Cowboy's Break

by Lexi Post

  She waited, watching the floor below, her hands sweating even more. When there was no new movement, she wiped one hand on her dirty jeans and grabbed the next wrung. After doing that with her other hand, she focused on what was above her, not below.

  When she made it up on to the catwalk, she sat and let her heartbeat return to normal. From here she could see one half of the building. There was a door, but as she suspected, it was next to the office.

  She’d just have to crawl to the other end and see if there was any other way out. She rose on her hands and knees and started to make her way across, keeping her boots away from the metal to avoid making any noise.

  She was almost halfway across when she heard the small door to the warehouse open. She froze.

  Vince studied the warehouse specs on his phone for the twentieth time. There were only two ways in, a single door on one side and two loading bay doors on another. Most likely they would have Rachel away from the small door to make sure they had their money before letting her go.

  He didn’t think they’d let her go unless they had kept her blindfolded. Only then would she have a chance. His best guess was their plan was to take the money, take Crystal, take Rachel and leave.

  He glanced at Hunter, who crouched next to him behind the dumpster they used for cover. The man was tense. Like himself, Hunter probably had memories of similar situations and his reflexes were on overdrive.

  In that building, somewhere in the eight thousand square-foot space was his woman…and she needed him.

  Vince looked at his watch. It was time to get into position. He nodded to Hunter, who acknowledged the signal and slipped away. At least he had a well experienced man to help him extract his future wife. He’d thought briefly of bringing in the police, but was afraid they would scare Leo the loan shark away before he could get to her.

  His plan with Hunter was simple. Whoever found Rachel first, brought her out of there. They each wore an ear piece and the only words they would communicate were “got her” and “blowing the doors” if needed. The other person would engage the perps if necessary and they would all exit. The meeting place was a nearby bar.

  It was time. He walked back into the alley and strode around the block to the side of the building where Leo was expecting Crystal. A black sedan with blackened windows drove up just before he turned the corner. That had to be the boss man.

  He ducked behind the corner of the building and watched as three men exited the car and walked into the building. Two had semi-automatics, the third didn’t carry a weapon in sight, but he was sure to have one.

  After they went in, he continued his walk toward the warehouse, the backpack of money all that Rachel had left. He didn’t care. She was worth every penny and more. Nestled in the money was a small explosive device that would do little except send men to the ground and expel a bunch of smoke.

  The grenades were in his jacket. If the criminals were smart, they’d figure the jacket was for weapons and take it, which was his plan. The other parts were well hidden in his hat.

  He reached the door and knocked. One of the men with a semi-automatic opened the door. “Who are you?”

  “Howdy.” He played the hick cowboy pretty well. “Crystal sent me.”

  The man frowned, scanned the alley behind him then let him in.

  Good. He gave the area a quick examination as he was escorted to a small office. Outside it, the other man patted him down. He pulled out the grenades. “What are these for?”

  He shrugged. “Emergencies.”

  “Yeah, well there won’t be any emergencies in here today. What’s in the bag?”

  Vince barely kept himself from calling the man an idiot. “What your boss is expecting.”

  The man frowned then his face lightened, but he didn’t ask to inspect the bag. Not smart.

  “Where’s Crystal?”

  Vince shrugged. “Hiding. She was too scared to come, but wanted her sister back, so she sent me. I’m getting paid to drop this off and bring her sister home.”

  The guy shook his head. “The boss ain’t going to be happy about this.” He opened the door and pushed him inside. “You can tell him yourself.”

  Men’s voices floated up to her. Rachel lifted her head above the short railing and saw three men enter.

  “This can’t be good.” She covered her mouth with her hand as her pulse went into overdrive. She listened intently, but all she could hear was the pounding of her heart. She had no idea where the men were in the warehouse, but at least she didn’t hear anyone climbing the wall ladder.

  She had to get out—now. But how? She looked down the rest of the cat walk to the other end which hung out over open space. She looked back but she knew what was there and there was no way out that way. Below her were just stacks and stacks of appliances. Unless there was some kind of trap door in the concrete floor, that wouldn’t help her. Lastly, she looked above.

  Lord have mercy! Not much farther than where she knelt was a hatch in the ceiling. She looked back toward where the men had come in. She could just see the head on one man talking to someone else.

  She really didn’t have a choice. Crawling to the spot where the hatch was, she examined it. There was a latch, but no lock or anything. The question was, how much noise would the rusty latch make, and while she stood to undo it, she’d be in the line of sight of the men below.

  A knock on the outside door drew her attention and she watched the men she could see move toward the door. Okay, it was now or never. Standing up, she worked the rusted latch, hoping the voices below would drown out her little noise.

  Not wanting to know if they saw her or not, she screwed up her courage and opened the hatch. It seemed like the sun that streamed in was a spotlight centered on her. Ignoring the fear in her throat, she hoisted herself up through the opening and quickly closed the hatch quietly.

  She sat listening for a moment before the heat of the metal roof began to burn through her clothing. “Shit.”

  Taking her boots off again, she pulled her socks from her feet then shoved her feet back into her boots, which turned out to be no small feat. Putting her socks on her hands, she knelt and looked over the entire roof.

