Taken in Texas

by Susan Sleeman

  She nodded and suddenly felt so weary. She wanted this day to end, and she’d figure this all out tomorrow. “It’s getting late, and I need a shower. I’ll see you at the ranch, okay?”

  “Drive safely.”

  She headed for the exit and paused to lift her face to God.

  If Cord and I are meant to be together, please make it happen.

  She continued down the hall, feeling lighter than she had in the past. She hadn’t turned over her concerns to God like this in such a very long time. Hopefully, she was on the path to doing better at that.

  She pushed the exit door open and searched for her car. Matt had followed the ambulance to the ER in her vehicle. She spotted it in the back of the lot, and her shirt was damp with perspiration by the time she reached it.

  She unlocked the door and opened it, only to feel the barrel of a gun pressed to her head.

  “Don’t move,” the familiar male voice sounded behind her. “We’re going for a little ride.”

  EIGHTEEN

  Cord was dreaming of Kendall in a white wedding dress and Lucas in a sharp suit, when his cell phone rang and spoiled the dream. He considered not answering, but it could be about Lucas, so he carefully inched over to the table to answer. It was nearing midnight, and when he saw Walt’s name, he figured the sheriff had forgotten a question or two. Wouldn’t be a surprise, as he spent a lot of time razzing Cord about how he and Kendall had once dated and thought no one knew about it. Unbelievable.

  “Need something else, Walt?” Cord asked.

  “Is Kendall with you?”

  “No, why?”

  “She didn’t come home, and she’s not answering her cell.”

  Cord shot up in his bed, the pain in his leg a reminder to be more careful. “She left here hours ago. Where could she be?”

  “I honestly don’t know, but my overactive dad radar says we missed something and there’s someone else involved in the scam.”

  “But who? Eve didn’t mention anyone else.”

  “Like I said, just my gut feeling.”

  “Which is never wrong.” Cord swung his feet to the cool tile floor. “I’m going to the hospital security office to look at video.”

  “You shouldn’t get out of bed.”

  “Try to stop me.” Cord hung up and jerked out his IV. He took a moment to stem the bleeding but then he hobbled across the room to get dressed. Thankfully, he’d recently received a pain injection, but the meds were clouding his mind, and he wished he hadn’t given in.

  He made his way down the hall to the first floor. As a deputy, he’d been to the security office plenty of times and found the guard sitting behind monitors out front.

  He looked up. “Can I help you?”

  Cord displayed his credentials. “Show me the video feed for the hospital entrance and parking lot for the last two hours.”

  Cord half expected the guard to object, but he cued up the file. Cord watched as Kendall soon stepped from the building and headed toward the south lot.

  “Find that parking lot feed,” Cord demanded as his stomach churned with acid in anticipation of what he might see.

  When the video was playing, he saw her open her car door, and then a man crept out from between nearby cars and planted a gun at her temple.

  “Whoa,” the guard said.

  Cord almost gasped, but he had to keep his wits about him because they were already compromised. The man with the gun secured Kendall’s wrists with thick ropes, muscled her inside the vehicle and drove off.

  Cord called Walt, who assured him that he and Matt were already on their way. Cord wasn’t going to stand around, doing nothing, so he found out where Hurley was located and made his way up to the room. The minute Cord stepped inside, he wanted to shake the guy awake and demand he talk. Instead, he turned on the light.

  “Wake up, Hurley,” Cord said.

  The guy blinked a few times and tried to focus.

  “It’s time you tell me who else you and Wessel were working with.”

  “Else?” He rubbed his eyes with his uncuffed hand. “No one else.”

  “Someone just abducted Deputy McKade.” Cord got in the guy’s face. “And if you don’t tell me the truth, and she’s injured, you’ll go down as an accessory.”

  “I’m not lying.” He shifted in his bed, wincing as he moved. “After I left her that note at her dad’s ranch, Wessel said he wouldn’t pay me if I kept after her so I stopped. He said to lay low until he got the rest of the old lady’s money.”

