Ranch Hideout

by Sandra Robbins

  “Sure.”

  “Excuse me. I need to get something from the tack room,” Liz said as she turned away.

  She moved quickly, but not fast enough to get out of earshot. She heard Andrea hiss at Gabriel, “You and Liz looked mighty friendly when I came in.”

  Liz slowed her steps in order to catch Gabriel’s reply. “I was doing my job, Andrea. Nothing else.”

  “Well, see that it doesn’t go any further. You know your judgment will be compromised if you get too involved with a victim.”

  “Cut it out,” he said. “I know how to do my job.”

  The rest of their conversation was muffled once Liz entered the tack room. A few minutes later she came out and walked back to where they still stood in quiet conversation. As she approached, she heard Gabriel ask, “Andrea, where have you been?”

  “I told you I had to go to town to pick up a few things. I just got back. I thought I’d come check on you. Was everything quiet while I was gone?”

  “We’ve had another attempt on Liz’s life.”

  “Oh, no,” Andrea gasped. She reached out and grabbed Liz’s arm. “Are you all right? What happened?”

  Gabriel quickly told her. When he was finished, he looked back at Liz. “We need to get you back to the house. Andrea and I will get on either side of you and make a run for it.”

  The muscles in Liz’s throat constricted, and she cast a nervous look at the barn’s open door. “Do you think the shooter might still be out there somewhere?”

  Andrea patted her arm. “Don’t worry, Liz. We’ll take care of you. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help out earlier.” She glanced at Gabriel. “I guess we’d both better stick close from now on.”

  He nodded. “I think you’re right.”

  Gabriel and Andrea got on opposite sides of her. Gabriel’s left arm circled her back and looped across Andrea’s right one. They each held a gun. Together they paused at the entrance to the barn. Then, as if someone had given the starting command, the three of them dashed toward the house. She could see Gabriel’s gaze sweeping the area as they ran. Andrea stared straight ahead as if her eyes were fixed on the finish line.

  When they reached the back porch, Andrea released her grip, grabbed her gun with both hands and whirled to guard them as Liz and Gabriel ran through the back door. Only then did she turn and follow them.

  Gwen looked up from icing a cake at the kitchen counter and yanked her earbuds out when they burst through the door. She must have seen the terror on her face that Liz was feeling in her heart, because Gwen dropped the spoon she’d been stirring the frosting with and rushed to her. “What’s the matter?”

  “We’ve had another scare,” Gabriel answered as Liz sank down in a chair at the table.

  Gwen’s face turned ashen. “What happened?”

  “Somebody took a shot at Liz,” Gabriel answered.

  Gwen grabbed Liz by the arm and frowned. “A shot? I had my music on, and I didn’t hear it. Are you okay?”

  Liz nodded. “I’m fine, Gwen, thanks to Gabriel.”

  Andrea sat down facing her. “Liz, why don’t you go up to your room while Gabriel and I tell Gwen what happened. I’ll come up in a few minutes to check on you and bring you a cup of tea.”

  Liz started to protest, but she really didn’t want to hear the shooting described. She needed to get away and be by herself for a while. She took a deep breath and pushed to her feet. “Thank you, Andrea. That sounds like a good idea.”

  She climbed the stairs to her room and once inside fell facedown on the bed. The memory of Gabriel pushing her to the ground returned, and she began to shake. Three attempts on her life. And all in the last two days.

  She clutched her pillow and buried her face in it. The trial was still weeks away, and Shaw’s men weren’t going to give up. She doubted she’d survive another day at this rate. The desire to crawl beneath the covers of the bed and not come out until the trial overcame her, and she began to cry.

  A sudden thought jolted her. She sat up, wiped her eyes and pulled open the drawer of the nightstand beside her bed. The Bible her mother gave her years ago lay inside, and she took it out. Almost as if her fingers knew where to go, she turned to the Scripture in Isaiah that her mother had read to her many times when she was having difficulties.

  She read it again and smiled at the words.

  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

  In that moment she knew what she had to do. She couldn’t give in to fear. That’s what Daniel Shaw expected her to do, but he was wrong. God controlled her life, not a drug dealer from Memphis.

  Daniel Shaw had to face justice for what he did to Kathy, and with God’s help she’d have the strength to get through the next weeks to make sure that he did.

  * * *

  Gabriel couldn’t sleep. He’d tossed and turned for what he thought must be hours, but the clock showed it was only midnight. He couldn’t get the three attempts on Liz’s life off his mind. Somebody was determined to see that she didn’t testify, and he knew who that somebody was. He’d never failed in an assignment yet, and he couldn’t this time. It was becoming too important to him.

  He rolled over and groaned at how scared he’d been when he looked up and saw the laser dot show up on her forehead. Instinct had kicked in, and he’d been able to knock her to the ground. The thing he worried about was whether or not he’d be able to do it the next time. Daniel Shaw wasn’t about to give up, but neither was he.

