Cowboy Bodyguard

by Dana Mentink

  Jack pulled to the passenger side and began to edge closer. He prayed he could force the car off the road, into the nearby grassy field. Then it would be a standoff, but his brothers were somewhere close behind, and they would provide suitable backup. Three Thorns against two bikers. That would work just fine, unless Cruiser planned to use Shannon as a human shield. Nerves twitching, he pressed harder.

  His front bumper was inches away now from the rear door of the car. Almost there. He caught the profile of a woman’s face and almost lost his grip on the steering wheel.

  The face that looked back at him, eyes wide with terror, was not Shannon.

  Confused, he looked again into the back seat. The captive, mouth covered with duct tape, cradling his unconscious wife, was Dina Brown.

  * * *

  Shannon jolted back to consciousness and tumbled to the floor of the car. Her mouth was taped, and her hands were bound together with a dirty bandanna. Flashes of memory assailed her. Running into her mother’s room, finding her on the floor, a flash of movement and then her arms twisted sharply behind her. Fighting and tussling down the stairs and outside, until a blow to the head knocked her out. Struggling to regain a place on the seat, she sucked in a breath through her nose at the sight of Dina, also gagged, hands tied together, trying to help her back up onto the seat.

  Dina’s meeting with her brother, Pinball, had either not taken place before the violence at the inn, or he had allowed Dina to be handed over to the Tide. Her heart ached for her mother, her uncle, for the patrons at the inn, all the innocent people who would be caught between the rival gangs in their quest for vengeance. She had a feeling she and Dina were going to be whisked away, back to Southern California, and handed over to the Tide, once they extricated themselves from Gold Bar.

  She silently prayed a thank-you that they had not brought Baby Annabell into this disaster. Her thoughts surprised her. Another prayer offered up to God, in whom she had never put any stock. Was it weakness? She’d always relied on her own smarts, strengths and determination. In that moment, she realized she had precisely zero control over her own life or Dina’s. She was helpless. If God was the loving entity Jack insisted He was, why was she drowning in fear? Was she left again in the hands of a father who would not love her the way she craved?

  A whimper from Dina cut at her. She gripped Dina’s hands as tears trickled from the young woman’s eyes. She offered the only comfort she could, a touch, an unspoken promise that they’d ride it out together. In spite of her terror, that touch of one hand to another comforted her beyond words.

  As they clung together, Shannon tried again to formulate some sort of plan. Cruiser and the man in the front seat were focused on an approaching vehicle. It took her a moment to realize the figure silhouetted behind the windshield was Jack, gripping the wheel, bearing down on them.

  Her heart squeezed, and a thrill of hope almost choked her. If they could get out, tumble clear of the car somehow... She tried the handle and found it locked. With a thrust of her chin, she commanded Dina to try her side. Also locked. The car must have one of those kid-safe overrides that kept the doors secure until the driver released them.

  All right, Shannon. Plan B. She would disable Cruiser, wrap her bound hands around his eyes and at least slow him down enough that Jack could reach them.

  As she readied herself, Dina caught her eye and shook her head, her brows furrowed in fear. Shannon’s desperate act might very well result in a crash, but she did not see any other choice. If Cruiser got them away from Gold Bar, it would be death for both of them.

  She leaned forward just as the skinny man in the front seat turned around and shot out a fist at her. Recoiling in time to avoid the blow, she tried to suck in enough oxygen to steady herself before trying again.

  This time, as she eased forward, Cruiser’s cohort was completely focused on the oncoming vehicle. Jack was so close now, she could see him in the side mirror. His expression was a mask of grim determination. The trust was so clear. He loved her, and she’d walked away from him.

  As she lifted her hands again, the passenger pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Jack’s front windshield.

  “No,” she screamed against her gag, lunging for him instead. Flailing awkwardly to reach him, she struck at the back of his head just as he loosed the shot. It ruptured Jack’s windshield with a crack. Shannon watched in horror as she lost sight of Jack behind the spidering glass. The SUV suddenly jerked out of control. It toppled over, spinning in sickening spirals that sent pieces of debris careening in all directions. Over and over, it tumbled, until it came to a stop in the grass upside down, smoke pouring from under the hood.

