Threat of Exposure. Lynette Eason
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Brock darted to the bumper of his vehicle, wishing he hadn’t kicked his weapon quite so hard when Lenny had demanded he drop it. It glinted under the streetlamp ten yards away, mocking his incompetence.
Then he heard the pop of another bullet and felt the buzz as it careened past his cheek to plant itself in the asphalt beside him. God, get me out of this, please. I’m not ready to face You yet.
Adrenaline pumping, he rolled for cover even as he heard the discharge of another weapon, the howl of pain and the thud of a body hitting the asphalt.
Running footsteps echoed behind him as he lunged for Lenny, who now lay face down, and kicked his gun from his outstretched hand. Brock flipped the man, then planted a knee in his would-be killer’s back as he swiped the cuffs from his belt.
Through gritted teeth, Brock muttered, “You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. You have the right to remain…” He broke off as a pair of boots stepped into his line of vision.
With Lenny’s hands securely fastened behind his back, Brock allowed his eyes to travel north from the boots, up a pair of jean-clad legs to a belt fastened around a slim waist he could probably span with his hands. He let his gaze wander on up to the white shirt with a badge.
A badge with a star inside it. Right over the wearer’s heart. She held her weapon ready and steady.
When he finally reached his rescuer’s face, he knew in his gut exactly who’d saved his life.
“Hello, Ranger Hernandez.” Brock hauled his now-subdued prisoner to his feet and stared at one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. Tall, lean and fit, she kept steady brown eyes glued to his. He swiped an arm across his forehead. “I’ll say this for you. You have impeccable timing.”
Ranger Gisella Hernandez flipped her braid over her shoulder and stared at the man she’d already decided she didn’t like very much.
Number one, he’d stood her up.
Number two, he’d met with a known drug runner without any backup.
Number three, he hadn’t said “thank you” for her saving his life.
And she was supposed to work with him. As if she needed life to get any more interesting.
Give him a chance, she ordered herself.
She gave her hat a shove back on her head and addressed his timing comment. “You were supposed to meet me over two hours ago. I don’t like to be kept waiting.”
The man before her blew out a short laugh. “And I don’t like to look death in the face. Looks like neither one of us was meant to be happy tonight.”
For some reason, that comment amused her. She appreciated the fact that she didn’t seem to intimidate him, as her badge seemed to scare off more men than it attracted. Gisella fought to keep the smile from curving her lips, but wasn’t sure she succeeded when he raised a knowing brow. She gestured toward Lenny. “How’s he?”
Brock shot the man a disgusted frown. “It’s a shoulder wound. He’ll live.” Gisella thought she heard a silent “unfortunately” on the end of that last sentence.
“I wasn’t gonna kill you. You got this all wrong,” Lenny whined. He looked at Gisella. “I can’t believe you shot me.”
She turned to the dealer and gave him a stare that made him cringe. “I wouldn’t have given you any warning if I’d had a choice.” She looked at Brock. “You were right in my line of fire. I had to do a little maneuvering.”
So that was why she’d yelled. Typically, in that kind of volatile situation, a cop shot first, two lethal pops to the chest, and it was over. Her eyes frosted even more as she said to Lenny, “You’re lucky I always hit what I’m aiming for.”
“And you were going to kill me,” Brock ground out. “A fact I’ll be happy to testify to,” he said as he pulled the man to the car. As mad as he was at the man, he wouldn’t make him wait in the cold for the EMS. He wasn’t giving Lenny anything else to complain about that would prolong their night.
“And I make a pretty good witness,” Gisella offered. Then she sighed. “I’ll meet you at the station. I guess I’m going to have a lot of paperwork to fill out tonight. Not to mention calling my captain and getting him to do some fancy talking so I’m not assigned a desk job while this is investigated.”
Brock grimaced. “I’ll have to wait on the EMS to get here. I’d transport him, but don’t want to have to clean out my car. Speaking of which, there’s a videotaped recording of everything that just happened. Your boss shouldn’t have any trouble getting this cleared up ASAP.”
A glimmer of respect finally reared its head. “That’ll help a lot.”
He nodded. “I’ll get someone to take over for me and meet you in half an hour.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She shot him a pointed look. “Again.”
He gave her a slow smile and Gisella felt her heart tremble at his low, “I’ll be there.”
A little unnerved by the attraction she felt for a man she’d just met, she shook her head and headed for the vehicle she’d left parked on the other side of the trees.
Gisella had flown down from San Antonio, grabbed a cab and rushed to meet Brock Martin, one of the drug enforcement agents assigned to the El Paso area of the border.
El Paso was a twenty-minute drive from Boot Hill, which was a five-minute drive from Juarez, Mexico. Her objective was to pick Brock up and head straight to Boot Hill. She hadn’t planned on getting sidetracked saving his life along the way.
But I guess You weren’t ready for him to die yet, were You, Lord? Thanks for using me in this situation. Now, please, please help me find the ones responsible for the drug smuggling and the murder of Captain Pike.
For the past four months, Gisella and her company of Rangers had worked hard trying to gather the evidence needed to take down the organization responsible for their leader’s murder. Just recently, she and her fellow Rangers had taken the information contained on the flash drive they’d found on Melora Hudson’s estate a few weeks ago and narrowed down the possibilities of where the drugs could be entering the country from across the border.
Melora’s husband had been killed because of his association with the Lions of Texas, an elite group responsible for millions of dollars worth of drugs coming over the border, and Melora had almost been killed herself. Fortunately, they’d found what the killers were after and now the Lions had no reason to go after her anymore.
And thanks to the information on the flash drive, Boot Hill seemed to be the next logical choice in their hunt for the top members of the criminal organization. Gisella and the other Rangers believed the drugs coming into San Antonio, and all parts of Texas, were originating from that tiny, almost nonexistent blip on the map.
When Brock had failed to show up for their scheduled meeting a few hours earlier, she’d gotten tired of waiting around, did a little snooping and found out from one of the other agents where he was.
She’d punched in the location of the church in her GPS and driven straight there.
Not wanting to give herself away, she’d circled the building twice, then found a suitable parking spot that would enable her to be of some help should Brock need it, yet far enough away not to tip off the informant.
When she saw how Lenny had been acting, the hairs on her neck stood straight up. When that happened, she knew to pay attention. She’d pulled her weapon. Creeping in closer hadn’t been a problem underneath the shelter of the trees.
Now, the ordeal was coming to a close. As she reached her vehicle, she heard the scream of sirens and saw the flashing lights of the approaching ambulance.
Help had arrived and she could get back to the office. Anxious to get