Rancher's Dream

by B. J Daniels

  Once Jet was sure that he’d taken everything from the safe, he closed the door, put the panel back in place and turned to Lena.

  “You know what has to be done now,” he said.

  Drey felt her scalp shrink with fear. “You have what you want. Just take it and leave.”

  “If only it was that simple,” Jet said with a shake of his head. He dug in Lena’s bag for a moment and pulled out a bottle and a syringe.

  Drey took a step back, the word No! escaping her lips before she stumbled into the wall.

  “Your choice. Lena blows your head off to make it appear to be a suicide or you drift off peacefully,” he said. “You got it much easier than Ethan. His first thumb came off when he was alive.”

  Drey knew she had little choice. But she wasn’t one to give up easily. She lunged for Lena and managed to knock the gun from her hand. It skittered across the marble floor. Lena swore and backhanded her as Jet grabbed her arm and dragged her into a headlock.

  “Let’s take her upstairs to the master suite,” Lena said. “I have an idea. We can still pull this off.”

  “I don’t know why we can’t kill her right here with the drugs.”

  “You want to get out of this clean? Then for once, listen to me. We don’t want to kill her. Not like this.”

  Drey tried to fight Jet, but it was useless, as he dragged her up the steps to the master suite. Throwing her down onto the bed as Lena told him to, he held her while Lena got the shot ready. Drey struggled, but she was outnumbered and defenseless. She felt the needle bite into her arm.

  Jet continued to hold her down until she quit struggling as the drug raced through her veins.

  “Go fill the bathtub while I get her undressed,” Lena ordered. He started to argue that they were wasting valuable time. “Just trust me for once.”

  Drey felt fingers slowly begin to unbutton her blouse but she couldn’t raise her arms to stop them. The drug was fast acting. She suspected Lena had given her enough to kill her.

  Cool air brushed over her naked skin as Lena removed her clothing. She could hear the sound of running water.

  “Now, help me get her into the tub.”

  Jet picked her up, made some crack about how Ethan was a fool not to take more advantage of Drey’s body, before carrying her into the bathroom. The room had begun to steam over as she was lifted into a tub of warm water.

  “You really are a jackass,” Lena said from the doorway.

  “You sure she can’t get out of there?” Jet asked.

  “Let’s just give it a minute.” Lena started to leave the room.

  “I need a drink,” Jet said. “I’ll come with you. It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

  Drey struggled to keep her eyes open. She felt so woozy. The huge tub was full, but it sounded as if the water was still running. She tried to grab the sides of the tub to pull herself up, but her arms refused to work. Lethargy had left her too weak to resist the pull of the drug or the water that was pulling her downward.

  The sound of the gunshots didn’t even startle her.

  Water lapped up over her face. She tried to hold her head up, but it was as if all her muscles were attached to a wire that had been cut. Her head lolled to the side. Water covered her mouth and nose.

  Slowly she began to slide deeper into the tub, her head going under as the drug lulled her into a deep endless sleep.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  HAWK HAD REACHED the underground parking garage. There, sitting in the semidarkness, was the SUV Drey had been driving. His blood turned to slush. She was here—just as he’d suspected. So why hadn’t he seen her?

  The bunker! He had no idea why whoever had taken her would bring her here—let alone take her to the bomb shelter. It made no sense. But then nothing about her marriage had.

  He turned and quickly started up the stairs. Taking the steps three at a time, he raced up through the house looking for the entry to this bunker Ethan had built for himself. Hawk was almost to the kitchen level again when he heard the gunshots. His stomach dropped. He pulled his handgun.

  “Drey!” No answer. “Drey!”

  When he reached the kitchen, he saw the blood on the white marble floor. It had pooled next to the white shag rug under the dining table and turned a corner of the rug crimson. No body, though.

  He rushed up the stairs, fear a ball of fire in his chest. “Drey?” He kept calling her name, but getting no answer. Terror gripped him by the throat. She had to be alive.

