Safe with a Stranger

“Yep. He convinced a judge that his other wives could do a better job of raising Jimmy in the Abu Fujarah tradition.”

“And a judge bought that? That a mother shouldn’t be allowed to raise her own son?”

Clare remembered how incensed she’d been. “The judge was one of Ramzi’s cousins and was probably on his father’s payroll.”

“Your ex has rich parents?”

“Very. They control most of the oil in their oil-rich nation. And they control most of the people there, too.”

Josh’s eyes narrowed and his lips drew together in a thin white line. He seemed to be taking this story personally, and Clare wished she understood why.

“I’m positive Ramzi will try to find Jimmy and take him back to his country,” she told him in a rush. “I don’t think Ramzi gives a flip about what happens to me, but Jimmy is his only son. I know he wants him and probably won’t rest until he gets him back.”

Would Josh think she was terrible for taking her son away from his father? Maybe. And maybe she felt a little bit guilty about that herself.

“I wouldn’t mind letting them visit with each other,” she added. “But I can’t lose my son forever. I can’t.”

Jimmy stirred in the backseat. Clare got on her knees and leaned over to check on her son. Josh needed a moment to let her story sink in. But as he turned to glance back at the baby, he caught a view that stopped him cold. Clare’s fashionable khaki slacks had pulled tight against the rounded curve of her bottom, and he was lost in a sudden flash of fantasy.

The outline of her bikini underwear was easy to trace under the slacks. Lordy mercy, but it had been forever since he’d seen a woman’s underwear. Or since he’d taken that same underwear off and enjoyed the fruit of the woman beneath. He hadn’t even given sex much thought lately, he’d been so wrapped up in other problems. To be more precise, since before he’d been in that firefight back in Afghanistan. The one that had taken his buddy’s life and landed Josh in the hospital and out of the Rangers for good.

Forcing his eyes away from the temptation in front of him, he tried to focus on the problem at hand. What would he be doing if he were in Clare’s place? Then again, what would he have done if he’d been in her ex-husband’s place?

If he’d been in Clare’s shoes, he would’ve done the same thing as she had. No question. But if he’d been in her ex-husband’s place, well…Different culture or not, Josh would never try to tear a child away from its mother.

“So you think those goons at the bus station were sent by your ex to kidnap your son?” he asked as Jimmy quieted down and she turned back around in the seat.

She nodded and set her mouth in a determined line. “Yes. At least, I did until they started shooting. I can’t believe that Ramzi would actually allow anyone to shoot at and possibly harm his son. Whatever else he is or does, my ex-husband loves Jimmy. I’m sure of it.”

“But you have no other ideas as to who those two suits might’ve been? Other than working for your ex, I mean.”

“None at all.”

“Then I think we have to assume that’s who they were. I guess it’s possible they weren’t really shooting at you back there. Maybe they were aiming at the truck’s tires. I did notice they weren’t the best shots in the world.”

Clare actually smiled at that, and Josh’s heart skipped a beat. Man, he’d never been so taken with anyone so fast in his life. Too fast or not, he knew in that instant he would do just about anything to keep her and her child safe.

“Okay. So, let’s talk about what you want to do from here,” he said with a little determination of his own clear in his voice. “You need a plan.”

An hour later they sat in a parked Lucille outside one of the rental-car agencies on the outskirts of the airport. They were waiting for the agents to come to work for the day at 5:00 a.m. Clare seemed convinced that driving to her old roommate’s home in Missouri was her best course of action. Josh wasn’t so sure.

He didn’t like the idea of her traveling so far with the baby alone. What if those goons caught up to them? She already looked about ready to drop. How was she going to drive herself and her child any distance at all, let alone to a city that was at least a twelve-hour drive away?

“Don’t you think you should contact your friend before you and Jimmy just turn up on her doorstep?” he asked as she changed her son’s diaper. “What if she’s out of town for business or on vacation or something?”

Clare looked up at him from under those spiky, blond lashes. “Maybe I should. It never occurred to me that she might not be there. Have you got a phone?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. Traveling light.”

