GI Cowboy

by Delores Fossen

  Tim called her a vile name and slammed her against the washing machine. She hit so hard that it knocked the breath out of her. Bailey couldn’t move. She couldn’t fight back. She could only stand there and gasp for air.

  Even over the roaring in head, she heard the sound and realized that someone was bashing down the kitchen door.

  Parker.

  He was alive.

  Bailey didn’t have time to feel any relief about that because Tim latched onto her hair and dragged her in front of him. He jammed the gun right against her temple, just as the door gave way.

  Parker burst through the opening. His gun was ready and aimed. But so was Tim’s. And she could see in Parker’s eyes that he realized she was Tim’s hostage and his human shield.

  “Zach?” she said.

  “He’s fine. There was no accident.”

  Despite the awful circumstances, Bailey was so glad that nothing had happened to Parker’s son.

  “I figure Tim hired someone to make that call,” Parker explained. His voice was so calm, but every muscle in his body was tensed to the point of looking painful. He kept his gun aimed, but he didn’t come closer. He stayed put, with this attention fastened to Tim.

  “I did hire someone,” Tim readily admitted. “A former acquaintance who owed me a favor.”

  “This acquaintance could have already gone to the sheriff,” Parker pointed out.

  “Probably not. She’s an addict and tends to avoid the cops. But she was rather good sneaking into the nurse’s lounge at the E.R. to use their phone. And since I used a jammer to stop Bailey from calling, I can only guess that no one is on the way here to provide backup.”

  “Don’t bet on that,” Parker snarled. “My phone wasn’t jammed when I realized this was a ruse and that Bailey was in danger. I called the sheriff, and he’s on his way here.”

  She couldn’t see Tim’s expression, but Bailey thought he might have smiled. “Bravo, Captain McKenna. I figured with your combat instincts, you wouldn’t waste precious time to request backup. After all, your ego is so big that you probably thought you could handle me all by yourself.”

  “I can,” Parker assured him.

  Bailey believed that. If this were a fair fight. But it wasn’t. Tim had her as his shield, and that meant Parker wouldn’t fire a shot because she could be hit.

  “Neither Sheriff Hale nor I can let you just walk out of here,” Parker warned. He took a small step closer. “You murdered Sidney Burrell.”

  Oh, God. So, that’s what had happened. That’s why Tim had blood on his shirt.

  “Sidney was a casualty of war,” Tim said, the smugness oozing through each word. “He was innocent, you know. Well, innocent of stalking Bailey anyway.”

  “What about Chester Herman?” Parker made another step.

  “Only slightly involved. I did hire him to drive around and toss out that note, but everything else, I did.”

  “Why?” Bailey demanded.

  “Why?” He jammed the gun even harder against her temple. So hard that Bailey felt her skin bruise.

  “Because you’re mine, that’s why. You were just too stupid to realize that. Instead, you climbed into bed with this jarhead.”

  “I’ve never been yours,” she countered despite the pain.

  “Wrong. You would have eventually seen the light, if your so-called bodyguard hadn’t come into the picture.”

  “How do you figure that?” Parker asked. Another step.

  Tim jammed the gun even harder. “Move another inch, and I’ll kill her right here where she stands.”

  Parker stopped, but his rage was so strong that it was palatable.

  “I was supposed to save her,” Tim growled.

  Parker blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “Save her!” Tim practically yelled. “I wanted Bailey to think she was in danger. That’s why I sent the notes. That’s why I slashed her tires and trashed her office. That’s why I rigged that gun to fire shots at your house.”

  “You thought doing those things would save her?” Parker demanded.

  “No!” Tim’s tone made it sound as if the answer were obvious and that Parker and she were idiots for not understanding this plan he had. “Those things were only meant to scare her. To make her think she was in danger. I was going to seal all the windows and doors in her house and then set fire to it.”

  Parker’s jaw muscles turned to iron. “You were going to do what?”

  Bailey could only manage an “Oh, God.” A crazy man had Parker and her at gunpoint.

