Lone Rider

by B. J Daniels

  “Look at the trouble they’ve gotten into, not to mention this latest with Bo. Maybe if I’d stayed here on the ranch and not—”

  Angelina shot up from her chair. “I don’t have to ask why you’re dredging up the past. Sarah.” She said his first wife’s name with all the venom of an angry rattlesnake. It made him cringe inside.

  Not that he hadn’t felt bitter about Sarah taking the easy way out and leaving him with six daughters to raise. The girls had needed their mother. Maybe they still did.

  “Sarah is to blame for all of this,” Angelina said even more sharply.

  “I don’t blame her.”

  “Well, you’re the only one,” she said before stomping off.

  He let her go. Bo wasn’t her daughter, and Angelina had never had any children of her own. She couldn’t understand how he felt right now. Only Sarah could.

  As he stared at the mountains cloaked in snow clouds, he thought of what Sarah had said about hating those mountains and being terrified of them.

  Right now, he felt the same way.

  * * *

  NETTIE STUDIED HER husband as he ate his breakfast without tasting it. “How is it?”

  “Delicious,” he said and pushed away his empty plate.

  “Liar. I bet you can’t even tell me what you just ate.” He’d been like this since he’d come home late last night. She knew he was worried about Bo Hamilton and that fool rancher Jace Calder who’d gone up after her, but she could tell it was more than that.

  “What is it, Frank?” she asked as she took his plate. “You barely tasted that roast I made last night, either.”

  “There is just a lot going on right now.”

  “Pfffft!”

  He looked up at her, focusing on her face for the first time since he’d walked in the door last night. She could see him making up his mind about whether or not to tell her. “It’s about Sarah Hamilton.”

  “What’s she done now?” When Frank hesitated, she reminded him that this wasn’t one of his cases. According to the FBI, there wasn’t even an ongoing investigation.

  The sheriff sighed. “Russell Murdock shared a theory he has about her memory loss.”

  “He thinks she’s lying?”

  Frank shook his head. “He thinks her brain was wiped clean of the memories from the past twenty-two years. He thinks Buckmaster is behind it.”

  Nettie blinked. “That’s the craziest—”

  “I know. That was my take on it, as well. Apparently, though, scientists have been experimenting with brain wiping for years and are now at a place where they can erase bad memories in rats.” Frank got to his feet. “I’ve got to go,” he said, looking toward the Crazies still cloaked in clouds. “The storm is supposed to break. Ideally we’ll find the two missing persons today. But we’re also looking for an escapee who might be up there. We found John Cole’s body. He’d been shot.”

  “Murdered?”

  He nodded.

  “You be careful,” she said, stepping to him. He put his arms around her and held her close, then leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

  “Thanks for breakfast.”

  She smiled at that and was tempted to quiz him on what he’d eaten. Instead, she said, “I’ve been doing some research on Sarah Hamilton’s tattoo. Did you know that pendulums have been associated with the occult?”

  * * *

  BO WORKED QUICKLY, following Jace’s instructions. She’d managed to splint his leg and help him back up onto the ledge and into the mouth of the cave. Now he lay breathless from the excursion and pain. He’d lain in the snow for too long. She worried he might be hypothermic.

  “You surprise me,” he said. She could see that he was in pain but trying hard not to let her know it.

  “Hold still,” she ordered as she put first aid cream on his wound where the rock had broken the skin. Was she really worried the wound would get infected? Neither of them would probably live that long.

  Forcing that thought away, she asked, “How do I surprise you?”

  “You’re tougher and more capable than I thought.”

  She stopped to study his face for a moment. “I’m sorry. Was that a compliment?”

  He managed a grin that turned into a grimace. She’d had a first aid class years ago and remembered little of it. But one look at his leg and she knew they had to get out of here as soon as possible.

  As she reached for a bandage, he took her hand. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  She looked into his blue eyes and fought tears. He wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for her. She pulled her hand free and fussed with his bandage, determined not to cry.

  “There, you’re going to be just fine,” she said as she finished and covered him again with the sleeping bag.

  “I’m not going to be able to get out of here under my own steam. I can’t walk on this leg.”

  She almost laughed. They had two killers after them who would probably catch up to them before his leg even became an issue.

  “I know. But I can. The clouds are lifting. They’re going to be looking for us again.”

  “So are Ray and his father.”

  She shook her head. “We don’t know that. We heard the shot yesterday, but we haven’t heard anything since. All I have to do is find a wide-open place and build a fire so the smoke can be seen. In the meantime, you’ll be fine here.”

  Jace grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him. “Ray and his father will see the smoke. They probably already heard the shots you fired to scare off the grizzly.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. “What do you suggest, then?”

  “You get back to the trail and keep heading south toward the ranch as fast as you can.”

  Bo shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Listen to me—”

  “No, Jace. I’m not going to—” She froze. “Do you hear that?”

  They both stilled as they listened.

