by Terri Reed
“Yeah, for now,” Randy said, his voice low and pain-filled.
Jeff’s vision cleared enough to realize Randy didn’t look so good. His pale face beneath his freckles made a cloud look brown. Though he’d survived the gunshot wound to his leg, he was losing blood. The bullet must have nicked an artery. If he didn’t get help soon, the wound might still prove fatal.
A spike of panic registered that Tessa was not in the shed. “Where’s Tessa?”
He pushed himself to a seated position. The room spun. He held his head for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to abate.
“I heard her screaming.” The sorrow in the young ranger’s voice sent fear slithering through Jeff like snakes in a pit.
Randy awkwardly rose, leaning heavily on the wall for support. The exertion made sweat pop out on his brow. He stared out the small window in the side of the shed. “They put her in Aaron’s cabin.”
Terror sank sharp fangs into Jeff’s heart. Tessa was in trouble. His promise to keep her safe echoed through his mind. He’d let her down, unable to keep his word.
A fist of self-loathing lodged in his throat. He should have been better prepared. He should have kept them moving last night rather than taking the time to warm up and rest. Failing at the one thing he had sworn to do, protect and serve, weighed heavy on his shoulders.
She didn’t deserve what was happening to her. He should have found a way to get them out of the forest long before they were ever caught by Sherman and his men.
Determination to find a way to fulfill his promise to her forced his feet under him. The world swayed, his head throbbed from where he’d taken a hit. He pushed himself to move to the window. Aaron and another man were on the porch of the first small cabin in a row of cabins.
Tessa was inside that room. She would be at Aaron’s mercy.
Horrified by what might happen to her, he banged on the window. He couldn’t let Aaron hurt her. The glass cracked with the force of each blow. The two men turned toward him. Aaron gestured to the shed, and the man nodded and stalked toward Jeff. Aaron stayed on the porch. Jeff prayed he didn’t go inside the cabin. If Aaron harmed Tessa... Jeff clenched his fists.
“When he gets here, then what?” Randy slid down the wall to land on the floor with a thump.
“Can you make it to the door?” Jeff eyed the bright red blood dripping from the saturated bandage on his leg.
Randy grimaced. “I can try.”
Jeff needed the man’s help. He slid an arm around Randy, lifting him so that he stood on his uninjured leg. Hurrying as best they could, Jeff positioned Randy next to the door. Then he grabbed the water bottle he’d left in the corner and shoved it into Randy’s hands. “When he opens the door, untwist the cap. The pressure will make the cap shoot off like a rocket. Aim for his face.”
“What are you going to do?
“Disarm him.” Hot purpose spread through Jeff’s chest. “Then rescue Tessa.”
NINE
Standing in the middle of the small, one-room cabin, Tessa fought off panic. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape the impending doom. She would be at Aaron’s mercy. She heard voices outside the door. Aaron’s and the guard’s. A jolt of revulsion blasted through her like a bolt of lightning. The voices went silent.
What was going on? Had Aaron decided to leave her alone? Oh, please, Lord, let it be.
The doorknob turned.
Terror clawed through her.
Aaron swung the door open and stepped inside. “Honey, I’m home.”
Tessa backed away until she bumped up against the dresser.
In long, purposeful strides, Aaron stalked forward. “We’re going to have some fun!”
He crowded her into the corner, his hot breath making her gag as he swooped in, trying to plant a kiss on her lips.
She jerked her head away. “No, please don’t do this.”
He laughed. “Pop says I can do with you as I want.” His sweaty hands clutched at her, pulling at the hem of her oversize sweatshirt. His intent to abuse her left her no choice but to defend herself.
With her hand cupped around her weapon, she swung her arm in a tight curve, hoping to disable him enough so she could escape his grasp. The sharp tip of the scissors pierced through his skin and lodged near his collarbone. He blinked at her in disbelief, his hand reaching for the scissors. She darted for the door.
He let out an enraged bellow and stumbled forward, grabbing on to her arm. She twisted away and rammed her free elbow into his solar plexus. He bent slightly with a loud exhale but didn’t loosen his hold. She stomped as hard as she could on his instep.
He howled, his grip slipping on her arm.
Wildly, she punched at him, her fist connecting with the head of the scissors, driving them deeper into his flesh. He went to his knees, cursing her. She kicked out, her foot connecting with his shoulder, sending him toppling sideways. He landed in a heap. Aaron lay still, his eyes closed, his face lax.
Her lungs seized. Had she killed him?
For a horrific moment the reality of what she’d done swamped her. Her stomach heaved. Her lungs contracted painfully, forcing what little oxygen she had out in a violent exhale. Everything tilted. Darkness crept in at the corners of her mind.
Oh, no. She couldn’t pass out. She had to move, to find Jeff. Shaking her head to clear her vision, she reached for the door as it burst open.
Jeff stood there with the guard’s nasty-looking weapon in his hands, the barrel of the rifle pointed at her chest. His eyes widened, and he lowered the weapon.
A rush of emotion brought fresh tears to her eyes. He was alive and well. Her heart squeezed as affection and caring crowded out the horror of what she’d just done. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life. She rushed into his arms and hugged him tight. “Jeff.”