  “I wouldn’t have let her burn,” Tim said, apparently disgusted that Parker had assumed that. “I would have broken down the door and saved her. I knew that would be the tipping point. Women can’t resist a hero. She would have ended up in my arms. And in my bed. That ring I bought for her—that would have become her engagement ring.”

  She nearly gagged. It was a risk to antagonize him, but Bailey couldn’t help herself. “You’re not a hero. You’re a disgusting egotistical lunatic. You risked Parker and Zach’s lives so you could have me. Well, guess what? You can never have me. Never.”

  Tim still had hold of her hair with his left hand, and he snapped back her head. “We’ll see about that. Back up, soldier boy,” he ordered Parker.

  “Why? What do you think you’re going to do?” Parker ordered right back. “Because I’m not letting you escape.”

  “You don’t have a say in the matter. The only reason I don’t intend to kill you right now is because I want you to have to live with the fact that I’ll have Bailey and you won’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Bailey asked.

  “I mean, you will be mine. That never doesn’t apply. Because this isn’t your decision to make. It’s mine, and I’ve already made it.”

  He was going to take her by force. But take her where? Bailey didn’t want to think about that. She only wanted to deal with this moment. Somehow, she had to get away from Tim so that Parker would have a clean shot.

  Tim used his body to nudge Bailey forward. “I said back up,” he told Parker again. “And if you try to stop me, I’ll forgo that little pleasure of having you live with losing Bailey. I’ll splatter parts of you all over this kitchen. Think of your son,” Tim added, his tone now sappy sweet and totally insincere.

  Bailey had to rein in her temper. As much as she wanted to hurt Tim, she couldn’t risk that. She knew without a doubt that he would indeed kill Parker. And she couldn’t live with herself if that happened.

  Tim gave Bailey another jab with his gun. Parker cursed and backed up. What he didn’t do was lower his weapon. He kept it trained right on them. Good. She wanted him ready.

  “Where are you taking me?” Bailey demanded.

  “To a new life.” Tim shoved her forward, and Parker stepped back, giving Tim enough room to reach the gaping hole where the door had once been.

  “I prefer the life I have now.” She locked gazes with Parker, hoping that he would give her some kind of signal as to how they could prevent Tim from getting her outside.

  “That’s because you have no idea how good things can be with me,” Tim answered. “I can make you happy, Bailey. You’ll see.”

  She kept her weight pressing back against him so it would be harder for Tim to force her to move. It slowed him down a little, but he still made it to the doorway.

  “I have a car waiting to take you to a new life. But here’s the catch. I had to park on the other side of Main Street. That means we have to cut through the parade crowd.”

  Bailey shook her head. “People will see us. They’ll see your gun.” Someone could be hurt if they tried to stop Tim, and someone would. The entire town wouldn’t just stand by and wait for the right moment to put an end to this.

  “I got a plan for that, too. Once we’re on Main, I’ll put the gun in my pocket, but it’ll be aimed right at your spine. A bullet to the head isn’t the only way to kill someone. Remember that when we’re walking. Cooperate and everyone lives.”


  Parker’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You know I’m coming after you.”

  “Yes, I expected as much. But you won’t do anything as long as I have a gun on Bailey. And she won’t do anything, either.” He gave her a jab with the gun. “Because if anything goes wrong, I’ll start shooting, and I’ll kill as many people as I can.”

  The fear sliced through her. Not for her life. No. The stakes were much higher than that. Her family and Zach were at that parade. Her friends, too. There’d be other families, children. Innocent people who had done nothing to be in this lunatic’s path.

  Bailey figured if anyone died today, it would be her.

  “Let’s go,” Tim snarled, and with the gun barrel grinding into her head, he pushed her out onto the porch. “See you later, solider boy.”

  Tim turned, keeping her in front of him, and with her in tow, he started toward the greenbelt.

  PARKER DIDN’T TAKE HIS EYES off Tim’s trigger finger.

  It was a challenge because the last time he’d gotten a glimpse of Bailey’s face, Parker had seen the fear. The anger. And then the resignation. She wouldn’t let Tim start shooting.

