“Suit yourself.”
He shrugged and turned his back on her. Big mistake. She launched herself at him and knocked him off his unsteady legs. Metal crashed against metal as he went down hard across the dirty wooden floor and took Grace with him.
She sprawled across his back. Her chin struck his spine and her teeth scraped across her tongue. The taste of copper filled her mouth and her ears rang making it impossible for her to move fast enough. He rolled and pinned her beneath him.
His blue eyes went hard as glass shards. “Bitch!”
She hadn’t anticipated the weight of his metal braces across her body or the surprising strength in his grip. Pushing at his chest, she tried to wriggle free, but his heavy body held her immobilized.
His nostrils flared and his eyes turned from ice to blue flame. He pressed a thumb against her throat. His other hand cupped her cheek.
She froze. Her stomach churned from his touch when he ran a finger across her skin.
“So, Graceless is all grown up, huh?” His gaze honed in on her lips and his hand slid down to the side of her breast.
Oh, God. No. “Don’t touch me.”
“Why?” His narrowed eyes bored into hers and he increased the pressure of his thumb along the hollow of her throat. “Think a cripple can’t get it up?”
Fire spread through her chest and robbed her of a clear breath. “Let-me-go.”
He shook his head and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “I may not have had much practice since your sister, but I assure you, the equipment still works.”
“Tell me you’ve got her.” Keith pressed the phone to his ear in order to hear Quinn above the roar of the helicopter.
“The old abandoned cabin at the Tapatillo Copper Mine.”
Thank God.
His hands shook and he almost dropped the phone. Relief flooded through him, but it was short lived. The Tapatillo Copper Mine wasn’t a random destination. Set against Arizona’s Mogollon Rim, the mine and cabin had long been forgotten until he and Colby had discovered the cabin one weekend, and turned it into their personal party place. The night he’d fought with Colby had changed the course of their lives forever and relinquished the cabin back to its forsaken status.
Colby was bringing them full circle.
Keith clenched his jaw. “Where are you now?”
“I can’t get close enough to the cabin without being spotted. I’m on the forest service road about a mile beyond the mine. There’s a big clearing ahead. Perfect place to set down the helo.”
“ETA five minutes. Do not go inside. Wait for me.”
Keith snapped his phone shut as the pilot adjusted his course. The helicopter veered sharply to the left.
If Colby so much as breathed sour breath on Grace, he’d kill the bastard.
He gripped the rail overhead to steady the shakes that wracked his body. Grace was okay. She had to be.
She was tough. That’s one of the things he loved most about her—how she could be tough as nails one moment and then soft and sweet the next. He loved her no holds barred emotions. But if something happened to her before he had the chance to tell her...
“What the hell is taking so long?” The raw growl ripped through him. These were the five longest fucking minutes of his life.
The pilot pointed out the windshield as they rose over a cluster of trees. From the wide strip of green valley three short bursts of reflected metal winked at him.
Quinn’s signal.
The chopper descended towards the ground. Keith jumped from the open cockpit before the runners touched the grassy scrub. He pulled the clip from his pistol, checked for adequate ammo, and slammed the clip home.
Quinn strode from the cover of the trees. “Let’s go.”
“No. Stay here. Let me handle this.”
“You shouldn’t go alone. You need backup—”
“I know Colby. He’s unpredictable at best. I won’t take a chance of Grace getting caught in the middle. No, if the bastard wants me, he’s got me.”
“Look, Keith, I want to nail him as much as you do—”
“That’s not possible.”
“All I’m saying—”
“You can follow, but you stay back. Got that. If anything happens to me, I’m counting on you to save Grace.”
He didn’t wait for Quinn to agree as he sprinted through the trees. The rocky terrain poked the soles of his boots and jarred his knees as he ran.
Every minute that passed felt like an eternity. Finally, he burst through the last cluster of trees. The cabin perched high on the dusty red rocks of the large crevice that split the earth in front of him.
His boots slipped along the clay colored earth as he skid to a stop. He shaded his eyes from the setting sun and looked across the ravine to the back of the weathered cabin.