He hugged her back for a split second, then set her away from him. His gaze bounced from her to Aaron on the floor, the blue tips of the shears sticking out of his body and blood pooling on the wooden floor.
“Whoa. Okay, then.” Jeff looked at her with concern and approval. “You okay?”
She nodded, still clinging to him and barely daring to believe he was standing here. “How did you...?”
“I’ll explain later.” He released her and hurried to Aaron’s still body, where he fished out a set of keys from the pocket of Aaron’s khaki pants.
“Is he...dead?” she asked, her voice scarcely loud enough to be heard over the thundering of her heart. “We should check his pulse.”
Jeff pressed two fingers to the uninjured side of Aaron’s neck. “He has a pulse. Weak, but there.”
She blew out a breath of relief.
Jeff grabbed her hand and yanked her out of the cabin. “Hurry. We don’t have much time.”
“But Aaron.” She glanced back toward the cabin with a wince as she stumbled after Jeff. “He could still die.”
Jeff squeezed her hand. “It looks like you missed the artery. Someone will find him. Which means we need to be long gone by then.”
She didn’t know if she’d ever forget the sight of the scissors sticking out of the dip in Aaron’s collar or the bright red blood. She glanced down at herself. Deep crimson splashes had soaked into her shirt, her sweatpants. She gagged.
She wished she could rewind the clock and go back to the moment of arriving at Glen Lake. She’d give anything for the only threat she faced to be a bacterium in the water. She’d rather be dissecting fish than be here running for her life.
The past seventy-two hours she’d been shot at, chased, made a prisoner, escaped, kissed and defended herself with a potentially deadly blow. This kind of stuff only happened in movies or books, not real life. Not her life. She longed for her lab, her petri dishes and microscopes.
Jeff tugged her toward the sh
ed.
Confusion pulled her out of the quagmire of her thoughts. “Where are we going?
Instead of entering the shed, he led her behind the structure, where Ranger Randy was slumped against the wall.
Her heart leaped with joy and relief. “You’re alive,” she whispered, afraid he was only a vision her tormented mind had conjured up to block out what she’d done.
Randy gave her a weak smile. “Seems that way.”
She flung her arms around him and hugged him.
The jingling of keys forced Tessa to release her hold on Randy.
“One of these has to be for the van,” Jeff said.
She looked toward where the van sat only twenty yards away on the side of the warehouse. The other two trucks she’d seen earlier were gone.
“The minute you fire up the engine, the whole compound will come pouring out, and you’ll never get away,” Randy said. “Besides, there are other vehicles scattered about. They’ll only chase you down.”
“We have to try,” Tessa said. “We can’t go through the woods. You’d never make it.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Randy said. “Save yourselves.”
“We’re taking the van and you,” Jeff said, his voice hard and adamant. “What we need is a diversion.”
“The generator,” Randy said, pointing to the large contraption that powered the whole compound. “It’s gas-powered.”
“Good thinking,” Jeff said. “An explosion would do the trick.”
“But how? We don’t have anything to ignite the gas with,” Tessa asked. “A bullet won’t do it.”
She’d seen a TV show where they had debunked the idea that a single gunshot fired into a gas tank would make the tank explode. Only after multiple shots were fired was there an explosion and then only because the friction caused by the barrage of bullets had ignited the gasoline.
They didn’t have that kind of time to experiment with the one rifle Jeff carried.
“I have something,” Randy said. From his shirt pocket, he brought out a pack of cigarettes and a book of matches. “Mom always said these things would kill me. Guess she was right.”
The horror of what he inferred flooded her veins. He intended to strike a match and toss it into the tank of gasoline, which meant he’d take the brunt of the blast. “No! You can’t. You’re coming with us.”
Randy shook his head. “My life is over whether I go or stay. I’m either dead at my uncle’s hand, or I’m toast in prison.” He shrugged with a pessimistic certainty that grated on her already tightly strung nerves. “I’d rather be a hero and let you escape.”
Tears burned her eyes. She gripped Jeff’s arm. “You can’t let him do this.”
The grim expression on Jeff’s handsome face and the sadness in his eyes tore at her heart. “My priority is you,” he said softly. “I have to get you to safety.”
Randy grabbed her hand. “It’s okay. Please, go. Let me do this to make up for what my family has done.”
Tears streamed in earnest down her face. How could she let him give up his life for them? “No. I won’t allow it. We take our chances.”
Randy released his hold on her and turned his gaze to Jeff. “Can you get me to the generator?”
She whirled on Jeff. “Don’t you dare.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes as he pressed the keys he’d taken from Aaron into her hand. “Go to the van and wait for me.”
“No.”
“Tessa, I know this is hard. But we have no choice. Let him do this.”
Her heart in her throat, she closed her hand over the keys. “There has to be another way.”
With regret deepening the blue of his handsome eyes, he shook his head. “Go. Now.”
He gave her a little push, sending her stumbling toward the van. Her feet heavy, as if made of cement, she crossed the compound, sure that any second she’d be spotted and mowed down by a bullet.
