This deep-seated compulsion made it very difficult for Lake to be objective and assess the situation. It clouded her vision, a rash action might jeopardize her safety in spite of everyone’s best efforts to protect her. The well-meaning voices from those who loved her seemed distant. It was as though they were speaking from miles away and they couldn’t break through into her consciousness. Summer looked concerned but still had difficulty peeling her eyes away from Ryan.
“Hey, Terminator. I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to storm the house. If he does and he catches sight of you, I bet he’ll prepare to shit on the sidewalk.”
“I have my orders from Trash, gorgeous. I’m not leaving this window. Unless, it’s in a body bag.”
“Wow, the good looks and rock hard body must have driven the high school chicks wild back in drama club. I’m impressed but you’re not going to be nominated for an Oscar any time soon. If it gets any more theatrical in here, I’ll have to call in Steven Spielberg. Try to dial it back a notch.”
Incredulous that Ryan didn’t have a ready comeback, Lake glanced his way. The lack of witty repartee reflected his extreme concern and sharp focus. This surely wasn’t the meeting she’d envisioned between the two of them. Maria hovered with homemade lemonade and snacks but Lake hadn’t had any appetite since nausea had taken up residence in her gut. Worried as well, Maria had sent Juan into the barn to help Chad secure the horses in their stalls. The security alarms had been engaged and both men were on high alert. They both refused to barricade themselves in the house. Thank God she’d persuaded Lance to stay home. Troubled that Summer still insisted on being present, Lake worried she was placing herself in harm’s way. No matter how much Lake cajoled and argued, she wouldn’t budge so Lake had conceded. Ultimately, she was grateful for and comforted by her sister’s capable presence.
Her phone lit up so Lake grabbed it, relieved to see Josh’s face on the screen. She felt unworthy of him and the emotional events were starting to erode her confidence that she’d ever be capable of being the woman that he needed. With every move that Buck made and every disturbing phone call and message from Josh, she retreated further back into her own mind for protection against the extreme pain, her constant dance partner always wrapped around her. She wanted some privacy so she made her way to her office next to the living room and collapsed into her overstuffed desk chair where she could see out the picture window towards the barn.
“Hi babe, I’ve landed. Is everything okay there?”
“So far, so good. We haven’t seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. Summer is here. She wouldn’t take no for an answer when she found out Buck had escaped. I’m scared for her safety. She has a tendency to make rash decisions and act with bravado when she’s threatened. That, and the fact that Ryan is sitting at the window with a loaded gun like Buck will know his name after he lays his vengeance down, has me on edge. If he doesn’t shoot himself in the foot it will be a miracle. Good times.” Sighing into the phone, it became harder for Lake to hide her uncertain emotions for Josh’s sake but he didn’t need any further drama. She sank deeper into her leather chair while she thanked the heavens she’d never told him how much she loved him. If she had, it would just be that much harder when he’d had enough of her and said goodbye.
“Okay, just let Roberts do his thing. It will keep him from doing something even crazier. He’s a crack shot so if anyone should have a gun trained outside, it’s him. I’m just happy my dad didn’t insist on staying there with him. There’s enough to worry about. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Dustin called and he’s with the Scottsdale police right now. There’s an APB out for Buck. He’s bound to make a mistake soon and the police will catch him. Dustin’s exceptional at what he does and I have no doubt he can get this done. He’ll be there as soon as or sooner than I am. I know it’s hard to believe this, babe. Everything is going to be alright. I promise.”
After Lake hung up with a tense goodbye, she rubbed the back of her neck and stared out the window at the barn. Thank goodness the horses were safely inside with Chad and Juan. She trusted them both to keep the horses protected. A blanket of eerie silence enveloped the entire farm. Lake recalled when poets referenced the calm before the impending storm and she had to admit the thought caused gooseflesh to creep up her arms. She rose to return to the living room when a flash of liquid gold caught her eye. No, it can’t be, we haven’t planned for it! All the preparation in the world couldn’t help them now. Lake ran for the front door as fast as her legs would carry her.
