He, Cara and Rick all returned fire. Like a puppet on a string, Jimmy’s body jerked and he went down just outside the doorway. Something crashed just outside the opening and he disappeared from view.
Dale fired, and Rick cursed. Joe didn’t have time to worry about the meaning behind the tell-tale jolt he’d seen rock his friend’s leg. In response, Joe shot, hitting the Dale in the chest. He jumped up and walked over to disarm him, trusting Cara to cover them all.
“Too damn righteous to see the bigger picture.” Hawkins spat blood at Joe’s shoes.
Joe held his gun on Hawkins wishing like hell he had a pair of handcuffs or zip-ties on him. “Drop your gun, Dale. Now.”
“Why, so you can get all the glory? Big, bad deputy taking down the corrupt Sheriff? I don’t think so.” He raised his gun and pointed it at Joe.
Not having any choice, he shot again, hitting him in the right shoulder. Hawkins dropped the gun and went silent. Joe kicked it away.
“Rick? How are you man?” He chanced a glance at his friend and saw his sister with her bloodied hands on his thigh. An alarming amount of blood coated her hands and already seeped to the floor.
“I’ll be fine.” His voice sounded weak and all kinds of strained.
“Sure you will. Let’s get out of here. My phone’s in the truck and we need an ambulance. Cara? Cover me while I run out to the truck?”
“Yeah, I’m on it.”
“That’s my girl. Sis, stay on Rick. I hate to leave him in here, but I don’t want to move him. He needs an ambulance yesterday.”
“I can walk, MacDonald. I’m not dead.” Rick tried to stand but didn’t fight it when Leigh used only a single hand on his chest to stop him.
Another shot fired outside and they all flinched. Then another answered.
“Joe.” He heard the torment in his sister’s voice and understood her unvoiced thoughts. She feared for Rick’s life, but didn’t want him to head out into danger either.
“Love you, Leigh. I’ll be back. Promise.”
“Love you too, Joe.” He tucked her quiet words into his heart and headed out.
Cara watched Joe leap over the front step ruins and run to his truck. Staying out of sight as much as possible, she scanned the area. She couldn’t see where the other shots came from. Standing in the open doorway, she chanced a quick glance down and saw blood on the collapsed front steps. Maybe Jimmy had fired a couple of wild shots as he fled?
Another shot sounded and Joe hit the ground. She carefully stepped out and on the busted wood and readied to provide cover fire. He crawled to the driver side of his truck and stayed low. She couldn’t see any blood, but that didn’t stop the panic from clawing at her throat.
Visions of Justin, lying in the sand, so close but so far away flashed before her eyes. She closed her eyes and tried to blink it away.
A hand gripped her arm in a bone-crushing grip and turned her, her ankle twisting in the rubble beneath her feet. She tried to cry out but a sweaty hand covered her mouth.
Boyd hissed in her ear. “Finally got you, bitch. Let’s go.” The scent of heated gun cleaning oil and sweat filled her nostrils. Something warm and metallic pushed against her temple, and she closed her eyes in shame. She was supposed to be Joe’s backup, and she’d failed.
Another gunshot blasted through the still air, and she flinched. Then she heard a voice that eased her fear. Trent called out. “Yo, MacDonald! You got any cuffs in your truck?” Trent marched a stumbling, bleeding Jimmy Hawkins out from the tree line.
He froze when he saw her and Boyd. Joe must have seen the look on Trent’s face, because he turned and looked directly at her. She wanted to weep for her stupidity.
“Let’s go.” Boyd spoke quietly in her ear, then he raised his voice for the guys to hear. “Boys, Cara and I have some unfinished business to attend to. She’ll catch up to you later. Or not.” He tugged her and the hem of her jeans caught in the collapsed front steps, knocking her off balance.
She fell and the world around her erupted in gunfire.
