Ridge (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood Book 4) Read online

  “Anything important?”

  “My mother. Apparently, I’m being ordered home for lunch on Sunday. No excuses.”

  Maggie chuckled, setting the glass of tea in front of him. He slid onto the bar stool at the peninsula, laying his phone on the countertop.

  “Sounds like your mother misses you.”

  “I saw her a week ago. I call her at least once a week when I’m on a job. With so many of us, my family tends to have large gatherings fairly often, especially if somebody has something to celebrate. The last few times I’ve been home, my brothers all got engaged. I swear, there’s something in the water in Shiloh Springs, because they are dropping like flies. First Rafe, then Antonio. The latest is Brody. He’s getting a ready-made family, because Beth has a daughter. Cute little girl, though she’s been through a lot recently.”

  Maggie stood on the other side of the peninsula, and leaned against it, resting her chin on her hands. “It must be nice having a big family. Lots of brothers and sisters. I always wanted that, but I ended up an only child.”

  “Some days, I wished I was an only child. There were eleven of us, ten boys and one girl. Talk about crazy. That’s not counting the ones who didn’t stick around.” At her perplexed expression, he explained. “We’re all foster kids. I thought you knew. I guess I take it for granted that people know about my family, because everybody in Shiloh Springs does.”

  “You’re all foster kids?”

  “All except Nica. She’s Momma and Dad’s biological daughter. We tease her that she’s the pampered princess, though it’s not true. Our parents treat every one of us as their kids. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t blood kin, as far as they’re concerned, that’s the end of the story. We’re theirs and they are our parents.”

  “I bet with all those children, there are some very interesting stories.”

  Ridge chuckled and toasted her with his tea. “You have no idea, Miss Maggie. Maybe I’ll tell you a few someday.”

  She nodded toward his phone. “Shouldn’t you answer you mother, let her know you’ll be there?”

  “Why don’t you come with me?” He wasn’t sure where the impulsive invitation came from, but it felt…right. Getting Maggie away from her home would give his team time to come onto the land and search for the road the smugglers were using. And he would love to see Maggie and his mother together. He’d bet they’d get on like a house afire. Ms. Patti would have every detail of Maggie’s life story before the end of the day. She’d pry it from her, and Maggie wouldn’t know what hit her until it was too late.

  “Ridge, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re here doing a job, and—”

  “Maggie, when’s the last time you did something spontaneous? From the little time I’ve spent with you, I’ve noticed you like order. Routine. Come on—take a break. Aren’t you a little curious about meeting the infamous Boudreaus of Shiloh Springs?”

  “But it sounds like this is family time. They won’t want a stranger horning in on their plans.”

  Ridge reached across and picked up Maggie’s hand, squeezing it gently. “There’s always room for one more around the Boudreau table. Be my guest, Miss Maggie. Please.”

  He realized he really wanted her to come with him. Wanted to show her where he came from, to introduce her to the people in his life that mattered. Give her a tiny glimpse into the real Ridge Boudreau, not the persona, the bits and pieces he’d played taking this job. He held his breath, waiting for her answer.

  “If you’re sure, then, yes, I’d like to come.”

  His pulse rate sped up, and he let out the breath he’d been holding. Grabbing his phone, he typed in a quick reply, telling his momma he’d be there, and he was bringing a guest, though he didn’t mention his guest was a woman. There’d be a barrage of questions, a literal third-degree assault, and he didn’t have time for that.

  “Can’t back out now, darlin’. Momma knows you’re coming.”

  He had to prove Maggie wasn’t involved with drug dealers. That she wasn’t part of an international cartel smuggling drugs across Central Texas and distributing them through a pipeline that dispersed them across the United States. He had to.

  Somehow in the last day, he’d realized the parameters of his job changed. He wasn’t trying to simply find the people responsible for shipping poisonous junk into the U.S. and shutting them down. Proving Maggie wasn’t part of the illegal drug trafficking had jumped to the top of his to-do list. Because he knew deep in his gut, she was innocent.

