by Rita Herron
He swept Rory up and raced back to the edge of the woods just as Brody slowed the horse to a stop. Brody’s grim expression mirrored his own, but the fact that Dugan had released Rory was a good sign.
“What’s the situation?” Brody asked as he took Rory from Miles and eased him down behind a massive oak.
“Dugan appeared to be trying to get away with Jordan and Timmy when I arrived, but when he saw me, he shoved them back in the barn.” Miles scrubbed his hand down his chin. “Jordan must have convinced him to release Rory. Hopefully he’ll let all the kids go.”
Although he had a bad feeling he wouldn’t release Timmy. Dugan was sadistic. He’d want to hold that bargaining chip over him just to twist the knife deeper in his gut.
He turned to Rory. “Is anyone hurt?”
Rory shook his head no, but his lower lip quivered. “But he gots a gun and a knife and he hitted Miss Jordan.”
Miles’s chest clenched.
“Is she okay?” Brody asked.
Rory nodded. “She tolded him to keep her and let us go.”
Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. Jordan was sacrificing herself to save the boys.
He and Brody exchanged worried looks.
“Stay down,” Brody told Rory. “We’ll see if we can get your buddies out.”
“How’s Lee?” Miles asked.
Brody shrugged. “He’ll make it. The sheriff and one of his deputies are combing the ranch in case Dugan’s accomplice shows up. Another deputy and Cook are standing guard over the campers and employees at the dining hall.” Brody tilted his hat back. “Blackpaw said you discovered that Dugan has a half brother who visited him at the prison?”
“Yes. Blackpaw’s searching for him.”
“Maybe we should call in the feds,” Brody suggested.
“There’s no time,” Miles said. “Let me try to talk Dugan down.”
Brody gave him a warning look. “Make sure that’s your priority.”
Miles ground his teeth. “Of course that’s my priority.”
Concern flickered in Brody’s eyes. “But I know you want Dugan dead. And I understand the reason. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably feel the same way.”
Conflicting emotions pummeled Miles. “I do want him dead,” he admitted. “But I want Jordan and Timmy and the others out alive. Now trust me to do my job.”
Another second passed, then Brody nodded.
Once again Miles erected that steel wall around his emotions. He had to think like a cop, use his skills, get everyone out alive.
Especially Timmy and Jordan.
Hell, he shouldn’t think that way. It was selfish, but he couldn’t help himself. He loved his son more than his own life.
And he was starting to care for Jordan....
Yes, he’d save them. But he’d save the others, too.
Then he’d deal with Dugan and Ables and find out the truth about the murders so he could make the culprits pay.
* * *
“THANK YOU FOR LETTING Rory go, Robert,” Jordan said. “That was the right thing to do.”
Dugan raked his hand through his neatly manicured hair, spiking the ends in disarray, then pushed his face into hers. “Don’t sound so condescending. I still have the power here.”
“I know you do,” Jordan said, striving for calm. “And you also know that these kids will only slow you down when it’s time for you to leave. So why not send them outside now?”
He twisted around, stared at the children, cursed, then paced back and forth. His hand was shaking, his jaw twitching, his body jerking erratically. He was losing control and she didn’t know when his fuse might blow.
“Please,” Jordan said softly. “You’ll still have me. That’s all you need.”
His hiss echoed in the silence while Justin and Carlos did their best to keep the boys quiet. Timmy had drawn his knees to his chest and buried his head against them as if he had to shut out the world.
Dugan pointed to Malcolm and Justin. “All right, you two.” He yanked Malcolm by the arm and held the gun at his back. “Don’t try anything, big guy, or your friend gets it.”
Malcolm made a gallant attempt to hide his fear, but Jordan saw his body tremble. Justin frowned up at Dugan. “You big bullies are all the same.”
“You got nerve, kid,” Dugan bellowed.
Justin looked as if he intended to say more; Jordan remembered his story. He had not only been bullied as a kid, but he’d been beaten by his stepfather. The stepfather was arrested only after putting Justin in the hospital twice. Finally his mother left the man, but the mental scars remained. Kids who grew up with abusive parents learned early on how to avoid inciting their wrath.
