Sudden Setup

by Barb Han

  Damn, it dawned on him that he’d strayed far from the one philosophy that had kept him alive through countless missions as a marine. As soon as he figured out what the men after him wanted and who was ultimately behind the murders, he had every intention of reclaiming his life.

  “How big?” Keisha asked.

  “Maybe eight feet tall and close to six hundred pounds,” Holden stated.

  “Thanks for the heads-up, man,” Aiden said with wide eyes as he repositioned his body east. “We’ll keep watch.”

  “The ranger said we should make a lot of noise,” Holden added.

  “Cool. Good idea.” Patrick paused, his gaze landing on Ella. “Do I know you?”

  “I doubt it,” Ella said a little too quickly, giving away her nervous tension.

  Patrick’s eyebrow shot up as he studied her face. “I know I’ve seen you before.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Holden squeezed Ella’s fingers for reassurance. All she had to do was breathe and she’d be fine.

  “I’m not from around here,” she clarified, and that seemed to satisfy the coeds for the time being.

  They turned to face the same direction as Patrick.

  “Wouldn’t hurt to find a big stick and carry it with you just in case you run into that bear,” Holden said, turning in the opposite direction, west.

  “Thanks for the tips,” Patrick said. His gaze was fixed on Ella. “I could swear that I’ve seen you before. Have you been on TV?”

  “Me? TV?” She shook her head and laughed. “Nah.”

  Patrick seemed to accept the answer but the puzzled look stayed on his face. He was scanning his memory for where he’d seen her before and that wasn’t good.

  “Keep watch out for that bear,” Holden reminded, trying to distract Patrick.

  “You got it. You, too,” Patrick said before shaking his head and refocusing on his group.

  When the trio disappeared, Ella exhaled.

  “That was close,” she said. “I almost panicked.”

  “You were fine,” Holden reassured her, wanting to give her confidence.

  “I thought I almost blew our cover,” she continued as he redirected their movement toward base camp.

  “We deflected them for now but there could be more hikers, and since your face has been splashed all over the media we can’t be too careful,” he said.

  “Right,” she agreed.

  “So, we find what we came for and get out of here before we run into anyone else.” Holden located a walking path.

  “I thought your dad owned this land,” she said. “Why not just kick people off?”

  “First of all, I didn’t want to attract any more attention to us than we already had. And this land is very near a hiking trail, so it’d be easy to end up on Pop’s property,” he clarified.

  Back at camp, he produced a couple of power bars and bottled water. Ella already had her own travel toothbrush that she used after breakfast. Holden made quick work of doing the same and then built a small fire. Ella was already through the first box when he produced two tin cups of coffee.

  The idea of going through more of his father’s personal effects sat hard on Holden’s chest.

  “I’ll never figure out how you do this so well, but I will forever be grateful that you can,” she said with a little mewl that made him think of the similar sound she’d made when the two of them were in bed at Rose’s house.

  “You learn to make do with what you have in the military.”

  “Thank you for your service, by the way. I meant to say that earlier,” she said, and the reverence in her voice made his chest fill with pride.

  “You’re welcome.” Holden drained his cup and joined her at the boxes.

  The ones with clothes had already been stacked next to the storage shed, so he pulled out a few more. One by one they were working their way through them. Nothing stood out in the memorabilia, except the depressing note that the most important items in his father’s entire life could fit into a ten-by-twelve-foot shed.

  “I thought for sure we’d find something here,” he said, doing his best to hide his frustration as he stared at the last couple of boxes. This was turning out to be another dead end and they needed to get on the move again before anyone else stumbled upon the place.

  “We’ve checked everything in these.” Ella motioned toward the line of opened containers. There were a couple dozen. “Unless you think there might be something in one of those clothing boxes.”

  Going through his father’s personal effects caused a lump to form in Holden’s throat. He could only imagine what it would be like to go through the old man’s clothes. His trophies and metals were personal items, but garments were even more so.

  “I guess it’s worth a try,” he agreed.

  “We don’t know what we’re looking for, so how can it hurt?” she asked.

  “True.”

  “This must bring back a lot of memories,” she said and there was a sad note to her voice.

  “It does,” he admitted. “A lot of good memories.”

  She smiled.

  “I just saw something move and I’m pretty sure it’s a copperhead.” The haughtiness in his voice should’ve warned her that he was goading her, but she hopped to her feet faster than he’d ever seen lightning strike.

  “Where?” She froze, holding perfectly still as she searched the grass.

  Hearing Holden’s laugh rumble from his chest had her swatting his arm. She drew her hand back pretty fast, and that got him laughing more. It was probably the stress of the last few days that had him needing a break.

  “If you want my help, you’re going to have to quit giving me a hard time.” The pout to her lips made him want to kiss her again.

  “Fine. We’ll call a truce.” He offered a handshake.

  She took it.

