Wild Horse Springs

by Jodi Thomas

  She didn’t say anything, so he added, “If we all die in this fight tonight, I’m telling someone with my last breath to bury you two side by side because you two are the most married couple I ever met.”

  “Suit yourself.” She sounded as if she was about to laugh.

  Thatcher grinned. Funny how unimportant the truth was when you thought you might have minutes to live. He didn’t think about Kristi or anyone else; they’d all be all right with or without him. But his mother did cross his mind.

  If she could see him now with her eyes that matched his, maybe she’d send a little luck in his direction. She used to sing to him, and he kind of had a memory of her holding him in her arms and dancing around the cabin with him.

  The rapid pop of gunfire cracked the silence.

  Thatcher clicked the engine on, pushed the accelerator to the floor and raced right through the back wall. Board and paint cans flew in the night sky in every direction as he shot across the open land toward the main road.

  Thatcher yelled like a bronc rider in full flight.

  Tess raised the rifle as if she knew what she was doing and leaned out the window.

  Halfway to the road, the rubble from the collapsing garage silenced and they heard the pop-pop of gunfire, but no one followed them. The fight was still on at the house, and the ranger was returning fire.

  Tess lowered the rifle to the floor and pulled her cell out of her pocket.

  They were bouncing around in the cab of the truck, but she managed to get the sheriff.

  To Thatcher’s surprise, she gave the facts in bullet points. When she ended the call, she told him to pull over next to one of the highway construction sites and turn off the lights. The huge road equipment would hide the pickup.

  Thatcher did as ordered. The big truck tires ate up the gravel at the site. When they were fully hidden behind the machines, Thatcher cut the engine.

  The sudden silence weighed on them both. They were too far to hear the shots. Not close enough to see the lights of town.

  “I have to get you somewhere safe as soon as the sheriff passes,” she whispered. “Then I have to go back and check on Cody.”

  “Don’t worry about me.” He could cross the field and be back in town in twenty minutes, maybe less. Thatcher knew every part of this land. He’d grown up here, hunted snakes for thirty miles around. He could vanish easily. Right now, he wasn’t worried about himself; he was worried about a little five-year-old girl.

  A car raced toward them.

  Thatcher blinked his lights once. If the car was coming from town at this time of night, it was the sheriff.

  The cruiser barely braked in time to pull up next to them. The sheriff swung out of his car as Tess jumped from the cab of the truck. They were whispering so low Thatcher could hear only parts. More men were coming to help. The highway department was setting up roadblocks in every direction from the Wild Horse Springs. If the men didn’t slip away on foot, they’d have them in custody within the hour.

  If the men stayed and fought, Cody would hold them at bay until dawn, then the sheriff would move in. Once the bad guys knew they were surrounded, they’d give up.

  Thatcher knew he couldn’t help Cody. If he tried to slip in at night, the ranger was likely to shoot him by mistake. But if one of the men did manage to get away, only one person besides himself was in danger.

  He couldn’t take a chance of her being hurt. Not when it was all his fault. If he hadn’t followed her home, got her in trouble, she wouldn’t have been beaten.

  He slowly picked up the rifle on the floor of the truck and slipped it next to his leg. He opened the driver’s door of the pickup and melted into the night without Tess or Brigman noticing.

  A moment later he was darting across a rocky field scattered with mesquite trees.

  He had to get to the little girl first.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  BRIGMAN HAD BEEN ready when the call came into the office. Ready for anything. Within minutes he was headed toward the Wild Horse Springs, knowing he’d find Thatcher and Ranger Adams somewhere en route toward him.

  The only thing he hadn’t planned was that his daughter and Lucas Reyes would be in the office looking over records when trouble called.

  They’d found little, except that a man fitting the description of the kidnapper Thatcher called Shorty had been involved in two previous fights. The first one had been at the Two Step Saloon, where two men had been sent to the hospital with knife wounds, but neither was sober enough to ID their attacker. A month later, at the Nowhere Club out on county road, a short, chubby guy named Yuma was involved in another knifing, and this time the club owner could identify him and was willing to testify.

  Yuma Fleming had sworn he’d get even with the club owner. He was probably out on bail awaiting trial by now. As soon as this crisis was over, Dan planned to look into the possibility of Yuma being responsible for the fire at the club.

  If he happened to have only one ear, the sheriff might be lucky enough to wrap up an entire crime spree.

  But one crisis at a time.

  If it was the same short guy, there was a good chance that the man arrested with him might be the other kidnapper. Maybe the skinny guy was even the leader of the gang. Thatcher would ID them both as soon as they found him, then Dan could bring them in. He wouldn’t be surprised if Shorty and Slim were involved in several other petty crimes in town.

  Tim O’Grady had been in earlier looking up divorce cases all over the area that involved custody over a five-to seven-year-old girl. When he couldn’t find any that fit, he also searched missing persons. Three in Oklahoma matched the child’s age, and he’d had Dan email for more information.

  When Tess’s call came in, Lauren called Deputy Weathers and the other county offices. She’d grown up in the sheriff’s office. She knew what to do. Dan was proud of her.

