Flirting with Texas (Deep in the Heart of Texas) (32 page)

Alejandro reached into his suit jacket and pulled out the henhouse invitation. “Miguel remembered delivering this to your house, and it only took a quick search of your apartment to find it.” He released his breath in a sigh. “But too bad for you that we didn’t find the money you stole from me.”

“Money? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you want to play as stupid as your cowboy,” he said. “Very well. I’m talking about the money in the black backpack that Miguel was carrying the night you caught him on the fire escape.”

Minnie, who was bound to her wheelchair, tried to say something, but with the piece of tape over her mouth, it came out as nothing more than mumbles. Alejandro ignored her and stepped closer to Jenna. Close enough for Jenna to smell the brandy on his breath.

“The boy seems to think that he and this cowboy got their backpacks mixed up. Which would explain why I have a backpack containing cowboy boots and one silver high heel.” He took a puff of the cigar and blew the smoke in her face. “I was worried that being the lily-white do-gooder you are that you would’ve already turned it in to the police. But my connections tell me that no money has shown up. And with you disappearing so suddenly, I can only come to one conclusion.” He smiled. “I guess
that amount of money can even tempt a saint. So where is it?”

“Sorry,” Jenna said, “but I don’t have a clue.”

In a flash, Alejandro’s hand twisted in her hair and jerked her head back, the glowing end of the cigar inches from her face. “Think real hard.”

“Get your fuckin’ hands off her!” Beau made a dive at Alejandro’s legs. Even on his knees, Beau succeeded in pushing him away from Jenna before he was grabbed up by two of the men. They jerked hard on his bound arms, and Jenna saw him grit his teeth in pain. She made a move to go to his aid, but Alejandro stopped her.

“Don’t be foolish, chica. I’m not going to harm any of your friends as long as you don’t give me any trouble.” His fingers stroked the inside of her arm. “But one sign of resistance, and I’ll have your cowboy shot where he stands.”

“You wouldn’t dare kill a U.S. citizen,” she said. “You would never get away with it.”

Alejandro laughed. “I’ll get away with it.” He smiled. “I’ve gotten away with it before.”

For the first time, Jenna was terrified. Not for herself, but for Beau and the hens. Alejandro wasn’t going to let anyone go. Even if they had the backpack, he was going to kill them all. And no one would figure out the connection between him and the murders.

But how was she going to stop seven armed men single-handedly?

She was still considering her lack of options when a movement caught the corner of her eye. She glanced over at the huge plastic plant in front of the staircase. Was it her imagination or were there eyes looking out at her? A head popped out. A blond head with bad roots.

Olive!

She was only one woman, but just knowing she was there gave Jenna hope. Olive had probably already called the police; now all Jenna needed was time.

“I have the money,” she blurted out, causing everyone to look at her. “If you leave my friends alone, I’ll take you to it.”

Alejandro smiled his oily smile. “I figured the thought of losing your cowboy might jog your memory. So where is it?”

“I buried it in the barn. I’ll have to show you exactly where.”

He only hesitated for a moment before he snapped his fingers. “Pacho and Marcus stay here. The rest of you come with me.” He pulled her toward the elevator, but when she got close to Beau, she tugged him to a stop.

“Jenna,” Beau said through his teeth, “don’t do this.”

“You were right.” Her voice quivered with suppressed tears. “I was too scared to admit my feelings. Too scared to take on a challenge I didn’t think I could win. But I’m not scared anymore.” She reached out and caressed his bruised face. “I love you, Beauregard Cates.”

Before he could say anything, she let Alejandro pull her away.

The elevator ride was over too quickly. And before Jenna knew it, she was outside and headed for the barn. She was just about to slow things down by tripping and faking a sprained ankle when a familiar voice called out her name.

“Jenna Jay Scroggs!”

She glanced behind her to see Wilma Tate hustling around the side of the house wearing a hideous flowered hat and carrying a picket sign that read, D
ON’T
L
ET
H
ENS
R
OOST IN
T
EXAS.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” she said as she huffed up. “Your mama would have a fit if she knew where you were.” She pointed a finger in Jenna’s face. “And don’t think I won’t tell her, young lady.” She finally noticed the men with Jenna, but since men with guns weren’t anything new to Texas, she barely blinked an eyelash.

