by Nicole Helm
“Yeah, I’d like to know what time frame we’re working with here.”
“That bad?”
Vaughn almost let it slip that it was terrible. But not for the reason Bennet would think. He clamped his lips together just in time to rewire his thoughts. “I don’t like that we’re not getting anywhere, and we might have to bring her back in the middle of it.”
“Yeah, this case...” Bennet trailed off. “Without Herman, we’re screwed. We’ve been trying to find someone he works with, someone who’ll talk. Nothing.”
“Nothing on those guys from the gas station?”
“They had warrants, so they’re locked up, but we had nothing on him. Not who they were working for, and not what they were trying to do to you and Ms. Torres.”
“I don’t like this. It’s too quiet, and it’s too easy.” Which was as true as the fact he wasn’t sure how much longer sanity was going to reign in this cabin.
“I’ll call Arson, see who I can light a fire under. I’ll email you the full report the minute I get it.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“In the meantime, you could relax. Laugh at my hilarious jokes. Unclench.”
“When have you never known me to relax?” Vaughn returned gruffly.
“That’s kind of the point. There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing you can change from where you are. Your only worry right now is keeping the woman safe. Which should be easy enough in the middle of nowhere. You know I’ll find any more information before you do out in the desert. So, watch a movie. Make some popcorn. Have some small talk.”
“I hate small talk.” Especially small talk that had to do with his ex-wife, and any shared sucking at relationships.
“The point is, you can kill yourself over this case, or you can have some sense and save up all your frustrated anger into dedicated business for when it will actually be helpful to us. When you’re back in Austin.”
“As encouraging as ever, Bennet.”
“I’m here for you, buddy.”
Even though Bennet was suggesting he relax, when that was the last thing he could do, it was... Well, damn, it was nice to know someone cared enough to suggest it. But that didn’t take away his ticking time bomb. “Be straight with me. How much time I got?”
Bennet sighed. “If they get something in the arson investigation, some kind of clue, you might have a few more days. But if there isn’t a shred of evidence, and there never has been before, he’s going to want you back right away.”
Vaughn pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off a headache, and swore.
“Relax. I’ll do what I can to get you more time. The arson report comes up empty, I’ll make sure it gets lost in red tape for a few days, best I can.”
“Thanks.”
“You really think The Stallion has something to do with Torres’s missing sister?”
Vaughn blew out a breath. “I think it’s more than possible. You?” Because he had to know it wasn’t just his feelings for Natalie clouding that gut feeling.
“Yeah, man. I do. Herman talking about keeping the girls... I keep going back to that. Gotta be something there. Something that got Herman killed.”
“Yeah. Well, I’ll be waiting for an email.”
“Later. Stay safe.”
Vaughn turned to face the door of his room and then paced. He wouldn’t tell Natalie anything until he had the arson report. Everything hinged on that, and he hated the idea that there would be nothing in it. Just like there was always nothing in all of these cases.
Maybe it was hopeless. Maybe they should head back. He’d find a way to keep an eye on her, but maybe, in the end, this had all been an overreaction. A mistake.
Then he heard the crash.
* * *
NATALIE WAS BROODING. She tried to talk herself out of the brood, but that never worked. Certainly not when there was emotional brooding, and sexually frustrated brooding, and her-life-was-a-mess-and-she-was-worried-about-sex brooding.
She should be looking at Vaughn’s computer, poring over the trafficking case, finding commonalities. Anything but staring at the wall reliving that kiss over and over again. Because it wasn’t going to happen again.
So, why not relive it if that’s all you’re going to get?
She pushed off the couch in a fit of annoyance. The few times her personal life interfered with her happiness, she’d been able to throw herself into the minutiae of Gabby’s case. Whether it was because Vaughn was now hooked up in Gabby’s case, or he was somehow that much more potent than all her other personal problems, nothing about drowning herself in her sister’s case was appealing.
But what else was there to do in this godforsaken landscape? She was stuck in this cabin while Vaughn soundly slept in his room. Jerk.
She glared down the hallway as if she glared hard enough, he might feel her ire. Not that it would matter. He wasn’t going to do anything about it, was he? And neither was she, because the sleeping jerk was right. So torturing herself over it was downright—
She heard the distant sound of...something, so incongruous to the quiet she’d been living in for the past days. Though the sound immediately stopped, Natalie knew she’d heard something, and it wasn’t coyotes this time. Whatever the sound had been, it was distinctly mechanical. Like a car.
Before she had a chance to even think about what to do, she was already moving toward the hallway, moving toward Vaughn. But a sudden crash caused her to jerk in surprise so violently that she stumbled. She fell to her hands and knees and looked back at the front of the house where the crash had come from.
The sound repeated, and she saw the door shake just as Vaughn entered the hallway.
“Stand up and get behind me. Now.”
