by Susan Stoker
Did she want more from him? Be honest with yourself. Yes. He had qualities she hadn’t found in other men, ones she’d unsuccessfully looked for in each of her boyfriends. And compared to this man, they were boys.
She sat up and crossed her legs, pulled a blade of grass from the soft soil, and brought it to her nose. Fresh and untouched, not like the chemically-enhanced grass in the city. She looked around at the trees, the creek silently making its way downhill, and old Merle, off in the distance, one leg cocked, looking like he was asleep. Like a postcard, naptime for a cowboy and his horse.
A smile came from deep inside Mina. The ranch would make a wonderful weekend retreat, halfway between Austin and Fort Worth, she’d meet Rex here Friday nights…
No. It wouldn’t happen. She tossed the blade of grass. Looking back at him, she wished things had been different. She admired his slightly hooked nose, strong jaw, lips that only lost their tightness when he slept, or when he kissed.
The sound of a shot rent the air.
Mina gasped and reached to wake Rex, but he sat up, tipping his head.
Another shot, followed by a third, from the direction of the ranch.
He leapt to his feet as her heart jumped to light-speed. “What is it?”
“Get dressed. Fast.” He already had his jeans on, and his boot in his hand. “Bennet is warning us.” He whistled loudly, and Merle’s head lifted, and the horse galloped toward them.
“Should we call the sheriff?” She scrambled to dress, leaving her socks and underwear on the ground by the blanket and untouched picnic bag, next to his socks and underwear.
“No service here.” Rex shoved the blanket in one side of the saddlebags, the food and their leftover clothes in the other, and jumped onto Merle’s back. He helped her up behind him. “Hold on tight.” Giving the horse a two-booted kick, he shouted, “Hee-yaa!”
The horse went from zero to warp speed in seconds, and Mina could only hang on to Rex and squeeze the horse with her legs. The hundred questions she had would be whipped away from her mouth by the wind rushing by them.
In minutes, he pulled up to a copse of trees on a sharp ridge. “Mina. Stay here.”
“But I might be able—”
“No. I won’t be able to work if I’m worried about you.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her from the horse.
She landed on her feet. “But what if—”
“Listen.” His black eyes held deadly seriousness. “You can see the ranch from the top of the rise, but stay low, and for God’s sake, do not scream, no matter what you see or hear.” His hand worked on the saddlebag laces.
She nodded, sufficiently embarrassed by her last, and recorded, response to a dangerous situation.
Rex handed her the saddlebag. “Eat something, use the blanket to stay warm.” He touched the rifle. “I want to give you this, but I think I might need it.” He looked conflicted.
“I’ll be okay. I know self-defense.”
He huffed out a breath, and almost cracked a smile. “Great. That makes me feel better for abandoning you here.”
She wanted to reassure him that she trusted his decision to leave her here, but she was starting to shake with fear, and had to clamp her teeth together to keep them from chattering.
Turning, he pointed across the creek. “If I don’t come back for you in an hour, go across the creek, in about a half-mile, there’s a fence that runs the whole property.” He pointed left. “Go north until you see a gate with a dirt road cutting through it. Follow the road on the other side of the fence and you’ll get to Treven and Delta’s.”
“An hour?” She rubbed her palms on her arms. “What do you think will happen down there?” Mina’s worry was for him, not herself.
“I don’t know.” He stared into her eyes. “I’m going to protect you, Mina. Just promise me you will do exactly what I just told you. Promise you won’t do anything stupid that’ll get me killed.”
Anything stupid like run down the hill to the ranch and give herself up so the killers would take her and leave Rex and Bennet alone? She’d seen what those men could do, and she had no delusions they would hesitate to kill all three of them, and make their bodies disappear forever. “I promise.”
He turned and grabbed the reins. When she put her hand on his thigh, he looked down at her.
“Thank you, Rex. Please be careful.”
“I intend to, Doc.” He held her hand and looked into her eyes for a moment then kicked Merle into a run, up and over the ridge, disappearing down the other side.
