Page 31 of The Soldier and the Cowboy

“Goodnight,” he said. He lingered a few beats longer and then turned and walked away, out of the hall, into the moonless night.

Bailey waited until he was safely gone and turned the opposite direction. She found a door that led to the back alley and took it, stepping through and inhaling the heavy air. It was a close night, oppressively so. For a moment it felt hard to breathe. She leaned on the wall and tried to force air into her lungs.

The door beside her opened and closed and then someone was leaning on the wall beside her. “You want to talk about it?” Sully offered.

“No, thank you,” Bailey returned.

“You want to cry?” he asked almost hopefully.

“I’m not so good at crying,” she said.

“Shame. I’m ridiculously good at comforting crying women,” he said.

She laughed a bit. “I could guess that you are.”

He took a deep breath and let it out. “As it seems any sort of romance between us is doomed before it gets off the ground, what do you say to being friends?”

“I’d say it sounds spectacular,” she said, surprising him by linking her arm through his and giving it a squeeze.

“Good. As your friend, I have something to tell you, something worrisome and important. It’s about Isabel.”

Bailey tensed. “What about her?”

“Cal won’t hear a word about who she’s dating, but I think you need to know. She’s been seeing the head of the cartel.”

Bailey looked at him, stunned. “What?”

Sully blew out another breath and swiped his hand over his face. “Isabel has always been difficult, hard to like, standoffish and a snob. Why Cal married her, we’ll never… Anyway, about a year ago I began to notice some changes in her, bigger mood swings, more erratic decision making. I became suspicious, so I started keeping an eye on her.”

“Drugs?” Bailey guessed. That had been the missing thing she hadn’t been able to put her finger on, the strange affect in Isabel’s concerning behavior.

“Drugs,” Sully confirmed “After she blew through all the money Cal gave her, she began offering other things in exchange for them. Eventually that turned into some sort of relationship, such as it is. I mean, you’ve seen her. She’s a beautiful woman, exactly the sort a drug kingpen would like to have in his keep.”

“She threatened Cal. I thought it was all talk,” Bailey said.

“It wasn’t,” Sully said.

They were silent a minute, each of them digesting the conversation. “What did you say when she said that?” he asked at last.

“I told her if she ever said it again, I’d kill her, and I meant it,” she said.

He paused a few beats longer, staring at the far wall. “Do it in Mexico. I have no jurisdiction there.”

He sounded half joking, but Bailey thought he was fully serious.

“I got in a shootout with some gang members. I took out their tires. Since then, I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she said.

“Girl, you know how to make friends, don’t you?” he said.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she said.

“Their idea of worse might be far more than what you’re thinking,” he said.

“Then I’ll have to make plenty sure my idea of the worst is more than they’ve ever dreamed,” she said.

He blinked at her. “I can honestly say this is the most interesting date I’ve ever had.”

“As dates go, it’s not half bad.” She clasped his hand and tugged him toward the door. “Let’s dance more.”

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