  “No more teasing,” he said. “It’s just nice to have a normal conversation for a change.”

  Ella nodded. She shot him a look that said she got it. They both could use a sense of normalcy after everything they’d been through and what they faced ahead.

  She dropped onto her knees and opened another box. “Do these make you think about what happened?”

  “Yes. At first, I was filled with so much rage. I wanted to track down the men responsible for his and Karen’s deaths.” Holden paused, fighting back the images of Karen on his bed with blood everywhere and where his imagination always went thinking about what they’d done to his father. Guilt tore into him at the memories.

  “What changed your mind?” Ella asked.

  “I realized that if anything happened to me, the men responsible would never be brought to justice. I wanted to wait so I could get revenge on my own terms,” he said.

  “Being angry must come with the territory,” she said. “I feel that way now sometimes and I get frustrated. It doesn’t change anything. Won’t bring back my father.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself. From where I sit, you have amazing strength,” he stated.

  “Maybe from the outside.” She pointed to the center of her chest. “In here, I feel like a fragile mess.”

  “Believe me, you’re not.” Holden moved to her side and tucked a stray strand of wheat-colored hair behind her ear.

  “I wish I was more like you,” she stated and it caught him off guard. “You’re strong.” She glanced at his chest. “And resourceful.”

  “You think that you’re not?” he asked, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him because they had him wanting to pull her close. There was always an undeniable draw toward Ella. Were his emotions getting the best of him being around his father’s things?

  “I’m nothing like you,” she pointed out.

  Holden broke into a smile. “That’s probably a good thing. I’m stubborn and difficult.”


  “I was going to say focused and intelligent.” It was a good thing she didn’t look up at that moment. Holden fisted his hands to keep them from reaching for her.

  “You said your dad was into baseball.” She held up a card. Holden took a couple of strides toward her. The card was encased in plastic, a collector’s edition Hank Aaron. “He was my father’s all-time favorite player.”

  “He’s a legend,” she agreed.

  “You know Hank Aaron?” Holden asked.

  “Everybody knows him,” she said matter-of-factly. And then she rewarded him with a smile. “Plus, I have brothers who were obsessed with baseball.”

  That made more sense.

  “This is the only card in here. The only thing to do with sports at all.” She held it up.

  A flood of warm memories bombarded Holden as he took the offering. “I haven’t even seen a game in years.”

  “Do you miss it?” Ella asked, and the question caught him off guard.

  “I guess I haven’t allowed myself to think about it. You get focused and shove everything else out of your mind in order to survive. All you think about is making it through each day.”

  “There’s something perfectly simplistic sounding about that,” she said. “No complications.”

  “Not much of anything. You can’t let yourself focus on what isn’t in your life.” Holden looked at the card. “To do otherwise would ensure a slip.”

  “You didn’t miss home?” she asked.

  “Only one place remotely felt like home to me. Your ranch.” He didn’t look at her. Before he could get too caught up in nostalgia, he reminded himself the longer they hung around the more danger they were possibly in. They needed to stay on the move and they needed to get going.

  “I’m glad you found me, Holden,” Ella said.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Not just for the obvious reason that you saved my life. I mean that I’m glad it was you who found me.”

  He offered a smile. He was, too. He pocketed the card, hoping that keeping it with him would make him feel somehow closer to his father. The past two years had been about trying to forget. It was time to remember. Everything.

  “I’d forgotten about how much Pop loved his favorite player,” he said appreciatively.

  “It was in there all by itself, so I thought it might be important to him.” Ella went to work on another box.

  Holden dug into the clothing box in front of him and his hand hit something hard. He felt around and realized it was metal. It was the size of a small cash box but sturdier. He pulled it out.

  “What is that?” Ella stopped what she was doing and moved beside him.

  Holden played with the heavy metal in his hands. “Some kind of lockbox.”

  He looked around for something he could use to break it open.

  “I’m guessing you don’t have the combination.” She examined the strongbox along with him.

  “All I need is a crowbar.” He didn’t have anything close on hand.

  Ella disappeared inside the shed. “There’s nothing in here.”

  Holden picked up a rock and Ella shivered when she got a good look at it.

  He set the box down and dropped the rock. Nothing happened. Not even a dent. Holden dropped down to his knees and slammed the hard edge again and again against the box. Nothing.

  “My dad has a few things like that at the ranch. He uses our birthdays as combinations.” She pointed to the numbers on the side.

  “Here goes.” Holden entered his birthday.

  More nothing.

  Except voices. Holden listened. It was the trio from earlier and their voices were drifting up.

  “Let’s clear out,” he said. “We’ll take this with us and play around with it once we settle into a motel.”

  Side by side they took down the hammocks and replaced the moving boxes.

  “Where are we going next?” She looked up at him with bright, trusting eyes after he closed and locked the doors.

  “I plan to find a hot shower and a soft bed for our next stop,” he said.

