Hard Ride to Dry Gulch by Joanna Wayne

Author:Joanna Wayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Travis swallowed the curses that flew to his throat. The news from John Patterson hadn’t shocked him, but it meant he’d have to destroy Faith’s trust in her son—the only thing getting her through this.

“I’ll try to be there before that happens,” Travis said.

There was a short period of silence. “Don’t come to the office. Just give me a call,” John said. “I’ll meet you someplace where we can talk—off the record. Officially, you and I haven’t spoken.”

“Got it.”

When Travis broke the connection, he realized that both R.J. and Faith were staring at him expectantly.

Faith’s expression was grim and her smooth hands were knotted into tight fists, the strain mirrored in her dark, expressive eyes. “Was that phone call about Cornell?”

Travis hesitated, determining how to handle this. If he lied to her, she’d find out eventually, anyway. The lie would break their fragile bonds of trust. It might even backfire completely and send her running back to Georgio for help.

“It was, wasn’t it?” she repeated.

Travis nodded, dreading the questions that would follow.

“Has someone located him?” Her voice trembled.

“No, but there appears to be a credible lead.”

She exhaled slowly. “Finally. Is he in Texas?”

“Laredo, or at least that’s where I have to go to meet my source and follow up on the lead.”

“Sounds vague,” R.J. interjected. “Who is this source of yours, anyway? Is he in law enforcement?”

Travis stopped himself from blurting out that this was none of R.J.’s business. In a way it was his business now. Bringing Faith here for protection had changed the rules.

“He’s a friend,” Travis said, not giving anything else away.

“I don’t care who he is,” Faith said, “as long as he can help me find my son.”

“Nothing’s guaranteed,” Travis reminded her, knowing that if John was right, finding Cornell would dump a whole new set of worries and heartbreak on Faith.

“How far is it to Laredo?” she asked.

“Somewhere around five hundred miles, give or take a detour or two,” R.J. answered.

“Then just a short flight,” she declared, excitement building in her voice. “Planes fly out of Dallas every few minutes. Surely there’s one to Laredo tonight. All we have to do is call and see which ones have seats available.”

“Seats?”

“I’m going with you,” she said. “I’d go crazy just sitting around here waiting.”

How the devil had he bungled this up so bad? “Not a good idea,” Travis said.

“Why not?” Faith demanded.

Because she wouldn’t like what she’d learn. Because they might find her son behind bars.

“All I have is a lead, Faith. It may take days to track it fully. You’ll be a lot more comfortable waiting here.”

“I’m going with you,” she said firmly.

R.J. scratched his chin. “Might wind up no more than chasing a hawk’s shadow, Faith. If I were you, I’d let Travis do the legwork. He’s used to it.”

At least this time R.J. was interfering in Travis’s favor.

Faith shook her head. “It’s been ten months. Ten months of tears and heartbreak and fear that never lets go. If there’s even a chance this will lead to finding Cornell, I deserve to be there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.