He and Colby had added that makeshift plywood deck that jutted out over the ravine one weekend when they’d hosted a huge spring break party. They’d added a rope so they could climb into the ravine and get drunk under the stars. The fact that the flimsy deck still existed was a testament to how few people knew about the place.
A shadow moved across the yellowed curtain that framed the kitchen area. Keith hit the dirt and sucked in a breath.
Shit, he’d forgotten about the ravine. It stretched at least ten feet across and broke up the terrain for miles. He didn’t have time to go around. He’d have to climb the thirty feet or so to the bottom and then make the same climb back up the other side.
He swung over the edge, his boots slipped through the dirt before he regained his footing on a chunk of rock that protruded from the earth. His forearms burned as he clung to the side. Using the thick roots that poked out at odd intervals, he began his descent to the ravine floor. He paused halfway down to catch a quick breath. Sweat dripped from his forehead and slid down his nose. He swiped his face across his shoulder to wipe away the moisture.
The crack of wood penetrated the harsh sound of his breathing. Suddenly, the thick limb he clung to separated from the dirt. He fell back, his boots slipped off their rocky foothold.
His heart jumped into his throat as he fell. He grabbed fistfuls of air hoping to catch hold of a branch, a rock, a root—anything to halt his descent. His hand snagged a thick vine and he curled fingers around it, but his palm met sharp thorns and the limb slipped from his grasp, slicing open the fleshy part of his hand.
“Son of a bitch.” Fire spread across the cut, his head smacked the side of a rock and he went down. The impact of his body against the ravine floor knocked the breath from his chest.
Nausea swam in his gut.
Get up.
His arms and legs refused to listen.
He blinked at the wavy deep blue sky.
Grace is counting on you! Get your ass up there!
He gulped for breath then let it out, slow and steady. His vision cleared and he hauled himself to his feet. He forced his way up the ravine wall using scraggly pine and juniper roots to haul his body to the nearest outcrop of rocks.
The smooth face of the ravine loomed above him. Now what? Damn it, he did not come this far to fail. He scraped his fingers through the dirt, hoping he could hold on by sheer willpower. He had to get up there.
His fingers brushed a thick piece of braided material embedded in the dirt. The rope. Fourteen years buried kept the nylon from completely decaying in the sun.
He dug it out and yanked on it. The rope grew taut and held. Thank God. It was still attached to the two by eight joists they’d used to support the deck. He had no choice but to trust that it would still hold his weight.
Keith wrapped his hand around the rope and began his ascent. He ground his teeth against the throb in his palm and pushed his muscles past their burning point.
Almost there.
His pistol slipped from its wedged position in the waistband of his pants. Letting go of the rope with his good hand, he lunged to catch it. His other hand slipped against the braided material and ripped his palm
open further. His fingers brushed the butt of the pistol—and missed.
The gun sunk to the ravine floor like a stone in a well.
“Shit.” He winced against the searing pain in his hand. Sweat stung his eyes. “Shit, shit, shit.”
He couldn’t go back for it. But if he didn’t, he’d be forced to walk into the cabin unarmed. How could he rescue Grace without a weapon?
Overhead, Grace’s raw scream split the heavy air and nearly stopped his heart.
Put up or shut up. He loved her and he’d damn well find a way.
Grace wrenched her mouth away from Colby. Her head struck the floor and bright spots swam in front of her vision.
“Get. Off.” She barely recognized the two short croaked words as her voice.
Colby smirked and dug his thumb deeper into her windpipe.
She choked and her vision contracted. Tears stung her eyes.
Keith, where are you?
The front door flew open and banged against the wall.
Grace twisted her head toward the door. Please, God, let that be him.
“Colby, what are you doing?”
Grace’s heart plummeted as her eyes focused on the woman who stood just inside the doorway. Her long black hair hung past her shoulders in a vaguely familiar soft wave. White nurses shoes peeked beneath the hem of her faded jeans.
Where had Grace seen her before?