  Proving it, though, might be harder than he thought.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ridge waited until Maggie went to bed before sneaking out of the house, heading for the wooded area toward the west. A good portion of the area surrounding the house had been cleared back, resulting in an almost carpetlike blanket of grass sweeping outward, its appearance as soft as velvet. Jogging until he reached the trees, he moved further into the dense darkness enveloping the space surrounding him, letting his eyes adjust to his limited vision. He’d brought a flashlight with him, but wanted to be farther away from the house before using it, in case there might be prying eyes about.

  Maggie had been slumbering peacefully when he’d left her office. Easing her bedroom door open, he’d studied her for far longer than he probably should have. Her hair spread across her pillow like a silken cloud, framing her beautiful face, and in sleep her expression softened, her lips plump and full. Dark lashes swept across her cheeks as she slumbered, and he watched as she shifted in her sleep, turning onto her side, and snuggling beneath the blanket. After her near meltdown earlier, he knew she needed the rest, and silently pulled the bedroom door closed, making his way outside through the kitchen.

  A cursory check of the main rooms of the house yielded no clues. Although he knew it was fruitless, he’d checked over the room Maggie had put him in, as well as Henry’s room. He needed to do a thorough search of her office, but she’d been in and out all evening while he’d worked on the security system. He knew he couldn’t really dig deeper until she was out of the picture.

  He had to admit, Maggie’s property was stunning. Lush greenery dotted the landscape; even the untamed wildness had a beauty all its own. Switching on the flashlight, he maneuvered between the trees, appreciating the sprawling branches of the live oaks. Many of the gnarled, twisted branches reached upward toward the night sky, but occasionally he’d find himself climbing over the lower branches, closer to the ground. The flashlight illuminated the giant roots, a hazard he wanted to avoid. The last thing he intended was calling for a rescue from a sprained or broken ankle in the middle of nowhere.

  The night was partly cloudy, though every once in a while, the moonlight drifted through the treetops, painting the forest floor with an eerie pale glow. Ridge searched for evidence of tire tracks, rutted pathways, anything to indicate trucks routinely traversed the area. His gut told him any easily traversed road wouldn’t be this close to the house. But if he was a smuggler hauling a giant shipment of illegal cargo and wanted to throw off the Feds, he’d expect them to look as far from the house as possible, for fear of getting caught. Looking farther away from the civilized portion of the property made sense. Personally he’d do just the opposite. Knowing the Feds would look away from the inhabited areas, what better way to get away with hauling drugs than having the whole operation practically in Maggie’s backyard?

  The text alert chirped on his phone, and he pulled it out, scanning the message, before typing a quick response. The higher ups were getting impatient, and Daniel needed to give them an update ASAP. Wish he had better info to pass along—like Maggie being innocent—but he hadn’t come up with anything to indict or clear her.

  “What are you doing?” Ridge spun around at the sound of Maggie’s voice, adrenaline rocketing through him until he was almost lightheaded. Where the heck had she come from, and how’d she find him so fast?

  “Maggie?”

  The look she shot him should have sent him up in a column o
f flames. Instead, he felt like a guilty five-year-old who’d been caught pinching a cookie out of the jar without permission. Her stare could have peeled paint at fifty yards. She crossed arms over her chest, her boot-clad foot tapping a staccato rhythm against the dirt and leaves.

  “Answer the question, Mr. Boudreau. What do you think you’re doing, slinking around my property in the dead of night?”

  Mr. Boudreau. Looks like I’ve managed to go from the big house to the dog house. How am I gonna dig my way out of this one?

  “I’m doing exactly what I’ve been hired to do, check out the security on your land and make improvements. Finding strengths and weaknesses, plugging holes where anybody could get inside without setting off any alarms.”

  “At twelve thirty at night?”

  “Are you questioning how I do my job, Maggie? I know you checked my qualifications. What exactly did you expect, that I’d sit behind the computer screen all day, give you a list of upgrades and be on my way?”

