The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret

Chapter 14



Leaving Matt to wrestle with his own demons, Skylar headed out to the camper, ostensibly to let Talia out. With everything that was going on, especially after learning of José’s capture, she had a few calls of her own to make. It was time she told her supervisor everything, including the fact that her cover was blown. Everything except the fact that she’d told a tiny white lie about where the ammunition was being stored.

She considered herself lucky that David himself answered the phone. Keeping her voice unemotional and professional, she reported to him exactly what was going on, including the fact that her cover had been blown.

David cursed. “That’s not good. Not good at all.”

Inwardly wincing, she took a deep breath. “I know. And there’s more. The cartel is also apparently aware that I’m ATF. They want Matt to exchange me for his friend José.”

“What?” Now she’d succeeded in shocking the unflappable David. “He told you this?”

“Yes.”

He cursed. “Is he crazy?”

“No. We—I—believe Rodriguez feels if he had me as a captive it would give him some sort of bargaining leverage against the ATF.”

David snorted. “You and I know differently. Out of curiosity, what does Landeta want to do?”

“He isn’t sure. He asked my opinion.”

“I see.” The phone line went silent while David considered. “You do understand that this is out of the question? I cannot allow any of my agents to be at risk.”

Skylar forced a chuckle. “Of course, sir. I honestly think this is just a ploy. They’re throwing a lot of scenarios out there and trying to see which ones stick.”

“Even if that’s the case, I’ll need you to come in” was his response, as she’d expected. Standard procedure, for her own protection. After all, her boss was a play-it-by-the-book type of person.

“I think I can still do some good here,” she said, still warring with herself internally whether or not to spill all of the beans.

“How so?” he asked mockingly. “Your cover is shot to hell, and people are disappearing left and right. Even the damn Mexican cartel knows who you are. You could be next.”

“Maybe,” she conceded. “But I don’t think so.”

“Explain.”

Taking a deep breath, she told David what Matt had said about his family and the cartel, and how he’d stockpiled the ammunition merely as bait to bring Diego to him.

“And you believe this nonsense?” David’s scathing tone told her he did not. “Matt Landeta is all about the almighty dollar. He’s gone through elaborate methods to keep his wealth hidden—we know he’s a multimillionaire several times over, but haven’t been able to pinpoint the source of all that money.”

“So you think that means it was gained illegally?” she finished for him.

“Exactly.”

“Not true. He told me he won the lottery.”

David snorted. “And you believed him? He’s lying, Skylar. Face facts.”

“But Matt’s not the kind of person who—”

“Who what?” David barked, making her realize she’d just revealed way too much.

This time, she had enough sense to remain silent.

But it was too late. She’d already given herself away.

“You’re coming in,” he said. “Now.”

“But, sir—”

“Do I have to remind you that none of this is personal?” Relentlessly harsh, he hammered the words through the phone. “You are a federal agent and are there to uphold the law. Nothing more, nothing less. If Matt Landeta is breaking the law, you—or in this case, we—will have no choice but to arrest him. Regardless of the reason behind his actions. Where the law is concerned, reasons don’t matter. Is that understood?”

Textbook. She’d learned all this at Quantico. Well aware of how much she’d managed to make herself look like a fool, Skylar swallowed hard and answered in the affirmative.

A long silence while her boss considered. “We’ll debrief you fully when you get back to headquarters. In the meantime, is there anything else you would like to report?”

“No, sir. That’s everything.” Throat tight, Skylar knew for the first time in her career she was going to disobey a direct order. Up until this particular assignment, her job had been more important than anything.

Now she’d found something that meant more.

Saddened but resolved, she decided to give it one more try. “Sir, please let me stay. I’ve worked super hard on this case. I think I can still do some good here.”

“No.” He didn’t even hesitate. “I’m pulling you now. You’re in too much danger with your cover blown.”

Aware that no amount of arguing would sway him, she kept quiet.

Taking her silence for assent, David continued, “Now that we’ve settled that, let me fill you in on what we’ve learned. The cartel—La Familia, to be exact—is now aware of the location of the stored ammunition. Perhaps this is due to their capture of José Nivas.”

