Protected by a Hero

by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne

  Unlike Wye, Cass was dressed all in black, her hair tightly braided and tucked under a dark baseball cap. When they reached the club, she hung back. “Call me when you’ve landed the quarry,” she said. “But Wye, if anything goes wrong, just bail.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be perfectly safe. When I’m done, I’ll head over to Fila’s.” She named a popular restaurant in town. “I’m spending the night at her place. She and her husband will drive me there. Do you see Howie’s truck?”

  “Right over there.” Cass pointed to the far side of the lot where Howie had parked on the diagonal, hogging two spots. She hoped it was true that Wye would be safe. If anything happened to her while she was helping them, Cass would never get over her remorse. She watched her friend disappear into the bar, made her way over to the far side of the lot and leaned against a nearby tree, trying to keep out of sight of the bar’s patrons.

  It was nearly a half an hour before Wye texted her a message. Got him. Cass texted Brian, who was back at the ranch with her sisters preparing for the next step in their plan, and scanned the lot again. So far, so good. This side had filled up early and most people were parking at the back of the bar now. She slid between the vehicles, opened the door to Howie’s truck and carefully climbed inside.

  It was the work of a moment to find the key Alice had told her about. Cass slid it in the ignition, debated whether or not to buckle up her seat belt and finally did, then turned the key.

  The engine roared to life and Cass ducked, sure that Howie would be able to hear it from inside the bar, as silly as that was. It would be impossible to hear anything on a normal night. Tonight, with a live band playing, he’d go home with his ears ringing.

  She set the truck in reverse, inched the massive vehicle out of the space it occupied and tapped on the gas. It lurched forward once, twice, until she got a feel for the engine. She exited the parking lot as quickly as she could and headed out of town.

  Cass didn’t breathe easily until she’d left Chance Creek behind, but even on the country highway leading to Two Willows, her heart was beating fast. She kept both hands on the wheel and checked her rearview mirror every couple of seconds. When she saw headlights behind her she thought she would throw up, but the vehicle turned off well before Two Willows came into view.

  When she turned into her own driveway, Cass didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to arrive at home, but this was only the start of the plan. She carefully drove Howie’s truck down the rutted track toward the canyon where the small storage trailer sat, and was rewarded when she found Brian and her sisters ready for her, everything unloaded from the trailer and sitting in piles on the dirt outside.

  “It’s all going smooth as silk,” Brian assured her. “I called in every Navy SEAL favor I could. It’s lucky there are a few of them in town. Boone Rudman’s got Sean cornered playing pool at Rafters. Mason Hall found Bob at the hardware store and convinced him to visit Westfield. He told him he was looking for an overseer to run their cattle operation, and the idiot fell for it.”

  “What about Scott?” He and Mark were still waiting for their court dates. Cass hated to think about them roaming free in Chance Creek. She’d hoped they would simply skip town, but so far that hadn’t happened.

  “We didn’t even have to do anything about him,” Lena said. “He got into a fight with Luke Matheson.”

  “He didn’t,” Cass said, appalled at Scott’s stupidity. After getting licked by Brian she’d have thought he’d avoid getting into another fight. Luke was a scrapper. Scott had picked the wrong man to bait.

  “He’s already at the sheriff’s office,” Brian added.

  “We separated everything that’s ours out from their crap,” Lena told her. “It’s already all back at the house. Mark’s the only wild card now. We can’t get a bead on him. We’re hoping he’s out of town.”

  Cass didn’t like the sound of that. “Let’s get going, then, just in case.”

  Brian had to hand it to Cass and her sisters: they knew how to work. With four of them helping, Howie’s truck bed was full in no time. Brian closed the tailgate and they tied a tarp firmly in place to cover it.

  Alice was poised in her car out on the highway, keeping watch for any unexpected visitors to the ranch, but so far she hadn’t called to warn them about anyone coming near it. Brian hoped their luck would continue, but he wasn’t counting on it. That’s why he’d demanded that the women all leave the ranch when he did.