Leigh’s alarm grew as the flow of blood from Rick’s thigh leaked at a steady, horrifying rate. She knelt on the hard floor beside him and placed both hands on the dark spot on his inner thigh. The dark crimson stain spread faster and farther by the second.
“Leigh, baby. Take my gun. I know Joe had to have shown you how to use one.” His words came out in a slow, stuttering pace that terrified her more than the blood loss. Rick, always so strong and capable, he’d seemed invincible. He was so big and domineering—to think that something as small as a single bullet could knock him on his ass went well beyond sobering.
“You hold it. I’ve got to keep the pressure on.” She pressed even harder on the wound with both hands, making him groan in pain.
She would have thought it impossible, but his handsome face paled even more.
“You need to protect yourself. There’s no telling who’s out there. Take it.” Her heart lurched when she saw determination stamped in granite across his features.
“I’ll be fine. You’ll protect me. I trust you.” She locked gazes with him, willing him to hang on just a little longer. She held pressure and hoped and prayed with everything she had that he could hold on until help came. The spread of blood met the floor and crept toward her knees.
“I’m not strong enough.” Each word that left his mouth grew weaker than the last. “You have to protect yourself. I can’t do it.” When shame flickered in his eyes, her heart broke.
She shifted her position so she could leverage her body and put more of her weight into her grim chore. “Rick, you hang on. I—we need—” A broken sob tore from her chest. I can’t lose it now. She had to remain calm. “Addie. Me. I need your help to find her. She needs you.” She took a deep breath and fought the hitch in her chest. “You’re the only one capable of finding her.” He’d done so much for them both. In his weakest moment, he deserved the truth. “I need you.” Her voice broke.
Then his eyes closed. The gun fell from his hand, hitting the floor with a loud thud.
Joe would want her to take it and be prepared to defend herself. Rick was right, she knew how.
She watched, concentrating on the subtle, almost invisible rise and fall of his chest. The choice was easy—as long as there was a single ounce of blood in his body or one small breath, she would continue to hold pressure.
The door opened behind her, and she sighed with relief, yet she couldn’t pull her concentration from the rise and fall of Rick’s chest. “Please, please tell me there’s an ambulance on the way.” Joe? Cara? Trent or Kate? She didn’t care if it was Santa Claus behind her as long as they brought some sort of hope.
“Don’t know my dear, but neither one of us will be here to find out. Let’s go.” An unfamiliar, sinister voice spoke behind her, chilling her blood. She closed her eyes and continued to press all her weight into Rick’s wound.
Something sharp and cold touched the back of her neck. Electric pain whipped through her, burning her every cell with agony.
The last thing she saw was her blood-soaked hands falling away from Rick’s wound as the world faded to black.
Something heavy fell on top of Cara, knocking the air from her lungs. She struggled to breathe and fought to untangle her arms from beneath her. Only a few heartbeats later, and the weight was gone and familiar hands ran over her body.
“Fuck, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Joe asked.
“I’m fine. My ankle’s screaming, and he knocked the wind out of me, but I’m fine. I promise. Get Trent something to restrain Jimmy before the idiot does something stupid and gets himself shot again. I’m surprised he hasn’t passed out by now. Hand me your phone, and I’ll call the ambulance.”
“Yes, ma’am.” While she called 911, he jogged back to his truck and came back with a handful of extra-large zip ties and tossed a few to Trent who immediately restrained Jimmy.
“You sure you’re good?” He looked her over with a world of doubt on his f
ace.
“I am. Go do your thing. I’ll be right behind you. I need to assess Rick’s wound.” She took a set of ties from Trent and set to work on an unconscious Boyd. She prayed for all she was worth, that her friend wasn’t injured too badly. In all the chaos, she hadn’t been able to get a look at his wound.
With a single, long-legged step, Joe hefted himself up and over the crumbled steps. She relaxed. It is over. Thank—
Something crashed inside. “Rick! Rick, where’d she go?” Joe’s voice was loud, part anger, part panicked shout.
