by Linda Conrad
Once outside the town limits and back on Bar-C land, she relaxed. Gage wouldn’t come after her now. And if Travis came from the other direction, toward town, to meet her, they were bound to run into each other. Talking to him out here on the range might be just as well. It was certainly private, with miles and miles of empty ranch land as far as the eye could see.
Going over in her head what she would say, she tried every angle to put her lies in the best light. But as she traveled past brown grass pastures and crossed over cattle guards with their eerie clanking sounds, she finally came to the conclusion that there was no way to put a lie in a good light.
Travis was going to be furious, and he had every right to be mad. She’d brought danger into his world and hadn’t even given him the opportunity to prepare or defend his family and his home.
Would he end up hating her? Her only saving grace was that she loved him and would do anything to make things right in the end. Whatever he asked of her—to leave Chance and never come back or to stay nearby and spend as much time with Jenna as he would allow. Whatever he wanted, she would be willing. Gladly. But nothing would ever be the same between them.
Lost in her contemplations as she crossed a bridge over a gully, she almost didn’t notice a pickup nose-down among the hackberries and mesquite. She slammed on the brakes and backed up to look closer.
Was that a body in the driver’s seat? The coming dusk made shadows under the trees, and she couldn’t tell from this distance. But it did seem as though somebody had lost control and accidentally slid their truck into the gully.
Someone could be hurt. She made a too-quick decision to check things out and see if she could be of help. Driving her SUV over brushy land to get a closer look, she came up on the truck and realized its color was white. The same as the pickup she’d been looking for since she’d come to town. But there wasn’t any red writing on the side. No writing of any kind at all. Still, this truck looked familiar.
Ignoring the warning bells going off in the back of her mind, she parked within ten yards and opened her door. Before she stepped out, she checked the whole area to be sure no one else was anywhere nearby.
Her nerves were jangling and blood was pounding in her ears. But her deep desire to help a person in need overtook her better judgment and blinded her to even normal wariness. Maybe she should just tiptoe closer to get a better look.
Hoping to make herself invisible, she stayed low until she was right next to the pickup’s bed. She flattened herself against it and inched her way to the driver’s window.
When she got within a foot, she could hear moaning. Someone was hurt.
Throwing all caution and care to the winds, she grabbed hold of the door handle and ripped open the door. A man was bent over the steering wheel and groaning as though he was hurt badly. Right away she knew he wasn’t her quarry. Even from the side, she could tell this man was much younger than the man she’d been looking for.
“Where does it hurt?” Leaning in, she tried to put her arm around his shoulders to help him sit up, but his back was too wide.
The man moaned as she took hold of his arm, and she caught a whiff of alcohol. No wonder he’d run off the road. He must be drunk.
“I don’t have a cell phone to call for help,” she said in a raised voice. “Do you have a phone? I can call the ranch to send help and get you out of here.”
All of a sudden the man came to life and sat back, swiveling his body to face her. “I’ll do any calling,” he growled.
Stunned, she took a half step back and realized this unshaven, untidy man was someone she’d seen before. She remembered going with Travis one Saturday to give this creepy fellow charitable assistance. His name was Bodie something, as she recalled. Travis had offered him a job.
She opened her mouth to ask what he thought he was doing when she belatedly noticed he had a gun pointed directly at her belly button.
“Whaaa…?” That was all she could manage, as her voice stuck in her throat.
“Shut up, bitch. I’ll do the talking, too.” He climbed out of the pickup but kept the gun barrel directed squarely toward the center of her chest.
“You really are slow on the uptake, you know that? But you’re going to be moving fast from here on out. I have things to do, and you are going to behave so I can get them done in time. Understand?”
Her brain wasn’t functioning. What had he said?
He slapped her hard across the cheek. “Wake up, you dumb broad. Pay attention.”
She bit her lip to keep from crying out and tasted blood. What did he want with her?
“Don’t move a muscle. You hear me? Not until I say so, or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”
He stuffed the gun in his waistband and reached back to bring out a piece of rope from behind the front seat. She thought for about one second about trying to run, then decided he would just shoot her in the back before she got very far.
After tying her hands behind her, he roughly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her around to the other side of the truck. “Get in. And hurry it up.”
Having her hands tied was too much like the worst night of her life. The horror of her past closed in, surrounding her with creeping terrors. Shifting memories of dark shadows and echoes of footsteps on the floor above her head weakened her knees and threatened to make her lose whatever was in her stomach.
Irritated by her slow movements, he picked her up around the waist, threw her in the front seat and slammed the door shut. “Damned bumbling bitch. Don’t move.”
Not moving was easy—she was frozen to the spot. But somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind she found a strength she didn’t know she possessed. On that first terrible night long ago, she’d fought with everything she had inside to live so she could save her child. This time she would fight to stay alive because Travis had given her something to live for.
Somehow, someway, she would live through this night to see Travis once more.
Over her shoulder, she heard the Bar-C’s SUV start up. Looking out the back window, she saw Bodie driving it right toward the deepest part of the gully. He gunned the engine and jumped free just as the SUV hit the slope. The SUV jerked and rolled, landing out of sight under the bridge.