The time had come to face her enemy, her and her alone. She knew deep in her heart she might die but would willingly make the sacrifice to save her treasured horses. She flung the deadbolt to the right and flew through the door before Ryan could even turn in his seat. Summer raced after her.
“No, you two need to stay in the house! Let me go outside.” Ryan’s words fell on deaf ears. Lake wouldn’t turn around with the horses in jeopardy and propelled herself towards the barn at a full sprint. Buck had started the barn on fire and the flames licked their way up the sides to the roof. If it reached the hay supply, they were done. That diabolical bastard had figured a way to get everyone out of the house.
Lake knew Ryan chased her because she could hear his screams for her to stop. She’d made it halfway down the sidewalk when she glanced over her right shoulder. Ryan had slowed and his body leaned forward, bent from the waist as he held his hands over his stomach. Blood trickled out of his body and through his fingers. She stopped and turned towards him, horrified. Buck had just shot one of her best friends in this world.
“Lake, I’ve been hit in the gut. You have to stop. Please, Lake! I need an ambulance!”
“Ryan, I have to get to the horses. Maria will call the police. Maria! Maria, Ryan needs help! Ryan, keep holding your hands over the wound and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
As Lake started to trot backwards, she saw Maria peer out the front door and felt some blessed relief. Maria was a mother and very capable in a crisis. It was pure torture to keep going and not to run back to Ryan but the horses had to come first and she had to believe in Maria. The horses were defenseless and they trusted her. It would be hard enough to get them outside herself.
“Get in the house, lock the door and call 9-1-1. Tell them we need Dustin Johnson from the FBI. Buck Hoeff has started a fire at the Lake Harrison farm and a man’s down with a gun-shot wound to the stomach. Hurry, Maria! I need medical help, right now!”
Ryan’s words pierced through Lake’s panic and she turned around to run straight to the barn. Maria would help him.
Chad and Juan doused the flames with saddle pads, cooling sheets and a watering hose while Lake and Summer, opened the stall doors and turned the horses loose. Lake decided not to blindfold any of them, more concerned with immediate evacuation to avoid smoke inhalation. The horses smelled the smoke and sensed the panic of their human caretakers and they were frantic in their wish to bolt outside. The farm sported a six foot adobe wall around the perimeter of the entire acreage so Lake didn’t worry about putting them into gated paddocks. It was unlikely that any of them would leave the safety of the herd to try to jump over the wall, unless someone started shooting at them. She prayed that Buck acted alone. Chad and Juan already had most of the fire extinguished. Angels must be watching over them. The remaining flames weren’t going to reach any ladder fuels dried out by the strong Arizona sun.
Lake bent over from the waist as she sighed with relief for her horses although she knew the worst was yet to come. Buck lurked on the premises and hadn’t shown himself. She glanced towards the house and gasped when she saw Ryan on the sidewalk, deathly still. Why hadn’t Maria helped him? Where were the police? Lily stood next to him as she nudged his left hand with her muzzle and beseeched Lake with her liquid brown eyes. He shouldn’t be down there, she seemed to impart. Lake ran towards his prone body and fell to her knees beside him. She struggled to keep the bile from shooting out her mouth on to the landscapi
ng rocks. There was so much blood. Too much blood.
She had done this! She’d put them all in extreme danger. If they got out of this alive, it would be a miracle. Josh and Ryan were so much better than her. She couldn’t stand the fact that she’d put their very lives in jeopardy just by their association with her. Steely determination consumed her. Please God, she prayed, just let everyone else live and take me. Lake looked from left to right as she tried locate Summer, Maria, Juan and Chad to assure herself they were still safe. She would make any deal with this devil to save her loved ones.
In that desperate moment, it hit Lake hard how much she loved Josh. He didn’t deserve any of this. Her old doubts came flooding back like a river overflows its banks in the springtime. Buck was right. He’d called her an ugly cow that no man would want. She wasn’t good enough for one of the best man she’d ever known. She was overreaching again, as always. Josh possessed honesty, loyalty, integrity ... an incredible man. He deserved better. Someone stronger, less damaged, more beautiful. With resolve, she made an iron clad pact with herself to walk away if she made it off this farm alive. To leave him would be the hardest thing she’d ever do. Maybe, Buck would just kill her and end her misery. The pain of the physical body had to be more desirable than this torment of the soul. She just didn’t deserve to be loved.