  Shannon stared out the rear window, horrified.

  Jack, you have to be all right. You have to be.

  She stared hard, every atom in her being hoping to see the shadow of his strong form sit up and push his way out of the car.

  But there was no movement from the SUV.

  No movement at all.

  She realized that Cruiser had slowed and was looking in the rearview mirror.

  “Got him,” he said with a laugh.

  She hardly heard. Dina squeezed her hand, tears flowing freely, but Shannon was too overwhelmed at what she’d seen to cry.

  “Meeting place is fifteen miles from here,” Cruiser said.

  “We gotta get out of town, man. Staying around makes us sitting ducks. Cops will be looking for us, and those Thorn brothers. Youngest one almost patched into the Aces, you know. He’s all kinds of wild, and when he figures what we just did to his brother...”

  “We wait for the exchange, Skids.”

  “Why?” Skids fired back. “We got what we want now.”

  “Because I said so,” Cruiser barked. “She’s got to die by her own people, or the Aces will gun us down one by one.”

  By her own people? Shannon roused enough to try to digest the meaning. Slowly it dawned on her. They’d gotten it wrong. The Ace informant wasn’t working to hand Dina over to the Tides. Someone in the Aces had negotiated with the Tide to ensure their right to murder Dina Brown.

  She’s got to die by her own people. Was her own brother eager to end her life himself because she’d gone to a rival gang? His own sister meant so little?

  She looked into the young mother’s terrified eyes. Had they murdered Jack, too?

  Or was he gravely wounded?

  Again, she had no control, no ability to do anything but put her bound arms around Dina and try to press the message home to her.

  I’m here.

  And I’m not going to leave you.

  It was illogical, this deep-down need to comfort. Science could not explain the root of love and compassion. There was no biological motivation, no identifiable practical reason why one person should care for a stranger.

  Or why someone should give his or her life for another.

  Tears burned now, blurring Dina’s image, but still Shannon held on.

  And maybe that was where God was, in the love, the craving of it, the sharing of it and in the grieving for its loss.

  She pulled Dina close and cradled her as she’d done to Dina’s daughter, their tears mingling together as the car drove on.

  SEVENTEEN

  Jack wasn’t sure if his eyes were opened or closed. The SUV had landed on its wheels, the top dented in, and the front end crumpled, bringing the steering wheel up close and personal with his chest.

  Images rolled slowly through his fogged brain, until one stabbed at him with such force that he hollered. A memory of a woman draped over Cruiser’s shoulder. “Shannon!”

  “Stay still,” a deep voice said.

  He recognized it as Barrett, who was yanking at the crumpled door frame, which caused the vehicle to shudder. He wanted to tell his brother to stop because the impact was making his ribs spark with pain, but it seemed too mu
ch effort to get the words out. The glare of the truck’s headlights nearly blinded him. Blinking, he saw someone climb in through the window, crouch next to him and pull a knife. He tensed.

  “Just me. Seat belt’s jammed.” Keegan sawed at the restraint. He paused when Jack groaned, and then he ran his hands along Jack’s skull and extremities. “You breathing okay, big brother?”

  Jack managed a nod. “I’m all right.”

  Keegan called out to Barrett. “He’s bleeding some on the forehead, but nowhere else that I can see.” He finished sawing through the seat belt. “Man, that was a spectacular crash. I counted three flips.”

  Three flips. It had felt like a hundred. He remembered the shot that must have ruptured his tire. He’d been so close, so close to reaching Shannon.

  “Ambulances are tied up at the inn,” Keegan said, “so I’m gonna be your medical provider for the time being. Good thing I had three weeks of summer camp first-aid training before they kicked me out. You may call me Medic Keegan.”

  He finally managed to get some words out. “I’m doomed.”

  Keegan taped a bandage to his forehead. “Glad your dim wit is still functional. Stop moving, would you? It’s like trying to saddle a bucking horse.”

