“What the heck did you give her, Peter?” Cole asked.
“A dose of morphine. It’s probably kicking in about now. That's why she got all loose. Good thing. The burn is deep. The doctors will determine if she’ll need a skin graft.”
“You know I can hear you, right?” The men smiled at each other before Peter walked away, returning with a stretcher.
“Your chariot awaits, my lady.”
“I don’t need the stretcher.”
“I just gave you a strong painkiller; you’re going to be unsteady on your feet. It’s dark and the ground is uneven. Stretcher is your only option,” Peter said, sounding severe and no longer joking around. “Sorry, ma’am.”
“Don’t be sorry for doing your job. I understand.”
“She’s a stubborn one,” Cole said wryly.
“I will forego the stretcher for you since we didn’t give you pain meds. But you’re coming along for the ride.”
She could see Cole was torn between wanting to stay with his brother and needing to protect her. Always the consummate alpha male protector. Right then she didn’t care. She wasn’t stupid enough to think she didn’t want him to come with her. In fact, she didn’t want him out of her sight for the foreseeable future. She couldn’t handle it if something happened to him.
“Like you could get me on a stretcher if you tried.” The swagger was back, even if he was covered in soot and bleeding from a head wound.
“Who’s the stubborn one now?” the female EMT, Sydney, asked. Her voice was flirtatious, but Cole’s eyes were locked on Jessie when he answered.
“And wild horses couldn’t stop me from riding with her to the hospital anyway, so it’s a moot matter.”
14
Cole didn’t know what had hit him in the head, or rather what had grazed him. He assumed there was a nail or something that had sliced his head open. Regardless, he didn’t think he could give it credit for his reaction when he had seen Jessie standing next to Coop, wrapped up in his arms. Cole had initially seen red, then he felt stupid when he realized that Coop was restraining Jessie, stopping her from running into the blazing building. He felt guilty and ashamed for thinking Coop would make a move on her when he knew Cole…what? What did Cole want from Jessie? He wanted it all. Suddenly he knew with crystal-clear clarity he wanted to ride it out with her and see where it would take them. He wasn’t foolish enough to think they were in love. Not yet. But he knew he could get there in time if given a chance. And he wanted that chance to explore each other. They were undoubtedly compatible when it came to sex, but long-lasting relationships needed more than sex to survive.
What he knew for sure was it had helped seeing Jessie’s reaction to Sydney flirting with him. She was good at covering it up, but he had seen the jealousy. The expression had been fleeting, but he hadn’t missed it. He was sure of it. He knew she was going through similar feelings and now was not the time to be starting a relationship. In fact, it was downright ludicrous. Her brother was missing, Race the Stars was stowed away by said brother, and there was mystery surrounding her, but even so, he wanted to be with her.
More importantly, he wanted to protect her. When he saw the burn on her arm it had felt like he was punched in the stomach. How had he not realized she was hurt? He was so focused on the inner turmoil of his parents’ barn—the barn Coop had worked so hard to make state-of-the-art for the horses—burn to the ground. It wasn’t an excuse though. The barn was just a possession. Jessie wasn’t a mere possession. She was real. She was important. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight until this bullshit was over and whoever was responsible was behind bars or dead.
Cole stood back and watched as they loaded her onto the stretcher. She looked drowsy, no doubt from the pain meds. He hung back a moment to talk to Coop before he climbed into the ambulance.
“As soon as I have her taken care of and she can leave, we’ll be back.”
“I’ll pick you up. It’s not like you’re going to have a ride. Give me a call when you think you’ll be ready.”
“All right. Nothing is going to stop me from getting to the bottom of this, but that can wait until we’re done at the hospital. All I know is the SOBs who decided to mess with the both of you are going to pay. They’re going to pay dearly.”
“As long as you remember the barn doesn’t matter to me. You matter to me. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. I need my brother; I don’t need a barn.” He turned and glanced at the ambulance where Jessie had been loaded and where they were waiting for him to join them. “And something tells me the woman sitting on that stretcher would agree with me.”
Coop walked away before Cole could respond, but he was right. Of course, he was right. Cole had already told himself as much. That didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed and it didn’t mean he was going to sit back and do nothing. It just meant he was going to have to be smart about how he took down whoever was behind it. Because he would take them down. There was no doubt in his mind. Cole was the one who would come out on the winning side. If for no other reason than because he owed it to his parents’ memory to protect Coop. And he owed it to his future with Jessie to make sure that he protected her and stopped any threat to her.
He climbed into the ambulance and allowed Sydney to fuss over him briefly before he told her enough and settled in for the ride. Jessie seemed to be sleeping, and he found himself memorizing every feature on her face. She was a remarkably beautiful woman, and she was fierce. Exactly the kind of woman who could get him to settle down, which didn’t scare him at all.
“Stop staring at me,” she whispered and then her lips curved up in a sexy smile.
“I thought you were sleeping.”
“Oh, so that makes it okay to stare at me?”
“No. I just didn’t think you’d noticed.”
“You’re not the only one with skills.”
“Oh, you don’t have to tell me twice.”
