Sunrise Crossing

by Jodi Thomas

  “No,” she answered. “But I hurt all over. I couldn’t see the man who hurt me. He wouldn’t stop hitting me.”

  Gabe kissed her head. “You’re safe now, Tori. He won’t hurt you again. As soon as I know you’re safe, I plan to come back and have a talk with the guy.”

  Tori rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her out of the barn. They had to make it off this farm and to the dirt road that was only slightly more traveled. If Yancy could follow his hurried directions, he should be there to meet them when Gabe stepped out into the open.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  YANCY ALMOST PLOWED into Deputy Weathers when he swung out of his parking spot across the street from the county offices.

  Fifth jumped out of the way and yelled, “How blind do you have to be not to see me standing here?”

  Yancy slammed on the brakes. “Get in.”

  Before Fifth’s butt settled in the seat, Yancy had hit fifty.

  “You do know you’re speeding with an officer of the law...”

  “Shut up and listen.” Yancy didn’t take his eyes off the road. “The professor just called me. He’s got Tori. She’s safe.”

  “He kidnapped her?”

  “No, he didn’t. He apparently went after the man who did. Why would he call to say she’s safe if he was the one who kidnapped her? He’s saving her, but he needs our help. He said that wherever they are they need to get out fast. I think they’re still in danger.” Yancy knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t seem to stop. Somehow the old professor who fell down in the rain had managed to track down Tori.

  “What do we do?” Fifth asked. “Call for backup?”

  “You can try but my guess is they’ll never get there in time. We’re flying out to pick up Tori and the professor first. We can’t wait.” Yancy took a sudden turn on an old road so fast, the dirt flew out from the car. “Be ready for anything, Fifth. I have no idea what we’re heading into.”

  “I was born ready.” Fifth didn’t look the least bit nervous.

  Yancy passed what looked like a trail shooting off the old road, then threw the car into Reverse and went backward just as fast.

  He made it a few hundred yards down the trail and stopped.

  “Why are we stopping? I see the barn up ahead.” Fifth was pushing on the dash with both hands as if he could keep the car moving forward.

  “The professor said to stop where we’ll have room to turn around. A hundred yards out. He said he’d come to us.”

  Yancy pushed the car into Park and climbed out.

  Fifth followed.

  The air was still, silent. Yancy scanned the horizon, looking for anything or anyone moving. Then he saw them. The professor was running with Tori in his arms as if she weighed no more than a stuffed animal. His steps were quick, like an athlete’s. The glasses and his funny hat were gone. Yancy saw the soldier Fifth had told them all he’d been. He saw the true man the professor was today for the first time.

  “There he is!” Fifth shouted the obvious.

  Yancy broke into a run, forgetting that Gabe had told him to stay with the car. The land hadn’t been used in years and there were dead trees and mounds of cacti making the place seem like an obstacle course. He was almost to them when he tripped over a hidden wire, sending off a sudden pop and a cloud of white smoke. He didn’t slow. He could see Tori now. She was hurt; blood seemed to be everywhere: on her clothes, covering her face, in her hair. Yancy just ran toward her. Nothing else mattered now.

  “Take her!” the professor yelled as he almost pitched Tori into Yancy’s arms. “Run to the car and stay down. Get out of here, Yancy. I’ll make sure you have a few minutes’ head start.”

  Yancy held her tightly against his heart and felt her arms wrap around his neck just as securely. In his peripheral vision, he was aware of the professor unstrapping a weapon from his leg. The man might not be the bad guy in this as they’d thought, but he was far more than what he seemed.

  Gabe was helping Yancy and right now that was all that mattered. They had to get Tori to safety.

  When Yancy made it to the car, Fifth was holding the door open. “How is she? Where’s the kidnapper? What is the professor doing?”

  Yancy didn’t bother to answer. He laid Tori in the backseat and grabbed a first aid kit from the trunk.

  Tori took it from him. “I can do it,” she said with a determined tone.

  Just as Yancy climbed back in the driver’s seat, he heard shots.

  Fifth started answering his own questions. “Holy cow—the professor has a gun. He’s dragging up branches as if making a stand.”

  “That’s not him firing,” Yancy answered. “It’s the kidnapper. The professor is trying to hold him off while we get away.”

  “Hell.” Fifth pulled his weapon. “I’m not going anywhere. I plan to be in the fight. I can’t leave the professor out there alone. It’s my duty to arrest the kidnapper and back up the professor.”

  “I got a feeling he can take care of himself,” Yancy said as he turned back to Tori.

  Fifth was too busy to listen. He called for an ambulance as he ran toward the professor.

  Yancy turned to check on Tori, and everything seemed to happen at once.

  The professor yelled for Fifth to stay back.

  Someone fired from the barn.

  Both Fifth and the professor returned fire. The noise rumbled across the land like rolling thunder. More rounds came from the barn. Yancy watched the professor tumble backward on the ground.

  Fifth, even though he was about as big a target as they come, stood there like a giant poster of what a deputy sheriff looked like. He fired again and again as he walked toward the professor on the ground. He didn’t even look nervous; he was just doing what he’d been trained to do.

