No Ordinary Cowboy (Mills & Boon American Romance) (Rodeo Rebels - Book 6) by Marin Thomas Page A

across the ground. The last thing she needed was a sprained ankle before her first bull ride.
    Tony stopped to examine a deep crevice between a pair of large boulders.
    “What is it?” she asked.
    “Possibly a way in.” He switched on the flashlight then got down on his belly and slithered through the gap, affording Lucy a bird’s-eye view of his muscled buttocks. After he disappeared from sight, he shouted, “Wait there.”
    Fat chance. Lucy glanced over her shoulder. “Maddie, stay.” The dog wagged her tail but remained focused on the brown-spotted gecko she’d cornered.
    Dropping to her knees, Lucy wiggled through the rock opening.
    “Figures you wouldn’t listen to me.” Tony had removed his sunglasses and scowled at her from across the dim chamber.
    “And miss out on all the fun?” Lucy remained on her knees. “God, it stinks in here.” She pinched her nose and breathed through her mouth. “What’s that?” She pointed at the object in Tony’s hand.
    “Cable tie.”
    “Police use that when they arrest protesters.” Lucy shuddered at the idea of young girls being handcuffed and left in the dark.
    “Look at that.” Tony pointed to the wall above Lucy’s head.
    “What does it say?” She couldn’t make heads or tails out of the graffiti-like marks scratched into the rock.
    “Gang symbols.” Tony approached the cavern wall and rubbed his finger over the stone. “That’s the Spanish word for kidnap. ”
    “Do you think one of the girls did that?” she asked.
    “Maybe. Let’s get out of here.” He motioned for Lucy to exit the cave first.
    Lucy wiggled her way back outside where she discovered Maddie waiting, a lizard tail hanging out of her mouth. “Bad girl.”
    “Maddie’s an excellent lizard hunter.”
    “She doesn’t eat them, does she?”
    “No.” He pointed to the dog’s mouth. “The tail’s still twitching.”
    “Maddie, drop it.” Lucy stomped her foot on the ground, but the dog stared defiantly.
    Holding his hand out, Tony approached Maddie. She relaxed her jaw and the lizard plopped onto Tony’s palm. He placed the slime-covered reptile on a rock then pointed his finger and warned, “No, Maddie.”
    The dog whined but didn’t move from her spot.
    “You’re the only one she obeys.” Lucy smiled at the boxer’s pathetic face. “You two belong together.”
    “I’m moving, remember?”
    Lucy didn’t need a reminder that Tony wanted to leave Stagecoach. “Maddie could go with you.”
    “Don’t even think about it, Lucy.” Tony pitched a bottle of water to her, then poured half of another bottle into a bowl for the dog. Maddie lapped up the water before returning to her spot in front of the rock so she could keep watch over the sunning lizard.
    “Now what?” she asked.
    “I talk to the chief and discuss setting up a surveillance team to monitor activity at the mine.” Tony guzzled the remainder of the water. “Did you find someone to help you with your bull riding?”
    “Not yet.” Lucy had planned to call Shannon later today for recommendations on instructors.
    “You’re welcome to stop by my mom’s and use the bucking machine whenever you want.”
    Practicing on a mechanical bull wasn’t the way she envisioned preparing for the rodeo in Ajo. “What I need is a real bull to test my skills.”
    “You’re talking crazy.”
    “You don’t think I’ll go through with the rodeo, do you?”
    “I know you’ll try, but I’m betting your father stops you.”
    Why was she surprised that Tony didn’t believe she’d stand up to her father? Shoot, she didn’t even have enough faith in herself to reveal the truth about what happened the night her brother had died.
    Tony whistled for Maddie to get in the truck, but the dog no longer stood sentry by the lizard. Instead, she paced in front of the boarded-up mine entrance, sniffing the ground. “What’s the matter, girl?” he asked.
    The boxer wagged her tail and whined.
    “What do you think she