  Cord poked him in the shoulder. “You’re lying.”

  He winced. “I’m not. Honest.”

  “What about the noose and GPS tracker?” Cord asked. “And trying to kill her at the youth center?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice crept up—he sounded earnest—and Cord was starting to believe him. “The guy who took her. He must’ve done those things.”

  Was there a third guy? “You have any idea who he might be?”

  “I don’t know, man.” Hurley closed his eyes for a few moments. “The only other person I saw was on the night I left the note. A deputy from Cypress County was watching the place.”

  “We didn’t bring another county in on this investigation,” Cord said.

  Hurley gave a weak smile. “Then it’s a good thing I saw the unit number on the vehicle.”

  * * *

  “Why’re you doing this, Edwards?” Kendall asked the deputy she’d worked with for so many years as he hauled her toward an old barn by the ropes on her wrists. She stumbled on the uneven ground, and he didn’t care, just kept yanking.

  “Why?” she demanded this time.

  “Why? Why? You want to know why?” He jerked her closer. His eyes were bright and sharp. Angry, so angry. “Because you wouldn’t leave this alone. Even after I left that noose and tried to take you out. You and your big nose cost me half a million dollars. No one does that to me and lives to tell about it. No one.”

  “You were in on the scam with Wessel?”

  “In on it?” He chuckled but it wasn’t a joyful sound. “Not exactly. More like, after a woman filed a complaint against Phillip Reese, and I figured out Wessel was behind it, I blackmailed him. It’s time for me to retire, and I decided Wessel’s final score was too big for him.”

  Edwards released her, and she almost fell backward. “But you’ve been an exemplary deputy all these years. Why change now?”

  “Fat lot you know.” He growled. “Been blackmailing cyber scammers for years.”

  Years? Really? She thought about their investigations. His role in them, always taking on the paperwork, claiming he was helping others out—something that no deputy in their right mind would ask to do.

  A lightbulb went off in Kendall’s brain. “The ones we couldn’t make a case on. You decided to profit instead of arresting them.”

  A snide smile slid across narrow lips. “Why should I have to retire below my means? I worked my tail off for peanuts, and these punk scammers come in and reap all the money. Life’s not fair when it comes to salaries. I was just righting a wrong. No one can blame me.”

  She lifted her shoulders to make herself look taller. “I can and I do.”

  The smile turned into a wide grin. “Doesn’t much matter when you’re not going to be around long enough to care.”

  * * *

  Cord paced in the hospital lobby, each step a pain going straight to his heart, while Walt dialed Sheriff Rousch in Cypress County. He put his cell on speaker, and Cord heard it ringing.

  “Sheriff Rousch,” came the sleepy answer.

  Cord stopped next to Walt to listen.

  “Walt McKade here. Why did you have a deputy watching my house?”

  “You know what time it is, McKade?” Rousch’s exasperation flowed through the phone.

&nb
sp; “My daughter’s been abducted, and I don’t much care if you’re missing some beauty sleep.”

  “Hey, man, sorry about that, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. We had no cause to put a deputy on your place.”

  Walt explained what Hurley told him and gave him the unit number.

  “This Hurley guy could be lying.”

  “Why?” Walt asked. “He has nothing to gain by it.”

  “Okay, give me a minute to look it up.”

  Cord started moving again, his thigh feeling like razor blades were slicing into him.

  Matt stepped in his path. “You might want to give that leg a break so when we find out who this deputy is and go pay him a visit, you’re fit enough to go along.”

  Cord knew Matt made sense, but Cord had to move or he might jump out of his skin. Still, he stopped walking and shook his arms instead.

  “Deputy’s name is Donald Edwards,” Rousch said.

  “Doesn’t he work the inter-county cybercrimes task force with Kendall?” Matt asked.

  “He does, but I can’t see why he would want to abduct Kendall.”

  “Me, neither,” Walt said. “But we’re going to have a talk with him, and I don’t rightly want you interfering.”

