by Ciana Stone
"I'll do whatever it takes to get Moretti off my ass. If it means giving him what you took, then so be it. I'll do it and he'll think I'm loyal. Then I can turn on him. With what I have I can leave the country. But I need that money to make my plan work, so you're going to give it to me. One way or the other.
"Please, for our son's sake, take the easy way."
Analise couldn't believe the man standing in front of her was someone she'd shared more than twenty years of her life with. He spoke of ending her and their son's life with no more regard than swatting an annoying fly.
"You'd let them kill me, Rick? And our son? Just like that?"
"Don't get all high and mighty with me. You're the one fucking some washed- out actor in this backwater hell-hole."
Analise opened her mouth, ready to deliver a scathing diatribe on his audacity but then changed her mind. It was clear that Rick had lost whatever feelings he'd once had for her and their son. All he cared about was saving his own ass and escaping.
"I can't just give you the money, Rick. It's in a trust. I'd have to get my attorney involved and it's Saturday. He won't be in his office until Monday morning."
"Fine, then on Monday that's just what you'll do."
"Fine. I'll do that. Do you have a phone? I'll call you when—"
She never got to finish the sentence. The last thing she saw was his fist coming at her face.
*****
Riley had not taken two steps into the bar before Cody was yelling at him from across the room. "Where's Annie?"
"With you."
"She's not with me. I waited twenty minutes and called her a dozen times."
Riley felt like his heart had just jumped up in his throat. He pulled out his phone and called Analise. It went straight to voice mail. "Call me, Annie." He ended the call and texted her.
Where are you?
When there was no immediate response, he called David. "Hey, David. Is your mom with you?"
"I thought she was with you."
"Have you talked to her in the last hour or so?"
"No. Why? Is something wrong?"
"I don't know. Why don't you head over to the bar."
"On my way."
Riley ended the call to find the entire Sweet family, standing at the bar watching him. "Well?" Cody asked from behind the bar.
"He hasn't seen or talked to her."
"Well when's the last time you saw her?" Billy asked.
"When she left to go meet Cody and come here."
"Where were you?" Cody asked.
"Standing in front of the hardware store."
"That's two blocks from the bakery," Hannah commented.
Riley turned on his heel but stopped at a yell from Cody. " Where're you going?" She ran from behind the bar to him.
"To look. Call Tom. I think he's on duty."
"You think something's happened to her, don't you? Like that guy who hit your truck? What's going on, Riley?"
"I don't have time to explain now. I need to find her, Cody."
"We'll all look."
"You have things to do. I can't ask—"
Cody shook her head. "We don't open 'till six. That gives us an hour. With all of us we can cover the town faster."
"We're on it, Riley." Billy announced.
"Thank you." Riley gave the family a nod. "Call me if you find her."
"We will." Cody gave his arm a squeeze. "We'll find her."
Riley headed out to his truck. Just as he reached it, Bobby drove up. David jumped out of the passenger's side. "What's going on?"
"We need to find your mother."
"Where do we look?"
"Start with town. Call if you find her."
"You too." David ran back to Bobby's truck and climbed in. By the time Riley had started his truck, Bobby's was disappearing down the road.
His insides were in a knot. Something had happened. Analise would not have left Cody in the lurch. She'd have called if she were not going to show. Something had prevented that. But what?
That's the question that scared him.
*****
Analise woke and for a moment was disoriented. Until it hit her what had happened. She was in the backseat of a car. A car that wasn't moving. There was no one in the driver's seat. She pushed herself up to look outside.
The car was parked on the side of a dirt road. When she looked through the rear window she could see they were not far off a paved road. It had to be the road to someone's house. There was a mailbox at the end of the dirt road where it intersected the pavement.
She scanned her surroundings and jumped when she spotted Rodrick. He was behind a tree, pulling down his pants. Now there was a sight she never expected to see. It was also the chance she needed. As quietly as possible she crawled into the front, slid the key out of the ignition and eased out of the driver's side door. She didn't bother to close it, she just took off running.
A yell from behind her let her know that Rodrick had spotted her. She ran faster, headed for the main road. She was almost there when she heard him yelling her name. Analise didn't bother to look behind her. She had a good head start and nothing was going to stop her from reaching the main road and flagging down help, or running all the way back to town if she had to.
She reached the main road and paused to look one way and then the other. The handwritten name on the mailbox read Miller. That gave her no real clue, where she was, but she had to choose a direction. On impulse she turned to the right. She tossed the car key as far as she could off the side of the road and reached for her back pocket. Yes! Her phone was still there. Running as fast as she could made digging her phone out of her pocket a bit difficult but she managed.
She dialed 911, pressed send and the speaker button. A few seconds later the call went through. "Cotton Creek Police Department."
"This is Analise Becke. I was abducted and managed to get away from my captor, but I'm running down a road with him chasing me and I don't know where I am. I was on a dirt road and there was a mailbox at the end that read Miller. I turned right onto a paved road."
"Slow down, Miss. You're where?"
"I don't know where. Can't you ping my phone or something?"
"Stay on the line."
Analise dared to look behind her. She didn't see anything. Maybe he had given up. Relief had her slowing her pace.
