Shelter from the Storm (Finley Creek Book 2)

by Calle J. Brookes

  Chance. He wasn’t dead, after all.

  Brynna ran.

  CHAPTER FIVE.

  * * *

  CHANCE aimed for every dirty point he could with the son-of-a-bitch who’d had his hands on Brynna. He’d give it to the girl, she’d surprised him with the giving-in ruse she’d pulled on the big bastard.

  He doubted the fucker had expected the knee to the dick any more than Chance had expected her to do it.

  Smart girl. And determined. Her father had obviously taught her one little trick every girl-woman should know.

  He punched the guy in the face a few times for good measure, then heard the guy’s partner yell something.

  Run up behind him.

  Chance stood and drove his fist into the taller guy’s solar plexus.

  The guy was older and in less decent shape. That was probably the only advantage Chance was going to get, and he knew it.

  In the meantime, Brynna had disappeared into the sparse woods, somewhere.

  Chance would only have a few seconds to find her, before they were separated for good out there. Or she fell down a magic rabbit hole or got eaten by a pack of coyotes or something.

  Or these sons-of-bitches caught up with her.

  “Stay the fuck away from her.” If he had his gun, he’d blow a hole right through both of them. But he didn’t. He had nothing but his fists. So he would use them.

  From somewhere nearby he heard her cry out. Had she fallen? Hurt herself even more?

  The sun was rising. They’d be able to spot her in that red shirt of hers, even through the rain that was picking up again. If he got to her first, they might have a chance of getting enough distance between them.

  And he doubted the sons-of-bitches wanted their vehicles close enough to the totaled SUV to be identified. No. If they stayed too much longer they ran the risk of traffic stopping to see what had happened.

  Chance took a gamble that they wouldn’t shoot him in the back or follow, and ran toward her call. The two men ran the opposite direction. Toward their vehicles.

  He found her on a service road about an eighth of a mile north of the intersection. It was nothing but gravel and mud but she kept going.

  “Brynna! Brynna, you can stop now.”

  Chance caught up to her easily. It was clear she was tiring.

  He reached out and stopped her. She fought, just like he’d expected. “It’s ok, Brynna. It’s ok. They left. We’re alone now.”

  “Chance?” She stilled, then wrapped small feminine hands around his shirt. The way she clung to him told its own story. “I thought they’d killed you. They talked about the night your family died. It was them. They killed your family. And they had me. I thought they’d killed you too. Killed you. Killed you.”

  “I’m tougher than that.” He touched her hair, soaked with rain. Fought the urge to go after them again—for his family. And for her. “We’re not giving up.”

  “They have my laptop.”

  “Yes.”

  “I cloned it. I gave a copy of the hard drive to my sister Carrie. I don’t want them to go after her.”

  “Who did you tell you cloned it?”

  “Carrie. Gabby.”

  “Just those two?”

  “Yes. In private.”

  “Then I think it’ll be ok.”

  “We need to get to one of those hard drives.” She buried her face in his chest. “But, I don’t want them to go to Carrie. Not if I don’t have to. She has a baby and I don’t want Maddie hurt.”

  She had a family, didn’t she? This skinny redhead with the magic eyes and the odd way of talking had people that she loved, who loved her.

  Damn it, those fucking bastards had no right to pull her into the middle of this. He stepped back from her, but wrapped one hand around her fingers. “We need to get out of here. We don’t know if they’ll come back or not.”

  “Our car?” Her voice broke as she looked around. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

  “It’s totaled. We can’t drive it. We’ll go back. You’ll hide while I search for my gun. Then we’ll decide what to do.” He pulled his cell free. No signal. “Your phone?”

  “In my bag. I think they took it.”

  Chance stilled. “They have your cell. Your wallet? Address?”

  “I think they knew all that anyway. But I have my wallet and my money.”

  “You’re probably right about that. Did you text anyone?” How much information did the assholes now have access to? She’d said it was like someone was watching her. Maybe someone was.

  “I told Gabby that I was going to find you. That was it.”

  “So they know Gabby knows. Decision made. We head back to Finley Creek.” Better keep to the people who were already involved, than getting some other innocent member of this girl’s family messed up in it.

  It took him less than five minutes to return to the rental and find his gun under the seat. He had an extra magazine in his pocket—one reason he favored cargo pants—and having it and the weapon made him feel a little bit more secure.

  A little, not much.

  Brynna was huddled right where he’d left her next to a culvert.

  Poor kid looked like a drowned red rat. Pitiful.

  Sweet and vulnerable and nowhere near equipped to deal with the kind of world they were in. Was this how his brother had felt the first time he realized Gabby was still a part of this?

  He wasn’t going to follow the same path his brother had. No matter what this girl-woman touched in him. “Get up. We need to get moving.”

  CHAPTER SIX.

  * * *

  HER side burned. Her feet burned. But Brynna kept going. Chance had her arm in his hand as he dragged her through the brush and into the woods surrounding the narrow highway they’d taken. He’d said the roads were too dangerous now. And they were too far from a house to go for help. Not with the storm approaching. How much more of this could she take?

