Hideout at Whiskey Gulch

by Elle James

  Morrison’s eyes narrowed. “I told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about. The last I saw Ms. Blanchard, she was with you at the diner. Maybe the sheriff should be looking at you for her disappearance. You were always the delinquent in Whiskey Gulch.”

  Anger roiled in Matt’s gut. “You’re not going to get away with this.”

  “I’ve had enough of your accusations. If you have a problem with me, speak to my attorney.” The van surged forward.

  Deep down, Matt knew Morrison had to be involved in the abductions and the cartel’s human and drug trafficking in the area. He couldn’t let Morrison get away, and he couldn’t take the time to wait for the others to catch up to him.

  The van pulled away from where Matt sat on his motorcycle.

  To slow Morrison down and to keep him from leaving the area in a hurry, Matt did the only thing he could think of. He raced after the van, swerved his motorcycle in front of it at the same time as he threw himself off the bike. He hit the ground hard, rolled away from the wheels and came back up on his feet.

  The van hit the bike, rolled over it and high-centered on the machine, coming to a complete stop with a jerk. Morrison’s head slammed against the steering wheel and he lay still.

  Behind Matt, the train gave another long, loud hoot, pulling him back to what really mattered. Morrison was the least of his worries. Aubrey and Isabella could be on that train. Since Morrison was at the depot, he had to have been involved. The two had to be on the train that was still moving slowly down the track on its way out of town.

  On foot now, Matt raced toward the tracks, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as he ran. The screen was cracked, but the phone worked. He called the sheriff. “Morrison’s crashed in a white van by the depot,” Matt blurted out. “He’s involved. I’m running for the train and could use some backup. Try and get someone to stop the train. I think the girls are on it.”

  “Gotcha,” Sheriff Richards said. “Headed that way. I’ll send one of my deputies to secure Morrison.”

  As soon as he ended the call, Matt hit the number for his half brother, Trace. “Depot. Now.”

  Trace didn’t question. “On our way.”

  Matt reached the tracks and looked toward the north. Already, half the train had moved through town and was headed out the other end. If Morrison had loaded the girls onto the train, as Matt suspected, they’d be on one of the cars near the front. The part of the train now passing the granary was moving farther away.

  Ahead, he could see the silhouettes of two people running alongside a railcar, trying to get in. One waved something in his hand. The next moment, Matt heard the sound of gunfire.

  He picked up his pace, drawing on the training, strength and endurance he’d needed as a member of Marine Force Recon. An old leg injury hurt him significantly, especially after purposely crashing his motorcycle, but he fought past the pain to reach Aubrey and Isabella before the two men could get onto the train.

  As soon as Matt got close enough, he came to a dead stop, aimed his handgun and fired. The man pointing his weapon into the boxcar fell to the ground. The other man spun and fired at Matt.

  Matt anticipated the move and dropped to a crouch, aimed and fired at the second guy and missed.

  The man fired back at him.

  Matt had already ducked. The bullet went wide.

  Before he could fire again, the man grabbed the side of the train and swung up inside.

  Matt raced for the boxcar the men had been trying to get into.

  When he reached the door, he grabbed the edge and hauled himself inside.

  A woman cried out and the sounds of a scuffle came from the shadows.

  As Matt straightened, a dark, bulky silhouette emerged and lurched toward him.

  Aubrey came into the starlight. The man who’d leaped onto the train had a gun to her head. “Oh, Matt,” she said. “I tried.”

  Her captor spoke in rapid-fire Spanish, tipping his head toward the gun in Matt’s hand.

  Matt didn’t understand what he said, but his intent was clear. If Matt didn’t put down his weapon, the man would shoot Aubrey.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Aubrey said. “Isabella is in the fifth car up from here. Save her.”

  The man holding Aubrey spoke again, jerking his head toward the door.

  “He wants you off the train,” she said. “Go, Matt. Help that little girl.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Matt bit out.