  Brian ordered them into Lena’s truck and told them to drive up the track a ways before he got to work installing the explosives he’d improvised from Cass’s collection of fireworks and various solvents and chemicals he’d found around the ranch. Luckily his training had covered all sorts of scenarios—but he’d never thought he’d use his knowledge like this.

  When he was done, he hopped back into Howie’s truck and caught up with them farther down the track. They’d debated who should drive Howie’s truck back into town, but Brian had overridden all Cass’s protests. “If anyone gets caught, it needs to be me. The General will vouch for me,” he’d said, and Cass had subsided.

  “Have you checked in with Alice?” he asked through the window when he pulled up alongside them.

  “She’s anxious. She can’t get a good read on things, but for now everything is still clear. I only wish we could implicate the rest of the men somehow,” Cass said. “It doesn’t seem fair Howie will take the rap for what they all did.”

  “I bet Howie gives them up,” Lena said. “He won’t go down alone.”

  Brian hoped they realized it would be naïve to think any of the men would get out of the business no matter what happened tonight. The most they could hope was that the troublemakers would leave Chance Creek, or at any rate, stay away from Two Willows. They were taking a chance doing this, but unlike the women, Brian knew soon there’d be four more men to protect the ranch. He was banking on that being enough.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” Brian said. He passed her the cell phone he’d rigged to ignite the explosion remotely. She’d been very impressed when he’d shown her how he planned to set it all up. Discussing the blast radius, potential contamination of the soil beneath the trailer, containment ideas and more with Cass had proven to be far more arousing than it had ever been back in the Navy. But that was all due to the company.

  “You give me a five-minute head start, set off that explosion and get the hell out of here.”

  “We’ve got it.”

  “Don’t backtrack, whatever happens,” he warned them. “Even if the damn thing doesn’t blow. You get the hell off the ranch and stay off until we meet up in town.”

  “Brian—we’ve got it,” Cass said.

  “Okay. Be safe. Don’t drive like a bat out of hell,” he warned Lena.

  “I won’t.”

  “Get going,” Cass chastised him. She pulled out her own phone. “Alice? All clear?” She gave Brian a thumbs-up.

  Brian took a deep breath. “All right. See you on the other side” He hated having Cass out of his sight, even for a moment, but they’d be together again in less than an hour.

  “Wait!” Cass hopped up on the passenger seat of Lena’s truck and leaned out the window. She reached for Brian.

  “What is it?” He put Howie’s truck in park and leaned out to take her hand.

  “Brian, be safe. You need to come home when this is done. I… I need you to come home.”

  Brian swallowed in a suddenly dry throat. Home. His heart swelled at the word and its implications. Damn right he was coming home. He pushed his upper body out the window, closed the gap between them as best he could and kissed her. “I will. I swear. And then we’re going to talk about marriage again.”

  “O…okay.” She sat back down.

  Heart soaring, Brian did the same and pressed on the accelerator, feeling invincible. They were going to take down the bad guys. He was going to win the girl. He pulled out and set off up the track, frequently looking back
in his mirror. He was past the house and almost to the highway when an explosion lit the night behind him.

  A nice, controlled explosion—where it couldn’t cause any harm.

  A message to their friends.

  Two Willows was no longer home to the drug trade. It wouldn’t ever be home to the manufacture of meth.

  Time to make sure Mark and the others understood that loud and clear.

  He toggled his phone. “Cass? Everything all right?”

  “It’s perfect!” Her excited voice rang out. “Did you see it? It went up like a torch!”

  “You women all right?”

  “We’re fantastic!” She was breathless, almost giddy. Brian suppressed a smile.

  That was his girl. “See you in town.” He cut the call and focused on the road.

  The plan was simple: The women would wait several minutes to give him a head start, then drive into town all together in Lena’s truck. Once Brian had dropped off Howie’s vehicle, they’d meet at the rendezvous point, and head back to the ranch.