  Earlier when he had talked with Bill Diamond in the Memphis office, they’d discussed the possibility of moving Liz to a new location. The more he considered it, he thought it might a good decision. Bill seemed to think so, too.

  After a few minutes, he threw back the covers and pulled on his jeans and T-shirt. Maybe he could find a snack in the kitchen. After he’d slipped on some shoes, he walked to the hallway and headed for the stairs. He paused outside Liz’s room, but he heard no sound. Good. She was probably sleeping.

  Quietly descending the stairs so as not to wake anyone, he made his way toward the kitchen. He was almost there when he noticed the light was on. Someone was in there. He eased up to the door and peered inside, but the room was empty.

  “What are you doing up?”

  He whirled at the sound of Liz’s voice behind him. “I might ask you the same thing.”

  She shrugged. “Can’t sleep. It’s happened a lot lately.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that.” He frowned. “Where were you?”

  She held up a book. “Dean keeps a stack of books in the den for guests to use. I thought it might help me relax if I did some reading and drank a cup of hot chocolate. Would you like some?”

  For the first time he noticed the pan on the kitchen stove. “Is that what’s in that pot?”

  She smiled and nodded. “My mother’s special recipe for sleepless nights.”

  “I’d love to have some. I can’t tell you how many cups I’ve drunk when I’ve been on assignment.”

  Her smile wavered a bit, and her eyes flickered. “Right. On assignments.”

  As she walked past him, he put his hand on her arm and stopped her. When she stared up at him, his heart raced. “Is that all you think you are?”

  She didn’t break eye contact with him. “That’s what I am, Gabriel. An assignment that you are sworn to carry out. I don’t kid myself into thinking anything else.”

  In that moment he wanted her to know that in the short time he’d known her, emotions that he’d thought long buried had begun to emerge. He didn’t understand them yet, but he knew they were there. Not that he would act on them. It wasn’t the time or place, and Liz, especially, couldn’t afford for him to be distracted. B
ut he had to make sure she knew how special she was. “Who’s being cynical now?” he asked.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m not being cynical. I’m realistic. After this is all over and Daniel Shaw is in jail, we won’t have any reason to see each other again. I know that, and so do you.”

  She was right in that that’s how it had always been before, but something was different this time. “Do you remember what I said to you this afternoon before I sat down on that hay bale?”

  “Yes. You said you thought we needed a do-over.”

  “We didn’t get a chance to do that, but I still want to. What about you? Would you like to start over and get to know each other?”

  She tilted her head to one side and smiled. “Yes. I’d like that very much.”

  He heaved a sigh of relief. “Then why don’t we get ourselves some hot chocolate, sit down at the table and start again?”

  She laughed, and he thought the sound was like tinkling bells. For the first time since he’d met her, she seemed truly relaxed, and he liked what he saw.

  A few minutes later they were seated at the table facing each other. Gabriel took a sip from his cup, set it back in the saucer and crossed his arms on top of the table. “Now I want you to tell me all about yourself.”

  “Well...” she began, but he held up a hand to stop her.

  “Wait. I don’t want to know about Liz Madison, the woman who’s hiding from a crazy drug dealer. I want to know the real Liz. Elizabeth Kennedy. What’s she like? Where did she grow up? What are some of her favorite things to do?”

  She looked at him as if she didn’t know what to say, and then she stared down at her cup. “I grew up in a small town in Mississippi. I was an only child. After my parents died in a car crash when I was in college, I learned that I’d been adopted. I couldn’t understand why they kept it from me. My faith got me through that time. Later I decided that maybe they were afraid I would try to find my birth parents, and they didn’t want that to happen.”

  “Have you ever tried to find them?”

  She shook her head. “No. They were my parents, and I didn’t need any others.” She exhaled a deep breath. “We lived on a farm, and my dad taught me to ride when I was a little girl. We’d ride together for hours across the fields, and he’d tell me about the crops he’d planted and what it was like growing up there when he was a little boy.”

  “Did your mom ride with you?”

  “No. She liked to do other things. She read a lot and took me to the library in town at least once a week to get books. She made me a reader for life.”

  Gabriel smiled. “It sounds like you had a wonderful childhood.”

  “To my way of thinking, everything was perfect until my parents were killed. That’s when I moved to Memphis and started working. I met a man and fell head over heels into what I thought was love with him. He asked me to marry him, and I was beyond thrilled. He had just started a business that was supposed to be our future, but he’d accumulated a lot of bills from what he called start-up costs. He asked if I could help him out, and I did to the tune of nearly everything my parents had left me. The money went to pay off his gambling debts, and I was left with no money and a fiancé who disappeared.”

  For a second Gabriel couldn’t respond. Then he reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “That must have been rough.”

  “It was, but I survived just like I’d done before. I had forgotten how important God was to me when I’d come to Memphis, but after what happened with my fiancé I knew I couldn’t face life without Him. I started going to the church where I met Kathy. She was the best friend I ever had, and she deserved to live a long and happy life.”

