by Barb Han
She’d never seen River look this rattled before. And also...something else...helpless? His eyes darted around the room and he looked like he’d jump out of his skin if a cat hopped up on the counter.
This close, she could see his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles underneath. They always got that way when he went days without sleep. He was almost in a manic state and part of her wondered if deep down he actually did care about her well-being or if this was all some type of self-preservation act. To make it seem like he was a victim. But to what end?
“I knew they were planning something, but I had no idea...” River brought his hands on top of his head. His face distorted. “Everything’s a mess now. I made everything a mess. I never meant for you to get caught up in this. Bad timing. But just do what I say and lie low. Trust me, you don’t want to get anywhere near these guys.”
His words sent another cold chill racing down her spine.
“You’re not getting off that easy, River,” Colton said. “Start talking now. I can work with the DA. I can talk with your chief if you give me something to take to him.”
River’s emotions were escalating, based on the increasing intensity of his expression.
This was not good. This was so not good.
“Are you kidding me right now? It’s too late for me. It’s too late to go back and fix what’s wrong. I messed up big-time. There’s not going to be any coming back from this for me but there’s still time for me to fix it for you.”
“Hold on. Just do me a favor and slow down.” Colton’s deep voice was a study in calm. “This doesn’t have to end badly. Whatever you’ve done... I can’t promise any miracles, but I can say that I’ll do everything in my power if you talk. You need to tell us what’s going on. You need to tell us who those men are and exactly why they’re after Makena. It’s the only way that I can help you.”
River seemed more agitated. “You just don’t understand. You don’t get this and you don’t realize what I’m going through or what I’ve done. It’s too late. It’s too late for me. I can accept that. But not her. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
The fact that River was concerned about her when it appeared his own life was on the line told her that she hadn’t married a 100 percent jerk all those years ago. There had been something good inside him then and maybe she could work with that now.
Makena stood up taller so that she could look River in the eye, hoping that would make a difference. “I don’t know what happened, River. But I do know there was a decent person in there at one time. The person I first met—”
“Is gone. That guy is long gone. Forget about the past and forget that you ever knew me. Just lie low and give me some time to get this straightened out.”
“I’ve been in hiding for half a year, River. How much more of my life do I need to give up for whatever you did?” she asked.
Instead of calming him, that seemed to rile him up even more. She’d been truthful and her words seemed to have the effect of punching him.
“I know, Makena. I realize that none of this makes sense to you, and it’s best for everyone else if it doesn’t. If I could go back and change things, I would. Time doesn’t work like that and our past mistakes do come back to haunt us.”
Makena remembered that he was on leave for some pretty hefty charges. Maybe if she pretended like she already knew, he would come clean. “The men who are after me, who tried to blow me up...are they related to your administrative leave?”
River issued a sharp sigh and then started lowering his hands.
“Keep ’em up, high and where I can see them.” Colton’s voice left no room for doubt that he was not playing around. He could place River under arrest, she knew, but he seemed to be holding off long enough to get answers. She took it as a sign he believed River might give them useful information.
River’s hands shot up in the air. Being in law enforcement, he would be very aware just how serious Colton was about those words. Colton’s department-issued Glock was still aimed directly at River. All it would take was one squeeze of the trigger to end River’s life.
Considering the man was standing not ten feet away, Colton wouldn’t need a crackerjack shot to take him out.
“What did you do, River?” Makena asked again, hoping to wear him down and get answers. “You can help me the most if you tell Colton what you’re involved in.”
Hands in the air, River started pacing. He appeared more agitated with every forward step. His mood was dangerous and volatile. Deadly?
She scanned his body for signs of a weapon, knowing full well there had to be one there somewhere. On duty, he’d worn an ankle holster. It wasn’t uncommon for him to hide his Glock in another holster tucked in the waistband of his jeans.
He mumbled and she couldn’t make out what he was saying. And then he spun around to face them. “Did you say his name is Colton?”
“Yes, but I don’t see how that has any bearing on anything.”
“Really? Isn’t that your ex-boyfriend from college? I used to read your journals, Makena.”
Her face burned with a mix of embarrassment and outrage. She hadn’t kept a journal since their early years of marriage. And yes, she had probably written something in it about Colton. But it had been so long ago she couldn’t remember what she’d written.
“Colton was never my boyfriend. He wasn’t then and he isn’t now. But even if he was, that’s none of your business anymore. In case you forgot, we’re divorced. And this is my life, a life that I want back.” She’d allowed him to take so much time of hers. No more.
Makena took in a deep breath because the current assertiveness, although she deserved to stand up for herself, wasn’t exactly having a calming effect on River.
In fact, she feared she might be making it worse. She willed her nerves to calm down and her stress levels to relax.
“I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through right now.” Colton’s voice was a welcome calm in the eye of the storm. “I know you’re facing some charges at work but if you help in this case it’ll be noted in your jacket. It won’t hurt and might convince a jury to go easier on you.”