  Brian set a good pace, but he kept his wits about him as he drove into town, knowing that at any moment Howie could realize his ride was missing and contact his friends. He took a circuitous route to the sheriff’s office that didn’t pass through the busiest streets of the small town. Not that the streets were particularly busy, even on a Friday night, but he didn’t want to push his luck.

  When he was still some blocks from his destination, Brian pulled up the hood of his jacket to shade his face. Reaching the station, he pulled around back to where the department vehicles were parked when not in use, cut the engine and carefully climbed out, hoping to escape notice until he was ready. He undid one corner of the tarp and distributed several bags of pot and pills—and meth—on top of it where anyone could see.

  Taking one last look to make sure no one else was around, he leaned inside the truck’s open window, pushed on the horn for all he was worth and then booked it out of the parking lot at high speed. His mad dash through the neighborhood was worthy of an action sequence in the best spy movie, he thought as he leaped a fence and nearly tangled himself in a swing set. Several blocks away, he spotted Lena’s truck, just where it was supposed to be.

  But when he pulled open the door to climb inside, his heart dropped. Alice was driving it.

  “Where the hell are Cass and Lena?” he demanded, climbing in.

  Alice gunned the engine and turned back toward Two Willows. “You know we can’t all leave the ranch at once. Cass stayed to keep the General safe. Lena stayed to protect Cass. And there’s trouble coming. I can feel it. We need to get home.” Sadie and Jo watched him silently from the backseat.

  Brian swore.

  He’d never even thought of that stupid superstition, and Cass hadn’t mentioned it once.

  He thought of Lena taking potshots at the target.

  He thought of Mark unaccounted for.

  “Hell. Floor it,” he demanded.

  Alice did as she was told.

  Cass jumped when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She and Lena had split up, the better to keep watch for trouble, Lena at the front of the house and Cass at the back. She wondered if Brian had discovered she and Lena had stayed at the ranch, and what his reaction had been. It didn’t matter, she told herself; they’d be together again soon enough. She leaned against the back porch railing, sweeping her gaze in all directions at intervals. Now she pulled out her phone, and her heart sank when she saw it was Wye.

  “Lost him,” Wye said without preamble. “I did the best I could, I’m sorry. He got a call and was out of there like a shot.”

  “That’s just fine,” Cass said, although anxiety crawled through her gut and into her throat. Brian and the others were still in town. Who knew where Howie would go next?

  Was he on the way here even now?

  “I slipped out the back as soon as he left. I didn’t want him to ask me questions when he realized his truck was missing.”

  “Where are you now?” Cass strode through the house and gestured to Lena in the darkened front room. “It’s Wye—Howie’s flown the coop,” she hissed.

  “I’m at Fila’s restaurant, just like we planned,” Wye said. “I’m going home with Fila and Ned, and I’ll spend the night at the Double-Bar-K.”

  Cass breathed a sigh of relief she was out of danger. “Terrific. I’ll let you know what happens.”

  “Is Brian back yet?”

  “Not yet, but he will be soon.” She hoped.

  “Cass, I’m worried. Do you want me to call the sheriff?”

  “No. So far it’s all working perfectly. We’ll be fine, I swear.”

  Wye sighed. “Call me as soon as Brian gets there.”

  “Will do.”

  Cass cut the call and joined Lena by the window. “Now there’s two of them out there somewhere. Pretty soon there’ll be more.”

  “I’d hoped we wouldn’t need these, but looks like we will.” Lena reached behind the couch, lifted a shotgun out and handed it to Cass. “Remember how to use this?”

  “Of course.” The General might not want them to serve, but he wouldn’t stand for his girls to be ignorant around firearms. Every foreman had been tasked with making sure their skills were up to par.

