Ranch Hideout

by Sandra Robbins

  She heard footsteps running down the hall, and Dean and Gwen burst into the room. When she saw them, she rushed to them, and Gwen wrapped her arms around her. “We came as soon as we heard.”

  “You know what happened?”

  Dean nodded. “Yeah. Bill called and told us. You’ve been through a rough night, but you’re all right now.”

  Liz wanted to believe that, but when Gene Curtis was killed, Shaw’s organization had just sent somebody else to finish the job. She wondered who would come next. Before she could voice her concerns, Bill walked over and grasped Dean’s hand.

  “Good to see you, Dean. Thanks for helping watch over Liz while she’s been here.”

  Dean smiled. “It’s been our pleasure. I still can’t believe that Andrea worked for Shaw, though.”

  Bill sighed and nodded. “Neither can I. I always thought she did a good job. I guess we’ll be checking all the cases she worked on to see if they have links to Shaw. I’m just thankful that Gabriel and Liz are okay. This case is going to have a big effect on his career. It should solidify his chance of getting that director’s job in Texas.”

  Liz’s stomach roiled at the words. She’d forgotten about the promotion. What did that mean for Gabriel and her? They’d professed their love for one another, but at the time she’d imagined them living in Memphis. Could a long-distance relationship survive when he was settling in to such an important job?

  She swallowed and pulled to her full height. It didn’t matter what happened when they got back to Memphis. The important thing was that they were both alive, and they were in love.

  The sound of a throat being cleared pierced the room, and she turned to see Clipper, Brick and Patch standing at the door. They stared at Bill Diamond, who didn’t break eye contact with them. The air crackled with tension.

  Before anybody could speak, she hurried forward, grabbed Clipper’s hand and pulled him into the room. Brick and Patch followed. “I want you to meet my friends,” she said. “This is Dean, who owns Little Pigeon Ranch, and this is his wife, Gwen. I’ve been staying with them while I’ve been here.”

  Each of the bikers shook Dean’s hand, and then they turned their attention to Gwen. “Ma’am,” Clipper said as he shook her hand. Brick and Patch echoed his greeting.

  Liz took a deep breath and put her hand on Bill Diamond’s arm. “And this is...”

  “I know who he is,” Clipper said, but he didn’t reach for Bill’s hand.

  Bill let his gaze rake over the three men before he spoke. “I want to thank you for saving Miss Madison and my agent.”

  Clipper gave a curt nod. “No problem.” He turned back to Liz. “We’re on our way back to Memphis and wanted to check on you before we left.” He grinned at her. “We came up to get away and hike the mountains for a few days, but you’ve made it a trip we won’t ever forget.”

  Tears welled in Liz’s eyes as she looked at each of them. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you for all you’ve done for me. Most people in your position would probably have ignored the whole situation, and yet you chose to risk your lives. I’ll never forget you.”

  Clipper smiled at her. “You helped our brother. We weren’t about to let anything happen to you.”

  He stuck out his hand, but Liz grinned and shook her head. “We can do better than that.”

  She put her arms around Clipper and hugged him. “I know God sent you and your brothers to save me. We’re all His children, and He loves you, too. I’m going to be praying for you.”

  He swallowed as he released her, but he didn’t say anything. She then did the same for Brick. “You take care of yourself, and make sure you have candy in your pockets in case somebody steals yours again. I’ll be praying for you.”

  He ducked his head and stared at the floor. “I will, Liz.”

  Then she hugged Patch. “Your hand stretched out to me was the sweetest sight I’ve ever seen. I will never forget how safe I felt when you took hold of me. Thank you, and I’ll be praying for you, too.”

  The three men stared at her for a moment before Clipper glanced at Bill. “By the way, Diamond, you ain’t got to worry about that contract on Liz anymore. She’s safe.”

  “How did that happen, Clipper?” Bill asked.

  He shrugged. “We knew a guy who was glad to do us a favor.”

  Before Liz could ask what that meant, the men strode toward the door. Clipper held up his hand and stopped them before they could exit and then walked back to Liz. He stared down at her a moment before he spoke.

  “Liz, all my life I’ve tried to live true to who I really am and not care what other people thought, but with you it’s different. I want you to know that the Skulls is not a motorcycle gang. We’re a club. We’re a closed fraternity of brothers who look after each other and after each other’s families. Folks look at how we dress, at our hair and tattoos, and they judge us.” He eyed Bill Diamond. “And the FBI can keep trying to come up with something on us, but they ain’t going to find anything. Because there’s nothing there. I just wanted you to know.”