Skylar waited expectantly. Would the location be the false one she’d reported earlier? If so, Matt and José would be right. There had to be a mole inside the ATF.

But David’s next words were worse.

“Your intel was wrong, incidentally,” he continued. “The stockpile is not inside the basement of the original ranch house. Landeta keeps it in some large caves on a remote part of his property.”

“Seriously?” she blurted. “Where are they located?”

“We’re getting the exact location now. We’ve got somebody undercover working the border. He got word that La Familia has been looking for the site and finally was successful.”

“What about the other group?” she blurted. “Diego Rodriguez and his people, the ones who’ve supposedly captured José Nivas. Do they know where it is, as well?”

“That, I couldn’t tell you. But it’s highly likely,” he said. “We’ve learned that there are two groups involved. La Familia, the big, bad guys. And a second, splinter group, headed by your Diego Rodriguez. La Familia plans to take the ammo. We believe Diego is the one with whom Landeta has been making arrangements for purchase. Rodriguez is apparently trying to split off from them and form his own fledgling cartel. La Familia doesn’t take kindly to stuff like that.”

He cleared his throat while she sat stunned.

Good intel, she thought. It was as accurate as if she’d been reporting the truth all along. Which she should have been doing. Damn.

When he continued, his brisk, businesslike tone had taken on a bit of sympathetic warning. “To sum this up—you’ve got two warring groups both heading for Landeta’s ranch after the same ammo. Either way, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

Add to that the ATF special-operations teams, which she assumed he’d be sending in. Damn and double damn. “I can assume you’re planning to try to arrest the Mexicans?”

David snorted. “I doubt there’ll be many left alive, but yes. We’ll extradite them back to Mexico to stand trial there.”

Back to Mexico. Exactly like Matt had said. Where if they were connected well enough, they’d go scot-free. Otherwise, they’d be executed by their former compadres before they ever made it to trial.

Either way, the situation was even worse than Matt thought, especially if the ATF and both Mexican groups knew the real location. A powder keg waiting to explode. She shuddered. All she could think of was how badly she needed to find Matt and let him know.

“When?” she asked. “When is all this going down?”

“Word has it that La Familia is making a move soon—likely tomorrow night—and that they plan to leave no one alive.”

She thought fast. “Unless, of course, we’re able to intercept them and prevent it. If we can help it, we’ve got to stop them from getting their hands on that much ammunition. I think I can do that, sir.”

“Do you?” The sarcasm in his voice wasn’t lost on her. “This assignment has been a colossal failure on your part,” David mused. “We’ll go over that in person, but I have to say we’ve learned more from outside sources than we have from you.”

Clenching her teeth, Skylar didn’t respond. What did he expect her to say anyway? Apologize? Damned if she would. She’d done what she’d thought was right. She’d done her best.

As the silence dragged on, she debated ending the call. David had always liked to make her squirm, but until now, he’d had little to use against her.

“Maybe next time things will go better,” she finally said. This was about the safest, blandest statement she could come up with. If she said what she really wanted to say, she’d be fired.

“Next time?” A hint of steel colored David’s dry tone. “I’m not sure there will be a next time. We do have more capable undercover agents, you know.”

Skylar winced. “So you’re pulling me, and then what? You don’t have anybody else in place. You’ve got the most powerful cartel in Mexico making a move tomorrow night, which will result in what you yourself have just described as a bloodbath. What are you going to do about it?”

“Right now we’ve got a request in before the judge for a search warrant. As soon as that’s in place, we’re moving a couple of teams in.” David sounded smug and satisfied. “They won’t be expecting us, so we’ll have the element of surprise on our side.”

Gripping the phone so hard her hand hurt, Skylar wanted to scream and curse at him. She wanted to tell him what she thought of his high-handed treatment. But she didn’t, partly because if she did so it would only reinforce his already low opinion of her and partly because she knew in some aspects David was actually correct.

She had failed. But how could she make things right if he wouldn’t give her a chance to redeem herself?

“Maybe you’re right,” David said, making her realize she’d said the words out loud. “There is something you can do to assist us.”

It was all she could do to keep holding on to the phone. “What is it?” she asked. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”

“Talk to Matt,” he said, surprising her. “You’ve got to warn him. Hell, it should be easy enough to do now that your cover’s blown.”