  “He’s one of my men.”

  “Sure thing, but if he’s taken my daughter, that doesn’t much matter now, does it? I need you to promise not to give him a heads-up before we get there.”

  “Fine, but if this goes south you’ll hear from me.”

  Walt disconnected and shoved his phone into his pocket. “Let’s get moving to Edwards’s place.”

  They obtained Edwards’s address from his DMV records, and Walt got the lights and sirens running on his vehicle. Cord looked up the address on his phone as Walt raced across the county at top speed. Edwards lived smack-dab in the middle of a large ranch, and from the photos online, the place looked run-down and in disrepair.

  “Found some info on Edwards online,” Matt said. “His parents died a few years ago. He took over the family ranch, but it’s listed in foreclosure.”

  “So money would be a much-needed thing for him,” Cord said, trying to keep his emotions in check, but they were begging to escape in a fit of rage.

  “Sounds like it,” Matt replied. “Guy could be desperate.”

  “And desperate men don’t think clearly. Makes them unstable.” Cord tried swallowing down his worry, but it was there, in his throat, nearly choking him.

  “Then we’d best be on our A game.” Walt glanced in the rearview mirror. “Due to your injury, maybe you should sit this one out, son.”

  Cord snorted. “Not happening.”

  “Place is two miles up on the right,” Matt told his father.

  Walt cut the lights and sirens to keep from alerting Edwards. He parked near the road, and after gearing up, they hoofed it down the long gravel drive toward the house sitting in the black of night without any lights. Cord’s pain meds had fully worn off and adrenaline was the only thing keeping him moving up to the side window of the house. He rose up and took a quick look but saw no movement. They checked every window with the same result.

  Walt tapped Cord’s shoulder and pointed into a field, where a light glowed as it moved slowly across the land. “Looks like someone’s carrying a lantern. It’s obvious Kendall’s not in the house, so let’s head out there.”

  “Agreed.” Cord made his way through the knee-high grass toward the field, picking up the pace so he could gain on whoever was carrying the light. Pain radiated up his leg, but nothing, not even excruciating agony, would stop him from saving Kendall.

  As he approached, he heard the sound of horse hooves against the dry, hard soil. Not one or two, but half a dozen, maybe more.

  The light suddenly stopped moving, and Cord was thankful they were downwind so the horses didn’t catch their scent and make any sound to alert Edwards. Cord got close enough to make out the man’s face in the pale cast of moonlight.

  At least it looked like Edwards as he appeared in his deputy’s credentials. A frisky black horse shifted to the side, and Cord’s heart plummeted. Kendall stood next to the horse, her hands bound behind her back.

  “You’re forgetting one thing,” she said to Edwards. “You may stampede the horses, and I won’t be able to get out of their way, but with my hands tied, the detectives will know it wasn’t an accident.”

  “Actually, I didn’t forget. I plan to untie you before spooking these guys.” He laughed and stepped over to her. “The bank may be taking this place, taking my horses, but they’ll serve just fine for this last time.”

  “But you’re wrong. I tried hard to free myself on the drive out here, and I guarantee my wrists are bruised. No matter what, they’ll know it wasn’t an accident. And I’m on your property, so they’ll suspect you of foul play.”

  “But why?” He slung his rifle over his shoulder and drew a knife to slice through the rope at her wrists, then pointed it at her chest. “No one knows I’ve been blackmailing cyber scammers except you. And when I tell the detectives how you came out here to talk about your recent investigation, and as we went for a walk and the horses spooked, they’ll buy my story because all the other evidence will point in that direction. A bit of bruising on your wrists isn’t enough to prove anything.”

  Still holding the knife on Kendall, Edwards grabbed his rifle with his free hand and quickly aimed it at her stomach. “Now stay put while I take my friends a bit farther down the way and turn them back toward you.”

  Cord wanted to raise his own gun and fire on Edwards, but a shot would spook the horses, and with Kendall in the middle of the herd, it would be certain death.

