Love on the Risky Side

by Mariah Ankenman

  “I can’t let her go. I can’t let either of you go. You know that.”

  She nodded, the last thread of hope inside her breaking. She did know.

  “No, no. Neither of you is leaving here alive. A nice little accident will take care of this whole mess, don’t you think?”

  No she did not. But he wasn’t really asking her opinion.

  “So, how is this going to go down, David? What’s the story this time?” Because he had one, it was clear now he always had a story ready—and she needed to buy as much time as possible.

  His lips twisted in a cruel smile, making her skin crawl. How had he hid this evil for so long? He’d always given her a bad vibe, but she never would have pegged him as a murderer.

  “I followed a lead to Colorado,” he said, spinning his yarn. “Got a tip you were hiding out here. You found some poor, gullible lawyer to believe your innocent sob story.”

  His gaze darted to Julie. Dark eyes glared. Kayla took heart seeing the fire in the other woman’s gaze. She hadn’t given up yet.

  Good, perhaps we have a chance.

  “I came out here to apprehend you, but sadly, before I could, tragedy struck.”

  Doesn’t it always.

  David shook his head, looking crestfallen. The man really missed a career in Hollywood.

  “On your way into town, your car hit a patch of ice, swerved off the road, and fell down the side of the mountain. Both you and your lawyer friend died in a fiery crash before I could get to you.”

  The glee in his voice belied the regretful look in his eyes. He’d have to work on that for the cameras.

  “A car accident, David? Really? That’s the worst set up I’ve ever heard. Surely, you can do better than that.”

  His gaze narrowed, lips curling back in a snarl.

  Never had she been more terrified in her life, but she couldn’t let him see that. Affecting a bored tone, mustering up all the false bravado she had, she added, “I mean, how are you going to get us in the car? You don’t think we’ll willingly drive to our deaths do you?”

  He reached into his jacket pocket. When his hand emerged, it held a black handgun.

  Breath catching in her lungs, she held back a gasp of terror. She expected he would have one, but reality was still a shock. Her heart jumped into her throat, and she began to reevaluate her hastily made plan.

  He motioned with the gun. “Go untie her. And don’t get any ideas. Any funny business and I’ll blow both of your brains away.”

  “Kind of hard to make that look like an accident.” She was proud that her voice came out strong, because inside, she shook so hard it felt as if she would shatter.

  “You’d be surprised what a plunge off a fifty foot cliff can hide.”

  She shuddered, picturing the fall in her mind. The road on the way to the cabin contained many a blind curve—tall drops with no guardrail, just a straight plunge down the mountainside to the hard, rocky ground below. Any number of them would be perfect for the scenario he laid out. She had to make her move before getting into the car; once they were in the vehicle, it would be too late.

  Keeping David in her sights, she made her way over to Julie, knelt behind the chair, and went to work on the tightly knotted ropes. David watched her with a sharp eye, bringing the muzzle of the gun up, taking aim directly at her head. At a distance of a few feet there was little chance he would miss.

  “Julie,” she whispered softly. “I have a plan.” Sort of. “Ryder is on his way.” I hope.

  “Jake?” The woman’s voice cracked on her brother’s name.

  “I’ll distract David. When I do, you run. Run as fast as you can.” Maggie’s car still sat in the driveway, but Julie wouldn’t have time to hop in and start the engine. Taking off on foot using the cover of the trees would be the fastest way to escape.

  “What about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” A lie. Between a knife and a gun, she knew which would win. But if she could give the woman a head start she would. Julie had to live, not only for Ryder, but also so she could tell the world about David, and who he really was.

  Gaze on the madman with the gun, Kayla slipped the knife from her left boot into Julie’s hand. In case she didn’t make it and David came after Julie, she wanted the woman to have a way to defend herself. Again, it wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

  “When I say run, you run. Got it?”

  The dark head nodded ever so slightly.

  “Hurry it up.” David scowled, his grip tightening on his weapon.

  “I’m trying. These knots are tight.”