  Her captor pulled her hair, making her head tip upward. He yelled in Spanish.

  “You can’t wait,” Aubrey said, her tone strained. “They might kill her. And he said if you don’t get out, he’ll kill me. Please. Go.”

  Matt fought with his desire to rush forward and deck the man threatening to kill Aubrey. But the man held all the cards. He had Aubrey.

  He couldn’t risk Aubrey’s life. If he left, what was to keep the man from shooting Aubrey to be done with her before getting away?

  As he contemplated how to maneuver so he could reach for the weapon before the man fired, the train jerked, throwing all three of them off balance.

  Aubrey jabbed her elbow into her captor’s gut, broke free and threw herself across the floor of the railcar.

  Her captor regained his balance and swore in Spanish, and once again aimed his handgun at Aubrey.

  Matt raised his weapon and shot him.

  The man staggered backward. His gun fell from his hand as he dropped to the floor, clutching his chest. He lay still.

  Matt kicked the gun away from the man and then helped Aubrey to her feet and into his arms. “I’m sorry, I failed you.”

  “What are you talking about?” She shook her head. “You didn’t fail me. Who would have thought they’d risk being caught to capture me?” She clung to him for a moment. “Besides, I knew you’d come.”

  “We haven’t known each other long...” he started.

  She smiled. “But it feels like a lifetime.”

  “I could very easily fall in love with you, Aubrey Blanchard.” He kissed the tip of her nose and then claimed her mouth in a brief but earthshaking connection. “I think I already have.”

  She kissed him back and then leaned her forehead against his chest. “I could fall in love with you, too, Matthew Hennessey.”

  The train was slowing.

  Aubrey broke away. “Isabella.”

  “Five cars up?” Matt confirmed.

  Aubrey nodded. “Yes.”

  Matt hugged her close again and then set her at arm’s length, took her hand and walked to the open door of the boxcar.

  As they looked out, the train came to an excruciatingly slow halt.

  Matt jumped to the ground and held up his arms to help Aubrey down.

  She leaned forward and let him lower her to her feet. Her body trembled in his arms and his chest tightened. This woman had come so close to death.

  The sheriff’s vehicles arrived, along with Trace’s truck. Everyone jumped out and rushed toward Matt.

  “Fifth car up from here,” Matt said.

  “See anyone leave the car?” the sheriff asked.

  “Not from this side,” Aubrey said.

  “They’ll probably use the little girl as a hostage to get away,” the sheriff said.

  “Can you use us?” Trace asked.

  “One of you serve as a sniper in the military?” Sheriff Richards asked.

  Irish stepped forward, his rifle with the scope in hand. “I did.”

  Sheriff Richards nodded. “Deputy Jones was on the rifle team in the army. I’ll set her up on this side. You can take the other.”

  Irish ducked between two railcars and hurried forward with two of the sheriff’s deputies.

  The sheriff pulled a megaphone out of the front seat of his vehicle and called out. “Exit the boxcar with
your hands up.”

  A shout sounded from the other side of the train. One of the sheriff’s deputies slipped between the cars and called out, “Door’s open on this side, they’re gone and there’s an empty dog crate in the car!”

  “Isabella was in that crate,” Aubrey said, her face draining of color.

  Matt turned to Lily. “Will you take Aubrey to Trace’s truck and keep her safe?”

  Lily nodded and held up her handgun. “We’ve got this. I won’t let anything happen to her. Come on, Aubrey. Let these guys do what they were trained to do.”

  Aubrey’s gaze met Matt’s. “I promised Isabella she’d be okay.”

  Matt nodded. “I’ll bring her back.” He cupped the back of her head and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Levi still have that drone in the air?”

  Trace nodded and held up his cell phone. “He’s flying it over us right now. I have him on speaker.”

  Levi’s voice came over the cell phone. “I have heat signatures for two, heading east from your position. One of them appears to be carrying a child.”

