by Becky McGraw
"That doesn't seem to stop you, you wicked man," she told him with a raised eyebrow.
"Where you're concerned, sweetheart, not much could stop me," he chuckled then told her, "Watch out that truck is stopped up there," the guy didn't have any brake lights and Gabe was afraid she didn't see him stop.
Karlie applied pressure on the brakes then he saw her face go white, "The brakes aren't working, Gabe..." she told him and pushed the pedal to the floor a couple of times. "Something's wrong."
They were on a two-lane highway, and there was a line of oncoming traffic in the left lane, so she couldn't go around. The truck in front of them was taking its time turning, and he didn't think it would finish the turn, before they reached it. "Hit the horn honey, lay on it. Take the fence out if that guy doesn't turn," he said frantically looking to the right at the barbed wire fence posts, down a fairly steep decline off the shoulder. It would be a rough ride, but that was their best bet, Gabe thought.
The truck cleared the turn at the last second and he heard Karlie huff out a breath and saw her grip the wheel tighter. Freddie was slowing down some and the road ahead was clear at the moment. Gabe let out the breath he'd been holding as well and held onto the 'oh shit' handle for dear life.
"That's it baby, just ease it down...try shifting down to second, then first, and use the transmission to slow him down." The motor kicked when she down-shifted and jerked Gabe forward in the seat, but the big black Lincoln slowed down a little more.
"Good job, just keep him steady, and then move it to first after you slow down a little more," Gabe coached, his heart beating like drum in his chest. His heart-rate sped up even more when he saw a slow-moving little subcompact car in their lane up ahead.
"Shit..." he said as they got closer to the car. There were trees on the right side now, instead of open pasture, and that could get ugly, if they had to ditch the car to avoid a collision. When the last car in the line on the left passed them and he saw open highway, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Pass her on the left, it's clear."
Karlie had the big heavy car slowed down to about forty-five now, so that was more manageable than the seventy-five she'd been doing when they saw the truck. If she had a little more open road, he knew she could get them stopped. When they got near the bumper of the small car, she whipped around to the left lane then pulled back into the right after she passed. Gabe watched the speedometer and saw they were down to forty now.
"We're almost there, baby...just stay calm. Shift down to first now," he told her and the car bucked as she did it, and it slowed down to thirty-five. They passed the tree line and he looked to the right to see another open field, this one unfenced and with less of a decline off the shoulder. It was probably their best chance to avoid wrecking the car, and stop it. "Turn right then ease down that embankment into the field, to stop us...it's our best bet, I think."
"Are you sure?" she asked in a trembling voice, "I think if we stay on the road, I can get us stopped."
"I don't think so, this is a heavy car, and who knows what's up the road ahead. This is our best chance...hurry you're running out of pasture," he said and she nodded then turned the wheel to the right, taking them down the hill roughly. There were holes and bumps all the way and they were bouncing in the seat so violently, and he thought maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, but it was too late to second guess.
The car hit a narrow irrigation ditch in the pasture that he hadn't seen from the road and jerked violently then stopped, but he saw Karlie fly out of the seat and hit her head on the roof, then fall back into the seat with her head lolling against the window. There was blood coming from her forehead and Gabe panicked, then opened his door and ran around the car to fling hers open. He pulled her out of the seat and into his arms then laid her on the ground and tugged his shirt off to press it against the gash near her hairline.
"Oh, god...Karlie, talk to me baby," he begged with tears clogging his throat. What a stupid fucking idea to drive the car into the field, he thought. This was all his fault...and her pale face made his insides clutch like they were in a vice. "Wake up, sugar...talk to me," he pleaded and held pressure on the wound. They were out in the middle of a pasture, he probably had no cell phone service, and Karlie likely had a concussion, hopefully not worse.
He looked around and saw that a car had stopped at the road and the driver was running toward them, talking on the phone. Evidently, there was service in the area, and Gabe sent up a thank you, then pulled Karlie onto his lap and cradled her in his arms, still holding pressure against the cut.
"Are you okay?" the good Samaritan asked breathlessly when he reached them. "I called the cops and an ambulance," he said then asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know if she's okay...her head hit the roof when we went across that ditch, she's bleeding. The brakes went out in the car," Gabe told him, then kissed the side of Karlie's head. Like that was going to help, he thought. "Thank you for stopping."
"It's a good thing you were in that tank, instead of one of those new fiberglass jobbies," the guy said.
"Yeah, no kidding..." Gabe agreed then flinched thinking of what could have happened if that were the case. Karlie moved in his arms and he held his breath looking down at her when she opened her bright blue eyes, and they fixed on his. He hugged her to him and said near her ear, "Oh, thank god, are you okay, baby?"
She struggled against his hold, then when he let her go, she said, "I'm fine...how's Freddie?"
Gabe let out a relieved laugh, then told her, "Of course you'd worry more about that damned car than yourself...Freddie might need a few band aids, but I think he's okay. I'm worried about you," he said as her hand moved up to hold his t-shirt to her head.