Confused, she agreed. “How is that going to help anything?”

“Simple. Tell him we can abort this whole thing if he’ll just give us a confession. We won’t need to wait for the warrant then, so our teams can swoop in and remove the ammunition, plus deal with the Mexican nationals once they arrive.”

A confession. Briefly, she closed her eyes. Matt would never confess to something he hadn’t done. And worse, Matt wanted Diego Rodriguez so badly he was blind to the disaster about to unfold.

David spoke again. “Meanwhile, we’re going to keep the request for the search warrant in motion. If I don’t hear from you within one hour, I’ll go ahead and green-light the original plan.”

“Yes, sir.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll do my best.”

Evidently he felt it was necessary to give her yet another warning. “Remember, a lot of bloodshed can be avoided if Landeta will simply confess. You make sure to tell him that, will you?”

“Got it.” Skylar heard the unnecessary reminder. Still, there was one more important thing that hadn’t yet been mentioned. “Oh, I need to know something else. What about José Nivas?”

“What about him?” David sounded slightly impatient, as though he’d already moved on to other, more important tasks.

“Are we going to do anything to get him out?”

There was the briefest of hesitations, enough to give Skylar her answer. Shocked, she couldn’t push the accusation past the lump in her throat. This was the organization she’d devoted her life to for the past several years. They were, every one of them, sworn to uphold the law. And at this point, no matter how bad things looked, both José and Diego were innocent until proven guilty.

They couldn’t just abandon him to his fate. She had to be wrong about this. She had to be.

“We’ll see what we can do,” David said. “We’ve got a couple of sharpshooters on the special-ops team. I’ll try to designate one to protect Nivas. After all, we wouldn’t want him to become collateral damage, now, would we?”

“Not at all.” In this, they were in agreement.

“Oh, and, Skylar? One more thing. I don’t have to stress to you how important this is. Our entire operation—not to mention your career with the ATF—is riding on this. Get it handled and head in for debriefing. Got that?”

Wishing David would hurry up and end the call, she realized her hands were shaking. Her entire career. And there you had it. Though she knew Matt trusted her somewhat, she understood there was no way he would agree to confessing. No way in hell.

Truth be told, she didn’t want him to.

Still, she had to at least give Matt the opportunity. As she went to find him, it dawned on her that she had the perfect bargaining tool: herself. Maybe Matt would consider doing what David wanted if they agreed to help him get José back safely. Once José was returned unharmed, they could clear up the mess that would be created by Matt’s false confession. She certainly would testify on his behalf.

It was a long shot. But she had no choice.

David cleared his throat, reminding her he was waiting for a response.

“I understand,” Skylar replied.

Satisfaction rang in his tone. “I’m sure you do.”

After she ended the call, she sat motionless, trying to think. Without saying the actual words, her supervising officer had told her what would happen if she didn’t swing this case around the way he wanted.

Collateral damage. She knew that was exactly what José would be if she and Matt didn’t do something to free him.

Still...they wanted Matt to give a false confession. Simply so they could close the case and tie everything up neatly with a bright red bow.

Taking a deep breath, she went to find Matt and fill him in. Striving for calm, she’d try to present the news as objectively as possible.

He listened attentively while she described her phone conversation with David. When she’d finished, steeling her nerve, she asked him to consider confessing to a crime he hadn’t committed.

She felt as foolish as if she were requesting he jump off a cliff into a pool full of ravenous sharks.

“You want me to do what?” Matt stared at her as if she’d grown two heads. She didn’t blame him.

“I’m not sure I agree with this myself,” she said. She spread her hands. “I know it doesn’t make sense. But he says if you confess, the ATF will come in and remove the ammo, and we can avoid this entire gun battle.”

“They can do that anyway once they get their search warrant. You know as well as I do that they can trump up some charge.”

“We don’t operate like that,” she said automatically, even though she was actually beginning to wonder if that were true. “Once we get everything settled, I’ll help you sort it out.”

“No.” Crossing his arms, he shook his head. “I won’t confess to something I didn’t do. You know that. Not just no, but hell no. Absolutely not.” The icy look in his eyes told her he now regarded her as his enemy. This hurt more than she would ever have believed possible.