  “It’s a helicopter.” She felt hope rise up in her like helium as she rushed to the cave opening. The storm had passed. She could see patches of blue between the clouds. Soon the clouds would burn off and Montana’s big sky would be a canopy of vivid blue. If she could just signal the helicopter...

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  AT THE SENATOR’S INSISTENCE, a command center had been set up at the edge of Forest Service property on the Hamilton Ranch. The sheriff hadn’t put up a fight when he’d gotten the request from the governor.

  “Buckmaster is worried sick about his daughter,” the governor had said.

  “We all are,” Frank had told him, knowing he shouldn’t be surprised that Buckmaster had pulled strings to get what he wanted. It did make him wonder how much power the man had—and he wasn’t even president yet. He couldn’t help but think about Russell’s theory.

  Frank had always liked and admired Buckmaster, but there was no arguing that he got what he wanted and always had, either through the money or the political power he’d inherited from his father. “I think having the command center there at the trailhead makes sense,” the governor had said. “Just between you and me, it might also keep him out of your hair so you can do your job.”

  “That would be nice,” Frank had agreed.

  Now he watched as a second National Guard helicopter set down in the pasture fifty yards away. Earlier one had headed for the mountains to look for the missing Hamilton woman.

  Buckmaster was headed for the chopper when Frank caught up to him.

  “I’d prefer you stay here, Senator,” the sheriff said.

  “My daughter’s up there. I’m going to look for her. The only way you can stop me is to arrest me. You sure you want to do that, Sheriff?”

  Frank sighed. “I g
ot word this morning that Ray Spencer’s father might be up the mountains with him. He was last seen taking horses and supplies up a trail on the other side of the Crazies.”

  “You think he’s meeting his son up there,” Buckmaster said.

  “I suspect that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

  The senator looked toward the mountains. “That outfitter was killed on the trail that comes up from the other side.”

  No one could say that the senator wasn’t quick-thinking.

  Buckmaster let out a curse. “My daughter might be in those mountains with two murderers?”

  “I think anyone looking for Bo right now could be in danger,” Frank said. “That’s why I don’t want you to get into that helicopter.”

  The senator shook his head. “Try to stop me.”

  * * *

  BO STEPPED TO the front of the cave as the army-green helicopter came into view over the tops of the pines. She began to wave her arms wildly before she realized that dressed as she was, there was no way anyone in the chopper could see her.

  She rushed back into the cave, grabbed the yellow slicker and rushed to the rock ledge again. Jace, still covered with the sleeping bag, had braced himself on his elbows so he could see. The helicopter was closer now. She waved the jacket frantically, yelling as she did, even though she knew they wouldn’t be able to hear her.

  But they had to see her! She couldn’t bear the thought of the chopper going on past. A sob rose in her chest as it started to turn away. “No!” she cried.

  “It’s okay, there’ll be more,” Jace said.

  Now was the moment he picked to try to reassure her?

  “No, I have to climb down and build a big fire. Or write ‘Help’ with sticks in a clear spot. I can’t let—” She faltered as she heard the helicopter. It had turned back toward her. “He’s coming back,” she cried and began to wave the yellow slicker again. “He sees us!”

  Tears burned her eyes. “He sees us!” She started to turn to smile back at Jace when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A flash. It happened so fast, for a moment she couldn’t make sense of it. The chopper was headed in their direction. One of the crew members had seen her waving to them. The next second there was another flash and noise like a whistle as something streaked across the sky.

  “What—” Bo didn’t get to finish. Smoke suddenly billowed from the helicopter. Like a wounded bird, the chopper rolled to one side and, as if unable to fight gravity, began to fall toward earth.

  It disappeared from sight beyond the pines and the slope of the mountain. Bo held her breath, her heart in her throat. For just a moment before that, she’d been so happy. She’d thought they were going to be saved. She’d thought this whole ordeal was almost over.

  Then she heard the horrible sound of the chopper as it crashed and exploded.

  * * *

  AT THE SOUND of the explosion, everyone at the search command center turned to stare up at the mountains. Smoke curled up from the pines into the clearing blue sky.

  “Tell me someone didn’t just shoot down that chopper,” the senator said to Frank, his eyes wide with fear. Only moments before, they’d been arguing about the senator getting into a helicopter.

  “What the hell is going on?” Buckmaster demanded.

  Frank had no idea.

  “What was that we saw before the helicopter went down?” one of the search and rescue men asked.

  “It looked like an RPG, a rocket-propelled grenade,” a National Guard man said. The officer in command was already on his radio. “Who up there would have shot it down?” he demanded of Frank.

  “I can’t say for sure, but I suspect Ray Spencer Sr. is up there. He’s an ex-military sniper turned antigovernment survivalist. His son, Ray Jr., is the escapee we believe is also up there. Ray Jr. is wanted on a murder charge.”

  “We have to get up there,” Buckmaster said and stepped toward the National Guard helicopter.

  “Sorry, Senator, but I have my orders. No civilians,” the commander said. “This is now a military operation.”

