Rancher's Choice

by Kylie Brant

  Kaly stood uncertainly, biting her lip. This was too weird. She was hesitant to wake Jackson for what would probably turn out to be nothing, but she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling she was getting. He could go back to bed later if they didn’t find anything, but right now she was going back to the barn to call the house and get him out here. Most likely her sense that something wasn’t right was a product of the night’s adventures. Nevertheless...

  She used the flashlight to guide her way back to the barn. Her footsteps seemed to echo loudly in the shadowy building, and she found herself unconsciously tiptoeing. When she was midway down the barn, she heard the telltale squeak of the heavy doors behind her. Without thinking, she slipped into an empty stall to her left, snapped off her light and crouched down, scarcely daring to breathe. She strained to hear. At first all was silent. Then she heard footsteps scuffling lightly in her direction. She held her breath as a beam of light swept across the stall she was in and beyond. The steps echoed to the end of the barn and then back, before fading away. She heard the squeak of the barn door again.

  Kaly remained where she was for long minutes, beginning to feel a little foolish. More likely than not, the shadow and flashlight belonged to Nick or one of the other men, coming to check on the noise she had made. She inched out of the stall and headed toward the phone on the wall. Her cell was in her purse in the house but crazy or not, she was summoning Jackson. She needed to hear his voice, even if he growled at her about her wild imagination. There was still that smell of gasoline she’d noted outside, and she wouldn’t feel safe until he checked things out. She reached the phone after what seemed like an eternity, and with shaking hands, turned on her light to determine which button she needed to push to ring the house.

  Suddenly everything seemed to happen at once. A weight hit Kaly from behind, then she was pulled backward, jerking her hand off the phone. Her light went flying, landing several feet away and shutting off at its contact with the floor. She was yanked against a body, and a hard arm was across her throat and a hand firmly pressed against her mouth, muffling her terrified screams. She struggled wildly with her assailant, kicking backward and squirming to either side.

  “Stop it,” the voice of her attacker hissed, and he tightened the arm around her throat. Kaly could feel darkness rushing in as oxygen was cut off. Consciousness receding, she clawed frantically at the punishing arm. Dimly she heard the whispered voice again, this time as if from a distance, tell her, “Stop struggling, and I’ll loosen my arm. Keep it up and I’ll break your neck.” The arm was tightened briefly again as he added. “Understand?”

  Kaly nodded, as much as she was able. When the arm was loosened, she went almost limp. Her attacker lowered her to the floor, flipping her over facedown. Her hands were quickly bound behind her back, a gag stuffed into her mouth, and her feet tied together. Next she was dragged to a nearby empty stall and deposited unceremoniously in the straw. After several deep breaths of air, reality came rushing back to her. As her assailant rolled her over, her eyes fluttered open, then widened in shock.

  Paul Whitfield stood over her, sneering down at her. “Surprised to see me? Well, the feeling’s mutual. After I’d taken care of Scott, I didn’t expect to see someone else sneaking around in here.” He rose, dusting off his dark pants. “Really, Kaly, you were awfully easy to outwit. You fell for the oldest trick in the book, thinking the squeak of the door meant someone had left the barn. All I had to do was stay inside the door and wait for you to come out from your hiding place.”

  She stared up at him, her numb mind having difficulty comprehending. Paul was behind the rustling, he had to be. But she had no idea what he hoped to accomplish in the barn. Very few cattle were kept here in the summer months, only those few having calves and sometimes the purebred bull. Her eyes widened in panic. Was Paul now planning to steal the bull and the cows Jackson had bred to it? That would be demented; there was no way he could hope to remain undetected driving a truck this close to the house. Desperately seeking answers, she tried to speak around the gag, but only muffled sounds emerged.

  Paul chuckled at her frustrated attempts to speak. “I don’t have time to chat. I have to go out and finish my little job. Don’t go away now.” With that taunt he strode from the barn.

