She just nodded.
“So, I say we strip your bed and hang the sheets to dry then go exploring.”
“My bed?”
“Yes. Well, actually, once you’re completely well, I’m probably going to put you in the loft and stay down here where I can be on watch.”
To their chagrin, the cabins were all pretty much alike. They had hoped for one with an indoor bath and maybe a separate kitchen, but no.
She was feeling pretty good when they got back and wanted to check out the loft. She kind of liked it. It had a woodland patterned heavy wool blanket and a little lampstand with a lamp.
“Do we have electricity?” she asked.
“No,” he said, “but I do have some solar lights in the trunk of the car. Of course, they won’t work tonight because they haven’t had any sun exposure, but we’ll get them out there tomorrow.”
“Where is the car? I don’t remember seeing it.”
He told her the story of their drive up the slope, the oil pan and of their descent into camp. She was shocked because she had no recollection of any of it.
“How come you haven’t gotten the solar lights before now?” she asked.
“It’s quite a walk, and I didn’t want to leave you,”
“Oh,” was all she said and looked away from his gaze.
The bed in the loft was snug and nice as she crawled into it that night. She felt guilty that he was sleeping on her sweat-stained sheets. For a moment, she entertained the idea of calling him up to her bed, but then she thought better of it. Things had changed, she sensed, for the better. Best to leave well enough alone.
She woke to the sound of a helicopter coming in and heard Lucas going out the door. She thought about getting up to go see what was happening, but she didn’t figure she’d be that welcome, anyway, so she stayed where she was.
Two oversized duffle bags were dropped. Lucas unhooked them and waved to the helicopter when he noticed someone was descending from it.
“Marshal Roberts?”
Lucas nodded curtly.
“I have a message for you. Headquarters needs you to know that Deputy Brighton was nowhere to be seen when law enforcement got to the site.”
Lucas shook his head. “And when was that, exactly?”
“The very next morning is my understanding. As soon as there was enough daylight. A twenty-mile radius was combed through, both with choppers and on the ground. They did find one of the handcuffs and the chain.”
“Great,” Lucas snapped, venting some of his frustration, but holding onto most of it. “Glad something was salvaged. Maybe they can be recycled into a commemorative keychain.”
Lucas was finished with this conversation. He picked up the bags and slung one over each shoulder. As he walked back to the cabin, he looked back to see the messenger ascending the rope ladder.
Lucas debated whether or not to tell Audra about this latest snafu. On the one hand, telling her would make the agency look even more incompetent than they did for assigning Brighton in the first place—which would likely further erode her trust and confidence that Lucas could keep her safe. On the other hand, Brighton was slithering around loose out there somewhere, and she needed to be aware of the danger.
13
Audra was downstairs building a fire when he got back to the cabin.
“Don’t think we’ll need that. It could get into the sixties today.
“Sixties? That’s winter where I come from. The fire will help take the chill off. Besides, it seems appropriate with you looking all Santa-like. Whatcha got in your bags, Santa?”
“Sorry. These are reserved for the good girls,” he said, putting the bags in the center of the floor.
“I can be good,” Audra replied, wearing an angelic expression of innocence.
Lucas decided the direction of the conversation required a detour and began digging through the bags. There were more MREs, but also tins of fruit, ham, beans, and such exotic fare as refried beans and canned tamales. They’d thought of everything, even vacuum-sealed tortillas.
They had also provided lighters, gloves, rope of several different thicknesses, first aid kits, space blankets, a couple of hunting knives, flashlights, a tiny camp stove and lamp, fishing line and hooks, and a new cell phone.
Lucas eyed the cell phone suspiciously, determined not to use it. As far as he was concerned, their mission had already been compromised, and they were barely two weeks into the detail! It was going to be a painfully long assignment—of this he was certain.
His thoughts turned to Brighton. Had he always been dirty or had the smell of cartel green whet his appetite? It was a moot point now. He’d been bought and sold, and now he was selling out his fellow marshals. There was no going back for Brighton. He’d changed his allegiance and had to be put down. There’d be no peace till then.
Audra looked like a kid on Christmas morning, sorting through the booty in the bags. The fire was a nice touch. It did feel kind of homey. Maybe, with just the two of them, they could focus better on keeping sharp and staying alive.
Thunder rumbled.
Lucas wondered where Brighton was at that moment. If he was in touch with his cronies, he wouldn’t be far, Lucas guessed.
“I have another present for you today, Miss Educational,” he said, pulling his pistol from his holster. “Today you learn how to shoot.”
# # #
Brighton pulled his field jacket collar up, trying to cover his ears as the rain fell in a light but persistent drizzle. He squatted closer to the trunk of the tree, hoping to find more shelter there. He had a clear view of the cabin door and two windows. Occasionally, he would see Lucas peering out; other times, Audra would pass by. As the sky darkened and his coat and pants grew wetter, he wished that he were near the fire that flickered inside.
Oh, they must be having a lovely time, he thought. Yes, just the two of them, by the fire; him protecting her, like an early cave dweller, and she submitting to his male dominance, so grateful that she’d do just anything….