  The last round echoed. Then there was silence. Yancy almost didn’t breathe as he watched Fifth kneel beside the professor.

  No fire came from the barn, but the deputy kept his gun at the ready.

  Then Yancy heard the faraway sound of sirens. It was over. Tori was safe, and the man who’d saved her was on the ground.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Slate-gray sunset

  PARKER HEARD THE ambulances fly past the county offices but she couldn’t stop the meeting she was having with several lawyers. When they found Tori, she wanted to have lawyers briefed and ready to fight for the girl’s rights. There was no way her parents would get their hands on her again and try to make her out to be a mentally unstable girl who needed constant supervision.

  She wouldn’t allow herself to think that Tori wouldn’t be found safe and sound. If she planned. If she organized. If she controlled all she could, then everything would turn out just fine. Clint was out looking with everyone else. As soon as anyone found Tori, he’d call in. Then Parker would be ready to help.

  Thanks to her contacts, she knew the people to talk to in Dallas. Tori would never have to leave the state of Texas unless she wanted to. Her money might be tied up in court for years, but the money she made from now on would be hers. The little artist could live anywhere in the world she wanted to, even right here in Crossroads, Texas.

  Pearly opened the door to the jury room, where Parker had been talking with lawyers.

  “Miss Lacey. I thought you might want to take this call.”

  “Who is it?” Parker tried her best not to act upset about being interrupted.

  “It’s a call from Yancy Grey’s phone.” Pearly smiled. “It’s Victoria Vilanie. She wants to speak to you.”

  A cheer went up in the room and Parker ran to the phone. “Tori! Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. I’m with Yancy. I just got banged up a little. The ambulance is pulling up now to take me to the hospital in Lubbock. Will you come?”

&
nbsp; “Yes.” Parker walked out of the room. “I’ll meet you there.”

  “I’ll have Yancy text you all the information, but he’s going to have his hands full when we get to the hospital.”

  Tori sounded so sad, so exhausted. “It was terrible, Parker. A man kidnapped me so he could take me back. He hurt me.”

  Parker closed her eyes, trying not to cry. “It’s over now.”

  “No, it’s not. The professor saved me. He found me.” Tori’s voice broke and the phone was silent for a moment. “Parker, he’s been shot. Fifth went with him in the first ambulance. The deputy said he might not make it.”

  Parker fought to keep standing. She felt light-headed. She thought of the night at LAX when she’d found Tori crying. She’d had to help, but she’d never dreamed that that one decision would change so many lives...or maybe end one.

  Then, from nowhere, a strong arm went around her, holding her up, pulling her into his warmth.

  “I have to get to Tori,” she whispered to Clint.

  “I know. I just heard. I figured you’d need a ride.”

  He didn’t ask a single question. He just rushed her out and they were in his pickup before she had time to fall apart. All the way to the hospital she talked, telling him this was all her fault. She should have planned better. She should have guessed trouble would come. How could she have lost control? She’d built her world around always being in control.

  Four hours later they were sitting in the waiting room while the doctor stitched up the cuts on Tori’s hip and back. The artist had two cracked ribs, more bruises than she could count and an eye that probably wouldn’t see light for a few days. Butterfly stitches ran the side of her face, but she couldn’t stop smiling.

  She was alive.

  Gabe Santorno, on the other hand, was fighting for his life down the hall. The bullet had gone through his chest, missing his heart, but doing serious damage.

  When Yancy stepped in the waiting room, Parker stood and hugged him as if she’d known him forever. “How is she handling all this?”

  “She’s fine. Talked to me the entire time they were stitching her up. I don’t know how it happened, but being kidnapped almost seems to have made her stronger. She says no one, not even me, is ever going to push her around again.” Yancy shrugged. “I’d never push her around anyway, but she felt the need to tell me so just in case.”

  “So, what happens next?” Parker grinned. Tori certainly was a different woman from that night at LAX.

  “The doctors want to keep her a few days to run tests. Then she says she’s going back to Dallas with you.”

  “I told her I’d help her.” Parker saw how sad he suddenly looked. “But, Yancy, when this legal mess is straightened out, you do know she’s coming back to you.”

  Parker saw it in his eyes. He didn’t know. He didn’t believe. “She loves you, Yancy.”

  “She’ll forget about me no matter what she says now.” He tried to smile. “Besides, she’s so full of painkillers she’s talking out of her head. She told me when she looked up in the professor’s eyes she saw my eyes. That pulled her out of her dark place, she said.”

  “I’ll go sit with her awhile. How about you go check on the professor?”

  “Sure. I owe the man big-time.”

  Parker watched Yancy walk down the hallway toward the surgery waiting room. It didn’t seem fair that the man who had risked everything to save Tori might die alone.

  Clint handed her a jacket. “You’ll need this if you’re staying over with Tori. Tell the nurse you’ll need a blanket, too. The chair’s not bad to sleep in and it’s no problem to get an extra tray delivered for meals.”

  Parker didn’t ask him how he knew about hospitals. She had a pretty good idea what the answer would be. They’d talk about it when he was ready, but knowing Clint, that time might be never. “Thanks. I’m staying with her until we leave for Dallas. I’m going to be with her until this is over.”