  “I’ve got my Glock. And another shotgun, too. I grabbed all the ammunition I could find—and everything else I thought might be of use.” She passed a number of cartridges to Cass, who pocketed them. “Shout if you see something.”

  “You, too.”

  The shotgun was heavy when she carried it to the back porch, and her heart was heavy, too, at the thought of violence coming to Two Willows, but this was her home and it meant the world to her.

  She’d defend it if necessary.

  The calls came one after another on the drive back to Two Willows. Brian fielded them as Alice drove as quickly, calmly and terrifyingly fast as a Formula One racer.

  “Sean bailed on me,” Boone said. “Got a text and bolted for the door. I tried to stop him but the place was crowded. He was gone before I could get outside.”

  “Bob hightailed it out of here,” Mason said. “We did our best to detain him, but short of force, there wasn’t much we could do.”

  “One of the deputies just came into Fila’s,” Wye hissed when Brian picked up her call. “He said Scott made bail a half-hour ago. Tell Cass I’m still fine; I’m on my way to the Double-Bar-K, but I thought you’d want to know. You know Cass and Lena are at the ranch, don’t you?”

  “We’re on our way there,” Brian told her. He cut the call. “Drive faster,” he told Alice.

  She didn’t answer. Just took a turn at a speed that made Brian grab the armrest.

  Just a few more minutes, he told Cass in his mind. Just stay safe a few more minutes. He went to call her, but decided to hold off. She needed to keep her wits about her right now, not be distracted by the phone.

  He’d never forgive himself if she came to any harm. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t drag a woman down with him like his father or brother had. He’d thought he could help Cass, but now his plan could be the death of her.

  Hold on, he told her again in his mind. Just hold on long enough for me to make this right.

  Back on the porch, the minutes ticked away slowly, giving Cass hope that Brian would make it home before Howie put two and two together and came to confront them. With all the lights off in the house, the sweep of the pastures was clear in the distance. A beautiful night.

  A dangerous one.

  Her phone trilled again. Lena appeared like a ghost in the doorframe. “What is it?”

  “Wye just texted. Scott’s out on bail.”

  “He’s probably on his way here. They probably all are by now.”

  “Okay,” was all Cass could manage. Her fingers curled around the barrel of the shotgun. So this was what it was like to go war, she thought. No wonder her father had been consumed by his career. Tonight she had a purpose that guided every thought and movement. It s
et her heart thumping and her mind into overdrive. It was as if a machine had replaced her brain; one capable of processing far more items of data than usual.

  Real life receded. The moment was all that mattered. She scanned the backyard, gardens and distant pastures again.

  And again.

  “I’ll be out front,” Lena said and slipped away.

  Cass nodded but didn’t stop looking for trouble.

  When the men came, there was little warning. Just the bounce and flash of headlights from a truck moving fast over uneven ground from the direction of the barns and Park.

  “Lena! Here they are,” Cass shouted. In an instant, Lena was at her side.

  The truck’s engine roared as it raced up the hill and swerved in close to the house. Cass stood her ground. So did Lena.

  “What the fuck?” Bob yelled, sticking head and shoulders out of the truck. “You blew up our stuff? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “I’ll blow up my trailers whenever I feel like it,” Cass shouted back.

  The passenger door opened, and Howie and Scott spilled out. “Where’s my truck, bitch?” Howie yelled, advancing on them.

  “Gone—and it isn’t coming back!”

  “Hold it right there,” Lena warned. “One more step and you’ll feel it.”

  “Don’t you threaten me.” Scott surged forward, then danced back with a curse when Lena took a potshot at him with her pistol. She was aiming short, Cass saw. The bullet ricocheted off the dirt five feet in front of him. Lena never missed by five feet.

  All the men ducked back into the truck. It swerved away, then circled back, although this time Bob stopped farther away.

  “You aren’t the only one who can shoot,” Scott yelled from the safety of the truck. When a bullet zipped past and buried itself in the cladding of the house, Cass grabbed Lena and pulled her inside.