  Then he turned, and the three men left the room. Liz stared after them, then looked back at Bill Diamond. “Did you hear that?”

  “I heard.”

  “And do you believe him?”

  Bill sighed. “We’ve looked for several years, but we can’t find anything. I don’t know what to believe, Liz.”

  She turned back toward the hall, but the men were already out of sight. “Well, I believe him. They could have easily gone over that cliff with Gabriel and me, but they hung on and pulled us to safety. There has to be a lot of good in someone who’s willing to risk his life to save someone else.”

  She paused as another thought struck her. “Do you think he was telling the truth about the contract being lifted?”

  Bill smiled. “Yeah, I do believe that. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in their world.”

  “Then I owe them even more,” she said. “Do you think I’ll ever see them again?”

  “You may not see them, but I have a feeling that they’ll be watching out for you. You’ve just come under their protection, and they take that commitment seriously. But we don’t need to think about that today. Right now we have to celebrate that this case turned out all right.”

  Liz nodded, but she couldn’t rid herself of the thought that Gabriel was about to go to Texas and she would be staying in Memphis. Perhaps this case could have had a happier ending.

  She didn’t have time to ponder that, because at that moment the doctor walked in. He stopped in surprise when he saw everyone gathered in the waiting room. “Are all of you here with Mr. Decker?”

  Bill Diamond stepped forward. “We are. How is he?”

  “He’s doing fine. The bullet had a clean exit and didn’t hit any vital organs. From what I hear, though, he was quite the hero on that mountain. I can’t imagine how he managed to get up and walk with that injury, let alone help pull a woman to safety.”

  Bill smiled. “He’s an exceptional agent. When can I see him?”

  “He’s in the recovery room, and we’ll have him in a regular room in an hour or so. Right now, though, he wants to see his girlfriend. He threatened to get up and walk out here if I didn’t let her come back there.”

  “Girlfriend?” Gwen gasped.

  Everyone turned, and they stared at Liz as if she had two heads. She lifted her chin. “Yes, girlfriend. Gabriel and I decided we like each other.” She paused a second. “Really like each other.”

  Gwen was the first to react. She laughed and clapped her hands together before she engulfed Liz in a big hug. Then she held Liz at arm’s length and stared into her eyes. “Good for you. Now get back there and see that handsome man. We’ll be waiting right here.”

  Liz nodded, then hurried from the room and followed the doct
or through the doors that led to the recovery room. He smiled at her and motioned for her to go inside. “Don’t stay too long. You can be with him later once we’ve settled him in his room.”

  She took a deep breath and walked into the room. Her heart pricked when she saw him lying on the bed. He didn’t look like the brave, strong man she’d been falling in love with for the past few weeks. Monitors attached to his body beeped as she stopped by his bed, and she studied the screen where his blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs were being displayed.

  Suddenly the memory of the events of the night before returned, and tears clouded her vision. Her body shook as she recalled how it had felt when she was dangling over that cliff and Gabriel was holding on to her. He’d been weak, but he’d held on. How could she ever thank him enough for that?

  He looked so pale lying there, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and she brushed it back in place. The movement caused him to stir, and he opened his eyes. A smile curled his mouth.

  “They let you come in.” The words were barely above a whisper. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  She stroked his head again. “I am, too. Thank you for holding me and not letting me go.”

  His smile grew larger, and he closed his eyes. “I’ll always hold on to you.”

  His breathing became even, and she knew he’d fallen back asleep. She pulled a chair up beside his bed, sat down and took his hand in both of hers. She brought his hand to her lips and kissed his fingers one after another.

  Then she rested her head on the bed beside him and held on to the man she loved as she drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  Two weeks later Gabriel stood in the entry of Dean and Gwen’s house and waited for Liz to come downstairs. What could be taking her so long? She’d told him thirty minutes ago that she was almost ready to go.

  Dean walked out of the kitchen and came to where he stood. “Liz still getting ready to leave?”

  Gabriel sighed. “Yeah. How could it take one person that long to get ready? She’s been at it for hours.”

  Dean laughed and shook his head. “You’d better get used to it. I think one of the secret pleasures that women have is keeping their men waiting.”

  Gabriel nodded. “I guess I should be happy she’s here at all. If things had turned out differently on that mountain...”

