Cowboy's Secret Baby: The Hot Cowboys, #4

By Lexi Banks

Reid Jessup is a Texas Ranger that busts drug cartels as a job, what he wasn't counting on was catching Brooke on a bust. She turns informant, and then turns his life upside down. 

Brooke Martinez is a prisoner of her own life and when she gets an out from Ranger Jessup, she takes it. But her peace and freedom won't last long. 

Ranger Jessup is going to ride in like a white knight to save her, but can they save each other and make a family? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: DM
• Release date: Jul 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393173632

Book preview

Chapter 1

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Idragged the back of my hand across my forehead, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. The sun beat down on the top of my head, leaving that familiar sting that ran through my hair and down my spine. The summer heat of Laredo, Texas, was brutal at best and insufferable at worst, but I was a native. I was used to the heat and the sweat, though I couldn’t say that I preferred it.

I grew up in Texas, my parents moving from town to town a lot when I was younger before they finally settled outside Laredo. My father was a natural-born rancher, and it wasn’t long before they were pushing a thousand acres of land. A large ranch house stood proudly in the center, more than a half hour drive from the main entrance to the place.

I spent a lot of my time out there, even now, though my first and greatest calling was to be a Texas Ranger. My parents were both dead, but the land was still in the family, and we did what we could to keep it up and running. More than anything, I wanted to make my parents proud of me as a ranger and a rancher.

I had vowed to keep the state and every inch of border under my care free of crime and drugs to the best of my ability, and I had to admit, I was damn good at it.

Now, crouched behind a van and waiting for a signal from my partner, I had my pistol out and cocked, ready to fire at any moment. Jackson Dale, my right-hand man and partner in practically everything, was behind the van in front of me. We were outside a small house we knew to be filled with members from the drug cartel, and we were about to bust the doors down.

It was always my favorite moment of a drug bust, followed closely by going through the list of IDs of the people we locked up behind bars. Sure, there were times when we would release some of those who had been caught up in the crossfire of the arrest, but overall busts like these were nothing but profit for Jackson and me both.

He glanced over his shoulder at me, and I nodded. He had his eyes on the door, but he could also see the window from his position. I, on the other hand, could only see the wooden door on the other side of the van. It was simple, really. We would bust through the door, guns blazing, mowing down anyone who dared to fire back at us, arresting those who had the brains to surrender when we rushed through the door.

It was a moment of pure adrenaline, and we were both eager to get the operation underway.

But, we were smart. The only reason he and I had lasted so long in our positions was we knew how to wait for the opportune moment. The moment that would be announced by one of the other scouts on the other side of the house. We’d all rush in at the same time, taking the members completely by surprise if everything went well.

Of course, I assumed all would go well. Guns would be fired, but we’d use the door and other members of their own kind as protection, keeping ourselves safe from the bullets that would rain down upon us.

I whistled, mimicking one of the prairie birds and he looked over at me once more. I motioned with my hand for him to signal to the other scouts, and he whistled as well, perfectly mimicking another of the birds. We could communicate entirely through our whistles, never once giving away our positions or raising suspicion from those we were stalking.

It was a beautiful peace before the storm, and I knew we were about to go in hard.

Suddenly, the signal came. It rounded the house on both sides, and both I and Jackson locked eyes once more. We shared a strong bond. Strong enough that we could often talk without saying a single word. He nodded, and we crept out from behind our hiding spaces. Neither of us knew what was waiting, but we did know that when we broke down the door, things were going to get dangerous, fast.

According to the signal, we were looking at more than fifty members of the drug cartel in this house alone. Judging by the size of the house, I wasn’t sure how that many could comfortably fit inside. Of course, that was the drug cartel for you.

They would hide like cockroaches under a rock, packing themselves into small spaces and waiting out the day. We didn’t know how long this particular group had been in this house, but there was no doubt in my mind it had been for a few days. I had been in the area off and on over the course of the past few days, and I hadn’t noticed anything that had raised any real suspicion.

But then, they were also good at hiding out when they wanted to. Of course, if they didn’t want to be seen, they wouldn’t be. I could be by the house a number of times and not see any life. But I would have noticed the vans.