Placing her hands on the bullet wound to staunch the flow of bleeding, Lake could barely see through the stream of tears that sprang from her eyes. Ryan had lapsed into unconsciousness. She felt for a pulse and at first, she couldn’t find one. It felt thready at best. He had become one of her favorite people in the entire world. She couldn’t help the involuntary scream of terror that tore through her body and escaped out of her mouth.
“Oh, my God!”
“God’s going to sit this one out, bitch.”
Everyone's scared, Josh.
Few carry on.
Keep calm~
The Universe
Chapter Thirty One
Nausea crawled up into Josh’s throat as he fidgeted in the back of the cab traveling on the 101. He’d phoned Lake, Roberts and Summer multiple times since he’d hailed the cab, with no response from any of them. Something had gone wrong. In a full blown panic because he couldn’t get a live person on the phone at the farm, he’d called Dustin and told him to get over there now and bring back up. Josh felt elated when his phone finally lit up but the reprieve became short lived. Dustin’s name appeared on the caller ID.
“Josh, its Dustin. We’re on our way to the Harrison place and will be there within two minutes. I hate to tell you this but right after you called me, a 9-1-1 call came in from a Mexican lady. We could barely understand her. Her speech sounded frenzied and her English was unclear. We made out something about a fire, someone might have been shot and they needed an ambulance. Every available man is headed there now. How far away are you?”
“Five minutes.” Josh leaned over his knees and put his head between his legs. That bastard had shot Lake again. What if she didn’t make it or lay mortally wounded and he couldn’t get there in time? His life would never be the same. What if he didn’t get to say goodbye? Now that he’d found what he’d unknowingly spent his whole life searching for, he could not go on without her. His future appeared in her eyes. Fear surrounding the unknown outcome got so intense he wanted to scream. He found it harder and harder to drag oxygen into his burning lungs.
“Josh, I know you. You’re going to want to rush in there but you have to stay outside the police perimeter. Even you’re not tough enough to stop a madman with a loaded weapon. Let us handle this. If he’s still armed, my orders will be to shoot to kill and then this will be over. We’re getting the EMTs inside as fast as possible to ensure the safety of everyone there. Right now, we’re not sure how many people are on the premises. We can’t have you putting yourself in danger and distracting law enforcement from getting a clean, safe shot to take this guy out.”
As he pushed the end button and the cab approached Lake’s front gate, Josh considered Dustin’s advice and hoped his mind and body would remain controlled so he could follow through with those orders. Praying had never been his thing but he sent positive thoughts out into the universe and promised God he’d hit his knees if he got to the farm and found every person safe. Except one. That bastard had to go.
Smoke billowed up from the barn area and about five squad cars and a fire truck were parked outside the security gate. The gate had been mowed down with a SWAT vehicle so the officers could enter the driveway. He threw a hundred dollar bill to the driver and told him to keep it as he grabbed his duffle bag and jumped out. After he slammed it into the ground, he rummaged through it and pulled out the hard case that held his hand gun. He no longer cared what Dustin said. He’d stop at nothing to get inside and to do that, he needed to be armed. Once he made it past the blockade, he’d use the back way around the barn to get to the front yard. God only knew what he would find once he got there.
Josh shoved the gun inside the waistband of his jeans with the safety on and jogged towards the rear of the property.
“Sir, you can’t go in there! This is a secured area. Sir! Sir, fall back or we’ll have to cuff you!” Josh could’ve have cared less. He just ran fast with the least sound possible. His legs were long. They’d never be able to tackle him before he got to Lake. If they wanted to stop him, they’d have to shoot him in the back. He came around the barn and loped half way to the house when he stopped cold dead in his tracks, aghast at the scene that appeared before him.