  She undid the last of the ropes binding Julie. Ryder’s sister held the knife tightly in her grip. Kayla pulled the lawyer’s sleeve over her hand so the blade didn’t show, then helped her stand. Julie faltered, her knees giving way. Kayla caught her.

  Oh no, what if she’s too weak to run? She couldn’t fight off David and protect Julie at the same time.

  “We knock him over. Get the gun out of his hands. Then we both run,” Julie whispered in her ear.

  Holy cow! The woman wasn’t weak, she was strategizing. She didn’t know why she was surprised. It made sense the woman had a backbone of steel and a cool head in a crisis. Just like her brother.

  Kayla sent up another silent prayer that Ryder had gotten her note and was on his way up the mountain. “Okay, you go low. I’ll go high.”

  “Stop whimpering to each other and let’s go,” David complained.

  “I was just apologizing again for getting her into this.” She held Julie as if the other woman needed the support to stand. Together, like a choreographed dance, they stepped closer to David.

  “Yeah, too bad Julie here didn’t know what happens to people around you. Right, Kayla?” His lip curled with nastiness. “Daddy didn’t want you, mommy threw you away, best friend murdered—”

  “You killed her, you bastard!”

  “Yes, but everyone thinks it was you. People don’t last long around you, do they, Kayla? If I believed in them, I’d say you were cursed.”

  That was enough. She couldn’t stand there and listen to another second of this pompous, crazy murderer’s tirade. The time had come to take David Tyler down.

  Literally.

  Moving with Julie, she whispered with each step, “One…two…now.”

  She pounced, and Julie dove, taking out David’s legs. Kayla aimed for the gun, slamming her clasped hand into David’s wrist. Taken by surprise, he shouted, falling to the ground. The gun flew from his grasp, sliding across the floor.

  “Run!” she screamed. Grasping the other woman by the arm, she dragged her up, bolting out the door and flying down the front steps.

  They were going to make it! They were going to be—

  A shot rang out in the air, and a stab of cold, sharp, pain struck her right calf. She tumbled to the ground, face slamming into the snow and dirt.

  “Kayla!” Julie screamed, stopping to help.

  Another shot rang out. The snow near Julie flew up into the air. The poor, terrified woman screamed again, covering her head with her hands. She glanced up, her face whiter than the snow surrounding them. Kayla looked behind her to see David standing on the front porch, gun back in hand, the knife she’d given Julie sticking out of his left thigh.

  She hadn’t even seen the woman pull it out. Julie Ryder was good. Just like her brother.

  David took a step and his injured leg gave out, causing him to stumble and grab for the porch railing.

  Grasping the opportunity, she pushed at Julie. “No, run. Keep going. Get Ryder. Please, you have to run!”

  The woman’s forehead wrinkled with indecision. Worry filled her gaze. She knew Julie didn’t want to leave, but she had to. She had to run or they would both be dead.

  “Julie, go!”

  “I’ll get Ryder. We’ll come back for you,” she promised. “Just hold on.”

  Kayla nodded, and grabbed a rock the size of her palm. Sitting up, s
he lobbed it as hard as she could at David’s head. “Go!”

  The murderous bastard ducked the flying rock, but it served its purpose. It distracted him while Julie made her escape as fast as she could down the road. Now, Kayla just had to survive until help arrived.

  He stormed toward her, a crazed look in his dark eyes. The gun never wavered in his grip, knife in the thigh barely slowing him as rage, pure and hot, fueled his every step.

  Fear like she had never known poured like ice water through every inch of her being as she fisted her hand around another large rock.

  Please, Ryder. Hurry!

  Chapter 27

  Ryder cursed the icy roads forcing him to drive with more caution than he had time for, but he wouldn’t be much good to Julie or Kayla if he drove off the side of the mountain.

  The cabin was up ahead, only a few minutes away. When he came around the next bend he would be able to see it. His heart beat furiously in his chest.

  Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.

  The mantra repeated in his head. He had no idea what he would do if he lost his sister or Kayla. Life would be a hell of a lot darker, for sure.