It took every ounce of courage she had to put one foot in front of the other. She reached the van. Tears blurred her vision as she fumbled with the keys. Finally, she found the right one that slid into the lock to unlock the passenger-side door. She climbed inside and twisted in the seat to look out the back window of the van. Jeff and Randy were almost at the generator.
Her gaze fell to her duffel bag lying on the floor in the cargo hold. Adrenaline pumped through her veins.
She scrambled into the back, yanked open the zipper on the duffel and grabbed the flare gun. They could use it to start the fire that would explode the generator’s gas tank. She opened the back of the van and ran, not caring how exposed she was. She couldn’t let Randy kill himself for her.
Jeff grabbed her as she skidded to a stop by the generator. He yanked her to his chest. “What are you doing?”
“The flare gun,” she panted, holding up her prize.
For a fraction of a second Jeff stared at the gun. Then he took it from her. “Okay, change of plans. The flare will ignite the gasoline.”
Randy sat on the ground next to the generator’s gas tank. He had the book of matches out and ready. The cap was off the tank and gasoline fumes filled the air, stinging Tessa’s eyes. Randy held out his hand for the flare gun.
“Tessa, help Randy to the van,” Jeff instructed.
“No, man, let me do this,” Randy protested.
Her stomach twisted with renewed horror. She didn’t want to leave Jeff behind. “What are you going to do?”
He gave her a breathtaking grin. “Blow something up!”
Concern and caring tore through her, leaving a raw trail in their wake.
Trusting Jeff to accomplish the task without getting himself killed prompted Tessa to send up another prayer. God, I have to believe You’ll see us through this. They were still alive and fighting to stay that way.
Jeff’s words echoed in her head: God expects me to do all I can and trust the rest to Him.
That was what they were doing. All they could and trusting the rest to God.
“Get to the van and be ready.” He slid the rifle strap over Randy’s head and settled it across his body. Then Jeff ripped the sleeve off his shirt and stuffed one end into the gas tank. Within seconds the soaked material dripped gasoline onto the ground. “I’ll be coming in hot, so have the door open and the key in the ignition.”
Urgency had her hauling Randy to his feet.
“Guess he gets to be the hero,” Randy muttered with a crooked twist of his lips. “Thanks, Dr. Cleary.”
She ignored the subtle sarcasm and took his words at face value. “You’re welcome. Let’s move.”
They hurried as fast as Randy could hop on one foot to the van. Each step brought a wince of pain, twisting his face. Tessa couldn’t let herself react to his injury. They had to get out of sight and be ready.
The door to the warehouse opened. Kyle stepped out. Tessa met the young man’s gaze and silently pleaded with him not to give them away. His eyes widened, then he backed inside and shut the door.
The slight reprieve did nothing to ease her tension. She pushed Randy inside the back bed of the van, then she climbed into the passenger seat and stuck the key into the ignition before popping open the driver’s-side door.
She watched through the back window. Jeff stood a few feet away from the generator and aimed the flare gun at the puddle of gas on the ground. Her heart slammed into her throat. The bright flash of the flare seized her breath. The gasoline caught fire.
“Hurry, hurry,” she urged beneath her breath.
Jeff ran toward the van. Not daring to breathe, she prayed he made it to the van when the generator blew.
The tank exploded. The blast rocked the van just as Jeff jumped inside and cranked on the engine. He stepped on the gas, and the van shot forward
. Within seconds, bullets riddled the back of the van as armed men dashed out of the buildings.
“Stay down,” Jeff yelled.
Tessa scooted down but clamped a hand on Jeff’s arm as if holding on to him would somehow protect him.
The van roared down the dirt road carved through the trees.
* * *
Jeff drove the unfamiliar path, keeping half his attention on the rearview mirror. He hadn’t had time to disable the truck he’d glimpsed behind the generator seconds before he fired the flare, successfully hitting the pool of gasoline leaking onto the ground.
He hadn’t wanted to leave Tessa at risk one second longer than he absolutely had to. He’d let the danger get too close to her already. He wouldn’t fail her again. He had to get her to safety.
Every second counted, and he had no illusions that a truck full of gun-toting men would not be hot on their tail before long. He kept the gas pedal floored.
“Everyone okay?” he asked, sending a worried glance toward Tessa, who sat hunched on the passenger seat looking as if she might throw up any second. Her complexion had a greenish hue beneath the pallor and her right hand gripped the door handle so hard, her knuckles had turned white.
He was so thankful she was alive, unharmed. When he’d heard Aaron’s roar and then a scream, Jeff had imagined the worst. But she’d taken Aaron down. Jeff couldn’t be more proud of her.
And when she’d come running back from the van, he’d wanted to howl with rage at her, but then she’d handed him the flare gun and he’d realized, not for the first time, what a remarkable woman Dr. Tessa Cleary was.
Loyal, smart and brave. Affection and something else, something he wasn’t ready to put a name to, bloomed in his heart. He knew emotions ran high during intense situations like this. What he was feeling would cool and go away once they were safe.
Then his focus would go back to where it belonged. Protecting the country and putting bad people behind bars.
And Tessa would resume her life without him.