  For criminy sake, she felt like she was on top of a skyscraper! “Stay calm and do what Vince would do.” She studied all four edges of the building. Behind her, it looked like something metal rose above the roof line.

  Since there was nothing else but mechanical pieces, she crawled toward the object. As she drew closer, she started to relax. It looked like the top of a ladder. Quickly, she finished her quiet trek, feeling more confident that her kidnappers didn’t know she was up there and that she would be able to get down.

  As she reached the edge, she looked over. “Yes.” Between the two loading bay doors was a ladder. She pulled her socks from her hands and stuffed them in her pocket. As she swung her leg over onto the first wrung, she thought seriously of tying herself with the rope she still had around her waist as a safety precaution, like mountain climbers did, because it was a long way down, but she didn’t want to take the time to untie herself. Besides, the rope wasn’t very long.

  She took a deep breath and studied the area in front of the bays and into the alleyways. No one was about. Gripping the side of the heated ladder with her hands, she swung her other leg over and started her climb down.

  It seemed like forever and she was too nervous to look down, so she focused on the metal wall in front of her and not on how high she was or how hot the ladder was on her hands. It wasn’t until she tried to place her foot on the next rung and found nothing there, that she finally looked down.

  The ladder ended a full story above the ground. Shit! What good was a ladder that didn’t go to the ground? Who the hell designed this piece of work? Her anger helped her conquer her fear as she stood there, a sitting duck for anyone to see, her hands beginning to burn.

  Okay Vince, now would be a great time to find me. But as she scanned the immediate area again, there wa
s no one around. She looped her arm over the rung and held on by the crook of her elbow to give her hands a break. Come on, Rachel. You can do this. You run the ranch. You can certainly get yourself down off a ladder.

  Her options were limited. She could jump and possibly break her leg, but she could crawl for help. Or she could stay on the ladder and hope the Calvary came, but the fact was, she didn’t know if anyone even realized she was missing. If she waited, there was a better chance the kidnapper would find her. If she took off her shirt, she could possibly hang three feet closer to the ground and—“You’re an idiot. You have a rope.”

  She looked around to see if anyone heard her, but the place remained empty.

  Suddenly, gunfire erupted inside the warehouse.

  Shit! Quickly, she untied the rope from her waist and secured it to the bottom rung of the ladder. Thanking her dad for teaching her rope tying, she let herself dangle then grabbed the rope and lowered herself. At the end of the rope, she looked down.

  Triumph rumbled through her and she let go, dropping the three feet to the ground. “Now to ge—“

  A hand over her mouth stifled her words and her success.

  Chapter Eleven

  Vince tipped his hat to the man sitting in the old cloth office chair with wheels. That must be Leo. The man sported a goatee, long side burns and was skinnier than a fence post. He was probably about twenty-five, so a newcomer in the business. Maybe picked off an older boss to get where he was. Vince had seen his type a dozen times before. “Howdy.”

  Leo scowled. “Where’s Crystal? Who are you?”

  “Crystal sent me. Where’s her sister?”

  He pulled the backpack from his shoulder and plopped it on the desk next to Leo, pretending he didn’t see the other two men in the room. He unzipped the backpack showing the money so they would think he played by their rules.

  “Whoa.”

  “Fuck.”

  The two men’s reactions behind him told him what he’d thought. This little crime boss had never received such a huge sum.

  “I brought you the money. Now I need the woman.”

  Leo motioned with his head and one of the men in the office left. Good, now there was only two he needed to take out.

  “I hope Crystal’s sister is okay. I hear she’s dating some ex-police officer.” He purposefully didn’t mention Rachel’s name. If they didn’t know it, he didn’t want them to, and just thinking her name twisted up his insides again.

  Leo tensed, but didn’t say a word.

  “Shit boss. That’s all we need.” The guy behind him wasn’t as savvy as his boss.

  Leo waved his hand like it was no problem before wiping the newly formed sweat from his forehead.

  The other man who’d left ran in. “She’s gone.”

  Leo stood. “What do you mean, she’s gone?”

  “Like disappeared. No ropes, no girl, nothing.”

  Fuck, where are you Rachel? He hadn’t counted on that variable. Fear for her started to eat at his confidence.

  Leo scowled, but his look turned crafty. He shrugged. “I guess you’re too late.” He sneered. “Maybe she went shopping.”

  He pretended he didn’t care and started to zip up the bag. “Then I’ll bring this back to Crystal and be on my way.”

  Two guns against his back had him freezing.

  Leo grinned. “I’m thinking you leave that right here and go on your merry way. What do you say, cowboy?”

  He looked over his shoulder as if he’d never been held at gun point and raised his hands. He needed to give Hunter time to find Rachel. “I don’t want no trouble, but I don’t get paid if I can’t bring back the money or the woman.”

  “Then I guess you don’t get paid.”

  He pretended to be concerned. “Heck, I need to make my rent.”

  Leo laughed and pushed his finger into his chest. “Then you best find yourself another job, cowboy.”

