CHRISTMAS AT THE CARDWELL RANCH

by B. J Daniels

  The thought made him nervous. It was that ticking clock he’d been hearing in his ear since he’d realized Lily was missing. But now it seemed to be ticking even faster.

  Move.

  He did, through the deep snow, toward the corner of the house that was the darkest. He could smell the river bottom, the scent of decayed leaves that haunted every riverbed.

  As he drew nearer to the house, he could hear raised voices, a woman’s and a man’s. Edging along the side of the house, he got as close to the front window as he could without being seen.

  He took a quick peek. Wilma and the man he’d seen help Mia into a pickup that night behind the bar. The two were standing at the edge of the living room arguing. The man had a gun in his hand. He appeared to be threatening Wilma with it.

  Tag’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket, making him jump.

  * * *

  CAMILLA KNEW IT was just a matter of time before Marshal Hud Savage learned that she had escaped from the hospital.

  She would have liked to check into a motel for a few days, get her strength back, heal. But she couldn’t chance it. As bad a shape as she was in from her beating, checking into a motel the way she looked would be dangerous. Not only that, but it would give Hud time to get ready for her.

  True to her word, Snakebite had seen that everything she needed had been waiting for her on the outside. She had a vehicle, weapons and what tools she might need. She smiled even though it hurt her mouth to do so.

  By now the marshal would have heard that she had been taken to the hospital. He was too smart not to know she might be using it to escape. That Hud would be expecting the worst made it all the more delicious. She had to assume the marshal’s office would be guarded. So would the ranch house. Fortunately, Hud was a lawman through and through. His one Achilles’ heel was that he couldn’t resist anyone in trouble.

  She’d gotten word that he would soon be headed for a cabin down the canyon where a woman named Lily McCabe was being held captive. Camilla was in awe of the working prison network. Hud being called away from the house would buy her valuable time to take care of a few things in his absence.

  That and the fact that she knew the ranch layout—even in the dead of night—would make her plan work. She didn’t need to worry about getting away. The worst they could do to her was lock her up again. She was already looking at life in prison. There was no way Hud would ever have let her get paroled, and now that she’d escaped, even more years would be added on to her sentence.

  If only Hud had wanted her, she thought. They could have been happy together. He would have gotten over the loss of Dana and the kids. At least that was what she’d told herself last spring. She’d wanted him. Deserved a man like him. She’d thought her life would have been so different if a good man had come into it sooner.

  But he hadn’t wanted her. He’d wanted Dana. She made a face at the memory of sweet Dana and her children. They were always baking cookies and making a racket. And Hud... A hard knot formed high in her chest at the memory of how he had rejected her. The one man she would have done anything for, and he’d rejected her.

  Camilla pushed those thoughts away as she drove toward the Gallatin Canyon. She had a mission. Hud would soon know she was coming. She smiled. He just wouldn’t be expecting what she had planned for him.

  * * *

  TAG’S PHONE VIBRATED again. He felt his heart quicken as he realized that the man and woman inside the house weren’t on a phone.

  He edged away from the window and into the nearby pines, answering the phone on its third ring.

  “Hello.” He waited. He could hear someone breathing on the other end of line. “What?” he demanded.

  “Don’t be so impatient.”

  He didn’t recognize the voice as he moved so he had a view of the living room—and the two people standing nearby in the kitchen doorway. They were both facing each other, still having a serious talk.

  Tag had to assume the person on the phone wasn’t inside this building.

  Who the devil was this on the phone, then?

  “What do you want?” he asked, stepping back into the snowy pines out of sight.

  “You know what I want.”

  “Do I?”

  A low chuckle.

  “What about what I want?” Tag asked, half afraid of saying Lily’s name. What if there were more people looking for the thumb drive than he knew?

  “Your girlfriend?”

  He breathed a sigh of relief even though Lily was far from his girlfriend. Then he had a thought. “What makes you think she’s my girlfriend?”

  Another chuckle. “I was giving you the benefit of the doubt after what I saw through her bedroom window last night.”

  His heart dropped at the realization that the man who’d run him off the road had followed him to Lily’s. He hadn’t seen anyone, but he’d left tracks in the falling snow. He’d led the man right to Lily.

  “I want to know that she’s all right,” Tag said. “Let me talk to her.”

  “That isn’t an option right now even though I can assure you, she is fine.”

  “Not good enough.” He’d seen enough movies to know he needed to have proof that she was still alive. What he really wanted to know was if the man was in the house—and if not, where was he?

  “Give me a little time,” the man said on the other end of the line. “Ten minutes. Then I’ll call you back. You’d better have what I want.” The man disconnected.

  Tag could still hear the two in the house arguing. He quickly backtracked down the side of the house and around to the back. He heard nothing at any of the windows, but when he reached the basement one with the lone light, he bent down, dug away some of the snow and peered in.

  What he saw made his heart beat faster. A tray with a consumed TV dinner on it, an empty bottle of water and a used napkin.