  “That sounds like heaven.” She clucked her tongue. “Actually, better than heaven. But I’m grateful that I got to brush my teeth this morning.”

  “Little things like that make a huge difference when you’ve lost everything,” he agreed, securing the strongbox on the back of his motorcycle.

  “They really do,” she agreed. And then she took one look at the bike before shaking her head. “I don’t think my body will allow me to get on the back of that thing again.”

  “It would take a lot longer to hike down the mountain, but we can if you want,” he offered.

  She eyed the motorbike and then the woods. “Were you kidding about black bears earlier?”

  “Afraid not,” he admitted. “We can do like I told the others and make a lot of noise on our way down. Believe it or not, those bears don’t want to be around us any more than we want to run into them.”

  “As much as that may be true, we can’t walk all the way back to Texas,” she said on a sigh.

  “I have a surprise waiting,” he said. “If you can make it down the mountain.”

  “Then I’ll get on the back of that thing again,” she said, and he almost laughed at the sound of dread in her voice.

  He handed over her helmet. At least it shielded her face. Especially when she put the visor down.

  “If I end up with bugs in my teeth, I know who to blame,” she said as she climbed on behind him.

  “I’ll take the hit for that one. Just don’t smile,” he quipped. Despite himself, Holden laughed and it was good to get a break from his somber mood. Going through Pop’s things proved more difficult than Holden had expected, but having Ella there made it tolerable. He’d forgotten what it was like to have real companionship with someone he cared about, partly because he’d never connected with someone like he did with Ella. Yeah, he cared about her. He’d fallen down that rabbit hole. Couldn’t say he was especially sorry either.

  Talking to Ella was easy and he was starting to enjoy the way they bantered back and forth. This was real conversation and the closest he’d come to talking about something normal in two years. Before her, he didn’t realize how much he missed it. Or course, he couldn’t deny that he liked talking to her more than he’d ever liked talking in general. In fact, he didn’t remember being all that into conversation before spending time with her. Few people made him laugh. Fewer got his sense of humor and laughed with him.

  There was something special about Ella Butler.

  * * *

  ELLA LET OUT a yelp of excitement as she followed Holden into the standalone garage and stood in front of the sport-utility vehicle.

  “This is our ride?” she asked. “Are you serious?”

  “Belongs to a friend of mine who said I could take it anytime I needed to,” Holden said. “I figured this was as good a time as any to take him up on it.”

  “Won’t he miss it?” she asked.

  “He would if he was in the country.” Holden moved to the workbench in the detached garage. “As for now, he’s a contractor for the US military and living in Jerusalem.”

  “You’re sure he won’t be upset?” She clapped. She couldn’t contain her excitement any more than a kid could refuse an ice-cream cone on a hot summer day. This was just as good. It would have AC and doors and a real seat. The banana-like wedge on Holden’s motorcycle had her bottom completely numb after an hour.

  “Are you kidding? He’d insist.” Holden felt along a wooden workbench before his hand stopped and he came up with a set of keys.

  “We won’t be putting him in danger, will we?” The last thing she wanted to do was involve anyone else in their problems.

  “None that he wouldn’t welcome if he were stateside,” Holden said. He jangle
d the keys. “Ready?”

  “Am I?” she said. “Are you kidding? I could kiss you.”

  Those last words hung in the air and had come out completely on impulse.

  “I didn’t mean,” she started to say, but words were pretty useless. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

  “Don’t be embarrassed,” he said. “I want you to feel like you can relax around me.”

  “I got a little too comfortable,” she said along with an apology. “Because I wasn’t joking.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” he countered.

  “The problem is that I do want to kiss you, Holden. And that’s not where we need to be right now,” she said and walked to the passenger’s side. She didn’t exhale until the SUV blocked her view of him. It was true. She liked kissing him. And where would that get either one of them? They were on the run and their heightened emotions were running away with them. Realistically, Holden would move on as soon as she was out of danger. Sure, they had chemistry. That was obvious. But real feelings?

  Ella couldn’t even go there. Not with him. Not with anyone. Not until she sorted out her life and got a handle on the property. Once she was clear of this danger, she’d go back to her life on the ranch, her charity projects. That life made sense to her. This, being on the run with a magnetic roamer wouldn’t last. He’d get bored and move on.

  Besides, Holden was in love with a ghost and Ella couldn’t compete with that. Not to mention the fact that neither had a future at the moment. She expected him to unlock the door but he didn’t. Instead, he came up from around the back of the SUV.

  “Where should we be?” he asked, and there was so much torment in his voice. Even so, his deep timbre washed over her, warming her.

  “Probably inside this vehicle and on the road to Texas,” she said, turning until her back was against the door. She couldn’t look at him. Not right then. Because all her defenses would come crashing down around her feet and she couldn’t be that vulnerable to him right now.