by Sienna Mynx
“Your chest and legs, are they hurt really bad from the fall?”
“Fall?” he asked in confusion. “I fell?”
“Tarek, do you remember what happened?”
“You... me and you,” he said. “Love.”
“Love?” she frowned. “You must have hit your head harder than me.”
He chuckled and winced.
“Do you know where you are? Who I am?”
“Braveheart,” he said and shivered. “I remember. I know. Just a little confused and so cold,” he said as she helped him stand. He dropped his arm around her shoulder.
She walked him to the sofa.
“The tree fell in and almost killed us both. I had to get you out of the kitchen. It feels like it’s below zero in there now.”
“You saved me from the dragon?” he asked. “Where is my sword?”
“You aren’t making any sense!” she said.
“It was a joke,” he groaned.
“Not funny. And you can thank me for saving your life later. Does it hurt anywhere specific?” she asked.
“My body hurts, and not just my chest.”
“You can breathe, though, right? Without any problems I mean?”
“I can breathe,” he said as she sat him down on the sofa.
She left him to retrieve the blankets and the sofa pillow. When she returned his eyes were closed once again. He opened them and forced a half-smile. She put the blankets over him and adjusted his head. The fact that he kept coming in and out of consciousness worried her. She picked up his Stetson from the chair and put it on her head, and buttoned his coat around her petite frame. She wasn’t sure if she’d put on enough layers though. Her feet flopped in the boots, and that made each step even more painful. Kassidy went out of the front door and closed it behind her. She walked over the porch and into the snow that now reached up past the front step. It was dark, and the blasting wind stung her face and eyes. She put up her hand as a shield of protection. She couldn’t find her way in the dark so she returned inside, and located the portable lantern they used when the electricity had gone out. She carried it back out into the storm. It helped. She stepped out into the snow, and though her feet sank an inch she didn’t go all the way through as she had before. It was packed and frozen beneath her.
Kassidy took her time walking against the pushing wind. The lights to the barn were on. That was a good thing, it helped to guide her along with the aid of the lantern. But she had to make the journey mostly with her eyes closed. It took forever. Twice she fell. Twice she prayed. She couldn’t even cry because the tears froze on her face. It felt like the world was coming to an end. Never in all her years in Texas had she seen such a catastrophe.
As she neared the barn, she heard something in the wind. At first she thought it was her breathing. Then she guessed it to be the generator keeping the lights going inside. But something caused her to look back, and when she did she couldn’t believe her eyes. There were headlights. They drove along the drive toward the house.
“Thank you, God!” she said.
She started toward the arriving car, but was slowed from running by the sheer force of the wind and snow. The car was one she knew. It was Daniel’s car. Confused she stood in the snow shielding her eyes from the storm. The car stopped and a shadow of a man stepped out. He wore a long dark trench and a black hat. He slammed the door and looked at the house. He walked to the front of the car and stood before its headlights giving her a clear picture of his face. This wasn’t Daniel.
Kassidy opened her mouth to yell out to him but she stopped herself. She watched the man reach into his dark leather coat and remove a gun. In the distance, she could see the weapon gleam from the high beams of the headlights. This wasn’t Daniel. This was someone else. Why did he have a gun? Why was he driving Daniel’s car?
She took a step back.
And then another step backward.
The man started to go toward the house, but for some reason his head turned in her direction. He saw her. She knew it. She sensed it. And when he raised the gun and pointed it at her, she dropped the lantern and ran. The stranger fired. Several shots hit the barn. He was shooting at her. Kassidy ran faster.
**
Tarek woke. He couldn’t clear his head. Not fully. Every time he tried to force himself to snap out of the fugue state he dwelled in, darkness descended on his mind. He struggled with reality. Was he here, or was he somewhere else? And then a switch flipped on his brain and his mind cleared instantly. He sat upright on the sofa. Dazed and less confused.
“Kassandra?”
