Gray Wolf Security: Wyoming
Page 66
Fixture. That seemed…optimistic. I had no idea what Bodhi’s intentions were, had no idea how long he might stick around. A man like him, he could be gone tomorrow without any explanation. Or he could be around for the next twenty years. There was no way to know for sure.
I couldn’t tell Elizabeth. Not until I knew for sure what Bodhi was planning and even then…I’d never really dated before. Elizabeth had no past experience to draw from. The only steady men in her life were the once or twice yearly visits from Mitchell’s Army brothers. And Hank. And Shelby. The other men on the ranch came and went with the seasons. It had always been just me and Elizabeth.
Would she adjust to the idea of me dating?
The thing was, I was sure that if things didn’t work out with Bodhi—though I’d really like things to work out with Bodhi—I was ready to begin dating. I was ready to find someone to share the rest of my life with. I was still a fairly young woman. I was in my early thirties, still young enough to have more children, still young enough to have a long, committed relationship with someone. Having Bodhi come into my life made me realize that as strong and capable as I believed myself to be, life was surely easier with someone to share the ups and downs with.
Mitchell told me once that I didn’t have to do everything on my own. I’d thought he was just trying to get into my pants at the time, but I was beginning to see the logic in his words. He’d known me better than anyone else and he could see how afraid I was to trust, how afraid I was of being hurt again. And he convinced me that I could trust. Despite everything that had happened, he was right. I didn’t have to be alone.
And the thought of making a life with Bodhi—not Bodhi Archer, the actor, but Bodhi, the great guy who put me to bed last night with no expectations—was a pleasant one. I could see myself with him. But I was reluctant to even dream about it. So many things were chaotic in my life right now.
My thoughts kept going back to Clint.
Was he really my brother? Did he really know why I was abandoned in that hardware store? Did he know why I was never adopted, why they changed my name to Sutherland, why I was moved from one county to another? All these things, all these answers I thought I would never get, could he have them for me? Could he fill in all those blanks? And Ash…God, Ash! How could you get yourself in this mess? What the hell were you thinking?
I eased the truck across the quiet country intersection and headed toward town, wishing it wasn’t a school day, wishing I could go hug my kid. She’d been staying with friends since all this began to keep her safe. But I was beginning to wonder if any of us were safe.
There were more of those trucks in town, the fancy, late model trucks with the names of the development companies on their sides. There were three: Wallace Real Estate, C M Real Estate, and Cochran Development. They’d been around for months, ever since a couple of celebrities started buying ranches in the area—Bodhi being one. They had all these plans to build fancy restaurants, luxurious condos, and resorts where other celebrities could come and feel at home. But these people were incredibly aggressive. One of them had made threats against my friend, Eve, to try to force her to sell her motel. It hadn’t worked and we’d managed to drive that group out of town, but they were just replaced by these three. And one of them—C M Real Estate—had bought property adjacent to Eve and was planning to build a spa there.
Our little town was turning into this prime vacation spot. The town leaders were fighting it as hard as they could, but they could only deny a certain number of permits before someone filed a court case. And it was bringing in much needed revenue. This area had been hit hard over the last few years by rising fuel costs and falling cattle prices. Too many ranches to name had been foreclosed on in the past year. MidKnight would have been one of them if not for Gray Wolf.
I reached the highway and pressed on the accelerator, eating up the miles to Casper and the hospital where both Kipling and Becks were now lying, recovering from their injuries. I was maybe five miles out of town when I noticed one of the trucks—a white truck with the placard for C M on its driver’s side door—following close behind me. I didn’t think anything of it at first because those trucks made frequent trips between Casper and Midnight, some even going as far as Cheyenne for supplies and other needs. But this guy was close.
He was close enough that I could see a dark man behind the wheel and another, a ginger, in the passenger seat. I could almost see the color of their eyes they were so close.
What the hell?
I was suddenly wishing I’d kept my handgun in the glove box.
I gripped the wheel tighter, speeding up a little, going slightly faster than the posted speed limit. A part of me was hoping there was a cop out here somewhere, waiting to catch speeders, but I knew from experience that there wasn’t. Steve had his hands full with what little crime took place in Midnight. He didn’t have the man power to send anyone out here to catch the stray tourist driving too fast.
I was on my own.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, the truck rushed up and slammed into the tailgate of my pickup. I fishtailed a little, the back end of my truck twisting toward the inside lane. I managed to keep it under control, but they weren’t done. They came at me again, slamming even harder into the back of my truck. I could feel something change, could feel a new vibration in the steering wheel. They’d damaged something. I had no idea how much more this old truck could take.
I pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor, trying to out run them, but I should have known that was impossible. My truck was twenty years old, another of the things I’d inherited when Mitchell died and left the ranch to me and our unborn daughter. It was a good work truck, but it was never meant to withstand this demolition derby bullshit. I held on to the steering wheel with all the strength in my arms, whispering a quick prayer under my breath.