“I’m sorry,” she said, well aware that wasn’t enough.

“Why would you even ask me to do such a thing?”

“Because my boss asked me to,” she replied.

“And you?” he asked, his gaze searching her face. “What do you want?”

She spread her hands. “I’ve been ordered to come in. They’re pulling me. I wanted to make sure you knew all of the options that are available.”

“This is not an option.” He shook his head. “Skylar, your boss is right. I think it’s best if you leave. You’ve made it clear what side you’re on. I want you off my ranch. Today. Now. Just go back to your little camper, pack your stuff, grab your dog and go.”

Damn it. Frantically she tried to find the right words, wishing she could somehow make him see. “Please listen, Matt. It’s not the best solution, but it’s logical. You can keep a lot of blood from being shed.”

“Logical? To whom? You?” He practically spat the words. “That’d be fantastic for you, wouldn’t it? Your big case all wrapped up in a tidy ribbon. You’d get your promotion and I’d go on to prison, never to be heard from again. José would be what—collateral damage? And Diego and his men would go free. I don’t think so. It’s not going to happen.”

“I don’t blame you for thinking that,” she said. “But hear me out. The ATF has put in for a search warrant. Both La Familia and Diego’s group are headed here. You’ll be lucky to survive.”

Slowly he backed away, his normally expressive face like stone. “I’d rather die with honor than confess to a crime I never committed.” He pointed toward the door. “Go.”

She didn’t move. “You were planning to kill Diego,” she cried, feeling as though she were splintering into pieces.

“I told you I’d consider letting you arrest him.” The contempt in his voice was the final straw, especially since they both knew he’d do no such thing.

“Matt, please. They’re descending on your ranch in a matter of hours. If you want to have a prayer of defending yourself, never mind get José back alive, you’ve got to let the ATF help you.”

“Help me?” He shook his head. “By getting me to confess to selling ammunition to the cartel?”

“You’re the one who set that up. You did a damn fine job. For all intents and purposes, that’s what it appears you are doing.”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t have to.

She cleared her throat. “They’re coming regardless. What are you going to do? If you allow this shoot-out, then what? You have no intention of turning Diego Rodriguez over to the government, do you?”

“What’s it to you?” He practically spat the words. “You’re finished. Done. You can walk away and never look back.”

“I’m not going to,” she told him, praying he’d read the truth in her eyes. “Despite my orders, I refuse to leave.”

“That makes no sense.” He dragged his hand through his hair. “At least you’ll be safe.”

“Not without you.” Crossing the space between them, she wrapped her arms around him and held on. He held himself stiffly, as though he found her touch repellent, but she knew better.

Or thought she did. At least until he methodically removed her hands and stepped away from her.

“I’m staying,” she repeated. Then, relentless, she went in for the kill. “In a matter of hours, your ranch is going to be in the middle of a firestorm. You’ve got La Familia at war with Diego Rodriguez and his faction. On top of that, the ATF is swooping in with SWAT teams.”

“And José is still a captive.” Eyes narrowed, he watched her.

“Exactly. You’ve got to choose your top priority. Protecting the ammo and trying to get Diego, or bringing José back safely.”

He didn’t even hesitate. “José. Of course. José.”

“Then if you won’t take the ATF’s offer, you’ll have to let me do the exchange like Diego requested. Me for José.”

“What?” He inhaled sharply, almost a gasp. She’d managed to shock him. “No. I can’t risk—”

“For a man who just ordered me off his ranch, you’re acting awfully concerned for my welfare all of a sudden,” she pointed out. “I can handle it.”

Moving forward, she placed her hand on his arm. Though he tensed at her touch, this time he didn’t remove it. “I’m a crack shot, a trained law-enforcement officer and a veteran ATF agent.”

Dismay flickered in his eyes, the first real softening since she’d asked him to do the unthinkable and confess. He grabbed her hand, crushing it in his larger one. “You have a death wish,” he said slowly. “I should have seen this coming.”

“Oh, for the love of—” Silently counting to five, she took a deep breath. “I don’t have a death wish. And I’m not saying we really trade me for José. All we need to do is make it look like we will. You’re a sharpshooter. I read that in your file. You’ll have my back. I feel quite certain you can defend me if need be.”