  Until she got home. She would do anything to make sure she made it back to her father and her sisters. Baby Maddie. She’d just held her only niece two days ago, and she’d been so happy, so beautiful.

  Brynna loved that baby so deeply. The thought of dying before she could see Maddie and Carrie and Mel and Jilly and Syd and their father again made her want to vomit.

  She needed to tell them she loved them again. At least one more time.

  No matter how miserable she felt being dragged through the Oklahoma woods by a madman—and she wasn’t certain Chance Marshall was entirely sane—she would keep going until she made it back to her family.

  “Keep up.” He stopped for a second, just long enough to glare down at her from those weird green eyes.

  “I’m doing the best I can.”

  “Do better. Unless you want to do dead. Either the storm is going to get us or those bastards will. Unless we find shelter.”

  “I’m trying, ok? Some of us aren’t GI Joe, you know?” She pressed her hand against her side again.

  She was still bleeding, wasn’t she? But bleeding was better than dead, wasn’t it?

  She pulled in a sharp breath. “Let’s keep going. I’ll be ok.”

  He pulled her closer, until less than eighteen inches separated them. “How badly did he hurt you?”

  “I’m ok. Ok. He only cut me twice, twice. Let’s keep going.” She’d think of her family one by one, if she had to, to focus. “I want to go home. I want my family.”

  “Why the hell did you have to wear a red shirt? Redheads shouldn’t wear red.” He grabbed the band of her shirt and pulled.

  “It’s pink. Redheads aren’t supposed to wear pink. And I think that’s a stupid rule. I like pink. And red. I don’t like yellow, though.”

  “Can you shut up for a minute, please? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me he cut you this badly? Are you wanting to bleed out? How deep?”

  “It was car glass, I think. When they knocked out my door window. It cut me in a few places when they pulled me out the windo
w. And he had that knife. What would you have done if I had said it? Stopped running for our lives to put a bandage on? I don’t think so.” She tried to pull her hand free but he wasn’t going to let her go until he was ready to, was he? “Let’s keep going. Before this guy goes after Gabby and your brother. Gabby’s already lost one best friend, I’d really prefer she not lose another.”

  His face tightened and Brynna got it—the best friend Gabby had lost had been his baby sister. “I’m sorry I said that. About your sister. I remember her. She was older than me but was always nice. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t mention it.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a white undershirt and a knife. He cut the cotton quickly. “Hold up your shirt.”

  She obeyed. He wrapped the makeshift bandage around her then pulled a roll of duct tape from the bag. With a few strips of tape he had the cotton in place. “Let’s go. We’ll fix you up later. As soon as we find shelter.”

  “It’s going to storm some more.”

  “You always state the obvious?”

  “Yes. It’s easier that way.”

  “Then let’s get going.”

  But his hands were far gentler this time when he led her over the rocky embankment.

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  * * *

  SHE wasn’t a complainer, he would give her that. He’d seen far stronger people crumble under horrible circumstances. But this girl-woman kept going.

  He needed to find them some shelter; the rain wasn’t stopping and the wind was picking up. The storm she’d predicted was coming.

  Maybe more. He’d lived in Texas his whole life, he knew how tornados were. And it was prime season for it.

  “Brynna, baby, we need to find some shelter.”

  “Where?” She looked around the Oklahoma woods. From what Chance could figure they were still somewhere north of the Texas border.

  She was shivering, and shock was taking hold. She’d been up all night, in a collision, and almost abducted. And now he was dragging her through the woods on foot—in a thunderstorm.

  No.

  They needed to rest. Then they could find help.

  Not that he trusted any damned one else.

  “Come on, Bryn. We’ll find a spot to rest.”

  “I’m trying.” She was gasping for breath, wasn’t she? She wasn’t just tired.

  Something was wrong. Chance scooped her up. She didn’t weigh much at all. “Wrap your arms around my neck. I’ll get you there.”

  “I’m sorry. I know you can go faster than I can.”

  “Shut up. I’m not going any faster than you can make it. You know what Elliot would do if I showed up in Finley Creek without you? Not to mention Gabby. She scares me.”

  “Gabby? I don’t think she could scare anyone. She’s more likely to be scared of everyone.”

  So literal, wasn’t she? Chance smiled. “My brother loves her. And she loves him.”

  “Already? I know she likes him. But you can’t fall in love with someone that fast. It doesn’t work that way. Love takes time and interests and trust. How can you trust someone after only a week? That doesn’t make much sense.”

  “Love isn’t logical. They might not have admitted it to each other, or to themselves. But the emotion is there. I could see it.” He remembered his parents. The two of them shouldn’t have clicked, but they had. His mother had been like Gabby was—light, happy, seeing the world as a beautiful place. His father had been more like Chance—untrusting and world-hardened.

  But they’d been married for thirty years before they’d been murdered.

  Thirty years wasn’t exactly nothing.

  “It should be,” she said. “People find mates who...well...match them. Shared interests and goals. That kind of thing. It’s not like it is in books or movies. People don’t meet and fall in love like that. Well, almost. I know a couple that were on the run last year. They were nuts about each other, I guess. They came to our house for help.”

