No More Mister Nice Guy

by Linda Randall Wisdom

  “Who you calling a boy?” Chris scowled, stepping forward.

  Jed stared at him long and hard. “I see you have a broken tooth. I promised someone to give you extra hell from her.”

  Chris looked wary. “You mean that other bitch is alive?”

  Jed nodded slowly. “Not only alive, but she’s hungry for your blood. I promised her I’d take care of you.”

  Chris growled a curse and stepped forward with the intention of taking Jed on himself.

  Eric’s upraised hand stopped him. “He’s trying to rile you, and it sounds as if he’s doing a good job of it,” he murmured, still keeping his eyes on Jed. This was an opponent he could respect. A man who understood the value of a good fight. Eric only had to study Jed’s stance and the equally flat look in his dark eyes to know he was a skilled fighter. The question was, who was better? His gaze flicked downward to Jed’s boots. “You carry a knife?”

  “Doesn’t everyone?”

  Shelby shifted from one foot to the other. “What the hell is going on here?” she demanded. She couldn’t miss the escalating tension in the air.

  Jed didn’t take his eyes off the three men as he reached down and pulled out his knife. “Just a friendly discussion; love.” He placed the rifle on the top of the car. “We have a few things to settle.”

  Her eyes widened as she realized his intent. “To settle,” she whispered fiercely. “You’re going to kill each other!”

  He kept his eyes on Eric. “No, I’ll put him out of commission and will only kill him if necessary.”

  “This is between us,” Eric told his nephews, as he laid his rifle down and pulled out a large, jagged-edge hunting knife. He held it easily, as if it was a part of his body. “You just make sure it’s kept fair.”

  “Are you going to make sure you fight fair?” Jed taunted.

  Eric’s features darkened. “I always fight fair.”

  Jed’s lifted eyebrow told another story. Shelby was relieved to see he appeared to feel just as comfortable with his blade.

  Eric looked in her direction. “You tell him you’re coming with me and I’ll let him live.”

  She gave an unladylike snort. “Do you really expect me to believe that? No thanks. I’d rather see Jed kill you.”

  “Then, sweetheart, you better be prepared to mourn your man.”

  Shelby had never thought of herself as a bloodthirsty person. She wasn’t fond of horror movies, couldn’t read horror novels, and the sight of her own blood—or anyone else’s, in fact—made her feel queasy. Yet she stood there and watched the two men drop to a crouch and circle each other. Not once did they take their eyes off each other as they gauged who would attack first.

  She noticed that Chris was watching her with hungry avarice. She felt like a small animal under the dark gaze of a feral predator itching to tear her apart. She didn’t doubt that if the two older men killed each other, Chris would take his pleasure with her. She thought of Jed’s rifle still lying on the car roof. She vowed to herself that Chris wouldn’t have a chance to do anything. She forced herself not to even glance at the car so Chris couldn’t figure out the direction of her thoughts.

  She held her breath as the two men circled the area with easy steps, each waiting for that first opening.

  Obviously tired of the cat-and-mouse games, Eric went first. He lunged forward, swiping the blade sideways. Jed leapt back and barely missed having his chest sliced open. Shelby bit down on her lower lip to swallow her scream of fear. She refused to give in to hysterics. No matter the cost, she had to be brave for Jed’s sake. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by her.

  “Your boyfriend ain’t gonna last,” Chris told her. “My uncle learned to use his knife in the war and no one ever survived.”

  “There’s always a first time.”

  Chris stared at her. “The first thing we’re going to do when we get you up to our place is get you out of those clothes. You won’t need them up there.”

  She refused to show any reaction to his words. She had no doubt Jed would do everything possible to keep her safe. “The first thing I’m going to do is make sure you’re thoroughly deloused before seeing you’re thrown in a cell where you won’t see the light of day for the next fifty years,” she answered.

  Andy looked uncertain as he watched the two men. Eric now sported a gash on one arm and another cut on his cheek.

  “What if she’s right?” he muttered.