  She would sacrifice herself.

  Parker had no plans to let her do that.

  Tim continued to walk backward to the greenbelt. Parker followed, waiting for the right time. He bracketed his right wrist so he’d have a steadier shot if the opportunity arose. So far, Tim had played it perfectly. He’d ducked down enough that Parker didn’t have a head shot, and that was the only kind of shot that he was certain would take out the man before Tim could pull the trigger.

  It took every ounce of Parker’s willpower and training to stop himself from charging this SOB and beating him to a bloody pulp. Tim had endangered his son and now Bailey. And Parker was not going to let him get away with any of it. Tim would pay, and he would pay hard.

  Parker didn’t try to reason with the man. He knew he would be wasting his breath. Tim obviously had a plan that included a vehicle parked somewhere. He probably had made other travel arrangements. Maybe Tim thought he could get Bailey to somewhere like Mexico where he could brainwash her into loving him. And when the brainwashing didn’t work, and it wouldn’t, then he would kill her.

  Tim slowed when Bailey and he reached the thick underbrush in the greenbelt, and he continued to glance over his shoulder. There was no pattern to the glances. No way to predict them. But that’s what Bailey seemed to be doing. She kept glancing back, too, and Parker hoped like the devil that she didn’t do anything rash, because Tim wouldn’t miss a point-blank range shot.

  Neither would Parker.

  But he wasn’t sure when he’d get one.

  He hated the idea of Tim making his way through the parade-goers, but Parker might have to let that happen. His best chance might be when Tim made it to the vehicle. Tim would have to get Bailey inside and into the seat, and during that process he wouldn’t be able to use her to shield his body.

  That’s when Parker would have to kill him.

  Since Parker wasn’t a killer by nature, he would have liked to have the chance to talk Tim into surrendering. Then, he could be hauled off to jail. But Tim wasn’t the surrendering type.

  No.

  This would end with somebody dead. And it wasn’t going to be Bailey.

  Tim came out of the greenbelt and got onto the sidewalk that led to Main Street. So did Parker, and he kept about seven yards’ distance between them. Just ahead, he could see a few people watching a float that was creeping past them. No one was looking back at the felony in progress.

  When Tim got closer to the people and the parade, he did as he said. He slipped his gun into his pocket, keeping it pressed against Bailey. What he didn’t do was take his eyes off Parker. He kept watch to make sure Parker wasn’t about to dive at him.

  Parker didn’t put his gun in his pocket, but he did lower it to his side. He hoped it was enough. He didn’t want people to see it and then panic. That could cause Tim to start firing.

  The sounds of the people and music were suddenly all around them. So many possible distractions, so many things that could go wrong. But Parker didn’t look away from Tim.

  Tim smiled again. It was as slick and oily as he was. And he moved nearly back-to-back with an elderly woman who was waving at someone on the float. The woman didn’t see what was coming.

  Parker did.

  But he couldn’t stop it.

  Tim latched onto the woman and shoved her right at Parker. She screamed, but she couldn’t stop the movement from Tim’s fierce push. She flew into Parker. He kept his balance and somehow grabbed onto her so that she wouldn’t fall.

  The whole thing took just a few seconds. But during those precious seconds, Parker had no choice but to take his gaze off Tim. When he looked up again, Tim and Bailey had melted into the crowd of people.

  Hell.

  “Get down!” Parker shouted to those in front of him. Some heard him. Most didn’t. Most looked around as if trying to figure out what was going on.

  What was going on was that Tim was trying to get away.

  Parker elbowed his way through the parade-goers and tried to get sight of Tim. His heart jumped to his throat when he didn’t see them, but he continued to look.

  There.

  He spotted Bailey’s red dress.

  Tim had her on the other side of the street, which meant he’d managed to dart in between the floats. Bailey was frantically looking around, for Parker no doubt, but the rest of the crowd seemed oblivious to what was going on.

