Soldier's Duty

by Elle James

  Someone who knew the Crazy Mountains as well as a hunting outfitter like Jeff Kurtz could find all kinds of places to hide a body. He’d proven it when he’d hidden his wife’s body so that it hadn’t been found for thirteen years.

  Angus’s heart slid into the pit of his belly. They had to find Bree before Kurtz harmed her. The man wasn’t above murdering a woman.

  Angus handed the cellphone to the bartender and ran for the door, fishing in his pocket for his truck keys.

  They weren’t in either pocket. A sinking feeling crushed his chest. He ran out the front of the building and around to the side parking lot.

  His truck was gone.

  He ran to the other side of the building where Kurtz had left his motorcycle. Thankfully, the keys were in the ignition.

  It had been a long time since he’d driven a motorcycle. He hoped he didn’t kill himself trying to get out to Wolf Creek. Bree needed him to be in one piece to save her.

  * * *

  Bree wasn’t sure where Kurtz was taking her, but she knew for certain they’d turned off the main highway and were traveling over rutted roads, and sometimes no roads at all. Like now. She felt every bump and jolt rattling her bones and bruising her body.

  When the vehicle finally stopped, she gathered her strength and prayed for an opportunity to escape.

  The door opened, and the cool night air wrapped around her, making her shiver.

  Kurtz grabbed her ankles and dragged her out of the truck.

  Without the luxury of the use of her arms to break her fall, she hit the ground hard with one of her shoulders, and her head bounced against hard-packed earth.

  The burlap sack was yanked off her body and she blinked up at a star-filled sky.

  Kurtz squatted next to her face and shined a flashlight into her eyes. “Time to go to work.” He yanked the cloth out of her mouth, grabbed her arm and stood her on her feet. He pressed a pistol to her temple. “Try anything stupid, and I’ll put a bullet through your pretty little head.”

  “Where are we?” Bree croaked, her mouth so dry she found it hard to form words.

  “You should know. We’re on the trail you and your boyfriend were on earlier today when you took him to the caves. Now, you’re going to take me.”

  “You followed us earlier, you should be able to find them yourself.”

  “I couldn’t get close enough to see where you left the trail and climbed up into them. So move it. I figure we only have a short amount of time before your boyfriend sends the National Guard out to find you. Not that it’ll do any good. They sure as hell didn’t find his daddy. They won’t find you, either.”

  Bree tried to swallow to lubricate her dry throat, but she didn’t have any spit in her mouth to accomplish that simple task. “Did you kill Mr. McKinnon?”

  Kurtz snorted. “I didn’t. I suspect the idiot who killed Reed had something to do with McKinnon’s disappearance. Why he killed Reed, I don’t know. Reed was the only one who knew where the money was stashed. Now, we might never know.”

  With a heavy-duty spotlight in one hand, Kurtz grabbed her arm with his empty hand and marched her along the trail leading deeper into the hills. Steep walls rose on either side of the trail.

  “Do you think Reed hid the money in one of these caves?” Bree asked.

  “I know he did. He told me so.”

  “He told you he hid the money in the caves on Wolf Creek Ranch?”

  Kurtz jerked her arm in an attempt to hurry her along. “He didn’t tell me which exact cave he hid the money in. He just said he hid it in one of the caves up in the Crazy Mountains near the border between the Iron Horse and Wolf Creek ranches.”

  “That could be anywhere in a five-mile radius,” Bree said.

  “Yeah, well, he didn’t want to tell me where the money was until I helped him escape. Then he went and got himself killed before I could meet up with him at our designated rendezvous.”

  Bree didn’t tell him the caves they were heading for were empty. The longer she delayed him, the more chance she had of finding a way to escape. And the more time she bought for Angus to come to and find her. “So, you were the one who sneaked the burner phone into the prison?”

  “Not me. I don’t know how he got that phone, but he used it to contact me. He needed someone to run the transport vehicle off the road. I guess he knew I was up for the job. I’m sure as hell not making enough at the outfitter gig.”