He stared at her without speaking. The sudden speculative gleam in his gaze told her what he thought and why.

“Before you go thinking that I’m giving you permission to take down Diego Rodriguez, you should know this. I really believe this people exchange is just a distraction. Assuming they’ve even really captured him, there is the possibility that they really don’t plan to exchange José at all.”

A muscle flickered in his jaw. “I was afraid of that.”

“If they even have him,” she reminded him. “We still don’t know what’s really going on with him.”

Disregarding her words, he continued, “Does your boss think he’s already dead?”

“He didn’t say, but we can only hope not.” Briskly, she moved on, aware that to dwell on what-ifs would only make them indecisive and ineffectual. “He did promise me a sharpshooter to help in his rescue. Either way, José is a distraction.”

“A distraction to camouflage what?” he asked. “Their war with Diego and his group?”

“That’s part of it.” Lifting her chin, she met his gaze straight on. “I don’t know if Diego is aware that La Familia is onto him. I’m pretty certain he doesn’t know they’re moving in, as well. But Diego wants to keep everyone busy so they can swoop in and steal your ammo.”

“They don’t know where it really is,” he began, then stopped and looked at her, correctly reading her expression. “Hell. They do know, don’t they?”

She nodded. “I’m afraid so. I was told it’s kept in some caves on your property. The location is near the old farm-to-market road.”

“That’s right. But how do they know this unless José told them?” An expression of horror crossed his face as he realized this had to be the case.

“José had to tell them,” she concurred. “He’s the only other person who knows. Remember, Diego mentioned that’s also how they found out I’m a Fed.”

He swore, looking as if he’d like to punch something.

“I’m sure he didn’t tell them of his own free will,” she said, leaving unspoken what they both already knew. Unless, of course, José was really working with them. Which would explain the fifty thousand dollars he’d received from someone.

Matt looked grim. “I’m going to have to believe they tortured him. They had to. That’s the only way he’d reveal something like that. I’m sure of it.” He cursed again.

She still didn’t bring up José’s questionable behavior. Now was simply not the time.

“What do you want to do?” she asked. “Your choice. But you’ve got to make a decision quickly. We’re running out of time.”

“I’ve already told you. We’ve got to save him. No one else should die due to my actions.”

No one else? She went still. What more didn’t she know about this man? “No one else? What do you mean?”

“My family.” His mouth twisted. “My family died because of me.”

“Because of you?” Concerned, she frowned. “Is there something you forgot to tell me? In what way was it your fault that your family died?”

“I wasn’t there,” he said instantly and fiercely. “If I’d been there, at least they would have had a fighting chance.”

She reached out for him, but he easily evaded her.

“You can’t blame yourself for that,” she told him softly, aching.

The pain-filled gaze he turned on her damn near broke her heart. “Just like you can’t blame yourself for what happened to your husband and son?”

Feeling as though he’d just clubbed her in the head, she staggered back. “Touché, Matt Landeta. Touché.”

Instantly contrite, he crossed to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding on tightly. She let him, even though part of her was reeling. Not because he’d been wrong, but because he’d been right.

Capricious fate had dictated that her husband and young son be at the bank that day. Though she would have changed places with them in a heartbeat, what had happened that day wasn’t her fault.

It had never been her fault.

She looked up at him, wishing she could magically bring him the same sort of healing epiphany.

Though now was most definitely not the time.

“What is it?” he asked, his gaze searching her face. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

Standing up on tiptoe, she pressed a quick kiss against his mouth. “No, I’ve seen the light.”

One brow quirked in a question, he waited for her to continue. Instead, she moved away from him and crossed her arms.

“None of that matters right now,” she said. “But we’ve got a decision to make. So what will it be?”

He cursed but didn’t answer.

This she could understand, but she needed him to choose. Again she glanced at her watch, wishing she had a more exact timetable.

“I need to know. What it comes down to, Matt, is you’ve got to decide what you want to do. This time, it’s all up to you.”

And then, though it felt like one of the most difficult things she’d ever done, she left the room, giving him time alone to make his decision.