Protective Measures

by Maggie K. Black

  Nick’s indignation slipped away. It was the pet-sitting company’s fault for not having enough staff on Labor Day weekend. They’d obviously sent her without training. The name Raven sounded familiar, though. He pointed at the leash in Alexis’s hand and the empty collar hanging from it. “That’s a safety collar. They’re great for during the day in case they catch themselves on something but not so great for walking and squirrel-gazing.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, someone could’ve told me that.”

  They burst through the last row of trees into the clearing. A Tudor-style house with a steeply pitched roof and a half-timbered frame sat in the center. Raven had lost the race with the squirrel and seemed intent on something else. The dog ran around the house, jumped up onto the gutter downspout at the corner and feverishly scratched at it.

  “Oh, great. No! Dog, no,” Alexis shouted. “That’s the last thing I need. I’m not an official contractor with the company. If she damages the house, I’m probably liable. Why do I let myself get talked into these things?” She spoke at speeds that could rival auctioneers or impassioned lawyers.

  The dog hopped down and shoved its nose as far as it could go inside the end of the gutter before it sat, almost as if at attention. Had the squirrel run up the gutter? Raven wagged her tail, looked back at them and then caught another sniff. She raced to the other end of the house and jumped on the corresponding downspout, repeating the entire routine. “An odd thing to do twice,” he commented.

  With Raven’s full attention on the gutter, it was their best chance to get her. Nick sprinted ahead at top speed, hoping he wouldn’t scare her away. The dog looked up but seemed to grin at his fast approach. Nick smiled back. “Good girl.”

  She wagged in response. Nick dropped to a knee and put one hand on the loose skin behind her ears so he could grab her if need be. “I’ll take that leash now,” he called out. The dog lurched forward, shoving her nose into the gutter again. A rustle of plastic caught Nick’s attention. “What do you see, girl?” He bent over. A plastic package filled with white powder peeked out. His stomach sank, and he prayed it wasn’t what it appeared to be.

  Raven sat, and Nick spotted a white patch on her chest that looked like a heart. It jogged his memory. Of course, she was the new drug dog in detection training. He’d performed a physical and administered vaccinations right after her owner—a name that escaped him—adopted her a few months ago. But that meant Raven thought she was working. His heart rate sped up.

  Alexis slid a little on the leaves as she came to a stop. “Here’s the collar.” She dangled it, still attached to the leash, as he straightened. “Is there a problem?” she asked.

  He didn’t know how to answer that. He removed the breakaway collar and looped the leash around Raven’s neck to make sure she couldn’t escape again in the event she caught the scent of another squirrel. Nick stood, the end of the leash in hand. The dog took off in front of him, heading back for the first gutter.

  Nick let her lead. Raven shoved her nose in the gutter before she sat, wagging her tail. He took a knee and bent over to see what was in there. The same telltale bag was squished inside. If it was what he thought it was, they needed to get off the property fast. He hoped this property had a better cell signal than his did. “We need to call the—”

  Something crunched.

  Brown work boots rounded the corner. Nick flung his hands to his own shoe closest to the gutter as if he were tying the shoelaces. He looked up into the eyes of a burly middle-aged man and attempted a smile. “Hi. Shoe untied.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. It didn’t take a genius to realize this was not normal neighbor behavior.

  Nick straightened to standing but didn’t take his gaze off the man. He could hear Alexis approach, so he began walking backward in hopes she’d get the hint. “Sorry to intrude,” he said. “As you can see, our dog took off after a squirrel, and we had to catch her. Had a collar issue, but it’s fixed now. One-time issue. You won’t be seeing us again. We’ll be going.”

  Alexis entered his peripheral vision. She tilted her head and gave him an odd look. The man raised his phone to waist level. His right thumb was busy moving. Awareness hit Nick in the gut.

  Either the guy thought they were trying to steal his drugs, or the man was a scout for the real traffickers. Both options meant they were in serious trouble.

  “It’s my fault we’re on your property,” Alexis said. She took a step forward with her hand outstretched. “I’m—”

  “Honey,” Nick blurted. He couldn’t let her reveal her name and become marked.

  She whirled around on the spot, her dark brown eyes wild with indignation. Her forehead creased and smoothed in an instant. She pursed her lips, tilted her head and studied his face as if searching for a reason for his sudden change in behavior.

  He reached out with the hand that didn’t have a leash and grabbed her wrist. She frowned but didn’t try to pull away or argue.

  “We’ve taken enough of this man’s time,” he said. “We need to finish our jog.” Nick glanced at the way Alexis was dressed and knew that was the wrong thing to say. “More of a fast walk, really. Our friends are waiting back on the path.” He chanced a glance at the man’s hard eyes. “We’re visiting, and they’re eager to take us to the shooting range.” Okay, the last part might’ve been a bit too much because it was obvious they didn’t have guns on their persons. But he wanted to make it clear to the man they weren’t going down without a fight.