  Kaly lay still only until she was sure he had left the barn; then she worked herself into a sitting position. She bent her knees, pressed her bound feet firmly against the floor and threw her weight forward, attempting to stand. She fell to the floor several times before admitting defeat. The rope tying her ankles was just too tight. Instead, she pulled her knees up, rolled to the side and used her elbows to push herself to a kneeling position. Attaining her objective, she walked on her knees to the gate of the stall.

  Paul had not bothered to latch it behind him, obviously thinking she wouldn’t be able to escape. She moved unsteadily through it and paused a second, trying to think. There was a second set of double doors immediately to her left, but she knew they were kept locked at night. Her stomach dropped as she faced the disheartening certainty that the only other way out of the barn was the same way Paul would be coming back in—the doors at the front.

  Kaly turned carefully and began to knee-walk toward that exit. If she could move fast enough, if Paul’s errand took him long enough, she just might make it. She determinedly fought her rising panic and concentrated all her energy into staying upright and moving toward freedom. The barn was shrouded in total darkness, and once her knees hit something lying across the floor, sending her sprawling painfully facedown. Cursing silently, she rolled to her side again and got back onto her knees. Again she moved in the direction of the doors, at a slightly slower pace. As she moved she could feel a sticky substance dripping down her face. Blood, she realized grimly, from her fall.

  As long as I’m on my knees, I might as well pray, she thought with black humor. She had a feeling she’d be needing some divine intervention to get out of this mess.

  After what seemed like an eternity, she reached the doors. She stopped for a moment, hoping fervently that Paul had lacked the foresight to bar the door from the outside. Turning sideways, she pressed her shoulder against the heavy door and pushed with all her might. The heavy door swung outward with that telltale squeak, but not far enough for Kaly to wedge her body through. She pushed again. Simultaneously the door was pulled open from the other side. It flew wide, and Kaly landed outside, flat on her face again. The force of her fall winded her for a moment.

  Paul rolled her over roughly, and she glared up at him murderously.

  “Well, I guess you are as smart as they say, Kaly. Almost made it, too, but you know what the yokels around here say. Close only counts in horseshoes.” Quickly he stepped around her and grasped her beneath the shoulders, dragging her back toward the back of the barn. He dumped her into the same stall he’d left her in before. He remained squatting over her, rocking back and forth on his heels in the hay, studying her.

  Kaly again attempted to speak, frustrated by her inability to be understood around the gag.

  Paul laughed. “You have a very expressive face, you know that?” He ran one finger lightly along her jawline, laughing again as she jerked her face away furiously. “And what spirit. You intrigued me, you know.” His face twisted then, spite marring his normally handsome countenance. “Of course, that was before I realized what a gullible little fool you were, falling for Jackson Roberts’s obvious line. I never would have figured you a sucker for a backwoods cowboy with no class.

  “I really started this rustling operation just to play with these fool ranchers a bit. Such a rough-tough bunch, and I was stealing them blind right under their noses,” he bragged. “But it’s turned into more than that. Even after paying off those punks I hired, I still have enough money to buy myself a prime stock breeding bull.” He slapped both palms on his legs. “I’ve about run through the money my father left me, but I think Jackson hit on a real money-making scheme right here, with this breeding operation. I�
��ve had him over at my place several times in the past few months, to pump him for information.” He laughed shortly. “As a matter of fact, after our session this evening I feel ready to start my own business. Only trouble is, there’s not room for two of us in these parts, so Jackson will have to be taken out of the running. While he’s still trying to collect the insurance money from this accident I’m planning, I’ll be stepping in and taking care of all his clients for him. By the time he gets this business rebuilt, I’ll have the established operation. He won’t stand a chance against me.”

  Kaly was almost frozen with fright. The chilling memory of the unfamiliar odor she’d encountered outside made horrible sense now. It had been gasoline. He was planning to burn the place down—with her in it. She couldn’t let him get away with this insanity. Her mind racing frantically, she suddenly let her eyes flutter closed and her face turn to the side. She forced her body to relax, hoping he’d assume she fainted. When she heard him mutter in surprise and move closer, she pulled her knees up and kicked out at him with all the force she could muster.