  It was exactly what he wanted, all of them close to him. He nodded. “Okay, okay.” He tipped his hat, detonating the explosion in the bag.

  All three hit the floor. He grabbed the guns from the two on the ground and stepped aside as one of the men with the automatic weapon stepped into the room. “What’s going on in here?”

  He shot the man in the gut then used him as a shield to get out of the office. The other semi-automatic went off, riddling the man with bullets. Vince shoved him forward and dove behind a forklift.

  “I’ve got her.” Hunter’s words coming into his earpiece sent a wave of relief through him, releasing his anger. Finally, this cowboy’s break. Crouching low, he aimed beneath the forklift and shot.

  The semi-automatic man fell. Vince rose and aimed again, shooting the man in the chest, ending his misery.

  “Blowing doors now.” Hunter’s voice sounded in his ear and Vince ducked back behind the machine just as the main doors blew.

  Leo ran out of the office and Vince made an instant decision. He stepped out from behind the forklift and shot Leo in the head.

  Bullets came out of the office door and he dove for cover once again.

  “I’ve got her.” Hunter’s voice in her ear had Rachel sagging in relief.

  She let him pull her away from the warehouse to a spot behind a nearby dumpster. He let go of her mouth and grabbed on to her wrist like a handcuff. He didn’t say anything, just stood there watching the warehouse.

  Too shaken to think, she waited with him. Finally, her brain started functioning again. “Where’s Vince?”

  He nodded toward the warehouse.

  “What? No, we have to go help him.”

  He finally looked at her. “No, we don’t.”

  “But—“

  “If we go in there, we’ll pull his attention away from the men he needs to focus on. Just wait.” Hunter returned his gaze to the warehouse.

  She tried to swallow her fear because Hunter did make sense, but it wasn’t her brain that needed convincing. It was her heart.

  Hunter lowered his head “Blowing doors now.” He pressed something on his belt and the large bay doors burst apart. Metal went flying everywhere, and he pulled her down as it hit the dumpster.

  Shit.

  Twice she heard gun shots and twice she tried to run back, but Hunter wouldn’t let go. She hated him right now.

  “What if Vince is bleeding to death?” She couldn’t help voicing her worry.

  “Let Vince do what he does.”

  Sirens in the distance gave her some relief. At least they would go in and save him. Hunter started to pull her away. “What are you doing? You can’t leave him in there.”

  “It’s all part of the plan.”

  “What plan?” She kept looking over her shoulder trying to see the warehouse.

  “It’s important that the police not discover the part you played in all this. If they find Vince there, he will be questioned and released pending further investigation. We’re to wait in the bar around the corner for an hour. If he doesn’t come by then, it means he went with the police.”

  “Or that he’s dead.” She practically screamed the last word, her hysteria rising.

  Hunter turned her toward him and grasped both her shoulders. “Don’t lose it now, Rachel. We’re almost home free. You have to have faith in Vince’s abilities.”

  She swallowed down her panic. “I’ll try.”

  “Good girl. Now let’s go order some food and I think you could use a beer.”

  They walked in and chose a table within sight of the door, but farther back. After ordering, she took a swig of beer. “This isn’t helping.”

  “I didn’t expect it would.”

  “Then why—”

  Hunter sighed. “Because you needed a distraction. Have a little faith.”

  She nodded and took a gulp in hopes it would give her the nerve she needed to get through the next hour.

  The sirens converged behind the block. As the police drove by, some of the bar patrons watched then went back to their conver
sations.

  “So how did you get on the roof?”

  She kept her gaze on the door to the bar. “I climbed one of those ladders that go up the side wall. It went to a bridge of sorts. I wanted to find an exit and looked over the whole space from up there. The only door was by the office, so I thought I was stuck.”

  “But you weren’t.”

  She shook her head, her mind still hearing the gun shots inside the building. “No. There were the big loading dock doors, but if I opened one of those, they would catch me before the door rose high enough for me to get out.”

  “Or shoot you.”

  She looked at him and shivered. “Right. I didn’t think of that or I might not have stayed calm enough to get out.” She turned her head back so she could watch the door. “Since I couldn’t go down and get out, I looked up. There was an access to the roof. Once I got out there, I crawled to that ladder down the outside.”

  She turned back to face Hunter. “You didn’t have to grab me like that.”

  He raised a brow. “I didn’t want you to scream.”

  She took another sip of her beer. “I wouldn’t have—okay, maybe I would have.”

  Hunter’s chuckle aggravated her, which wasn’t fair, but she was just too anxious to see Vince. What if he was killed?

  “But you didn’t tell me how you got loose. You said the rope you hung from was what they tied you up with.”

  She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her utility knife, her complete focus on the entrance to the bar.

  Hunter’s laugh, caught her off guard.

  She looked at him. How could he be so sure Vince would be all right? Her stomach tightened even more, rejecting the beer she’d had. She swallowed hard to keep it down. When the fried mozzarella sticks and barbequed wings came, she thought she would vomit.

  “Excuse me.” She rose then ran to the bathroom. Despite her roiling stomach, she didn’t get sick. After cooling her face with cold wet paper towels, she made herself leave the room.