“I sure appreciate your concern, Mrs. Tate,” Jenna said. “But I’m headed home just as soon as I show these gentlemen around.”

Wilma’s eyes narrowed. “They don’t look like no gentlemen to me.”

Jenna almost rolled her eyes. The woman waited until her life was in danger before getting a brain.

“They’re from New York,” Jenna said.

“Well, I don’t care if they’re from the moon.” Wilma gave Alejandro the stink eye, although the drooping flower that brushed her nose ruined the effect. “You had better treat Jenna Jay with the respect she deserves. She ain’t one of those nasty hens who goes for all that wicked depravity.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get out front. The Ladies’ Club should be here any minute to help me picket.” She turned and trotted back the way she’d come, her sign propped over her shoulder and a bee circling her flowered hat.

Once she had disappeared around the corner, Alejandro pulled open the barn door. “If you don’t find the money before that women’s group gets here, chica, you’ll be responsible for a lot of dead ladies.”

Beau thought he would never be more scared than when the doctors had told him that he had cancer. He was wrong. Just the thought of Jenna Jay being in the barn
with Alejandro and his thugs made the blood in his veins turn to ice and unrelenting fear eat at his insides worse than any disease. Especially when he could do nothing about it. He was trussed up like a Christmas goose and guarded by two men who hadn’t taken their eyes or guns off him since their boss had left the room.

And the hens were no help. They had all been tied up and gagged: Sunshine, Baby, and Starlet on the floor and Minnie in her wheelchair. Minnie was looking at Beau now, her eyes darting away and then back to him. Before he could figure out what she was trying to get across, the plastic plant in front of the door shook as if caught in a strong wind.

Both men swung around with guns ready. The taller one closest to Beau spoke in rapid-fire Spanish, and the shorter man moved stealthily toward the plant. When he had almost reached it, it shook again. He jumped back and fired off a couple rounds from his revolver. The sound of the shots resounded off the ceiling of The Jungle Room, and the plant stopped moving.

Beau didn’t waste time wondering who had rattled the plant or if they had been shot. With both men’s attention diverted, he scooted back against the glass table and tried using a metal leg to saw through the duct tape that bound his hands. While he worked, the shorter man moved closer to the plant and kicked it out of the way.

The taller one spoke again, but this time slow enough for Beau to understand that he wanted his comrade to “check it out.” The shorter one didn’t seem real keen on the idea, but he obeyed. Moving up against the wall, he slowly peeked around the edge of the door. When nothing happened, he stepped inside the darkened doorway and disappeared from sight.

A few seconds passed before the taller man spoke again.

“Pacho?”

When there was no answer, he glanced nervously back at Beau before waving his gun and speaking in Spanish. Beau caught just enough words to figure out that he wanted Beau to go see what had happened to his friend.

Beau got to his feet. There was a good possibility that Pacho was just checking out the upper rooms, which didn’t give Beau a lot of time. He hadn’t been able to cut completely through the layers of tape, but he’d cut enough that one good tug should finish the job. But he would have to time it perfectly. If he screwed up, it could cost him his life or one of the hens’ lives.

Once on his feet, the man rammed him in the back with his gun, and Beau moved forward. He decided he would wait until he was inside the doorway before he made his move. That way there would be less chance of any bullets finding their way to a hen. As soon as he was over the threshold, he flexed his wrists and pulled. The tape ripped apart. But before he could make his move, a figure came out of the shadows with a frying pan held over its head.

Fortunately, the cast-iron pan didn’t come down on Beau’s head, but rather the man’s hand that held the gun. The gun clattered to the cement floor as the man yelped in pain. His yelps were cut short when the pan came back up and clipped him in the chin, knocking him out cold.

A second later, the light was switched on and Olive stood over the bodies of the two men with a mile-wide grin on her face. “Two down. Five to go.”

If there had been time, Beau would’ve kissed her.
Instead, he jerked the tape off his hands and searched for both of the guns. One he handed to Olive.

“Have you called the sheriff?”

She shook her head. “Can’t. They did somethin’ to the landline. And I ain’t had a cell phone since I wrote those bad checks.”

Beau slipped the other gun in the waistband of his jeans. He wanted to stay and help her tie the two men up, but time was ticking. Olive must’ve read his thoughts.