  Paul grunted in pain and amazement as he took the brunt of the blow in his chest. He was upon her again before she even had time to roll away. Expecting his rage, Kaly was even more frightened by the twisted smile on his face. “Full of spirit right to the end, aren’t you? Your being here was a mistake, you know. I didn’t plan on hurting anybody. But you could be a bonus. What would damage Jackson’s reputation more than having his current girlfriend found dead on his property?” At Kaly’s widened eyes he added, “Don’t worry, Kaly. I’ll make sure you don’t suffer.” With that he rose and left the stall, securing it behind him.

  Kaly was more terrified than she could ever remember being in her life. She moved closer to the door, using her bound feet to kick against it with all her might, but it held strong. She kicked at it again in pure frustration. She could think of no way to get out of the locked stall. For the first time since this nightmare began, she felt hopelessness wash over her.

  She thought of Jackson, and tears gathered in her eyes at the thought of never seeing him again, never feeling his touch, fighting or loving with him again. If only she had never left his room! Her damnable curiosity had gotten her into trouble again, trouble she despaired of getting out of.

  Her senses warned her that Paul was coming back. The smell of gasoline was almost overpowering now. He hurried into the stall and dragged her toward the back of it. He was panting, out of breath, as he told her, “I’ve already lit the gasoline outside the barn. It shouldn’t be too much longer. You won’t be awake to feel a thing.” Then he swung the heavy flashlight at her head and Kaly saw bright lights as it cracked against her skull. Then she sunk into dark unconsciousness.

  Chapter 14

  Jackson moved restlessly in the bed, something teasing at the edges of sleep, a nagging something that refused to let him rest peacefully. Still half dozing, he reached for Kaly with one long arm and met only emptiness. It took his sleep-sodden mind long moments to realize what that void meant. Slowly, his body fighting exhaustion, his eyes flickered open. After another second, they opened with a snap, and he stared hard at the space beside him, the space where Kaly was supposed to be. His mind came alert with alacrity as his big body jackknifed to a sitting position, his eyes already scanning the rest of the dark room.

  “Kaly?” he called out, his sleep-roughened voice low. At the continuing silence he leaned over, flicked on a light and climbed out of bed. He padded silently to the bathroom and found that room also empty. He checked the balcony before anger began to simmer inside him. She had probably slipped into her own room already. He usually carried her to her own bed before dawn, insisting she spend the major portion of the night with him.

  He pulled on a pair of jeans, not bothering to button them, and strode grimly down the hallway to her room. This sneaking around was going to stop, and now. He had listened long enough to her pleas for discretion, and his patience had just run out. She was his, that was all there was to it, and he didn’t give a damn who else knew it. He burst through her door, making no attempt to mask his entrance, but stopped short as the light revealed that Kaly was not there and that the bed showed no signs of having been slept in. Jackson quickly checked the bathroom, but finding it empty, went downstairs to the study. He fully expected to find her there, pleading nerves as an excuse to work, instead of sleep. But the study was dark. A quick check proved she was nowhere downstairs.

  Cursing under his breath, he ran lightly up the steps to don shirt, socks and boots before heading outside. Surely she wouldn’t have been foolish enough to saddle a horse and ride at night, he fumed silently. He hoped he would find her on the grounds, perhaps taking a mind-clearing walk through Peg’s rose garden.

  Before Jackson could descend the stairs again, the air was rent with a raucous clanging. It only took a second for him to identify the sound as an alarm from one of the outside buildings. Taking the steps three at a time, he rushed to the front door. The scene awaiting him when he threw open the door was one from hell. In the distance, smoke billowed out from the cattle barn in thick, choking clouds, and flames danced their way merrily along its side. Jackson’s booted feet thudded heavily across the oak hallway floor and he burst into the office, rushing to the phone. He rang the bunkhouse and the sheriff in quick succession, leaving it up to Roy to alert the fire department. He met Jeff in the hallway, and together they raced across the yard.