She licked her lips and opened her eyes to look him up and down. The temperature in the ambulance seemed to ratchet up a few degrees, and he grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. It was the only contact he could get away with, given the circumstances. After all, she had a terrible burn on her arm, and he didn’t want to hurt her. Not to mention, they had a bit of an audience with Sydney riding in the back while Peter drove them to the nearest hospital.
“You weren’t complaining earlier.”
Oh, the lady wanted to play.
“I distinctly recall that you weren’t complaining either. In fact, I got the impression you were enjoying yourself immensely.” He smiled as her cheeks colored a bit.
Quietly, Sydney cleared her throat, but he didn’t break eye contact with the mesmerizing woman holding his hand. Cole didn’t know why, but he couldn’t bring himself to sever that particular connection, and while he had simply forgotten Sydney was riding in back with them, in the end, he didn’t care she’d heard the banter. If anything, he was happy she’d heard. He had gone to high school with her, and she’d had a crush on him then. He remembered her as a young, gangly girl with braces who had not yet blossomed into the woman she was now. And Sydney had grown up to be a very attractive woman. Had he met her weeks ago, he probably would have had a fun time with her. But it wouldn’t have lasted, and it didn’t matter, because apparently he only had eyes for Jessie, and he wanted them both to get that message loud and clear. He had a feeling Jessie would spook easily.
“Geez, get a room,” Sydney said under her breath, but it didn’t sound malicious. Wistful, perhaps, but not mean.
Jessie flushed again and smiled at him before her eyes drifted closed. He hoped she rested a little bit. When he thought about the fact that she could have been seriously harmed in the fire…it was safe to say he was doing his best not to think about what could have happened. It had been stupid to risk his neck for Suzie Q, but he knew it would have torn Coop apart if he lost the foal and, if he was being honest, he wouldn’t have been able to handle losing the tiny filly that w
ay either.
When they got to the hospital, the ER staff insisted on checking him over, even though he argued relentlessly. It wasn’t until Jessie opened her eyes and told him to stop being such a stubborn baby and go get looked at that he actually listened. He hadn’t wanted to leave her side, but he knew that it was best to make sure his lungs were fine. Smoke inhalation could sneak up on you later, and he didn’t want to ruin any chances with either of them. When he got the all clear, he made his way down to the room he had left her in. A nurse stopped him on the way in.
“She isn’t in there.”
“What do you mean? Where is she?” he asked, bewildered.
“Oh, nothing to worry about. She told me to fill you in on everything. The burn is pretty deep. Second-degree to third-degree in a couple spots. It’s probably why she didn’t really feel it at first. The doctor needs to debride it. Once that’s done, she can go home. But she’s going to be in quite a bit of pain for a bit. The good news is, the doctor doesn’t think she’ll need a skin graft.”
She led him to a waiting room where he paced the room like a caged animal. Finally, he decided to make use of the time by calling Harrison.
“Black.” The man didn’t even sound tired, even though it was the middle of the night and he should have been sleeping.
“Harrison, it’s Cole. Listen, tonight someone set my family’s barn on fire. Jessie and I were inside.”
“Are you both all right?” he asked, his voice more alert. As if that was even possible.
“We’re fine. She has a pretty bad burn on her arm, but all things considered, we’re fine. But I need you to do some digging. Something isn’t adding up for me. This barn fire was intentional. They were pretty sure an accelerant was used. The question is why. Why now?”
“It seems like there’s something tying Jessie and her missing brother to you and your family.”
“We already know that both of our parents died in the same event. I need to review everything from that day. I missed something.”
“Have you asked Jessie?”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe she knows the answer. Or at least suspects what’s going on.”
Cole didn’t like the direction Harrison was taking him down. He had been worried she was holding back from him. Hadn’t he? Of course, she would hide things from him, they had just met. He knew there was something major not yet revealed. He had a feeling whatever she wasn’t telling him was huge.
JD was officially worried. The guys who had taken him were nowhere to be found. He had been thirsty and hungry when two new, scarier looking goons had shown up sometime in the middle of the night. These men were hardcore, dangerous men. Whereas the other two men had gotten the upper hand on him, they paled by comparison to the new men. JD figured these men were here to get him to talk. But talk about what? That was the million-dollar question. He didn’t know anything. At least he didn’t think he did.
He was just a guy who had taken too many adventurous risks in life. There wasn’t anything he’d done that was illegal or would warrant men like this coming after him. What was worse was they kept mentioning El Diablo. The name alone sent shivers down his spine. Even though he’d never heard of the man, he was smart enough to know El Diablo was the leader and he should be feared, and while the original two men had been low on the chain of command, it was clear the two new guys were not. He also had seen enough shows to know if you know the name of the bad guy you were less likely to walk out alive.
Somehow, he’d managed to maintain the pretense he didn’t understand what they were saying. It had worked to his advantage since they’d gotten there because they spoke freely. JD hoped it was an oversight on their end. They probably didn’t know he could speak four languages, but it was more likely they just didn’t care if he heard them talking about their plans. It was another indication he wasn’t getting out of there alive.