  Lily was here. He knew it.

  He moved to one of the dark basement windows. As he cleared away the snow, he saw that the glass opening was small. Too small for a person to climb out.

  He bent down and tried to peer in. The glass was filthy. He wiped at it with a handful of snow and heard a sound on the other side. Stepping back out of sight, he watched the window out of the corner of his eye. A hand touched the glass. A small, female hand.

  Tag quickly bent down again. The basement room was too dark for him to see more than a shadowy figure at first. Then she put her face nearer to the glass and he saw her. His heart almost burst from his chest.

  * * *

  DANA HAD GONE upstairs to check on the kids when Hud’s cell phone rang. He took the call even though he didn’t recognize the number.

  “I know where Lily McCabe is,” the woman’s voice on the other end of the line said.

  “Who is this?” He recognized the voice. Wilma Emery. But he didn’t call her on it, fearing she might hang up.

  “Never mind that. They’re holding her at a cabin.” The woman gave him hurried directions. “You better make it fast or they will kill her like they—” There was what sounded like a struggle, and then the line went dead.

  Hud swore as he disconnected and looked up as his wife came down the stairs.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Wilma Emery just called. She sounded scared. She told me where they’re holding Lily McCabe. I don’t like the way the call ended.”

  Dana’s eyes widened in alarm as her hand went to her mouth. “What if this is only a ruse to get you to...” Tears filled her eyes.

  “I can’t leave you and the kids.”

  She made quick swipe at her tears and seemed to pull herself together, the way she always did when the going got tough. “You have to go. The kids and I will be fine.”

  His cell phone rang again. He swore when he saw it was Tag Cardw
ell calling. “Where are you?” he demanded as he stepped out of the kitchen and earshot of his wife.

  “I’ve found Lily.”

  Hud listened as Tag gave him the same directions to the cabin on the river that Wilma had given him. “I’ll be right there. Just wait. Don’t do anything, do you hear me?”

  Tag didn’t answer and Hud realized he’d hung up. With a curse, he looked to his wife.

  “Go.”

  He knew he had no choice. He was still the marshal. “Please, Dana, I need you to leave with the kids. Get packed while I’m gone.”

  “Camilla’s in the hospital. They’d let us know if she wasn’t.” She stepped to him, drawing him into a tight hug. “You just worry about coming back to us safe and sound.”

  “Always.”

  * * *

  CAMILLA FINISHED TAPING her ribs in the filling station bathroom. The antiseptic smell of the recently cleaned restroom made her hold her breath. Not that breathing was all that easy with her cracked ribs.

  How long before the hospital realized she was gone? She smiled since her ruse would have bought her time.

  As she let her gaze lift to the metal mirror over the sink, she was startled because she didn’t recognize herself. Her face was swollen and bruised in shades of grays and yellows. Her right eye was black and almost swollen shut.

  There was still dried blood on the cut on her upper lip. She was missing a front tooth.

  Camilla let out a small laugh, which she quickly killed because it hurt her chest.

  “How do you think you’re going to do anything as messed up as you are?” she asked the woman in the mirror.

  The clock was ticking since she knew every cop in the state would be looking for her soon. She’d split right away from the other inmate she’d escaped with.

  There wasn’t safety in numbers—not with them looking as bad as they did. She’d held her own in the fight and done as much damage as she could. She also knew she would attract less attention on her own.

  Her face would heal. So would her cracked ribs. But she couldn’t take the time. She had everything she needed: a vehicle, money, weapons. The problem was everyone would know where she was heading.

  “You could get out of the country,” she told her reflection. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Her eyes narrowed at the thought. “You could go to some warm tropical place and sip tropical drinks with the locals.” She smiled at the thought, but knew that wasn’t her M.O.

  She couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t finish this. Hud would be expecting her to come for him—especially after he heard about the prison break.

  He would whisk Dana and the kids off somewhere, thinking they would be safe. Hud wouldn’t run, she thought with a lopsided smile. He would think he could best her at whatever she had planned for him.

  She loved nothing better than a challenge. Even beat up and in pain, she felt up to it. Hud would be off saving some other damsel in distress. It would give her plenty of time to take care of things at the ranch before he returned.

  She could hardly contain her excitement at seeing Hud Savage again. Soon, Hud.

  * * *

  TAG KNELT DOWN by the window. Lily was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t hear her. He motioned for her to move back. He could still hear Wilma and the man he suspected was her ex-husband, Ray Emery, arguing even more loudly from another part of the cabin.

  He hoped they were far enough away and the basement deep enough that they wouldn’t hear what he was about to do. Wrapping the butt of the shotgun around the tail end of his coat, he leaned down and smashed the glass. The sound felt like a gunshot, it was so loud to him.

  He listened, afraid the others had heard it. But with staggering relief, he heard the two inside the house still arguing.

  “Are you all right?” he asked the moment Lily appeared at the small broken window. He could see her, but he ached to take her in his arms. It was the only way he could convince himself that she truly was all right.