“Go on and save your sweetheart,” she said. “I can handle these two.”

“Are you sure?”

Olive shot him an insulted look. “Does a huntin’ dog have ticks?”

Beau flashed a grin before he took the stairs two at a time. He came out in the ballroom and ran straight to the front door, figuring it would be best if he moved around the front of the house and approached on the other side of the barn. He jerked open the front door and sprinted out only to come to a skidding stop on the porch.

The brick circular driveway was filled with cars, a huge Winnebago, and a bunch of women with picket signs resting over their shoulders. Marcy Henderson was standing in the midst of them, talking loud enough for all to hear.

“… so you can see that it was all just a misunderstanding. When Pastor Robbins discovered I worked at the henhouse, he mistook my flirtation for something more.”

A creak had Beau glancing behind him. Rachel Dean rocked in one of the wicker rockers on the porch, her picket sign propped on the railing.

“Well, I can certainly see how the pastor was confused,” she said. “Marcy can flirt the pants right off a
man. And I’m glad she’s clearing things up. I sure wasn’t lookin’ forward to mannin’ a picket line. My bunions are killin’—”

“You need to get everyone out of here, Rachel.” Beau strode past her to the railing at the end of the porch. “Then you need to call Sheriff Hicks and tell him that Jenna has been taken hostage by armed men.”

He didn’t stop to explain, and fortunately Rachel Dean didn’t expect him to. By the time he vaulted the railing and headed around the corner of the house, she was issuing orders like a drill sergeant.

“Put those picket signs down, and everyone get to your cars! Twyla, get me your cell phone!”

When Beau got to the back of the house, he peeked around a lilac bush and found two of Alejandro’s thugs guarding the front door of the barn. He ducked back against the house and popped the clip out of the gun to check his ammo. It was half full, more than enough to take out the two men. Still, he wasn’t willing to waste bullets if he didn’t need to. Not when there was a side door to the barn and enough mesquite that ran along the fence to hide behind.

The door on the side of the barn opened into the tack room. And once Beau made sure the room was empty, he moved over to the door that led into the barn and cracked it open. The barn was dark, the only light coming from the sunlight filtering in through the cracks and knotholes of the wood siding. He couldn’t see Jenna and the men, but he could hear her. She was leading Alejandro on a wild-goose chase. One Alejandro was growing weary of.

“I’m starting to think that you’re playing me for a fool, chica,” Alejandro said.

“Now why would I do that?” Jenna tossed back. “Especially when your henchman is pointing his gun right at me. The money is here. Sal just needs to dig a little deeper.”

“You better be right,” Alejandro said. “If not, Sal is digging your grave.”

Just the thought of Jenna lying dead in the ground had Beau easing out of the tack room. Fortunately, Minnie had yet to clean out all the old antiques from the barn so there were plenty to hide behind. He moved over to the double doors of the barn and peeked out through the crack. Both men were still standing guard, but seemed to be preoccupied with trying to see what was going on in the front of the house. While their attention was diverted, Beau picked up a piece of rope and tied the handles on the backs of the doors together. It wouldn’t hold them forever, but hopefully long enough. Once the rope was knotted, he moved toward Jenna’s voice.

“… now there’s no need to look so skeptical, Alejandro,” she said. “Tonight you’ll be rollin’ in your drug money.” Her voice didn’t betray the lie. In fact, it didn’t hold a tremor of fear. Beau, on the other hand, was scared enough for both of them. Especially when he peeked over the seat of an old wagon and saw the gun pointed straight at Jenna’s head. A head that glowed like spun gold in the shafts of sunlight.

Sweat gathered in Beau’s palm and felt slick against the steel of the gun. What if he missed? It had been years since he’d shot a gun. What if his aim was off and he hit Jenna? He might’ve remained frozen forever if Jenna hadn’t glanced up. Her gaze locked with his, and in one split second, all of Beau’s fears completely disappeared.
Not because of the love he saw in her eyes, but because of the trust.

Coming from a woman like Jenna, who only trusted herself to do things right, it was just the jolt of confidence he needed to lift the gun and take aim. The bullet was true. It hit the man in the arm, causing him to drop the gun. Within seconds, Jenna had it pointed at Alejandro.