She didn’t hear any response until Joe cursed a blue streak and the back door slammed. Dread settled in her belly. Something was wrong. Way wrong.
Trent rolled a crumpled Boyd over to his side who groaned and opened his glossy eyes.
“He got her, didn’t he? Fucker likes pretty women and girls.” He coughed and blood bubbled from his mouth.
“Got who?” Trent asked as he patted Boyd down, checking for weapons.
“The pretty one that looks like your Kate. He wanted the blond little girl, but said he’d settle for the sexy brunette instead.”
Icy fear crept its way up Cara’s spine.
“Make you a deal.” Boyd coughed and there was a hint of desperation behind his cocky words.
“We don’t deal with scum. Ever.” Trent stood over Boyd, his expression full of disgust. He looked as though he wanted to scrape something from the bottom of his boot.
“You will this time. Sutton took her. You want her back, you’ll deal.”
Trent glared and said nothing.
Finally caving, Boyd spoke, his words barely intelligible. “Promise me that you fucking do-gooders will watch over my sister, and I’ll tell you where to find her. Keep Sutton away from my sister.”
Joe walked back into the little house to find both Rick and Hawkins lying flat on their backs. His sister was nowhere to be found. He shook Rick who’d barely been able to open his eyes then he’d bolted out the back door, but had no idea which direction to run. His every instinct was telling him to run like he’d never run before, but the woods which were only a short distance away hid a hundred different options.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!
He stalked back inside, praying they could get something useful from Jimmy or Hawkins, if they survived.
Checking on Rick, he found that he was still breathing, but his pulse was weak.
I need to get my head together or I won’t do anyone any good. God, Leigh had been taken, and Rick was so much worse than Joe had thought. Fuck!
Cara. She was a nurse. He need to get her in here. Maybe she could do something he couldn’t. What, he had no clue, but he had to try.
He restrained the barely breathing Hawkins just to be safe before he went back out front.
Trent tucked his phone into his back pocket and looked to the driveway with his hands on his hips. “I called Kate to come back. There should be a med kit in Rick’s ride. She’s not far and will be here any minute.”
“Cara, I need you to look at Rick. It’s bad. Come here.” Not giving a fuck, he let his grief into his voice. If anything happened to his sister, he’d never, ever forgive himself. Without waiting for her reply, he swept her into his arms and carried her inside.
Fuck.
Silent and careful, she followed them through the woods. How Addie wished she had one of her grandfather’s old guns. But no, her good for nothing father had sold them all at the pawn shop.
She had the phone the do-gooders had left her in her pocket. She’d been playing with it, learning how to use the camera and flashlight things on it. She hoped it would be of use now. She didn’t know what else to do. She just knew she had to do something.
The pretty lady who always left her stuff dangled limply over the creepy guy’s shoulder. Her hair was so long that it almost dragged the ground. Addie thought she knew where he was taking her, but didn’t want to make any noise by calling for help on the phone. And by all the gunfire she’d heard, there still might be trouble at her house.
Her home.
She knew it wasn’t much more than a shithole, but it was all she’d ever known. Now she wouldn’t be able to stay there ever again. She didn’t know where she’d go.
The guy slowly stepped out into the clearing where her aunt used to live. Her trailer had burned down not long after she died and no one ever did anything about it. With his gun in one hand and the other arm around the lady’s legs, he walked to a shiny black car. He opened the passenger door and put her inside then quietly shut the door. Then he got in the driver’s side and started the engine.
A picture. She could take a picture of the license plate. Her shaky fingers fumbled over the buttons until she found the right one. She waited until the car turned around to pull out. Then she snapped a picture. Then another.
She blinked and the car was gone.
Cara sat in the chair next to Joe and ran her hand up and down his back. She felt utterly useless as the man she loved worried. Kate sat in the chair on his other side, silently offering her support, yet her fear was likely every bit as strong. From what Cara understood, the two women were more like sisters than cousins.
