by Angi Morgan
Agent McCaffrey nodded to them, standing guard at the plane as the volunteers continued to free the men. Tracey carried Jackson, protected by Agent Barlow and Josh. Whatever her armed escort was discussing, her only concern was getting Jackson to safety. That meant to get him stable, then on that helicopter to Round Rock.
For the middle of nowhere, there were a lot of people gathered under a shed where Agent Barlow stopped. Parachutes. They were packing parachutes for skydiving.
Tracey could see the FBI helicopter on the opposite side of the road. Mack now sat in the back of the truck next to the helicopter. One of his hands was secured to a rail along the truck bed. The pilot was armed with a shotgun, standing guard.
“Ma’am, you mentioned you had juice?” Josh asked the woman who seemed to be the owner. “Is it in the house?”
“Yes, I’ve sent someone for it,” said the woman who’d arranged for the honey and testing kit. “Do you want to take him inside?”
Tracey sat on a stool, balancing Jackson on her legs. She shook her head not wanting to be out of sight of the helicopter.
“No, thanks. We’ll head out as soon as Tracey says.” Josh kept turning, searching for something or someone.
She could tell that he was anxious but not just for Jackson’s welfare. “I can wait on the juice if you need to talk with that man, especially if they might come back and hurt the kids again.”
“The FBI can take care of it.”
“Looks like they’re a little short-handed. Go on. You can tell the helicopter pilot we’ll be ready in five minutes.” She was confident it wouldn’t be long before Jackson was his normal self. Looking down the hill, they were loading the injured ranger on board. “You need to make sure everything’s safe. I can wait on the juice.”
“I’ll be right back.” He kissed Jackson’s forehead.
Then he brushed his lips against Tracey’s and ran to catch up and interrogate Mack.
Agent Barlow was behind her getting names and asking why each person was there. Jackson kicked out and Tracey almost lost him from her lap.
“You could lay him here. If he’s not allergic, this is all fresh hay.” A young woman stretched a checkered cloth over a loose bunch. “None of the animals have been near it yet. I just set it out this morning.”
“Thank you.” Tracey moved to let Jackson stretch out.
“Is he okay?”
“I think he will be. Do you live here?” Tracey wiped Jackson’s forehead, now dry and cool. Definitely better.
“Oh no, this is a skydiving school. I’m taking lessons and help out with the animals. They’re so adorable.”
Tracey didn’t normally have bad vibes about people. And after the past two days, she didn’t really trust the one she felt from this woman, who seemed to be nice. There shouldn’t be anything “bad” about someone trying to help a sick little boy get more comfortable. And yet...
Tracey stood. “You know, he is better. We should probably join Josh.” She bent to pick him up, but stopped with a gun barrel in her ribs.
“Wow, you caught on real quick,” the woman whispered. “Now, we need to leave the kid and back out the other side of this place. Got it? And if you make a move, then somebody else is going to be hurt.”
Where had she come from? No one seemed to be alerted that she was there. It was barely dawn for crying out loud. So why wasn’t anyone surprised that she was leaving?
When exactly was this sick nightmare going to end?
“I’ll come with you.” Only to keep anyone else from getting hurt. Tracey tried to get Agent Barlow’s attention. No luck.
The woman holding the gun waited for the agent to walk to the opposite side of the structure. She giggled as they walked around the corner and through another shed with long tables.
The gun continued to jab her ribs as the woman picked up her pace and forced Tracey to the far side of all the buildings. They darted from a huge oak tree to a metal shed. Then another. Then another. This side of the skydiving facility couldn’t be seen from the plane crash or where she’d left Jackson.
“They’re going to know something’s wrong. I wouldn’t leave Jackson like that. Not voluntarily.”
“We don’t care if they come looking for you. The more they look, the more they’ll flush Paul from his hiding place,” a man in his midthirties answered from behind a stack of hay.
The twentysomething woman, actually about the same age as Tracey, sidled up next to the man and lifted her lips for a kiss. And, of course, she lifted the gun and pointed it in Tracey’s general direction.
“Why in the world do you think you need me to help you find your father? You are Xander Tenoreno. Right?”
It was hard to be scared. Too much had happened in the past two days—she’d barely been conscious half an hour. She’d changed or she was just plain tired. The reason was unimportant, but these two didn’t really seem threatening to her.
“You know... I might have a concussion. Even though I feel totally fine.” She crossed the lean-to and plopped down on a hay bale. “Or I might be quite confident that Josh won’t take long to find me. But I am going to wait. Right here. You can do what you want. I’m waiting.”
She was the one who sounded a little scary. Sort of delusional or exhausted. Maybe it was shock. Once she sat, she realized her entire body was shaking and her mouth had gone completely dry.
Xander Tenoreno acted like he was ignoring her, as if she wasn’t important. But she’d been watching men and their body language closely for hours. And his was tense, ready to pounce if she moved the wrong direction.
“This is ridiculous,” Tracey continued. “Your father is long gone. Probably stole a car and headed out while everyone else was running to the plane crash.”
“You can shut up now.” The chick—she’d lost the right to be referred to with respect—pulled the rather large gun up to her shoulder again. “Xander knows what he’s doing.”