Mina hauled the saddlebag into the trees, creeping slowly, until she had a view of the ranch buildings. Nothing looked out of place, no vehicles, no movement. She set the blanket down, then leaned back against a tree, just at eye-level with the top of the ridge so if someone had binoculars down there, she wouldn’t be easy to spot.
A shiver traveled through her. What was happening? Was Bennet all right? Where had Rex gone? She couldn’t spot him and Merle. He had to know this land well, and probably was coming around on a side where he’d have better control and access.
She rubbed her arms, fear penetrating deeply into her bones. She closed her eyes and used the few words she knew to send spiritual guidance and protection to Bennet and Rex.
Chapter Eight
‡
Rex slowed Merle as he came around the back of the barn, stopping about twenty yards away. Tying the horse to a tree, he patted his withers. Merle’s breath was labored, but he couldn’t help that today. “Quiet, boy. I’ll be back for you, and I’ll bring an extra carrot.” The horse closed his eyes as Rex took the rifle and bullets and ran to the barn. Looking in the window, he waited for any movement.
Nothing.
He opened the padlock on the back door into the tack room and checked the building for any life.
Nothing.
Looking through a crack in the front door, he spotted a gray sedan that had to be from the police motor pool. Who was it?
Movement on the porch caught his eye. Bennet stood leaning against the post rail, talking like he always did, but this time, using his hands to punctuate his story. The sheriff was gesturing that way to warn Rex that something wasn’t right.
“What the hell is going on?” He watched for a few seconds.
One of the rocking chairs moved, the man sitting in it leaning forward and…laughing? “Bennet, what are you doing?” Rex mumbled the words as he exited the back of the barn and circled around the far side of the house. He slid along the building until he could hear voices.
Sontag? His partner? Now things were feeling itchy, like a pair of new jeans. He checked the rifle, then strolled around the side of the house.
Bennet and Sontag spotted him.
“Hey, glad you’re back.” Bennet gestured to Sontag. “Your partner here stopped by to say howdy.”
Rex came up behind Bennet, noticing the pistol tucked into the back of his belt.
Sontag stood, his military-cut brown hair giving him the air of authority, while his short, paunchy body mass ruined the effect. “Rex. I was in the neighborhood.” The guy gave a laugh that was well short of genuine. He wore an old brown jacket that gaped to show his holstered pistol.
Leaning on the porch rail at the foot of the steps, Rex set his rifle butt on the ground, keeping the weapon in hand. “What are you doing down this way?” He succeeded in making it sound conversational, not confrontational.
“I have to go to Austin for a parole hearing on one of my old cases.” Sontag sounded convincing.
There were too many unanswered questions, though. “How did you know I would be here?”
“Captain mentioned you were taking some leave time. I took a chance and swung by.” The other man glanced down the driveway toward the road.
Sontag was not the kind of partner Rex confided in, and definitely not the type who’d drive an hour off the freeway to see him. Was Sontag here purely out of curiosity to see if Mina was on the ranch, or had somebody gotten to his
partner, and sent him on ahead to scout out the situation?
Bennet looked at Rex. “Offered him some sweet tea, but he just wanted to use the bathroom.”
That told Rex that Sontag had been inside, scouring the house for signs of Mina.
“You been hunting?” Sontag gestured to his gun.
“Nope. Just walking the property.” He picked up the rifle and made a show of checking the bullet in the chamber. “Can’t be too careful.” Tucking it under his arm, he let the barrel point at his partner for a few seconds before shifting it down.
The man’s brows dropped. “Anything new on that missing persons case?”
Now it would start. “Which case? We’ve got three going right now.”
Bennet shifted, his hand going to his lower back, squinting as if he was feeling pain.
Sontag didn’t give him a glance. “The astrologist from the college. The woman doctor.”
The guy didn’t know the difference between an astrologist and an astronomer? Had he even cracked the file on Mina’s case? Probably not, the lazy fuck. “No. Nothing before I left Fort Worth. Why?”