  “Running from the cops?” He kept walking, just letting her talk. “And they came to you?”

  “To our house. And they were running from a corrupt FBI agent. He tried to kill them. He shot my friend. But she survived. He is my sister’s husband’s brother. They fell in love.”

  “See, it can work that way.” Not that it would for men like him. But those that were looking for that—well, more power to them.

  “I think that’s crazy, though.”

  And this girl-woman was an expert on love? “You’ve been in love?”

  “I thought so. A few times. But those relationships didn’t work out.”

  “Why?” Normally he wouldn’t bother asking such questions. But the idea of Brynna involved with someone irked him on some level. And made him wonder. What kind of men had she been drawn to? He could hazard a guess—brainy computer types. Pale and weak.

  Still, how could a guy not take one look at her and have those kinds of thoughts?

  “Tell me.”

  “Why? Are you going to tell me about all the women in your past?”

  Then again, the way she challenged a man in such a brutally honest way—some guys would find that off-putting, wouldn’t they? “Just curious. Does this Jarrod guy treat you well?”

  “Jarrod? Yes. He picks me up and drives me to work almost every day. He drives Gabby, too. I used to ride with my sister Mel before she got shot. She was Jarrod’s partner for a few years. She got me my job with the department after I got my degree in computer sciences. And I’m good at it. Benny says I’m one of the best.”

  “Bennett Russell?” The guy would know. He’d been one of the pioneers of computer forensics. Everyone associated with the Finley Creek TSP post was aware of that.

  “He’s the best boss. He lets Gabby and me pretty much do what we want as long as we find what we’re looking for. And he makes it so that we don’t have to deal with too many of the officers and detectives. They can get really pushy sometimes.”

  “How so?”

  “Sometimes they like to get in our space. Lean over our shoulders to look at our screens. I caught this guy playing with my hair once and sniffing me. Benny chased him out of our office and spoke with the guy’s commander. Then there was the guy who was convinced Gabby was in love with him and needed him to marry her and let her be a stay-at-home mom to his four kids. Yeah. Jarrod took care of that guy, but I don’t know what he said to him. Gabby was actually speechless. Mel was laughing like a lunatic after that one. I don’t like people in my personal space. I think it’s just rude.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. Chance didn’t miss the irony. There were only a few ways they could get more into each other’s personal space. Didn’t she realize that?

  “I think I can walk again. I mean, my side hurts. And so does my head, a little. And my arm, but I don’t think it’s broken.”

  She was damned lucky. If they’d been going any faster, those sons-of-bitches would have killed her on impact.

  But they hadn’t intended to, had they?

  They’d just wanted her dazed and easy to handle. They hadn’t meant to kill her right away, but to take her. For what? To see what she knew first, and then kill her?

  If that was the case, odds were good they’d try for her again.

  Chance tightened his arms around her.

  They’d have to kill him before they ever laid a hand on this girl-woman again.

  “Chance? You can put me down now.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT.

  * * *

  HE put her down carefully. She questioned whether that was such a good thing or not. Her legs felt like bubble gum at the knees, and her side burned. She didn’t know if it was rain or blood soaking her shirt and the top of her jeans, but she suspected it was both.

  That monster had cut her just because he could. What would make someone do that? Hurt someone just because?

  She had never understood that. Probably never would.

  Brynna had rarely hurt anyone in her life. She’d defende
d herself from bullies a time or two—when Mel wasn’t around—but they’d always hurt her first.

  Her father and older sister had made sure she knew how to fight back. She might not like the idea of violence, but she wasn’t going to let herself be a victim. She was proud of how she’d kicked the monster in the groin and ran. She hadn’t let him kidnap her. Or touch her. That mattered.

  “Where do you think we’re going?”

  “I’m looking for a cabin or shed. Something to get us out of the storm for a while. Once it clears, we’ll walk to where we can get cell service.”

  “Ok.” Lightning crackled across the sky and Brynna jumped. She wasn’t as afraid of storms as she used to be, not really. She’d always known to take appropriate precautions during tornado weather. But walking through the woods during a storm was not something she ever wanted to do again.

  “We’ll find someplace, soon.”

  How did he know? “How?”

  “Have faith, baby.”

  “I’m not a baby.”

  He sighed. “I know that. It’s an expression.”

  “I figured. But why call me that? It’s like...something you call someone you like. Someone you know. Elliot calls Gabby that.”

  “Our father called our mother that. It is just habit. Don’t read anything in it. We’re not like your friend on the run.”

  Of course they weren’t. That was silly that he’d even think that. “I know that. I’m just curious. Trying to figure you out. Trying to forget that that guy cut me with his knife and that it hurts. Really hurts. Talk to me. Please?”

  He sighed. Was he annoyed with her? “Ok. What do you want to talk about?”

  “Anything but why we are out here. Are you attracted to me?”

  “What?”

  Brynna felt like an idiot for a second. “It was just a question. Elliot is obviously attracted to Gabby and he uses baby. So I wondered...”