“What’s going on here?” The woman wrapped her arms around her plain white blouse, her violet eyes wide as they moved from Colby to Grace and then back again.
Violet eyes. Unusual color. Where had she seen—?
The hospital in Nogales! She was the frantic nurse that had run past Grace and Keith in the lobby. But what was she doing here? With Colby?
Blessed air flooded Grace’s throat and the pressure eased from her chest as Colby rolled off her and awkwardly reclaimed his feet.
“What good will it do me if she gets away before Keith arrives?”
Grace shifted onto her knees and moved into a crouch. She had to get out of here. If she waited for Keith to come to her rescue, it might be too late.
The woman frowned, her face scrunched, her dark eyebrows dipped at a sharp angle. “I...I thought we were leaving.”
Colby stepped in front of the woman and ran a hand up and down her bare arm. “We are, Elizabeth. As soon as I take care of something.”
That something wouldn’t be her. No way.
Grace bounded to her feet and ran for the door. Her shoes slapped loudly against the wood planks. You can make it. A little farther.
A bullet whizzed past her head and slammed into the wall in front of her. She froze. Her knees buckled.
Oh, God, that wall could’ve been her head.
“Go ahead,” Colby mocked, stalking up behind her. “Next time I won’t fire off a warning first.”
He fisted a hand in Grace’s hair and tugged. Her eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall. She grit her teeth against the pain and tried to knee him in the groin, but he dodged her with ease. He yanked her hair, forcing her neck into an awkward, painful angle as he brought his gun up and slammed it across her cheek.
Pain exploded along her jaw. A scream ripped from her throat and reverberated in her throbbing temple. She sucked in a fiery breath.
Don’t think about it. Ignore the pain. But, oh, Lord, it hurt.
“Elizabeth. Help me tie her to the chair.” Colby gestured to the thick rope coiled at the base of the stone fireplace.
“I...I don’t understand.” Elizabeth stepped further into the room, her voice soft and shaky. “I went for the supplies as you asked—”
“You don’t need to understand. Just—just shut up and give me the rope.”
Elizabeth bit her lip. Her gaze wavered to Grace. “Colby, can’t we just leave? Why are you doing this?”
Colby spun, dragging Grace with him. “Give me the goddamn rope, Elizabeth!” His roar reverberated around the cabin and rang in Grace’s ears.
Elizabeth flinched and tears sprang into her eyes, but she snatched the rope off the stones and tossed it to Colby.
He shoved Grace into the chair and flung the rope around her body. She threw herself forward and tried to break free, but Colby yanked on the rope and her back slammed into the chair’s rough, splintered wood.
“Stay put.”
Colby wound the rope around her wrists and pulled it tight. The nylon burned a path across her skin as he tied her up.
“No. Don’t do this.” Her plea fell on Colby’s deaf ears. She turned to Elizabeth who wrung her hands in the middle of the room. “Don’t let him do this, Elizabeth.”
Doubt flickered in Elizabeth’s eyes. “He...he loves me. We’re going to Rio—”
“He’s using you! Can’t you see the difference?”
Grace could. Whereas once she’d thought Keith capable of nothing more than taking advantage of her, she now believed in him. In his love. He was nothing like Colby. How could she have ever lumped them into the same category?
“Elizabeth saved me.” Colby ground the words through gritted teeth. He bent and got in Grace’s face. “I’m beginning to think Keith won’t do the same for you.” He grasped her chin in a bruising grip. “So, what should I do with you?”
She twisted her head and let his harsh breath land on her cheek. Her hands were quickly becoming numb and when she tried to yank on them to break the knotted rope, she only served to aggravate the burn across her wrists further.
“Go to hell, you—”
The back door crashed from its hinges and smashed to the floor. Dust scattered like plumes of smoke and Keith appeared in the doorway as if rising from the ashes.
Grace’s heart stuttered, relief and love filling her throat. Keith. He’d come for her.
Colby spun and fired off three quick shots in Keith’s direction. Keith lunged backward out the door, lost to Grace’s view.
“Stop it!”