"I'm fine...my head hurts a little, but I don't think I have a concussion. I've had enough of those to know...my head is pretty hard," she told him with a wry smile.
"That's something I know..." he chuckled, then pulled her to him for a hug. "And thank the good Lord for that."
Karlie pushed up to her feet, and Gabe put his arm around her waist to help steady her, as she walked over to the car then dropped to her knees beside the tire. Holding the t-shirt to her head, she leaned under the fender well to look around.
When she came back out, Gabe saw her lips were pinched and her face was even paler than it had been. She sat on her butt and leaned against the door of the car. "The brake line was cut," she told him in a shaky voice.
He dropped down to take a look himself, and saw that she was right. His heart skidded to a halt, before kicking back up to warp speed. Sirens in the distance told him the police and medics would be here soon, and he had plenty to say to them. There was only one man he could think of that would do something like this, and when he found him, he was going to give him more than a piece of his mind. It looked like Jake Johnson had just upped the ante on his game to attempted murder.
Anger rushed through Gabe like a raging river through a canyon, and he grated, "That bastard is going to pay..." then sat down beside her, and dropped an arm over her shoulders.
"Calm down, darlin'. Even if we know it was him in here," she said and tapped her chest, then finished in a voice filled with fear and resgination, "We don't have any proof."
"Well, we're going to find some...he's not getting away with this," Gabe told her then looked across the field to see medics headed their way with big boxes in their hands, followed closely by several officers...one of them in a Bowie Sheriff's uniform. He groaned when he recognized Elmer. They were in between Bowie and Henrietta, so that's probably why he was here.
When he saw Elmer stop in the field and keep the two officers there with him talking, while he punctuated his conversation with his hands, his face full of excitement, Gabe lost control. This was not the time or the place for Elmer's antics, he need the officers to focus on the situation here.
"I'll be right back," he told Karlie through gritted teeth, then shoved up to stand and stomp across the field. He stopped and talked to th
e medics for a second and pointed out Karlie telling them about her injuries, then he went to the hen party Elmer was holding a few yards away.
Gabe took a deep breath, so he didn't totally blast the squirrely deputy, then he told him in a firm tone, "Excuse me, Elmer...but I need to borrow these officers to talk about the attempted murder that just happened. I think we've got it under control, so you can go back to the station."
Elmer's eyes widened in his thin face, and he whined, "But Gabe, I need to file a report..."
"You don't need to do a damned thing, I've got this," Gabe grated, "Go back to the station, Elmer and I'll be there shortly...tell Cole what happened."
The older of the two Henrietta officers pulled out a notepad and said a little haughtily, like he wondered who the hell Gabe was talking to Elmer like that, "What's your name, son?"
"Gabe Kelley, Chief Deputy of the Bowie Sheriff's Department," he told them man and shot Elmer a look. "Go, Elmer..." he said again. Elmer's face fell, then he turned around and walked back toward his car.
"What happened Gabe?" the man's tone was a little different now since Elmer was out of the way, but not much.
"Someone cut the brake lines on the Lincoln, and we had to ditch it in the field," Gabe informed him and started walking back toward the car, where he saw Karlie being treated by the medics.
"You sure about that?" the other officer asked him as they drew near the car.
"Pretty damned sure," Gabe told him then added, "My girlfriend keeps her car in tip top shape, she's a mechanic and she said they were cut...but feel free to take a look yourself."
Getting down on his knees the officer peered behind the wheel, then got up and brushed off his knees. "Yeah sliced straight through. Any ideas who could've done it?"
"Her ex-boyfriend, Jake Johnson...it's a long story but he has a grudge, and he's a mean bastard. You might want to check his alibi," Gabe suggested.
"Well, I would, but you are a half-mile out of our jurisdiction on the Bowie side of the line, so you'll have to take care of the investigation. Might talk to Sheriff Jackson and see what he suggests...how he wants to handle things," the man told him like he was a greenhorn. If this passing-the-buck laziness was typical of how the Henrietta cops did their business, Gabe didn't want them handling the investigation anyway.
The man hadn't even asked where he thought the crime had occurred. It had to be in the parking lot of the therapist's office in Henrietta, Gabe thought, since they'd made it there and the brakes were fine, which meant Jake Johnson must be following them. Their new computer system was up and running now, and Gabe fully intended to utilize it.
Although it galled him to do so, Gabe stuck his hand out to the man, then said, "Thanks for coming out, we'll take it from here." Both of them nodded, then headed back to their cars, not even stopping to check on Karlie's condition. Gabe shook his head then walked over to her. "How're you doing, darlin'?" he asked and watched as one of the medics put a couple of butterfly stitches over the gash near her hairline, right above a large purpling goose egg knot.
"You sure we can't talk you into letting us take you to the hospital to make sure you don't have a concussion?" the young medic asked her.
"No, I'm fine...thanks for patching me up, I'm good now," she assured them with what Gabe recognized as a forced smile. He did a walk around of the Lincoln and saw they'd blown a tire when they hit that ditch and the rim was bent. Yelling over the roof of the car he asked her, "You got a spare, sugar?"
