Ranch Hideout

by Sandra Robbins

School had started a few weeks earlier, and Gwen was involved with her daughter, Maggie, and all the school activities that seemed to hit in the early fall, in addition to all the work at the ranch. Then there was an influx of guests who came for the brilliant colors of the trees in the Smokies at this time of year. Having Andrea to talk to had made the days slip by faster, and they couldn’t go fast enough. She wanted the trial to be over and her life to go back to normal.

  A loud sneeze pulled her from her thoughts, and she glanced over her shoulder at Andrea, who sat on a hay bale across from where she was cleaning out the hoof of a horse that had just come back from a trail ride.

  “Bless you,” Liz automatically responded as Andrea sneezed again.

  Andrea pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped at her nose. “In case you didn’t know, I’m allergic to hay.”

  Liz released the horse’s leg and stared at her. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have brought you down here this afternoon if I’d known. Maybe Gabriel can come and relieve you.”

  Andrea shook her head. “No, he deserves some downtime to relax and not have to be on guard after he spent the morning with you. Not that it could have been that hard on him, since he seemed to have a grand time, although I can’t imagine why anybody would want to clean out stalls.” She swept her arm in a wide circle to encompass all the barn. “I don’t understand how anybody gets enjoyment out of working with those animals. Horses scare me just to look at them.”

  Liz smiled. “Did you have a bad experience with a horse when you were little?”

  Andrea shrugged. “Not that I know of. They’re just so...so big.”

  Liz laughed at that. “Yeah, they’re big, all right.”

  At that moment Andrea’s cell phone chimed with an incoming text, and she pulled it from her pocket. She read the words on the screen and then stared up at the ceiling and huffed out a big breath of air. “I don’t believe it!”

  “What?”

  Andrea pointed to the text. “It’s a guy I’ve been dating. He’s a nice guy, but the more I get to know him I realize how different we are. I’ve tried to break it off with him, but he won’t take no for an answer. Well, maybe he’ll understand when I give him my final no.” She began to tap out a text but suddenly stopped. “Oh, no.”

  Andrea stared at her phone, an angry expression on her face.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Suddenly, I have no bars. What’s with the cell service around here?”

  Liz laughed. “It happens all the time. It’s because we’re in the mountains, I think.”

  Andrea gritted her teeth, then released a sigh. “It’s just as well. I probably would have said something I’d regret later.”

  Liz reached for the hoof pick and raised the horse’s leg again. “So you’ve been dating someone? I had the impression that maybe you and Gabriel...” She let her voice trail off.

  “That’ll be the day, when I fall for a player like Gabriel Decker. You need to be careful, Liz. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

  Liz’s face burned, and she focused on her task. “Gabriel and I are just friends, like you and I are.”

  “That’s what you say now, but I know how charming he can be when he wants to be. Don’t think it’ll ever go any farther with Gabriel. He’s dated a lot of women since I’ve known him, but he never goes out with any of them over two or three times. He’s got his eye on becoming a special agent in charge at one of the FBI offices. He doesn’t know I overheard him talking to Bill Diamond about an opening that’s coming up soon in Texas. It seems like he wants to go back home.”

  Liz’s heart plunged to the pit of her stomach. Of course Gabriel wanted to advance in his career, and if that was important to the man, then she wanted it for him. Andrea had also told her what she’d suspected. He’d had lots of women in his life.

  He’d told her she was special the night they’d spent time in the kitchen, but that was probably a line he used on all his conquests. She raised her eyebrows at the thought. Conquests? Was that what she was?

  She shook her head. The last thing she needed was to fall for Gabriel Decker. He’d told her himself that he was married to his job, and now Andrea had told her that he was looking at a position a thousand miles away from the Smokies.

  She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. She was losing focus on what was important—testifying at Daniel Shaw’s trial. She couldn’t allow anything to distract her from doing what she’d set out to do. Falling for Gabriel Decker was one of the last things she needed to happen right now.

  With a sigh, she released the horse’s leg and stroked her mane. “Good girl. Now let’s give you a rubdown, and I’ll let you rest in your stall.”

  The wooden box that she kept all her grooming supplies in sat at her feet. She reached down to get the container of liniment she always kept in there, but it was gone. Probably one of the other employees had taken it to use on another horse.

  “What’s the matter?” Andrea asked.

  “My liniment is gone. It’s always right here, but it isn’t today.”

  Andrea pushed up from the hay bale. “I’ll go get you another container. Where do you keep it? In the tack room?”

  Liz shook her head. “No. I’ll have to go to the workshop and get some more. Do you think you can hold this horse’s reins until I get back?”

  Andrea’s eyes went round, and she gulped. “You know I’m afraid of horses.”

  Liz laughed. “Don’t be scared. I’ll be back before you know it. Just stand here and talk to her if she gets restless.”

  Andrea pursed her lips and arched an eyebrow. “If she gets restless, I’m letting go of the reins and running for my life before she tramples me.”

  Liz thrust the reins into Andrea’s hands. “You are so funny. Just keep saying to yourself, ‘I can do this. I can do this.’”