She scrambled to her feet and did as he ordered, the grim set to his mouth and the icy cold in his gaze crystalizing the fact this wasn’t a mistake or a random animal this time. Fear jittered through her, much like it had in the gas station when she’d been at the mercy of those strange men, and all she could do was shake and listen to Vaughn.
He had his weapon drawn, and the minute she was close enough, he jerked her behind him.
“No matter what happens, you stay behind me. Got it?”
“But—” She could think of a hundred scenarios where she would have to not stand behind him, but before she could voice any of them, another crash shook the door. She had a feeling that it would only take one more harsh blow for it to open.
“What are these morons doing?” he muttered. He held his gun at shoulder level, but his other arm was extended behind him, keeping her in the box of his arm and the wall.
With absolutely no warning, he spun and shot his weapon, right over her shoulder. A thud sounded, and then a wounded grunt, and when Natalie caught up enough with the whirlwind of action and looked behind them, she saw a large man’s body slumped on the floor.
“Diversion,” he muttered, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the man’s body.
Vaughn kept her behind him as he approached the man who was gurgling and thrashing and reaching for a gun he’d apparently dropped. Vaughn kicked it out of his reach easily.
“Pick it up, Natalie. Train it at the front door. Anyone walks in, you shoot.”
Natalie tried to agree, to nod, but she stood there shell-shocked and shaking, and—
“Natalie.” This time Vaughn spared her a glance. “You can do it. You have to do it. All right?”
It steadied her. Not that she stopped shaking or stopped being afraid, but it gave her something to hold on to, something to focus on, and she managed to grab the man’s gun with shaking fingers.
“Put your back to mine.”
“I don’t—”
“Turn around, look at the door and lean your back against mine. From here on
out, you don’t move unless I do. We’re always touching, unless I say otherwise.” He said the command low, and the man flailing about on the floor probably could have heard it, but he seemed pretty preoccupied with the bullet wound in his shoulder.
Natalie blew out a breath and did as Vaughn instructed. She pressed her back to his, absorbing the warmth and the strength, and focused on the door in the front of her. The crashing seemed to have stopped, but she held the gun up, hoping she’d be able to shoot an unfamiliar weapon. Hoping harder she wouldn’t have to shoot anyone.
“Who the hell are you?” Vaughn growled.
Since Natalie was watching the door, she couldn’t see what the man did in response. But it sounded like the man merely spat in response.
“You’ll regret that one later.”
Natalie couldn’t suppress a shiver at the cold note of fury in Vaughn’s voice.
Another crash sounded, and the front door shook again, but Vaughn seemed less than worried about it. She, on the other hand, was more than worried about it.
“What are you after?”
The man only groaned, still not saying anything.
“This is your last chance to talk. You don’t talk when I ask, I don’t ask. And you don’t want to find out what happens then.”
The man only cursed, and Vaughn remained a still, calm, rock-hard presence behind her. His warmth and his strength soothed a small portion of her concern over her too fast and hard breathing.
“Natalie, link arms with me.” He held his arm back, and she did as he ordered. Then he was maneuvering her, always keeping her protected from the man on the floor.
He led her by her linked arm into his room, keeping his gun trained at the wounded man. He’d stopped writhing and was looking increasingly pale, though he kept his hand on the wound on his shoulder.
Natalie looked away.
“I need you to grab the backpack out of my closet. It’s black, and it should be very heavy.”
Natalie swallowed, and she didn’t trust her voice. But she did what he asked. Vaughn’s closet was freakishly neat and tidy, so it was easy to find the backpack.
“Is there anything you absolutely without a shadow of a doubt need from your room?”
She had so few belongings left, tears stung her eyes thinking of leaving any of it. But she also didn’t want to, oh, die, so she supposed she could do without. “My ID, maybe? Unless you don’t think we have—
His mouth firmed. “I don’t want to leave behind anything that might give them more information on you. We’re going to link arms again. We’re going to get your ID. Do not look at the man on the floor. Keep looking straight ahead until we’re inside, and then grab your stuff immediately. Then we’ll go out the window. Or at least try.”
“And if we can’t?” There could be fifty men surrounding the cabin as they spoke. There could be—
“One thing at a time.” He maneuvered her across the hall, his grip firm enough to help her push away the thousands of terrible outcomes.
“Go,” Vaughn said gently, unlocking their arms. Because she couldn’t have come up with a thought on her own to save her life, she went straight for her purse.
It was strange how unmoored and that much shakier she felt without Vaughn’s arm connected to hers, but she pressed on. She grabbed her purse, and Vaughn, keeping his gun trained on the door, rummaged around in the closet and pulled out a backpack. It was pink and sparkly and utterly ridiculous.
He gave it a disgusted grunt but held it out to her. “It’ll be easier to get through the mountains with your hands free instead of worrying about a purse. Shove it in there and then strap it on your back.”
Again, Natalie couldn’t trust her voice to actually come out of her throat, so she simply did as she was told. She shoved her purse into the outrageous backpack and then strapped it to her back. Meanwhile, Vaughn pulled on his backpack.
