Page 46 of The Soldier and the Cowboy

“Come with me,” Bailey said. She grasped Corrie’s bicep and frog marched him to the tack room, closing and locking the door behind them. She had set up a small table with a couple of chairs, just in case, and now she used them, positioning Corrie in the seat across from hers.

“I want names, locations, details of your contacts,” she said.

“I don’t have any contacts. I told you I don’t know where that stuff came from. I don’t even do drugs.” He was clearly lying. Now that she was looking, she could see the twitchy eyes of a user. It had probably been a while since his last fix, and he was coming down, needing to refuel. That worked well to her advantage.

“I’m going to ask politely one more time. I want names, locations, and details of your contacts.”

“I don’t know anything,” he insisted.

Bailey reached across the table and snapped his middle finger. He roared with pain, tears springing immediately to hiseyes and rolling down his face.

“Now, I can snap that back in for you easily. All the pain will be forgotten. In fact, you’ll get such an endorphin rush it will make the high you get from opium seem like child’s play. Or you have nine more fingers. What happens next is up to you.” She pressed her palms to the table and leaned forward. “I want names, locations, and details of your contacts.”

“I only know my supplier’s name,” he yelled. He held his hand aloft, staring at his oddly bent finger in horror.

Bailey reached across the table and snapped his finger back into place. For a moment she thought he was going to pass out with the relief of it, but then he seemed to settle down and come back to his senses. “Start talking, and if I don’t like your answers, you’ll feel it.”

They talked for an hour, and then she released him back into Sully’s hands, weepy and shaking, clutching his fingers possessively to his chest. Almost as soon as she finished with Corrie, her phone rang.

“Hi, Major Dunbar, this is Cameron Ridge, Cal’s brother.” His voice sounded slightly hoarse with suppressed emotion, but otherwise he seemed able to carry on the sort of conversation they needed to have.

“Lieutenant Ridge, I’m so very sorry about your sister-in-law, sir.”

“Thank you. I had no idea the situation was so serious down there. Is Cal in danger?”

“Everyone is in danger until the situation is resolved,” she said.

He must have read something in her tone because he paused before he answered. “I take it you have a resolution in mind, Major.”

He didn’t have an accent at the beginning of the call, butwith those last words the twang began to seep in, and he sounded like Cal. “Yes, sir. But I’m going to need a few things.”

“I’m listening,” he said, and Bailey filled him in on her plan.

Chapter 19

Cal and Bailey were on the porch when Cam and Maggie arrived. He had been quiet all day. Bailey had remained near his side, quietly reassuring like a farm dog. As they sat on the glider, sharing their customary glass of iced tea, he gripped her hand, holding it like a lifeline.

The truck pulled up, the same one that had brought Bailey to the ranch a few weeks ago. Bailey wanted to lean forward, to get her first glimpse of the mysterious brother and his wife. But she refrained, holding back and letting Cal rise to greet them.

He stepped forward and the two brothers hugged for a long moment before the sister-in-law took her turn. When they moved closer, Bailey finally got a full view of them. Cameron was like a younger, shorter version of Cal, though he was well over six feet. His shoulders weren’t as broad, but he had the same commanding presence and the same easy smile, the same dark hair and eyes. Cal was better looking, and she didn’t think she was biased in thinking that. He was more classically handsome, debonair. He could have been a movie star in the forties. Or now, probably. The brother’s looks were cuter, more boyish in nature. He stepped onto the porch and held out his hand to Bailey.

“Major.”

“Lieutenant,” she replied, greeting him with a hearty shake.

“My wife, Maggie,” he said. “Fair warning: she’s a hugger.”

As if to prove the point, Maggie leaned forward and gave her a tight hug. “Hi, Bailey, it’s so nice to meet you. We’re big fans of Jane. And your dad.”

“Me, too,” Bailey said. “And it’s so nice to meet you in return. I’ve heard him mention you. He said you’re classy. That’s a big deal in his view.”

“Mine, too,” Cam said, tossing his wife an affectionate wink.

Maggie turned to Cal and tapped the plastic container in her hands. “I brought cookies. Can I make a pot of coffee?”

“Absolutely,” he said, easing his arm around her shoulders as he led her inside.

Cam and Bailey remained on the porch. “How’s he doing?” Cam asked her.

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