Chapter 12
Nikki turned over and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Five minutes after two o’clock. She sighed and sat up, giving up on the idea of sleep for the night. As she gathered her robe, she wondered if Dylan was awake.
She entered the kitchen to find the stove hood light on dim and a pot of coffee still hot. The laptop glowed in the dimness on the other side of the room and she approached it.
Dylan was away from the table but he’d left the computer on. Nikki sat down and touched the shift key, waking the screen. She’d gone through the current screen a couple of times before she sensed him watching her. Looking up, she saw Dylan leaning against the door frame separating the kitchen from the mudroom.
“Everything okay outside?” She asked, sure of where he’d been.
“Quiet as a mouse, except for the coyotes in the hills.” He went to the coffee maker and reached into the cabinet overhead, extracting two mugs and filling them. After bringing them to the table, he retrieved sugar and cream for her.
Nikki doctored her coffee then sipped it, hoping the caffeine would do its work. “When do you sleep?”
“I get plenty of sleep. I’m trained for interval sleeping on the job.”
“But you weren’t sleeping tonight, were you?”
He shook his head. “Couldn’t. So I thought I’d do some studying on our friends, the border guards.”
“Is that their name?” she said, automatically thinking of Mark and the unknown man she’d overheard.
“Probably not. Mostly, they don’t have names, don’t have official groups. It’s just the name I assigned them.” He glanced at the computer. “Generally, they’re just men and women with set views on the illegal alien issues. Some are more vocal about it, more extreme than most.”
“And are those the ones focused on us right now?” She said, laying her mug aside, her stomach suddenly queasy.
“Seems so.” He looked at her then. “I understand your convictions, Nikki, and I admire them. But I have to ask you. Are you willing to die for them?”
She swallowed, took a deep breath, and met his gaze squarely. “I don’t know.”
They satat the table for an hour or more, talking. Nikki told Dylan of finding the bodies in the desert when she was younger, of her grandfather, and of her deep belief that what she was doing was right. When he didn’t urge her to give up her actions she asked him why.
He didn’t answer for a minute then he reached out and took her hand. Before, he’d done so to comfort. Now, he entwined their fingers and she wondered where her flesh stopped and his began.
“I want to. I want to ask you to stop anything that could put you in danger of getting a scrape or a paper cut. I want to wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you safe. But I didn’t fall in love with that woman. I fell in love with the woman who wears her heart on her sleeve. The woman who lives the faith she believes in. I fell in love with the woman who takes chances and puts herself at risk for people she’ll never meet. And who cries for a man who died in the desert.”
She felt her eyes fill with tears now. These tears, though were those of joy that his feelings were the same as hers. She sniffed and looked down at their joined hands. “And I fell in love with the man who’d never think of asking me to give it up. Who joined me.” She looked up at him. “And the man who’ll join me in trying to stop the group who’ll harm the migrants.”
He drew in a sharp breath. “Nikki—”
“I have to, Dylan.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a breath before letting it out slowly. “Only if I can call in some favors.”
Hank hada little to say about Dylan’s plans. “What are you thinking? You’re not supposed to put your client in more danger, man. You’re supposed to keep her out of it.”
“She’s going to do it, Hank. If I don’t help her and leave this ranch, she’ll wait a couple of days and go out and confront the border guards on her own.”
“You’re not leaving that ranch and you and I both know it,” Hank groused. “You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?”
“Maybe.” Dylan had heard rumors of other BP bodyguards and agents falling for their clients but he’d only thought they were that, rumors. Now, he wondered.
“Just don’t quit,” Hank muttered.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Dylan said, though he’d have to rethink the active jobs Maybe he could get a desk job and help out on the ranch. If Nikki would have him.
“What do you need?” Hank finally said, a note of resignation in his voice.
“At least a couple of guys. I don’t have a good feeling about numbers. And there’s not been a clear message regarding time, has there?”
“No. It’s clear as mud. I think the communication is local. Phones, face-to-face communication. We haven’t had time or reason to tap local phones and the sat phones aren’t easy to breach.”
“Which is why we use them,” Dylan agreed. “We’re planning on going out every night. If you can get somebody here soon, I’ll try to get Nikki to hold off.”
“But you probably won’t, right?”
“You’re married to a strong woman. What would Sadie do, in this case?”
“I’ll get to work,” Hank said with an audible sigh. “Watch your six, man.”
Dylan disconnected the call and leaned back in his chair. He had a bad feeling about this.
That nighthe gathered the equipment they’d need. He cursed himself again for not bringing his night vision glasses. Hank had assured him the men coming would bring several pairs but that wasn’t any good right now, and Dylan had the feeling he’d be needing something. On a whim, he called Dan. “You got any night vision equipment I could borrow?”