He lifted his face from his palm and looked. He was alone. Then flashes of the past few hours blinked on and off in his mind. The kitchen. The tree. The ladder. The fall. Kassidy crying. Kassidy helping. Kassidy leaving?
“Wait, where did she go? Where? Kassidy?” he pushed up. Tarek grabbed the side of his head when headlights swept over the front windows. How long was he out? Had she gone for help? He held his side as he limped over to the window and peered out of the frosted glass. Cash got out from behind the driver’s wheel. Tarek almost let go a deep sigh of relief, until he saw his trusted employee remove his gun from his belt.
Tarek turned from the window and dragged his hurt leg behind him as he went to the front door. But before he reached it he heard a gunshot. He threw open the door. He went out onto the porch. Cash was firing at someone, and running after them. Tarek went to the edge of the porch and immediately realized who was under attack. Cash was going after Kassidy, he thought with horror. Cash was trying to kill Kassidy.
43.
Kassidy slammed the barn door shut. Sheer fright ripped through her bones. She tried to lock it but the man outside fired three times sending bullet holes through the wood. Terror placed its icy finger in her heart and she froze. The bullets whizzed past her head. She found the strength to move and she ran. To where she ran she wasn’t sure. She turned left and then right. She heard him throwing his body against the barn door to force it open. Kassidy knew she had to hide, to find a safe place.
The horses were spooked by the gunshots. They neighed and rose on their hind legs to kick at the doors to their stalls.
“Shhh... shhh... please. Please be quiet!” she begged them. “Smoke, calm down, please, calm down, Smoke,” she said.
They settled, but not much. Kassidy looked around. She plucked a large pair of what looked to her like garden shears from the wall. She held them out in front of her like a weapon. The shears would be useless against a gun. She checked the stalls and found an empty one. It was used mostly for storage. Several tall bales of hay and feedbags were also stacked inside. She eased in and closed the stable door, but it locked from the outside so it swung open a few inches. There wasn’t much she could do about the door. She went around the stacked hay and hid behind one of the large bales. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged herself.
He was trying to kill me?
Why was he trying to kill me?
Shock yielded quickly to fury. She knew Tarek had plans to break her and Daniel for what they had done. But murder? She didn’t think he was capable of ordering a hit on her. Even though, after Alaska she knew very well he was capable of murder.
The stranger whistled. Her breath caught in her lungs. Kassidy heard him stop and talk softly to one of the horses, and imagined he was petting the animal as well. Kassidy knew soon he’d find her. She refused to let go any more tears. She intended to fight to the bitter end. In the dark her foot kicked something. She glanced down and saw it was a shovel. She tossed the sheers aside and went for the shovel instead.
“Kassandra Turner. That's your name right? Come out. I just want to talk.”
She could hear him as he walked along the stalls. It sounded to her as if he stopped to peek into each one as he passed by them.
“Aha, aren’t you a clever little vixen.” He sounded as if he stood outside of her stall. Kassidy gripped the shovel. She sucked in a breath. Maybe she could tel
l him that Tarek had changed his mind. That he wasn’t going to hurt her. Or maybe she should tell him that his boss was in the house, hurt and in need of medical attention. She opened her mouth to speak but her instinct again held her silent.
“You hiding in there sweet thing?” He taunted. “I been watching you for weeks. Pretty one ain’t, ya? I got your friend. He’s out in the car. He said he wanted to explain everything. He told me you have the USB drive. Give it to me and this will all end. Sorry for shooting at you. Didn’t know who you were with the way you were dressed. Thought you were Tarek at first. Saw who you were when the hat flew off your head and you ran into the barn.”
Kassidy frowned in the shadow of darkness where she hid. So he wasn’t shooting at her, but Tarek? Why? And the USB drive was what he wanted.
“Come out and let’s talk it over. My boss has got a proposal for you.”
She held onto the shovel.