  As he pushed through the double doors of the master suite, he’d expected to find Drey lying in a pool of her own blood.

  But to his surprise and relief, he didn’t see her. For a moment, he didn’t hear the sound of running water over the thundering beat of his heart.

  He pulled off the shotgun, tossed it on the bed and rushed toward the sound of water. The minute he stepped into the bathroom, all he could see at first was steam. Then he saw the water cascading across the floor. The bathtub. It had to be overflowing. He rushed to it. Water splashed down the side and ran across the floor.

  Drey lay just under the surface of the water.

  “Drey!” He scooped her out and rushed her to the bed. Putting her down, he began CPR. “Drey, come on, baby. Please.” He kept at it, wanting desperately to stop and call 911, but he feared if he stopped... He told himself that Flint would be here soon.

  Suddenly she coughed. She made a choking sound and tried to sit up, but her body didn’t react. He spotted the syringe and bottle beside the bed and swore. Fumbling out his phone, he kept saying, “You’re all right, Drey. You’re going to be all right.” All he could do was pray that she hadn’t been given enough of the drug to kill her before the EMTs could get there.

  The phone began to ring and was answered quickly. “I need an ambulance. Overdose and near drowning. Please hurry. Ethan Baxter’s house outside of town. Hurry! The gate’s open.”

  He dropped the phone as he saw that Drey was trying to say something. He leaned closer. Her voice came out a low rasp. He wrapped the duvet around her.

  “Help is on the way. Don’t try to talk. You’re going to be all right.”

  She shook her head, what little she appeared to be able to move it. She tried again to speak. He leaned closer. Her trembling lips brushed his ear. “She’s...still...here.”

  He felt the hair rise on the back of his neck as he pulled back to look at her. Her eyes closed, then opened to glance toward the door. He saw her pupils widen in alarm only a second before he swung around to find Lena standing over him with a gun pointed at the two of them.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  AS FLINT PULLED up to the house, he saw Hawk’s pickup out front next to Ethan’s sedan. There was no sign of anyone. Jumping out, he drew his weapon and started for the house. The front door was unlocked. That surprised him. Then he figured that was his brother’s doing, remembering that Hawk had said he’d climbed the balconies to get to Drey.

  Just then, he heard something clank and realized it was the underground garage door rising. Working his way around the side of the house in the darkness, he waited until the door was high enough and, gun drawn, ducked under it.

  The garage was only dimly lit. He heard an odd shuffling noise on the concrete floor, then what sounded like someone trying to open one of the vehicles’ doors. He moved quickly toward the sound, keeping to the shadows until he saw the figure struggling to climb into the SUV Drey had been driving.

  As quietly as possible he moved forward. A trail of blood led from the stairs into the garage and across the concrete floor to where the figure was still struggling to pull himself behind the wheel. Jet.

  “Freeze!” Flint called when he was within feet of the man. “Sheriff’s department. Freeze!”

  Jet didn’t freeze. He made a last-ditch effort to get into the vehicle. But clearly he was hur
t too badly to pull himself up into the SUV. He slumped back against the open door and looked at the sheriff. Then his eyes seemed to dim and he slumped the rest of the way to the ground.

  * * *

  HAWK ROSE SLOWLY to his full height. Immediately Lena looked nervous.

  “I’ve already killed one man,” she said with bravado. “I can kill you just as easily. You’re going to help me get out of here.” She looked over at Drey lying on the bed. “We’ll take her as our hostage.”

  Hawk shook his head. “She can’t move, thanks to you. If you’re taking anyone as your hostage, it’s going to be me.” He could see that he made her anxious. Good, he thought. Flint would be here any minute, in fact he might already be in the house. “Let’s go, because any minute this place is going to be swarming with lawmen.”

  She swallowed, looked toward Drey, then motioned with the gun. “Your pickup is out front. Too bad you didn’t leave the keys in it.”