She tried to breathe but couldn’t seem to get enough air. What did this guy want?
Before she could think of any of the excruciating but quite possible answers to that question, he was back and climbing in the driver’s seat. “That ought to do the job. We’re out of here. There’s more work to be done before we call your sweetheart.”
What? “Travis? What do you want with him?”
Bodie gave her a quick, backhanded slap across the mouth. “I told you to shut the hell up.”
He cranked the starter, and the pickup’s engine roared to life. “Don’t you worry, missy. You and our friend Trav will be seeing each other real soon.” Laughing under his breath he added, “And spending time side by side—throughout eternity.”
* * *
By the time Travis reached his brother’s office, both his mind and his pickup were out of control. Slamming into the parking lot, he raced up the stairs and stormed down the hall.
He barged through the office door. “Where the devil is she? We didn’t meet up on the road like you said we would.”
“Calm down.” Gage stood to face him. “I’m sure…”
“Calm, hell! How could you let her leave?”
“Let her? She sneaked out when my back was turned. I told her to talk to you on the phone. It was all her big idea that she had to tell you in person.”
With his brain racing and adrenaline gushing through his veins, Travis did something really stupid. He took both hands and shoved Gage hard in the chest.
The minute he’d done it, he regretted the move. But he was already up to his ears in horse manure and couldn’t seem to get a handle on his self-control.
Gage balled his fists but stood his ground. “No sense taking it out on me, brother. I was jus
t looking after your interests.”
“Then you tell me what was so all-fired important that she had to drive out to the ranch when I told you to keep her here and safe.”
Gage turned his back and walked to the window. Smart move. His brother knew damned well he would never attack a man from behind.
“Well?” He balled his own fists and stuck them in his pockets.
“You’d really rather hear this from her. But looks like I’ve got no choice. Summer knows who the stalker is.”
“What?” His ears were ringing, and the dusky light coming through the window grew dimmer.
Gage swung back around. “Better sit to hear this.”
“Hell, no. Get on with it.”
“She’s been living on the ranch through false pretenses, Trav. Using you to get what she came to town for. You are such an easy touch. If I’ve told you…”
Travis stumbled forward but stopped short of putting his hands around Gage’s neck and wringing the story out of him. “Just tell me what she said.”
Gage backed up a step and put his chin up. “She came to Chance deliberately—looking for the man who got away from the scene when her family was murdered. Looking for final justice, she claimed. Seemed the cops wouldn’t help, so she hired a P.I. to track him down, but she doesn’t know what name he’s been using. She got a good look at him the night of the murders. And she’s been searching for him since the day she got here.”
Shaking his head, Travis tried to make some sense of what Gage was saying. “Why didn’t she tell me? Why keep it a secret?”
Gage shrugged a shoulder. “That part was kinda vague. Something about starting off with a lie and not knowing how to stop.”
“But… Why does she think the ranch’s stalker is this man she’s looking for?”
“Well, that’s more complicated, I think. She spotted the guy in town a while back and is sure he got a good look at her, too. Then, when her room was trashed, apparently the stalker wrote something like ‘Die, bitch’ on the mirror. She’s convinced that means it’s someone who’s specifically after her.”
Travis backed into a desk chair and plopped down. He couldn’t make his mind settle enough to think this through.
“Why come to you?” he finally asked. “Why not confess to me and let me handle things?”
Gage lowered his voice, sounding calm, as though he was trying to be solicitous. “That’s the worst of it. She was on her way out of town. Running from the danger. Came to me because she thought another P.I. could track the guy down and stop him from coming after her.”
“Running?” His brain refused to process the words. “Leaving without talking to me first? Without explaining to Jenna?”
“I’m sorry, Trav. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you. I asked her to wait for you, and then I thought maybe she’d gone to the ranch to tell you in private. But since you didn’t meet up on the road—I’m thinking she decided to run after all.”
Getting to his feet, Travis set his jaw and turned in a circle, trying to focus. “I don’t buy it.”
“Look at the facts.” Gage held his palms out and pleaded with his eyes. “Wake up and see her for what she really is.”
“What she really is—a woman who’s changed my whole world.” And she was so much more. “She’s a survivor. A woman who lived through the worst thing a parent could ever live through. She found a way into my daughter’s heart—and mine too, when I was damned sure I would never love any woman again.”
The tears welled in his eyes. “I trust her, Gage. With everything in me. She didn’t just run. She came to you for help. And if she said she was coming to tell me the truth, then something awful stopped her first.”
“Trav…”
“We’ve got to find her.” Belatedly regaining control of his mind, he made a mental list of things a search party could do. “I’ll call Barrett and head back out to the ranch. You call the sheriff. It’s time to get him involved.” As he reached the door, his cell phone rang.
Hanging back, he answered the anonymous call. “Travis Chance.”
“I’ve got the bitch, Chance.” The voice was garbled, deliberately disguised. “So far she’s okay. But if you don’t do what I say, you’ll never see her again.”