  Before Andrea could refuse, Liz hurried to the door. She smiled as she heard Andrea repeating over and over, “I can do this. I can do this.”

  As she ran from the barn to the workshop, she remembered that Dean had told her a few days ago that he had put a new combination padlock on the door. He’d told her the sequence of numbers, and she’d repeated it at the time. Now she wasn’t so sure she could remember it correctly. Her forehead puckered as she tried to recall what he’d said.

  When she arrived at the door, she took a breath and entered the numbers as she remembered. To her relief, the lock popped open. She looped the shackle over the backplate that was attached to the door and left it hanging open.

  Once inside, she headed quickly toward the doorway into the adjacent room and to the cabinets where all the medicines were kept. Maybe what she needed would be on one of the lower shelves and she’d be able to reach it. Bart wasn’t around to help her today.

  She opened the first cabinet and scanned the interior. No liniment there. It took several minutes to search all the other cabinets. When she finished, she propped her hands on her hips and frowned. Where could all the liniment have gone? She was certain they had several containers of it just a few days ago.

  Maybe Dean could tell her. She reached for her cell phone and then remembered. She had left it on the wooden chest in the barn. She’d have to go ask Dean in person if they were out of liniment.

  She stretched up to close the last cabinet door and froze at the sound of the door clicking shut. Strange. There wasn’t enough wind today to blow the door closed. She retraced her steps to the door. When she stopped at it, she turned the knob and pushed, but the door didn’t budge.

  Thinking it was stuck, she gave it a harder shove, but it still wouldn’t move. Fear raced up her spine like an electric jolt as she realized the door wasn’t going to open. Someone had closed the padlock, and she was now a prisoner in the workshop.

  There was no need to worry, though. It was probab
ly just an accident—someone seeing the door open and assuming that it needed to be shut and locked back up again. Andrea knew where she’d gone. If she wasn’t back in a few minutes, she’d come looking for her. She just had to be patient until Andrea got here. A chair sat at the side of the room, and she headed toward it but stopped and gagged at the horrible smell that assaulted her. She wasn’t sure what rotten eggs smelled like, but that’s what the odor made her think of.

  She jerked her head around and stared at the portable propane heater that Dean used in the winter. Her heart leaped into her throat when she saw that the line running from the two propane tanks that sat behind the heater was disconnected, and gas fumes were pouring into the room.

  She rushed across the floor and knelt down as she tried frantically to figure out how to reconnect the line and stop the escaping gas, but it was no use. Dizziness overtook her, and she felt as if she’d throw up any minute.

  Desperate to find a way out, she pushed to her feet and scanned the room for something, anything, that would help her escape. The chair. She could break a window out with the chair.

  She stumbled over and picked up the chair, even though her vision was beginning to weaken. The chair felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds, but she picked it up and staggered to the window. Panting, she wrapped her hands around the back of the chair and with sheer willpower drew back and tried to swing it at the window. It was no use, though. Her strength had deserted her.

  The chair tumbled from her grasp, and she dropped to the floor. Her last thought before she closed her eyes was that Daniel Shaw had finally won.

  * * *

  Gabriel couldn’t sit still. For some the fact that no more threats or attacks against Liz had surfaced in the last week would be welcome news. For him it only made him wonder what Shaw’s gang was planning next. For the fourth time he paced across the floor of his room and stopped at the window. He couldn’t explain the restless feeling that he had. He’d always had an instinct for trouble, and he had the feeling that something bad was about to happen. He didn’t know what, but he couldn’t shake the sense that it wasn’t far off.

  He pulled his hand through his hair and groaned. He shouldn’t have taken the afternoon off, even though Andrea was with Liz. The thought had no sooner popped into his head than he dismissed it. Andrea was a good agent. She’d proven herself many times in the field. It was time for him to relax and think about something else.

  As he stood at the window, he pulled the curtain back and gazed out at the barn. Suddenly he saw Liz hurry out of the stable and run toward the workshop. She opened the door and disappeared inside.

  At that moment a knock sounded at his bedroom door, and a voice called out, “Housekeeping.”

  Gabriel opened his door for the young woman who’d cleaned his room ever since he’d been at Little Pigeon. She smiled. “I’m getting ready to go home, Mr. Decker, and I wanted to check and see if you need anything before I leave.”

  He smiled back at her. “No, thank you, Mandy. You have a good night.”

  “You, too,” she said as he closed the door.

  He stood there for a second thinking about this dark mood that seemed to be hovering over him. He ambled back to the window, pulled the curtain back and stared at the workshop. The door was closed and locked now. Liz must have gone back to the barn.

  Letting out a bored sigh, he moved back to the bed and sat down on it. Maybe a nap would help pass the time, since he couldn’t seem to concentrate on anything. Yet for some reason, he couldn’t lie down. He was too antsy. Maybe he’d just walk down to the barn and see what Liz and Andrea were up to this afternoon.

  A few minutes later as he approached the barn, he could hear Andrea’s voice. She kept saying the same words over and over. “That’s a good girl. That’s a good girl. That’s a good girl.”