  “I guess you didn’t mind working with a convicted murderer. I understand you two have a lot in common.” Bree knew she was pushing her luck. She figured the man would use her to find the caves then kill her. What did she have to lose by asking questions? If she did manage to survive, she’d be able to pass on the information she ascertained to the sheriff.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kurtz said, picking up the pace until they were all but running.

  “Shelly,” Bree said. “You got away with murdering her for thirteen years. I know a murderer when I see one, because I am one,” she said. “I killed my stepfather.” At least, for thirteen years, she’d thought she’d killed him. Kurtz didn’t have to know the truth.

  “You killed Greg Hemming?” He glanced at her. “I thought he died in a barn fire?”

  “After I hit him in the head with a shovel,” Bree admitted.

  He snorted. “Bastard deserved it. He was screwing my wife.”

  “And cheating on my mother,” Bree added.

  “He and Shelly were planning on running away together. Did he tell you that?”

  “No kidding?” Bree kept up the conversation even as she huffed and puffed to keep up with Kurtz’s pace.

  “Yeah. They were supposed to get Reed out of the state after he robbed the armored truck. Shelly told me all about it, when she knew she’d been caught. She tried to get me to go in on it with her to keep me from killing her.” He snorted. “She was a lying, cheating bitch and too stupid to live. Once she told me about the money Reed stashed in the hills, I didn’t need her anymore, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let Hemming have her.”

  “How’d you do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Kill your wife?” Bree asked. She really didn’t want to know, but Kurtz seemed so proud of his accomplishment. And if she ever had the chance to turn him in, she’d have the information the M.E. could use to look for forensic evidenced to corroborate Kurtz’s story and nail his sentence.

  “I slit her throat. If I’d known how much blood she’d spew, I would’ve buried her alive and let her suffocate. She didn’t deserve a quick death like you gave Hemming.”

  Bree slowed to a stop on the trail. “If you didn’t give Reed the burner phone, who did?”

  Kurtz shrugged. “Reed was a sneaky bastard. He wasn’t smart enough to pull off that armored truck heist by himself. Someone helped him plan it. And it wasn’t Shelly or Greg. Neither one of them was any smarter than Reed. And both of them are dead now. Whoever helped him thirteen years ago helped get him out of jail in that transport van. I just created the diversion to make it crash.”

  “You don’t know who it was?”

  “If I knew, I sure as hell wouldn’t be digging in every cave in the Crazy Mountains for a damned bag of cash. I’d be blackmailing the hell out of his accomplice.” He yanked her a stop. “I suggest you get us to the caves in a hurry, or I’m going to bury you alive like I should have buried Shelly.”

  A chill rippled down Bree’s spine. “We’re here,” she said and nodded toward the steep hillside. “The first cave is about one hundred feet up that hill.”

  He gave her a shove. “Show me.”

  Bree had the length of time it would take for her to climb up to three caves to figure out a way out of this mess. She had to think.

  Chapter 15

  Despite his unease with riding a bike after so many years since the last time he’d borrowed a friend’s in high school, he made it out to Wolf Creek Ranch in record time without running off a cliff or crashin
g into a stone wall.

  His brothers, Molly, Parker and the sheriff were waiting for him in the barnyard, holding the reins of their horses.

  “I fed the cow in the barn,” Molly said. “She’ll need fresh water soon.”

  “Do you have any idea how to get out to the caves?” Colin asked, swinging up onto his horse.

  “I do,” Angus said. “I’ll take lead.”

  “What if Kurtz didn’t take her there?” Bastian said as he fit his boot into the stirrup and swung his leg over, landing lightly in his saddle.

  “He has to be there,” Angus gritted out. If he wasn’t, they didn’t have a clue as to where else he would have taken her. “There’s no other reason he would have taken her.” He mounted the black gelding Duncan had brought for him.

  The sheriff mounted a bay mare, and they were off, riding hard across the pasture and up into the hills.

  Thankfully, the stars shone bright over the hills, lighting their path almost as well as daylight.

