Page 53 of The Soldier and the Cowboy

“How much worse could it get than my wife’s head in a box?” Cal roared.

“Next time it could be yours,” Bailey said quietly before getting up and excusing herself from the table.

A minute later, Cal poured a glass of iced tea and quietly left the house. Bailey sat in the glider, rocking gently. He sat beside her and handed her the tea.

“No, thank you,” she said.

He took a sip of the tea and set it on the table beside him. He slid his arm around her, and she leaned into him.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” he said after a while.

“You’re understandably upset about everything. I get it, and I don’t blame you,” she said. She didn’t want to disturb the peace again, but she had to say what she needed to say. “Cal, you’re going to have to trust me on this. They need to be stopped or it’s going to keep going. Do you want Jinx to be next? Estralita?”

“I’m not saying they don’t need to be stopped. I’m saying you don’t need to be the one to stop them. That’s what the law is for.”

“When the law fails its people, the people take action. The government wasn’t protecting you. Isn’t that why you brought me here in the first place?”

“That was before,” he said.

“Before what?” she asked.

“Before I fell in love with you,” he said.

She paused. “I’m in love with you, too, Cal, but it doesn’t change who I am or what I need to do.”

“Bailey, I can’t stand by and watch you put your life on the line for something that has nothing to do with you,” he said.

She sat up and looked at him. “Nothing to do with me? It has everything to do with me. Haven’t you been payingattention? I said I’m in love with you. Do you think that means I can let this go on, knowing what they’re capable of, knowing what they’ve already done? And if you love me, it means accepting the soldier along with the woman. I will always be a marine, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. Semper Fi is more than an emblem on a jacket. This is what I signed up for; this is what I live for. If you have a problem with that, then you have a problem with me.” She reached across him and shoved the glass of tea into his hands. He took a sip, not really thinking about it until she refused it, shoving it back into his hands with the words, “Drink up.”

He froze. “Did you drug my tea?”

“Of course I didn’t drug your tea.”

But his head began to feel a little swimmy, exactly the same as when Jinx gave him the sedative two nights ago. “Then why won’t you drink it?” he asked, still suspicious.

She took the tea, downed it, and tried to hand him the glass but his fingers felt too weak and thick to take it. “I don’t feel so good,” he murmured. Or at least he thought he did. The sound was tinny, hollow.

Bailey moved aside and helped him to lie down in the glider. She smoothed her hand over his head a few times. “Sleep, sir.”

He grabbed her wrist. “You really didn’t drug my tea?”

She shook her head. “I drugged your pie.” She leaned in and kissed him full on the lips, and then everything faded to black.

Chapter 21

Sully and Cam stepped out onto the porch. “How long will he sleep?” Sully asked.

“A few hours at least. All night if we’re lucky. Jinx should be here soon to keep an eye on him,” Bailey said.

“I don’t want to be you when he wakes up,” Cam said, regarding his brother warily. He’d seen him in a temper enough times to know to be clear when he came to.

“Me neither,” Bailey agreed. “But I’m leaving Friday.”

“That’s still on?” Sully asked.

“That’s still on,” Bailey said. “So I’ll see you then. And, about tonight, you might want to turn your attention to the north, ignore any smoke or noises you hear from the south for a while. Just saying.” She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.

“Never a dull minute with you, girl,” he said, giving her head an affectionate pat. “Cam, always good to see you.”

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