  He stopped at the entrance to the barn and laughed at the sight of Andrea standing in the alleyway and holding the reins of a horse. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  She cast an angry glare over her shoulder. “What does it look like? I’m holding a horse.”

  “I thought you didn’t like horses.”

  “I don’t,” she snarled. “I’m holding on to this one until Liz gets back.”

  Her last words caught his attention. “Gets back from where?”

  “The workshop. She went to get some liniment. I don’t know what’s taking her so long.”

  Chills radiated down his spine. “And you didn’t go look for her?”

  Andrea’s face paled, and she swallowed. “Oh, Gabriel, you don’t think...”

  He didn’t give her time to complete her sentence. He jerked the reins from her hands, looped them over the top board of a stall and ran toward the door. “Come on!”

  Gabriel’s heart was in his throat as they raced across the ground toward the workshop. If something had happened to Liz, he would never forgive himself. When he skidded to a stop at the door, he saw that the padlock was closed. His first thought was that she had locked the door herself after exiting and gone up to the house for something. Then he thought better of it. She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t want to keep Andrea waiting with the horse.

  He raised his fist and pounded on the door. “Liz! Liz! Are you in there?”

  There was no answer.

  “Maybe she went up to the house,” Andrea said. “I’ll go look for her there.”

  She took off running before he could answer her. He swiveled and scanned the area around the workshop, but Liz was nowhere to be seen. Frantic, he moved to the window, shaded his face with his hands and peered into the dark interior of the room. He was about to turn away when something caught his attention. An overturned chair lay a few feet past the window, and he could see a booted foot underneath. He recognized Liz’s boots right away.

  His heart almost exploded at the sight, and he rushed back to the padlocked door. He drew back and kicked the door with all his might, but the lock held tight. The second kick didn’t work either. Then he pulled his gun from the holster, stood back and shot the backplate that held the lock.

  Wood around it splintered at the impact, and the screws holding it in place sagged downward but didn’t give up their hold. He reared back once more and with a loud cry kicked at the door with everything he had. The door gave way as the hinges pulled loose. One shove, and he was in the workshop.

  The smell of gas assaulted him the minute he entered the room, and he glanced over at the propane heater. What had happened to make it malfunction? He didn’t know, but there was no time to worry about that now. He had to get Liz out of here. Holding his breath, he picked her up, cradled her in his arms and rushed outside with her.

  He got her several dozen feet away from the building before he laid her on the ground and gave her a gentle shake. “Liz! Can you hear me?”

  A low moan was his only answer.

  “What happened?” he heard Andrea cry out.

  He looked up to see her dashing toward them. “Liz was inside and there was a gas leak. She needs to get to the hospital right away.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and groaned. “I don’t have any cell service. There’s a landline in the tack room. Go in there and call 911. Tell them to get here as quickly as they can.”

  Andrea didn’t hesitate but took off running for the barn. Gabriel tilted Liz’s head back. He leaned forward as he tried to detect any sign of breathing. There was none. She needed artificial respiration now. Fortunately, he was trained in CPR.

  He pinched her nostrils closed and placed his mouth over hers, making a complete seal. Then he exhaled directly into her mouth, released her nostrils and mouth, and sat back to check for chest rise. He was about to decide she wasn’t going to respond when a sudden burst of air filled her chest, and she exhaled.

  For a moment all he could do was stare at her chest rising and
falling, and then he covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head in relief. She wasn’t out of the woods yet, but she wasn’t dead.

  Andrea ran out of the barn and back to where he sat. “They’ll be here right away. How is she?”

  “She’s alive.” His voice cracked on the last word.

  What if he hadn’t come to the barn in time? She might be dead right now. He couldn’t think like that. He had come to the barn, and Liz was breathing.

  In the distance he heard the sound of a siren, and he bent and whispered in her ear. “Help is on the way. Hang in there. I don’t want to lose you now.”

  NINE

  There had been no updates on Liz since she was rushed into the emergency room. Gabriel had stood helplessly as the EMTs wheeled the gurney through the sliding doors at the ambulance bay. Unable to enter there, he’d made his way to the waiting room, where he now sat with Gwen and Andrea.

  He stood and strode over to the receptionist’s desk. She must have seen him coming, because she suddenly became focused on her computer screen and didn’t look up when he stopped in front of her. He waited a moment for her to acknowledge him. When she didn’t, he tapped on the window.

  “Miss, may I have your attention?”

  She looked up with exasperation on her face. “What is it now, Mr. Decker?”

  “I need to know how Miss Madison is. We haven’t heard anything.”

  The woman sighed and shook her head. “You’ve told me that the last five times you’ve been to my desk, and my answer is still the same. The doctor will let you know when he can. Now, why don’t you sit down and be patient? It won’t be much longer.”

  He wasn’t about to get any information out of her, and he frowned as he stormed back to his seat. “What did she say?” Andrea asked.

  He slumped in his chair and rubbed his hands over his eyes. “The same thing she said before. The doctor will let us know something soon.”

  From the chair next to him Gwen reached over and patted his arm. “Don’t worry, Gabriel. She’s going to be fine.”