She leaned over, kissed his shoulder and sent another wish into the universe. She knew this man. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to his sister. Long hours had passed since she’d been taken and they had virtually nothing to go on. Unfortunately, Boyd had passed out before he gave Trent anything useful. He was in intensive care and still unstable.
Trent came out through the emergency room doors and ran a hand through his hair. “Fucking stubborn asshole. He sent the nurse to get AMA papers. He’s always gone his own way, but this takes the cake. I want her back too damn it, but he lost a ton of blood. They just removed a bullet from his leg and has over twenty stitches.”
Cara stood and walked to her friend. “Do you want me to talk to him? It can’t hurt.” Sometimes her softer touch made more progress than the males’ chest thumping tendencies.
“Thanks, but it won’t do any good. He grabbed my phone out of my hand and called in the rest of the crew. They’ll meet us back at my place in a bit. The way Rick lit a fire under their asses, they might even beat us there.”
This would kill Rick. Always one to shoulder the weight of responsibility, he’d likely see this as his biggest failure. Because of Addie, he and Leigh forged a deep connection and sparks ignited whenever the two entered the same room, yet they both denied being in any sort of relationship.
She wondered what would happen between them if the girl wasn’t their focus.
Joe scrubbed his hands over his face and sat up straighter. “You’re certain he’ll be fine?”
Trent answered. “They just finished giving him a unit of blood and a ton of fluids. They want to give him one more unit, but he’s refusing it as well. He’s still a little pale, but he’ll be fine as long as he does what he’s told. You can guess what kind of fight that’s going to be.”
“Okay. At least that’s one good thing. The sun will be up soon and I need to call mom and dad. They only know there’s been trouble. I have to find a way to tell them their daughter has disappeared and was most likely kidnapped. I’m going back to your place. I want to be there when Kylie wakes up.” Tired, heartsick, he stood and patted his pockets.
Kate stood and gave him a tight squeeze. “Sure. You and Cara go. Trent and I will stay here and try to sit on Rick. We’ll catch up with you in a bit.”
Cara’s heart split in two as she watched Joe’s arms clench tight around his cousin. He tucked her head under his chin and held her for a long moment before releasing her. He held his hand out for Cara and she gave it to him. They walked side by side into the wee hours of the dark morning.
When they came to his truck, he pulled her tight against him. “I need you.” The pain and grief in his voice made her weep. She wished she could take every ounce of his misery from him. He’d been through so much already. The sight of this incredibly
strong male crippled by his love for his family would never leave her.
“You have me. I’m not going anywhere.” With her face pressed to close to him, she spoke to his heart.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. If I have to, I’ll climb you like a tree.”
Though his smile was weak, when it came, she tucked it into her heart to keep forever.
Epilogue
Two months later
“Yay!” The rapid stomp-stomp-stomp of boots clattered through the house, warming Cara’s heart. “We’re going to a barbeque!” She caught a flash of a pink and yellow swimsuit and cowboy boots speeding down the hall as she put the lid on her baked beans.
Joe walked in from loading a cooler full of drinks into his truck and his shoulders slumped. “Cowboy boots and a bikini? No. Just no. She’s six, for cryin’ out loud.”
“How about you load this and the others into the truck? I’ll get her straightened out.” She smiled and handed the dish to the baffled man that she loved.
“Works for me.” He leaned in and kissed her long and deep, making her heart sing.
Her life was gloriously full.
Full of love, laughter, friends and family. At Joe’s insistence, or more accurately order, she’d moved more of her things to Riley Creek. She still planned to finish her degree and, though it would be tough, she had no doubt that their relationship would make it through the semester and come out stronger on the other side.
A flash of sadness marred his handsome features, and she wished for all she was worth that she could take his troubles away, but some things not even love could erase.
But eventually, with a love as strong and true as theirs on their side, they could conquer anything that life threw at them.
* * *
Catching Cara: Dark Horse, Inc: Book 2 Page 22
