* * *
As her car seemed to hit every pothole in the county, Ruby felt as though she couldn’t breathe. The air felt thick, and her chest was too tight. Was she having a heart attack? Wouldn’t that be the icing on top of a shit cake?
Forcing herself to slow her breathing, she drew air through her nose then blew it out through her mouth, counting the seconds. The trick worked, and her fear subsided. She wasn’t having a heart attack. She’d succumbed to a panic attack.
Her eyebrows lowered, and her mouth firmed. Now was not the time to be afraid. Fear made you stupid. She already knew that. It was time to hitch up her belt and figure out what to do next to get her own damn self out of this predicament. As much as she hoped that Ty and all the sheriff’s department’s deputies were out looking for her, she had to do something to help herself. Doing nothing left her brain free to roam through all the worst-case scenarios, and she was not going to get worked up again over that skinny fucking meth-head.
Okay, so she was stuck inside her trunk. Being a woman who lived alone, she’d watched all kinds of self-defense videos—including one which instructed women how to escape a trunk. She remembered three ways. Pushing down the back seat was an obvious no-go. She didn’t want to get anywhere near the driver or to let him know she was intent on escaping.
The other two options involved her getting close to the rear of her trunk, so she curled her body and rolled to her side. With her knees beneath her and her back smooshed against the trunk lid, she edged toward the rear of the car. The car hit a bump in the road and the back of her head hit the trunk lid. Cursing, she detected a faint glowing object in front of her and reached for it. As her fingers closed around the trunk escape latch, she felt intense relief. She had a way out.
However, she hesitated pulling it just yet. Would it set off an alarm up front? From the sound of the engine and the tires, he was driving at pretty good clip. Were they still in the city where they could be seen, or in the country now, where he wouldn’t be worried about pulling over and subduing her again? Maybe permanently.
What else could she do? Changing her position again, she felt around for the indentations around the panel protecting the housing to her tail and brake lights. She knew where it was because she’d replaced a dim brake light not two years ago. Ruby Tackett didn’t need a man to do simple car repairs.
The video she’d watched had detailed how a woman had saved herself by kicking out her tail lights then sticking her hand outside to wave for help.
After pulling the pressed felt panel away to expose the back of the lights, sunlight entered the trunk. Thrilled, she went to her back and placed her foot into the opening, with her heel against the lights themselves, then kicked hard. Nothing budged, and she was afraid to kick it too hard and alert her kidnapper that she was up to something.
Still, she couldn’t do nothing.
She pulled back her foot and kicked again and again until she felt something give and heard a crack. Moving around, she felt the backs of the dislodged lights and the jagged edges of hard plastic and worked the edges back and forth, breaking them off and tossing them out onto the road outside. Once she had the debris out of the way, she stretched and pushed her hand through the opening, waving like madwoman, hoping someone was around to see the strange sight and, hopefully, call the police. She’d wave as long as she could, and if he slowed down, she’d try popping the trunk and jumping out.
Now, she wasn’t without options.
* * *
Ty felt about ready to crawl out of his skin. Deputies had been assigned search zones inside the town, but after failing to find Ruby’s car, the sheriff had expanded the search area to the county roads around the town, even coordinating with park rangers to search the canyon. More than deputies’ squad cars were involved in the search now. Local ranchers, crop dusting planes, and civilian motorists had been enlisted. An army of volunteers was engaged.
And still no sign of Ruby or her car.
Thirty minutes in, and Ty’s belly burned. He knew the statistics, knew that the longer this went on the less chance they had of finding her unharmed…or at all.
Not that he would ever give up. He hadn’t told her how much she meant to him, hadn’t voiced his dreams for their future.
Dispatch broke in. “A motorist reported seeing a hand waving from the back of a dark blue sedan.”
“Where?” he shouted back at the radio.
