Forever Hunted

by Kathleen Brooks

  “What assurance do I have you won’t kill him the second I come out?” Reagan called as the sound of twigs breaking and birds flying off in the distance caught her attention. Reagan turned from watching Carter and Mick and looked into the woods that would have been her escape. She saw figures moving slowly toward her. Reagan squinted as her brothers came into view along with a man she didn’t know. Her cousin Ryan and DeAndre were also there.

  She held up her hand to stop them. Using her chest, with her back pressed against the tree to hide any hand movement from Mick’s view, she indicated to her rescue crew that Mick was right behind her. Porter and Parker met her eyes, and she looked right and then left. Without question Porter split off to the right and Parker to the left as they slowly crept through the woods.

  At the sound of a gasp, Reagan looked farther behind her rescuers to see her mother coming over a hill that had previously hidden her from view. Her mom was sweaty and her hair was plastered to her face as she stood with a rifle in her hands. Reagan’s eyes went wide in warning to her mother as the man she didn’t know spun around and silently stopped her mother and . . . Ava? Why was Dr. Ava there? Was half of Keeneston in the woods? Either way, the man she didn’t know stopped them both, which made Reagan grateful. She didn’t need to worry about her mother storming out into the clearing and getting shot.

  “You’ll have to trust me, Reagan,” Mick called out.

  “Trust you?” Reagan laughed. “Like Suzanne Bristol trusted you before you murdered her?”

  “That was just business. It wasn’t personal.”

  “Business? Is that what you call bilking a widow out of hundreds of thousands of dollars on a horse? Miss Mambo is a sweet horse, but we both know her value is a tenth of what you had Suzanne pay for her. Are you going to kill Miss Mambo now since that failed when you crashed the plane?” Reagan yelled out as she watched Ryan, DeAndre, and the man slowly getting closer to her. Ryan made a motion to keep Mick talking while they were bent almost in half to keep from his view. They were so close Reagan could almost hear them breathing. She wanted to run to them. She wanted to hug them, but she couldn’t. She had to save Carter. She needed to buy more time for Porter and Parker to get into position.

  “Sadly, yes. I need that insurance money. My partner and I have big plans for the future. He’s going to be pissed enough at you for screwing this up. You’re lucky it’s me and not him here. He’d kill you slowly. Now, your fiancé must be getting tired standing there with his hands up in the air. If I were him, I would rethink the wedding if the woman who supposedly loves him won’t save his life by simply stepping out from behind that tree.”

  “What are you going to do when you can see me? Aren’t I just business too? And we both know what you do for a job. You kill people and innocent horses. You killed Suzanne, you killed Diego, and you’re going to kill us.” Reagan pleaded with her eyes for Ryan, DeAndre, and the man to move quicker.

  “Business is business, and business is doing well. So yeah, a couple of people and a couple of horses die here and there.”

  “You’re not going to pull this off, Mick. How are you going to explain us dead in the woods and only you alive?” Reagan shouted out her question.

  “Someone was after us and we ran for our lives. We were separated. I even got shot,” Mick said, his voice full of fear. It was actually convincing. No wonder he could bilk smart women out of their money.

  “I tried to play nice with you, Reagan, but no more questions. I’m done playing. Come out or I’ll shoot Carter in three seconds.” Mick’s voice had dropped to a deadly dangerous tone. Her time was up. She only hoped she could pull the move off.

  Reagan turned sideways so her left shoulder was against the tree trunk and leaned the rifle against the tree out of Mick’s sight. “Okay, I’m coming out. Don’t shoot.”

  “Where’s my rifle?”

  “Back in the stream. I slipped right after I tried to shoot, and it tumbled into the stream. I wasn’t expecting the kickback,” Reagan lied.

  “You didn’t seem to have a problem shooting me. Let me see your hands,” Mick ordered, and Reagan stuck them out and took a slow, small step away from the tree.

  Reagan turned and faced Mick, making sure her left hand was still within reach of the hidden rifle. She looked down at Carter who was begging her with his eyes to save herself and then back at Mick’s arm with the gun in it. Mick slowly stepped out from behind his tree with a smirk on his face. He thought he was the victor. If neither she nor her rescuers could get a clear shot, he still might be. Even if she shot him, Mick could shoot Carter, and it would be no victory for her.