  “Let’s go.” Matt took off with Trace, Irish, the sheriff and his deputies, passing between the boxcars, heading east, with Levi on speaker guiding their way.

  Matt hoped Lily and Aubrey made it back to Trace’s truck and that the cartel didn’t have more of their people hanging around the depot. He had to trust that the fierce spitfire Lily would keep Aubrey safe with the one weapon between them.

  “One hundred yards to your east,” Levi reported. “You’re closing in on them.”

  “I’m going to fire a warning shot over their heads,” the sheriff said. He raised his handgun and fired off a round. Then he lifted the megaphone to his lips. “Stop and come out with your hands up.”

  “Are they stopping?” Trace asked Levi on the cell phone as they continued toward the fugitives.

  “No,” Levi said over the phone.

  The sheriff handed the megaphone to Deputy Jones. “In Spanish.”

  “Yes, sir.” She took the megaphone and repeated the sheriff’s message in Spanish.

  “What are they doing?” Trace asked Levi.

  “Still moving... No, wait. They’ve stopped. No, now they’re moving. It appears they’ve left the child behind.”

  “Is she moving?” Matt asked.

  “She’s sitting in one spot,” Levi reported. “I can’t tell what her condition is.”

  “The men?” Sheriff Richards asked.

  “Moving fast, heading southeast.”

  “Get us to the child,” Matt said.

  “You’re still headed in the right direction. Another fifty yards.”

  Matt ran through the woods and brush, dodging trees he could barely see in the darkness. Trace ran on one side of him, Irish on the other.

  “Maybe ten yards,” Levi said.

  “Isabella!” Matt called out. “Isabella!”

  He stopped yelling and listened.

  “You should see her...now.”

  Matt scanned the ground, searching for the little girl.

  “There!” Irish shouted and pointed to a bush three feet in front Matt.

  Matt circled the bush and looked down.

  A small child with long black hair sat in the grass, sniffling.

  When Matt reached for her, she scooted back into the brush.

  Matt spoke to her in soft, soothing tones like his mother had when he’d been scared as a child. “Hey, Isabella, sweet little girl, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to take you to see your sister, Marianna.”

  Her eyes widened, the whites showing in the starlight. “Marianna?” she said in a tiny voice.

  Matt nodded. “Si, Marianna.”

  “Y mamá?” And mama?

  He couldn’t answer her question about her mother, so he repeated. “Si, Marianna.” This time, when he reached for her, she let him take her into his arms.

  Isabella wrapped her own arms around his neck and clung to him.

  “Do you want me to take her?” Deputy Jones asked, holding out her hands.

  “No,” Matt said. “She seems fine for now.” He stroked the hair on her head and talked softly in her ear. “It’s going to be all right. We’re going to see your sister, Marianna.”

  He looked around for the others.

  Deputy Jones was the only one with him. “The rest have gone after the two men who ditched the girl,” she said. “Let’s get back to the vehicles and get this poor baby someplace safe and warm.”

  “I know just the spot.”

  “Child services will want to take her.”

  “They can collect her when they come to get Marianna. I promised Isabella we were going to see her sister. And, if they haven’t already come to collect her, Marianna is at Whiskey Gulch Ranch with my stepmother.”

  “I’ll escort you there.”

  “Good, because I seem to be without transportation,” He doubted his motorcycle would be repairable. Frankly, he didn’t care. Isabella was okay. Aubrey was okay. The dark spot on the entire scenario was that the two little girls would be without their mother, all because of a cartel more interested in money than human lives. The bastards needed to be stopped.

  Matt walked back to the depot with Deputy Jones. As they approached the vehicles, Lily and Aubrey dropped down from Trace’s truck and ran toward them.

  Matt’s chest swelled and his face broke out in a grin.

  Aubrey wrapped her arms around Matt and Isabella, happy tears trailing down her cheeks. “You’re going to be okay. Vas a estar bien.”