Roberts lay prone, flat on his back on the sidewalk, bathed in a pool of bright red blood. Lake knelt beside him as she heaved enormous sobs. She kept both of her palms flat against his stomach in an attempt to stop the massive bleeding as she rocked back and forth. Shock and horror haunted her green eyes and tears saturated her face.
Lily stood beside both of them like a life size bronze statue. If that mare moved a muscle, it wasn’t perceptible. Josh guessed she’d meandered over to the area because of her bond with Lake and horse sense that Lake needed her. Unfortunately, she presented a sizeable impediment to anyone attempting a kill shot. Huddled in an outside corner of the barn under an overhang were Summer, Chad and Juan as they peeked out at the scene. Terror rested on the sultry, summer air. Josh glanced over to them and lifted his index finger up to his lips as he grabbed his gun from his pants and released the safety.
Josh spotted that pathetic mother fucker about twenty yards from the sidewalk, ambling forward towards Lake and Roberts. He looked like Satan incarnate. Josh doubted someone that looked that maniacal existed outside of Hollywood. Dark brown hair stood straight up all over his head. Dirt and soot covered his face and hands. His brown eyes appeared dead and held zero emotion, not even anger or spite. Josh noted with alarm that Buck’s gun hand remained steady so he gazed out over the property trying to find Dustin. Finally, he noticed him on the patio with an assault rifle trained on Buck who continued to make himself a moving target.
Josh crept a few yards to take cover behind a tall cactus and trained his ears towards the sidewalk in an attempt to overhear any indication of Buck’s next move. Too many bushes and landscaping rocks along the path provided cover for Buck. Josh couldn’t take a shot without the possibility of a carom hitting Lake or Lily. He couldn’t get a clean shot right now and prayed that Dustin would be able to get one first. For the love of God and all that was holy, Roberts needed to get to a hospital or they were going to lose him and Josh would never forgive himself. He alone had put Roberts here in harm’s way.
Lake let out a wail that sounded like her insides were being wrenched from her body.
“Oh, my God!”
“God’s going to sit this one out, bitch!”
Buck advanced on them, his gun trained on Lake’s head.
“Just shoot me. Kill me. I don’t care anymore!” As she sobbed, her voice wavered which made her actual words hard to decipher. “Please, just let the police come in and save Ryan. He didn�
�t do anything to you. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“You spread your skinny legs for him, whore, so he has to go. You, crouched there, bawling like a baby as you watch his life blood ooze from his body is like my own personal Normal Rockwell painting. Hell, I couldn’t have planned it any better. I love a gut wound, don’t you?”
“Wh – wh – what?” Lake could barely get the syllable out past the tears that were forming a puddle on her upper lip. “Ryan is my friend. I’ve never slept with him. He’s just here trying to help me.”
“Don’t try to bullshit me, skank. A very reliable source informed me that you suck the dick of famous NHL powerhouse, Josh Adams. But then again, you’ll swallow for anyone. Won’t you?”
“Buck, this isn’t Josh. This is Ryan Roberts.” Lake whimpered. Buck heard and understood the sincerity in her voice because he spun around and pointed a soot blackened finger at Summer.
“Cunt, listen up! Is that Josh Adams or not? Remember, your pathetic life and that of your repulsive sister depend on the accuracy of your answer to this very important question.” He continued to wave the gun around his head. His expression turned stormy as he awaited her answer and hoped Lake hadn’t been honest with him so he could pull the trigger.
Summer’s firm voice rang out. “Buck, that is retired NHL center Ryan Roberts. An incredible man and friend to all of us. Josh Adams is from Chicago where he’s a color man for the Blackhawks. He went back to Chicago for work but he is due back today. I would swear on my father’s grave. That is not Josh. Please, I beg of you. Let Ryan get help. He’s not the one you want. In fact, let Lake go to the hospital with Ryan. You can take me.” With that Summer stepped forward onto the walkway to keep Buck distracted so Josh could take a shot at him. Josh admired her courage.
Closing The Gap (Dangerous Pasts, #1) Page 19
