Determined to Protect, Forbidden to Love

by Beverly Barton

  As he slipped to the ground, Tanner quickly duct-taped his wrists and ankles, then slapped several pieces of the sticky tape over his mouth. He grabbed him by the feet and dragged him across the lawn and into the trees.

  One down, and he had no idea how many were left. Where was his backup? At that moment he heard a grunt come from the trees nearby and he hoped the sound meant he was no longer battling alone.

  Moving stealthily in a couched position he made his way through the trees. He knew the landscape as well as he knew his own name. That was his advantage as he stalked his prey through the woods.

  There was little noise. The crickets and other insects were silent, as if sensing danger. The only sound was the faint slap of footsteps against grass and an occasional snap of a twig.

  He followed the sounds until he spied his quarry, another burly male moving like a shadow in the night. He was moving toward the opposite side of the house from where Tanner had caught up with the other man.

  Movement on his left made him jerk his head, and he saw Zack slicing through the trees with speed and agility, obviously tracking somebody.

  Tanner looked back toward the house and froze. He’d momentarily lost sight of the man who had been near the house. His pulse raced as he tried to find the assassin.

  He heard the bullet before he felt the impact. The faint puff of a gun with a silencer. The bullet ripped into the bark of a tree mere inches from his head. He threw himself to the ground.

  Game on.

  If he’d been coldly emotionless before, he was positively bloodless now. This was survival. Another bullet hit the tree just above where he lay on the ground. He rolled to the left, came up to his feet and ran for the cover of the nearest tree trunk.

  The flash of the last shot had let him know where the enemy was hiding, and Tanner moved farther into the woods, hoping to come up behind the man.

  Slowly and steadily he moved. He still had a visual of the shooter and knew from the way the man turned his head from side to side, gun pointed first one direction then another, that the man had lost sight of him.

  He only hoped that while he was taking care of this threat some of the other men were watching the front of the house to assure nobody got inside. He was comforted only by the fact that if anyone tried to get into the bathroom where Anna was hiding, she’d scream bloody murder and alert him to her danger.

  With the silence of a shadow Tanner moved toward the gunman, grateful when a cloud drifted in front of the moon, momentarily obscuring everything. He used the cover of the deep darkness to move closer.

  When the cloud drifted away and moonlight once again filtered down, he found himself no more than twenty feet behind the gunman.

  It would be easy to take a shot now, to eliminate the threat with a bullet, but he was afraid the sound of the gunshot would rally any others he might not have seen. He had no idea how many more might be hiding in the woods, concealed by the darkness.

  He’d much prefer to take the man down soundlessly, as he had the first one. With this thought in mind, he crept closer, careful not to make a sound that would give away his position.

  When he was close enough that he could smell the body odor emanating from the man, could hear his slightly raspy breaths, he lunged forward and knocked the gun from the man’s hand.

  Before he could get a choke hold around his neck, the man spun around and clipped Tanner in the jaw with his fist.

  The blow landed squarely. Pain shot through the side of his head. He ignored the pain and thrust a fist into the man’s stomach. The man gasped and stumbled backward. Tanner gave him no time to recover, but hit him again, this time with an uppercut that snapped his head upward.

  The man lunged forward, swinging wildly, and again a fist clipped Tanner’s jaw. With all the force his body could summon, Tanner threw a punch and connected once again with the man’s stomach.

  The man fell to the ground, grasping for the gun that had fallen into the grass. Tanner grabbed his feet to pull him away from the gun, then fell on top of him and wrapped his arm around his neck. As he pulled with his arm, he pushed at the back of the head with his other hand.

  Unconsciousness came quickly. Gasping for breath, Tanner rose and bound the man’s hands and feet with the duct tape. As he tore off a piece of the tape to slap across the man’s mouth a roar split the night, a roar followed by the whoosh of flames.

  He looked toward the house and in horror saw that it appeared to be consumed by flames. Glass exploded outward from all the windows.

  “Anna!” he screamed, and ran toward the inferno.

  She heard the explosion, but remained in the bathroom, afraid to move, afraid to ignore Tanner’s order that she remain in the bathroom until he returned for her.

  She stood in the dark, in the tub, wondering what was happening. Other than the explosion, she’d heard not a sound since she’d run to hide. What had caused the loud blast? What was going on outside?

  Tanner. Her heart cried out. Please, please, keep him safe. Please let him be okay. At least she hadn’t heard any gunshots. That was something, wasn’t it? At least she knew he probably hadn’t been shot.

  She stared in the direction of the locked door, able to see it only a little from the moonlight drifting in through the window high above the tub. She was afraid who might enter.

  It took her a moment to realize she smelled something…something acrid…something burning. She heard the faint tinkle of glass breaking somewhere in the house. The smell grew stronger, more pronounced.

  Smoke! It burned her eyes, tickled the back of her throat. She coughed. Once. Twice. A spasm of choking left her weakly leaning against the bathroom wall.

  Needing light, she reached her hand out and flipped the switch, shocked to see the thick black smoke pouring into the room from under the door.

