Page 18 of Barry

“Believe it or not, so do I, Cap. So do I.” He glanced up and saw a plume of dust coming down the main road to the ranch. “You’ve got a visitor, Cap.”

Andrew glanced up. “I think we’ve got a visitor.” He smiled. “I called in another favor.” Andrew squared up on him. “This is something you’ll need to keep under your hat. You can’t tell anyone about it.” He stopped. “Well, you can tell Dr. Wheeler. He works for them, too.”

Barry frowned at him. “What in the hell are you talking about? I hear the words, but they aren’t making sense.”

“They will. Remember, I’m taking personal liability here by bringing you in on this, so nothing to anyone but Wheeler. Do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, Cap.” He still had no idea what the hell the guy was going on about. Andrew whistled loudly and waved to the blacked-out SUV as it entered the ranch yard. The truck pulled over to them and then stopped.

A squared-up and powerful man wearing jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat stepped out and extended his hand to Andrew. “Captain, good to see you again.”

“And good to see you. Thank you for coming out. I hesitated to call you, but this situation has gotten a bit crazy, and one of my own is being singled out as the fall guy. This is Barry Marks; he was in my squad when shit hit the fan.”

“Howdy, I’m Roman Alexander.”

“Sir.” Barry shook the man’s hand when it was offered.

“So, tell me what you have going on.”

Barry listened to Andrew tell the man every detail of the situation. He even included what Barry believed he saw. “The murder of that guy from up north isn’t onanyone’s radar except the people who have no leads. He was a meth head, and I don’t know how much resources the State can put on this. The shots were taken at Tegan and Barry, and the destruction of property, plus poisoning his dog, is intentional. And I learned today that one of the ladies in town has a picture of a man wearing a ghillie suit with a rifle.”

Barry watched as the man looked down at the toes of his boots. “I’m going to need a bit of information on this guy named Fish. I’ll run down what I can.”

“I already have connections looking for that. A senator who owes me is working on it. He said they could get me answers in a couple of weeks.”

Roman smiled and then laughed. “Answers he wants or is allowed to give you. I can get the truth in less time. We can also take a look at the evidence and see if we can make some suggestions—anonymously, of course. You won’t be able to do too much with the information; it won’t be official, but you’ll have answers, and you and the sheriff can work backward from the truth and find the starting point of this mess.”

“I appreciate that.” Andrew reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded square of paper. “This is the information you’ll need and the mission's name, which is classified.”

“I assure you my clearance is higher than this classification.” Roman chuckled.

“I have absolutely no doubt about that.” Andrew extended his hand. “Thank you again for driving out here.”

“I was heading north anyway. Not too far out of the way. Barry, it was good to meet you. Keep your ass down, my friend.”

“You can count on it,” Barry said as he shook the man’s hand again. Roman got into the SUV and pulled away. “CIA?” Barry asked.

“Nope. Guardian Security.” Andrew looked at him. “And you never saw or heard any of this.”

“Any of what?” Barry asked.

“Exactly.” Andrew pointed at the back of the truck. “You have more feed to unload.”

“That I do.” Barry glanced at the half-empty truck. He watched Andrew walk back to the house, and then he grabbed a bag. Somehow, the weight of his memories didn’t seem as heavy as they were earlier. Hell, even the feed bags felt lighter. Besides, he had a date tonight, and he would focus on that.

CHAPTER 8

Kathy glanced around the house to make sure everything was in order. She had no idea why she was so nervous about tonight. Barry had been coming over every Friday night for months, but … She smiled and twirled around a bit, laughing at the thought of being so excited about being intimate with him. She wasn’t experienced with sex, although she wasn’t a virgin either. She’d gone to college and had one or two regrettable relationships. Regrettable because she’d been raised that giving herself to a man was saved for love. She hadn’t loved either of the men she’d dated, and they sure as heck didn’t love her. The second one had dropped her the next morning, which was a soul-crushing experience. She’d felt so dirty and used. It had taken her a long time to get over that jerk. But she had, and she’d vowed that if she didn’t have true feelings for a man, they weren’t getting close to her.

She’d forgotten all those promises to herself the night she’d woken up looking into Barry’s eyes. The accident was nothing but glimpses of memories. Something darting across the road. Her overcorrection, the tires not grabbing on the ice, and then the impact of her head as she ran off the road. She didn’t remember walking to the dance or opening the door. Then, the next thing she remembered was Barry looking down at her like she was the most important thing in the world. She’d asked Gen for Barry’s telephone number. She’d needed to thank him. One call led to two, and then, he’d finally called her first. They’d met at the diner and talked. She’d invited him to dinner with her parents because she didn’t know him that well and wanted a buffer. That invitation to dinner was the best thing she’d ever done.

What had made her fall for him was the way he’d been completely transparent and honest with her and her parents. He’d explained he had problems with anger caused by his time in the service.

Her father put down his knife and fork. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I’d like an honest answer.”

Kathy felt her heart leap into her throat and started to object, but Barry held up a hand. “It’s okay, Kathy. Go ahead, sir. I’ll answer it as honestly as I can.”

“In one of those rages, would you hurt her?” He pointed to his daughter.

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