She looked down at her hands, the gun she held, the power she had. This was her protection. This would give her a chance. She hoped.
“You hold on to that. No matter what. If it comes down to it, you’ll use it.”
“What are they after?” she asked, her voice a shaky, squeak of a thing that would’ve embarrassed her if she’d had time for it.
He didn’t bother to answer. She understood that he didn’t have time to stand there and explain things to her. But she couldn’t help the fact that she didn’t understand anything about this. Not a thing.
“Keep your eye on the door. Keep your gun ready.”
It took every ounce of focus and control to do as he said and not watch what he did. She heard the rustle of curtains, and possibly the squeak of the window. Meanwhile, all she could do was watch the door to this room, and fervently pray that no one tried to walk through it.
A shot rang out, and Natalie jerked violently. Through some lucky twist of fate, she didn’t pull her own trigger.
“Follow me. Now.” Vaughn’s voice was terse and urgent as ever, and her feet responded to the order even if her mind whirled.
Though a million questions went through her head, she followed Vaughn out the window. It was only then that she realized there was a sound louder than the harsh flow of her breathing.
Once she was outside, she noticed there was another man slumped on the ground. But he was screaming and grabbing his leg. Vaughn paid him no attention. He was too busy scanning the surroundings.
“Stay at my back.”
She was glad he kept saying it, because in her shell-shocked state she would’ve forgotten. She would’ve stood there still and silent and barely functioning. This might be the only situation in her entire life where she was ecstatic for someone to keep reminding her what she was supposed to do.
She stayed at Vaughn’s back, mirroring his movements as he walked toward the screaming man. Vaughn spared him the most disgusted of glances, and then grabbed the large, intimidating looking gun that had fallen out of the man’s reach.
“How many more of you are there?”
“Screw off.”
Vaughn’s mouth was a harsh, grim line. “So none. Perfect. Now, when you crawl your way back to your boss, tell him the next time someone comes after me, it better be the man himself. Because his lackeys are damn bad at this.” Vaughn gave the man a swift kick in the chest so the man fell backward, screaming all over again.
Then Vaughn started walking, and Natalie had to remind herself to follow him. It wasn’t hard. Not when he exuded calm and confidence and safety.
He went to the front of the cabin and there was nothing that she could see, but Vaughn jerked his chin at a vehicle in the distance. “That’s where they parked their car. We’ll go in the opposite direction in case there are more shooters coming.”
Natalie looked in the opposite direction. “But it’s just...mountains.”
“I hope you’re ready to camp, Nat. Because God knows how long we’re going to be out there.”
Chapter Twelve
The sun was beginning to set, and Vaughn knew he needed to find a place to camp. But the adrenaline still pumped through him, and the last thing he wanted to do was stop.
He looked back at Natalie, who was...struggling. Struggling to keep up with his pace, and he thought maybe struggling to keep her composure after such a whirlwind of events. He was being an ass for not caring more about what she felt, about the toll this was taking on her.
“It’s just a little bit farther. There is a series of caves up here. They’ll make good shelter for the night.”
“Caves?” she asked, trepidation edging her voice.
“It’s perfectly safe if you know what to look for.”
“What do you mean, ‘if you know what to look for’?”
“Just... Trust me.”
“I don’t think I have a choice,”
she said, sounding exhausted and like she was in a little bit of shock. He couldn’t blame her.
Maybe if he distracted her she might make it the last little distance they needed to travel. “You didn’t happen to recognize any of those men, did you?” Because interrogating her would be distracting. He made such excellent comforting choices.
“No, did you?”
“No. And with no cell service, I can’t call in a description to Stevens.” He glanced up at the quickly fading light. It was a stunner of a sunset, pinks and oranges, a riot of colors. But how could he care about beauty when he was worried about Natalie?
Which was a problem he didn’t have time to consider.
He found the entrance to a cave that looked suitable. Luckily, he’d been exploring the area around the cabin since he was a teenager. He’d been dedicated to making it a safe space for his sister, and he’d spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what that would take. Which meant he had spent some time camping in these very caves, hiking all these mountains.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have the equipment he usually had, but he was a Texas Ranger. He knew how to make do.
“So you think more people are after us?”
“Two teams of two so far. I imagine if that piece of trash takes my message back to his boss, we’ll see an escalation.”
“Do you think he will? Do you think The Stallion would really come after us himself?”
“I don’t know, but I’m tired of dealing with his lackeys.” Which was an understatement. These weak attacks were practically an insult.
Though the diversion of the man trying to break in the front while another snuck in the back had almost worked. Way too close for comfort.
Natalie inhaled and exhaled, loudly. Fear and exhaustion evident in every breath she took at this point.
“Let me double-check this cave. As long as I don’t see evidence of...” Noticing the wariness on her face, he didn’t finish his sentence. She didn’t need to know what creatures might lurk in the caves. It was best she knew as little as possible.
“Stay put for a few minutes. Keep your eyes on the horizon.”