  Fire! The house was on fire. She shoved a fist in her mouth to staunch the scream that threatened to escape. She had to get out. She couldn’t wait for Tanner. It wouldn’t take long for her to die from smoke inhalation.

  She jumped out of the tub and grabbed hold of the doorknob. Instantly she yanked her hand back. Hot. The knob was like grabbing hold of a hot chunk of coal. She couldn’t go out that way. Smoke poured in beneath the door, and she quickly wet a towel and shoved it against the door to stop the flow of smoke.

  She stepped back into the tub and gazed at the window overhead. It was a small window, up high over the tub. She could grab the edge with her fingertips, but didn’t think she’d be able to pull herself up and through.

  She shrieked as the lights went off, leaving her only with a sliver of moonlight for light and the thickening smoke that made it difficult to breathe.

  A fit of coughing sent her to her knees. Where was Tanner? Had the rebels killed him? A piercing pain shot through her at the thought. Please don’t let him be dead, she mentally prayed as another coughing spasm overtook her.

  She was losing it. She felt the blackness closing in. The air was too thick to breathe and she could barely keep her eyes open. In the faint moonlight the smoke thickened and boiled around her.

  Let go, a little voice whispered in her head. Just a few deep breaths and you’ll go to sleep.

  Just her luck, to finally find the love she’d yearned for, then die when it was still fresh and new in her heart.

  Just breathe, it will all be over soon. The little voice in her head was an irritating refrain. But she’d never been a quitter, and between sobs and coughs she slid from the tub and tried to find something she could use to break the window. If she could just get some air, she’d be fine.

  Again the darkness threatened, but before it could claim her completely, the bathroom door burst open and Tanner came in. He said nothing, but pulled her from the floor and lifted her up over his shoulder and ran.

  She was vaguely aware of the fire all around them, but all she could think about was the fact that Tanner had lied to her. He’d told her a cowboy threw a woman over his shoulder when he loved h
er. But he didn’t love her. This was the last conscious thought she had.

  Chapter 13

  Anna awakened to the early-morning sun seeping softly through the window. She started to sit up, worried that she’d be late for breakfast and Smokey would give her attitude. But she wasn’t at the ranch. She blinked and looked around, for a moment disoriented.

  It was a hospital room. She didn’t move as her mind raced. Why was she here? She didn’t seem to be hurt, other than a bad sore throat.

  The fire. The smoke. Her memory returned with a jolt. But she remembered nothing after Tanner breaking into the bathroom, nothing of how she had come to be here and what had happened.

  She was alone in the room, although the door was open and she saw that somebody was seated just outside. “Hello?” Her voice was husky and she winced, wishing for a drink of water to ease the burning ache.

  It was Tanner seated just outside her room. He jumped up and walked in, the sight of him both joyous and painful at the same time.

  She was thrilled that he appeared to be all right, but the sight of him reminded her of all that would never be. She loved him and he didn’t love her back.

  “Hi.” For the first time since she’d met him he sounded hesitant…tentative, although his facial expression was, as usual, inscrutable. “How are you doing?”

  “Thirsty,” she croaked.

  She watched as he poured her a glass of water from a pitcher on the stand next to the bed. He stuck in a straw then held the glass to her lips so she could take a sip.

  The cold water soothed the scratchiness of her throat, but did nothing to ease the ache that filled her heart. She needed something, anything, to take her mind away from the memory of the painful conversation they’d had before he’d spied movement outside the window.

  She desperately wanted to think about anything other than the fact that Tanner didn’t love her, that there was no future here for her with him. “What happened?” she asked.

  He pulled up a chair next to her bed and sat, his gaze somber. For the first time she noticed the slight purple bruise that decorated his left jaw. “Looks like you lost the battle.”

  He reached up and touched his jaw, then shrugged. “Maybe lost the battle, but won the war. You should see the other guy.” He leaned back in the chair. “There were three of them. I managed to take out two, but while I was fighting with the second man, a third somehow got to the front of the house and threw some sort of small bomb through the window. The explosion brought my men from the main house. They caught the third man and all three are now in custody down at the sheriff’s office.”

  She struggled to sit up and he quickly jumped out of the chair to plump the pillow behind her. “Thanks,” she murmured as he once again sat in the chair. “I know I’m in a hospital, but where?”

  “Cotter Creek Memorial,” he replied. A faint whisper of a smile curved the corners of his lips. “A big name for a small, twenty-bed facility.”

  She had a feeling he was hoping for a returning smile from her, but she simply couldn’t summon one. “Why am I here? I don’t seem to be hurt.”

  Any kind of a smile disappeared as a grim look thinned his lips. “You inhaled a lot of smoke. By the time I got you outside you were unconscious. You came around a bit in the ambulance that brought you here, but the doctor sedated you after you were breathing normally. He wanted to keep you overnight for observation.”

  She closed her eyes, remembering those moments when the bathroom had filled with choking smoke, the feel of the hot doorknob in her fingers, the absolute terror that had gripped her. If not for Tanner she would be dead.

  She opened her eyes and gazed at him, wishing she could be the one to put soothing compresses against his bruised jaw, lay a cool hand across his weary-looking forehead.