Tracey nodded and began looking for a weapon or for something to hide behind when the shooting started.
Wow. She really did feel like help was on the way. Josh wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She was more concerned about both of them being separated from Jackson. He needed juice and was barely coherent enough to swallow.
Xander took out a telescope that fit on top of a rifle. He searched the fields and turned his body in a semicircle. He paused several times but didn’t do anything except remove his arm from around the woman.
“Why not just let your father go to jail for the rest of his life?” She was legitimately curious. But it also occurred to her that if he was distracted, Josh would have an easier time taking him by surprise.
“My father wasn’t going to jail. He wasn’t even going to stand trial.” He cocked his head to the side. “He was headed to Austin to make a deal. Screw me and our business over so that he could what? Get away with murdering my mother. That’s what. His deal would have put him in witness protection. I have a right to take care of this the way I see fit.”
Now she was scared.
* * *
“WHERE’S TRACEY?” JOSH SAT Jackson upright and made sure he could swallow some juice. A little dribbled down his chin, but he didn’t choke. He’d give him a couple of minutes and then repeat the blood test.
“I thought she followed you. I checked the west side of the house, came back and she wasn’t here.” Kendall placed her palm on Jackson’s cheek. “His color is better. Are you ready to transport now?”
“I...” He looked at his son, looked around for Tracey, then stared at the armed pilot. “Something’s wrong. She wouldn’t leave him alone like this.”
They asked the family members and the instructor if they’d seen anything. Their answers were no.
“Maybe you’re overthinking,” Kendall said.
�
��Call it in.”
“We only have three agents here, Josh. We can’t cover each of these buildings until backup arrives.”
“She could be dead or miles away from here by then.”
“Ma’am?” He tapped on the shoulder of the home owner. “You said your grandson has diabetes, so you’re familiar with it?”
“Oh yes, I’m sorry that we didn’t have everything your wife needed.”
Josh didn’t correct her. Moving forward was more important. “Do you mind sitting with Jackson?”
“No. I’d be glad to.”
Josh walked away and caught the end of Kendall’s phone conversation.
“He’s not going to stay put. Tenoreno’s out there, sir. I can at least find out where.” She hung up and faced him. “Do people always go out on a limb for you, Josh?”
“Not sure how to answer that, but I am grateful.”
“Excuse me, you asked about the woman in the plane.” A teenage girl holding a dog waited for an okay to finish. “Shawna’s gone, too.”
“Shawna?”
“She’s taking lessons and wanted to feed the animals this morning.”
“Has she ever wanted to do that before?” Kendall pulled out her cell again.
“No. Today’s the first time.”
“Do you have a picture of Shawna and a last name?” Kendall asked.
He battled with himself over whether he should go. Jackson needed him, but so did Tracey. His son was able to swallow. It wasn’t his imagination that Jackson’s color was better.
“Kendall, I need you to climb out on another limb for me.” Her eyebrows arched, asking what without saying a word. “Five minutes and you take Jackson to the hospital.”
“But he’s—”
“My gut says yes he’s better, but I have to be certain. I can’t choose one person I love over the other.”
“Better idea. You get on the chopper and I’ll do my job and track down where Tracey is. Go. Take care of your kid.”
While Kendall got the information necessary for her report or an APB on the missing woman, Josh looked for an exit route. Not because he was trying to ditch the FBI agent. If he could find the best route to leave the shelter, he might be able to find Tracey.
“Can I borrow your phone?” Josh asked and the young man nodded. “That’s your mom sitting with my son over there, right? Can you tell her to call this,” he shook the phone side to side, “if Jackson’s condition changes?” He nodded again.
The boy went to his mother, pointed at Josh. He had to try to take care of them both. He’d track down Tracey. When he was gone, Kendall would take his son to the hospital. He focused.
Where would he... There. To keep out of sight they would have headed toward a tree with a tractor parked under it. It was the only place from that side of the shelter. He ran that direction and sure enough, his line of sight to the helicopter pilot was obscured.
He zigzagged across the property using the same logic. If he couldn’t see anyone behind him, they probably didn’t see him. Then it wasn’t a matter of where he’d come from but what was right in front of him.
Tracey.
Along with Xander Tenoreno.
Tracey didn’t seem in immediate danger. He could get Kendall or McCaffrey, surround the man ultimately behind the kidnapping of his kids. He felt the emotion building. He shouldn’t burst in there with no plan to rescue the woman he loved.
The lines between logic and emotion blurred as he debated which path to follow. Xander looked through a scope toward the far tree line. Josh moved close enough to hear the conversation.
“Predictable. I knew he’d head for a vehicle after walking away from the plane. A shame I wasn’t ready for the crash, but that surprise caught me off guard and I missed.”
“It’s okay, baby.”
The girl, Shawna, who had been at the shed earlier, wrapped her arms around Xander and he shrugged her off, uncovering something on a hay bale. Yeah, it was a rifle. Mack had been telling the truth about Xander wanting to kill his father.
The decision about leaving had been made. The son was scoping the dad like it was deer season. Josh didn’t have good positioning, he didn’t have backup and he only had a peashooter revolver.
