Montana Standoff

by Sharon Dunn

  On hands and knees he scrambled to the base of the tower. The overhang of the catwalk shielded him from view. He worked his way around the tower back to the stairs.

  Grabbing a thick branch for a weapon, he crept up the stairs. The door was slightly ajar. Peeking around it, he was rewarded with a quick image of the thug staring at the floor. He was looking for the gun. Bryan watched until the man’s back was turned. He pushed the door open and landed a blow across the man’s shoulders.

  The thug groaned in pain, turned and swung for Bryan. Bryan hit him a second time on the arm with the log before the man wrenched it free. The two men wrestled. The assailant was twice his size, but Bryan refused to back down. Slowing this man down was the only chance Sarah would have to escape. They exchanged blows, drawing nearer to the open door.

  Bryan lifted his arm, hand curled into a fist, ready to land a hit. The solid surface beneath his feet evaporated. He tumbled backward down the stairs. Like being smacked over and over, he could feel the hits to his body on the way down. He stopped at the bottom, still conscious, but disoriented. The assailant hadn’t come after him. He heard the sound of things being moved around inside the fire tower. He was still looking for the gun and probably assumed Bryan was unconscious or dead.

  Bryan wasn’t sure if he could move. Had he broken any bones? Every muscle felt like it had been cut or bruised. He sat up. Pain shot through his body. It hurt to breathe. He needed to hide. He couldn’t fight in his current state. But no, he couldn’t back down, either. The assailant wouldn’t give up until he found out where Sarah was. Bryan tried to push himself to his feet.

  The noise inside stopped. The thug came to the top of the stairs. He lifted the gun, taking aim. “Where is she?”

  By force of will, Bryan scrambled to his feet. He stumbled toward the shelter of the trees. He was pretty beat up. He probably couldn’t outrun the thug, but he could hide, maybe draw the man into chasing after him instead of Sarah. He stepped into the trees and onto the trail.

  Sarah appeared. A look of shock flashed across her features when she saw him. He had bruises on his arms. She grabbed him. “I couldn’t leave without you.” She wrapped her arm around his waist. The first shot from the thug’s gun pierced the air. “We’d better hurry.”

  As she held on to him, he could feel his strength returning. Nothing was broken. He may have bruised a rib. He was in shock and badly beat up, but not to the point where he couldn’t move quickly. They ran along the trail. A second shot broke off a tree branch in front of them.

  They came to the clearing where the truck sat. “I can drive,” Bryan said.

  Sarah hesitated, drawing the keys close to her chest.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” said Bryan.

  She handed him the keys and sprinted around the truck to the passenger-side door. He climbed into the cab, started the engine and closed the door just as the assailant came into the clearing. Bryan hit the gas doing a tight turn to get out of the parking area. The back tires spat out gravel as a bullet collided with metal.

  Sarah craned her neck. “I think he hit the side of the truck.”

  He’d probably been aiming for the tires. Bryan pressed the accelerator to the floor. He didn’t want to give this guy a second chance. The truck jolted and lumbered down the mountain road.

  Sarah leaned back against the seat, tilting her head. Her curly brown hair had worked free of the ponytail. Her face was covered with sweat and dirt. She turned her head, soft blue eyes resting on him. She’d come back for him, risked her life. “He won’t be able to catch us now. Not on foot.”

  “Yeah.” He didn’t want to worry her about the second hit man. Had the sheriff made it to the car or had the thug gotten away?

  “How far is it to this country store?”

  “I’ll take you all the way into town...and to the police station.” He didn’t like the idea of leaving her anywhere until he could be assured she was safe, though he dreaded the thought of returning to the police station. His departure had not been a quiet one. Incensed at the lack of justice over Tyler Mason, he’d let his chief know how he felt.

  “Thank you for doing that.” Sarah leaned back and closed her eyes.

  He reached over and patted her leg without thinking. It was a gesture he’d done a thousand times when they were dating. She sat up straight, and her eyes popped open.

  He bit the inside of his cheek. What a stupid move. Of course, he didn’t think he could go back to where they had been ten years ago. Too much had changed, even before they parted ways.

  He cleared his throat. “We do need to stop at the country store and make some phone calls. My cell phone is back at the fire tower. I need to find out if my replacement made it.” He hated abandoning his post and worried that he’d sent his replacement into a dangerous situation if the guy was still skulking around the woods with a gun. Though he doubted the thug would hurt anyone else and risk having another person who could identify him.

  The road evened out, decreasing the bouncing in the truck. Sarah folded her hands in her lap as a tense silence fell between them.

  What did they talk about now? What could they talk about that wouldn’t open old wounds? Even thinking about how their relationship had ended made his chest tight. No, he couldn’t go there again.

  Sarah leaned toward him and pointed through the windshield. “That must be it, huh?”

  A hundred yards ahead was a concrete building with a parking lot full of trailers. As they neared the store, signs advertising raft and boat rentals and bait for sale came into view. A campground a mile up the road was the main source of business for the store along with the abundance of fishermen who came for the freshwater fishing. Bryan pulled into the dirt lot.

  “It’ll take me just a minute to make these calls,” Bryan said.