“Me, too. Ramzi took all my electronics away while I was under his roof,” she admitted bluntly. “I’ll have to start all over again once I’m back home. But for now, I can call from a pay phone inside the rental agency.”

In a few minutes the rental agents arrived and opened up for the day. “Here,” she said as she turned to Josh with Jimmy in her arms. “You hold the baby while I go in and call Brenna. If everything’s okay, I’ll rent the car and be right back.”

Josh found himself in the spot where he’d never imagined he would be. Holding a toddler in his arms. Jimmy was still a little groggy from sleep and the baby leaned his head against Josh’s shoulder.

The yearning for a child of his own stole over Josh like the shadow of a cloud on a sunny day. He fidgeted slightly, not sure how to hold a kid, and not wanting to face the old pain of his family’s loss. For years he’d successfully avoided thinking about the curse. Just as he had successfully avoided being around kids.

Now he was stuck with both. Damn it.

He took off his hat and propped himself against the pickup as Jimmy blinked open his eyes and looked up at the man who was holding him in his arms. “Da De?” the baby murmured sleepily as he patted the overnight stubble on Josh’s cheek.

“No, boy,” Josh whispered. “I’m not your daddy. I’m not anybody’s daddy.” Saying it aloud brought back the old stinging regret. Josh ignored the ache as he’d always done before and did what he had to do to get by.

“But I’ll take care of you, son. Don’t you fret.” He would make sure this kid and his mother were safe—even if he had to use some of his grandmother’s magic to make it so.

“Josh!” Clare came running out of the agency office. “Oh. My. God. They’re there. In Missouri.”

She was out of breath and her face was pale and drawn. “A couple of Ramzi’s men have somehow already found Brenna. They’re waiting outside her house for Jimmy and me to show up. We can’t go to her for help. She was my best hope. What’ll we do?”

No problem there. “Climb back into Lucille. They can’t have her plate numbers and won’t be able to find us. You two will be safe with me. I won’t let anything happen.”

It was a promise he meant to keep. No matter what.

Chapter 3

“But where can we go? Where can we hide that they can’t find us?” Clare knew her voice sounded high-pitched and panicked. She felt herself falling over the edge into hysteria.

Josh started the pickup, and the good ol’ girl rumbled as he turned to speak. “This ex of yours apparently has a lot of pull—and a lot of money. Am I right?”

Clare nodded her head, but the words wouldn’t come. All her plans were going up in a blaze. Every idea she’d had for saving herself and her son looked like a dead end.

“So I’m guessing he can probably get a line on anybody you’ve ever known in your past. That means you and Jimmy can’t go to your old addresses or to any of your old friends or family.” Josh said the words easily, like a statement of fact, but he sure looked as unhappy about their meaning as she felt.

Calm. She had to remain calm. For Jimmy’s sake.

“I—I—Exactly right,” she stuttered breathlessly.

“Then I can’t figure any other way out. You and Jimmy have no choice but to stick with me.

“Your ex doesn’t know who I am,” Josh added after a moment. “You and I didn’t know each other in the past. And…” He shook his head and set his mouth. “None of us seems to have any choice.”

“But stick with you to go where?” Clare knew the time had come to make a decision about Josh, but she just wished she’d been allowed more of an opportunity to get to know him. “You said you didn’t live anywhere at the moment. Where were you headed when you ran into us?”

Josh grimaced, put the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. “I was raised in south Texas, near the town of Zavala Springs. I was headed back there…to my grandfather’s funeral.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” So that was what the sadness in his voice had been all about. She’d known it must be something bad. “But Jimmy and I don’t want to intrude on your family’s time of sorrow. And, anyway, just going off with you doesn’t solve the real problem. Eventually I’ll have to face Ramzi again. Jimmy is his son, and the two of us will never be safe until the U.S. government gives us their protection under the law.”

Josh gave her a look that said, Too late. The decision has been made. Then he turned the truck at the next corner and headed up the on-ramp to Interstate 610 West.