  She nodded, looking scared but definitely relieved to see him.

  “How many people are in the house?”

  She shook her head. “Someone left earlier. I’ve only seen one man, but I heard someone come a little while ago. It sounds like a woman.”

  So there was just the redheaded man and Wilma.

  “I think the one just got out of prison.”

  He could feel the cold seeping in through the knees of his jeans as he knelt on the ground. Time was passing. The man on the phone said he would call back in ten minutes—and let him talk to Lily. He had to move quickly.

  “I know how you feel about guns, but I’m afraid you’re going to need this,” he said as he pulled the Glock from behind him and handed it to her through the window. “It’s ready to go. All you have to do is pull the trigger. Aim for the largest part of the body.” He saw her cringe. “You can do this.”

  She nodded, a determined look settling on her features.

  He gave her a smile, then pulled off his glove and reached through the broken window to touch her face with his fingertips. She closed her eyes, leaning into his warm palm. Tears beaded her lashes when he pulled his hand away.

  “I’ll be down to get you in a few minutes. If anyone else comes through the door, shoot them.”

  With that, he stood. From inside the house came the loud report of a gunshot followed by a scream and another gunshot. Tag grabbed the shotgun and ran toward the front of the house.

  * * *

  LILY LISTENED. She heard nothing overhead following the two gunshots and the scream. Her heart was beating like a war drum. Tag had come for her. She’d known he would. He was that kind of cowboy. Wasn’t that why she’d made love with him last night? She’d known the kind of man he was. Otherwise, she would never have—

  Another gunshot and the pounding of footfalls. She held her breath as she looked toward the door, then down at the gun in her hand. Her heart was in her throat now. Was Tag all right? He’d come to save her, but what if—

  She couldn’t bear to let herself even think it.

  She had to get out of here. She couldn’t just stand here waiting for that door to open. Dropping the gun onto the mattress, she moved to the door, willing her trembling to stop.

  When she’d heard someone at the window, she’d been just about to push the piece of paper she’d written the codes on under the door. In a perfect world, once she pushed the key through from her side, it would fall on the sheet of paper and she would pull it through. Once she had the key, she could open the door.

  This wasn’t like any mathematical problem she’d ever come across. This was her life. She didn’t know why they had kept her alive. But she feared all of that had now changed. They would kill her and Tag if they got the chance.

  She’d held her breath, waiting and praying that the next sound she heard was Tag’s voice on the other side of the door.

  But there had been nothing.

  Lily didn’t know how long she’d waited. Until she couldn’t take it any longer.

  Finally she pushed the sheet of paper slowly under the door, her heart in her throat. She half expected the paper to be jerked away, the door to fly open...

  But nothing happened.

  Now, willing her fingers not to tremble, she used the piece of plastic fork she’d kept to carefully poke gently into the keyhole.

  She felt the key move. If she pushed too hard, the key would fall out—away from the door and the paper she’d pushed under the door.

  Too slowly and she chanced that someone would come downstairs—someone other than Tag.

  She pushed and prayed and a moment later she heard the key fall and land with a clink.

  Her heart dropped. It sounded as if the key had missed the sheet of paper. Now it would
be out of her reach.

  She could barely stand even the thought as she knelt down to see where the key had gone. To her shock, she saw it lying half on, half off the paper.

  Her fingers were trembling too hard for her to touch the sheet of paper and try to pull it back inside the room.

  She took deep breaths. She had one chance. She stilled her trembling as she knelt farther down and at a snail’s pace, she began to pull the corner of the paper with the key hanging off it toward her.

  The light caught on the key. It flashed, so close now that she could almost feel it in her hand when she opened the door.

  A huge foot suddenly stomped down on the key and sheet of paper. She let out a scream before she could catch herself and fell back on her butt.

  As the man put the key in the lock and threw open the door, she scuttled backward, unable to get her feet under her quickly enough to stand.

  The large man loomed over her, sans his mask. The light caught on the gun in his hand as he raised it, the barrel pointed at her chest.

  “You’re too smart for your own good,” the man said.

  The gunshot was deafening in the basement room. Lily didn’t realize that she’d closed her eyes until she opened them to find the man still standing over her.

  He had an odd expression on his face.

  Lily looked down expecting to see blood, expecting to feel life leaking from her. When she saw nothing, she looked back up in time to see him falling toward her.

  She rolled away at the last instant. As he fell face-first within inches of her, she saw the hole in the back of his shirt and the blood seeping out.

  As a shadow filled the doorway, her gaze swung to it. The next moment she was in Tag’s arms and he was holding her. “We have to get out of here,” Tag whispered next to her ear, but he moved as if he couldn’t bear letting her go.

  She nodded against his chest, then drew back to look at the man lying on the basement floor. “Is he...?”

  Tag didn’t answer. He picked up the Glock from the mattress, took her hand and led her up the stairs. As they neared the top, he motioned for her to stay back.