  Parker fastened his attention on Bailey. He didn’t want to lose her again in the crowd, and he began to make his way up the sidewalk. He had to get around a group of jugglers who were performing between the floats. He finally got a break and tore through the performers.

  But Tim was already on the move.

  He had a death grip on Bailey and was using her to plow his way through the crowd. Some people complained about Tim’s shoving and pushing, but no one was stopping him. Probably because they hadn’t seen the gun that Tim had pointed at Bailey’s spine.

  “Dad!” Parker heard Zach call out.

  His heart went to his knees, and he fired glances all around the crowd until he spotted his son. Hell. Zach was only a few yards in front of Tim and Bailey. Zach would soon see them, and he would know something was wrong. He would try to help, and that could get him hurt. Tim’s gun was rigged with a silencer so he could shoot Zach and no one in the crowd would even hear it.

  “Move!” Parker shouted to Zach.

  But Zach shook his head and put his fingers to his ear. His son couldn’t hear him. But Parker could see what was about to happen. It was like watching a train wreck.

  Parker tried, but he had to fight for every inch of ground. He watched as Tim pushed through the people between Zach and him, and he knew the exact moment that Tim had seen his son.

  Bailey saw Zach, too, and she began to struggle. She wasn’t trying to get away, Parker realized. She was trying to put herself between Zach and Tim.

  She was trying to save his son.

  Zach’s face said it all. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew Bailey was in some kind of trouble. He moved forward, even though Bailey yelled for him to stay back.

  People stepped in and out of Parker’s view so he could only get glimpses of what was going on. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t let himself think beyond this split second of saving Zach and Bailey.

  Parker broke through the crowd and to the other side. But it was already too late. Tim’s smile told him that.

  “Do you really want your son to witness your death, or Bailey’s?” Tim asked. He volleyed glances between Bailey and Parker.

  Thankfully, Zach didn’t move. Maybe because he was frozen with fear. His eyes were wide, and he stared at Parker, obviously waiting for his dad to save Bailey and him.

  But Parker couldn’t do anything, not with the risk that Tim might shoot Bailey or him in front of Zach. Tim was right about one t
hing—Parker didn’t want his son to witness that.

  “Come on,” Tim said, the smile curving his mouth again. “Zach can play this game, too. Maybe this will encourage both of you to cooperate. Because one way or another, Bailey is leaving with me.”

  BAILEY WANTED TO SCREAM AND tear Tim limb from limb. It was bad enough that Tim was trying to control her like a puppet, but now he’d involved Zach in this lethal scheme to possess her and make her love him.

  “I’m so sorry,” she mouthed to Zach.

  Zach just shook his head, obviously not understanding, but his gaze did drop to Tim’s pocket, where Zach probably noticed the gun.

  “Hi, Bailey!” someone called out. It was Faith, the owner of the diner. She was on the other side of the street and was smiling.

  Bailey waved back and tried to return the smile. Faith was pregnant, and while Bailey would have liked someone to be alerted, she didn’t want Faith and her unborn baby in the middle of this mix. Bailey turned away from her so the woman hopefully wouldn’t see that anything was wrong.

  “Don’t move, Zach,” Parker told him, and his gaze snapped to Tim. “If you hurt either of them, you’re a dead man.”

  “I believe I’m the one controlling the shots here,” Tim snapped. “Let’s go. We’re all going to take a little trip to the car now.” He glanced around, probably to see if anyone was paying attention.

  There didn’t appear to be, but then most people were watching the approach of the next float. When someone did make eye contact with Tim, he just smiled as if nothing was wrong. Bailey tried to do the same.

  Tim started to move, shoving Bailey and latching onto Zach’s arm to force the boy to go with him. Parker followed. Each step was agony, and Bailey prayed that they could all make it out of this safely. Zach couldn’t lose his father, and Parker couldn’t lose Zach.

  She had to do something.

  “Please,” she said to Tim. She tried to use a civil tone and also forced her expression to soften. It was a mask, all right, because Bailey hated this man with every fiber of her being. “Don’t do this. I’ll go with you voluntarily. Just let Zach and Parker go.”