“Look, this ain’t personal, sweetheart. The Marshalls don’t take kindly to little meddlers like you. I promise if you come out of hiding and I take you to talk to a few people, we’ll be done with this matter real quick like.”
She didn't answer. She closed her eyes and waited. The heavy hum of the generator filled in the silence she left.
“Fine! Then we do this the hard way,” he said and kicked the stall door open. Kassidy had switched from her hiding space to the corner on the left side of the stall. If he had looked her way, he would have seen her instead of the back of the shovel swinging for his head. However, his height and hers made her aim off. She hit him in the lower part of his head and neck. He stumbled forward, landing in the loose hay and the hard packed floor. Kassidy charged after him. He rolled out of her next strike. She missed bringing the shovel down on his head within a few inches.
She saw the gun. It had been knocked free of his hand when he fell. She scrambled to reach it before he did but he clipped her with his feet. She fell hard onto the ground, winded but still strong enough to stay conscious, she crawled on all fours. But he grabbed her by the leg and dragged her toward him. Kassidy rolled over and kicked her feet. She wanted to kick him in the nuts but her legs were too short. Instead, she kicked hard as she could into his kneecap. She wasn’t sure of the force she delivered in the floppy boots but Cash howled in pain and dropped her. She grabbed a wood block next to her, lifted it over her head to bring it down hard on the back of his, but stopped herself. She would kill him if she did. Deciding against that move, she flipped over and tried to get off the ground. She found her legs cramped, and weak. To her horror he was already staggering to stand. If Kassidy couldn’t hit him with the block and kill him, she certainly couldn’t pull the trigger of a gun. But in the fight for her life she wanted to be in possession of it, not him. Kassidy looked around for the weapon. Where did it go? Where did it go? She turned and Cash seized her by the throat. She gagged.
“You should have run when you had the chance, bitch!” The grip to her throat became unbearably tight. “Now, you are going to tell me where the USB drive is. Do you hear me? Daniel said you had it. Where the fuck is it?”
“I... I...my...,” she gasped.
“Let her go!”
Cash’s head turned and then he whirled around with her pinned against him like a shield, while squeezing her throat. She kicked her feet and squirmed.
“Let her go now!” Tarek said. He held a shotgun and it was aimed at them both. One side of Tarek’s face was covered in blood. But he looked deadly calm.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, boss,” Cash said. “Got a job to finish. Fucking storm has me off schedule.”
“What job? You work for me!” Tarek yelled. “And if you don’t let her go...”
“You’ll what? Kill me, boss, you sure about that?” Cash chuckled.
The standoff between the men distracted her attacker for only a second. And that was all she needed. The moment his hand loosened on her neck she hit him hard in the gut with her elbow. Though she doubted she hurt him, she knew it caught him off guard. He let her go. Kassidy dropped to the floor, and Tarek fired. He blew a hole into Cash’s chest and sent him three feet backward crashing into the stable wall. Kassidy crawled away from the dead man terrified out of her mind. Tarek dropped his rifle and started toward her but was clobbered in the back of the head with a plank of wood. He fell over unconscious. To Kassidy’s horror and relief, it was Daniel.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Daniel?” she asked. She looked at Tarek and went for him. He was hurt. But Daniel caught her before she reached him. He hugged her.
“Oh my God! Daniel!” she wept.
“Shhhh,” he said and stroked her back.
“Wait, Tarek, he’s hurt. I got to help him.”
Daniel once again prevented her from helping Tarek. He took her face in his hands. “Listen to me. We’ll leave. We’ll bring the police. Tell them what Tarek Marshall did to you.”
“But he...”
“First, you have to give me the USB drive. Where is it Kassidy?”
Confused she stepped back from him. “We need to call the police now.”
“I need the USB drive, where is it?”
She looked at Tarek to the floor and then up to Daniel. There was something wrong. Deeply wrong.
“It’s in my purse. I’ll go get it. In the house.”
“You’re fucking lying.” He took a step toward her. “You dropped the purse in the parking lot. There was nothing in it.”