“…On highway 287 going northwest toward Amarillo…”
Ty hit his brakes hard, slowed, and made a U-turn in the center of the highway. Turning on his lights, he mashed his gas pedal. A graveled county cutoff would get him to 287 fast.
Ruby was alive. She’d figured out a way to signal for help. Of course, she had.
A hard smile curved his lips. “I’m coming, babe. Just hold on.”
* * *
The road beneath Ruby’s car suddenly smoothed. Where could they be? Were they on the interstate now? Was he heading toward Amarillo?
Good Lord, the longer she was in this trunk the more urgent her situation became.
She needed to pee. Bad.
With her free hand, she banged on the trunk lid. Peeing where she lay was not an option. No way did she want her body found with her smelling like urine. And to hell with waiting to make her escape. She needed out now.
She banged and banged, but the car didn’t slow down. With every bump, her urgency increased. She pulled her hand inside and moved to the back of the trunk, feeling along the top for the little notches she knew were there to push the backseat inward.
When she found them, she took a deep breath and pushed. The seat fell forward.
“What the fuck?”
The car swerved then straightened. The driver hit the brakes, and Ruby tumbled headfirst to the floor board. When the car came to a stop, she pushed up, reached for the door handle, but the man in the hoodie twisted in his seat and put his gun against her side.
“Shoot if you want,” she said, “but I have to pee.”
“I don’t care if you pee your pants, bitch. Get your hand off the door handle.”
Ruby sucked in a deep breath, screwed her face into a fierce frown, and pushed open the door. She propelled herself out the door, ran for the ditch, and began unbuttoning her pants.
“Get the fuck back inside,” Hoodie Guy screamed after her.
She pushed down her pants, squatted, then raised her hand and shot him the bird as her release spilled onto the ground.
A car door slammed, but she didn’t turn to look his way. He didn’t deserve her attention; his gun hadn’t earned him any respect. When she finished, she wished she had toilet paper, but wishes had never made a poor man rich. Toilet paper wasn’t going to magically appear.
As she rose, she saw a blinking light on the horizon. Not blinking—strobing! A police car.
She glanced at her kidnapper who stood outside the driver’s door, his gun pointing toward her. Their gazes collided, and his eyes narrowed.
“Really want to add murder to your charges, dumbass?” she shouted.
He snarled and ducked back into the car, gunning the engine and fishtailing in the dirt as he pulled back onto the road.
The police car kept coming. She quickly zipped up and moved away from the puddle she’d made. Now that she was safe, she wasn’t sure she wanted to admit how she’d managed to escape.
Rather than whipping right past her, the car skidded onto the shoulder and braked. The door flew open. The moment she saw Ty’s head rise above the top of the sedan, she began running.
The impact as she launched herself at his chest knocked the wind out of her, but she wasn’t letting go. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and squeezed him for all she was worth.
Sirens sounded, and she glanced down the road in the direction Ty had come. A line of SUVs and county sedans approached. Ty lifted an arm and pointed down the road in the direction her car had disappeared. As the vehicles passed, deputies honked but continued the
ir pursuit.
“Are you okay?” Ty asked, his voice sounding funny.
She nodded then drew a deep breath and then another. “I’m okay. He didn’t hurt me.”
He swayed side to side, hugging her against him.
Ruby felt her eyes began to burn, and she blinked. No way was she going to cry. She was safe right here in his arms. Then she realized his body was trembling. “I’m too heavy. You have to let me down.”
He shook his head and gripped the back of hers, pushing her face against his shoulder. “I’m not letting you go.”
“But you’re shaking.”
“Shut up, Ruby,” he said, his voice gruff.
Her heart melted. He wasn’t shaking because she was lead weight in his arms. He was getting all emotional. Maybe he was tucking her face down because he didn’t want her to see him cry. Ty the big bad Army Ranger was crying over her.
She smiled and snuggled closer. “We could stay like this, or we could head back to the bar, and I could make us a massive pitcher of margaritas.”
