy, and it wasn’t nearly as exciting as she’d imagined. The cowboy in question hadn’t seemed to notice that she was a woman. Still that was probably better than filling her head with lies the way Todd Benson had done.

      She settled back in her seat and took a sip of the milk Cody had bought for her when he’d stopped at the convenience store for ice for her injury. Turning her head, she studied the rugged lines of Cody’s profile. He looked intense, as if his mind were a billion miles away from here. And he was much too quiet. It made her nervous.

      She squirmed in her seat. “If Dan hasn’t told you where to meet him, how do you know we’re going in the right direction?”

      “He said to take Highway 281 north and to stay on it until we hear from him—unless I spot someone following us.”

      “You mean like the man who attacked me at the airport.”

      He turned her way for a second before returning his gaze to the road. “I hope you’re not doing anything really stupid, like trying to set Dan up.”

      “Of course not. What kind of woman do you think I am?”

      “How would I know what kind of woman you are? We just met.”

      “I’m trying to help. That’s all.”

      They settled into a strained silence. Apparently he was still angry that she’d run from him back at the airport, but he could just get over it. They were in this together. They might as well make the most of it. And she hated to ride in silence. Better to ask questions and force him to talk. “Are you married?”

      His face twisted into a scowl. “No way.”

      “You don’t have to bite my head off. I was just thinking that it must be rough to leave your wife at home when you go off on one of these missions. If you had one.”

      “That’s why I don’t. What about you? Why didn’t you marry that Todd guy you were talking about?”

      “Todd didn’t want me. Well, actually, he did want me. He didn’t want our child. He thought I should, you know, get rid of it or at least give it up for adoption.”

      “But you wanted to keep your baby?”

      Wanted. The word was probably accurate, but it seemed so mild compared to the feelings that had come over her from the second the pregnancy test had come back positive. It wasn’t that she was against adoption. She knew there were many wonderful people out there who ached for a baby of their own and couldn’t have one, people who could give the baby a good home.

      But the baby growing inside her was wanted by its biological mother. Wanted and needed. And already loved. “There is no way I’m giving up my baby.”

      “So Todd just took off and left you stranded?”

      “Something like that.”

      “He isn’t the first man to walk away and leave an expectant mother to shift for herself. Guess fatherhood puts too much of a damper on some men’s lifestyles.”

      Sarah had the strange feeling that Cody was no longer talking about her at all. His tone had taken on an intensity that seemed too personal for conversation between strangers.

      But then nothing about their being together was normal.

      “Were you in love with Todd?” The question took her by surprise. If he’d asked her three months ago, the answer would have been an unqualified yes. “I thought I was at the time. Now I think I was only in love with being in love. A woman dreams of that all her life. Romance. The perfect man. I mean, songs, poems, movies—they’re all about falling in love.”

      “So what changed your mind?”

      “I expected to fall apart when he left. I didn’t. The truth was my life got easier with no one around to tell me that I couldn’t do anything on my own. Two years of hearing that constantly and you start to believe it.”

      “Wait a minute. Are you saying you dated this guy for two years and then he just walked out of your life because you were pregnant with his baby?”

      “Two years and three months to be exact. He counted it up for me when he left, just in case I couldn’t.”

      “You must have been a teenager when you started dating him.”

      “I’m a lot older than I look, twenty-seven on my next birthday. But Todd was my first serious beau.”

      “Looks like waiting around didn’t improve your judgment.”

      “I wasn’t exactly waiting around. My life was too busy to think of relationships before that. I worked my way through university, taking night classes until I could earn my degree in business.”

      “Didn’t your mother help you pay for your education?”

      “My mother?”

      “Yeah, you know, your wonderful nurse mother who practically runs the hospital.”

      She turned to stare out the window. “She wanted to, but she had quit her job at the hospital by then to do missionary work in Africa.”

      “She sounds like quite a woman.”

      “She is.”

      Cody reached down and checked the beeper at his waist. “Looks like Dan is ready for us. Too bad your cell phone got destroyed in the attack.”

      “Don’t you have one?”

      “Not anymore.”

      “What will you do?”

      “Find a pay phone somewhere.”

      “Last minute directions. Secret destinations.” She stretched her legs in front of her. “This is awfully intriguing, don’t you think?”

      “I never thought of it like that.”

      “That’s because you’re a cowboy who’s merely serving as a guide and bodyguard. You don’t have a full understanding or appreciation for the importance of this mission.”

      He glanced her way and rolled his eyes. “No, ma’am. I’m just an ignorant cowboy at your service.”

      He was making fun of her now. She’d never been able to pull off that sophisticated routine. But, this was exciting, whether Cody Gannon wanted to admit it or not. Living on the edge. Doing something important. She’d waited for this moment all her life. Too bad that Cody was the only one around to see her, and he apparently wasn’t impressed.

      And too bad reality reared its ugly head every so often and reminded her what would happen if anything went wrong with this operation. Only nothing would go wrong. Dan Austin was one of the best agents the DPS had ever had.

      They drove another ten minutes until they came to a gas station. Cody pulled off and parked near the phone booth. “I’ll only be a minute.” He killed the engine and yanked his keys from the ignition.

      “I didn’t plan to leave you,” she said, as he jumped