  * * *

  BO STOOD FOR a long moment, too shocked to move. “Someone shot down the helicopter.” Even as she said it, she still couldn’t believe it.

  “Whoever fired on it is close by,” Jace said. “And that wasn’t a rifle shot.”

  She swallowed as she looked down the mountainside. The sun had come out, making the snow sparkle like something out of a fairy tale. It seemed so incongruous since she and Jace were in a nightmare that she suspected was never going to end. Or would end too soon.

  His words finally registered. She’d seen the streak of light before the chopper took the hit. She had a pretty good idea where the shot had originated. Help wasn’t going to be coming. Not quick enough.

  “Ray’s father was in the military,” she said. “He told me that his father was a crack shot.”

  Jace looked as worried as she was. “But to shoot down a National Guard helicopter?” He shook his head, clearly shocked. She figured he’d also come to the same conclusion she had.

  Ray and his father weren’t planning to be taken alive. Since Ray blamed her, that meant they would be coming for her and Jace, and soon.

  Pushing to her feet, she pulled the handgun from her pocket to reload it. She found more ammunition in Ray’s pack.

  “What are you doing?”

  “The only thing I can do. You saw what they did to that helicopter. Clearly they’re planning to go out in a blaze of glory. As you said, if Ray is alive, he isn’t going to let me get away. I’m not going to let them kill you. If I can help it.”

  “Hold on, Annie Oakley. We already talked about this. If you go down there, do you really think you can kill one of them?” She hesitated just a little too long. “That’s what I thought. Forget it, Bo. You aren’t going down there.”

  She understood what he was saying. But she also knew that if she stayed here, they would be sitting ducks. Whoever had shot down that chopper could just as easily turn one of those rockets on them.

  Bo had to do something, and Jace wasn’t going anywhere. “You keep the rifle. If I fail and they find you...”

  “Bo, don’t do this,” Jace said as he tried to get up, grimacing in pain.

  She gently pushed him back down. “Thank you,” she said, leaning down to brush a kiss across his lips.

  “For what?” he demanded, clearly both frustrated and upset.

  “For being my hero.”

  He looked at her, fear in his expression. “I’m no hero, and if that kiss was supposed to be goodbye...you promised me a whole lot more than that last night. I’m planning to collect in full once we’re off this mountain.”

  She smiled. “I’m counting on it, too.”

  Rising, she put the loaded gun into her coat pocket and stepped off the ledge into the snow. Fortunately it had snowed only about half a foot overnight. She slogged through it, taking a longer route so she didn’t leave a trail right back to Jace if she failed.

  Could she kill Ray or his father? The thought made her shudder, but the alternative was so much worse...

  She didn’t worry about making too much noise as she approached the spot from which she believed the men had fired to take down the helicopter. Remembering the gunshot they’d heard the day before, she wondered what she would find when she reached their camp.

  Before she saw anything, she heard the whinny of one of the horses.

  “Hello?” she called out. She knew there was no way she could sneak up on them, fearing her attempt would get her killed.

  “Hello?” she called again as she kept walking. She had to be close. But who was out there, and could she pull the trigger when she came face-to-face with one or both of them?

  * * *

  JACE HAD NEVER fel
t so helpless. Bo was going to get herself killed. Or worse. He tried to get up again, but it was useless. He couldn’t walk let alone climb off this mountainside in the snow with a broken leg.

  He could barely breathe as he listened for the sound of a gunshot.

  Damn that woman. He had to do something. He knew what she planned and why. She thought she could save him by giving Ray Spencer what he wanted—her!

  Jace couldn’t bear the thought. If there had been any way to stop her—

  The days of pretending he didn’t care about Bo Hamilton were long gone. Hell, if he was honest with himself, he’d been in love with her since junior high. He’d screwed things up with the senior prom, but they’d been given a second chance. Then five years ago, Bo had broken it off. Now he understood why, but now this. He feared they might have run out of chances.

  The one thing he knew was that he couldn’t just lie here and let the woman he loved get killed or become a mountain bride to a psychopath. He had to do something and quickly. He’d always been so capable, so sure of his abilities.

  But he’d never been trapped on a snowy mountain with a broken leg before. It was a humbling experience to be this helpless. He wasn’t about to let it beat him, though.

  * * *

  HER BREATH COMING out in puffs of white frosty clouds, Bo tried to still her trembling from the cold and her fear. She’d told herself that she would do whatever she had to. She couldn’t let them kill Jace. All she had to do was stall for time. The Spencers had to know that this mountain would soon be crawling with armed men determined to stop them.

  But the rescuers wouldn’t be coming quickly enough. She had to do this if she hoped to save Jace, save both of them.

  And yet she feared what would happen when Ray saw her. He and his father had just shot down a National Guard helicopter, sealing their fates. That’s if Ray was still alive. Even if his wound hadn’t killed him, his father might have.

  But either way, she figured Ray’s father knew about her. She’d heard enough about RayJay and seen what he’d done to his son to know he would blame her for all of this.