Travis blanked his mind to the terror in the words. He’d come to his senses and needed to remain strong.
“This is the worst joke I’ve ever heard. Your script sounds like a bad television show. You’re not funny. If you’ve got Summer, put her on.”
“Shut up and listen, bastard. You know I’ve got her. I’ve been able to move around everywhere on the ranch, including inside the ranch house, and you haven’t been able to stop me. This is all on your head, Travis Chance. Either do as I say or be the cause of her death.”
“What do you want?”
Silence from the other end gave Travis chills clear down to his bones. He felt sure the other man didn’t have anything specific in mind. That he’d only wanted to cause pain. And he was doing a damned good job of it. But Travis waited him out.
Finally the disguised voice gave him instructions. Wanting money and a plane seemed like another cliché. But Travis agreed readily.
Summer had to be alive. And he was going to see to it that she stayed that way.
After the man hung up, Travis turned to his brother. “She’s been kidnapped. The stalker wants money and a plane ride. I’ll take care of those. You call the sheriff. But I want it understood that I’m in charge. No one makes any moves that could get her killed. Understand?”
“How much time do we have?”
“Two hours.” Not nearly enough for a decent plan.
Yet every second was too damned long. In one way, the kidnapper was right. Travis should’ve never let Summer out of his sight. This was all on him.
Chapter 17
“What are you doing?” Summer’s hands and feet were numb, and she could barely see her kidnapper through the growing darkness.
“Shut up.” He’d been diligently working on some project since they’d arrived at a broken-down shack near the Bar-C’s airstrip. “If I want you to know anything, I’ll tell you.”
For the second time in her life, she felt sure she was about to die. Snap out of it, she chided herself. She would be no help to Travis if she was too scared to think. And Travis’s welfare was all that mattered anymore.
Her life was probably over. She’d overheard Bodie’s ransom call to Travis but had developed a growing suspicion that her captor had no intention of letting her live after he got what he wanted.
Come to think of it, that was another thing that didn’t feel right. What did he really want? Not money. She felt sure money was the last thing on his mind.
Bodie was mumbling to himself, as he had been over the last hour. He sat at a rickety table with a flashlight in one hand and worked at some small piece of equipment on the table.
“Right. Right,” he muttered to himself. “I remember, Daddy. Oww. Don’t hit me again. I’ll do it proper.” He jerked his head as though something hard had smacked him across the cheek.
Oh, dear Lord, the man was losing it. Those were the first clear words she’d understood, and now she had to fight a bad case of panic. He was hearing voices. That couldn’t be a good sign.
Tugging fruitlessly against the ropes on her wrists, she thought back to another night when she’d been in a similar spot. But that time the ropes had seemed looser—easier to slip off. The dark memories of that night haunted her. But now she had to wonder. Had Hoss deliberately left her ties loose, knowing she would have a chance to set herself free?
On that night long ago, she’d failed to save her child, the only thing that had mattered in her world. But tonight, she vowed, would be different. If she had any strength left—or a tiny shot at all of foiling this guy’s plans—she intended to die before letting him kill Travis.
“There we go,” Bodie said with pride in his voice. “Almost all set for the final act.”
He st
ood and walked over to her spot on the floor in a dark corner. “Your boyfriend’s due in another few minutes and we’re nearly ready for him.”
Squatting on his haunches, he folded his hands and leered at her. “Too bad things must turn out this way. I’d have liked an opportunity to see how good you are in bed. Travis sure seemed to enjoy it.”
“You’ve been spying on us?”
“Stupid, stupid bitch. I’ve been more than spying. I’ve been running things on the Bar-C for the last month. How’d you enjoy your first horseback ride? Exciting enough for you?”
“But why? Why all the dirty tricks? Someone could’ve been killed.”
She saw right away from the look on his face that he wouldn’t mind if anyone was hurt or killed. His lack of concern for life chilled her as if it were a cold stake driven through her heart. He expected someone to die tonight.
Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes as though she was the most naive person he’d ever met. “Payback. You should know how that feels. I’ll bet you’ve had your share of thoughts on a payback of your own over the last few years. Ain’t that right?”
Opening her mouth to deny his accusation, she stopped short. Yes, she’d admit to a few daydreams of taking retribution for the wrongs done to her and her child. But they’d only been fleeting thoughts. Gone before she’d really recognized the pain behind them.
“Not payback,” she insisted. “I don’t want anyone else hurt. I just want justice.”
“Justice?” Bodie grinned, looking crazier than ever. “Now ain’t that a high-and-mighty word. I like it. Yessir. That’s what I’ll be doing tonight. Getting justice for all the years of being nothing but chicken turds under Travis Chance’s boot.”
She caught it then. The real reason for everything he’d done. He planned on killing Travis tonight. And she was the bait for his plan.
“You won’t get away if you hurt Travis. You’ll go to jail. You don’t want that, do you?”
He shrugged, almost nonchalantly. “Don’t plan on getting away. Don’t plan on going back to jail, either.”