His chest shook, and he barked a laugh. “Why would you ruin perfectly good tequila?”
At last, he let go of her head, and she leaned back to look up into his face. His eyes glittered, but he was smiling down at her.
“I love you, Ruby Tackett.”
She sighed. Those words were a balm to her soul. “I love you, Deputy Nolan.”
He kissed her long and hard then pulled back, his brow furrowing. “Just how did you get out of that car?”
Ruby pressed her lips together, and her cheeks began to burn.
“Ruby?” he said, cupping her chin in his palm and narrowing his eyes.
She wrinkled her nose because she knew she’d never live this down. “When a girl’s gotta go, she’s gotta go.”
Chapter 8
After hours of repeating her story in painstaking detail, the sheriff was finally satisfied he had all his I’s dotted and his T’s crossed. Ruby was free to go.
She and Ty hadn’t yet made it back to the bar for those margaritas. Once he had her in the squad car heading back to Caldera, they’d been ordered to report to the station. Soon, Jeffrey Wiggins was apprehended and sat handcuffed not ten feet from her while he was booked on multiple charges. She’d been confused that he wasn’t questioned in some dark interrogation room under a hot lamp, but Ty had laughed.
“The sheriff wants Jeffrey to be seen, and for him to see everyone staring right back at him. He caused a lot of trouble. Josh wants him to see the people he hurt.”
Made sense to her. She was one of them and happy to let him see her looking none the worse for wear while she scowled back and even laughed at him when he smudged his face with his inky fingers.
No one laughed when she told the story about how she’d managed to get out of the car. She could tell Ty wasn’t happy, but she guessed it was because Jeffrey had seen her ass, and he was a little possessive. But the number of high fives she was given that day said the guys approved of her efforts and her courage. She was pretty proud of herself, too.
In addition, the sheriff had said she could reopen the bar because the forensics guys were done. So, she made a quick call to Lennie to let everyone know that she’d be there soon.
Ty had been tight-lipped while she’d made that call. Maybe he thought she was some hothouse flower who needed cosseting after her “ordeal”. All she really wanted was for everything to return to normal as quickly as possible for her to resume her life. She had work to do and plans to make, and Deputy Nolan would just have to get over himself.
So, maybe she liked that he was protective and had stuck to her like glue all day, getting her coffee and water and feeding her snacks. He’d even held her hand for a time while she’d recounted her adventure.
He’d been attentive, ready to be consoling. She loved that he wanted to be her rock, but she wasn’t willing to surrender to the fear that still played at the edges of her mind, burbling in the background. The sooner she got back to normal, and reassured herself that nothing had changed, that she hadn’t lost a thing to Jeffrey Wiggins that she couldn’t replace, the better for her peace of mind.
“Sure you don’t want to go home?”
She nodded. “The Roadhouse is my home.”
Ty looked at her for a long moment then gave her a smile. “I’ll drive.”
After saying her thanks to the men still gathered in the station, she left with Ty, walking with him to the motorcycle he’d left parked in the early morning hours. He handed her his helmet.
“What about you?” she asked, pushing it away.
He pushed the helmet back. “Let me be a gentleman.”
She put on the helmet, fastening the strap under her chin. After he took his seat, she climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around him. In moments, they were heading down Main Street toward the edge of town to her bar. The wind pulled and billowed her gauzy blouse, but she didn’t care if she showed skin as they flew. She felt free. Maybe she needed to get her own bike, and they could take long road trips together.
As they pulled into the parking lot at the Roadhouse, Ruby was shocked by the number of vehicles there.
“What the hell?” she said, pulling off the helmet. She glanced at Ty, but he shrugged. Together, they climbed the steps to the porch.
“Sure you wouldn’t rather go home?”
“Wanting to finish what we started this morning?” she teased. To answer him, she pushed open the door of her bar and stepped inside.