  “Shut up!” Chris ordered, scowling at his brother. “Have you ever known Uncle Eric to lose before? Just shut up and make sure that bastard doesn’t cheat.” His eyes narrowed as he studied Jed’s agile moves. Jed evaded Eric’s attacks and deftly parried every slash of the blade.

  Shelby couldn’t stop her gasp of horror when Eric’s knife flashed silver in the sun, then lifted to reveal red on the edge. Blood dripped down Jed’s arm.

  “Very good,” he exclaimed. If he felt pain he showed no sign of it. He feinted left, then went right and lashed out at Eric’s face.

  Eric grinned. He didn’t seem to notice the blood trickling down his own cheek. “I’m the best.” He showed no signs of exertion.

  “Not anymore.” Jed’s eyes gleamed a pure silvery gray. “You can’t win this time, Eric. I wouldn’t be surprised if you do a little extracurricular sniffing when things get boring. Or do you just wander into town and shoot out the streetlights? Nothing like keeping your nephews at the emotional age of six, is there? That way they might not learn just what a freak you are. What do you tell them about your nightmares? Not the truth, I bet.”

  The other man’s face grew mottled with fury. “No!” he screamed as he rushed at Jed.

  That was all he needed. Jed spun around with one leg outstretched and easily kicked Eric’s knife from his hand, while adroitly twisting his own knife and burying it in Eric’s chest.

  Eric’s mouth opened and closed like that of a fish out of water. His eyes bulged as he stared at Jed. Eric first dropped to his knees, then fell forward on his face, his body motionless.

  There was no expression on Jed’s face as he stepped back. “There’s no joy in this kind of win,” he said quietly.

  “Uncle Eric!” Andy ran forward and dropped to his knees by his uncle’s body. He turned him over and stared at his lifeless face. “He’s dead! Chris, he’s dead!” he told his brother. “What’re we gonna do?”

  “You bastard, you killed him!” Chris lifted his rifle at the same instant Shelby and Jed realized his intent. There was no place for Jed to hide and he was too far away from his rifle. But Jed could make sure the bullet wouldn’t prove fatal. As the rifle spat out a bullet, he dived to one side. A faint oomph left his lips as the bullet buried itself in his chest. He cursed himself for not diving fast enough.

  “Jed!” Shelby screamed. She didn’t stop to think. As Chris turned in her direction, she reached for the rifle. She lifted the stock and didn’t bother to aim, but just pressed the trigger. Bullets spat out, trailing fire, and easily connected with her target.

  Chris looked more surprised than anything as splotches of red blossomed across his chest.

  “I should have taken the other bitch,” he said as he fell down.

  Andy looked from one to the other, then at Shelby, who kept the rifle trained on him. “Don’t make me use it again,” she warned.

  He slowly raised his hands.

  Shelby kept her eyes on him as she hurried to Jed and checked his wound.

  “I’ve had worse,” he told her between clenched teeth as she tore a strip off her pajama top and made a compression bandage. “Make him take off his pants, boots and socks.” He started to chuckle at her look of dismay, then groaned as he realized laughter wasn’t a good idea. “Believe me, sweetheart, he won’t run if he doesn’t have any clothes.”

  Shelby did as he instructed. Andy was in too much shock to argue as he pulled off his clothing, and Shelby used his belt to tie him to the porch post. She ran back to Jed and gasped when she saw the blood-soak
ed bandage.

  “Just use the cell phone to call for help,” he ordered in a voice racked with pain.

  She gently cradled his face, gray and deeply etched with pain. “You can’t die on me.” Her voice was broken and husky with tears. “I swear, Jed Hawkins, if you die on me I will never forgive you.”

  “I don’t intend to die just yet, sweetheart. Not when I have to make sure you don’t get caught up in anything this crazy again,” he told her just before he passed out.

  Chapter 10

  Shelby hated hospitals. She also hated waiting. It didn’t take her long to decide waiting in hospitals was more torture than having a root canal.