  Too bad, he thought. He looked at Drey, then leaned down and whispered, “I’ll be right back.” He kissed her cheek. She gave him a lopsided smile, but there was worry in her eyes. He could see that some of the drug was starting to wear off because she tried to grab his hand.

  Lena stood back to let him pass, then followed him down the stairs. He moved quickly, making her have to run to keep up. She needed him to get out of here and they both knew it, so he doubted she would shoot him in the back.

  He stopped at the front door, realizing she could, however, go back upstairs and finish Drey off. She looked a little out of breath and definitely worried.

  Once outside she motioned for him to get into the passenger side and slide over so she could keep the gun trained on him. He did as she ordered, pulled out his keys and started the pickup, swinging it around and heading down the hill. He had to get this over with and get help for Drey.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure come running out of the underground garage. Flint. Hawk flew past him. He could hear sirens. The EMTs would be arriving. Flint would find Drey. He’d get her help. Right now that was all that mattered.

  “Keep going!” Lena ordered as they came around a curve in the road and the lights of several patrol SUVs and an ambulance flashed below them on the mountain.

  Hawk gave the pickup more gas, swerving around the first patrol SUV. The next one he had to leave the road to get around. Dirt and clumps of grass flew up over the windshield. He swerved back onto the road.

  The ambulance had pulled over to let him past.

  “You can slow down now,” Lena said. She had the gun in her left hand and was hanging on to the door handle with her right. He saw that she hadn’t buckled her seat belt and smiled to himself as he gave the pickup even more speed. He never got into a vehicle without buckling up.

  They were almost to the county road. On the other side of it was an old rock wall from one of the original settlements.

  “Slow down, you’re not going to be able to make the turn,” Lena cried. Her eyes were wide as he hit the county road, the front of the pickup smacking down, the bumper grating on the asphalt.

  Lena screamed, dropping the gun as she tried to brace herself on the dash.

  The pickup plowed into the rock wall. The impact was even worse than Hawk had expected. His airbag had already deployed earlier. He hit the steering wheel hard. His head connected with something even harder. The last thing he saw was Lena Franklin taking out the windshield as she flew through it and disappeared over the rock fence.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  HAWK DRIFTED IN and out of consciousness. He couldn’t tell what was real and what was a dream. He thought he might be dead, but if he was, then Drey was here with him. No, that couldn’t be. Flint would have gotten to her. The EMTs...

  He blinked at the bright light and felt himself move toward it, giving his head a shake to help clear his mind. As he surfaced, he knew he couldn’t be dead; his head hurt too badly for that. Squinting, he looked around, trying to understand where he was. A nondescript room, sunlight coming in the window. A hospital room.

  Closing his eyes, he turned his face away from the bright light of the window. When he opened them again, he saw Drey sitting in the chair next to his bed. Her caramel-brown eyes widened. A smile broke out on her face as she shot to her feet.

  “You’re awake!” Tears instantly filled those eyes.

  He smiled and reached up to brush a lock of her beautiful auburn hair back from her face. His knuckles brushed across the silk of her skin.

  “Oh, Hawk.” She was crying now as she caught his hand and drew it to her lips. She kissed it softly, squeezing his hand as a nurse came into the room, followed by a doctor.

  He felt her let go, closed his eyes and drifted for a while—a smile on his face.

  * * *

  BILLIE DEE WAS still pinching herself the day Gigi headed back to Texas. She was in the kitchen at the saloon making chicken and dumplings, when Ashley Jo came in after seeing her friend off.

  Gigi had stuck around longer than she planned—no doubt AJ’s doing. AJ was determined that her friend see some of Montana before she went home.

  “Oh, Ashley Jo.” Billie Dee turned from her cooking to hug the young woman.

  “My friends call me AJ,” she reminded her. “You’re not mad at me for deceiving you?”