  Angus figured they weren’t too far behind Kurtz and Bree. As they passed through the gate leading to the south pasture, he noted tire tracks in the ground made damp by melting snow. The tracks were fresh and filled with muddy water. They hadn’t been there earlier that day.

  His heart pounded, and adrenaline raced through his body. Just a little farther, around the corner of that trail, up over the top of that ridge. He pushed the horse as fast as he would go in the eerie light.

  When he got to the place she’d insisted they go on foot, he pulled his horse to a halt and held up his hand for the others to follow suit. He was glad they hadn’t brought motorized ATVs. The noise would have alerted Kurtz to their arrival sooner than the pounding of horses’ hooves.

  He prayed Kurtz couldn’t hear the horses as they tied off soon after to continue on foot the rest of the way. They needed the element of surprise to safely extricate Bree from Kurtz’s clutches.

  Not certain how far they’d gone in their search of the caves, Angus sent Duncan and Colin up to the first cave. He moved on to the second one with the others. At the bottom of the hill leading up to the second cave, he stopped and listened for any sound. When he didn’t hear any, he sent the sheriff, Parker and Molly inside. Each person carried a weapon, and each knew how to use it.

  At the last cave on the trail, he turned to Bastian and whispered, “It’ll be tricky climbing up on the rocks, and the cave entrance is narrow.”

  “I’ve got your six,” Bastian said. The Navy SEAL knew dangerous situations. He’d been through some pretty harrowing missions he couldn’t talk about. But the lines in his face told of his experience. A person didn’t go through stuff like that and remain unchanged. Angus knew from his own experiences. Though Bastian was the youngest of his brothers, he was no less competent in combat and probably more capable than even Angus.

  As they climbed up the rocky hillside, Angus could hear something that sounded like metal hitting rock. Like a shovel or pick axe chinking away at a hard surface. His pulse quickened, and he moved faster, leaping from rock to rock, moving quickly up the incline, trying to keep from making too much noise. He came to a stop just below the mouth of the cave.

  Angus waited for Bastian to move up beside him and provide cover. Then he slipped in through the narrow cave entrance.

  Moving as quietly as he could, he timed his steps with that of the chinking.

  He was almost through the narrow passageway when the sounds stopped.

  Angus froze, brought his weapon up chest-high and waited.

  “You might as well show your face. I know you’re there,” said a raspy voice. “Tell him.”

  “Angus?” Bree called out, her voice strong but strained. “He has a gun.”

  “If you don’t want me to mess up her pretty face, come out and toss me your weapon.” Kurtz’s voice echoed against the stone walls of the cave.

  “Okay. I’m coming out. Don’t shoot. The bullets could ricochet off the walls.” Angus held his hands in the air and emerged into the small cavern.

  A flashlight stood on the floor, pointing toward the ceiling. Light reflected off the walls, making it easy to see Kurtz holding Bree by her hair. Though her wrists were secured with a zip-tie, she held a shovel in her hands and stood beside a hole in the dirt floor of the cave.

  “Let her go, Kurtz,” Angus said.

  “Can’t until she shows me the last cave.”

  “That’s right. There are four caves along the path,” Bree said, capturing Angus’s gaze.

  He knew there were only three. Apparently, her captor didn’t know the exact number.

  Kurtz pulled hard on her hair, making her head tip at an impossible angle. Her face was strained, but otherwise, she didn’t appear injured.

  “Shoot him, Angus. I’m tired of digging,” she said.

  “You don’t want to do that,” Kurtz said. “I have my finger on the trigger, squeezing ever so slightly. It wouldn’t take much for the gun to go off.”

  “What do you want?” Angus asked.

  Kurtz loosened his hold on Bree’s hair enough that she could straighten and look across the cavern into Angus’s eyes. She glanced down at the shovel in her hands and back up at Angus.

  Was she trying to tell him something?

  Then she moved her lips. If he wasn’t mistaken she was getting ready to make a move.

  Her lips formed the words Ready…Set…Go!