  Dan left the office with one plan. Get to Cody before he was killed and be sure Thatcher stayed out of danger.

  When he got to Tess Adams, he was surprised she was relatively calm, considering her husband was taking fire, but then, she was a professional. They went over the options while Weathers and the sheriff a county over joined them.

  “Take Thatcher back to town and let me know when you’ve got him somewhere safe.”

  “Will do.” Tess stepped back into the pickup. “Only problem is, Thatcher is gone.”

  Dan did something he rarely did: he swore.

  “What do I do, Sheriff?”

  “Don’t worry about it. The kid will take care of himself.” Hell, Dan thought, the kid probably figured out he’d be better off alone. “I’d appreciate it if you’d go back to my office and help my daughter handle calls. If he checks in, tell him to stay safe until I call him.”

  “I’d like to—”

  Dan didn’t let her finish. “You’re not going back to the ranch. When you took on the assignment, you stepped under my command. That’s an order, and that is the way Cody would want it.”

  Tess nodded. “I’ll be at the office. You’ll let—”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as we get there. The truth straight out. You’ve earned that, Ranger Adams.” He figured she deserved to be kept in the loop. She’d done her job. She’d got Thatcher out. “Cody’s facing a bunch of druggies and small-time crooks. They’re no match for him, even banged up.”

  “I know.” She made an effort to smile. “One ranger, one riot.”

  “Right.” Dan nodded, remembering the story of the time a ranger stepped off a train over a hundred years ago. He’d come to help out a town that was being run over by outlaws. Someone asked why the state only sent a single ranger, and the ranger answered, “You only got one riot.”

  Dan stood in the darkness and watched her drive away. She was a strong woman, one who would
fit as a ranger’s mate. When this was all over, he’d remind Cody how lucky he was to have Tess.

  As soon as her lights disappeared, they loaded up and headed to the ranch.

  Two cars packed with lawmen and weapons drove onto the property, using only the moon for light. Two highway patrol cars stopped at the fence line. A half mile out, Dan and Deputy Weathers cut their engines and moved closer on foot.

  The sound of gunfire echoed in the air. Every time a shot was fired, one came in answer. Cody was still alive. He’d be saving ammunition but always answering fire.

  In an hour it would be light. The men surrounding him would rush him before that. Once he could see them clearly, they’d lose the advantage.

  Dan put it all in order in his mind. What he would do if he were in the house. Keep moving. Keep firing. Wait.

  Only Cody was hurt. Moving around couldn’t be easy. If the men firing at him were smart, they’d wait until Cody shot from one side of the house and rush the other side.

  But these guys didn’t seem long on brains, plus they might not know Cody was hurt. Even if they were watching the house, Cody probably hadn’t ventured outside.

  Dan stopped, knelt behind some sagebrush and pulled out his phone. He texted Tess. Did Cody leave the house?

  She answered back. He stepped out on the porch this afternoon.

  A sick feeling landed in the pit of the sheriff’s gut. The game had just changed. They knew Cody was hurt. They’d rush him before dawn.

  Weathers moved up beside Dan. “From the sounds, I’m guessing there are eight, maybe more, men shooting at the house. Only one firing back.”

  “They’re going to rush him.” It wasn’t a question. Dan knew the answer.

  “Correct,” Weathers answered. “Before dawn, if there’s one man with a brain among them. When they do, the ranger can get two, maybe three, but he’ll take fire from all around.”

  When the sheriff didn’t say anything, Weathers whispered, “I got an idea, Sheriff. It’s crazy, but it might work.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CODY ALWAYS THOUGHT he’d crack up if he had to listen to gunfire at night again. The hell he’d lived thought that night in the mud of the Rio Grande kept replaying in his head. He’d taken one bullet in shoulder when the fight had started. He ignored the pain. His partner had been shot in the chest, and suddenly the rangers were being hunted.

  In the darkness, Cody had lifted his buddy over his good shoulder and moved through the knee-deep water. He heard shouts and screams, but he kept moving. Two rangers were behind him. Another hundred feet, and they’d make cover.

  He heard the shot that hit its mark, then a body splashing in the water. A scream. More fire. Cody blocked it out and kept moving until he finally laid his friend on home soil. He’d leaned close, trying to detect a heartbeat or breathing. Nothing. The man he’d carried for half a mile was dead.

  Then another bullet hit Cody. As he fell, another and another jerked him to one side, and then he tumbled. After that the pain washed away all thought but trying to keep breathing. Even when he was kicked, he didn’t react. He had to play dead if he had any chance of staying alive.

  Drug dealers were moving among the bodies talking, laughing. Men with no country. Men wanted on both sides of the border.

  Cody shook himself back to the present. He didn’t want to relive that night again. That nightmare already haunted every dream he’d had for three years.

  Tonight he was in the house where he grew up. His parents’ house. His home. Tonight he was protecting his property, his life. He was doing a job, the job he’d been born to do.

  Anger built as he searched the night, hoping to see something, someone move. He could hear the horses in the barn screaming, stomping, trying to break out of their stalls and run.

