The landscape in the western part of the state was very different from back where Nikki had grown up. Here the land was flat, almost treeless and reached all the way out to the sky. By stretching the imagination a little, she could almost see the place where the earth actually rounded off a little. Back around Bowie, rolling hills were covered with scrub oak and mesquite trees and lots of cow tongue cactus.
But then a few miles out of Silverton, a town not much bigger than Montague, Tag suddenly cut the speed and they were going straight down into a big canyon. It was eerily beautiful that morning. Burnt umber and ochre, the two colors that she’d used in art class back in high school, came to her mind as she tried to take the whole scene all in with one glance.
The narrow road took them around curves, up hills, and down the other side. On every side of her were amazing rock formations, some reaching so high that she had to strain her neck to see the tops, and others looking like sand castles a child would build on the beach.
“This is awesome,” she said. “No cafés, nothing commercial, just a big hole in the ground with all kinds of gorgeous sights. This must be the best kept secret in the whole state,” she whispered.
Tag had grown up around Palo Duro, but seeing the canyon through Nikki’s eyes opened it up in a whole new light for him. He hadn’t thought of her travel being limited because of the disruptions in her family and then her decision to move out and live on her own at such a young age. Suddenly, he wanted to take her every place he’d ever been. Granted, most of them had been family vacations to wherever a rodeo was held, and the majority of them had been in the United States. But they had gone on a couple of cruises. He’d been bored out of his mind most of the time and had even considered jumping overboard and seeing if he could swim back to Texas. Now he wondered what it would be like to see the Mayan ruins and go snorkeling in the Gulf with Nikki.
“Look at that.” She pointed.
“That’s called the chimney,” he said. “I’ve seen bald eagles sitting up there a few times. This was one of my favorite places to ride my motorcycle.”
“Tag, you don’t have to give it up. If you love riding, then you should keep it.”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I can ever ride one again without flashbacks of worrying about you. When I talked to Mama this morning, I told her to donate it to the police department. Seemed fitting since they’re the ones who really saved you.”
“They couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t known where to send them.”
Tag didn’t know how to answer that comment, so they rode in silence for more than half an hour. He drove slowly all the way through the canyon. When they came up on the other side and reached the small town of Claude, he finally asked, “Do you want to go back the same way we came or go through Amarillo?”
“Let’s hit that little convenience store right there for a bathroom break and maybe something cold to drink, and then go right back the way we came. The light will be coming from a different angle that way. And could we stop at that place at the top and take a couple of pictures?” she asked. “We’d have to use your phone. Mine is still in my purse at your ranch.”
“Sure thing,” he said. “Want to pick up some snacks and have a picnic? There’s a table for that at the lookout over the canyon.”
“Sounds great. Let’s have junk food and root beer,” she suggested.
He held her hand on the way into the store. She headed off to the bathroom and he gathered up candy bars, chips, and a six-pack of root beer, set it on the counter, and handed the young man a twenty-dollar bill. The guy dropped his change and had to bend down to pick it up, then fumbled when he was putting the food into a bag.
“Sweet Jesus! You’re like a bad case of the itch that just keeps showing up.” Tag heard Nikki raise her voice at the back of the store.
“He’s got a gun,” the clerk whispered.
Tag dropped his wallet on the counter and headed toward Nikki but didn’t get there before she had kicked off her flip-flops and landed a square kick in Billy Tom’s crotch. He rolled forward, and she picked up a gallon of motor oil from a display and swung it like a Louisville Slugger. When it made contact with the side of his head, he fell backward, taking out a stand of Twinkies on the way down.
“Tell that kid I need some duct tape and call Sheriff Roberts,” she hollered at Tag. “I believe we’ve got something that belongs to him. And he doesn’t have a gun. If he did, he’d be brandishing it like he was a badass. He was bluffing.”
“Did you kill him?” Tag caught the roll of duct tape the kid threw toward him.
“I wouldn’t be so lucky.” She took the tape from Tag’s hand and peeled off a length wide enough to tape Billy Tom’s mouth shut. “He’ll wake up in a minute. It’d take more than that tap on the head to keep him down. He’s high as a kite on something. I can tell by his eyes.” She stuck the tape firmly across his mouth, then made two wraps around his legs. “You can work on his wrists. Do a good job or he’ll break free. I’ll be waiting in the truck. I’ve seen more of this sumbitch than I want to for the rest of my life.”
“She’s one badass woman,” the kid said. “I was terrified of him, but she scares me more. He got out of a semi that was filling up on gas. Guess he was hitchhiking. He told me that I would give him the keys to my motorcycle when he came out of the restroom and if I called anyone, he’d go to the school and shoot all the kids on the playground. I got a niece in kindergarten.”
“He was bluffing. Get on your phone and call the Claude police. Tell them to come get Billy Tom, the guy who escaped from the Swisher County jail last night.” Tag wrapped the tape from Billy Tom’s wrists to his elbows and did the same from ankles to knees, then trussed the man’s hands and feet together like a calf at a roping.
Billy Tom groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He tried to sit up, but Tag had roped him down really well. If it had been possible, he would have shot fire from his eyes at both Tag and the kid.
Tag leaned down and whispered right in Billy Tom’s ear. “If you ever, ever come after Nikki or any member of my family again, I will go on the stand and testify to all your past sins. Some of those will put you so far back in jail you’ll never see daylight.”
Billy Tom’s eyes popped out and all the color drained from his face. He struggled against the tape, but it wouldn’t budge.
Tag kept talking. “You know that I don’t make idle threats. But if that don’t work, they will never find your body. Nod if you understand what I’m saying.”
Billy Tom shot him a dirty look, but his chin bobbed up and down.
“That’s good, and you might pass it on to your buddies. The same goes for them.”
Another nod.