  “If it matters, I wasn’t aiming for you,” Reagan said with a shrug. “I was aiming for the tree next to you. I wanted to scare you, but when I fired, the gun slammed into my shoulder and pulled to the side. Can I at least kiss my fiancé one last time?”

  Mick snorted. “You should have let Carter take the shot, but your stupidity is my gain. I’ll give you one last moment to say goodbye to each other. Look on the positive side, this is a beautiful graveyard to be buried in.”

  “Carter, I’m scared. Kiss me one last time.” Reagan didn’t need to fake the tears coming to her eyes as Mick began to slowly stalk down the embankment. Carter took a tentative step forward and when Mick didn’t stop him, he raced the remaining few feet to wrap Reagan in his arms. For that one moment her body relaxed, her mind cleared, and the warmth and love from Carter’s embrace gave her the courage to do what she must.

  Reagan felt his breath hitch when he looked behind her. “How close are they?” she whispered.

  “They’re lying on the ground four feet away,” Carter spoke directly in her ear.

  “We’re going to kiss and then we’re going to go down on our knees as close to the this tree as possible. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Carter kissed her as if it were their last kiss and Reagan hoped it wouldn’t be. The kiss reached into Reagan’s soul with love and loss.

  “Enough,” Mick ordered. He stood eight feet away at the base of the embankment on the other side of the stream. He took a slow step forward into the shallow water, marching menacingly, slowly toward them.

  Carter reached for Reagan’s hand as he turned to face Mick with her. She squeezed his hand, hardly feeling it as she went down on her knees in the soft mossy mud at the top of the embankment. As she went down, she moved closer to the tree. The gun was right there. She needed a distraction. Reagan pulled her hand from Carter’s and hoped by kneeling they wouldn’t be blocking Ryan and DeAndre’s line of fire. Or her own. The gun was right there . . .

  “I’m sorry you won’t have a life together.” Mick grinned and raised his gun. “But you’ll be together in death. Isn’t that romantic?”

  If Reagan was going to die anyway, then she might as well die taking a chance. She lifted her arms out from her sides, her palms facing Mick . . . and her rifle. Her fingers brushed the rifle leaning up against the tree. Mick placed his finger on the trigger. Reagan’s fingers closed around her rifle. She felt the cool steel pressing into her hand as she yanked it toward her. Mick’s lips thinned in surprise as he turned the pistol from Carter toward her. He was going to shoot her and Reagan hadn’t been able to get her own rifle lined up yet. But then a forty-five-pound rust-colored dog with a glittering pink collar and a mouthful of pearly white teeth leapt from the top of the embankment onto Mick’s back. Shots were fired, Robyn yelped, and Gemma let loose a blood-curdling scream.

  25

  Carter watched in horror as Sydney’s sweet and wiggly dog leapt through the air. The sun glinted off her sparkling pink collar as she sank her teeth into Mick’s muscular shoulder. The force of the impact of Robyn’s hit from behind sent Mick stumbling forward as he fired off a wild shot.

  Mick slammed Robyn back against a tree trunk near the water’s edge. The brave dog yelped as she was forced to let go of Mick’s shoulder. Carter went to grab Reagan, but he stopped himself as she fired. N
ow that Robyn was clear of Mick, Reagan had taken the shot. The bullet slammed into Mick’s shooting shoulder, matching the shot on the opposite arm Reagan had made during their dash through the woods.

  Then chaos erupted.

  Mick tried to raise his gun but struggled with the injured shoulder. Robyn leapt and sank her teeth into his forearm. She shook her head like she did when Carter played tug-of-war with her. Mick howled in pain and dropped the gun. A man Carter didn’t know ran past them with Ryan Parker, guns aimed at Mick. DeAndre grabbed both Carter and Reagan by the collars of their shirts and dragged them backward. But it wasn’t the shriek from Gemma Davies that silenced the people pouring into the woods from all directions. It was the roar of pure rage from Ahmed as he broke free of the woods to see Mick hitting Robyn on the head as he tried to dislodge her from his arm.

  “Laat los,” Ahmed commanded to Robyn in Dutch. Robyn immediately let go and dropped into the shallow water’s edge. Ahmed, however, did not stop. He leapt from the top of the embankment, landing hard on Mick’s back, which drove Mick face first into the shallow water.