We stopped directly at the door of the house, close enough now we were practically right up against each other. Then, with a quick, easy motion, we kicked in the door at the exact same time, sending it into the house with a bang.

Texas Rangers! we shouted at the same time. Simultaneously, the doors came breaking in through the other side of the house, and the scouts who had been waiting on that end came through the doors with the same shout. Just as I suspected, many of the drug cartel had been sleeping in the house, waiting out the daylight hours and likely planning to leave that night.

However, even the advantage we had of surprise only gave us a few seconds. Most of the men sleeping in the house had a gun on their chest, but those who didn’t had one within reach under the bed or pillow. Shots rang out and bullets flew all over the house. There were the cries every now and then when someone was hit, but we were good at what we did, and we quickly put down the resistance without too many casualties on our side.

Check for anyone who’s dead or dying! I shouted at my men. They were swift to obey all my orders, and they started looking over those who had been shot. I stood with my guns drawn, pointed at those who were clearly in charge of the group. I recognized one of the men as someone I had seen before. A Mexican drug lord who was used to shooting first and asking questions later. He was tall, dark, and muscular, with jet black hair and dark brown eyes that seemed to glare into my very soul.

If looks could kill, I would have been dead.

Suddenly, there was another voice mixed in with the rest, and I turned my attention from the man on the floor at my feet to Jackson, who came out from one of the rooms behind a young woman. He was holding her arms behind her back, and she was throwing herself about, doing everything she could to break free from his grasp.

I was immediately struck by her beauty. She couldn’t have been more than twenty, tall for a woman, and willowy. She had long, jet black hair much like the man in front of me, and she had brown eyes that blazed with fire as she glared around the room. Once again, I felt if she could kill me with a look alone, I wouldn’t be standing where I was.

A woman? Looks like they’re expanding, Jackson said with a laugh as he pushed her to her knees in the middle of the room.

Jocko! she cried out, ignoring the rest of us.

Silence, Brooke! the man at my feet growled. I hunched down, suddenly realizing who this was in front of me.

Jocko Fernandez? Who would have thought that the two of us would meet again? I asked with a taunting laugh. He spat something in Spanish, but I rose and pointed out the door with my thumb.

Load them up, Boys; let’s get them back to the station for some questioning. And, for the record, I wouldn’t plan on many of you coming back out of there. I walked out the door as my men set to work, putting handcuffs on all those scattered about the floor and dragging them outside. We’d take them down to the station in the vans they had used themselves. It was far easier than trying to get that many men and one woman in our patrol vehicles.

In fact, I didn’t think it was going to be possible at all.

When the last of the men was put in the van, Jackson came up to me shaking his head. He had a bemused smile on his face. Damn, Reid, I swear they’re cramming more and more people into these stops. There’s going to be a time when we poke the house, and it explodes with them.

How many? I asked, tilting my hat back. I had noticed there had to be close to fifty, but I didn’t get the chance to see how many there were exactly.

Forty-two including the woman. Three dead, four wounded. We arrested twenty-six. The rest managed to get out during the fight. He shook his head once more, and I looked at my own men.

Did we get hit? I asked.

Hank got hit in the arm, but nothing serious. Hardly more than a scratch, really, Jackson said with an absentminded look on his face. I shrugged. If it wasn’t life threatening, it really didn’t have anything to do with me, so I wasn’t going to worry about it.

We got in our cars and headed down to the station, but I was lost in thought most of the way. I enjoyed the questioning process, but it was often long and very tedious. I didn’t care for how difficult some of the men could be. Sure, I could drag information out of the worst of them if I really set my mind to it, but then there were those who clammed up and refused to say a word, even in the face of torture.

Of course, we’d never resort to torturing them for information, but nothing seemed to even shake them. Those were the ones I would send to prison with the strongest recommendation they never see this side of the fence again. I had seen a lot in my years as a Texas Ranger, and if there was one thing I quickly learned, it was that there were those who needed to be behind bars, plain and simple.