The truck skidded again as they slammed into me a third time, the back end swinging so far into the inside lane that I was nearly in the ditch before it straightened out. But that vibration was worse and there was a new whining sound screaming into the air.
I wasn’t going to make it.
I took a chance and let go of the wheel with one hand, reaching into my back pocket for my cellphone. There were a half dozen people I could have called in that moment, but the one person I trusted above all else was in the hospital recovering from gunshots. The second…he was being held prisoner by the Mahoney Cartel.
I hit dial just as the guy’s behind me slammed into the back of my truck one more time. The wheel wrenched out of my hand and I was tumbling head over heel in seconds. My head slammed into the steering wheel and…that was the last thing I remembered.
Chapter 11
Bodhi
I was standing in the narrow corridor in my barn, watching Jonah feed one of the horses as the man beside me talked about things I had never been all that interested in.
“It doesn’t matter,” I finally said. “I don’t care what the end game is here. All I care about is finishing this thing and getting on with my life.”
“You really think he’ll just let you walk away?” The man laughed, a bitter sound that came from a knowledge I didn’t want to share. “He doesn’t let people just walk away.”
“This isn’t some movie. I’m not going to wake up with a horse’s head in my bed.”
“No. You just won’t wake up one morning.”
I glanced at him, trying to be indignant. But I knew he was right. That’s why I was here, that’s why I was doing these things. It was why I was betraying the trust of the only woman I’ve ever truly cared for. I crossed my arms over my chest, turning back to Jonah. He was watching us more than paying attention to his task. Grain fell on the dirt packed floor, causing the horse to whinny with irritation.
“Pay attention, Jonah!”
He shot me a dirty look, but he turned back to the task at hand.
“You aren’t giving us enough information,” my companion said. “You were supposed
to give us times and dates.”
“I can only give you what I know.”
“He wants you to keep her off our backs. She and her team are getting a little too close. Finding the safe house was a close call.”
I tilted my head. “She’s a smart lady. She was bound to figure it out sooner or later.”
“You need to do more to distract her.”
I glanced at him. “And what would you suggest?”
“You’re the actor. You tell me.”
“He’s been keeping her pretty busy,” Jonah called over. “She was here just last night.”
“Yeah? Good.”
I glared at Jonah for offering information I wasn’t sure I wanted this man to have. Jonah didn’t know how to keep his damn mouth shut sometimes.
“Did she give you anything new?”
I thought about the initials she’d talked about, but she hadn’t really seemed to know what they meant. Maybe that was something he didn’t need to know.
“She’s frustrated. She feels like they’ve hit a wall.”
“Good. Did she say what they’re planning next?”
I shook my head, turning back to this man I wished would just disappear. I knew he wasn’t responsible for what was happening, knew he wasn’t the driving force. But he was the face of my frustrations and his was a face I wouldn’t mind turning to a pulp.
“She doesn’t know. She’s afraid that it’s already too late, that her friend is going to be killed.”
He shook his head. “That won’t happen.”
“How do you know?”
“Jack wants the girl. He’ll keep him alive as long as he can use him as a bargaining chip.”
“She’s in the hospital. Why doesn’t he just walk in there and do whatever it is he wants to do?”
“He wants her on his terms.”
It always had to be on his terms. Even when that meant putting more people in danger, when it meant creating more chaos. It was fucking stupid.
“What about the Homeland Security agent? Don’t I get points for handing over that little tidbit?”
I’d been at MidKnight Ranch the night the special agent showed up with that little, petite operative who worked with Sutherland. I was sure that even Sutherland didn’t know who he worked for, but I’d been giving a portfolio on people Jack Mahoney wanted to know about. I recognized him days before when he was at the planning sessions for the raid on the warehouse in Casper. Sutherland thought I showed up at her house at odd hours because I heard rumors around town, because I was worried about her health. That was only partially true.
I had cameras in her house, cameras in the bunkhouse and the barn. I was watching everything that happened there, watching for those familiar faces, listening for information I could pass over to Mahoney to pay off the debt I owed him. He assured me this was the last time. I would be free after this.
I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever be free.
I’d been working for Mahoney for five years, ever since he approached me outside a restaurant in Santa Monica. He had pictures, a whole dossier that he threatened to send to the FBI, to Homeland Security, to the press, to anyone who would listen, unless I worked for him. At first it was just little things: a date with the right up and coming starlet, a distraction at a public event, information on a director. But then his demands grew until I felt like I was living one of my fictional roles.
This was supposed to be the last.
“We have him. He’s still alive, but he might not be for much longer if he doesn’t play his cards right.”
I frowned, the knowledge that I’d personally sent a man to his potential death unsettling.
“I thought his bosses were in Mahoney’s pocket.”
“They are. But this guy fucked up when he went on the run with that little Gray Wolf-ling.”