  “Shannon,” he said.

  “We called the cops with the license plate and their direction,” Barrett said, still yanking on the driver’s door. “Mom, Dad and Shelby are already making calls to the neighboring ranchers, asking them to keep a lookout. They won’t get far. Police have roadblocks set up between here and the highway. They’re gonna have to hide out, and we’ll find them.” With a screech of metal, the doorway gave under Barrett’s powerful yank.

  He groaned as Barrett grabbed his arms. Keegan lifted his legs, and together they slid him from the SUV and put him on the ground, on top of a blanket.

  He tried to get up. Keegan held him down, without the use of much force, since Jack felt wobbly as a newborn foal. Concentrating on breathing, he tried to assess the damage to his body. Fiery pain in his ribs, a slow ache building in his wrist, a myriad of twinges and aches.

  “Can you feel this?” Keegan said, tapping his left boot and then his right.

  “Yes, and it hurts, so knock it off.”

  Keegan grinned. “Cranky patient.”

  Jack tried to shove the blanket off and sit up, but Keegan held him down. He wanted to push Keegan away, but he was shivering with shock.

  “We’ll find her,” Keegan said softly, holding him in place. “But not you, not now. You’re going to the hospital.”

  “I’m gonna clobber you when I get my wind back,” he snarled.

  “Uh-huh. I’ll try to control my terror.”

  They managed to bundle him up in the blanket and load him in the second-row seat of the truck. His head was crammed against the passenger-side wall, and his boots scraped the driver’s side. But anything that would get him out of there, where he could start tracking Shannon, was tolerable.

  He bit back the urge to howl as his brothers ignored his demands to skip the hospital. They drove away from the crash site, away from Shannon.

  Knowing she was in Cruiser’s hands was the most excruciating pain of all.

  * * *

  Shannon tried to track how long they’d been driving. Thirty minutes? Forty-five? The road was curvy and sloped, and the area was heavily wooded. Cruiser stopped occasionally to peer at his cell phone at the map displayed there, and Skids shot him a doubtful look.

  “There’s nothing around but shrubs,” Skids said.

  “Keep looking.”

  They rolled slowly on the rough road, until Cruiser slammed a hand on the wheel, making Shannon jump. “There. I knew it.” He guided the car down a perilously steep path that she would easily have passed by without noticing. It took them to a dark clearing, where there was a small cabin nestled next to a pond. Shannon tried not to be swallowed up by the panic that gripped her as she surveyed the isolated spot. No help for miles. No way for the Thorns or the police to find them.

  Jack. The crash, the impact. It was as if she could feel it in her own body. How many catastrophic car-accident injuries had she treated in her emergency room? Some had happy endings, families restored, loved ones so relieved, they dissolved into tears and threw their arms around her. Some victims were left with ruinous injuries that would damage their quality of life forever. Some never emerged alive from the hospital, despite her best efforts.

  No. Not Jack.

  Cruiser parked the car behind the cabin and ordered them out. Shannon had long since peeled away the tape from her mouth and did the same for Dina. Cruiser and Skids had been so focused on finding the hiding spot, they had not noticed or cared. Now it was a nonissue. There’s no one to hear our screams, she thought. No traffic noise or the comforting sound of a dog barking. Only the mournful chorus of frogs and crickets.

  Skids herded them along the weed-covered walk. The front door was unlocked, and he nudged it open with his boot. The door swung wide, and a half dozen startled bats flew out.

  Dina screamed, and so did Skids, which made Cruiser laugh.

  “Real tough guy, Skids. Get them inside if you can handle that. I’m gonna make a call.”

  Grumbling, Skids shoved Shannon inside after Dina, almost toppling her on the warped wood floor. Skids reached for a light switch, but there wasn’t one.

  “No electricity,” she said.