Either that, or they rebelled when they were older and turned violent themselves. Justin had traveled that path but had come back. Still, Dugan must be pushing his buttons, just as he was doing with Carlos and Malcolm.
“Justin,” she said with a warning note in her voice. “Please take Malcolm outside.”
Dugan jabbed Justin. “You think you’re tough, kid.”
Jordan squeezed Justin’s arm. They couldn’t risk antagonizing the man.
Justin released a shaky breath. “No, sir.”
Dugan twisted his mouth from side to side as if in indecision, but finally motioned toward the door with a wave of the gun. “Go now or you lose your chance.”
Jordan stepped to the door. “Miles, Justin and Malcolm are coming out now.”
Miles emerged from the woods and walked toward them, but Dugan shouted at him to stop. Seconds later, Justin took Malcolm’s arm and the two of them hurried toward Miles. He swept them to safety behind some trees with Rory.
“Thank you, Dugan,” Miles yelled as he stepped back into the clearing, his hands once again splayed as if in surrender. “Now release Jordan and the other boys and I’m all yours.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Dugan yelled back. “You ruined my life. I intend to do the same to yours.”
“You’ve already done that,” Miles said. “You killed Timmy’s mother and terrified him.”
“Stop this madness,” Jordan said behind Dugan. “Let the boys go and prove you aren’t the monster Miles accused you of being.”
Dugan cursed, rammed his hand against the wall with a bang, then swung the gun toward Carlos and Wayling. Timmy jerked his head up and whimpered. Jordan wanted to go to him, but any sudden movement might set Dugan off, so she remained still, calm, focused.
“You two, get up,” Dugan said. He shoved the gun in Carlos’s face and jerked Wayling’s arm. Wayling grunted in pain, but Carlos simply stared Dugan in the eyes.
These boys had already seen too much violence in their lives. They shouldn’t be so hardened, but at this moment, she was glad they were tough enough to realize that reacting might make things worse.
Carlos gripped Wayling by the shirt collar. “Come on, kid. Let’s get out of here.” He glanced back at Jordan before he stepped outside. “Will you be okay?”
She forced a smile. “Yes, just take Wayling and be there for the other boys. They need you, Carlos.”
A moment of understanding, and pride flickered in his eyes, and Jordan’s heart squeezed. When they ended this situation safely, she would commend all these boys on their bravery.
Miles stepped out to usher Carlos and Wayling to join the others with Brody, then he returned midway again. “Now, Dugan, send Timmy and Jordan out and I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Jordan sucked in a sharp breath. Judging from the maniacal look in Dugan’s eyes, he wanted Miles dead.
And she couldn’t live with that.
“Make the deal,” Jordan said. “Miles can arrange transportation for you. Then you’ll be free. That’s what you want, not to hurt an innocent child like you were once.”
Dugan swung around as if to hit her, and Timmy made a noise then rocked himself back and forth.
For a moment, Dugan seemed mesmerized by his behavior as if it touched some distant m
emory chord. Then he moved back to the barn door and nudged his gun into the opening.
“All right, McGregor. Get me a helicopter cleared to take off and cross into Mexico, then I’ll let the kid and your lover girl go.”
Jordan held her breath.
Miles shouted back, “I’ll have one here in an hour. Now send out my son.”
“No way,” Dugan said with a bitter laugh. “Get the chopper first. And I want clearance to get to Mexico without cops on my tail.”
“All right,” Miles agreed. “But you have to release Timmy and Jordan first. You can take me instead.”
“Fine,” Dugan said, although Jordan saw the twisted look in his eyes and knew he was lying.
Which meant she had to keep hacking away at him. Find out why he wanted to go to Mexico. If there was someone he was running to.
“One hour,” Dugan shouted back to Miles. “Not another minute longer.” He jerked Jordan up to the doorway and pointed the gun to her temple. “And if I see any cops or hear anyone approaching, she takes a bullet in the head, and you’ll never see your son alive again.”