The kid made the call and turned to Tag. “He’ll be here in five minutes. Could you stick around?”
“Sure thing, but I already hear the sirens. They’ll be here right soon,” Tag said.
“Thanks,” the kid said. “I’d just feel better if…”
Tag nodded and pointed out the window. “They’re here now and will be coming in soon. My lady is waiting. I think you can handle this until they get in here. Just go on back to the cash register. He can’t get loose.” Tag picked up his purchases and wallet as he passed the counter and walked out.
On his way out, he passed two police cars, and four officers were running toward the store with guns drawn. Tag recognized one of them from the bar down in Palo Duro that he used to frequent on Saturday nights. “Hey, Kyle. That’s Billy Tom in there and you might want to keep part of that tape on him. He’s high on something and slippery as a slug.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” Deputy Kyle Robertson kept running. “We might be callin’ you about this later.”
“You got my number,” Tag hollered back.
He was more than a little surprised to see his own hands shaking when he put the bag of snacks in the backseat of the truck. When he got behind the wheel, he leaned over the console, took Nikki’s face in his hands, and kissed her—long and lingering and then passionate. When the kiss ended, his nerves were as steady as a rock.
“What was that for?” she asked.
“For just bein’ you,” he answered.
“Well, I got to admit I was trembling from head to toe when I got out here, but your kiss settled me right down. If that sorry sucker escapes again, I vote that we put out an order to shoot first and ask questions later,” she said.
A surge of pure happiness swept through Tag. She had acknowledged that his kiss had affected her the same way it had him. He turned the key to start the engine and Elizabeth Cook was singing “Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman.”
Nikki shot a sideways glance toward him and giggled. He chuckled and before he could put the truck in gear, they were both laughing so hard they could hardly breathe.
Tag finally wiped his eyes. “Talk about perfect timing and something taking all the tension out. You sure you’re all right?”
The laughter stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and Nikki looked like she might start crying any minute. Tag had never been good with weeping women, not even his sister or mother, who seldom shed tears. He followed her gaze, and there was Billy Tom, his hands now cuffed behind his back and all the duct tape gone, and he was looking straight at Nikki. The noise from the radio blocked the evil words spewing from his mouth, but Tag could read his lips. Nikki was right. If he escaped again, they should put out a shoot-on-sight order.
Tag laid a hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I am strong. I can do this. I will not be intimidated.” She recited the words like a mantra.
“Okaay.” Tag dragged the word out.
“I’m not losing my mind.” She covered his hand with hers. “‘I am strong and I can do this’ is what I would say to myself after my brother died and my dad left, and I had to deal with my mother’s problems. That last part I’ve added since I moved out on my own,” she said. “Sometimes I have to say it a dozen times before I begin to believe it. I refuse to let the likes of Billy Tom or his evil looks put fear in my heart, even if I have to stand in front of a mirror and repeat it for a whole hour.” She inhaled deeply and removed her hand.
“You are strong, and you can do this. I believe in you,” Tag said as he drove west out of Claude toward the highway that would take them south and back through the canyon.
Nikki was glad for Tag’s faith in her, but her stomach was still twisted up like a pretzel. Kicking Billy Tom like that had been pure impulse. Thank God for that display of motor oil at her fingertips, because even on his knees and groaning, he looked like he could break her in half like a twig.
They started descending into the canyon, and Tag handed her his phone. “Snap away. Just tell me if you want me to pull off to the side of the road so you can get a better view of something.”
“That sounds great. I’m already thinking about a collage to go above my sofa.” She started taking pictures, one after the other.
“We’ll stop and get copies made of whatever you want on the way home tomorrow,” he offered.
“Or we can wait and let me study them before we do that.” She took several more out the car window.
When they reached the turnout to the picnic area, two hours had passed and she’d snapped more than a hundred pictures. The tiny place had a couple of big empty trash cans, one picnic table, and an awesome view of several formations. Tag got the snack bag from the backseat and set it on the table. Nikki headed straight for a fenced walkway that overlooked miles and miles of the canyon. She’d snapped a dozen more pictures when she turned around to see Tag sitting on the concrete table with his feet on the bench. She motioned for him to join her.
Without asking why, he meandered that way. “I’ve seen this place dozens of times. Even donated a few empty beer cans to those trash bins over there.”
“But I haven’t. And I want a picture of you right there.” She pointed to the end of the fenced area. Tag propped one arm on the fence and looked right at her with those clear eyes that matched the cloudless sky behind him and the blue of his Western shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, showing off arms that had seen lots of hard work. His black cowboy hat against the sky set off the whole picture. In the distance to the right was a huge ochre-colored formation.
“Should I smile?” he asked.
“Not in this one,” she said. “Just look at me and follow me with your eyes.”
“No problem there. You look pretty damn cute today.”
She took a couple dozen pictures. “That should do it.”
“No sexy come-hither grin?” he asked.
“Give me the best you’ve got.” She focused on him one more time.
“This works better than a grin anytime.” He slid an eyelid shut in a sexy wink. She caught the picture perfectly and decided that would probably be the one in the center of her collage.
“Now it’s time to reverse the situation. Give me the phone and you come out here right where I’m standing and let me take a few pictures of you.”
“Are you sure? The wind is blowing my hair every which way. I don’t have makeup on.”
He took the phone from her hand and nodded. “Very sure. Face me and the wind will blow your hair out of your face.”
When he’d taken half a dozen shots, he shoved the phone in his pocket and held out his hand. The sparks that danced around like dandelion blossoms in the wind didn’t surprise her at all. The place where they were standing wasn’t roses and champagne, but it was magical to her. It erased all the fears of that morning and left behind only peace. Tag had rescued her and then hadn’t said a word when she’d taken care of matters. This man was worth a chance, no matter what his past had been.