  The sound of tires spraying gravel echoed through the trees. A vehicle was approaching at high speed. Not good.

  The man straightened his torso so he looked even taller. “How about you meet my friends first?”

  The coldness of his voice chilled Nick’s bones, and he knew the vehicle fast approaching wouldn’t be filled with friendly neighbors. He lifted his chin to the right. “You mean them?”

  The man turned his head. Nick didn’t wait for him to realize the vehicle hadn’t arrived yet. He pulled on Alexis’s arm and yanked her around the corner of the house. She tugged her arm free but ran with him and Raven without any discussion.

  A truck squealed to a stop. Nick picked a path around the thickest grouping of trees, choosing the biggest ones in hopes they’d obscure the view of the men who started yelling at each other behind them. The man’s friends had arrived.

  He couldn’t make out much of what they said except two words: “Get them.”

  * * *

  A gunshot rang out. Alexis ducked and put both hands over her head. A scream tore from her throat. The dog answered with a bark. The bullet snapped a branch, which spun and smacked the side of her neck.

  She fought against confusion. For some reason men were shooting at them and she’d just helped give away their location. She hadn’t meant to scream, but she’d never been shot at before.

  Nick grabbed her upper arm again and pulled her around another tree. He kept his fingers there, tugging, silently urging her to run faster, but her sandals didn’t have much grip. It was all she could do to keep up without falling on her face.

  Alexis fought a surge of nausea as several men’s voices filtered through the trees. “Use the jammer,” one shouted. They were trying to make sure she and Nick couldn’t call for help.

  “Shoot only on sight. We don’t need the whole valley showing up!” It sounded like the voice of the man who had confronted them at the house, but she couldn’t be sure. Why were these men so angry they’d stepped onto the property? It didn’t make sense.

  Maybe they’d recognized Nick and had a score to settle with him. What kind of man had she aligned herself with? Maybe Nick had seen something she hadn’t. It seemed too late to point out to the men with guns that she wasn’t a threat to them.

  Tires squealed and covered up whatever else the man yelling had to say. She c
ouldn’t afford to slow down to dial 911 on her cell phone, but she had an uneasy feeling that it wouldn’t work anyway.

  She stumbled over a rock, and Nick’s fingers slipped off her arm. She managed to fall forward in a sloppy run but regained her balance. Nick’s golden eyes met hers for half a second before he motioned with his head which direction they needed to go. He took off without waiting for her agreement.

  That was the opposite direction of where she wanted to go. Instead of heading for the path near the river, he was taking her through the trees and, in a roundabout way, back toward the front of the house. Though if they could reach the road unseen, maybe they had a better chance of escape.

  There were rarely cars on the outskirts of town, so she couldn’t count on waving someone down for help. The area was mountainous, and the only reasons anyone would come out here were that they owned property or were heading for the trail.

  Nick gave the leash a quick tug, and the dog stayed right at his side. She followed them around a full-grown blue spruce with spider webs running over sections of the branches. He held up a finger. Her bare calves brushed up against a prickly branch, and she cringed but didn’t move.

  Stepping past her, Nick peeked around the tree, and then pivoted back toward her. He grabbed her hand and shoved her farther into the prickly foliage. She resisted slightly, not so much because of the uncomfortable pine needles but more because of the potential of spiders.

  For a second it looked as if Nick wanted to give her a high-five, but he swung his hand in an arc at his side. Raven flopped down as if she was bored, though she kept her eyes on Nick. Alexis was impressed at his use of the silent command, but the crunching sound of tires nearby flung the thoughts away.

  She slipped her hand into her pocket and, using tiny movements, fished her phone out. The slash through the image of the cell tower on the screen confirmed her fear. No help would be coming. They were alone.

  A motor roared. She turned her head slightly, hoping she wasn’t drawing attention to herself. A white pickup truck vaulted through the trees, breaking branches left and right. Her breath hitched at the sight of men carrying assault rifles. They flanked the truck in a V shape as they marched south toward the trail and the river.

  She remained frozen, her back protesting from the strain of a typical office workday. She was very aware of Nick pressed against her, especially after she lost sight of the men with guns. His face was a nice oval shape with kind eyes and a full mouth. His hair was a light brown, flared up at the crown, either from running in the wind or hair gel. He was slightly taller than she was, so probably close to five foot ten, and he obviously stayed fit.

  It felt like hours passed, but the sun’s blinding glare from the west never changed, so it had likely been mere minutes. The beams filtered through the tree branches, making it hard to see if the men were truly gone.

  Her heart rate sped, and her stomach churned. Her breathing remained erratic, but Nick stood as still as a statue. Maybe he was used to running from guns.

  “The scout is still at the house,” Nick whispered into her ear. His breath smelled like Junior Mints, a fact she tried to ignore. “There might be others waiting there, as well. Stay quiet and follow me.”