  Gemma shoved DeAndre aside as she practically tackled her daughter with a bear hug. Carter was smiling until his own mother fell to the ground next to him and wrapped him in her arms. Both mothers were crying, but neither Carter nor Reagan could offer them comfort at this time because the rest of their family and friends had just burst through the trees behind Ahmed.

  Nash, Matt, Annie, Cade, Porter, and Parker sprinted out of the woods from all directions while Cy, Miles, and Will appeared at the top of the embankment, taking in the scene around them. All had their guns raised and ready to defend.

  Cy’s eyes searched until they landed on Gemma and Reagan. The relief was evident as his shoulders relaxed. He was sprinting toward them when Ahmed flipped Mick over.

  “You hit my dog,” Ahmed growled out between clenched teeth before slamming his fist into Mick’s face. “No one hurts my Spawn.”

  Robyn, meanwhile, sat next to Ahmed, her short tail smacking the water as she happily wagged it and watched Ahmed punch Mick over and over again.

  “Okay, enough or I’ll have to arrest you too.”

  “Who is that?” Carter asked as he stood with his mother clinging to him.

  Kenna wiped tears from her face as she looked to where Carter was pointing to the man in jeans and black T-shirt. “That’s Deputy Luke Tanner of the Moonshine Hollow Sheriff’s Department.”

  “Diplomatic immunity,” Ahmed snarled but reluctantly let go of Mick after one last punch.

  “Don’t bullshit me,” Luke said, narrowing his eyes.

  “Diplomatic immunity,” everyone from Keeneston called out as Luke looked back to Ahmed.

  “Who are you?” Luke questioned in complete astonishment.

  “I’m Ahmed.” Ahmed turned, dismissing the deputy and patting his chest with his hands. Robyn leapt into Ahmed’s arms. She began bathing his face in kisses as her tail thumped against his side. “Who’s my good girl? Yes, you are. You’re my good girl. Only my girl would bite a bad man like that. Someone is getting a steak tonight. Yes she is. But first you have to go to the doctor to make sure that bad man didn’t hurt you.” Ahmed pulled back his leg and kicked Mick in the stomach as he walked by with Robyn in his arms.

  Carter’s mother snorted next to him, and when Carter looked at her, he realized it was laughter that caused her to snort. Carter was too speechless to laugh as he watched Ahmed baby talk to Robyn. The men surrounding Ahmed and Robyn were staring open-mouthed as the town’s—maybe even the world’s—biggest badass kissed the dog in the pink glitter collar whom he’d called Satan’s Spawn since she was a puppy.

  Carter reached past his mother and held out his hand. Reagan leaned past her own mother and took it. He would only have a moment before their fathers reached them, and he’d have to give up his hold on his future bride. Gemma and Kenna released them and turned to hug each other as Ava stood impatiently by, waiting to look at Reagan’s face.

  “I love you, and I’m marrying you the second we set foot in that town.”

  Reagan laughed as she leaned against him. She rested her uninjured cheek against his chest while he rested his chin on the top of her head. And then their moment was over. Cy and Will leapt up the embankment and a new round of embraces began.

  Carter’s parents wrapped him in a tight hug as Cy simply held out his arms for Reagan. Reagan ran into them. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. I might have overstepped a little, but it was all with good intentions.” Carter smiled at Cy’s poor apology. It was a big step for Cy.

  “Then I guess it’s a good time to tell you we’re getting married,” Reagan smiled as she looked at Carter. Finally, they could start their life together.

  “Today,” Carter added with a smirk. She still didn’t believe him, but it was happening.

  Cy went to open his mouth but instead of yelling, he kind of smiled. Well, snarled was probably a better description. Whatever Cy was going to say was lost as Piper and Riley ran up the hill with Miss Mambo beside them and a bunch of other people he didn’t know. “Rea!” Riley yelled as she tossed Miss Mambo’s lead to a tall man with a thick beard before slamming into Reagan with tears.

  “I thought—”

  “I know.”

  “Are you—?”

  “Just a little banged up.”

  “Is that—?”

  “Yes,” Reagan smiled as everyone looked on with confusion as the twins communicated in half sentences. But when Riley grabbed Reagan’s hand and looked at the ring Carter had given her, they figured out the last part of the conversation.