Jordan reached up to touch Dugan. “Please, think about Timmy. Hurting him is senseless.”
Irrational anger flared in his eyes as he swung his hand back and sent her sailing against the wall. Her head hit the edge, blood trickled into her eyes.
Timmy jumped up and suddenly screamed, “Stop!”
Jordan swayed and reached for him, but Timmy threw himself at Dugan, beating at his legs with his fists.
Dugan grabbed Timmy and flung him off of him, so hard he stumbled and hit the floor. Jordan jumped up to protect him and slammed her weight into Dugan.
The gun went off.
The shot echoed in the air, and pain sliced through her, the world spinning as she fell to the floor.
* * *
RED DOTS SPLATTERED the air in front of Timmy’s eyes. The scream started inside his head, loud and shrill, over and over.
He couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stop it.
He closed his eyes and covered his ears. He had to stop the noise.
But he could still hear her. His mommy. Crying. Screaming.
The red...it covered everything. His mommy’s neck. Her body. The floor...
And now it was all over Jordan....
No...she couldn’t die and leave him like his mommy had....
He had to stop her from dying. Had to stop the bad man.
He opened his eyes and blinked. The red...there it was again. Jordan on the floor. The man over her.
He jumped up and ran toward him again. This time he would make him stop. He had to.
It was his fault his mama died.
It would be his fault if Jordan did, too....
Chapter Fourteen
Miles normally didn’t flinch at the sound of a gunshot, but this one nearly brought him to his knees. He heaved for a breath, grabbed his gun and started to run forward but Brody called his name.
“Wait,” Brody said in a low voice.
“No, Timmy or Jordan might be hit.” Dear God, please don’t let them be dead.
A commotion sounded from inside the barn, and Miles froze. “Jordan?” A pained silence tore at his gut, making him desperate to see what was going on. “Dugan, what happened? Is someone hurt?”
“Shut up!” Dugan suddenly appeared at the barn door, his face barely visible behind the wooden doorway he was using as a barrier. “You promised me a chopper, now where is it?”
“Our deal was that you let Jordan and Timmy go and then I give you a way out,” Miles shouted, unable to control his anger. “Are Jordan and Timmy okay?”
By God, if Dugan had hurt one of them, he would die.
A slow and painful death.
“Your son is fine,” Dugan said.
Relief made Miles dizzy. Then again, the sicko could be lying. “What about Jordan?”
A long pause, then a raspy reply. “She’s alive.”
Miles glanced back at Brody and saw the boys fidgeting nervously, whispering in hushed tones, their faces drawn with worry and anger.
“I need proof,” Miles said.
A bitter laugh echoed from Dugan. “Do what I said or you won’t ever see them.”
“Not working this time,” Miles said, standing his ground. “How do I know you didn’t shoot both of them?”
A string of curses rolled off Dugan’s tongue. Gone was the smooth-talking, confident man in the courtroom who had won half the jurors over and played innocent until even Miles had momentarily wondered if he had arrested the wrong man.
This was a desperate man out for revenge, one who had been cornered and saw no way out.
The most dangerous kind...
Still now, with Ables on the loose, he had to wonder if Dugan had committed all the murders or if they’d worked together as he’d suspected. Or could Ables have committed the crimes alone?
Another possibility nagged at him.
What if the half brothers had some bad history and Ables had set Dugan up to take the fall?
No...otherwise Dugan wouldn’t be here now...unless he wanted a hostage to help him until he could get to Ables. Maybe Ables was in Mexico....
“Let me see them or no chopper,” Miles said more firmly.
Another hiss echoed from the barn, then a moan, and suddenly Dugan shoved Timmy in the doorway. He held his son by the collar, the gun to his head, an evil leer on his face.
Miles choked back the bile clogging his throat. Timmy was so close...yet so far away. He wanted to touch him, to yank him away from this monster. But any sudden move could mean death for him and Jordan. “Are you okay, son?”