The muscles in her throat went rigid as she screamed to be heard over Elizabeth’s keening screech.
Where was Keith? She held her breath and waited for him to burst through the door again, but the dust settled and all movement ceased. No. He couldn’t have been hit.
“Keith!” Her voice cracked on his name. She swallowed against the pain in her throat and listened for his voice, his footsteps. Please, God.
Nothing. No movement. No voices.
Elizabeth had stopped screaming, her eyes wide and laced with fear, even Colby stood still as a statue in the middle of the floor.
No. The denial fell from her lips without a sound. She bucked against her bonds. The legs of the chair scraped across the floor, shattering the silence.
She had to get free. Keith needed her. He couldn’t be shot. He couldn’t be lying in a pool of blood on the ground. She needed him. She needed him in her life so damn much. If she didn’t get the chance to tell him, she’d never forgive herself.
She tore at the tightly braided material that bound her hands, but the rope was far too thick for her to pull it apart. Tears slid down her cheeks and stung the cut Colby had put there with his gun. “Let me go. Let me go to him.”
Colby turned to her, eyebrows raised, a glassy, desperate look in his eyes. “Shut up.” He pointed the gun at her with shaky hands. “Stay where you are.”
Keith burst through the flimsy screen on the front door and tumbled to the floor. Colby leapt back, his eyes sparking with deep blue fury. He swung the gun and took aim at Keith.
The cocky hitch to Colby’s lips turned into a sneer. “You always did enjoy being a show off.”
Keith straightened. “Only about as much as you did.”
Blood dotted his forehead. He was covered in dirt. It matted his hair and dusted his army fatigues and the tips of his dark boots. He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. His palm had a dark red angry gash running down its length.
But he was okay. Thank God he was okay.
Keeping the gun trained on Keith, Colb
y sauntered behind her and grabbed a fistful of her hair, torturing her already bruised scalp further. “Welcome to the reunion.”
Keith’s turbulent hazel eyes grazed her before cutting to Elizabeth and then finally coming to rest on Colby. She’d expected his show of tough, impassive, confidence. Those things defined Keith, after all. But the rigid ferocity that emanated from his tightly coiled body had her breath backing up in her throat.
“Keith?”
His stare wavered on her. The golden flecks in his eyes softened. “You okay?”
The words were issued in a raspy whisper that tore at her heart. As he studied her face she saw the fear and worry reflected in his eyes.
“I love you.” She swallowed past the hard lump in her throat. This wasn’t the way she wanted to tell him, with Colby’s fist in her hair and her entire body cringing with pain, but she refused to waste another minute of her life playing it safe with her feelings.
Keith staggered back a step as if the wind was suddenly knocked from him. He ran a trembling hand across his mouth and stared at Grace, his eyes wary, hopeful and desperate all at the same time.
Colby shattered the moment with a laugh. “Isn’t that sweet?”
A muscle leapt in Keith’s jaw and his narrowed eyes snapped to Colby. “C’mon, Colby. What are you doing?”
Colby shoved at Grace, sending the chair rocking against the floor. “Taking back my life!” He roared the words and jabbed the revolver in the air. “Do you have any idea how I’ve suffered? Because of you?”
Keith lifted his hands. “I threw a punch. That’s it. You know you deserved it. What you did to Rebecca Cooper was despicable. And she wasn’t the only one, was she?”
“All those little sluts begging for my attention got what they wanted. But me...I had a great future in the military waiting for me. You destroyed that...took it from me. Look at you, in the Special Forces. That should have been me!” He slapped at his chest with his fist. “Me! Not you. You took what was rightfully mine.”
“No.” Keith’s jaw hardened and his sliced the air with his hands. “I never wanted to join the Army. Not like you did. But I had to pay for my part in your accident and my penance was enlisting in the Army.” He took a step toward Colby. “Somewhere along the line, this career, my place in the Special Forces, became my salvation. There’s value in being honorable, Colby. Why didn’t we see it that way back then?”
Her Own Best Enemy (The Remnants, Book 1) Page 26