Storm in the Rockies
Page 4
“There’s a number next to the phone. Greg Morgan. He’s a doctor.” Rex tossed back at Cee Leigh as he rushed forward to help Leon to the sofa.
Cee Leigh turned and grasped the receiver Rex had left dangling from the table. She rested it between her chin and her shoulder, as she reached to flip open the thin, black phonebook by the phone. Morgan…Morgan…Morgan. She found the number.
“Is the badge dead?” A soft voice spoke into her ear causing her to scream. “Ahhhh…Cee Leigh….”
Chapter Five
“As soon as the storm lets up, we should get you to the hospital.” Greg pinned the bandage on the detective’s arm. “But the bullet barely nipped you.”
“I need to call my men in Boulder and let them know he’s here,” Leon groaned, shifting on the sofa.
“Give the number to Rex. He’s good at taking care of things. In the meantime, you can take these for pain. It should give you a little relief.” Greg handed him a couple of pills and Cee Leigh hurried to bring the detective some water.
“You’re gonna be stuck here,” Rex said, in a low voice when Greg finally turned away from Leon. “You should know that this guy he’s after…he’s a real nutcase–the dangerous kind,” he warned the man who’d been his best friend for most of his life.
“He’s obsessed with her,” Rex continued, as Greg wiped the blood from his hands on the towel Rex had given him.
“And what about you?” Greg peered up over his wire glasses. “Are you obsessed as well?”
“What?” Rex stared at him as if he’d grown an extra nose. What kind of question was that?
“You haven’t left her side for more than five minutes since I got here.”
Rex frowned, keeping his voice low. “There’s a maniac who has masturbated in her home, called my house, and threatened me. What am I supposed to do? Turn her out into the storm?”
“Cut the shit, Rex.” Greg tossed the towel down atop his medical bag.
Rex stared at him, and then let out a long breath. “I like her. Okay, I like her a lot,” he amended when Greg cut his eyes at him. “She’s smart. She’s beautiful. And she wrote a book about me.”
“Did she?” Greg raised his brow.
“She changed the name and made him a cop, but it was obvious who the character was molded after.” Rex glanced back at her. “She doesn’t think I know it was supposed to be me, but I’m not stupid. A cop that lives in a cabin in the Rockies and who drives the exact same jeep I do?”
“You’d have to be dense.” Greg nodded.
“And he looked like me,” Rex added.
“So, she likes you too?”
“Yes.” Rex nodded. “I think she does.”
“No accounting for taste.” Greg chuckled, but sobered quickly enough when Jones rose from his spot in front of the door, ear perked, every muscle tensed. Rex retrieved his gun from the coffee table, motioning for Cee Leigh to stay put. Greg was already heading for the back door.
“He’s got my gun,” Leon reminded him as he reached over and shut out the light.
“Guard,” Rex whispered to Jones and the dog backed to Cee Leigh’s side, growling. Rex slipped into his bedroom and quickly opened the window to lean out. Through the snow he could see the shadow of a man. But he couldn’t be certain that it wasn’t Greg, so he climbed quietly out the window and crouched low against the cabin wall.
The snow came down in a steady pace but Rex could see enough to know the man was moving up the steps of the porch. Another shadow emerged the corner of the house. Damn! He couldn’t make out which was Greg!
He crept forward. Closer. From inside the cabin, Jones’ growl had become a series of barks. Closer. He could see the man standing on the porch now. Closer still. Tall. Lean build. He held a gun in his hand and Rex’s fingers opened and closed over the butt of his pistol.
The man reached forward and turned the knob. As if by some unspoken cue, Rex and Greg moved at once and were nearly upon the man when Jones leapt out of the darkness of the cabin, into the man’s chest, causing him to fall backwards. His gun fired. Jones yelped, but an instant later his teeth bore into the man’s arm and the gun clattered to the porch.
Rex got to him first, grabbing him by the collar and pinning him down on the porch. Light from inside the cabin poured out the doorway. Soft blue eyes, glinting with fear. Clean cut. Not at all what Rex had expected.
“Who are you?” Rex hissed down at him as a shadow fell over them. He looked up to find Cee Leigh standing there, staring down at the man.
“Cee Leigh,” the man whispered softly.