His partner looked down and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. “Some cops are looking for her. They’re from Austin and San Antonio. Say she’s into something illegal, and that’s why she’s in the wind.” He glanced up at Rex, then looked down the driveway again.
Someone was waiting down there, and Rex pretty much knew who it was.
“Captain know about this?” Rex reached for his back pocket where he’d tucked his phone. “I should call him.”
“No.” Sontag gritted his teeth and hissed out a breath. “Fuck, Rex.” He met his gaze. “Don’t make this go the wrong way.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder toward the house. “I know she’s here. We have people watching for her to show up in Austin, but when the captain said you’d gone on leave right after he closed the doctor’s case file, I got a gut feeling about the whole thing. I went to your house and…went in and found evidence that you’d had company.”
The fucker had broken into his home? Rex had been an idiot, leaving without scouring the place, but he’d never have guessed how desperate these men would be. His mistake, and it was going to cost him.
Sontag tipped his head. “Just give her to me, I’ll take her, and go.”
Rex could play stupid, but they might as well get this over with. He inched his gun up to point it at Sontag. “You’ll go, but without the doctor.” He nodded toward the road. “Those cops you’re working for are dirty. They killed a man and must have disposed of his body. They’re looking for Mi…Doctor Cooper to kill her because she’s a witness.” He slowly stepped up onto the porch, his rifle still pointed at Sontag’s big belly. “You want that on your conscience?”
His partner held up his hands. “I’m just doing my job, Tarrow. You don’t want to give her to me, they’re ready to come and take her.” He looked at Bennet. “There’s four of them, two of you. I know how this’ll turn out.”
Rex had to choose quickly whether to reveal all the facts or not. Yeah, he had to go for it. “She recorded the whole thing through a camera she had hooked up on the telescope. It shows the men’s faces, up close and personal. And she’s not stupid. She sent the memory card of the video to the governor’s office.”
Sontag’s mouth opened and his face fell like melting gelatin. He went silent for a few minutes, then smirked. It wasn’t a happy look. “Well, fuck. That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard you tell, Tarrow.” He shook his head. “Listen, these guys are paying me big to bring the doctor to them. I’ll cut you in on that. I mean big money.”
“What are they into? Drugs? Human trafficking? Gambling?”
“I don’t know.” He nearly shouted the words. “You think I’m gonna ask these guys what they do to make extra money on the side? Just…” He fisted his hands. “Where is she, Rex? Give her up or this is gonna get bloody.”
“Then it’s gonna get bloody, because I’m not a fucking dirty cop like my asswipe partner.” He let his anger flow, let it bring on the adrenaline he would need for the shit that was coming his way. Involving Bennet in this was not optimal, but it would have to be that way. There was no chance of getting the man to hide in the root cellar.
Sontag’s face turned red, his eyes popping out. He grabbed the front of his own shirt and tipped his head down. “You get all that?”
A car horn sounded from the direction of the road.
Sontag was wired?
“You’re a disgrace.” Bennet pulled his pistol and pointed it at Sontag.
The guy made a move like he was going to pull his gun.
Rex took his rifle in two hands and slammed the butt against his partner’s temple.
The man’s eyes rolled back and he hit the boards like a bag of potatoes.
“Zip ties?” Rex grabbed his partner’s ankles.
“Same place.” Bennet got rolling and held open the screen door while Rex dragged his partner into the kitchen.
Bennet set his gun on the table and went to the ammo drawer. “I sent out a 911 to Trev and Clint, and called the sheriff’s office, told them we had trespassers, and nothing more, in case I was wrong and we had to wave them off. My gut instinct told me your partner wasn’t here for a tea party.”
Rex nodded at Bennet. The man was a salt, had smarts and intuition that Rex could only hope to acquire someday. “We don’t know how close they are, so gotta figure we’re on our own. Only four of them, if Sontag wasn’t lying.”