  “You could have told me you’d be going out. Instead, I woke to an alarm blaring, and couldn’t find you.”

  “Which alarm?”

  “Huh?”

  Ridge pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, and counted to three. Sometimes talking with Maggie was worse than talking to a stone wall. The wall might give him answers faster.

  “Which alarm woke you?” Because he’d been careful to turn off the ones where he’d planned on walking, and he knew he hadn’t tripped anything. If an alarm went off, that meant—

  “Come on.” Grabbing her hand, he tugged her behind him, moving swiftly through the trees, headed for the house. If a sensor had been tripped, and Maggie was here with him, that could only mean one thing. Someone else was on her property.

  “Ridge, slow down.”

  “Maggie, if you heard an alarm, I didn’t set it off. I need to find out where the sensor triggered, and find out what set it off. Could be an animal, but…”

  “You don’t think so.” She picked up her speed, practically jogging to keep up with his long-legged stride. “When the computer alarm went off, I looked for you, figuring with all the work you’ve been doing on the system, there might’ve been a glitch. When I couldn’t find you, I checked the security cameras and saw you heading this way. Since you hadn’t bothered to tell me you were going out, I got…worried.”

  Ridge noted her hesitation before she tacked on the last word, and he’d bet she had a couple of others she considered using. Suspicious. Angry. Scared.

  “I couldn’t sleep, and decided to check out the wooded areas closest to the house. It was as spur of the moment decision, and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

  “Next time, leave a note.”

  Ridge almost smiled at her ticked off tone. “Maybe I will.”

  Reaching the kitchen door, he held his finger to his lips. “Let me take a look around. Stay here.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Maggie, please. Let me do my job. It’ll only take a minute, unless I have to stand here arguing with you. I don’t think anybody’s inside, but I’d rather play it safe.”

  She huffed out an irritated growl, then leaned against the wall beside the door. “Fine. But if you’re not back in two minutes, I’m coming in.”

  “Five.”

  “Three.”

  “Deal.” He reached up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, rubbing his knuckle against her cheek. “I’ll be back.”

  Maggie watched Ridge silently make his way through the darkened kitchen, the only light the moonlight shining through the glass, stealing across the floor like a silent thief in the night. She absently nibbled on her thumbnail, a bad habit she’d thought she’d broken years ago. Guess she was a tad more stressed than she’d realized if she was falling back into old tics.

  Everything outside seemed eerily quiet. Even the sounds of the insects had stilled, until all she heard was the waterfall splashing into the pool. She blew out a breath, ruffling the wispy bangs against her forehead, and counted in her head. If Ridge didn’t show back up the second he’d promised, she was calling the police. Or the company who monitors my security system. When the alarm triggered, why in the heck didn’t they contact her? That was their job, one she paid a ton of money for.

  Added peace of mind, my backside.

  When the kitchen light flared on, she nearly jumped out of her skin, until she spotted Ridge walking toward her. Flinging open the kitchen door, she raced inside, stopping mere inches from him.

  “Well?”

  “Coyote.”

  “A coyote? I don’t—”

  “It set of the motion detector by the front gate. Probably came across the road and onto your property. About three hundred yards from the front entrance, to be exact. Your security company had already contacted the police when they couldn’t get hold of you. I gave them the all clear, but since the cops are already en route, we’ll have to let ’em do their job.”

  Maggie swallowed down the lump in her throat, her mind racing a mile a minute. “We’ve had a lot of critters. Not surprising, since we’re fairly rural, and there’s a lot of land. But we haven’t had any coyotes before.”

  “They’re pretty common, although they tend to stay away from humans. We’ll have to check, see if there’s any scat around. Chances are good it’s simply looking for food. If you don’t leave anything around to attract them, they’ll move on.”

  “Should I call somebody to come get it? Maybe animal control?”

  Ridge reached forward and cupped his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. “You really don’t have to worry. Coyotes aren’t big on attacking humans. If you see it, you want to haze it. Most of the time, it’ll run off.”