  As he carefully guided his car around the next curve, he saw a figure in the middle of the road. A woman, running full force, straight toward him. He tapped the brakes to avoid fishtailing on the slick, ice-covered road, turning the car onto the shoulder to avoid her. As she got closer, recognition hit him full force.

  “Julie!” He threw open the car door, screaming his baby sister’s name again as he ran to meet her.

  “Jake! Ohmigod, Jake!”

  Julie launched herself into his arms. Tears streamed down her face. Her body shook. He held her close, thanking everything in the universe his baby sister was once again safe in his arms.

  But as happy as he was to see her safe, his brain recognized she was alone.

  Pulling back gently, he glanced down at her. “Julie, where’s Kayla?”

  She choked back a sob as her arm rose to point behind her. The motion drew his attention to the blood on her clothes. He did a quick visual scan of the slashes on her arms and legs.

  A dark cloud of rage rose inside. I am going to kill David Tyler.

  “Shit, Julie. What did that monster do to you? Are you all right?”

  She waved his concern away, breath coming in short pants. “I’m fine. K-Kayla is still back there. Made me run. T-told me to get help.” His baby sister was frantic, practically screaming now. “Jake, she’s back there with h-him. He’s going to kill her!”

  Every cell in his body froze. His heart, his brain, everything stopped functioning for a split second. Then a gunshot rang out in the air and his mind snapped.

  “Get in the car,” he ordered his sister. “Use the radio to call the station. I already have back up on the way. Tell them everything that’s going on.”

  She nodded, sniffing back tears. Bloodied arms wrapped around his neck, embracing him tightly. “Be careful, big brother.”

  Then she ran toward his still running truck. Ryder checked his police issued gun, full clip and two extras on his belt. Knowing he would need the element of surprise, he eschewed the road for the dense tree cover. He would come up on the side of the cabin instead of heading straight toward it. Hopefully, it would give him an advantage.

  Images of Julie’s marred, bleeding flesh rose in his mind, and he had to fight back the urge to howl with rage. David Tyler had signed his death warrant when he hurt his baby sister. If one inch of Kayla’s smooth, creamy flesh was even bruised, the monster was going to find out how wild the west could be.

  ****

  Kayla rolled to her side, army crawling behind a large snow dusted boulder. More shots rang out in the air. She held in a scream as the snow, inches from her feet, sprayed into the air with the impact of a bullet.

  “Oh dear.” David’s dark chuckle filled the quiet mountain air. “That one came a bit close didn’t it? Do you know how many times a person can be shot before they die, Kayla? You’d be surprised. You’re going to look like Swiss cheese before I’m done with you.”

  His shots were getting closer. The psycho was toying with her, ramping up her fear before going in for the kill. How long did she have before he tired of this cat and mouse game?

  At least Julie is safe.

  The one thing she could take solace in. The one thing she knew she did right. She may have failed Jen, but Julie got away. Ryder would not lose his little sister. If nothing else, that was enough.

  But she would really prefer it if she lived, too.

  Another two shots cracked through the stillness of the snowy forest. The rock she hid behind was large, but she heard the bullets smack into its broad face, fracturing bits of stone off the large boulder.

  “You can’t hide forever, Kayla,” David’s manic voice shouted into the wind.

  True, and with her leg currently going numb, she doubted she could run either. Pulling her pant leg up, she saw a huge chunk of skin missing at the top of her calf. Blood flowed out of the wound. She needed to apply pressure or risk passing out soon. Then she’d be a sitting duck.

  Pulling the yellow knit cap from her head, she pressed it against the wound as hard as she could, suppressing a scream as pain shot like fire through her leg. Using her other hand, she quickly undid her belt, pulling it from her pant loops and wrapping it around her leg and the hat. She pulled the belt as tight as she could then fastened the buckle. Crude, but it would have to do for now. Tears of pain and anguish poured down her face, but she wiped them away.

  Daring a glance, she peeked out over the side of the boulder. David slowly made his way toward her hiding spot. Blood poured out his nose. The second rock she had lobbed at him in her attempt to get away made direct contact with his nose. By the swollen look of it, she most likely broke it.