They secured the house, opening the old double-hung windows a few inches at the bottom. Rex zip tied his partner’s hands and feet, then taped his piehole shut for good measure. Rex pictured Mina, alone, frightened, exposed out in the woods, and he wished he had time to bring her back and hide her. “Hold on, Doc.” He whispered the words, sending her strength.
The sound of engines racing toward them had Rex and Bennet grabbing every gun and box of shells they could find.
Rex crouched under the kitchen window. He could see Bennet struggling to get to the floor by a window at the far end of the house. He prayed nothing would happen to the old guy. He loved him. Like a father. Had he ever said that to him in so many words? That’d be number one on his to-do list…if they lived through this.
Two big, black SUVs came over the rise, racing toward the house. The first one slid to a stop next to Sontag’s car, the other made a wide arc and stopped a few yards farther away, both of them parallel to the house. Whoever was driving knew what they were doing.
A man in a dark shirt and pants got out of the passenger door of the second car and held up his hands. “We don’t want to hurt you. Give us the girl and we’ll leave. You’ll never hear from us again.”
Rex took out his phone and pressed the video record button, then set it on the windowsill, facing out. “You want me to give you Doctor Mina Cooper so you can kill her? Do you seriously believe there are no good cops left in Texas?”
The man paused for a few seconds. “We’re peace officers. We’re not gonna kill her. She’s wanted for questioning in connection with illegal activity at the university.”
“You and your friends killed a man. She has it on her camera. She showed it to me, and sent a copy of it to the governor. You won’t get away with this. Your best bet? Leave town, leave the country. Do it now before the sheriff gets here.”
The guy dropped his hands. “Even if I did believe that bullshit story, what makes you think I’d leave behind a witness?”
“You’re smart. Smart enough to know when to cut and run. I’m not kidding about the video. I’ll show you her camera and you can see it for yourself.”
The window of the SUV rolled down halfway. Rex could make out a man’s voice, and the man standing outside the vehicle leaned back to hear. He nodded and stepped forward. “Okay, show me.”
Rex wasn’t born yesterday. “Put your piece on the ground and come up on the porch.”
The guy complied, and stepped onto the porch.
A glance at Bennet showed that he had a bead on the dirty cop.
Rex stood, the cop looked his way, then hit the floor.
Rex ducked as a bullet shattered the window and whizzed by his ear. “Incoming.” The whole thing brought back flashes of his tour of duty in the Middle East. Rex grabbed his pistol and crawled to the door. He opened it a few inches and looked out the screen door.
The cop was pulling a gun from his boot.
“Drop it.” Rex chambered a bullet as a shot went off.
The guy slumped down, blood flowing from his shoulder. Bennet had taken him out.
The sound of car doors slamming got Rex moving, back to his window where his shotgun still sat on the ledge.
“Last chance, Tarrow.” A man’s voice came from behind the closest vehicle. “We’ve got some hardware that’ll tear your house to splinters, and send it up in smoke.”
“Sheriff’s on his way. You’d best run.” Bennet yelled it.
A sour, female laugh came from behind the other SUV. “We’re cops, stupid. We’re monitoring the frequency.”
“Monitor this, shithead.” Bennet sent rounds of bullets flying at every window of their side of the SUVs. Bulletproof. Not a scratch.
Rex looked at Bennet, who just shrugged. “Old man, are you finished working out your frustration, now?”
His mouth curved in a half-smile. “Guess so.”
“Tarrow. We’re gonna count to three. If you don’t send her out, we’re opening fire.” A male voice.
“She’s not here.” Rex hoped to buy them some time.
“Wrong.” The woman’s voice called. “Sontag spotted some of her crap in there.”
“She was here. She ran last night.”
Silence for a few minutes. “Then there’s no reason why we shouldn’t kill you two.”
Bennet snorted. “Rookie mistake, son.”
“Fucking stupid…” The rest of his words were drowned out as bullets sprayed the side of the house, breaking every window, ripping into the kitchen walls and furniture and appliances behind him.