What could go wrong?
“Step away from the rifle. Hands on your heads, then drop to your knees.” Josh revealed where he was and stepped from behind an animal feeder.
“Well if it isn’t Major Joshua Parker here to save the girl again.” Xander fingered the rifle trigger. He was not dropping to his knees with his hands on his head.
The girl got closer to his side. She didn’t bother listening to Josh, either.
“Don’t be an idiot, Tenoreno. I’m not going to let you hurt anyone. Even your own father.” Josh stepped closer, but not close enough to give Xander any advantage. Swinging the rifle around to point at Tracey or himself would be harder at this range.
“She has a gun,” Tracey informed him as she slipped off her seat on the hay.
“And she knows how to use it.” Xander shifted and the gun was in his hand. “But I know to use it better.”
“Give it up. You’re not getting away from here.”
“Funny thing about revenge, Josh. I’d rather see my father suffer for what he did. He murdered my mother. All she wanted was to live somewhere else. Someplace where he wasn’t. After forty years with him, she probably deserved it.”
“So you kidnapped Jackson and Sage, and set up this entire game to get back at your daddy?” Tracey moved another step away from Tenoreno.
Josh could tell she was heading for the back side of the lean-to. All she needed was a distraction. “All this because you have daddy issues.”
“Seriously? You think I’m going to fall for a question like that?” Xander aimed the gun at Tracey. “I’ll let my girlfriend keep your girlfriend occupied while I take care of my business.”
“You know I can’t let you pull that trigger.”
“You’re not on the clock now, Ranger Parker. You can let me do anything you want.”
“Thing is...he doesn’t want to.” Tracey answered for him, her shoulders rising with every frightened breath she took. “It doesn’t matter how deviant you are or who your father murdered.” She pointed to Josh. “That man is a good man. He’ll give his life to protect you both. You’ll never understand what makes him decent.”
Josh’s heart swelled. No two ways about it, she loved him. His hands steadied. His feet were firm and fixed. He was ready for whatever came next. But she was wrong. He loved her and would protect her before doing anything else.
Xander ignored them and put his eye to the scope again.
“I’ll say this one more time. Drop the gun, kneel and put your hands on your head.” It was a small backup revolver. “I have six shots. That’s three for each of you. No warnings. Center mass. I won’t miss.”
“Xander? Baby, what do I do?” The weight of the big gun or the nerves of the young woman caused the gun to wobble in her hands. Xander ignored her, too.
Shawna looked from Tracey leaning on the hay, to Josh pointing a gun at her. After he didn’t answer or acknowledge her, she didn’t look at her boyfriend. The gun dropped from her hands, she fell to her knees and began crying.
For a couple of seconds Josh thought it was over. He wanted to be back with Jackson and Sage. He wanted to talk about everything with Tracey. He wanted all this to become a memory.
Xander Tenoreno pulled the trigger. Josh squeezed his.
Shawna screamed. Tracey fell to the ground.
Josh leaped across the space separating him from Xander. Encouraged by the love he’d heard in Tracey’s words and scared to death that something had just happened to her. Shawna was up and running but she was someone else’s problem. Tracey n
eeded to find the gun that had dropped from the woman’s hands. The man fired and she’d hit the dirt herself, not certain what would happen.
Josh was fighting Xander. She was sure he felt like he needed to eliminate the threat. The man was crazy. He’d shot his father in front of a Texas Ranger.
Where’s the gun? Where’s the gun?
Tracey scooted on her hands and knees looking for the silver steel in all the dirt and pieces of hay. Her head was down and she looked up only to see Josh winning the battle.
She got knocked backward when Xander tripped over her. Josh came in to land a powerful blow to the man’s abdomen.
“Give it up.” Josh watched as his opponent fell backward.
Tracey didn’t need to search for the gun anymore. It was over. Xander Tenoreno didn’t get up. He was done. Knocked out cold by the time Kendall and the other agent got to the lean-to.
“We heard shots.”
“I’m not sure, but Paul Tenoreno might be at the other end of where that rifle is pointed.”
“You okay?” Tracey asked. “Can you make it back to the house?”
Josh took a deep breath and stood up straight, wincing. “As long as you’re here... I’ll be fine. Let’s go get our boy.”
* * *
“TENORENO JUNIOR’S WOUND isn’t serious. We’ll ride with the emergency unit and transport him and Vince Deegan to Round Rock.” Kendall joined them at the helicopter as they watched a now alert Jackson let the pilot settle a headset on his ears.
“And Tenoreno senior?” Josh asked.
“We were too late. Bullet hit the lung.”
“I didn’t think he’d do it.”
“You aren’t the murderer, Josh.”
“Aiden and Jackson are set and ready. Unfortunately, the pilot didn’t make it. There’s room on the helicopter for one of you. Who’s going?” McCaffrey asked, tapping Josh on the back of his shoulder with whatever papers he had in his hand.
It was his son. His place was beside him. Tracey didn’t hesitate, she gently pushed Josh forward. “I’ll find Sage and be right behind you, even if I have to steal a car to get there.”