For the first time since Marie’s death, Timmy actually looked at him. Tears blurred his eyes, but he gave a small nod. Miles’s heart broke.
“What about Jordan?” he asked, his breath stalling in his chest.
“You saw the boy, now I want to see that chopper,” Dugan said.
Then he disappeared back inside the barn with Timmy, leaving Miles to wonder if Jordan was alive or if he’d killed her.
* * *
JORDAN FOUGHT A WAVE of dizziness as she pushed herself up from the floor to a sitting position. Near the barn door Timmy was sobbing softly as Dugan held him by the collar. She wanted to go to him, but she couldn’t chance spooking Dugan.
Pain ricocheted through her shoulder where the bullet had struck, and she pressed her hand to the wound to stop the blood flow. Her hand felt sticky and damp, but she wasn’t bleeding badly. Maybe just a flesh wound...
Timmy tried to twist away from the man and she called his name. “Timmy, it’s okay, sweetie. I’m all right.”
Dugan spun around and glared at her, then slammed the barn door shut and shoved Timmy. He ran to her and collapsed at her side. She cradled him next to her.
“It’s going to be all right.”
“B...ut y...ou’re hurt,” Timmy said with big eyes.
They’d waited so long to hear Timmy speak again, and now he was worried about her. Tears blurred her eyes, but she blinked them away.
“It’s not bad,” she said gently. “I’m going to be fine and so are you.”
Dugan paced again, his agitation obvious with his jumpy movements. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me,” Jordan said, determined to calm him. “It was an accident. I’ll tell them that when the police come.”
“You’re a fool, lady,” Dugan said. “The police...McGregor...no one is going to lock me up again.”
He wanted to go to Mexico. Again, she wondered if someone was waiting on him there.
Timmy quieted beside her, and she wrapped her arm around him and held him close. He had tried to protect her. Poor little guy. Had Dugan’s attack on her triggered memories of his attack on Marie?
“There must be someone you want to see now you’re free,” Jordan said.
“Free?” Dugan growled. “I won’t be free till I get rid of McGregor.”
Timmy shuddered next to her, but she stroked his
arm. “I don’t understand why you came after him and why you killed his wife,” Jordan said. “You were out of jail. All you had to do was walk away.”
Dugan’s face twisted into a nasty grimace. “Walk away? McGregor ruined my reputation, my name. He convinced everyone I was guilty.”
“But the courts freed you.”
“Do you think that changed the way people looked at me?” He waved the gun wildly. “Janet even left me.”
“Janet?”
“Yeah, the only woman I ever loved believed him over me,” he said bitterly. “I’ve lost everything.”
He was delusional, still not able to confess that he was a murderer. Her best strategy would be to play along. Feed his ego.
The mind was like a puzzle—if she could figure out where the pieces went, she could complete the picture.
That would help her know how to deal with him...to reach him.
“So far you haven’t hurt anyone here,” Jordan said. “And Miles believes there’s a copycat, that someone else killed those women. Maybe someone who wanted to set you up.”
A fire lit Dugan’s eyes. “Yes, yes, that’s what happened. I told them that over and over and over.”
Jordan nodded. “I think he’s on the man’s track now.”
Hope warred with the anger in Dugan’s eyes. “You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not. Miles knows you didn’t kill June Kelly. That made him start thinking that maybe you were innocent all along. That this other man committed the murders and framed you.”
“He thinks that?” Dugan’s voice trembled.
Jordan nodded again. “But holding us hostage only makes you look guilty.”
He was, of course, for killing Haddock. And Lee...she had no idea if he’d survived.
“Just let us go, and take that helicopter. You can leave, meet that woman you love and explain that we were wrong. Then the two of you can build a life together in Mexico.”
“Yes, Mexico,” Dugan said. “I have to go to Mexico.”
Jordan continued to stroke Timmy’s hair. He had finally stopped crying and looked stronger now, as if speaking had relinquished some of his fear. She only hoped that he could fully recover once this nightmare ended.
