“I...I can’t...won’t do more than this.” Her resolve firmed and when he tried to step away, she took the decision for herself. She slipped her hands over that strong, broad, perfect chest and unflicked one button. And then another. A third. A fourth. If she shifted her hands, either way, she could touch him the way she wanted to. “I can’t do promises, Sheriff. I am a Tyler, and we keep our word on everything. Which means we don’t make promises we don’t know if we can keep. You need to understand that. So if you want more than that, I can’t do it.”
“I don’t need promises. What I need is to taste you. Hold you. If all you can give me is a little while, then...I’m a big boy. I can deal with that.” His fingers slipped to her shoulders. Her shirt fell from her arms, his clever hands making nothing of the remaining buttons. She stood there in the plain white cotton bra she’d slipped on that morning after her shower. Plain white cotton, faded clothes, worn jeans. The need he had for her.
He didn’t seem to even notice. All she saw in his eyes was the hunger.
That was enough for her.
Phoebe reached for him.
Chapter 28
There was an innocence about Phoebe. Of a kind he hadn’t had in a very long time. Her hands were a little hesitant, and he wondered if it was because of nerves, or unfamiliarity or because she just didn’t know what she liked. What she wanted from him.
He wouldn’t say he was jaded when it came to sex, but he’d definitely been around a time or two. Thought he’d done just about all of it in his thirty-five years. But with her, it all felt new.
Joel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her off her feet. “Wrap your legs around me.”
“My jeans...my boots. They’ll ruin the bed...Phoenix will ask questions.”
He’d forgotten they still had their clothes on, hadn’t he? Joel swore. “Let’s get them off, sweetheart. Let’s just get them off.”
He didn’t know whose hand unsnapped her jeans, but within seconds he was peeling wet denim down her legs. They tangled on her boots.
He made short work of them, too.
And then it was his turn.
Joel scooped her up again until they were chest to chest. Her eyes were wide and so blue he was drowning. Her lips trembled.
He had to taste.
So he did.
His hands, his mouth—he couldn’t get enough of her. Joel forced himself not to rush. To remember that she wasn’t as experienced, that he didn’t want to frighten or overwhelm. That if this was all they were ever going to have together he wanted it to be perfect...for her.
He did his damnedest to make it that way.
Chapter 29
Nate knew calling in the reserves had been a damned good idea. They’d had seventeen people get caught in the floods. People who should have known better. Floods happened in this part of the state all the damned time. People should know how to handle themselves in all sorts of weather situations. Wyoming was a flood-prone state.
The pneumatic doors slid open, and a pair of first responders rolled a young man in near first light the next morning. Unconscious. Nate, pulling a fill-in duty in the ER himself, stepped to the man’s side. “Identification?”
“Phoenix Tyler. Nineteen. Found walking along Stoddard highway before he collapsed. Need to call the sheriff’s department. Someone worked the boy over good.”
“Phoenix?” Nate leaned over him. “Hey, Phoenix. You’re at the hospital. Perci’s in one of the exam rooms. You’re going to be ok.”
Tiff, the head night nurse, heard him. “Hey, boss. Perci’s clocking out now. She’s hit the max sixty hours this week. She can’t work anymore tonight.”
“Page her. This is her younger brother.”
The kid’s hand shot up, and he wrapped his fingers around Nate’s arm. Blue eyes opened. The kid ripped the mask off his bruised face. “Keep her here!”
“What happened to you? Who hurt you?”
“Tom…Rutherford. He says he’s going to kill my sisters. One by one. Revenge for his wife. Tell Sheriff…planted pot…our ranch…to cause trouble for us. Don’t let Perci out of your sight.” The kid slid back into unconsciousness.
Nate went to work. Just as Perci jerked the curtain open and stepped into the exam room. She cried out, seeing her little brother.
Nate grabbed her arm, quickly. “Go! Call your father and your sisters. Warn them to keep themselves behind locked doors. Tom Rutherford did this. And your brother says he’s going after you girls. Go. Call. He’s going to be ok. I’ve got him.”
And as soon as he had Phoenix taken care of, Nate was going to call his own brother. Tell him to watch his back up there.
Chapter 30
Nate’s eyes landed on Joel’s SUV the moment they pulled into the Tylers’ front drive too close to noon the next morning. He’d been unable to reach his brother on Joel’s cell. And thanks to the flooding, he hadn’t been able to go look for him.
Neither had Levi or Matt, who’d been called in as reservists with the Fire & Rescue teams. But they’d kept trying. And now they were there to find their brother. Period.
Perci had called her father, but the older man had already taken off to Texas and was midflight. It was going to take him time to get back.
Perci had been safe at the hospital at her brother’s side—until she’d snuck out a few hours ago and driven home. That woman was far too impulsive for her own good.
Joel’s SUV stood out clearly amidst the ramshackle old ranch house and broken walkway.
Ok, so they’d found his brother’s Denali. Now, where was his brother? He climbed out of the truck and called for her. She should be around here somewhere.
The front door opened and a beautiful redhead stepped out. But it wasn’t the one he was expecting. This one’s hair was too light. It must be his new housekeeper, then.