  Her mouth hardened into a thin line. The determination to find justice for her friend was etched into her face. He’d always wondered how people survived when bad things happened to them. Now he knew. It was something he’d never understood—faith.

  “What about you?” she asked.

  He jerked his attention back to her. “I grew up on a ranch in Texas. My mother died when I was young, and my father raised me. He was great. He never missed one of my football games when I was in school. We even tried our hand at some rodeo events for a while. He rode broncs, and I rode bulls.”

  Liz giggled. “You on the back of a bucking bull? It’s hard for me to imagine that.”

  He grinned. “I’ll have you know I was a good rider, even won a little money. I made the college team and participated in events until I graduated. Then I went back home after college to help my dad run the ranch, but he died soon after.”

  Sadness flickered in Liz’s eyes. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”

  “It was, but I managed for a while. Then I became engaged to my high school sweetheart, and we were to be married. The day of the wedding the best man, my friend since childhood, brought me a letter from her. She said she couldn’t marry me because she didn’t love me. She left town, and I didn’t see her for a few months.”

  “So she came back. What happened then?”

  “She married my friend, the best man who’d brought me the letter. Apparently they’d been in love for a while, but they hadn’t acted on it because of respect for me. I ended my friendships with both of them, sold the farm and applied to the FBI. I’ve been married to my job ever since.”

  “Do you know where they are now?”

  He sighed and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, they’re married and have two kids.” He tried to keep his voice neutral, but he could feel the way bitterness twisted his expression. He wanted to say he’d moved on from the experience, but he knew he hadn’t.

  She stared at him for a moment before she leaned toward him. “Let me ask you something. Has hanging on to your resentment and blaming them for not getting what you wanted in life made you happy?”

  He sat back in his chair and thought about what she’d just asked. “No. What are you getting at, Liz?”

  “It’s simple, really. You’ve stewed over what happened. Meanwhile, your friends are living their lives, probably happy as can be, and you’re caught up in anger, resentment and blame. You’ve let those feelings rob you of the joy that God wants to bring into your life.”

  A sarcastic laugh rumbled in his throat. “You make it sound so easy.”

  She shook her head. “I never said it was easy, because first you have to give up your own will to hold on to those feelings. It’s tempting to hold on to grudges, but it’s only when you let God take them away that He can replace them with all the good things He has waiting for you in life.” She squeezed his hand. “I’ve only known you a short time, Gabriel, but I can tell you’re a good man. You’re cheating yourself out of what God has planned for you.”

  She pushed the book that she’d brought into the kitchen across the table, and he stared down at it. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a Bible,” she said. “I find a lot of comfort in its pages. You could, too, if you’d allow yourself.” She thumbed through the pages and then pointed to a passage. “This is one of my favorite passages.”

  He looked down, and the words seemed to leap off the page.

  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

  He took in the passage, then glanced up at her. “I don’t know if I can do that or not.”

  She smiled. “I’ll be praying that you do.” She eyed the clock on the wall and rose from the table. “I need to get to bed. Morning comes awfully early around here.”

  She picked up her cup, but he waved his hand to stop her. “Don’t bother with the dishes. I’m not sleepy. I’ll take care of them.”

  His heart thudded when she looked at him. “Thanks. I enjoyed our do-over, Gabriel. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She was almost to the door
when he called out to her. “Liz, wait.”

  She turned. “What?”

  He licked his lips. He had something to say, and he wanted it to come out right. “I enjoyed this time with you, too. I just want you to know that whether you call yourself Liz Madison or Elizabeth Kennedy, it really doesn’t matter. Both are the same woman, and I think she’s pretty special.”

  She didn’t say anything, but the way her face lit up, he knew she was pleased. He watched as she left the room. After she was gone, he looked back down at the Scripture she’d pointed out to him and read it again.

  He didn’t understand yet how he could do what the words said, but it seemed to be working for Liz. And he wanted the peace she had in her life. According to her, all he had to do was reach out and accept it. He wished he could, but the old feelings surged to the forefront to remind him of what people he’d loved and trusted had done to him.

  After a moment he closed the book and stared at the door with the hope that Liz would come back. But she didn’t. All he could do was look forward to tomorrow and the time that he would spend with her. He suddenly realized that this was the first time since the day he’d been jilted that he’d wanted to spend time with a woman.

  He’d been truthful with Liz. She was a special person.

  EIGHT

  There had been no new attempts on her life in the last week, and Liz was beginning to feel less apprehensive than she’d been. Although Dean had insisted she didn’t have to work while she was here, she found it took her mind off her problems for a while. She’d come to look forward to spending the mornings at the barn with Gabriel helping her muck the stalls and take care of the horses. She’d suggested several times that they go riding, but he’d vetoed the idea every time. Just because there hadn’t been any new attacks didn’t mean that the danger was gone. They had to stay alert at all times.

  Her afternoons had been spent with Andrea, and she had come to like her very much. Gwen had been wonderful about offering companionship since she’d been at Little Pigeon, but she didn’t have a lot of free time.