  He nodded, as if understanding what she wasn’t saying. His hug said all the words neither of them seemed able to say.

  It was over. She’d miss him every day of her life that she had left, but she couldn’t stay. She had to help Tori.

  And when that was over, she’d go back to Dr. Brown and the hospital. There were some things in life that she couldn’t run away from, not for long.

  She’d rather be alone on her last days than see Clint have to endure watching her die. The thought of her cowboy’s chestnut eyes turning dead with sadness would break her heart. He’d get over a breakup now. Maybe even remember their few nights together with a smile now and then.

  Dear God, she loved this man. He was stubborn and didn’t belong in her world any more than she belonged in his. But no one had ever loved her so gently, so tenderly, so completely. For a long while, they just held each other.

  She wanted this one last hug to be enough to last her through what was to come. She prayed the memory of her would give him comfort and not pain.

  When she pulled away, she didn’t look up at him. She simply turned and walked away, knowing she was leaving her heart behind.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  YANCY FELT LIKE a zombie haunting the halls of the hospital as he moved between Tori’s bedside and the waiting room outside intensive care. He liked to visit her early, relieving Parker so she could go home and shower. Then he’d come back in the afternoons for a while and listen to them talk about all their plans. Parker wanted to do a special gallery show of the work Tori had painted at the farmhouse.

  Tori said it would take time to get the paintings in shape. She’d need an apartment and a loft to work.

  Parker seemed to be constantly making lists and talking on the phone. Yancy just held Tori’s hand. He realized he couldn’t dream as big as her. He thought of when he’d got out of prison and all he’d wanted was a warm coat.

  Tori’s dreams were grand.

  Every night he’d drop in and watch her sleeping. Slowly, the bruises were fading; she was growing stronger. He loved her and he knew she loved him. That was enough for now.

  On the fourth morning, the hospital released Tori and also moved the professor to a regular room.

  While Parker packed up Tori’s room, Yancy sat on her bed and held her close, trying to think of how to say goodbye. “You sure you don’t need a coat? I could loan you one,” he whispered.

  “I’m fine. Parker says it might hit eighty today. Besides, I’ll be in the car.” Tori kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry about me. You watch over Gabe. He’ll need you by his side. No one should be in the hospital alone.”

  “I know. I’m kind of getting attached to the guy, now that he saved your life. The Franklin sisters are sending sweets every day, even though he’s not awake long enough to eat many. I’m trying to eat them before they go bad.”

  Tori looked down. “No one has told me what happened to the man who kidnapped me. I need to know.”

  “Fifth shot him, then fought like crazy to keep him alive. He ended up sharing the ambulance with the professor. Fifth rode up front with the driver.”

  “Did he live?”

  “Six hours,” Yancy said. “Fifth cried but he said he’d done what he had to do.”

  Tori nodded. “That man hurt me and didn’t seem to care, but I didn’t wish him dead.”

  “If Fifth hadn’t fired, we might have all been killed.”

  She held Yancy’s hand in both of hers. “I have to go to Dallas. Promise me you’ll take care of Gabe.”

  “I promise,” Yancy said as the nurse told Tori it was time to go.

  “Don’t walk me out, Yancy, or I don’t think I can leave.”

  He kissed her and whispered, “I love you.”

  “I’ll be back, Yancy, I promise.”

  He nodded, but he
didn’t believe her. He watched from her window as she was loaded into a car, his heart breaking. Then he walked back to the professor’s room.

  The guy had been talking out of his head for days. Yancy just played along. He couldn’t see arguing with a guy who had one foot in the grave. But for once, the professor was resting, so Yancy sat down in the chair next to him and closed his eyes. He wanted to dream awhile that he was back in his workshop, with Tori by his side.

  It was almost dark when the sound of Gabe’s voice woke Yancy up.

  “I’m sorry, son. I never got you a birthday present. I should have bought you one every year. And tons of Christmas presents. A ball, a bike, I don’t know. I never knew.”

  Yancy patted his arm. “That’s all right, Professor. It would be just more stuff to carry around.”

  “I would have loved you.”

  “Thanks, Professor, but I’m not really into that kind of thing.”

  Gabe shook his head. “No. A father should love his son.”

  “Oh, that kind of love. Well, Professor, if you were my dad, I’d be honored to have you, but my dad’s dead.”

  Gabe opened his eyes. “No, he’s not. I’m right here. If I’d known about you, son, I would have found you.”

  Yancy saw the truth in the professor’s eyes. “You’ve got gypsy eyes,” he whispered. “Just like me.”

  “I’ve got gypsy blood, too. Just like your mother did. I loved her, you know. I always liked to say her name fast so ‘Jewel Ann’ sounded like one word.”

  Yancy couldn’t breathe.

  “How’d she die, son?”

  Yancy fought back tears. He’d never once looked for her. “I don’t know that she did. I ran away when I was fourteen. She was too stoned to notice, I’m sure.”

  Gabe nodded slightly. “Well, that settles it. I’m going to live. I’ve got to go find her.”

  Yancy frowned, wondering if living or dying was ever much of a choice. “You do that, Professor,” he whispered. “You do that, Pop.”