How do you want to do this? Jackson asked when we were finally seated in the interrogation room. I had watched as they unloaded all the men from the vans, and each one was fingerprinted, ID’d, and sent to their holding cells. The woman was pulled out last.

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way to the top, but I want to save the girl for last. I nodded toward the holding cell where Brooke was seated, and Jackson nodded.

Let’s get this over with, he said with a sigh. I knew he didn’t like the interrogation like I did and viewed it more as something to get done with and move on with his life. But, he’d do things as I said, and I wanted to talk to all of them.

Starting with the bottom of the totem pole. 

Chapter 2

Isat in my cell with my hands cuffed behind my back, trying to trace the path that led me to this point. This wasn’t the first time I had been arrested for something in connection to Jocko, but I hoped it would be the last. He and I had been falling apart for months now, and I desperately wanted to be out of the relationship.

The only reason I dated him in the first place had been to get away from my parents and the life I was living there. They weren’t abusive to me physically, but they certainly weren’t the kind of parents I would have chosen if I had had any say in the matter. They didn’t care about me from a very young age, and it was made very clear in the way they raised me.

I got into trouble at school, and they would punish me for it, but my father was always angrier about the fact that I had gotten caught than for what I did. They didn’t care when I started to fail out of my classes, and they didn’t push me to do better for myself. They assumed I would meet the man of my dreams and marry right out of my school days and follow in the footsteps of my mother – by becoming a mother.

The fact of the matter was that I had dropped out when I turned sixteen. I was done with the life I was living, and I wasn’t going anywhere they wanted me to go. I was miserable with all the men they would shove my way, and the fights we would have when I wasn’t happy with the choices they gave me. I was rebellious to them but felt that I was in the right most of the time.

Of course, they didn’t try very hard to make sure I was happy, only that I was out of their way and no longer their responsibility as soon as they could. When they finally chose a man for me to marry against my wishes, I had enough. I wasn’t going to marry that man and live my mother’s life all over. I was my own person, and I was going to think for myself.

So, I had done the only thing that seemed to make sense for me.

Jocko was a man whom I’d known for most of my high school life. He was a friend of my older brother’s, and when Juan had been shot and killed, he was the one who told my parents about the so-called accident. He had always taken a liking to me, and I thought he was handsome enough for my taste.

Even more than his looks, however, he was the ticket to getting me out of the house. I knew dating him would get me into the good graces of his drug cartel, and I wouldn’t have to deal with any of the shit my parents were putting me through any longer. So, as soon as I was sixteen and able, I chose to get out of the house and start dating Jocko.

But, our honeymoon didn’t last long. He took my virginity within the first couple days, but he wasn’t at all caring like I thought he would be. He only cared about the fact that I was beautiful, tall, and smart. I could get into places he couldn’t, and I could talk us out of situations that would have landed him in jail. It was the perfect union as far as dependency went, and I was miserable once more.

Miserable, but willing to go through with the life if it kept me out of my parents’ house and off the streets.

I shifted on my hands, trying to keep them from falling asleep as I watched member after member of the cartel be led in front of my cell. I was closest to the room they were questioning the members in, but I couldn’t hear anything except for the door opening and closing when they were finished with one member and ready for the next.

I knew all the men they were talking to, and I knew they weren’t going to get any information out of any of them. They were all fiercely loyal to Jocko, and they would all rather die than tell these men anything that would get him in more trouble than he already was. At first, I found that kind of power to be enchanting. To see men who were so willing to live and die for the man I was dating was something that made me feel powerful as well.

But, as our relationship fell apart, I felt that I was losing respect with the men within the cartel as well. No one seemed to give any thought to what I was doing or what I wanted. In fact, they were all treating me as though I was nothing more than a nuisance to them and the man they absolutely worshipped. I began to fear for my safety among them, even when Jocko was around.

It had grown to the point I was done with the relationship, and I wanted out of it. I knew I had to get out of it before I wound up dead or worse – but at the same time, I knew that the only way for me to get out of it was if I were to die. There wasn’t any way Jocko was going to let me out of his sight with the information I had about him. If he knew I wanted out of the relationship, he’d likely put the bullet in my head himself without giving it a second thought, and I knew it well.