“Daniel what are you doing?”
“I need that USB drive. You gave it to me once and I didn’t know what it was. But I know now. And it’s worth more than any of this. You have to tell me where it is.”
Kassidy started to step back. She nearly tripped over Cash’s dead body.
“Why do you need it? It’s just some account numbers. We got more than that Daniel. Like you said, we call the police and it all ends.”
He shook his head no. “Plans changed.”
Kassidy didn’t bother to wait for an explanation. She turned and ran. And she knew in her heart that Daniel was in pursuit. She raced around the back of the stalls to the other side of the barn and then straight for the door.
“Kassidy! Kassidy! Kassidy!”
She pushed out of the barn doors and ran into the snow. The moment her feet in Tarek’s shoes sunk into the white lumps of cold she was stalled. So she kicked them off. She ran in the snow with her cut feet and it was agony.
“Kassidy! You have to give it to me! Do you hear me! You have to give it to me!” he shouted after her.
She didn’t know why Daniel wanted the USB drive so desperately. She didn’t know why he had a murderous look in his eyes to get it. She’d known and trusted him for several years. They weren’t completely moral but Daniel was far more centered on his principles than her. What was happening?
“Kassidy!” she heard him yell after her through the wind and snow. She considered running to the car. But she didn’t have the keys and she would be trapped. So when she reached the house she went inside. The electricity was out. However, she knew the house well enough to run straight to the back rooms.
“Kassidy! Where are you damn it? We don’t have time or this!”
She couldn’t go into the kitchen. She needed a weapon. A knife or something. She turned down the hall and closed the doors to every room she passed. It would slow him down. She then ran into another room off to the left. It was a spare bedroom. Kassidy looked around for a weapon. The only thing in the room was a closet, a bathroom and a bed.
“Kassidy!” she heard Daniel kick open one room door and then the next. Maybe she should have gone upstairs. She might have found something to fight back with in Tarek’s bedroom.
“I don’t want to hurt you. I need the fucking thing!”
With no other choice Kassidy dropped to her knees and scooted under the bed. She was relieved that she fit. No more than a second had passed before Daniel arrived. Kassidy put her hand over her mouth to keep
him from hearing her whimpering.
“Kassidy. I know you’re in here. You left a trail of blood sweetheart.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know you’re scared. But you can trust me. I want the same thing you do. To take down the Marshalls.” She didn’t answer. Daniel stood before the bed as if speaking to it. She stared at his shoes.
“They only want the account numbers. The ones we thought didn’t mean anything. That’s all. We give them the USB drive and it’s over. Kassidy? Kassidy!”
She tensed.
Daniel dropped to his knees and looked under the bed. He gave her a wicked grin. “There you are kitten!”
“Noo!”
Daniel tried to drag her out by her arm but she scooted from his reach. She came out from the other side. Daniel was equally quick. He grabbed her leg. She was turned left and right in the struggle to escape as he dragged her across the floor. His hold was too strong. He dragged her further away from the bed.
Kassidy’s only defense were kicks. She kicked several times with both feet and he dropped her ankle. She struggled to get up to her knees but Daniel flipped her over to her back. He delivered a slap that left her dazed and muted her hearing. He was yelling at her. And then his hands were on her throat. They were so tight. Like a vice. She scratched and clawed with her nails at his hands. Nothing worked. She gagged.
He squeezed. Not to kill, but to terrify and cause pain. She bucked beneath him and swung her hands to claw at his face. He squeezed tighter.
“Where is it! Where the fuck is it! They are going to destroy me if you don’t tell me where the fucking thing is! I don’t want to hurt you,” he wept. “I swear I don’t. Please. Tell me!” he let go of her throat and she coughed and gasped for air. “Tell me!”
Kassidy opened her mouth to speak, and then Daniel’s head exploded. Blood sprayed everywhere. His dead body dropped on her. Kassidy screamed and kicked him off her. She kept screaming.