Being able to speak several languages had come in handy in all of his travels, and it was proving helpful now. He had established El Diablo was the boss, a very pissed off boss, who happened to be a major player in the drug world. He also had figured out that El Diablo was looking for something. For some reason, they thought JD had the answers they were looking for. But they were wrong. He’d never done drugs, and to his knowledge, he had never even been around drugs. How could he have any idea where their drugs were?
Admittedly his Spanish was a little rusty, but it wasn’t that rusty. He was pretty sure he had translated the men accurately. They continued to talk so quickly he was struggling to keep up, but he was able to figure out the gist of what they were saying. They were mad because they felt they were on a wild-goose chase and that El Diablo was crazy to keep searching for the people who had cost him millions in lost drugs. But it wasn’t until they mentioned it had been fourteen years that he finally started to piece together the puzzle. What were the chances they were looking for something lost during a drug bust fourteen years ago? The fact that his parents had died while on a drug bust fourteen years ago was too much of a coincidence. Did they think he knew something about what had gone down that day? All he knew was his parents, and two civilians had ended up dead in the cross fire.
But the floor dropped out from under him when he heard them say his sister’s name. It wasn’t until then that he understood the gravity of the situation. It was hard enough to believe someone had been able to tie him to their long-dead parents. But there was no way they should have been able to find out who his sister really was. Yet, somehow, they did, and wasn’t that what he had been worried about from the beginning? Yes, it was. What was more disturbing was the thought that someone had betrayed not only him but her as well.
Hours later as he slipped into unconsciousness from the beating they had given him, he was disgusted and ashamed he wasn’t stronger. He only hoped Jessie could forgive him for being weak.
Jessie had been released with discharge papers and strict instructions to follow them precisely and was just settling into the car Coop had picked them up in when she heard the ringtone of her phone. Momentarily confused, she looked at Coop who smiled at her and handed her purse to her.
“That thing has been ringing on and off for the last couple of hours. I figured you better take the call from whoever is trying to reach you.”
She grabbed the purse and dug out the phone. Only a handful of people knew the number of this particular phone. She answered on speaker phone assuming it was her brother and deciding it was important for them all to hear what he had to say.
“JD?”
“I must apologize, Angela—or should I say Special Agent Carpenter—but JD is not able to come to the phone right now.”
Bile rushed into her throat at the multitude of meaning behind those words. The implication JD wasn’t able to come to the phone because something was wrong with him or worse, that he was dead, was not lost on her. It also wasn’t lost on her the shock on both men’s faces in the car, but she didn’t have time to deal with them at the moment. She recovered quickly, and regaining her composure, spoke without hesitation.
“How did you get this number?”
“Come now, you know I have JD, and after some persuasion, he unlocked his phone, so we could have your phone number.”
“If you intend to have any conversation or hope to gain anything from me, then I suggest you put my brother on the phone.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t have the power here; I do. You won’t be making demands of me. I am the one in control.”
Damn it. He was right. He did hold all the cards. Well, maybe not all of them.
“Now, that’s where you’re wrong, El Diablo.” The silence on the other end said it all, he hadn’t expected her to challenge him. There was more than one way to gain control of the situation. “You underestimate me if you think you’re calling the shots. Put my brother on the phone. Now.”
He laughed, and the sound gave her chills. The man was called El Diablo for a reason. He was as evil as they c
ome, but he had a weak spot, similar to her own. While JD was her weak spot, he had a beautiful little family he thought no one knew about.
“I’m sorry, that’s just not possible at the moment. He’s taking a nap.”
“Then this conversation is over. I suggest when you call back that my brother is available to speak to me.”
“Do you think it wise to go this route?”
“I think it unwise for you not to put my brother on the phone. You should reconsider your stance, if not for yourself, then perhaps you should consider that cute little family you have stowed away in Southern California. I guarantee Dana and Victoria would be interested to find out what you really do for a job. Don’t you think so, Mr. Ryan?”
She hung up the phone, but not before she heard the sharp intake of breath. Her hands were shaking as she set the phone down in her lap. The son of a bitch had her brother and not only that, but he had figured out her identity. She had worked hard to infiltrate his network under her alias. Somehow, he had figured out she wasn’t Angela Barnhardt. What was even worse than that was how he had gotten her private number, the number only her brother and grandmother knew. What had he done to her brother to obtain her phone number? It was a closely-guarded secret, and neither would give it unless tortured. When she had gone undercover, she had to let her brother and grandmother have a way to get ahold of her. Jessie Carpenter couldn’t drop off the face of the planet. They would have mounted a national search for her. She was too reliable to go off on her own.
The one caveat had been that she would have a phone where they could reach her at each day at a specific time. She had set up a time for them to call so she was never caught off guard talking to them on the phone. When she had told Cole that she spoke to her brother every day, it hadn’t been entirely a lie. She talked to him every other day. But it was because they needed to know she was okay. Each call consisted of one word. A code word that let them know she was fine. She also had a code word that would signal alarm bells should be sounded if she used it.
Missing the Stars: Chandler County Page 12