River looked at Colton. His gaze bounced back to Makena.
“Man, it’s too late for me now.”
And then the sound of a bullet split the air, followed by glass breaking on the front door.
The next few minutes happened in slow motion. Out of the corner of her eye, Makena saw Peach reach into the shelf. The older woman came up with a shotgun in a movement that was swift and efficient. It became pretty obvious this wasn’t the woman’s first rodeo.
She aimed the barrel of the gun right at River. But it was River who caught and held Makena’s attention. As she ducked for cover, the look on his face would be etched in her brain forever.
At first his eyes bulged, and he took a step forward. She could’ve sworn she heard something whiz past her ear and was certain it was a second bullet. Before she realized, Colton positioned his body in between her and River.
River’s arms dropped straight out. His chest flew toward her as he puffed it out. It was then she saw the red dot flowering in the center of his white cotton T-shirt. His mouth flew open, forming a word that never came out.
Shock stamped his features. He looked down at the center of his chest and said, “I’ve been shot.”
He looked up at Makena and then Colton before repeating the words.
Colton was already on the radio clipped to his shoulder, saying words that would stick in her mind for a long time. She heard phrases like “officer down” and “ambulance required.” This was all a little too real as she saw a pair of men, side by side and weapons at the ready, making their way across the street and toward the motel.
“I have to get you out of here,” Colton said to Makena. The truck was parked behind the motel and she saw the brilliance of his plan n
ow.
“Okay.” It was pretty much the only word she could form or manage to get out under the circumstances. And then more came. “What about River?”
“There’s nothing we can do to help him right now. The best thing we can do is lead those men away from the motel.” Colton turned to Peach. “Is the back door locked?”
“Yes, sir.” She ran a hand along the shelf and produced a set of keys. She tossed them to Colton, who snatched them with one hand. “You need to come with us. It’s not safe here.”
Peach lowered her face to the eyepiece of the shotgun. “I’ll hold ’em off. You two get out of here while you can. I’ll hold down the fort.”
“I’m not kidding, Peach. You need to come with us now.”
The woman shook her head and that was as much as she said.
“Help is on the way,” Colton shouted to River, who’d taken a few steps back and dropped against the door, closing it. He sat with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Reach up and lock that,” Peach shouted to him.
Surprisingly, he obliged.
“We have to go.” Colton, with keys in one hand and a Glock in the other, offered an arm, which Makena took as they ran toward the back.
He unlocked a key-only dead bolt and then tossed the keys into the hallway before fishing his own keys out of his pocket. The two of them ran toward the truck, which was thankfully only a few spaces from the door.
Once inside, he cranked on the ignition and backed out of the parking spot. “Stay low. Keep your head down. It’s best if you get down on the floorboard.”
Makena did as he requested. She noticed he’d scooted down, making himself as small as possible and less visible, therefore less of a target. He put the vehicle into Drive and floored the gas pedal.
In a ball on the floorboard as directed, Makena took in a sharp breath as Colton jerked the truck forward. It was a big vehicle and not exactly nimble. Size was its best asset.
“They have no idea who they’re dealing with,” Colton commented, and she realized it was because they were in his personal vehicle and not one marked as law enforcement.
A crack of a bullet split the air. It was then that Makena heard the third shot being fired.
Chapter Fourteen
Colton tilted his chin toward his left shoulder where his radio was clipped on his jacket. His weapon was in the hand that he also used to steer the wheel after they’d bolted from around the back of the motel.
Peach would be safe as he drew the perps away from the building and onto the highway. River had been shot and it looked bad for him, but he was still talking and alert, and that was a good sign.
Getting Makena out of the building and Birchwood had been his first priority. River was right about one thing. She’d be safer if she kept a low profile.
Colton also realized the reason the perps were shooting was probably because they didn’t realize they were shooting at a sheriff. Even so, it had been one of his better ideas to slip out the back of his office yesterday and take his personal vehicle, because it seemed as though the perps had zeroed in on Makena’s location at the RV.
They also seemed ready and able to shoot River though he was an officer of the law. With River’s professional reputation tarnished, plus the charges being lobbed against him, they must think they could get away with shooting him.
“Gert, can you read me?” He hoped like hell she could, because she was his best link to getting help for River and for him and Makena.
Birchwood was in Colton’s jurisdiction. One of his deputies passed by this motel on his daily drive to work, and Colton hoped that he was nearby, possibly on his way into work.
Gert’s voice came through the radio. “I read you loud and clear.”
“I have two perps who have opened fire on my personal vehicle. And an officer is down at the motel. Makena is in my custody and we’re heading toward the station, coming in hot.”
“Do you have a vehicle or a license plate or can you give me anything on who might be behind you?”
“The shooter was on foot.” Colton took a moment to glance into his rearview mirror in time to see the pair of perps running toward a Jeep.