"Mrs. Becke?" A man's voice came on the line. "This is Deputy Greene. Can you tell me where you are?"
"No. A paved road. Two lanes. That's all I know. I just left a road with a mailbox with the name Miller on it."
"Are there any other houses or structures?"
Analise scanned both sides of the road. There was a mailbox ahead. "There's a mail box up ahead. I'll be there in a minute. Just hold on."
She increased her pace and was winded by the time she reached the next mailbox. Chipped paint on its side spelled the word Hawkins. "It says Hawkins."
"Allen Hawkin’s place." She heard him say before he addressed her. "Ms. Becke I want you to head for the Hawkins' house. We're going to call and if anyone is there we'll tell them to expect you. If they're home, go inside and wait for me. If they are not home, I want you to find a place you can hide around the house. A place where you can see if anyone drives up. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Okay, do you need dispatch to stay on the line here with you?"
"No. No, I want to talk to Riley."
"I'm going to call him now. He and the Sweets are out looking for you. I'll have him call."
"Okay. Okay. Thanks."
"Now do just as I told you. Do you understand?""
"Yes. If the Hawkins are home go inside and wait for you. If they're not home, find a place to hide so I can see if anyone drives up. You'll have Riley call me."
"Yes. Good. We'll be there as fast as we can, Ms. Becke."
"Thank you."
She was just ending the call when the house came into sight. There were no cars parked around it. She ran to the fron
t door and knocked. When there was no answer, she hopped off the front porch and ran around to the back. No one answered her knock at the back door either.
She looked in the window beside the door. The house was dark. A noise made her jump and she hurried off the porch and continued around the back of the house. There was a small shed in the rear of the yard. Maybe she should hide there.
Once behind the shed she paced and watched her phone, willing Riley to call. Five minutes turned into ten and stretched to twelve when it dawned on her that she couldn't see or hear anyone coming to the house from where she was hiding. What if Rodrick found her?
Analise made her way back toward the front of the house. There was a big bush at the corner of the house. If she stood behind it she could see the driveway and maybe not be noticed. She worked her way behind the bush to the house and was just a foot from it when sudden fear had her heart slamming in her chest.
Even though she'd never heard one before, something primal in her activated at the sound of the rattle. She froze, looked down and almost screamed. There, not two feet away, curled up beneath the bush was a rattlesnake. One very pissed off rattlesnake from the looks of it. It's body was primed to attack, that tail shaking a hundred miles an hour and its body drawn back in preparation to launch.
She'd researched rattlesnakes once for a scene in a book but at the moment couldn't recall one single fact that would minimize the terror coursing through her. Analise tried to slow her breathing, keeping her eye on the snake. Just be calm. Be calm.
That was easier said than done, but she could be still. Hell, she was too scared to move anyway. It seemed like she'd been standing there for an hour when the rattle stopped. A few seconds later, the snake's body uncoiled a bit and slid to one side.
Yes, please go away. Analise wouldn't let herself move a muscle. If the snake would just move on she'd find another hiding place.
The snake moved toward the house, its body propelling it sideways while its eyes continued to regard her. Just as the head turned away from her and she started to exhale fully, the phone in her hand rang.
Analise screamed and jumped about two feet to one side at the same moment the snake coiled and then struck out. She didn't realize she'd pressed the answer button on the face of the phone. She was too busy screaming and jumping. The snake had missed her but was preparing to strike again.
In the next few seconds, confusion had her freezing. A loud report split the silence at almost the same time the snake exploded into bits of blood and gore, splattering her legs. Just as the scream ripped from her throat, someone grabbed her from behind.
Analise screamed and thrashed, beating at the hand that gripped her. "Annie! It's me. Stop!"
Recognition stole her strength and she sagged. When she turned, she looked up into Riley's face. "You okay, honey?"
She nodded, unable to find her voice.
"You're hurt."
Again she nodded.
"Let's get you to the doctor."
That's when she found her voice. "No. No. Where are the police?"
"Right behind me." Riley looked toward the drive. "Well a minute or so. What happened, Annie?"
"Rodrick. My husband. He's here. He –he knocked me out and I woke up in the back of a car. He was – he was taking a crap behind a tree so I took the car key and ran. He was chasing me."
"Your husband's here? In Cotton Creek? Why?"
"He wants the money I took. The money I put in trust for David. He's going to tell the FBI he'll testify against that mobster then take the money and run."
"We need to call Kade."
"The police need to go find him. He can't go far. Unless he found the key. No. No, I threw it away when I was running down the road."
"There's Tom." Riley looked toward the driveway.
They waited as the Deputy stopped and got out of the car. Analise told him what had happened and he got on his car radio and called it in then got out of the car again. "Riley, you want to take Ms. Becke back to town? I'll need a statement from her, but we can do that in the morning. I think you should get doc to take a look at her."
"I will. And I'll bring her down to the station in the morning."
"I'll find your – the man who did this, Ms. Becke."
"Thank you."
"Yes ma'am. Riley."
Riley nodded to Tom, then put his arm around Analise. "Let's get you over to Doc's, okay?"
