Page 45 of A Ranger for Christmas
Relieved, she attempted a smile. “Kyle.”
His steady gaze settled on Bradley. “You all right, Marisa?”
“Bradley was just leaving.”
Bradley glared at the two of them, and though he wanted to say more, he brushed past them and stormed down the steps toward his car.
Kyle raised an amused eyebrow. “So what’s the deal with Bradley?”
“He just admitted to trashing my office.”
Kyle stepped over the threshold and set the groceries on the lone table. “Why?”
“To teach me a lesson.” She closed the door.
“So he has all the papers?”
“I suppose. I don’t care. My work is backed up, and I remembered the code.”
Kyle rubbed his chilled hands together. “How much?”
“The entire collection of messages.” She checked her watch, imagining the Rangers storming the storage shed now. “Lucas and his men are on the way.”
“You always did have an amazing memory. What was the key to the code?”
“The Mayan and Aztec languages. It’s a mixture of glyphs and numbers. Simple, really.”
“Simple for you. Not for most. I doubt there’s one other person on the planet who could have broken it.”
“You could have cracked it.”
“Maybe.” The phone in Kyle’s bag rang.
The ringtone had a familiar melody that captured Marisa’s attention. She watched as he grinned and fished the phone from his pocket. By the third ring, she recognized the tune. It was the song she’d heard while she’d been trapped in her car. A unique sound that she’d never heard before.
Marisa watched as Kyle glanced at the number, paled, and pushed the phone back into his pocket purse.
“Who was that?”
Kyle’s lips flattened into a thin line. “No one.”
“You don’t look well.” She thought about the code she’d broken. Kyle could have written it.
“I’m fine.”
Kyle raised gray eyes that narrowed a fraction, like an outlaw sizing up the sheriff. His hand slid behind his back, and he removed a gun.
Chapter 15
Wednesday, December 24, 11A.M.
Marisa took a step back. “You were at the accident.”
Kyle nodded. “You heard the phone that night, didn’t you? They were calling to see if I’d done the job.”
Her stomach turned and threatened to upend. “You were sent to kill me.”
He glanced from side to side, as if to make sure no one was watching. He swallowed, and his gaze grew heavy with sadness. “Not kill you. Scare you. Buy some time.”