  Hell, he wanted to run, but he couldn’t, he wouldn’t. The longer he kept up this blind shooting, the more time Tess and Thatcher had to get away.

  Part of him reasoned that in the end, if he died tonight, it didn’t matter. He hadn’t been living anyway. Not for years. Not since that night on the border. First there had been operations and rehab, then rage blocked all else. Anger at his bad luck had settled in, and slowly he’d forgotten how to be alive.

  Maybe God figured since he wasn’t using his life, he might as well give it up.

  But lately something had changed. Tess Adams had taken over running his life as a project, and she’d be mad if those idiots outside shot up her project. Hell, she’d probably repaint the whole house, if there was anything left of it after tonight. Half the windows were already shot out, and he’d heard the garage tumble.

  As he waited for the next shot to give him a direction to shoot at, he smiled. She sure did have a nice body. Not little and petite but big, just the right size for a man his size. He could put up with her talking all day if she’d push that rounded bottom up against him at night. And those breasts. They showed off pretty in that thin T-shirt.

  She’d probably lecture him if she had any hint of what he was thinking right now, but dreaming of her body kept him wide-awake.

  He didn’t plan on mentioning how he’d enjoyed the brush of her breasts against him. They’d be a handful he’d enjoy holding. When she’d walked out of the bathroom in his shirt, he’d given up thinking altogether and started daydreaming about taking that shirt back.

  Unless she uglied up in old age, he doubted he’d ever be able to form more than a few sentences in front of her.

  He couldn’t carry on a conversation with her now, not after they’d kissed in the bedroom. He knew if he even tried to talk, he’d say something to make her mad, but that didn’t keep him from loving every inch of her.

  Speaking of her clothes, he planned to burn her pajamas after they got married. He’d buy her a dozen nightgowns if she wanted them, or she could wear nothing. He wouldn’t complain.

  As he searched the night, the memory of kissing her on the porch drifted in his mind. Tess came to him so easy. She’d given back just as hot a kiss as he’d given her, and he knew when they finally did get together alone it would be the same way. They’d make love until they were both too exhausted to move.

  Then they’d do it again the next night and the next night and the rest of the nights of their lives. Maybe some folks needed years to know they’d found the right one, but for Cody he knew he’d found the only one. And the kick of all was that he knew she felt the same way.

  It might have taken a tumble off the canyon wall to meet her, but he wasn’t giving her up.

  A bullet shattered the glass of the window five feet away.

  Cody frowned. All he had to do was stay alive while eight or so men outside were trying to kill him. As he raised his weapon, he decided he’d better marry Tess on their first date because he didn’t plan to kiss her good-night on any porch and walk away.

  Stay alive. If she needed him half as much as he needed her, he had to live.

  No problem. He had too much to look forward to. He didn’t have time to die.

  With the next shot, he fired in the direction the bullet had come from and heard a yell.

  Seven men or so left.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  SHERIFF DAN BRIGMAN stood alone on the west side of the house. He could hear the creek twenty feet away and the night owl in a cottonwood a hundred yards beyond that, but from the direction of the barn and homestead, there was only silence. The firing had stopped. Something must be up. The outlaws might be taking positions, about to attack the ranger inside. Or Cody could have finally frightened them away.

  Deputy Weathers and a highway patrolman were on the east side, moving as close to the house as they dared. Two more deputies from the next county were on the north side with their cruisers parked back in the trees, and a highway patrolman had driven his vehicle up on
the south side. Six men, all with a weapon in both hands, stood ready.

  Six men facing an unknown number.

  Dan wanted this night to end without any lives lost, but the chances of that happening didn’t look good.

  When two shots came close together from the east, all the lawmen circling the house began to fire. Ten shots in the air, rapid-fire from both weapons.

  The air seemed to echo violence for a moment, then the silence was deafening.

  Deputy Weathers had said the six of them had to be an army. It was like they were facing down a grizzly. They had to make a lot of noise and become a bear to frighten a bear.

  Weathers’s big, booming voice carried across the prairie. “We got you surrounded! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands in plain sight or when we fire again, we won’t be firing toward heaven.”

  For a few heartbeats even the wind was still. From somewhere near the barn the sound of a rifle hitting the dirt clanked in the silence. Then another and another.

  Slowly, men stepped away from the shadows and into the moonlight. Two sets of car lights crossed the grassland. The lawmen, still holding their weapons, moved slowly forward.

  Weathers’s plan had worked. The attack on Cody’s ranch was over.

  The only question remaining: was Ranger Cody Winslow alive or dead?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  TESS TOOK THE call at the sheriff’s office. Her voice was steady, but her hands were shaking. For once it didn’t matter that she was out of uniform or wore funny pjs. All that mattered was hearing from the sheriff that Cody was all right.

  The whole roomful of people in the office were silent as she listened.

  “Yes, Sheriff,” she said. “Yes, I’ll tell them.”

  Then, she smiled and raised her head. “It’s over,” she shouted to Lauren and the dozen others in the room. “Cody’s safe.”

  Tears bubbled in her eyes as she said the words. He’s safe. Her Cody was safe.