Cheers sounded from the people standing around the entrance. Lennie wiped at tears. Jimbo grinned from behind the biggest bouquet of roses she’d ever seen.
“Those for me?” she asked as he pushed them toward her.
He shrugged, and his cheeks reddened. “They’re from all of us. We’re happy you’re safe.”
She held the bouquet to the side and gave him a hug, then worked her way through the crowd receiving more hugs than she’d ever gotten or given in her life, she was sure. By the time she made it to the bar, she was more than ready for a drink.
Lennie placed two large chilled mugs filled with foamy beer on the counter. “I have two ribeyes marinating in back, if you’re hungry.”
She reached across the counter and placed her hand over his. “Thanks, Lennie. I’m not hungry now, but I’m so glad to be here with you, friend.”
He shook his head. “It scared me, seeing your office that way.”
She leaned closer. “Lennie, do you seriously think some punk will ever truly get the best of me? I’m too ornery.”
Lennie smiled. “Guess not, boss.” He cleared his throat. “I have some orders to take care of.”
When he left, Ruby turned on her stool to stare out at the folks seated at tables and beginning to play pool in the back.
“You love this place,” Ty said.
“This place saved me.” Then she breathed deeply and looked at him. “I didn’t have a dime to my name when I came to Caldera. I was broke and living out of my car.”
He didn’t say anything, just took her hand and placed it under his on his thigh.
“Just after I graduated from high school, my folks died. Carbon monoxide poisoning from a propane leak. I’d spent the night with a friend and found them the next day.” She closed her eyes for a moment. It had happened a long time ago, but walking into their bedroom to find them lying there, as though in sleep but unable to rouse them… “They didn’t leave me much. Their two cars and a small life insurance policy. After I paid for their funerals, I had about five thousand left. My boyfriend, who I thought was the love of my life,” she said rolling her eyes, “offered to pay for the insurance on one of the cars, but said he needed the title signed over to him in order to do it. Of course, it was the nicer car.” Ty’s hand squeezed hers. “A few weeks later, I tried to use my bank card to purchase groceries, but it was declined.” She met Ty’s gaze. “Yeah, he’d forged a check and spent all my money. Blew it up his nose. When he wanted more drugs, he offered
me to his dealer…
“I made an excuse to leave the room, went to my bedroom, stuffed what clothing I could into a garbage sack, and climbed out the window. A few days later, I landed in Caldera. This bar was the first place I stopped, looking for work.”
Ty reached out and drew her against his side. “And Harry hired you.”
“I married him.”
“He took care of you. He had to have seen something in you that told him you were what this place needed.”
Her nod scraped her cheek against his. “That asshole is why I have a hard time trusting, but I trust you, Ty.”
“And you trust Lennie and Jimbo…”
She smiled. “I guess I can fill a list with people I trust now.”
“A lot of people love you.”
She raised her hand and cupped his cheek. “Ty, whenever you want to have that talk I wiggled out of, I’m ready.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Are you hungry?”
She shook her head. “I’d hate to disappoint Lennie, though.”
Ty turned and signaled to Lennie in the kitchen window.
Lennie hurried through the door toward them.
“Those ribeyes…?”
Lennie nodded.
“She wants you and Jimbo to enjoy them. I’m taking her home.”
Lennie nodded and gave Ruby a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Ty lowered himself over Ruby’s body, centered his cock, and slid home. He closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of being surrounded by her arms and legs and slick channel. Then he dropped his forehead to hers. “I wasn’t certain I’d ever be here again,” he said, voicing his fear. The remnants of it still kept his body taut.
“My eyes are crossing,” she groused.
Ty laughed softly and pulled back his head. Ruby always shied away from tender words, but he knew now that she felt the same way he did. “That better?”
Her eyelids lowered partway, and she gave him a look from beneath her lashes that sent a wave of heat to his groin. She feathered the pad of her index finger across his lower lip. “I love you.”
Lawless: A Cowboys on the Edge Story Page 6