  “I know you were just doing your job, but thank you for saving my life.”

  “It’s what I do,” he replied, averting his gaze from hers.

  She closed her eyes again, but only for a moment. As she thought of the consequence of that smoke, that heat, her eyelids popped open and she gasped. “Your home?” she asked, even though she was afraid she knew the answer.

  “Was just a place of lumber and nails. It can all be rebuilt.” His voice was steady, without emotion.

  “Oh, Tanner. I’m so sorry.” Tears burned at her eyes as she thought of the house he’d been working on for the past three years. Now, all gone, nothing but ash and memories.

  “Hey, no tears allowed,” he replied gently. “I was well aware of the risk I took when I brought you into the house.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t expect your house to burn to the ground,” she retorted.

  “Anna, I’m just glad you’re safe.”

  “Of course, I wouldn’t want to be a blot on your perfect protection record.” She hadn’t meant the bitterness to creep into her voice, but it had.

  He stood, his gaze drifting away from her face and toward the bank of windows. “I’ve got some good news for you. I heard from your father this morning. We’ve set up a meet early tomorrow.”

  “At the ranch?” she asked.

  “No. the ranch has been compromised. We’re meeting him twenty miles from here, at a small convenience store off the highway.” His gaze found hers again. “Within twenty-four hours you’ll be gone from this dusty little cowboy town and back to the lifestyle you were accustomed to living.

  It was as if they hadn’t had their conversation in bed the night before, the conversation where she’d told him of the changes she intended to make in her life.

  Apparently he hadn’t believed her. It didn’t matter whether he did or not. She knew what she wanted to do, with or without Tanner West.

  “When can I get out of here?” she asked.

  “The doctor said he’d probably release you sometime this morning. I’ll go see if I can find him and get some information for you.”

  He seemed relieved, relieved to leave the room, relieved that her father was coming and that his time with her was coming to an end.

  As he left the room Anna turned her head toward the window where the morning had brightened, portending a beautiful day.

  Her last day in Cotter Creek.

  Her last day with Tanner West.

  She’d spent all the years since she’d turned eighteen running from the loneliness that had no name, the yearning for something nebulous and undefined.

  Her loneliness now had a name…Tanner West. She knew he was exactly what she’d yearned for, what she’d wanted, needed in her life.

  Unfortunately he didn’t want or need her.

  The doctor released Anna just before noon and the drive back to the ranch was a silent one. The past twelve hours had been the longest in Tanner’s life.

  When he’d seen the flames licking up to the sky and had known that Anna was inside the inferno, a desperation the likes of which he’d never known had flooded him. Both his father and Zack had tried to keep him from going inside the house, but no force on earth could have stopped him.

  As the ranch hands wrestled the assassin to the ground, Tanner had broken away and run around the house to the back door. The fire had been intense, but thankfully had been mostly confined to the living room.

  When he’d broken in the bathroom door and seen Anna on her hands and knees gasping for air, he’d felt as if he’d been unable to breathe.

  Throughout the night as she had slept in the hospital room, he’d sat in a chair just outside her door, making sure that nothing and nobody could harm her.

  Disaster had been so close…too close. He’d nearly lost her, and as he drove toward the ranch his mind played and replayed all the decisions he had made concerning her safety from the moment she’d charged into the office.

  Had he made mistakes? Had he allowed his desire to be with Anna to cloud his judgment? He didn’t know. The one thing he did know was that if they’d lingered in bed after making love, if he’d been 100 percent focused on her during the argument they’d
had, he would have missed that shadow moving in front of the window. In all probability both of them would now be dead.

  Even knowing he’d probably made mistakes, understanding that he’d crossed a boundary and had gotten too personally involved, he still wanted to take her in his arms and hold her tight. Even though he knew it was the worst possible thing to do, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss the sadness from her lips.

  Instead he tightened his hands on the steering wheel and scowled out the window, aware of her sad gaze lingering on him. Behind his truck was another vehicle holding two armed men in Tanner’s employment. Even though they had successfully thwarted one attack, that didn’t mean the danger had passed. Tanner hadn’t been willing to take any chances. He’d had guards outside her hospital room and would have the house heavily guarded for the night.

  “Did you have insurance on the house?” she asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had existed since the moment they’d gotten into his truck.

  “Yeah. Don’t worry about it. It will all be taken care of.” He glanced over at her, noting that despite the trauma of the night’s events, she looked lovely.

  She was clad in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt that a nurse had offered her so she wouldn’t have to go home in her smoky clothing. The sweatpants were too big and the T-shirt swam on her, but still she was as pretty as Tanner had ever seen her. So pretty it ached deep inside him.

  It was a good thing her father would arrive tomorrow. It was the best thing for both of them. She might not realize it at the moment, but she needed something different than he could give her. She deserved more than he was willing to give.

  He was relieved when the ranch house came into sight. He’d been afraid that at any moment she might want to resume the discussion they’d been having before all hell had broken loose. He didn’t want to revisit it. There was nothing more to say between them except goodbye.

  Red and Smokey came out to the front porch as if they’d been standing inside watching for their arrival. Both men approached the passenger door as Tanner came to a stop.