“Watch out!” She yelled and Rex’s attention fell to the man moments before something glinted and burning pain seared through his chest. The man tore free of Rex’s grasp, struck Greg hard enough to send him onto his back, and then scrambled for the gun as Jones bit into his leg. The man howled with pain but his fingers wrapped around the gun.
Rex felt his own pistol pull from his fingers. Oddly he couldn’t hold on to it. He looked down to find the end of a knife sticking out of him, right between the bones in his shoulder. Rex’s gaze swung to the man when he leveled the gun at Jones.
The sound of a hammer being pulled back sounded like thunder in his ears and for a moment, everything slowed down. His attention swung upwards to find Cee Leigh’s blue eyes glittering with fear and anger. The blast of the gun left a trail of smoke curling from the barrel of the pistol she held. A moment later, the man who’d stalked her all the way into the mountain slumped backwards, half on the porch, half off, his blood staining the lifeless snow beneath him.
Jones released the man’s leg and backed away from him. For a moment there was nothing but the frozen silence of the falling snow. Then the pistol clattered onto the porch and Greg was moving, rising to his feet.
“Good God.” Greg spoke as he leaned over Rex. “You’ve been stabbed.” Rex looked past Greg to Cee Leigh. She still stood staring at the man she’d shot. Behind her, Leon’s large silhouette darkened the doorway. Rex’s eyes drooped and moments later he fell into darkness.
* * *
Cee Leigh pressed her lips and set her chin determinedly. “You are not getting out of that bed, Rex Reynolds, even if I have to have you bound and gagged.” Her eyes flashed down at Rex as he groaned.
His arm rested in the sling and she knew he was restless from being made to remain in bed for the past two days but she wasn’t chancing on him doing anything that would worsen his injury.
“I wasn’t shot in the leg,” he argued.
“The storm has passed and you are going to stay put until Greg gets an ambulance up here.” She said with finality and he fell back against the pillows.
“Soups ready,” Leon called cheerfully from the front room. She smiled at the sound of him busying around the kitchen.
“Why does the detective get to move around and I don’t?” He sounded like a restless child and Cee Leigh almost laughed.
“Because the bullet only grazed his shoulder. It’s already starting to scab over. You have a hole torn through your shoulder. You will stay put.” She looked at Jones. “Guard.” The dog limped forward on his bandaged foot and planted himself at the side of the bed.
“Traitor,” Rex murmured.
“You’ll be back to normal in a couple of weeks, Greg said,” Cee Leigh reminded him.
Rex made a face and punched at the pillow beneath his head with his free hand. “What about you?”
She looked down at her hands as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel normal again.”
“You surprised me, you know. Most people don’t have it in them to shoot someone.” Rex touched her hand.
“I surprised myself. I guess, when pushed, a person can do a lot of things.”
“You saved my life.” Rex ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I guess that makes you the hero.”
“If I’m the hero, who are you?” She smiled.
“I’m just a man.” Rex pulled at her hand, s
o she leaned closer, “a man that doesn’t want his hero to go back to Denver.”
“You want me to stay?” Her voice hitched. She didn’t want to hope that he had the same feelings she had for him.
“I’d like you to stay, yes.” Rex nodded. “Stay here with me.”
“For how long?” She smiled when he pulled her closer so she was nearly atop him.
“Long enough for me to decide if I am in love with you or not. Say thirty years?”
Cee Leigh’s eyes clouded. “You want me?”
“If you’ll have me.” He leaned up and brushed her lips gently with his. “Will you have me Cee Leigh Farrah?”
“With my whole heart.”
SABLE GREY
With favorite authors like Stephen King, Piers Anthony, and Iris Johansen, it's no wonder Sable Grey writes erotic romances with darker tones to them. From historical to contemporary suspense, Sable weaves stories of sex, love, and adventure. A storyteller at a young age, Sable began writing small stories as a child for her mother. However, it wasn't until she was well in to her twenties that she realized that her calling was sharing her stories with a larger audience than just family members and friends. Sable is dedicated to her craft and to bringing her readers quality fiction filled with gratifying and passionate relationships. For her, erotica and romance are one in the same, stories written to touch the mind, body, heart, and soul.
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