They really should thank me for bringing them together like this. Well, if it had worked out according to plan, they would have both been dead, but still…in a way, I’m their matchmaker!
He shifted from foot-to-foot as he crouched, trying to keep the blood flowing in his legs and trying to keep low behind the grassy berm helping to conceal him. He was hungry, he was wet, and it was getting colder. Despite his discomfort, he was willing to wait until it grew dark.
He knew the rain would work in his favor. The white noise of the rain hitting would drive Lucas crazy. He’d have to keep looking out that window to make up for the inability to hear if someone was approaching, Eventually, Lucas would tire and fatigue would set in. After all, he didn’t have any relief or back-up.
Perhaps he and the girl will take shifts, he chuckled. Yes, make it a working vacation for the little princess. Have her pull her weight. These are my tax dollars, after all. Nobody should get a free ride!
A wind gust slammed into the trees, depositing a cascade of rain down on Brighton, like shards of cold, wet, falling glass.
Son of a bitch!
# # #
Soon...any moment now.
He’s got to come out sometime. He won’t bother with the outhouse, but he will have to take a leak. He’ll step out from the dimly lit room, take a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dark, and that’s when I’ll nail him!
Brighton crouched low as he moved toward the left side of the door. Lucas was right-handed. He’d likely open the door with his left hand and exit toward the left. He’d keep his firing hand free, so that would be the side from which Brighton would attack.
It was another hour before he heard the steps inside approach the door. A muffled voice…he couldn’t make out the words. Possibly a word of caution to his charge. Maybe he gave her his pistol, just in case.
The door handle turned with a squeak, and Lucas stepped out toward his left. Brighton emerged from the shadows. In one motion, his
toes brushed Lucas’ heels, his knife touched his throat, and Brighton’s hand held Lucas’ right wrist firmly.
His holster was empty. The girl…
“Don’t…move…an…inch, Lucas. You’ll die, then her. She got your gun?”
“Uh-huh,” Lucas replied. “She knows how to use it, too…and she will!”
“Then, you’ll come in handy, won’t you? Turn around and open the door, then stop.” Lucas turned slowly and felt for the handle.
When he’d handed Audra his pistol, he told her, “When I return, I will knock twice and open the door. If the door opens before you hear the two knocks fire at the center of the doorway, got it?” She’d nodded.
Now he wondered if she’d really gotten it.
He turned the knob and fell back into Brighton and then dropped.
Brighton stood puzzled, uncertain as the door swung open, but only for a moment. The gun fired and a bullet caught him in his solar plexus. He wanted to take a breath but couldn’t. Instead, he stiffened and keeled over like a freshly chopped tree.
“Oh, my god. Lucas!” she squealed as she dropped the gun to the floor.
Lucas scrambled up, pushing Brighton’s legs off him. He felt for Brighton’s carotid, but there was nothing. Dead.
He looked up at her, expelling a huge, long-held breath.
“Camp Cozy is over,” he said. “Let’s pack up. Do you think you can carry one of these duffels?”
Her heart was still racing, and she crumpled to the floor, shaking.
“Is…is it Brighton?”
“Yes.”
“Are we going to bury him?”
“Hell, no. I’ll drag him down by the outhouse, and we’ll let nature have her way from there. We can’t set out tonight, but let’s get everything packed up so we can set out at first light.”
“Where are we going to go?”
“I’ll tell you first thing tomorrow.”
“Why can’t you tell me now?”
“Because I don’t know yet.”
He walked out the door, and Audra heard the thump-thump as Lucas pulled the body down off the stoop.
She bent to put the supplies back that she had pulled out of the duffels earlier that day. Soon, Lucas got back and washed up.
“Are you going to call your headquarters?”
“No. I don’t know where Brighton was getting his information. Only the Service would have known where this camp was. There has to be an inside informant. In fact, we’re going to dump the cell phone because I don’t want a locator signal going out from it.”
They packed everything up. He rearranged some things, and others they had to leave behind.
“From here on out, there are going to be some big risks until we get somewhere safe,” he said.
“Apparently, we’ve been in a risky situation all along,” she responded.
He looked over at her. “Due to my poor judgment, I’m afraid. But you’ll have to trust me for a while longer.”
“Desperate men make us question ourselves,” she said in a stroke of wisdom beyond her years.
He reached over and hugged her, and she clung to him for a while.
“Can we bring down that big blanket from upstairs?” she asked.
“Why, don’t you need it?” he said.
“We need it. I’m sleeping with you tonight,” she replied.
He smiled. They brought the heavy blanket down from the loft and spread it across the bed. He stoked the fire a bit and damped it to last the night.
She crawled in bed. He turned out the LED lantern and crawled in beside her. While they had been in Angels, he could never have conceived crawling into bed with her without wanting to ravage her. However, as much as they might both need the comfort of each other’s bodies, there was peace in just holding her to him as they slept.
In the night, a mountain lion followed the smell of blood to the camp. She quickly found her quarry and nosed it. It wasn’t the choicest; she would have preferred it alive, but there were sometimes when carrion would have to do.
# # #
He was up before daylight, making sure they had everything secured and ready to go. He woke her gently after he had made hot water. They had a cup of coffee together in silence.