With the weight of his truck, he didn’t have a great chance of outrunning them. “It’s looking like a Jeep Wrangler. White. Rubicon written in black letters on the hood. I don’t have a license plate but I imagine it won’t take them long to catch up to me. If they have one on the front of their vehicle, I can relay it.”
He heard Makena suck in a breath. She scrambled into the seat and practically glued her face to the back window. “What can I do?”
“Stay low. Stay hidden. I don’t have a way to identify myself in the truck. My vehicle is slow. But I’m going to do my level best to outrun them.”
Makena didn’t respond, so he wasn’t certain she bought into his request. He was kicking up gravel on the service road to the four-lane highway. He took the first entrance ramp, and despite it being past seven o’clock in the morning on a Friday, there were more cars than he liked.
“Where are they now?” Makena asked.
“They’re making their way toward us on the service road.” Colton swerved in and out of the light traffic, pressing his dual cab truck to its limits. What it lacked in get-up-and-go, it made up for in size. If nothing else, he’d use its heft to block the Jeep from pulling alongside them.
Of course, the passenger could easily get off a shot from behind.
Colton leaned his mouth to his shoulder. “Where’s the nearest marked vehicle?”
“Not close enough. I’m checking on DPS now to see if I can get a trooper in your direction. How are you doing? Can you hold them off until I can get backup to you?”
“I don’t have a choice.” Colton meant those words.
The Jeep had taken the on-ramp onto the highway and it wouldn’t be long before it was on his bumper. He glanced around at the traffic and figured he’d better take this fight off the highway rather than endanger innocent citizens.
River was in trouble at work. Colton knew that for certain. What he wasn’t sure of was his partners.
Colton relayed the description of the perps to Gert. “Call Chief Shelton at Dallas PD and see if any of his officers matching those descriptions have been connected in any way to River Myers. I want to know who River’s friends were. Who he hung out with in the department and if any of them had visited the shooting range lately.”
Most beat cops couldn’t pull off the shot Red had at that distance and through a glass door. Whoever made the shot would get high scores in marksmanship at the range. Other officers would take note. Someone would know.
Between that and the physical descriptions, maybe River’s supervising officer could narrow the search.
“Hold on, I’m going to swerve off the highway,” he said, noting his chance.
At the last minute, he cranked the steering wheel right and made the exit ramp. It was probably too much to hope the perps lost him in traffic. There were plenty of black trucks on these roads.
He cursed when the Jeep took the exit.
“Gert, talk to me. Do you have someone at the motel?” Colton’s only sense of relief so far was that he’d drawn the perps away from Peach and River. He also had a sneaky suspicion that Peach could take care of herself and could keep River there at gunpoint. Colton had no doubt the woman could hold her own until River received medical attention.
He could only hope that River would come clean with names.
Again, all they needed was a puzzle piece. At least now they knew that River had some connection to Red and Mustache. There was something the three of them had concocted or were doing they believed would land them in jail if someone found out. That someone, unfortunately, ended up being Makena. And again, he was reminded of how timing was everything.
If Makena had gone out to that gar
age five minutes before, maybe the men wouldn’t have been there yet. Maybe River could’ve convinced her to go back to bed and she could be living out a peaceful life by now after the divorce.
His mind stretched way back to college. He’d wanted to ask her out but hadn’t. Again, the ripple effect of that decision caused him to wonder about his timing. Now was not the time to dredge up the past. Besides, the Jeep was gaining on him. At this pace, it would catch him.
There were fields everywhere. One was a pasture for grazing. The other was corn stalks. The truck could handle either one and so could the Jeep. Colton couldn’t get any advantage by veering off road. Except that in the corn, considering it was already tall, maybe he could lose them.
The meadow on the other side of the street was useless. The last thing he needed was more flat land. And while he didn’t like the idea of damaging someone’s crop and potential livelihood, he knew that he could circle back and make restitution. What was the point of having a trust fund he’d never touched if not for a circumstance like this one?
“Hang on tight, okay?” he said to Makena.
When she confirmed, he nailed a hard right. The truck bounded so hard he thought he might’ve cracked the chassis but stabilized once he got onto the field. The last thing he saw was the Jeep following.
Colton’s best chance to confuse them was to maybe do a couple of figure eights and then zigzag through the cornfield. It would at the very least keep the perps from getting off a good shot. He was running out of options.
So far, the Jeep hadn’t gotten close enough to them for him to be able to read a license plate if there was one on the front. Law required it to be there. However, many folks ignored it.
Considering these guys had good reason to hide any identifying marks, they most certainly wouldn’t have a plate up front.
Gert’s voice cut through his thoughts. “I got you pulled up on GPS using your cell phone. I have a location on you, sir. Can you hold tight in the area until I can get someone to you?”
“That’s affirmative. I can stick around as long as I keep moving.” He tried to come off as flippant so Gert wouldn’t worry about him any more than she already was.