"I had to take it out to get my saddle and suitcase to fit in there, I had so much other stuff in there, it wouldn't fit," she shouted back at him.
God forbid she should have taken the 'other stuff' out and made room for the spare, Gabe thought. He leaned inside the car and pulled out the keys to go see exactly what she had in there. When he opened it he stepped back and said, "Holy, shit, baby...you living out of the trunk?" The car had an enormous trunk, but it was packed full of what looked like a lot of household stuff, and odds and ends.
"What is all this stuff?" he asked her incredulously.
"Memories...my Uncle Jerry's awards, our photos growing up, and other stuff I didn't want to put in the trailer with Jake, because he'd have trashed it when he got mad at me. I haven't had time to unpack it yet in my room at the Double B."
"I see why you couldn't fit the spare in here," he chuckled then added, "But that doesn't help our present dilemma...we need to get back to Bowie, and Freddie needs to be towed. My cell phone is out of juice."
"Here use mine," she told him, then thanked the medics, before walking around behind the car to stand next to him and stare at the contents of the trunk as well. Reaching inside her pocket, Karlie pulled out her cell, then handed it to him. "There's a tow truck in Bowie...Toby's I think...do you know the number?"
"I'll call Cole, and talk to him," he took the phone then walked to the front of the car away from her, while she got down on the ground and slid under the chassis to check out the damage evidently.
He dialed the number and Cole picked up on the first ring, "Karlie?" he asked his voice full of concern.
"No, it's Gabe...she's checking out the car. Did Elmer fill you in?"
"He came in here like a tornado talking ninety to nothing about attempted murder, and said you and Karlie had an accident? Didn't make much sense," Cole told him.
"Well at least he got the details mostly right. Someone cut the brake lines on Karlie's Lincoln, while we were in Henrietta and we had to ditch it in a field to stop."
Cole hesitated a moment then asked him, "And you think it was Jake Johnson?"
"The brake lines were cut clean through, and I can't think of anyone else who would want to do that to Karlie's car...can you?"
"I don't really know her well enough to say...did you ask her?" Cole asked him with a chuckle. "She does have a way of pissing people off, you have to admit."
"Don't fucking talk about her like that, Cole...this is not her fault!" Gabe growled into the phone, then told him, "That bastard almost killed us...how the fuck can you laugh about that?"
"Whoa, slow down, buddy...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to set you off. We'll figure out who did it," Cole said in a conciliatory tone.
Gabe noticed Cole didn't apologize for talking about Karlie like he had, he just apologized for setting him off. Well, Cole was way out of line, Karlie wasn't at fault here. "We're about a half-mile before the Henrietta town limits, can you send Cody out here with his tow truck to get us?" he asked in a none too pleasant tone.
"Sure, I'll do that right now...see you in a bit." Cole disconnected the line and Gabe angrily shoved the phone in his pocket. Walking back around the car, he saw Karlie standing by the trunk, and she was trembling, her eyes were filled with tears. She must've heard his conversation with Cole.
He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, "This is not your fault, sugar...Cole, was just kidding around...he doesn't really believe that."
"Sure he does," she said against his chest, "I'm always screwing up, and making people mad, so it is my fault. If I hadn't been stupid enough to get involved with Jake in the first place, I wouldn't be here right now...and you and Cole wouldn't be tied up in my mess."
Her silent tears wet the front of his shirt and he set her away from him to look into her eyes, and said in a low and lethal tone, "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. You had no way of knowing he was like that."
"His ex-girlfriend tried to tell me, warn me, but I blew her off, because I thought she was jealous," she told him with a shake of her head then added, "I was stupid and it's hurt a lot of people, even my sister."
"He hurt your sister, Karlie, he tried to hurt you...you had nothing to do with it. That man is a bully and if it wasn't you, it would be someone else he was hurting," Gabe insisted.
"Don't you get it? He did it, because of me...because I took his dog and made him mad...maybe I should just give Sarge back to him, and he'll leave me alone."
"He's not going to leave you alone, Karlie. That
's not how bullies operate. He'll keep harassing you, trying to hurt you, and he'll hurt Sarge. We need to stand up to him and finish this once and for all. That man tried to kill both of us today, and he's not getting away with it," Gabe told her fiercely, then asked, "Where's your backbone, sugar? If you had enough gumption to hog-tie a cop on the side of the road to protect that mutt, surely you can help me stop Jake Johnson."
CHAPTER SIX
Gabe had been in front of the computer screen for five hours trying to weed out the six-thousand five-hundred and three Jake or Jacob Johnsons in Central Texas. He'd almost rather be looking for that needle in a haystack. More information is what he needed, a date of birth, social security number, driver's license number, even a mailing address would help.
Shoving a hand through his hair, he got up from his desk and walked to the break room. He had to get some caffeine in his system, or he was going to pass out soon. It was nearly two in the morning, and he hadn't stopped, since they got the Lincoln towed back to the Double B, and he'd helped Karlie change the tire.