He’d never expected to be greeted by a rifle, though. The young woman—what had his brother said, twenty-two?—stared at them for a long moment. The rifle was still gripped in her hands.
“We’re looking for Joel, honey. You know where he is?” Levi asked. Nate’s younger brother stepped up on the porch quickly and took the gun from her hands gently.
She shivered, almost uncontrollably. Nate had seen the after-effects of adrenaline before. “Joel and Phoebe took off up the mountain last night to find Phoenix. But he’s at the hospital.”
“I spoke with him myself,” Nate said. He still wasn’t certain he believed the boy’s ramblings. They were just a bit too farfetched. “Around eight. Just before the storms hit.”
“And then we found an hour ago…after Perci got home…we found another message on the porch after Perci got home.” She waved the men around the back of the house. Nate and his brothers followed her quickly.
Die, bitches, you’re all going to die. Starting with the deaf one.
The threat was written bigger this time than the last one. And it was painted on the side of Persephone’s little compact car. A stake of some sort had been driven through the windshield—right into the driver’s seat.
“Where’re your sisters?” Nate asked quickly. Persephone should have been out there next to her car, spitting mad. That she wasn’t told its own story.
“They went up the mountain to find Phoebe and Joel right after we found this. In case whoever did that goes after Phoebe now.”
“They’re up there now?” Matt asked.
The girl nodded. “Yes. They took their guns.”
Matt and his brothers shared a significant look. They needed horses, and fast. Matt was one hell of a decent tracker; they’d find those girls somehow.
In the meantime… “Levi, you stay here with Pan and the kids.” His brother was a damned good shot. Joel had made sure they all three were. He’d keep those kids and Pan safe.
“I’ve already called my cousins. Help will be here as fast as they can get here,” Perci’s little sister said.
“Stay inside,” Matt ordered. “We’re going to borrow a few hor
ses.”
“Just…hurry. We can’t reach Joel on his phone and Phoebe doesn’t have one. They have no idea someone could be out there after them right now.”
Chapter 31
Phoebe was jerked awake when hard hands yanked her out of Joel’s arms. She screamed, then looked up into Tom Rutherford’s leering face. His lips moved into a sneer, but without her hearing aid she couldn’t make out what he’d said. She’d never been particularly good at reading lips.
She kicked out with her legs, still screaming.
Phoebe looked around, searching frantically for Joel. Where was he? He wouldn’t leave her alone like this.
She found him bound on the floor, unconscious. What was going on? Why were they here?
Rutherford’s brother was there, glaring at her from watery, red-rimmed eyes. Why was he there? She kept fighting until Tom reached out and clubbed her across the left ear.
She fell to the floor.
His brother lifted her up, running one hand crudely over her chest. She closed her eyes and tried to think. To figure out what she was supposed to do now.
The men dragged her from the cabin. The harsh stones and twigs that littered the ground tore into her bare feet and slashed against the skin of her legs left exposed by the thin gym shorts she’d borrowed from her brother’s drawers and dressed in after she and Joel had finished loving one another.
Joel.
Was he dead?
She froze beneath the men’s hurtful hands for a long moment.
Until the cabin door opened and a long tall man rushed out.
Joel heard her scream, and that was all the incentive he needed. The assholes hadn’t tied his hands properly, using trash bag zip ties instead of actual law enforcement flex-cuffs. Flex-cuffs had tiny metal tabs that prevented them from being slipped open.
Not so with commercial ties. He popped the plastic around his wrists relatively easily. Joel barreled out the door, praying those assholes didn’t just shoot him and get it over with.
They were too busy with Phoebe to worry about him.
Arguing over Phoebe.
Joel took the advantage he had and flew toward the bigger threat. Tom Rutherford went down. Joel yelled for Phoebe to run.
She obviously didn’t hear him.
Her hearing aid. She didn’t have it. Just how vulnerable that made her hit him in the gut—just seconds before Rutherford’s fist slammed into him.
They rolled a few times, two large men, equally strong, equally determined. Joel wasn’t about to lose, not with Phoebe right there.
She was struggling with the brother, but it was a losing battle. She was so damned small…
Joel slammed Rutherford to the ground and got lucky. Tom’s head slammed into a rock. It wasn’t enough to knock the man out, but it stunned him enough for Joel to jump to his feet and turn on Tom’s younger brother, John.
The guy was smaller than Tom and had a history of drug abuse. And he’d always been a coward. To have a man Joel’s size barreling down on him had him letting go of Phoebe and backing up quickly. Joel didn’t give him a chance to escape—he slammed his fist into John’s face, hearing the bones crack from the force.
He grabbed Phoebe by the arms and turned her to look at him. “Run!”
He made sure she understood, and he pointed down the mountain. “Go!”
She took off.
Just as Tom dove at Joel from the side.
Chapter 32
Phoebe took off, just like he’d told her. She didn’t have on her boots, but she didn’t let that stop her. At first, she thought Joel was right behind her. It was only after she’d been running for a few minutes before she realized he wasn’t.
She turned.
The man was gone. She couldn’t see any signs of him or the Rutherfords.
And she wasn’t about to let him face two armed men alone.
Phoebe turned back.