  “Good heavens, no. How can I ever thank you?” Billie Dee felt as if her heart would burst with all the love and gratitude she had for AJ. “If you hadn’t been determined to find me for your friend...”

  “Once I met you, I just knew that Gigi had to, as well.” She drew back from the hug to check out what the cook had going on the stove, then pour them both a cup of coffee. “She’s pigheaded, determined, strong, smart and talented, but also sweet and caring. Kind of like you. I really hope the two of you can have some kind of relationship.”

  “So the only reason you came up here was to find me?” Billie Dee said as she took a cup and sat down at the kitchen table.

  AJ pulled out a chair, cradling her coffee cup in both hands. “Find you, see if you were okay and then decide if I should tell Gigi.”

  “I’m honored that I passed the test.”

  “Don’t be silly. Once I fell in love with your cooking and then you, I had to tell her,” AJ said. “We’ll just give her some time. I’m sure she’ll come around.”

  Billie Dee reached over and took the young woman’s hand. “You two could be sisters, you look that much alike. The first time I saw you, the day you came in for the interview, I almost had a heart attack. You looked so much like I did at your age. I thought for sure you were my daughter.”

  “I wish.” AJ grinned as she set down her cup. “Then you saw Gigi. I thought for sure I’d killed you when you fainted. You knew right away, didn’t you?”

  She nodded. “You’re my honorary daughter as of this moment. But your mother is still alive, isn’t she?”

  “Alive and well and saving lives as a top-ranked surgeon in Houston. My father has his own corporation. He’s still hoping that I will use my law degree and join him.”

  “But?”

  AJ laughed. “But I find I want something...different.”

  “I’ve seen you making eyes at Cyrus Cahill.”

  The young woman groaned. “Lillie said the same thing to me. Honestly, I can’t have a crush without everyone knowing it?”

  “So it would seem.”

  AJ smiled over at her. “He took me horseback riding the other day. I think I’m in love with Montana, horses and...” She laughed. “Anyway, now that you’ve found your daughter, there is nothing to keep you from getting married. This is what you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it, Billie Dee?”

  * * *

  AFTER EVERYTHING THE family had been through, it was decided that they should get together for a picnic—after all, it was summer in Montana.

&n
bsp; They all gathered at the Cahill Ranch. The men had a pig turning on the outdoor pit. The women had made an array of salads and desserts for the celebration feast.

  As Drey looked around at the family she’d always loved, they all had something to celebrate. But especially her and Hawk. Some days she thought it had all been a dream—and a nightmare. But then she would awaken and Hawk would be there and she would close her eyes and thank God. They’d both almost lost their lives.

  That was something she tried not to think about. On a day like today with the sun shining, a cool pine-scented breeze cooling the afternoon air, and the love of this family, she couldn’t think anything but happy thoughts.

  Hawk caught her eye and she smiled at him across the ranch yard. Every time she looked at him, her heart beat a little faster. He was so handsome, so strong, so Montana tough. She loved that cowboy with all her heart.

  That they shared another secret didn’t bother her in the least. The family would find out soon enough.

  * * *

  “LILLIE IS IN hog heaven,” Cyrus said as he joined his brother. “Two weddings to help plan.”

  Hawk said nothing. He hated to disappoint his little sister but there was no way he and Drey were waiting to get married. He told himself that Lillie would get over it. She could plan to her heart’s content Billie Dee and Henry’s wedding, he thought, smiling to himself as looked over at the woman he’d loved all of his adult life.

  Lillie used to tell him that Drey was the only woman for him. He’d thought after they’d broken up that maybe he was born to be a bachelor.

  “You do realize you’re the last of the Cahills to make that trip down the aisle,” Hawk said to Cyrus. “Lillie is going to be planning your wedding next.”

  Cyrus shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  But Hawk noticed how his gaze went to Ashley Jo, or AJ as they were all calling her now. The story had come out about Billie Dee and Gigi and how AJ had brought mother and daughter together. There had been some tears of joy shed over that story.