  Nick was already organizing several hired men into a water brigade. The few animals in the flaming barn were bawling in terror, and Jackson and Nick succinctly conferred on the best way to lead them to safety.

  Carrie had followed the men with blankets, and Peg arrived with more. Carrie blithely ignored her husband’s outraged demands that she return to the house, promising to stay well out of harm’s way.

  “Have you seen Kaly?” Jackson called to her. She frowned and shook her head, turning to peer into the darkness. “See if you can find her.” He barked terse instructions to Jeff, who in turn charged the men with their duties. Jackson and Nick wet handkerchiefs to tie around their faces and then grabbed several of the blankets, soaked them in water and rushed toward the barn to attempt to rescue the animals.

  It wasn’t until Jackson entered the barn that he realized the expensive sprinkler system his insurance company had insisted upon was working. The water acted on the blaze inside, not completely dousing it, but slowing the fire’s spread. The water turned the flames into hissing clouds of smoke. The heat was intense and he could hear the crackling of the fire as it crawled up the outside walls. Jackson choked on the smoke he was inhaling, narrowing his eyes, trying to see through it. His worry should have been focused on the danger in the flaming barn and rescuing the animals, but all his thoughts and anxiety were elsewhere. Dammit, where was Kaly? What could have lured her out of his bed in the middle of the night?

  It took both men to get the bull outside, where Jackson instructed several men to take it to safety. Stopping to fill his tortured lungs with air, he swept the area with burning eyes, seeking Kaly’s familiar figure. He spotted Carrie standing in the shadows with another woman and felt a sudden fierce relief. Kaly. Obviously Carrie had tracked her down. He and Nick went back to the barn, each throwing a wet blanket over the heads of terrified animals before leading them outdoors. Again and again they entered the flaming structure, the heat searing them, blackening their faces, to emerge, coughing and choking, with the cattle.

  The last trip in was to bring out the new mother cow and her baby, and it was a rough one. Though the fire hadn’t spread a great deal inside, the smoke had increased tenfold. The heat was quickly growing unbearable. Nick simply reached down, lifted the calf in his arms and walked out with it, hoping the cow would follow. The cow, frightened by the heat and flames, was frantic about her offspring. Jackson was kicked as he attempted to cover the animal’s face, but eventually he was able to lead her to safety. As he stumbled out the doors and away from the barn
, he heaved great breaths of fresh air into his aching lungs.

  Jackson looked up, relieved, as sirens screeched and Roy’s car pulled into the yard, followed by trucks from the Los Pueblos fire department. Many of the ranchers in the area also served as volunteers, but he didn’t spring to help his neighbors as they unwrapped the heavy hoses and endeavored to thwart the hungry conflagration. As the firemen did what they could to save his barn, Jackson’s gaze swept the crowd that had gathered looking for Carrie and Kaly. When he spotted Carrie, he strode through the throng to the shadowy area where she was standing, away from the heat and smoke of the fire. But when he reached her she was alone, save for Peg. He could feel his gut clench with a fear that had nothing to do with the fire and everything to do with one small blond woman.

  “Where did Kaly go?” he asked tersely, his voice gravelly from the smoke.

  Carrie shrugged helplessly. “I never found her, Jackson. I’ve looked everywhere.”

  He stared hard at her, time crawling to a halt. “But I saw you with her,” he croaked disbelievingly. “She was standing right here with you.”

  His sister-in-law shook her head. “You must have seen me with Rod’s wife. I asked her and Peg to help me look, but we haven’t been able to find her.” Her voice trembled with fear. “Jack, where could she be?”

  He gazed unseeingly at Carrie for another moment, fear clawing in his gut, before swinging his eyes back to flames reaching toward the sky. He turned and ran back toward the barn, shrugging aside those who would have halted his progress, pausing only to repeat his terse question, “Have you seen Kaly?”