Fatal Threat

by Valerie Hansen

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re just old friends and she needs help right now.”

  “Honestly?” The slightly younger brother’s dark eyebrows arched. “Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out.”

  “What?”

  Kurt laughed. “You know what I mean. Boy. Girl. Dinner and a movie, maybe. A date?”

  Adam knew exactly what his brother meant and he didn’t like the idea one bit. Still, Sara could do worse. Kurt was a good man, a little immature sometimes but basically kind. And he had built-in financial stability via his inherited third of Kane Ranch. Given Adam’s sense of responsibility for all the people in his life, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to stand back and let his brother approach Sara. She needed somebody stable. Someone she could count on in ways Adam wasn’t convinced he could provide.

  “Sure,” he said with a forced smile. “Just bring me takeout when and if you go out to eat, and you have my blessing.”

  “Really? You’re not just saying that?”

  “No. I mean it.” He sobered. “But if you break her heart you’ll have me to reckon with, baby brother. Remember that and behave yourself.”

  Kurt backed away, hands raised, palms out, as Adam tucked the .12 gauge from their closet under one arm, grabbed his tan Stetson and headed for the door.

  “Don’t you have any camo?” his brother asked. “That big hat makes you stand out like a duck in a shooting gallery.”

  “Good point.” He exchanged the familiar Stetson for a black baseball cap. “Better?”

  “Yeah. Lots.” Kurt laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder to stop him. “Wait up. I will come with you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  The younger man chuckled. “Yes, I do.”

  “I appreciate it,” Adam said. “That’s what brothers are for, right?”

  Kurt’s laugh got louder and he clapped Adam on the back. “Sure. And if I go along to protect you, maybe some of that overblown hero worship Sara has for you will rub off on me.”

  “She doesn’t think I’m a hero,” Adam countered.

  Kurt was still chuckling when they left the house together. Adam was not amused. He had never viewed himself as a hero. On the contrary, he was just a normal man doing his best. If the situations he encountered were tough, so be it. Life had never been easy for him the way it seemed to be for so many others. Perhaps that was because he took it too seriously. He couldn’t help himself.

  That’s the way he judged his feelings in regard to Sara, too. The fondness he had for her was deep and solid, not frivolous the way his brother was treating it. There was nothing funny about caring for Sara while believing she would be far better off with someone other than himself.

  Clenching his jaw and starting off the porch toward the barn to use it as temporary cover, Adam realized he’d have a much easier time accepting her choice of another man if that choice was anyone other than his handsome, easygoing brother.

  SIX

  From her upstairs vantage point, Sara watched the beams of two flashlights sweeping the yard. One was obviously Adam’s and apparently Kurt had gone out with him. That was comforting.

  Truth to tell, so was being there at the ranch with the Kane family. In the recent past she had always had Vicki as her closest confidant and partner in daily adventures and she missed her something awful.

  Reminiscing, Sara remembered the mission trips she and Vicki had taken together, working hard passing out food and supplies or helping with cleanup. But neither of them had ever been asked to do office work. Vicki had reluctantly volunteered to take over the small task of keeping a running inventory when one of the regular Texas workers had become ill.

  Everything would have been fine if her cousin hadn’t had such a keen understanding of bookkeeping and spotted graft almost immediately. Finding cheats among all their devoted, honest peers had bothered Sara, too. It was Vicki, however, who had been convinced that they could unmask the cheaters themselves. Sara had adamantly disagreed, leading to an argument and Vicki’s foolish actions the night she’d died.

  Sara sighed and folded her arms to hug away the chill of that memory. If their conversation hadn’t gotten so heated, maybe Vicki would have been more willing to listen to reason. All they had to do was tell the police and leave it to them, Sara had said. Vicki had countered, insisting that without proof there would be no way to substantiate the thefts and the criminals would go on stealing from poor, traumatized victims. As things stood now, the only one who had paid any price was the dedicated young woman who had risked her life in the hopes she could single-handedly set things right.

  In the yard below, Sara noted one of the small lights moving left. The other went right. The men were circling the house, obviously still searching for whoever had been in the vehicle that had stopped. In the dark, it was hard to see whether the car or truck had stayed there or driven off, and the harder Sara tried, the more distorted her vision became.

  Shadows moved as if they had lives of their own. Fallen leaves were lifted from drifts and swirled past, giving substance to the rising wind. What moonlight there had been was now masked by clouds and the night seemed to be closing in around her.

  Shivering and imagining all sorts of dangers, she wanted to race outside and call Adam back, drag him if necessary. Instead, she fisted her cell phone, scrolled to his number and pushed the call button.

  One ring. Another. Finally, he answered. “What?”

  “I—I just wanted to be sure you were okay. Have you found anything?”

  “No.”

  “Why do you sound mad?”

  “Because it’s impossible to sneak up on anybody when a phone is flashing and playing a ring tone in your pocket.”

  “Sorry.” And she was. She was also delighted to hear his voice, even angry. “Why don’t you give it up and come back in the house?”

  “May as well.”