“He has information that could help them.”
“Yeah.” The man shook his head, crossing his arms in an imitation of my stance, his eyes stuck to the ground. “He could have blown this whole thing wide open if Kirkland and the others had trusted him. I guess we’re in luck that they didn’t.”
But Sutherland did. I’d heard her take up his side in every discussion with Kirkland regarding him. And there was something else, something that tore at me like a thorn in the bottom of my shoe. She kept talking about how she needed to see him, how she had to talk to him. It didn’t seem like she was interested in the information he had on the Mahoneys and Ash. It felt like something personal.
I’d never been a jealous man, but I knew now what it felt like.
“Keep listening,” he said, glancing at his cellphone as it vibrated in his hand. A pained look crossed his face, almost as if he was ashamed of whoever it was trying to get ahold of him, before he touched the reject button and shoved the phone into his jacket pocket. “Let me know if you hear anything new. We need to know if they plan on another raid.”
“Where would they go?” I asked as my own phone began to vibrate in my back jeans pocket. I almost didn’t reach for it, almost didn’t check to see who it was. I’d been getting calls over and over from my agent and I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. But it wasn’t my agent. It was Sutherland.
I stepped away as I answered it, pressing the narrow phone against my ear.
“Hey,” I said softly, expecting the cool, calm tones of her voice to fill my ear. Instead, there was the sound of metal on metal and a scream.
“Sutherland?”
Panic began to rise in my chest as another scream was cut off by sudden silence. I glanced at Mahoney’s man and I knew. I knew they’d decided to take her out.
“Son of a bitch!” I growled as I went after him, dropping my phone, and snatching him up by the front of his shirt. I shoved him up against one of the horse stalls, slamming him so hard that I could hear the air burst from his lungs. “What the fuck did you do to her?”
He couldn’t speak. He was sucking in air. I didn’t care.
I slammed my fist into the side of his face, then again, drawing satisfaction from the feel of his nose breaking under my balled fist. I would have gone for another but Jonah grabbed my arms and pulled me back, my brother surprisingly strong against my fury.
“Stop, Bodhi!” Jonah demanded. “You’ll only make things worse!”
“You’re in love with her,” Mahoney’s man said, spitting blood on the packed dirt floor. “That’s a fucking stupid mistake. That’s the mistake I made, brother.”
“I’m not your brother.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one caught up in all this shit against your will. You really think you’re the only one he’s controlling with some sort of blackmail? You think you’re the only one who has to betray the ones you care about?” He shook his head, blood gushing from his nose and falling on the front of his pristine shirt. “What you’re doing is no comparison to the things I’ve had to do. You think this bothers me?” He gestured to his face. “This is almost a relief compared to some of the things I’ve had to do.”
He spat on the ground again and walked away. I watched him, the need to beat the shit out of him almost overwhelming.
Carrington Matthews was one arrogant son of a bitch. When all this was over, when Sutherland and her people took him down, I was going to enjoy watching him carted off to prison.
I jerked away from Jonah.
“Don’t do it, brother,” he said, his voice dangerously low.
“You didn’t hear her on that call, Jonah. You don’t know what they did to her!”
“You don’t either.” He moved around me, blocking my path. “You could destroy everything we’ve worked so hard for. And for what? Some woman?”
“Don’t.”
“Stay the course, Bodhi. We’re almost through this.”
I shook my head. “I’ve kept my head down, done what everyone expected of me for far too long. I won’t do this anymore. From now on, we do this on my terms, not his!”
“Bodhi—”
Jack Mahoney changed the rules when he did whatever it is he did to her. So, I was changing the rules, too.
This was my game now.
Chapter 12
Ash
The room smelled like cow shit. And there were no windows.
I paced at first, walked the perimeter of the room, looking at everything, trying to see everything all at once. I needed to know where I was, needed to know where they’d brought us, but there was little to see. It was a small room with a hard-packed dirt floor. There was a low box with a mattress thrown on it and nothing much else. The Homeland Security guy was lying there, breathing funny. I was afraid he had a collapsed lung, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I wasn’t a doctor and I’d never learned anything beyond basic first aid.
I was just hoping he wouldn’t die before I learned more about why he was here.
I stopped pacing after a while because I was just driving myself crazy. I leaned against the wall and watched him struggle to take each breath, listened to the gargle of blood in his throat. I found myself worrying about what would happen if he died and they didn’t come to take his body away. I hadn’t seen anyone since they brought us here and, I didn’t have a watch, but I was pretty sure that had been at least twelve hours ago.
No food. No check just to make sure we were still here. Nothing.
That wasn’t a good sign.
The man jerked and then sat up, gasping like a man who’d just had a pretty intense nightmare. I pushed away from the wall and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him a little to get him to focus.
“Hey, fella, you’re still alive.”
His wild eyes took a second before they finally focused on me.
“Ashford Grayson,” he muttered.