  Bree’s muscles bunched, and she flipped the shovel up and over her shoulder, clobbering Kurtz in the head.

  His gun went off and the bullet ricocheted off the walls of the cave.

  Bree ducked, rolled away from Kurtz, and was back up onto her feet, giving Angus the opportunity to aim his gun at her captor.

  He had to make the shot count, or the bullet would do the same as the last and bounce off the walls. This time, they might not be so lucky that the bullet would miss them.

  Angus pulled the trigger. The bullet flew true and hit Kurtz in the chest.

  The man dropped to his knees, the gun still in his hand, his finger on the trigger.

  “Get down!” Angus yelled to Bree.

  She turned away, but not soon enough to drop to the ground.

  Kurtz’s weapon went off and he collapsed face-first on the cave floor.

  Bree stood still for a moment and then turned toward Angus. She pressed her hand to her side. When she pulled it away, she stared down at the bright red stain on her fingers. “I’ve been hit.” Her gaze captured his. Then she dropped to her knees. “I’ll be all right. I just need to rest.”

  Angus ran toward her.

  Bastian moved past him and knelt beside Kurtz.

  “Just for a minute,” she said and laid on the ground, her hand tucked beneath her chin.

  Angus felt like a ton of bricks had settled on his chest. “Oh, baby, hang in there. We’ll get you out of here. Just don’t go and do anything stupid.”

  She laughed then winced with her eyes closed. “What? Like, die?” She gasped and shook her head. “I have too many plans for you to be that stupid. And I know what Kurtz did. I can’t die. People need to know. Plus, you won’t let me.”

  Angus took off his coat and shirt and pulled his T-shirt over his head. He wadded it into a pad and pressed it to the wound in her side. Then he used his shirt, tying it around her middle then knotting it over the T-shirt pad. “It’s not great, but it’ll hold until we get you out of here.”

  Bastian was by his side when he lifted her off the ground. They hooked her arms over their shoulders and carried her sideways through the narrow passage. Once they were outside in the open, Angus bent her over his shoulder. “I’m sorry sweetheart, but we have to get you back down this mountain the quickest way possible.”

  When she didn’t answer, his chest constricted. “Come on, Bree, hang in with me.”

  With Bastian’s help, they worked their way down the rocks and boulders to the trail below.

  The rest of the team was there waiting.

 
“Let me carry her,” Duncan said.

  “I’ve got her,” Angus said and moved her to carry her in front of him so that he could see her face in the starlight.

  She didn’t speak, open her eyes or moan the entire way back to Wolf Creek Ranch.

  They arrived to find an ambulance waiting, a stretcher rolled out to take her.

  The EMTs went to work, attaching an IV, checking her vital signs and strapping her to the gurney for the ride in to Bozeman.

  Angus hovered, waiting for the EMT to announce her blood pressure and pulse.

  When he did, Angus let go of the breath he’d been holding. They were low and slow, but she was still alive, and the EMTs would make sure she stayed alive throughout the ride to the hospital.

  “I’m riding with her,” he announced.

  “Are you a member of the family?” the young EMT asked.

  His siblings all answered for him, “Yes!”

  The EMT grinned, slid the stretcher into the back of the vehicle and tipped his head. “Get in.”

  Angus sat quietly holding Bree’s hand throughout the journey, praying she hadn’t lost too much blood and that the bullet hadn’t hit any major organs. They’d come too far and waited so long to be together, it couldn’t end. Not yet. They had a lot of loving to catch up on. It would take a lifetime to get enough.

  Chapter 16

  Three days later.

  * * *

  Bree sat in a rocking chair on the front porch of the Iron Horse ranch house, soaking up the spring sunshine that had finally made an appearance after several days of overcast skies.

  The rain-washed heavens were the Montana skies she knew and missed while she’d been in exile in Alaska. Juneau had been beautiful, the people had been kind and helpful, but it hadn’t been home, and those people hadn’t been family.

  Mrs. McKinnon stepped out onto the porch. “Bree, Karen, can I get either one of you some lemonade?”