Carmen slid down the rock uncontrolled, directly into the arms of the man below her. Alex grabbed her before she fell. He put a hand on the rock on either side of her shoulders.
"What are you doing out here," he repeated.
"Looking for you."
"Where are the children?"
"They're with Señor Medena in Tucson."
"Why didn't you go with them?"
She gazed up at his angry face, wishing he would take her in his arms. He was safe and they were together.
"I didn't want to leave you out here."
"It isn't safe for you." He waved a hand at the fire. "Didn't I warn you about the ocotillo?"
She smiled. "You did at that, but I wanted to get your attention. It worked.
He shook his head. "It will also get the attention of people you don't want to find you."
"Oh, I don't know. If they come here, you can capture them. Isn't that what you are trying to do out here?"
He looked startled for a moment. "You deliberately drew them to you? That was a fool thing to do."
Jose slid down from the rock and walked a few feet away, his attention on the desert. Alex barely gave him a glance. He was anything but glad to see her.
Carmen looked at Alex's hand. "If you'll release me, I'll talk to you about it."
He removed his hands from the rock and stepped back. "Go back, Carmen. Let me handle this."
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "I'm not going back."
"When we got married, you said you wanted me to make the decisions. I believe your exact words were that you wanted a man who would wear the pants. Well, that's what I'm trying to do."
She lifted her chin and met his gaze. "Alex, I'm not a doormat. That was nine years ago. Now we are equal partners and I like it that way. Even then I wouldn't have followed you blindly when you were doing something that I knew could get you killed or in some kind of legal trouble."
He gave her an exasperated look. "I'm not going to do something illegal."
For a moment they stood looking at each other, neither willing to give an inch on their stand. Finally his gaze lowered to her lips and his expression lost a little of its resolve.
She sighed and dropped her arms to her side. "Alex, we need you. I need you. I don't want you to go after that man, but if you do, I'm going to be at your side. That's non-negotiable."