  Score one for me.

  He limped as he made his way toward her, the knife she had given Julie still sticking out of his thigh. It must have hit something important, because it appeared to be slowing him down quite a bit. Good. She needed every advantage she could get if she was going to get out of this alive. And she damn well planned to.

  “Going to be pretty hard to cover this up, David,” she taunted. “Hard to make it look like a car accident if I’m full of bullet holes.”

  “Shut up, bitch!” He raised the gun and fired.

  She ducked back behind the rock. Good. If she could get him to waste all his ammunition, then she could try to run without the risk of flying bullets coming toward her. But when she attempted to stand, her right leg immediately gave out, sending her crashing back onto the hard, snow-packed ground.

  Biting her cheek, she held in a scream of pain. Okay, plan B.

  Kayla reached into her jacket pocket and pulled the large carving knife free. If she couldn’t run, she would attack. As long as David’s gun was empty, she had a chance.

  Time to poke the beast.

  “You know,” she called out. “I’m not surprised you caught Jen talking to other men. She was probably shopping around for a new guy. Yeah, she said you had some bedroom issues. What did she call it…oh, right—the fastest five seconds ever.” Jen had said no such thing, but she needed him irrationally angry. The best way to make a man like him livid was to insult his bedroom skills.

  It worked. David let out a howl of rage. She counted as five more cracks of gunfire pierced the air.

  That was, what? Ten shots? Eleven? How many rounds are in his gun?

  She had no idea. There was also the possibility he had extra clips. She prayed he didn’t.

  “Julie is going to tell everyone about you.” She hoped the woman had gotten to safety. “Everyone will know you’re a murderer. Even if you kill me, you’re not going to get away with it.”

  “I’ll deal with that lawyer bitch once I finish with you. Besides, my family has enough money and power to make anything go away. Not that you would know anything about power or family, Kayla.”

  He had
to keep hitting that sore spot, didn’t he?

  “No one is going to miss you when you’re gone.”

  “Wanna bet, asshole?”

  As she recognized that deep, sexy voice, Kayla cried in relief, heart pounding against her chest. Peeking out from behind the boulder, she saw the most beautiful sight she had ever laid eyes on.

  Ryder—decked out in his sheriff uniform looking every bit the warrior he was—stood ten feet to the right side of David, gun aimed right at his chest.

  The bad cop whirled around with his own gun, dropping it slightly when he saw whom he was facing. “Oh, Sheriff, thank God you’re here.” His voice seamlessly changed from madman to concerned citizen. “My name is David Tyler. I’m a police officer from Chicago, and I’ve been following the trail of a fugitive. She’s wanted for murder back in Illinois—”

  “I know who you are,” Ryder interrupted coldly. “Put your weapon down and put your hands behind your head.”

  “Sheriff, you don’t seem to understand. I’m trying to catch a killer.”

  “No, you don’t seem to understand.” He slowly inched closer. “I know who you are and what you did. And as much as I’d like to kill you for hurting the women I love, it’s going to be much more satisfactory to see you rot in a cell for the rest of your life, you pathetic dick.”

  Kayla watched the exchange, her heart beating so loud she was sure they could hear it. Grabbing the large rock beside her, she pulled herself up against it, putting all her weight on her uninjured leg.

  “I don’t understand?” David shook his head, still trying to play innocent.

  He did it quite well, she had to admit. Bastard.

  “Read the badge, asshole. Sheriff Jake Ryder.”

  The crooked cop’s eyes went wide.

  “Yeah, the woman you abducted and tortured? That’s my baby sister. And I’m going to make you pay for every bit of pain you caused her.”

  She watched as David’s demeanor changed again. His jaw clenched, gaze narrowed. The hand holding his gun began to rise until it pointed straight at Ryder.

  “Looks like I have a bigger mess to clean up than I thought. No matter, since it is obvious you were in on it with your sister, helping Kayla. I can spin this my way. Make you look like a dirty cop.”