  * * *

  Edwards backed away, his rifle fixed on Kendall, and panic nearly took her to her knees.

  Think, Kendall, think. There has to be a way out of this. Just has to be.

  She searched the land, looking for anything. A boulder. A fence post. Anything she could race for and dive behind, but flat grazing pasture ran as far as her eye could see.

  Still, she wouldn’t give up. Not until horse hooves were barreling down on her. And even then, when Edwards could no longer get off a clear shot, she’d give it her all, running as fast as she could.

  She turned and scanned to the side. To the other side. To her back. Nothing.

  Father, please. I don’t want to die. I have so much to live for. My family. Now Cord and Lucas, too.

  She wished Cord was here so she could tell him that she loved him. He deserved to know. She deserved a chance to tell him.

  Please.

  She saw Edwards moving, turning the horses. Five large animals ready to run and take her out. Wait, there were six when they left the barn. One must’ve wandered off, and Edwards hadn’t even noticed. Or maybe he didn’t care—whether five or six, it didn’t really matter. She was a goner, for sure.

  Is this the end?

  He raised his rifle. “Now remember, McKade, if you start running, I’ll shoot you on the spot. Best to take your chance with the horses.”

  Chance, right. He wasn’t giving her a chance.

  “Buh-bye, McKade. Was nice knowing you.” Edwards’s sick laugh echoed into the night and the rifle went off. The report burned through the air. He fired another. And another.

  The horses bolted and quickly got up to speed. Charging. Heading her way. Their hooves pummeled the ground in a mad stampede.

  Should she stay? Run? Maybe a bullet to the back would be better. Faster anyway. But with the horses there was always a chance she could live.

  She heard hooves pounding toward her. She turned. Saw a fierce horse, white in the moonlight, a man astride and riding bareback. He lay over the horse’s neck and clutched the mane.

  “Kendall!” he called out, and at the sound of Cord’s voice, her heart soared.

 
“Cord! You came.”

  “Grab my arm.” He held on to the horse with one arm and stuck the other one out. She raised her own arms in response, but then had second thoughts. If she grabbed on to him, he might not be able to hold on to the mane, and she’d dislodge him. He’d be in the path of the stampeding horses, too.

  She couldn’t do that to him. Wouldn’t risk his life. Lucas needed him.

  She lowered her arms.

  “Kendall, no!” Cord kept coming toward her. He leaned out farther.

  She stepped back. He veered course. Caught her around the chest. Held firm and lifted her feet from the ground. She grabbed on to him and held tight. He managed to hold on and kept going. The horse beat a path forward, the others whooshing behind them.

  “Whoa. Whoa,” Cord called to the racing horse. “Whoa.”

  The horse slowed, but it took some time before it came to a stop. When it did, Cord slid from the back and tumbled to the ground. He pulled her down, on top of him. He lay there, panting. His face was a tight mask of pain.

  His thigh. He’d likely ripped open his stitches, but they couldn’t just lie there.

  “Edwards.” She jerked up. “He’s armed. We have to move.”

  “Your dad and Matt will deal with Edwards.”

  “They’re here, too?” She stilled and listened.

  “Yes.”

  She almost sagged in relief but didn’t want to hurt him more, so she moved to kneel beside him. “How did you find me?”

  “Hurley saw Edwards watching the house at Trails End,” he got out between breaths. “And saw the unit number on his patrol car. Your dad called the sheriff, and he gave us Edwards’s name.”

  “Thank you for coming. For risking your life.”

  He lifted a hand and cupped it around the back of her neck to bring her closer. “Don’t you know by now that I’ll always risk my life for you? I love you, Kendall. I could never survive losing you.”

  “You do? Love me, I mean?”

  “Yes.”

  She planted her hands on the sides of his head and leaned closer. “I love you, too. And I didn’t think I’d get a chance to tell you. But I prayed for this moment, and God gave me the opportunity.”