Brides of Bannack Box Set: Mail Order Bride

by Natalie Dean

  “Gee, wish I’d thought of that. I guess we should just go back now.” Her words were biting, more than she’d wanted, but she didn’t apologize for reasons she could not explain.

  She checked his phone. It had been a few minutes since they’d busted away, so she fired up the news app. Right there were headshots of both of them, as well as accurate descriptions of what they were wearing.

  “Uh-oh,” David said. “Uh-oh.”

  She stared at her name on the screen. She was a wanted criminal. Well…she had to succeed now – no second chances were waiting for either of them. She needed to protect Ellie, whatever the cost. Jacob would probably give the two of them until the next day to assassinate the governor. She didn’t know what his reason could be for wanting the governor dead. Maybe he hated him. Maybe he had an old beef with him. Maybe it was revenge. Maybe he was just completely nuts. She didn’t know, and honestly, she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to do it. The more she thought about it, the less she thought she could kill an innocent man regardless of who was at stake.

  The very thought made her stomach curl up. They left the bathroom and headed off just out of visibility from the road. She’d gotten a good whiff of Jacob back when she’d spotted him on the road. She was hoping she’d be able to track him, and therefore Ellie. It wasn’t like they had too many other options. They either had to track him down before the officers found them, or get arrested and have something awful happen to Ellie.

  She had to get somewhere quiet. There were too many cars constantly driving by for her to focus. She got out farther behind the convenience store, cupped her hands over her ears, and focused. David stepped back. This wasn’t the first time he’d watched her trying to get her sixth sense going. He knew to stay away to avoid bugging her and disrupting her concentration.

  She let her mind go blank, which was hard to do with everything that was going on.

  She started humming loudly, which drowned out everything else. She thought she could track Jacob. She was hoping she could. She’d felt his aura two or three times by then, so it was almost a familiar scent. Sure enough, she picked it up a moment later. It was faint, but it was there.

  “I found him,” she said.

  David clapped. “Well done, Mrs. Whetmore. Well done indeed.”

  “What’s this Mrs. Whetmore thing?” she smiled at him. For just a moment, looking into his eyes, she felt relief fall on her heart. “I think we’re probably on a first-name basis by now at the very least.”

  “Oh. Where are my manners? I meant Ads.”

  Her smile faltered. “Wait… did you call me -“

  “Ads. Like your friend at the agency. It’s a good nickname.”

  She tossed back her head. “Oh, good Lord. Now you too?”

  He reached up and popped her in the jaw affectionately. “I’m just kidding, Adrianna.” He looked back the other direction. “So where are we off to, bloodhound?”

  She raised up her hand and pointed back into the city. “If my senses are right, he’s gone that way.”

  They started walking in that direction. The gravel of the parking lot in front of the store crackled loudly under them. Adrianna’s sweater was itchy. Suddenly, she remembered – she was probably wearing the single most trackable sweater of all time. Bright colors, itchy, and horrible enough that no one else in the city would be wearing it.

  She pulled it off and set it on the pump, but before she put it down and abandoned it forever, she brushed off the top of the pump.

  “I think you might be missing the point of leaving behind old stuff,” he said as she folded the sweater and put it up there.

  “I feel guilty,” she admitted. “I mean, my friend really did put a lot of effort towards it…it deserves some respect.”

  And with that, they set off towards Jacob. She wished she could just track Ellie in case Jacob wasn’t with her, but she’d been with Ellie so much that her aura had become dull. She could recognize it without a problem, but for some reason, auras were hard to track when she was around them too much. She couldn’t explain it.

  They waited for the cars to cross the road and then dashed across.

  “That’s jaywalking,” Adrianna said.

  “We’re criminals anyway. I’m living the dangerous life now.”

  “You’re a real rebel.”

  “I’m crushed by guilt right now.”

  Adrianna wondered how long it was going to be before the officers found them. It was inevitable, really. If she had months or even weeks to plan, she might be able to have a car or plane ready and be out of the country using her connections before anyone could find her. As it was, she hadn’t thought a lick about it and had no clue where she was going. She could feel Jacob’s aura somewhere in the distance, but on foot, she doubted they could hide out for long. Even without her sweater, they were too distinguishable.

  First of all, she was much taller than the average woman. She was just over six foot tall, so she tended to stand out – ivory skin, striking features, and a tall frame. People noticed when she walked in. And then there was David, whose fame as a fighter made everyone notice his presence.

  So honestly, unless both of them were walking along buck naked, there was no way they could draw any more attention.

  They ducked between a couple of houses, towards the direction she sensed him in. She kept an eye open for police. They were probably in the neighborhood already, but sometimes the federal government tried to work alone in catching criminals. If they saw a local officer, he or she might not have any idea that Adrianna and David were wanted. It was a glaring flaw in the system, but one that she was willing to exploit if it came down to it.

  The way to get caught in the city was…staying in the city. She’d been in the law enforcement business a very long time, and every time that a criminal remained in the city, they were caught. There were cameras and eyes everywhere. Out in the country, it was harder to enforce anything. Way out in the country, it was almost impossible. If police heard a gunshot on someone’s ranch, they often struggled to investigate it. All ranchers had the legal ability to kill a snake and certain kinds of animals with a gun whenever they pleased. In the city, if a gun went off, there was going to be at least a little attention.