"No. Please, I'm okay. I need to find David. I need to know he's okay."
"But—"
"I'm fine, Riley and I need to see my son."
"Okay. Okay. Let's go."
They got into Riley's truck. He stowed his shotgun behind the seat, climbed in and headed for town. All the way there Analise kept thinking about what Rodrick had said.
I'll do whatever it takes to get Moretti off my ass. If it means giving him what you took, then so be it. I'll do it and he'll think I'm loyal. Then I can turn on him. With what I have I can leave the country. But I need that money to make my plan work, so you're going to give it to me. One way or the other
She had no doubt that he meant it which meant her son was in danger. She had to get to him, make sure he was safe. She wouldn't let Rodrick hurt him. She just had to figure out how to prevent that and how to keep her and David safe in case Rodrick was right and Moretti had people coming after them.
*****
Rodrick climbed into the passenger seat of the truck. "I appreciate the ride."
"Glad I could help. Damn odd place to find a hitchhiker. Didn't catch your name. I'm Tyler Austin."
"Rod Edwards."
"Nice to meet you Rod. What brings you to Cotton Creek?"
"Heard there was work here."
Tyler cut his eyes at Rodrick. "I'm afraid someone was pulling your leg, partner. Aside from the Pursell Ranch, I don't know anyone who's been hiring and the way I hear it Pursell is full up now."
"I guess I was told wrong."
"So where you headed?"
"To town. Is there a bus station?"
"Not really. Bus does come as far as Franklin, the county seat, but that's a good sixty miles east of here."
"Well, maybe I can catch a ride with someone. Do truckers come through here much?."
"Some.
Rodrick turned to look out of the side window, his brain in a whirl. With no car, his mobility was limited. From what he'd seen there was not a single hotel in town. He'd slept in his car the two nights he'd been there and now even that was denied him.
"So, you have a ranch?" He asked Tyler.
"Yep."
"You need any help?"
"Sorry, no, we're full up. But you know, I think I did hear something about Frank Odel who owns the feed store in town possibly looking for part-time help. I would drop you by his place but it'll be closed. Whole town is involved in homecoming this weekend.
"Thanks. I appreciate that. Maybe I can talk to him on Monday."
"Maybe so."
There was no other conversation the rest of the way to town. When they reached the edge of town, Tyler pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. "Gonna drop you here, buddy. I'm headed over to Billy's bar. They have some fine barbecue if you're interested."
"I may wander over later. Thank you again."
"Sure thing. Good luck to you."
Rodrick nodded and got out of the truck. The mention of food reminded him of two things. He hadn't eaten since yesterday and also he needed to find a bathroom. Whatever was in that Mexican food he ate last night had wrecked his digestive system.
He looked both ways up and down the street and headed into town. There had to be a place open with a bathroom. Maybe that bakery. He picked up his pace and spotted the bakery a block down and across the street.
Rodrick trotted across the road and between two cars parked parallel alongside the curb. Just as he neared the entrance of the bakery, his arm was grabbed.
"Hello Rick."
Rodrick's heart sank and his gut clenched. He knew that
voice. Jimmy DeLuca was one of Giancarlo's men. He turned to face Jimmy and saw the man sitting in the backseat of the black sedan parked at the curb.
That sight did more than make his gut clench. It released his sphincter.
*****
"Just a few bruises. Nose isn't broken. You'll be fine." Doc Turner announced.
"So, there's no reason I can't go help Cody like I said I would." Analise cut her eyes at Riley as she spoke.
"None that I can see."
"Thank you. What do I owe you, Doctor Turner?"
"I'll send you a bill."
"Send it to my place." Riley said.
"Will do. Now, I think I'm going to head to Billy's as well. Missus should be there."
"Then let us get out of your hair." Riley held out his hand to Analise and when she took it, pulled her to her feet. "Thanks, Doc."
"You bet."
Riley and Analise headed out to his truck. She reached for the door handle but he stopped her turned her around and backed her up against the door. "You really think you're up to working tonight?"
"Well what would you have me do, Riley? Go sit at your house and chew my nails?"
"No, but—but your husband abducted you, Annie. And he might try again."
"At Billy's? Oh, David's there, right?"
"Yes. Cody's keeping an eye on him as well as the rest of the family. Bobby's there with him. He's safe."
"And I will be too. Rodrick's not going to try anything in a bar full of people."
Riley regarded her for a few minutes. "I'm having a hard time buying this."
"Buying what?"
"That you're okay – that what happened didn't have an effect on you."
"I didn't say that. It did. But I can't go crawl in a hole and hide. You heard Kade when we called him. He said he'd have someone here before the night was over. And the Cotton Creek police are on the alert. Even if Rick did try something he'd fail."
"I won't let him get you again, Annie. I promise you that."
"And I'm trusting you one hundred percent. Which is why we should go to Billy's and enjoy the evening. Besides, you're singing tonight and I'm hoping to hear a love song."
"A love song?"
"It's every girl's dream, Riley." She grabbed his shirt to tug him close. "A handsome cowboy crooner on stage singing about love. His gaze seeking you out and making you feel like you're the only girl in the room."