  Sara stared at her phone. He’d hung up without even saying goodbye. That was not like him. Not a bit. Some of his bad mood was probably due to fatigue from fighting the fire and then experiencing the traumas that had followed, but that was no reason for him to act as though he blamed it all on her. Those distressing events might be important to Adam but they paled next to the loss of her dear cousin.

  Suddenly, an intense wave of grief hit her like a tsunami. It rolled over her, crushing self-control and battering her breaking heart until she thought it would burst. Sara covered her mouth with both hands to try to mute the sobs while rivers of tears coursed down her cheeks.

  She had wept very little and had felt numb a lot of the time since her return to Paradise. Now, without warning, she was so bereft she wanted to throw herself down and howl like an injured animal. Her mind kept calling out to God in mindless prayer. Her body trembled.

  Then she heard rapid footsteps on the stairs. Adam was back. He already thought she was mentally unbalanced. He mustn’t see her like this.

  She bolted for the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, then grabbed a hand towel, held it tight to her face and shuddered with the effort of controlling herself.

  Expecting him to go to his room with Kurt, she was astonished to hear his boots stamp through the bedroom and him call her name.

  “Sara?” She wasn’t ready to answer for fear he’d know she’d been upset and blame himself.

  The door vibrated as Adam hit it with the flat of his hand and shouted, “Sara! Are you all right?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “Then come help me. Kurt’s been hurt.”

  * * *

  Adam hardly glanced at her when she threw open the door. He’d spun on his heel and was already on his way.

  She started after him. “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Where is he?”

  “I left him on the couch. He’s talking but seems groggy
. I called and called to you after I brought him in. Why didn’t you come down?”

  “I guess I didn’t hear you with my door shut. Why didn’t you phone?”

  “Never thought of it,” Adam admitted. And he hadn’t. As a firefighter who was usually calm in crisis, he was disappointed in himself. Normally, he was able to compartmentalize his thoughts and actions but once in a while, like now, he reverted to instinct and simply acted.

  “Okay. Give me room,” Sara said, gently pushing him aside so she could lean over the injured man. “Kurt, can you hear me?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  She held out an open hand. “Flashlight.”

  Adam slapped it into her palm the way a surgical nurse would deliver instruments to a doctor during an operation and watched as she peered into one of Kurt’s eyes, then the other.

  “Pupils are equal and reactive. Let’s check his BP.”

  Adam unzipped his fire department emergency kit and handed her the stethoscope, then fitted the blood pressure cuff to Kurt’s biceps and started to pump it up. Sara was in place to take the readout before he reached full pressure.

  “One forty over eighty,” she said. “Not great but not too bad. His pulse is rapid but steady, respirations a little shallow.” She looked up at Adam. “Was he ever unconscious?”

  “I’m not sure. It was dark. When I found him he was getting up off the ground. Said he’d just tripped. I wanted you to look him over because I’m not sure I believe him.”

  Kurt opened one eye. “Hey, I’m right here, okay.”

  “Okay.” Sara rocked back on her heels and looked up at Adam. “He’s your brother, but if he were mine, I’d want him checked out in the ER.”

  Kurt opened the other eye. Adam saw him reaching for Sara’s hand. “No ambulance.”

  Adam watched his brother’s trademark smile begin as he gazed at the nurse. When Sara laid a hand on Kurt’s forehead, the younger man closed his eyes and sighed. “That helps a lot.”

  She began to comb her fingers through his dark, wavy hair. “Let’s look for a lump. You may still need expert medical care.”

  “Umm,” Kurt murmured, “I’m getting it right now.”

  Adam was not impressed. “What’ll it be? Ambulance or private vehicle?”

  “No ambulance. No way,” Kurt said, pushing himself up slowly and blinking as if clearing his head. “I just tripped. If I have to go get checked, I’ll let you take me—as long as my favorite nurse comes along.”

  “Of course,” Sara said.

  “There’s no need for you to go,” Adam countered.

  “Yes, there is. Your poor brother was hurt chasing the shadows I thought I saw and he deserves special attention.”

  Adam would have continued to argue if it hadn’t occurred to him that there had to be a good reason why Kurt had fallen so hard. If they could chalk his injury up to deliberate head trauma instead of clumsiness, as he’d claimed, then Sara would be safer sticking with them.

  “I don’t suppose you’d let me take two aspirin and call you in the morning?” Kurt quipped.

  “No aspirin until we’re sure your head isn’t badly injured,” she replied.

  Adam knew very well what she meant and it gave him a shiver. If Kurt was bleeding internally, despite his apparent lack of serious trauma, letting him take any meds that thinned his blood would be bad.

  Concern wiped away any trace of jealousy Adam had felt and replaced it with brotherly love. Kurt was family and deserved his unwavering loyalty and attention.

  That encompassing thought remained to vex him as he and Sara guided his brother to the truck. Adam’s mind and heart already viewed all three of them as close. That emotion included Sara, as it had for years, but he definitely wasn’t seeing her as his sister. Oh, no. He was regarding her as his. This was personal. And the more time he spent with her, the stronger his unseen connection became.