  She wanted to ask what he meant by “the scout” but didn’t trust herself to open her mouth without being too loud. Her mom had always told her she didn’t know how to whisper properly. It’s why she’d always chosen to pass notes rather than confer in law proceedings.

  He seemed to be waiting for a response. She nodded her agreement. He squeezed her wrist in reply and gave it a small tug. They darted around the next tree. Nick froze again. Her ears strained to hear signs of someone close by before moving on.

  The pattern continued until Alexis felt certain they must be nearing the road. Instead they came to a fence. Nick audibly sighed. He took off his shoe and handed it to her in a wordless request to hold the barbed wire fence the way she had when they’d followed Raven’s dash for a squirrel.

  This is what she got for not following her instincts. Theresa knew that she would temp anywhere except the pet-sitting company. But Alexis loved Theresa. The woman had become as close as any friend she’d had, despite technically being Alexis’s boss. And when Theresa had called, her voice had sounded deliriously happy.

  “Please, Alexis. You know I’d never ask you to do this if I wasn’t in a bind. If you can’t, I’ll come back early, but the thing is...” Theresa’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “I’m seeing someone. And we’re already out of town on a weekend together. I know what you’re going to say, and don’t worry. We’re in separate rooms, but honey, I’ve known him all my life, and I think he could be the one.”

  “Who?” Alexis had pressed.

  “I can’t tell you yet. I promised him we’d keep it hush-hush. He doesn’t want us to have the pressure of being under a microscope. You know how small towns can be.”

  She did know how small towns could be, but in the last year she’d heard no evidence of the rumor mill. Perhaps because she kept to herself since she’d moved back.

  Nick stepped through the barbed wire fence first. Alexis looked over her shoulder. Nick must have chosen this section of the fence to cross since the trees were especially thick here. Raven didn’t seem so keen to slide underneath the fence this time.

  “Hand her to me,” he whispered.

  Alexis cringed. If the dog so much as licked her, it would have to fend for itself. She exhaled and put her arms around the dog’s torso. Her biceps and lower back strained with the effort. The dog had to be at least fifty pounds!

  If she hadn’t been such a pushover she would’ve told Theresa no. Then Theresa would’ve been forced to skip her weekend to walk the dog, probably on the sidewalks of downtown instead of the trail, and none of this would’ve ever happened.

  Nick reached over the fence and took Raven from her. She’d never seen the man around town, which was unusual. He was either new in town or they ran in completely different circles. It made her question again whether she should’ve trusted him enough to follow him, but she didn’t have much choice now. He had the dog.

  He held the fence open for her, and she stepped through. Her outfit, now covered with black dog hair and smudges of nature, would never recover, but it was a small price to pay for getting back to safety. The list of charges she wanted to report against those men ran through her head on a loop.

  Nick gathered the leash tightly and waved for her to follow him as he broke into a fast-paced jog. Her feet felt every rock and hard patch of uneven ground through the thin soles of her shoes. If she ever got home, she’d never wear the sandals again.

  Five minutes later, the trees opened up into a pasture. The tall grass swayed with the breeze, and in the distance, a yellow house with white shutters looked welcoming. A red barn stood behind it. Two horses grazed nearby.

  She marveled at the perfect picture of tranquility. It belonged on a postcard and made her long for her own pair of cowboy boots. “Do you know the owners?”

  “The owner. Yes,” he answered.

  They approached another fence, this one made from wooden rails. The large spaces made it easy to slip through. Even though the wood couldn’t protect her, the physical barrier made her heart slow ever so slightly. “I’ll feel a lot safer once we’re inside that house. I hope someone’s home.”

  He pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed. “We need to find a signal now. I don’t think those jammers can cover that large a distance.” He ran a few steps. “Weak,” he muttered. His eyebrows rose. “Dial tone.” He pressed a few numbers and held it up to his ear. “We need help.”

  Alexis put a hand on her racing heart and issued a silent prayer of thanks that he’d been able to reach the authorities. Their pace didn’t slow as Nick spoke feverishly about men with guns and rattled off an address Alexis didn’t recogniz
e.

  “Please hurry.” Nick swiveled the cell phone so the microphone rested on his shoulder. “They want me to stay on the line until they get here.”

  He looked over her shoulder, and she followed his gaze. The property appeared to be roughly five acres until a line of trees obscured the rest. She imagined that just past it was the walking path and the river. “Is that them?”

  The sound of cracking branches in the distance made her flinch.

  “Follow me.” They sprinted until they reached the porch of the house. He lifted the phone to his ear. “It sounds like they’ve made it to the trail behind my property. I have to put the phone down now. Please hurry.”

  His property? He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and opened the navy blue door. Past the darkened hallway, bright sunshine streamed through a wall of windows. A rifle suddenly blocked her view, taking her breath away.

  Nick held one in each hand. “I hope you know how to shoot a gun.”

  Copyright © 2017 by Heather Humrichouse

  ISBN-13: 9781488019326

  Protective Measures

  Copyright © 2017 by Mags Storey

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.