  So she wasn’t pleased that they were going directly through the city, all the way through. She could still feel Jacob’s aura. It hadn’t moved in a while. Wherever he was, he was sedentary. At the distance they were from him, she couldn’t distinguish his mood.

  “I don’t like this,” David muttered. “No car. No guns. Nothing. We’ll be busted before we get ten miles like this.”

  He was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She wanted to get there as fast as she could, but heading straight through would put them on the streets. The feds were already looking out for them. She thought Agent Stone was already working with them, but if she was wrong and he was just getting started in the search, he’d have his techs scanning for them in all the cameras. They’d get maybe two or three blocks in the thickest part of the city before they were recognized. Stone had warned her once. Now that she’d ignored him, he’d be putting several of his resources towards catching them.

  There weren’t enough taxis out in the middle of nowhere, and they’d ditched David’s phone because of how easy it was to track so they couldn’t call a taxi either.

  They started towards the outskirts of the city, where they were less likely to be caught. It took them about an hour of nervous walking before they started seeing smaller roads with grass on either side. There were far fewer cars. It felt nice to be out in the country again. She’d missed it…

  “One more day,” David said as they walked along the grassy knob of land along the road, both of their feet aching. “One more day. That’s all we have left to find her.”

  She tried to think of something motivational or wise to say, but all she could think of was, “Yuuuuup.”

  Chapter 11

  It took forever for them to go all the way
around the city. She’d known that it would when they started on their little adventure, but she had completely misjudged how long exactly. Hours passed, and they were still going. They took little jogging bursts before taking a minute or two to catch their breath.

  They saw cop cars a few times, but each time, they just ducked out of view. They were making excellent time. By the time the night was coming on, Jacob’s aura was driving Adrianna wild. He was close. How close? She wasn’t sure, but she’d be willing to bet it was within five miles or so. At that point, her feet were aching.

  “We’re close,” she told David.

  David was limping. He was a lot of heavier than Adrianna, so the walking was getting to him a lot worse than it was her. When he heard her say that they were getting close to the kidnapper, his eyes lit up. “Really? No kidding?”

  “Why would I kid about that?”

  “Honestly, at this point… I’m too tired. I’m not thinking straight.”

  Her aura blinked. “Get off the road!” she hissed loudly.

  Her aura pulsed as a new source of danger showed up – a policeman.

  Together, the two of them ducked out of sight from the road. A moment later, a police car drifted past slowly.

  “Good job,” David whispered.

  “Thanks,” she replied as the car disappeared from sight. “This is getting too close.”

  She poked her head out. She could still sense the aura of the policeman inside the car getting farther and farther away. The officer wasn’t getting any closer. Sometimes, Adrianna wondered what would happen if anyone else had her a tracking sense like hers. She couldn’t be the only person in the world to have those special tracking powers. They really were incredible. If anyone with tracking abilities like hers were chasing her and David right then, they would be caught in minutes flat.

  As they grew closer and closer, she started worrying. They were unarmed. They knew where Jacob was, based on his aura, but they didn’t know what else he was doing. They had no idea if they were walking in on a situation like Washington, where he hadn’t been prepared, or if Jacob was waiting for them, fully loaded.

  Even more horrible was the fact that, if things went wrong, Ellie could possibly end up growing up without her Dad and Adrianna.

  There was no question about it, they were going to get some sort of punishment. Adrianna and David also happened to be hugely popular. She was a star player for the FBI, which was good and also bad. There were two kinds of people – those that liked her popularity and liked to try to give star players the benefit of the doubt, and those that felt jealous and wanted to punish star players for their popularity. The same thing went for David.

  So the question wasn’t really if they would get arrested, but what they would get as punishment when they did get arrested. So far Adrianna and David hadn’t murdered anyone, and they could claim self-defense with the little stint with Jacob. They had, however, shot at a couple of people. They’d also busted in Washington’s house, and tied him up. Then, to finish everything off, they’d also escaped the federal government. They had an extensive list of illegal activities that they had been adding more to ever since Ellie had gone missing.

  “Have you thought this whole thing through more than I have?” Adrianna asked. Her aura was throbbing. They were getting very close. They tilted back towards town. She was willing to bet they were within three miles of Jacob now, but the last thing she wanted to do was just sit around and get nervous.

  “Thought about what?” David looked like he’d done more than just think about it. He looked like he’d gone through a bunch of different scenarios, all of which ended really violently for Jacob. His eyes were dark and angry.

  “So, what? We save her and turn ourselves in?”

  “Unless you were thinking about running.”

  “I mean...”

  Her senses suddenly kicked in. “I feel Ellie. I can feel her.”

  His head snapped over. “What? Really?”

  She focused. “Yeah. She’s close!”