  Once Andy was secured to the porch post, she had followed Jed’s orders and used his cell phone to call the sheriff’s office. When she gave her name, they’d reacted immediately, and a deputy was quickly on the scene with an ambulance close behind. The young deputy took one look at her disheveled figure and Jed’s bleeding, unconscious form cradled in her arms and gestured for the ambulance to stop near them. He glanced at the other three, read Andy his rights and took him into custody. Shelby fought to ride in the ambulance with Jed. She vowed she wasn’t going to leave him alone. The technicians took one look at the hysterical lights in her eyes and didn’t argue.

  They wasted no time transporting Jed to the hospital, and he was immediately wheeled into surgery. Shelby fought the personnel wanting to tend her own wounds until she was assured she would be given any word of Jed’s condition right away. Her thoughts were so focused on him that she didn’t stop to think about Meredith being in this same hospital.

  By now, Shelby had had antiseptic applied to her scratches and the blisters on her feet tended to and carefully bandaged. She was allowed to shower and was given a pair of surgical scrubs to wear. For someone who had been looking forward to a long hot shower, she had probably taken the shortest one in history.

  “Miss Carlisle.” The deputy who had arrived in summons to her call held out a paper cup of coffee. “All I can say is it looks like mud and tastes like mud, but you won’t find a better drink to give you that much-needed kick start.”

  She smiled her thanks as she accepted the cup. She sipped the hot brew and grimaced at the bitter taste. “To be honest, it tastes more like battery acid, but I have an idea I’m going to need this to get through the next few hours.” She dropped into a plastic chair, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips.

  “I talked to Mr. Hawkins when he first showed up in town. I’m glad to see he was successful in finding you,” the deputy told her. He apparently was used to the battery acid that doubled as coffee, since he didn’t blink as he drank deeply. “Have you had a chance to talk to your father?”

  She shook her head. “Right now, I’m more worried about Jed. My father will understand that I want to wait until he’s out of surgery, because Dad’s going to want to know about his condition.” She looked at the man’s nameplate, where Rick Howard was inscribed. “How’s your prisoner?”

  His mouth twisted. “Sitting in his cell sniveling like a baby. He said he only did what his uncle and brother told him to do. None of it was his idea.”

  Shelby had no sympathy for Andy. “I admit he begged his brother not to hurt me when the man tried to get rough, but I think if Chris had pressed the issue Andy would have just backed off.” She felt queasy as she remembered the sight of blood pouring out of Chris’s chest. He had died within seconds of being shot. Her aim had proven to be erratic but deadly. She quickly tamped down the feeling of guilt with the reminder that the man deserved what he’d got. “I shot to stop him, not kill him.”

  “Miss Carlisle, you did what you had to do. The man would have killed you without batting an eyelash. You saved Mr. Hawkins’s life,” Rick said simply.

  Her smile wobbled dangerously as tears threatened to fall. She had been battling the weeping willies since Jed had been taken into surgery. She knew it had to do with the shock of being free, of seeing Jed shot and later overhearing the doctors and nurses jabber back and forth about a punctured lung, low blood pressure and rumors of more internal injuries. It was as if they’d done all they could, yet didn’t have a lot of hope of his making it.

  When Shelby had used the shower, she’d stood in the tiled stall and given in to the urge to cry until she thought there were no more tears left. Obviously, she’d been wrong—she once again felt the sting in her eyes. She sniffled, then blinked when she saw a swatch of white in front of her face.

  “Easier than wiping your nose on your sleeve,” Rick told her with a faint smile.

  She smiled her thanks and accepted his offering. She blew her nose and wiped it.

  “He actually fought that man with a knife,” she said with wonder in her voice. “A man who had lived like an animal for years. It was obvious he didn’t have a conscience.” She shuddered as the realization of what would have happened to her if Jed hadn’t shown up finally hit her like a nuclear bomb. He had fought to keep her safe and was badly injured as a result.

  “Oh, my God.” She clapped her hands over her mouth to stop the sobs. She had no idea she was shaking violently even as Rick put his arms around her.

  “Hey,” he soothed, patting her back awkwardly. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Jed’s in critical condition. They said so. He could die because of me. And I never got to tell him—never got to tell him…” Her teeth chattered so violently she couldn’t finish.

  Rick realized she was in shock. “We need a doctor here!” he shouted.