  “But they didn’t,” Dean interrupted, “and you’ve got to quit tormenting yourself with what-ifs. Just be thankful for how it did work out.” He paused for a minute. “Which makes me think of something I’ve been meaning to ask you. What’s the latest news about the case?”

  “I heard from Ben this morning. Ray, whose last name turned out to be Scott, has been arraigned for attempted murder and will have a court date set in the next few days. After his trial here, he’ll go back to Memphis to face some outstanding charges there. It looks like he may be in jail for years to come.”

  “And Andrea? What about her?”

  Gabriel exhaled a big breath. “They recovered her body and sent it home to her parents. I understand they are devastated. They were so proud of their FBI agent daughter. Bill says they’re still going through her files to see if she’d given special consideration to any of her cases related to Daniel Shaw.”

  “I still can’t believe she was working for him,” Dean said.

  “I know. I can’t, either, and I worked beside her in a lot of cases.”

  Dean put his hands in his pockets and stared at Gabriel. “Has Bill said anything to you about the promotion? I know they’ve been considering you.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. He called me this morning and offered me the director’s job in Texas.”

  “And you took it?”

  “I did. It’s a great opportunity for me.”

  “Have you told Liz yet?”

  “I’m getting ready to,” he said as he glanced at his watch and then back up the stairs toward Liz’s room. “I think I’m going to have to tell her to hurry. At this rate it’s going to be night when we get back to Memphis.”

  “You will keep a close watch over her until she testifies in the trial next week, won’t you? Liz has become very special to Gwen and me.”

  Gabriel laughed and slapped Dean on the back. “You don’t have to worry about that. I intend to watch over her for the rest of my life.”

  Then he hurried up the stairs and down the hall to Liz’s room. He stopped at the door and gazed at her as she fastened a suitcase that sat on the bed. For a minute all he could do was stare at her. She looked like a true princess standing there with the sun shining in the window and reflecting off her hair.

  The road to their happily-ever-after had been filled with danger, but just like in a true fairy tale, goodness and love had triumphed in the end. And best of all, the princess had chosen him. She had brought so many things into his life, not the least of which was his newfound faith. He’d never been so happy or so at peace in his life.

  He stepped into her room. “Ready to go?”

  She turned and smiled at him. He could see the shimmer of moisture in her eyes, and he took her in his arms and pulled her close. “Having trouble saying goodbye?”

  She bit her lip and nodded. “I’ve really come to love this place.”

  He tucked her against his chest and kissed the top of her head. “It’s not a final goodbye. We’re going to come back here. After all, it seems like home now.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “I feel like I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here. Now it’s time to go back and make Daniel Shaw pay for what he did.”

  “Are you scared about testifying?”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s something I have to do.” Then she grinned up at him. “I was thinking this morning that I’ve become so used to people calling me Liz Madison I may not recognize my real name when the court calls Elizabeth Kennedy to the stand.”

  Gabriel laughed. “So, what’s it going to be when all of this is over? Madison or Kennedy?”

  She smiled. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  He put his hand under her chin, lifted her face up and stared down into her eyes. “I have a suggestion. How about changing it to Liz Decker? I think that has a nice ring to it.”

  Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open. “Gabriel, are you...”

  “Proposing?” he finished for her. “Yeah, I am. I got the job in Texas, Liz. I want you to go with me as my wife. What do you think?”

  She put her arms around his neck and tugged his head down so that their lips were almost touching. “I think that’s the best deal I’ve had in a long time. How about we seal the bargain with a kiss?”

  He smiled. “Anything you want, Princess.”

  “Back at you, Prince Charming,” she said before his lips captured hers.

  As the kiss deepened, he remembered telling himself once that he was no Prince Charming, but as long as Liz thought he was, that was all that mattered to him.

  * * * * *

  Be sure to pick up the other stories in SMOKY MOUNTAIN SECRETS:

  IN A KILLER’S SIGHTS

  STALKING SEASON

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  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed reading Ranch Hideout. I wrote this story because I wanted to impress upon readers the importance of relying on God. In this story Liz faced what seemed to be an insurmountable problem, but she knew she wasn’t facing it alone. She did what we all should do when we find oursel
ves facing something that threatens to overwhelm us—she put her faith in God. He has told us that He is sufficient to meet our needs, make our lives richer and give us peace. If you haven’t done so, I pray you will put your trust in God and experience the strength and peace that will come from it.

  Sandra Robbins

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