  Sarah nodded. The bandage above her eye had come lose. He reached over and pressed it against her forehead.

  She lifted her chin as a show of resolve. She’d always been a strong person emotionally. She had had to be. But what she had been through today would have made anyone fall apart. He touched her cheek with his knuckles. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll get you into town.” She nodded and tried to smile. Bryan resisted the urge to pull her into a comforting hug. It wasn’t his place to do that for her anymore.

  Bryan got out of the truck and ambled toward the store entrance.

  * * *

  Alone in the truck, Sarah glanced out the back window. A hard, cold mass of fear had settled in her chest. These men were not going to give up easily. What could Crew have done for this kind of wrath to come down on him? He must have gone into hiding or the men wouldn’t have sought her out. Wherever he was, she hoped he was safe.

  She looked out Bryan’s window. Mixed in with all the trailers, there was only one car parked off to the side that must belong to the owner or store clerk. No one wandered around outside. Through the store window, she could see Bryan step up to the counter while the clerk rang up his purchases.

  She would have been dead by now if it hadn’t been for Bryan. How had a forest ranger learned to fight like that? She placed her fingers on the bandage on her forehead. His gentle touch had caused memories of being held by him to rise to the surface. All those years ago, she’d rested her head on his chest surrounded by his heartbeat while strong arms enveloped her. Back then, she had felt safe for the first time in her life when she was with him. But it didn’t last.

  Bryan emerged from the store holding two large cans. She leaned over and opened the door for him. He handed her one of the cans, an iced tea. “That drink I meant to get for you earlier.”

  Moved by such a small act of consideration, she opened the can and took a sip. The cool liquid traveled smoothly down her parched throat. She took several more gulps. “That tastes really good, thanks.”

  Bryan sat behin
d the wheel, popped the tab on his tea and placed it in the cup holder. “My replacement made it to the tower. No sign of the guy with the gun. I checked in with the sheriff and called the city police, too. They might be willing to get involved since the kidnapping took place in town. You can make your statement to them.”

  “Did the sheriff say if they caught the other guy?” She shivered despite the heat, not wanting to think about those men being on the loose.

  Bryan started the truck. “The dispatcher hadn’t heard anything. She’s gonna send the deputy up to the tower to make sure the area is clear.”

  For a forest ranger, Bryan seemed to know a lot about how the police worked. She had to know what he’d been doing for the past ten years. “So did you go to college like you planned?”

  Bryan’s head jerked back and he laughed. He pulled out of the dirt parking lot. “Boy, that question came out of nowhere.”

  “I was just curious.” It was the first mention either of them had made of the past.

  Bryan’s truck came to a crossroads. He turned onto a paved two-lane. “I...ah...started out that semester, but it was a little too much for me to handle.” Each word was wrought with tension.

  Sarah crossed her arms and stared out the window. His discomfort made it clear that even such a benign question was off limits. She wondered, too, how and why he had ended up back in Discovery, but now she didn’t dare ask. She longed to have a normal conversation with him, but that wasn’t going to happen. It would be best if he just dropped her off at the police station. He could go back out to his lonely fire tower. If they ran into each other in town, they could keep the conversation to hello and the weather.

  Bryan glanced at the rearview mirror. “What’s this guy’s problem?”

  Sarah turned around to look at the SUV following too closely. Shock spread through her. “Bryan, that’s the vehicle.”

  He glanced a second time just as the Suburban tapped their bumper.

  “He must have been waiting for us.” Bryan pressed the gas. “Knowing this was the only road that led into town.”

  “How could he know this was your truck?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he was watching the store. Maybe he has a way to communicate with the other guy.” Bryan pulled away from the Suburban only to have it catch up with them again. The car bumped the back of the truck again, causing it to lurch.

  “Hold on.” Bryan executed a sudden turn onto a dirt road.

  The other car overshot the turn, but spun around and charged up the road toward them. Bryan turned off into a grassy field and veered back to the main road, but in the wrong direction—away from town.

  The car caught up to them. Bryan gripped the steering wheel as the Suburban came alongside them and smashed against his truck. Metal crunched. The truck wobbled, but Bryan kept it on the road.

  The second hit was harder. The Suburban seemed to be attached to the passenger side of the truck as it pushed them closer to the edge of the road.

  Sarah looked through her window at the leering, maniacal face of Acne Scars, as their truck was pushed off the road toward the rocky incline below.

  FOUR

  Their truck flew off the road at a high speed, sailed through the air and landed in the river at the bottom of the rocky incline. Sarah gasped for air as the truck settled and water rose up around it. She felt as if every muscle in her body had been stretched, and her thoughts seemed to move in slow motion.

  Sarah turned toward Bryan whose head was tilted at an unnatural angle. Panicked, she fumbled with her seat belt and reached over to shake him. “Bryan!” She wrapped her hand around his muscular upper arm. “Bryan, please.”

  He stirred, shaking his head and moaning in pain. She let out a breath. He was alive.

  Bryan glanced from side to side as though trying to fathom what had happened. She reached across his stomach and unbuckled his seat belt.

  The current propelled the car downriver. The metal frame creaked as the water pushed against it.