  Shelby didn’t protest when a doctor quickly checked her over and noted her widely dilated eyes. A hypodermic was swiftly administered.

  “Miss Carlisle.” Sheriff Rainey strode toward her, looking self-important. “I’m sure you realize we need a statement from you. I’m glad to see Mr. Hawkins was able to rescue you. Usually we don’t like having a civilian around, but I guess this was one time it worked out.” He rambled on, oblivious to her traumatized condition.

  “Sheriff.” Rick’s voice held a warning. “Mr. Hawkins was taken to surgery and Miss Carlisle’s just been given a tranquilizer. Maybe this should wait until later, when she feels more up to it.”

  The older man scowled. “I’ll say when things are done here, boy. You just remember who’s in charge.”

  Shelby’s drug-induced fog cleared just enough for her to see another uniformed man standing in front of her. His words came through as if a filter had been placed between them.

  “Who are you?” Her words were slightly slurred.

  He puffed up his chest. “I’m Sheriff Rainey. I admit I told Hawkins I didn’t think he’d have a chance in hell of finding you, but I’m sure glad to see I was wrong. Just wish our tracker had been here to get on the job right away, but you know how it is when your resources are small. Sure hope those boys didn’t hurt you none. Violate you or anything.” He peered at her sharply. “Anything you need to tell me? We have good doctors here who can help you.”

  Shelby slowly stood up, her world shifting under her feet as she fought to keep her balance. She felt as if she was standing at the end of a tunnel and the sheriff was at the other end.

  “You weren’t going to send anyone in to try to rescue me,” she said, fuzzily trying to make sense of what the man had said. He would just let them take her and not do anything about it? “You were going to let those animals have me.”

  He shifted uneasily. “Well, ma’am, as I said, our tracker wasn’t available, and we don’t have a large force here. I’m just glad Hawkins was able to get you out of there.”

  “Wasn’t available,” she repeated. “You son of a bitch.” Her mumbled words sounded more like thon of a bith, but that didn’t stop her from letting fly with her fist. Considering her shaky balance, it was a miracle her clenched fingers made a solid connection with the man’s nose.

  Sheriff Rainey howled in outrage and pain. He cupped his hands over his face and blood streamed from between his fingers.
“You broke my nose!” he shrieked.

  Rick muttered a curse under his breath. At the same time, he was working hard at hiding a grin. “Next time watch your thumb. You’re lucky you didn’t break it,” he advised Shelby under his breath.

  “Damn! That really hurts!” She shook her injured fist. The pain in her hand completely dissolved all numbing effects of the tranquilizer.

  “There was no reason for that!” Sheriff Rainey shouted at Shelby. He started to advance on her.

  Rick knew it was time for him to step in. “Sheriff, please remember the woman is in severe shock. She had no idea what she was doing,” he said swiftly.

  “Yes, I did,” Shelby whispered, but luckily only Rick heard her and kept that piece of information to himself.

  Rick kept talking as Sheriff Rainey was led back to an examination room by a nurse. It wasn’t until the older man was out of sight that he gave in to the laughter he’d been holding in. Soon he was laughing so hard he bent over, bracing his hands on his knees. Shelby couldn’t help it; she had to join in. By the time she finished, she was wiping her eyes.

  She looked around the empty waiting room. “At least there was no one here to think we’d really lost it,” she told him.

  He nodded. “Yeah, they probably would have hauled us off to a nice padded room and not let us out for a long time.”

  Shelby looked down the corridor, then she collapsed in a chair with her legs sprawled out. Ordinarily, she would have been horrified by her less-thanladylike posture. “I really needed that.”

  “The sheriff might not agree.”

  She chuckled softly. “Do everyone a favor and take over his job.” She stared down the hallway again. “I just wish I knew what was going on.”

  “I’m sure someone will come out soon and let you know,” he assured her.

  Shelby jumped up and starting pacing for lack of anything better to do. Soon too tired to pace anymore, she dropped back into the chair. Her rear had barely grazed the plastic seat when a doctor in sweatstained surgical scrubs walked out.