  They took off towards the direction she could sense her in. She no longer doubted herself – Jacob and Ellie were together. She had expected him to be inside the city, but as it turns out, he was on the outskirts. Her heart started pounding wildly. It was actually happening. After all the hard work they’d gone through, all the heartache they’d endured, they were finally catching up with Ellie and her kidnapper.

  Unarmed.

  Why was she unarmed? She couldn’t think of why. She was a professional whose entire life dealt with being armed and prepared. Even since she was a kid, she hated not having a plan for every contingency. She was that girl that had spare batteries for the calculator and three extra pencils just in case something happened. In the FBI, she was the exact same way.

  So she felt extremely uncomfortable going into a scenario without a great plan.

  She could sense Jacob’s aura getting stronger as well as Ellie’s. They were together. Where? She wasn’t sure yet. She hadn’t been able to do any research on where he actually lived. She figured out the cabin thing, but as far as the actual residence, she was lost. They’d done a little research on Washington, and that was about it.

  So she was a little surprised when following the aura lead them to a large, decrepit old hotel. The sign was faded, promising excellent rates. She could just barely see a pool that had been drained, and a few cheap cars lined the parking lot.

  They had found their man. They had found Jacob and therefore their sweet little angel.

  Adrianna didn’t care much about Jacob. In the end, all she wanted was for him to be punished. If they rescued Ellie and left him for the police to deal with, she’d be happy. She had no intention of busting into the hotel room, guns blazing. First of all, Ellie could get hurt. Second of all, even if they wanted to, they were utterly unarmed, and it wasn’t like they could stop by a local weapons store and pick something up. By that time, the officers had surely gotten around to putting their pictures up as wanted. Any good gun shop would check, and the gig would be up.

  “Are you sure?” David asked, looking up at the motel and squinting. The sun was glaringly bright right over the roof. “This is the place?”

  “Unless my senses are wrong, and they’re never wrong…”

  He nodded. There was a brief moment there, one where Adrianna was struck by the fact that one of them could easily die. Superhuman she might be, but indestructible she was not. She’d been shot before, most notably when David was still The Celtic, and they were being pursued by a crime boss, but she had never gone into a scenario completely, painfully unprepared. Even though things often didn’t go her way, she at least had a shot at surviving.

  Looking up at the hotel, she couldn’t help but get a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something about that hotel just gave her the heebie-jeebies. And to think that Ellie, sweet, innocent Ellie, was stuck in there with a deranged ex-convict….

  “Hey,” David said, leaning over to her and looking her in the eyes, shaking her out of her stupor. “It’s going to be alright. I promise.”

  She feigned a smile. It felt wrong. “I sure hope so.”

  “Is he alone?” David asked as they walked towards the motel.

  “I don’t know. I can’t tell.”

  Her sixth sense was pretty outrageous, but it did have limitations. There were certainly people in the motel, but she couldn’t reliably say that they were or were not with Jacob. She felt the pit in her stomach grow.

  They entered the hotel, pulling open the glass doors. Jacob’s aura was almost overpowering. She’d spent so much time trying to follow the aura that now that it was in her face, it was drowning out everything else. She was just relieved she could sense Ellie. Ellie’s aura was a little tense like she might be scared, but she didn’t show any signs of pain or absolute terror.

  That would all change here as soon as they found the room. The relative placidity of the hotel would be absolutely demolished.

  David walked
up to the man at the front desk. “Hey,” he said. His hands were balled into fists, just under the counter. To the worker, he looked like a normal dude. To Adrianna, from behind, he looked ready to lose his cool at any moment. “I’m looking for a friend of mine here. Names Jacob Jackson?”

  The man tapped away at the computer for something. “Okay…I see nobody by that name.”

  David smiled tightly and pulled away. “Sounds great. Must have been my mistake.”

  Of course, Jacob hadn’t put his room under his own name. He was an idiot based on the crude nature of how he’d kidnapped Ellie – on camera with a very distinguishable truck – so Adrianna had been hoping he’d follow through and make a huge mistake like identifying himself on the room. Evidently, she’d been wrong.

  “Mind if we have a look around?” David asked, starting to walk towards the rest of the hotel.

  “I’m sorry, sir.” The guy didn’t stand up, but he positioned his small frame in such a way that said he would try to stop David if necessary. The idea of him actually preventing The Celtic, famed fighter, from doing anything he wanted was pretty ridiculous. But it was also one that Adrianna had to deal with. If the clerk called the police in a vain attempt to stand up for company rules, the whole expedition would go down in a hurry. Five, maybe ten minutes is all it would take for the officers to arrive and tip Jacob off. It’d probably take longer than that for Adrianna to identify the right room based on her senses. “You can’t go inside without showing a room key.”

  “I just want to look to around.”

  “I’m just telling you company rules, sir. No customer is allowed to -“

  Adrianna stepped in. “We’d like to get a room, please.”

  The clerk leaned back, evidently relieved. “Awesome. For how many people?”

  “Just the two of us,” Adrianna replied, starting to get nervous. In the little waiting room, there was a TV on, broadcasting the news. The volume was off, but she saw her and David’s picture pop up. She stepped between the guy and the TV. “Any room at all will do just fine, please.”