  “You’re engaged?” Parker asked with something that sounded like disgust.

  “She sure is,” Carter smiled as he watched her younger brothers hug her.

  “That’s not fair,” Porter started to whine.

  “We don’t get to take him behind Grandma and Grandpa Davies’s house and interrogate him,” Parker finished complaining.

  Reagan saw Carter shaking his head at the twins and nudged him with her shoulder. “You know, since we’re all fraternal twins and my mom was a twin . . .” she said, trailing off the sentence.

  “I don’t do twin-speak. What’s the rest of the sentence?” Carter asked.

  Reagan and Riley laughed as their friends surrounded them, including Ahmed with Robyn still in his arms.

  “Fraternal twins run in the family. Does that scare you? If it does, then we can pretend you didn’t get engaged,” Cy whispered not so quietly to him.

  “Dad,” Reagan warned as she put the rifle strap over her shoulder.

  “Wait, it’s fraternal twins that run in the family?” Matt asked, his face suddenly white.

  Riley and Reagan speared Matt and Carter with similar looks as Cy grinned widely. Carter slipped his hand around Reagan’s waist. “Nah, that doesn’t scare me. Does it scare you, Matt?”

  “Hell ye . . . no,” Matt said, pulling his wife to his side. “You told me it was identical twins that ran in the family, and we’ve been trying for the past couple of months. Are you pregnant?”

  Riley rolled her eyes. “I won’t know for a couple more weeks, Matt. And I told you a million times, it was the other way around. Does that mean you don’t want children?”

  Cy turned to Luke and grinned. “Does your town have a divorce lawyer?”

  “Dad!” Reagan and Riley shouted at the same time.

  “I’m just teasing,” Cy said, although no one was convinced.

  “I mean, I guess if your dad managed two at a time, so can I,” Matt said, kissing Riley. “Grandpa Cy. That sounds nice.” Matt suddenly had a dreamy look on his face as he looked at his wife.

  Cy turned red, and this time Gemma was the one grinning. “Grandma Gemma sounds lovely.”

  Luke and Ryan pushed Mick forward as soon as Ava patched him up. “It’s three miles back to town. Can you all make it?” Luke asked.

  “We�
��re good,” Reagan said, slipping her hand into Carter’s.

  Carter turned to Matt. “Grandpappy Cy. I like that better.”

  Matt nodded. “Oh, yes. I do like that one. Papaw Cy sounds nice too.”

  “Nana Gemma works too,” Gemma called out, taking her husband’s arm as they began to walk toward town. “Really, they can call me anything they want to.”

  Cy’s face grew redder as Matt and Cy tossed out PeePaw, Paps, Pops, and Grampy. Meanwhile, Carter’s fiancée seemed thrilled and that was enough to know he could handle two or ten kids as long as they had that same wonderful smile Reagan had now.

  * * *

  “There they are,” Carter heard Aniyah yell as she tried to run through the woods with her five-inch heels sinking with every step. “Oh, thank you, Jesus!” Aniyah kissed the cross necklace she wore and lifted her hands skyward carrying her prayers to Jesus himself. And right now, Carter felt as if her prayers had been answered. Not only were they safe, Cy hadn’t killed them, and Ahmed had carried “his brave little Spawn” all the way down the mountain.

  “What’s all this?” an old man in a sheriff’s uniform asked, standing with hands on his hips.

  “Sheriff Weller, this is the man responsible for the murder of the two people on the plane,” Luke told him. On the walk down Luke had told Carter the old sheriff was more of a town figure than an actual law enforcement officer. And he’d also made sure Ava knew the town doctor was even worse, so to make sure, she checked Reagan out herself.

  Sheriff Weller opened the back of Luke’s cruiser and Luke shoved Mick toward the SUV as the Rose sisters and two older ladies in track suits started toward Carter and Reagan as they all talked a mile a minute. Behind the Rose sisters and their new friends, other ladies were handing out food and drink to the volunteers and to the rest of the Keeneston crew.

  Luke was about to put Mick in the back of the car when Mick’s head snapped back a split second before the sound of a gunshot echoed through the top of the valley. Blood covered Luke’s face as Mick dropped to the ground. Cy leapt on his wife as people began shouting and looking for the shooter.