  “I knew that.” He turned on the flashlight on his cell phone, which illuminated a small square space with a table, two chairs and a stone fireplace. An alcove served as the kitchen, with some overhead cabinets and no appliances. A closed door indicated there was another room, a bedroom perhaps. There was no indoor plumbing that Shannon could see. Rustic did not even come close. She could tell by the look on Skids’s face that roughing it was not to his liking. It wasn’t much up her alley, either, but she wouldn’t show it. A memory of a long-ago day with Jack popped into her mind. When they were newly graduated high schoolers, he’d taken her up to a spot in the mountains, basically a lean-to, atop a steep bluff, where he and his brothers used to camp.

  Check out the view, he’d said, spreading his arms to present the rolling hills.

  But she’d been staring at the chink in the wood floor where she’d been certain she’d seen the rump of a disappearing rat. I think there are rats.

  He’d laughed, swept her up in his arms and kissed the top of her head as he again presented the view. There, now. All safe.

  All safe. The way she’d always felt with Jack. For a moment, she could hardly draw in a breath, so she forced away both the long-ago memories and the recent horror of the crash.

  Cruiser pushed through the door. “Can’t get a signal. I’ll hike up to the road later. For now, we’ll sleep here until we’re contacted.”

  “Since when do we wait for orders from the Aces?” Skids demanded.

  Cruiser’s face went hard as iron. “Shut up, Skids. At the end of the day, we get what we want, plus a nice chunk of change for our troubles.”

  “If word ever gets out that we made a deal with the Aces...”

  Cruiser grabbed him by the neck. Skids clutched at his throat, but Cruiser’s look was pure fury. “Not the Aces, just one Ace.”

  Just one. Hank?

  “No one’s gonna find out, Skids. Girl’s gonna die. We’re gonna get the payoff and go home.” He shoved Skids backward, until he stumbled against the wall. “Maybe,” Cruiser said with a laugh, “we’ll even get ourselves the baby, too. T.J. would treat us like royalty if we brought his little girl back to him.”

  “No,” Dina said. “You stay away from my baby.”

  Cruiser silenced her with a look. “Don’t you get it, honey? You’re gonna die. Dead girls don’t get to dictate terms.” He smiled, and a wail of despair erupted from Dina. Shannon pulled her back and into a hug.

/>   “Shhhh,” she whispered. “Don’t let him know how scared you are.” Dina gulped and rubbed her eyes with her jacket sleeve.

  “You two make yourselves useful and see if there’s anything to eat,” Cruiser said.

  He took a seat at the table, facing the kitchen, gun placed in front of him to send the message. You live until I decide you don’t.

  She propelled Dina into the kitchen space and began to prowl through the cupboards. Shannon could hear Dina’s stomach rumbling.

  “How did they get you?” Shannon whispered.

  Dina winced. “I finally found a contact of my brother’s. Handed him all my cash to give me a number, and I sent Hank a text. I didn’t tell him much—just that I was in trouble and needed his help. We agreed to meet at the inn.”

  Shannon shot a look at Cruiser, who was fiddling with his phone. “Did you tell anyone you were meeting him?”

  Dina shook her head. “No. I bummed a ride to town. I was walking up to the courtyard, looking for Hank, when Cruiser grabbed me from behind. He was expecting me.”

  “Dina, someone in the Aces wants to kill you before the Tides get the chance, and they’re willing to pay.” She paused, remembering Tiffany’s comment at the inn. “Hank sent his girlfriend to find you, to get the baby before the Tides did.”

  Her eyes rounded. “To protect us.”

  “That’s what she said, but I don’t believe it.”

  “Hank wouldn’t hurt me,” she said. “He must have heard that I was in town before I managed to contact him and sent his girlfriend. He wanted to keep me safe.” Then she chewed her lip. “If word gets out I was with the Tide, the Aces would all want to kill me for sure. Without my brother’s protection...”

  Shannon was far from convinced that Hank was an ally, but she let it go. “You should have told us who your brother was,” she murmured, shooting another look at Cruiser and Skids. “Do they know?”

  She nodded. “I don’t think so, but they’ve been plenty rough with me. They also know that Annabell is my baby, not yours. I think Mason told them.” She sniffed. “They’ve been taunting me about how they’re gonna give Annabell back to T.J. after I’m dead.” Her stomach growled again.