  “We need to get out of here, right?”

  He looked at her, blinking several times. “Yeah...yeah.” His eyes were void of comprehension.

  “Or would it be better to drift with the current?” The truck picked up speed and turned sideways.

  He looked around. “No.” His gaze became more focused. “The water gets deeper, more rapids.”

  “I think we are closer to the bank on my side.” She glanced out the back window. Acne Scars’s Suburban must have pushed with so much force that it too had sailed off the road and landed upside-down on the rocky shore.

  She rolled down her window. Water seeped into the cab of the truck.

  “Hurry,” said Bryan. “Swim as hard as you can to shore. The current is pretty strong. I’ll be right behind you.”

  She pushed herself through the window into the cold river. Rushing, swirling water suctioned around her. The cold of it shocked her into stillness for a moment as the force of the current pulled her under. She swallowed water and panic surged. She fought against it, struggling to the surface. She pierced the water with her hand, keeping her eyes on the bank which seemed to be slipping farther away.

  She caught a quick glimpse of Bryan as he drifted downriver. He was pretty banged up from his fight, and he’d lost consciousness in the wreck. Was he in any condition to make a swim like this? His head went under as an awful sense of dread filled her.

  I can’t lose him.

  She crashed into a submerged log. She was able to catch her breath by grabbing on to one of the larger branches that stuck out of the water. Holding her position, she desperately scanned the water for a glimpse of Bryan, breathing a sigh of relief when his head bobbed to the surface as he stroked toward the shore, his movement steady and strong.

  She pulled herself along the top of the log and then pushed off, aiming for the shore. Up ahead she could see the rapids—foaming, intense waves cresting and swirling. Terror spread through her. No way did she have the strength to swim through those. She needed to get to land. She jabbed her arm through the water, though her muscles had grown weak from the struggle. Her legs felt heavy.

  Rivers, just like oceans, had an undertow. The closer she got to the rapids the bigger the risk of being pulled under and drowned.

  The shore grew nearer inch by inch. The water calmed as she struggled toward an eddy. This time, when she put her feet down, she touched bottom. Thank You, God. Sarah dragged herself to the shore and crumpled onto a sandbar.

  She heard footsteps and turned her head sideways. Bryan had gotten ashore farther upriver. He ran toward her, looking over his shoulder and then increasing his pace. The look of fear on his face fueled her panic. Sarah sat up.

  He reached down and grabbed her arm. “We’ve got company. Come on.”

  Acne Scars must have gotten out of the SUV. Sarah had barely caught her breath when Bryan lifted her to her feet and pulled her toward the thick brush. Both of them were soaking wet. Their shoes squished as they ran. Her wet clothes, which weighed an extra five pounds, slapped against her body. She was grateful for the warmth of the sun. They’d dry off quick enough.

  Bryan led her through the thickness of the forest. The canopy reduced the light by half, and the temperature dropped ten degrees.

  “Where...are...we...going?” Sarah spoke as she ran, taking a breath after each word.

  “Back to the store. We can call for help from there. The sheriff will have to meet us and escort us back to town.”

  The forest thinned. They came to the steep incline that led back up to the road. Only prairie grass grew on this side of the hill. Bryan scanned the area above them. “This is the only way to get to the road. We’ll be exposed as we go.”

  Sarah took in a breath to push down the rising fear. “If it’s the only way.”

  “Stay beh
ind me.” Bryan made the steep trek with ease, continually glancing side to side and up above.

  Sarah scrambled to keep up with him. She could see the road not more than twenty yards above them. How much farther to the store after that?

  Bryan stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide. He turned and pulled her to the ground, placing a protective arm across her back. A zinging sound followed by an explosive echo shattered the silence of the forest.

  Panic made her voice shake. “He has a rifle. Where did he get a rifle?”

  “He probably had it with him in that car.” From the ground where they lay, he turned to face her, reached out a hand and smoothed her wet hair back from her face. “It’s going to be okay.”

  The tenderness of his voice was a soothing balm to her anxious, fear-filled thoughts.

  “We’ll get to that store,” he assured her. “Stay low. The high grass will provide some cover.”

  They crawled the remaining distance to the road taking an indirect path. Still lying on his belly, Bryan lifted his head and peered over the asphalt then back down the hill.

  He tugged on her wet shirt. “Follow the road but use the slope of the bank for cover. We should be safe.”

  Sarah took in a breath to calm her nerves. Her heart still hadn’t stopped racing.

  Why was this happening? What kind of trouble had Crew gotten himself into? This had to be something more serious than an unpaid debt.

  Bryan must have picked up on her fear. He grabbed her hand and pressed it between his. “We’re almost there.”

  She nodded. They ran, crouched over until the store came into view. At that point, Bryan straightened, grabbed her hand and sprinted the remaining distance. Sarah glanced over her shoulder at the forest beyond the road.

  As they neared the store, the windows looked dark. The car that had been parked on the side of the building earlier was gone. Sarah slowed her pace. The store was closed.

  “Now what?”

  Bryan surveyed the parking lot. “We’ve got to break in. We can leave a note, letting them know what happened. Maybe they have an alarm system that will bring help out here.”