“Why?” The word was drawn out almost into two syllables and Dylan winced.
“Nikki and I are taking a drive tonight.”
“Again, why?” This time, the request was almost staccato.
“Look. I need some night vision. You got any and can I use them?”
“I’m at home, man. I’m off for the first time in three weeks. I’m not leaving this house.”
“Understood. Say hi to Merry and the kids.” He disconnected the call and checked to make sure his pistol was clean and ready. He’d left the clip out and now glanced at it then stuck it in his pocket. He’d wait until he was in the truck to load his sidearm. When the phone rang, he plucked it up and answered. “Yeah?”
“I’m willing to meet you halfway,” Dan said briskly.
“Great, I can leave in five.”
He walked into the mudroom where Nikki was wrapping bars of soap in colored paper and tying them with burlap ribbon. “I’m taking a drive up north. Want to come along?”
“Why?” She said and wiped her hands on her jeans, calling his attention to her lean, shapely thighs.
“I’m getting some equipment from Dan.”
“Are we driving to Antelope Pass?”
“No. He’s at home in Deming. We’re meeting him halfway.”
She shrugged and went for a lightweight jacket before locking the house and heading for the truck. As they drove she questioned him about his sister and her family.
“They’ve been married eight years. Have a little boy and a girl, both of them spoiled rotten and bright as can be. Merry works at the elementary school part-time so the kids can’t get into too much trouble.”
“And Dan?”
“He’s the one who spoils them,” Dylan said. “I think he feels guilty not being at home every night. With Antelope Pass being so isolated, he has to stay there while he’s on duty so he doesn’t get to go home every night. Merry seems okay with it but I wonder sometimes. Our dad was the same way.”
Nikki was silent and wondered, if they had a future together, would she have to say goodbye to Dylan for long periods. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she cautioned herself about making plans or even having dreams of a future with him. Just because he said he loved her didn’t mean he was willing to have a future with her. And in such an isolated area.
They met Dan at an intersection and Nikki watched the two men talking intently. She’d elected to stay in the truck, suddenly tired and feeling out of sorts. She wanted to go home, to make her soaps and lotions, and to talk to her animals in peace. She didn’t want to be a crusader. To drive into the dark desert in search of a group of people intent on hurting or frightening innocents only wanting a decent life. Intent on frightening or hurting her.
Dylan stowed whatever it was he’d picked up behind his seat then settled into the driver’s seat beside her. He watched as Dan pulled out and headed back toward Deming then turned to Nikki. “You okay?”
She nodded and slumped into the passenger seat. “Just tired, I guess.”
“We don’t have to do this, you know.” He said as he pulled onto the state road that headed back to the ranch.
“I know.” She said and turned her head away to stare at the desert as it went by. He got the message and turned his attention to the road ahead.
They pulled into the drive at dusk and she went into the house, trying to find something to be positive about. As she changed into her work boots and jacket, she thought about her home in Albuquerque. A one-bedroom apartment in a sterile building, surrounded by manicured desert plants and an occasional small water feature, the apartment community had been as emotionally fulfilling as a blank page. She’d never regretted returning to the ranch and she didn’t now. But did she regret starting her personal mission of leaving water in the desert? Maybe a little, right now.
She headed to the goats and chickens, aware of Dylan trailing silently behind her. As she picked up the buckets and headed to the chickens, she was aware of the self-pity she was entertaining and decided to let it run its course. She murmured her complaints to the hens, dodging the two more cross hens’ beaks as she took their eggs and petted them on their little heads as she left the pen. She met Dylan on the way back to the house and smiled at him, her complaints left with the clucking hens and roosters in their house.
“Feeling better?” he said and reached for her free hand.
She took his and nodded. “The chickens are great listeners.”
He frowned then his face cleared. “Didn’t want to share with me?”
She shook her head. “it wasn’t anything important. Just my pity party.”
When he looked confused she chuckled. “I was feeling sorry for myself and I needed someone to complain to.”
“Oh.” She realized he still didn’t understand but it was okay. He didn’t need to.
They went inside and fixed supper together, eating and talking easily. When the dishes were done Dylan turned to her and said. “You might want to get a nap in. We’ll be leaving around two.”
She nodded and headed toward her bedroom then turned. “Will you try to sleep?”
He nodded, his head down and his attention on a small duffle he was unzipping. “In a bit. Don’t worry. I’ll be alert when I need to be.”
She turned and headed to her bed and, hopefully, an hour or so’s rest. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”