  * * *

  Sara let Adam belt his brother into the front passenger seat of his extended-cab pickup before climbing into the second seat and taking her place directly behind Kurt. She didn’t think he was in any danger at the moment and the hospital wasn’t too far away so she hadn’t insisted on waiting for an ambulance. Given their usual response times, especially when the call wasn’t critical, she and Adam could have his brother delivered to ER and being seen by a doctor before an ambulance would arrive at the ranch.

  They passed through the arch and onto the dirt road. Habit made her look both ways for traffic despite the lack of headlights. Her breath caught. She gasped. Clamped a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Look!”

  To their left, a large black vehicle was moving away. The country remained dark, yet there was no mistaking the boxy shape.

  “I see it,” Adam said as he wheeled in that direction to illuminate the rear of the fleeing SUV for a few moments. “License number?”

  “No,” she admitted sadly. “It’s muddy. Unreadable.”

  Adam stopped and reversed.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Going to the ER.”

  “But...”

  “No buts, Sara. We’d never catch them at night on these narrow roads without speeding recklessly and we can’t further endanger my brother.”

  “It’s okay with me if you want to chase him,” Kurt said, but Sara could tell he was still not feeling as well as he should be.

  Concern for her patient came first. So did the safety of her friends and in this instance those overlapped. “Okay. Hospital,” she said. “At least you know I wasn’t imagining things.”

  Kurt gingerly touched his scalp and winced. “I’d already decided to believe you.”

  Adam caught her eyes in the rearview mirror. “Yeah. Me, too.”

  * * *

  There was no doubt in Adam’s mind that the passengers in the darkened vehicle had been up to no good. If not for the recent attacks on Sara he might have assumed they were burglars or cattle rustlers scouting out the ranch for some future operation. They still might have been but he doubted it.

  Every time he glanced in his mirrors to check for anyone tailing them he saw Sara. He couldn’t help it. And the worry clouding her usually sunny expression tore at him. Finally, he decided it would be best to mention another possibility.

  “That car with its lights out may have been cattle thieves.”

  “Oh, right,” she drawled.

  Kurt agreed with Adam. “Could be. Last week the Smiths took down a guy who was up to no good and held him until the sheriff got there.” He chuckled softly. “Wish I’d seen it. I hear they made quite an impressive posse.”

  “Maybe we should recruit them to guard me, then,” she quipped. “This is getting old fast.”

  “You never had any trouble before, did you?” Adam asked.

  She shook her head and once again met his gaze in the mirror. “Not to speak of. There’s always an unruly patient or two to consider but I don’t recall any recent problems.”

  “I’d think your job would be pretty uneventful.”

  As he watched, Sara strained forward to lay her forearm across the back of the front seat and used it to support her chin. “Let me put it this way—a good day is when you don’t have to call security or take time out to change your clothes in the middle of a shift. No nursing is as easy as people think. Patients are already feeling rotten when they get to us and it’s downhill from there.” She smiled slightly. “Except for folks like Miss Bessie. She’s a sweetheart whether she’s sick or well.”

  “Did you have a chance to talk to her at the fire scene?” Adam asked. “She might have seen something next door before the fire started.”

  Sara was shaking her head. “No, but since we’re heading for the hospital, maybe I’ll have a chance to stop off in her room while we’re there and have a chat.”

  What Adam wanted to do was insist she wa
it until he was free to accompany her. Common sense dictated he do so. Knowing what his old friend’s reaction would probably be to a flat-out order, he refrained from issuing it. Sara was smart but stubborn. She’d been living on her own for long enough that she’d developed a greater sense of self, of marching to her own drummer, far beyond that which she had possessed as they were growing up.

  Truth to tell, when he’d returned to Paradise after his military service he’d been astonished at her accomplishments as well as her confidence. Presently, however, he couldn’t help wishing she were a bit more like her old self: the kind of person who relied on others and listened to friendly advice.

  That irony struck him funny and he smiled, saw her face in the mirror and shook his head. This was no time for humor, yet professionals like them needed stress relief. Cracking jokes wasn’t meant as disrespect. It was simply a way of helping them cope with the sorrow and disaster that was an integral part of their jobs.

  Outsiders usually misunderstood, of course, which was why first responders and medical staff kept their wry humor to a minimum unless they were part of a private group, one that shared the sense of emotional need.

  “Kurt will be fine,” Adam said for mutual encouragement. “He has a hard head, just like the rest of our family.”

  His brother chuckled. “That’s me.”

  Until Adam heard Kurt follow up the comment with a sound that reminded him of a cat’s purr, he didn’t realize Sara had laid a hand of comfort on the younger man’s shoulder and was massaging it.

  Kurt visibly relaxed. “Mmm, that feels good.”

  “Don’t baby him too much,” Adam warned her, “or he’s likely to expect special treatment all the time.”

  “He deserves it,” she countered. “He was hurt trying to help me stay safe.”

  “Hey, I was out there, too,” Adam said, hoping he was infusing the comment with enough humor to cover his true feelings.

  “Yes, but you weren’t clobbered,” Kurt reminded him.