She knew every path that led to that cabin, having been hiking this side of the mountain her entire life. It took her no time at all to get behind the cabin and into the lean-to.
After that it was a simple matter of slipping back inside the cabin. She grabbed her boots and her hearing aid, quickly. Within seconds she could hear again.
The sounds of a gunshot brought her running.
In time to see Joel go down as red spread over his broad chest. Tom Rutherford turned.
And looked straight at her. He’d already seen her. It didn’t matter—she couldn’t leave him. No matter what happened. Phoebe ran toward Joel and fell to her knees next to him. “Joel!”
“Phoebe, get out of here. Get back down the mountain to your family.” Joel struggled to his feet. “Go, honey! Now! Get to your family, and get to my brothers. They’ll keep you all safe!”
Just as Rutherford grabbed Phoebe from behind. “Well, look who came back. Ready for a real man now, sugar? You and I are going to go back in that cabin of your brother’s and have a little fun.”
“No!” Phoebe did the one thing she could. She jammed her knee straight into his groin and clawed for his eyes.
“Run, Phoebe! Go! I’ll be right behind you!”
This time she didn’t hesitate. Phoebe ran.
Rutherford was only steps behind her.
She wasn’t about to lead a gun-carrying bastard down to her family, even if she did make it the hours it would take to hike back down to the house. Instead of turning south toward her family, Phoebe turned north.
Toward the mountains and cliffs that had overlooked her family home since the very beginning.
Chapter 33
Joel pulled himself to his feet and followed. Rutherford was damned fast on his feet. But so was Phoebe. And she knew this area far better than Rutherford.
What was Rutherford doing on the Tyler property in the first place?
The Rutherfords yelled, cursing at Phoebe. Joel kept going as they approached the edge of the small creek that he and Phoebe had crossed the night before.
Flood waters had swelled it overnight. It was now four times as wide as it had been and at least three feet deeper. And the rapids raged. It might not have been overly deep but it was damned dangerous for anyone foolish enough to fall in it.
Phoebe didn’t even attempt to cross. Instead, she climbed the incline of the small hill where they’d stopped the night before to call her sisters. The waters rushed beneath the ten-foot cliff directly below. She’d kept climbing.
The three men were right behind her.
Rutherford grabbed for her.
And almost had her.
Joel was too damned far away to help her.
Phoebe kept fighting. If she could get to the back highway that formed the southern boundary of her family’s ranch, there was a US Forestry facility a mile up the road. It was often staffed with armed rangers. They could help, could call for back up. There was a high likelihood that Joel would know some of them.
It was the only thing she could think of.
She tripped, fell hard to the ground. Her arm cracked against a rock and fierce pain shot through her.
Hard male hands grabbed her. One around her waist, the other tangled in her hair.
He jerked her to the ground. Phoebe screamed and fought. She grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it into the man’s face.
The smaller Rutherford rolled off her and yelled out.
Phoebe scrambled to her feet, just as Tom grabbed her t-shirt.
He yanked her behind him, up the rocky hill until they were a good ways up the cliffs, and the raging water was more than twenty feet below. Joel called out, and Phoebe turned to see him struggling with John. The smaller man grabbed a branch and swung, connecting with Joel’s skull.
Joel went down and did not get back up again.
Joel. Phoebe screamed again as agonizing fear and grief rushed through her. She yanked away again and ran back down the hill toward him. The Rutherford brothers were far too close. Tom lashed out. The back of his hand connected with her cheek and then s
he was falling. In that instant, Phoebe knew she was probably going to die. She screamed, even as she struck the surface of the flood waters.
And then it was all she could do to hold on.
Chapter 34
Nate turned his borrowed horse—a damned fine horse—toward the screaming. It had been women. And chances were good that it had been Tylers.
Damn those Tylers and their propensity for finding trouble.
When he had her back safely, he was going to give Persephone Tyler a good tongue-lashing for this latest bit of stupidity. She should have called the sheriff’s office, the state police, anyone, before heading up the mountain herself. Hell, it was his brother out there, too. She should have just called him. It would have had the same results, wouldn’t it?
“There!” Matt pointed and shouted. Nate followed where his brother indicated.
A flash of red and white floated beneath them, smack in the midst of the raging floods. He couldn’t tell which Tyler it was, but it didn’t matter. He knew.
He’d seen Phoebe’s fall into the waters just moments before.
But Phoebe was too far away for him and Matt to do much good. They couldn’t even dive in after her. The water would push her just that much farther ahead of them. “Come on!”
The only choice they really had was to get ahead of her and hope…
Nate rounded the bend in the overflowing river and entered a small clearing. That’s when another flash of red caught his eye. When he noticed the two beautiful horses.
The two small women braving the waters to reach their sister.
He cursed. What in the hell were they doing? It would never work.
Two one-hundred-ten pound girls would never be strong enough to fight a raging river.
“They’ve at least got themselves tied off, Nate!” Matt yelled. He spurred his own horse on, insisting the animal brave the shallowest part of the flood waters. They had to get across. It was Phoebe’s only chance. Hell, it might be the only chance all three of those girls had.
Seeking the Sheriff (Masterson County Book 1) Page 9