  “Haze it? What’s that mean?” Maggie felt a stirring deep inside at the warmth of Ridge’s hand, felt a tingling where his fingertips touched bare skin.

  Ridge’s smile made all sorts of interesting thoughts race through Maggie’s head. And not a single one of them was PG rated. “Hazing means to make yourself the bigger alpha. Wave your arms, shout at them loudly. Make noise, be the aggressor. They’ll run.”

  Without thinking, Maggie took a step toward Ridge. His deep brown eyes held a glint of humor and something else, burning with an intensity she felt like a physical caress.

  “Uh-huh. Got it.”

  “Maggie, I—”

  A loud buzz interrupted whatever Ridge had been about to say, and startled Maggie enough she took a step back, the sound finally making sense in her rattled brain. It was the front gate speaker. Placing a hand on her still quivering stomach, she took the few steps to the intercom and answered.

  “Shiloh Springs Police Department, ma’am. We got a report from your security company that an alarm was triggered at this address.”

  Ridge walked over to stand beside her, and pressed the button. “Dusty, is that you?”

  “Yeah. Ridge? Or is this Shiloh?”

  Shaking his head, Ridge answered, “It’s Ridge. Come on up to the house, I’ll buzz you in.”

  “Who’s Shiloh?”

  Ridge had started toward the door, and Maggie watched him pause, then glance back over his shoulder. “My brother. Twin brother.”

  “Twin brother,” she whispered, eyes widening. “There are two of you? I can barely handle one.”

  “I heard that,” he shot back, standing in the now open doorway. “And, before you ask, yes, we are identical twins.”

  “Is he as big a pain in the butt as you, cowboy?”

  Laughter burst from Ridge’s mouth. “Bigger. Ask anybody, I’m the good twin.”

  Maggie rolled her eyes. She wasn’t buying it for a second. “I know you’ve got a huge family, but somehow the fact you had a twin somehow never made it into the conversation. Does he work in security, too?”

  “In a roundabout way. He’s a private investigator. A good one.”

  Maggie watched the headlights pull up and the car stop in front of her doorway. A tall, w
ell-built man dressed in the de rigueur uniform that seemed a part of any Texas police officer’s wardrobe walked to the front door. Ridge greeted him like an old friend.

  “Sorry you got dragged out here on a wild good chase, man.”

  “No big deal, Ridge. Wasn’t all that busy anyway. Things are kinda slow around town right now. What happened?”

  “Coyote. Wandered too close to a motion detector and set of the alarm. Maggie and I were outside, and didn’t hear it. By the time we got back inside, the security company had already called you.”

  “And don’t you love the way he talks for me?” Maggie walked up, and held her hand out to Dusty. “I’m Mary Margaret White. Maggie to my friends.”

  Dusty’s smile lit up his face, and Maggie couldn’t help noticing that he was a handsome man. From his dark blonde hair beneath his cowboy hat to the deep dimples carved into his cheeks, he was the typical small-town deputy you’d expect to read about in a romance novel. But standing next to Ridge, he didn’t make her heart go pitter-patter. His good looks and spit-and-polish shine screamed All-American. Ridge, on the other hand, personified the bad boy with his dark hair reaching down past his shoulders, and mysterious brown eyes that seemed to darken with his moods.

  Why, oh, why do I always find myself gravitating toward the bad boy? Is it something in my genetic code that screams “tall, dark, and dangerous” is my drug of choice?

  “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

  “Please, not ma’am. Call me Maggie.”

  “Thanks, Maggie. You’ve got a lovely place, but I’m curious. Mind if I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  Dusty pulled off his cowboy hat, absently running a hand through his hair. “Why’d your security company call us—Shiloh Springs? Seems like your property’s in Burnet County.”

  “Her land straddles both counties,” Ridge answered before Maggie could open her mouth. “The cleared land and the house and surroundings are in Shiloh Springs. The unincorporated land, west of the house, is in Burnet County.”