  Isabella wrapped one of her arms around Aubrey, retaining her hold on Matt.

  “You’re going to be okay,” Aubrey repeated.

  Matt believed her. Seeing Aubrey come toward him, her arms outstretched had given him the feeling of coming home. He hadn’t had that feeling since he’d returned to Whiskey Gulch. It took an angel to bring him home.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The ride back to the Whiskey Gulch Ranch was strange. Aubrey rode with Matt and Isabella in the back of Deputy Jones’s service vehicle.

  Isabella remained in Matt’s arms the entire way. Aubrey smiled at the little girl’s reluctance to let go of him. The big, tough-looking bad boy of Whiskey Gulch had charmed yet another female into loving him.

  Aubrey couldn’t blame Isabella. Matt was a handsome man with his black hair, much like Isabella’s, and piercing dark eyes.

  “Deputy Bateman called an ambulance for our friend Rodney Morrison,” Deputy Jones said through the wire mesh between the front and the backseat of the SUV.

  Her heart pinching hard in her chest, Aubrey touched Matt’s hand. “It was Morrison who killed your mother,” she whispered, not wanting to wake the child. “He admitted to me that he’d gotten rid of her because she was meddling in his business.”

  “Had I known it was him, I’d have made him suffer more,” Matt said through clenched teeth. “So, he was there when they loaded you on the train?”

  Aubrey nodded. “He was the man in charge of the men doing the dirty work.”

  Matt’s nostrils flared. “I had a hunch when I saw him driving away from the depot in a white van.”

  Aubrey grunted. “The van he had his goons transfer me into after they shot me up with some drug. I was paralyzed for thirty to forty-five minutes.”

  Swearing softly, Matt squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  “The worst part of being drugged was knowing everything that was going on, and not being able to do a thing about it.” Aubrey leaned against Matt’s shoulder and held his hand. “They kept this poor child in a dog crate, and I couldn’t lift a finger to get her out. Even after the drug wore off, I was bound with duct tape. I’d only just begun working it loose when they tossed us onto the train.”

  Matt released he
r hand and slipped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s over now. You’re here with me, and I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  Deputy Jones’s radio crackled, and Sheriff Richards’s voice came across. “We got the two men. Wouldn’t have been able to do it without help from our men and women in uniform and our former military men who stepped up to the challenge. Tell Ms. Blanchard and Mr. Hennessey thank you for all they did to bring these coyotes to justice.”

  Deputy Jones responded. “Glad to hear it, sir. I’ll let them know.” She leaned her head toward the back of the vehicle. “Did you hear what the sheriff had to say?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Matt said. “The combined effort of all those involved made this mission a success.”

  “I wish all investigations had such a positive outcome,” Deputy Jones said. “Gotta celebrate the good ones and learn from the others.” She chuckled. “At least that’s what my boss says.”

  “Aubrey?” Matt said.

  Her heart fluttered at her name on his lips. “Yes, Matt?”

  “You think we could stand each other when we’re not in a crisis?”

  She laughed. “Do you?”

  He smiled and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “I think we make a great team, crisis or not.” His smile faded. “Aubrey Blanchard, will you go out with me? I’m pretty sure I love you and I need time to convince you that I’m not all that bad.”

  She leaned into his palm. “Mr. Hennessey, I can’t think of anything I’d like better. I’m already convinced you’re perfect and I’m more than halfway in love with you.”

  “When we get young Isabella settled down for the night with her sister, Marianna,” Matt said, “I’ll show you just how serious I am.”

  After the trauma of the past couple of days, seeing the light side of Matt was refreshing and utterly endearing. Aubrey cocked an eyebrow, loving teasing him. “Promise?”

  “Promise.” He adjusted Isabella against his shoulder. “How do you feel about kids? I mean, I know you lost your daughter. And I can’t begin to imagine all the heartache that goes along with that.”

  She touched his arm. “I love children,” she said, softly, past the lump in her throat.