Read Online Beholden by Pat Warren - Free Book Online Page B

convinced me.”
    Andy leaned down to kiss her bruised cheek. “You’re doing the right thing, Terry. I wish I could go with you.”
    “Me, too,” she told him, her eyes damp again. She’d be with strangers, for months, with no contacts. Dear God, how was she
     going to manage? To whom could she turn?
    “Andy, how is it you can’t be involved?”
    “Because once we call in federal agents, their authority supersedes the local police. Don’t worry, Terry. You’re in good hands.”
    “Chief Jones,” Terry said as he picked up his briefcase, “who is the agent who’ll be assigned to me?”
    Bob narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. It would take some fast talking, but he knew exactly who he wanted on her case. “I can’t
     say right now, but you’ll know soon enough.”

CHAPTER FOUR

    Luke Tanner paused with his hammer in midair, the nail only halfway in the fence board he was attaching to the post. His cabin
     was some distance from the road, the sounds of traffic usually muted by acres of tall pines, squatty evergreens, older cottonwoods,
     and pale green palo verdes. The noise from an approaching engine was rare enough to cause him to stop working, his eyes going
     to the winding dirt path, the only passageway to the main highway. Yuma had heard the car first and was already racing to
     meet the new arrival.
    Luke wasn’t expecting a delivery since whatever he purchased in town he hauled home in his truck himself. He wasn’t expecting
     a friend or neighbor since he’d met none since arriving two months ago. The last vehicle that had wandered in a couple of
     weeks ago had been a Jeep full of tourists who’d gotten lost. Checking to make sure his .38 was tucked into the small of his
     back at his waist, he let his hands hang loosely at his sides as he walked toward the front porch he’d finished reinforcing
     last week.
    He recognized the car the moment it came in sight, and the man who got out as soon as he’d parked the blue Buick behind Luke’s
     white pickup. A standard government issue vehicle driven by Bob Jones, who removed his suitcoat andtossed it onto the seat before striding forward, Yuma sniffing at his heels.
    “Seems as if you’re having a hot spell, same as we are down in Phoenix.” Bob rolled his shoulders after the two-hour drive,
     noting Luke’s inscrutable expression. The man definitely wasn’t glad to see him, but he was too disciplined to show it.
    He didn’t want to be unfriendly to his old friend, for Luke respected Jones as he respected very few. But he knew exactly
     why Bob had come. To get a rundown on how he was coming along, the unasked but implied question being how soon before he’d
     be returning, cutting short his leave of absence. It had happened before. The service was always shorthanded.
    Luke wished he knew the answer himself.
    “What brings you up my way?” Luke asked as they shook hands. Squinting at his commanding officer, he almost smiled. “As if
     I didn’t know.”
    Bob ignored the comment and strolled toward the back. “You’ve done wonders with this place.” He’d been up only once before,
     and then briefly, when Luke had purchased the ranch, surprising Bob. Luke had never indicated an interest in establishing
     roots. On the patio, he crouched to examine the flagstone inlays. “You have hidden talents.”
    “Glad you think so. How’s the family?” Jones had a wife and two young sons.
    “Fine.”
    Luke flipped open a folding chair, then went to the kitchen and brought back two long-necked bottles of beer. Without asking,
     he held one toward Jones before straddling the only other chair. Bending his head back, he drank thirstily, then eyed his
     boss. “All right, let’s have it.”
    Jones took his time looking the younger man over. A bit on the scruffy side, but Senior Agent Tanner looked tan and lean and
     strong, the restless energy more contained, thefatigue absent from his gray eyes. Those eyes that had had many a subject squirming