“In the night, did you hear…?”
He had, but he hoped she had not. “Yes,” he said. She just nodded.
She was outfitted in boots, camo pants and jacket, an orange vest, a hat, and gloves. The vest wouldn’t do much for their cover, but it would be ironic to escape the cartel only to be blown away by hunters.
He gave her a walking stick he had been carving all week.
“Where are we going?” she asked as they stepped out of the cabin, securing the door behind them.
“We’re going to start out with about a ten mile hike.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” she said.
“Normally, it wouldn’t,” he said, “but since we can’t take the road, we’re going to do it as the crow flies, over those hills.”
She gave him a horrified look. “Hills? I thought those were mountains.”
“It won’t be as bad as you think, but it won’t be a piece of cake, either.”
By noon they arrived in Mountain Ranch and caught a bus to Railroad Flat. They were cutting up through Sierra Nevada hill country since Lucas figured whoever was watching for them would likely expect them to take the more familiar roads. By now, not having heard from Brighton, they probably guessed his mission had failed.
After reaching Railroad Flat, they went to the General Store to get something hot to eat, and Lucas made a phone call. He had been right in recalling that they had a pay phone.
Lucas dialed a number from memory and waited.
“Yup,” came the response on the other end of the phone.
“Jerry, it’s L.J.”
“L.J.! You son-of-a-bitch! How the hell you doin’ buddy? How long’s it been?”
“Too long. I need a favor Jerry.”
“Yup,” said Jerry. “You always do. And I’m always good for it.”
“I need you to pick me up in Railroad Flat. This needs to be on the QT. Just you.”
“Okay. I can be there by three o’clock.”
“We’ll be in the general store.”
“Okay, buddy.”
“Oh, and Jerry? You need to bring a pair of underwear ‘cause I need you to drive us somewhere.”
“Where?”
“You know better than to ask me that. Suffice it to say you won’t be home tonight or for the next few nights.”
“Yup.”
He hung up feeling a tiny sense of relief. Audra was coming out of the restroom, and they walked into the coffee shop and sat down.
Lucas looked furtively around the room before they sat down.
“We have about three hours to kill.”
“Until what?”
“I have a friend in South Lake Tahoe coming to get us.”
“And then what?”
“One thing at a time, girlie. One thing at a time.”
She smiled at him, and then looked at the menu. At the camp, they had come to a hard-won ease between them. No matter what happened now, their strength was doubled.
# # #
“So your gringo messed up, eh?”
“They found his body not far from the camp. His face had been eaten off by a mountain lion, but not before he was shot with a 40-caliber Glock.”
“So, what you going to do about it, ese?”
“We found their trail over the hills into Mountain Ranch, and then they took the bus into Railroad Flat. From there, they were picked up by this man,” he said, showing him a photograph. “An old army buddy of his. They did two stints in Iraq.”
The first man flung the picture back. “That’s not what I asked you, ese. I asked you what you going to do about it.”
The man swallowed. “We’re on it, Toro, we’re on it. We’re not exactly sure where they went, but we have reason to believe they are
no longer in California.”
“Find them! I want that girl dead before the week is out. And you know what the price of failure is, don’t you, ese? Just like that marshal knows the consequences of failure. First his wife, then his child.”
The man nodded and left.
14
Audra leaned against a shelf full of used books in a general store in Railroad Flat. She was deep into a Nora Roberts romance. Romance had never interested her in the slightest before now, but all it had taken was thumbing through the Nora Roberts book to hook her.
She saw that it was a trilogy, but perusing the shelves, she had seen none of the others, so she was determined to find the rest in e-book form when she had a chance to get a new e-reader—whenever that would be.
Lucas was still sitting at their table, plotting something in a notebook. When he felt their position at the cabin had been compromised, he had gotten rid of all devices—except for her Kindle since he could disable the wifi. Good old-fashioned pen and paper were always reliable.
She was surprised she wasn’t curled up on the floor, sound asleep. She and Lucas had left the cabin before dawn, trudged ten miles cross-country, and then took the bus to Railroad Flat. Now that they had fortified themselves with burgers and fries, they were waiting for Jerry, Lucas’s Army buddy, who was coming from Lake Tahoe to pick them up.
Burgers and fries. After a week of MREs, she had readily wolfed down the all-American meal. She just hoped it didn’t wreak havoc with her stomach. She had no idea what would happen next. She noted that Lucas had packed as much of the tinned food supplies as he thought feasible for them to carry, so she had an inkling they weren’t going to be staying in hotels and eating at restaurants.
She studied Lucas, as he gazed across the room, musing. There was always a dangerous look in his eyes, and he always looked completely self-possessed. He had eyes that saw everything, yet there was always a distant sorrow in them. After what Brighton had told her, it was no wonder.
She wanted so badly to hear that story, to know where all that conflict within him lay. She wanted to touch him, to tell him that everything would be all right. However, those were just words. The kind of words that had been said to her after her grandmother and uncle had been frightened, literally to death, by the cartel. But things weren’t alright and wouldn’t be alright for a long time…for either of them.
BILLIONAIRE BIKERS: 3 MC Romance Books Page 52