I heard the door open, and the men standing outside my cell exchanged a few words.

He wants the leader next, then they are going to go with the girl. Hopefully, it goes better than it did with any of those other shitheads. They laughed as they walked past the front of my cell, and within a few minutes, they returned with Jocko between them. He was looking ahead with a stone-cold, emotionless expression on his face, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

I had seen that look before. It was often the look he’d give me before he would harm me in some way, be it through hitting me or psychological abuse. Throughout the four years I had lived with him, I had learned that one was just as bad as the other. I said nothing, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself than necessary, and the door quickly shut.

It wasn’t long before I could hear raised voices in the room. It didn’t surprise me that he was the one who brought out the yelling with these men and that he was the one who wasn’t afraid to shout and scream at them as much as they were at him. I’d seen him do this before. He’d argue with them for a while, he’d take them on wild goose chases, but he wouldn’t ever give them any information.

When he grew tired of his game, he would shut up and refuse to speak in any way. He was a master of frustration, and I didn’t think even the good-looking Texas Ranger would be able to break him of it. They certainly tried, however, and it was over an hour before the door finally opened, and it was my turn to go into the room.

Tell them anything, and I’ll fucking kill you, Jocko spat as he walked in front of my cell. One of the men next to him shoved him forward.

Keep moving and no talking! he barked. Jocko swore at him in Spanish, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the guy. I remained seated until they came and got me, and my heart pounded in my chest when we walked into the questioning room.

This is the last of them, the man said as he sat me down in the chair. The good-looking ranger was standing on the other side of the room, looking tired. He smiled at me with a charming smile and took a step over.

My name is Reid Jessup, and I’m the head ranger here. I’ve got a few questions for you, and I can assure you the more you cooperate with us, the better it’ll be for–

I’ll tell you anything you want as long as you keep me safe and grant me immunity, I blurted out, interrupting him. He exchanged a look with the other man, then they both looked at me.

What did you say? he asked. I could see he was shocked, but I meant what I said.

I’ll tell you anything, I just want immunity from the law, and I want to be safe from those bastards! I spat. They looked at each other once more.

We can do that, Reid said at last. But you are going to have to swear to complete transparency, and we are going to be very thorough with the questioning process.

I swear I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I’ve been done with those people for as long as I can remember, but I can’t get away from them without them killing me. This is my chance to break out of that life, and if there’s anything I can do to make that happen, I will, I explained quickly. I didn’t want them to think I was going to be like Jocko, telling them only elaborate stories with no real meaning or true information behind them.

What do you think, Jackson? Reid asked.

I think there’s some room for her in the safe house. Let’s get through the questions, and she can be moved there. We’ll tell the thugs that we’re keeping her separate because she’s a woman or something that’ll satisfy them, then once we get them off to prison, we can deal with what we’re going to do with her. He looked from me to Reid then back again, and I nodded quickly.

Yes, yes that’s fine. As long as you can get me away from Jocko, I don’t care what you do with me. I can’t go to prison, and I can’t be with that man anymore. Just send me home! I fought the lump that was forming in my throat and gave them both a pleading look. I truly didn’t care what they chose to do, as long as I didn’t end up in the same situation as my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend would.

I knew they were going to send him to prison, and I knew with his crimes he was going to be locked up for years, if not for his entire life. He was a cold-blooded murderer, and he would happily admit to all his crimes if he were asked. There was nothing he was ashamed of, and he’d happily let anyone know.

Well, then let’s settle in and get through all this. Remember, complete transparency is the only way I am going to help you. If you lie to us about anything or refuse to answer anything, our deal is off. Reid sat down behind his desk and pulled out a pen and a notebook, and I nodded fiercely.

You have my word. I’ll tell you anything you want to know, everything you want to know. I meant it. I had nothing more to hide from them. If I wasn’t going to get in trouble for any of it, then I had no reason to lie. They would take me to that safe house Jackson spoke of, and I would be safe for the first time in my entire life.

I didn’t care what I had to do to get there. As long as I was safe, I was happy.

Chapter 3

"A nd when this is all said and done we