by S A Monk
Fearing for his life, she grabbed her discarded blouse and rushed toward Steve to staunch his rapid loss of blood. Before she reached him, though, Joe caught by her hair and yanked her backwards to him, making her scalp throb. On her feet, she fought him furiously, cursing loudly, kicking and slapping at him, even biting where she could sink her teeth in.
∞∞∞
On the front porch of the cabin, Hawk heard a gun fire, then Jenny scream. Everything inside him went stone cold. The walls were thin enough that he could hear curses and scuffling. Lifting his rifle to his shoulder, he lifted one leg and kicked open the flimsy wooden door.
With a rapid sweep of the room, he quickly surveyed the scene before him. Relief flooded him as he saw that it was Steve lying in a pool of blood, not Jenny.
Caught in a cross-arm lock against the big man, she looked so small and vulnerable. Fury clenched every muscle in Hawk’s tightly held body as he surveyed her bleeding lower lip, her unzipped jeans, her barely clad torso. Her beautiful face was marred by a large red mark, as if she had been slapped. Tears welled in her huge brown eyes, making her long lashes wet and spiky, yet there was a tiny smile for him, relief etched clearly in every beloved feature.
Love welled inside him so forcefully, it rocked him to the core. The man before him was a giant. Hand to hand combat was something he needed to avoid if he could.
He glanced at Steve who was slumped against the far back wall, unconscious and bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his chest or shoulder. There was so much blood, he couldn’t tell where the bullet had entered. The wrangler was obviously in bad shape and needed a doctor as soon as possible. And if he could be kept alive, he might be a good witness against Brad Caldwell. That was about all the sentiment Hawk could spare for his former employee. It was clear he had been the one to actually kidnap Jenny. She wouldn’t have allowed the goon holding her within shouting distance of her.
Hawk held his rifle firmly braced against his shoulder, his finger on the trigger, pointed squarely between the eyes of Jenny’s captor.
“Seems we have a standoff here, cowboy. Bet you thought I was just going to hand over your sweet little partner here to you, huh?” The man’s free hand held a big handgun pressed against Jenny’s neck. “Seems Caldwell wants you killed, along with your sweetie.”
Hawk wasn’t about to give up his weapon until he absolutely had to. If he kept a cool head and controlled the fury and fear raging through him, he’d get a chance sooner or later to get Jenny and himself out of this dangerous situation.
Overjoyed to see him, armed and poised so heroically before her, Jenny breathed deeply in and out in an effort to regain some measure of calm. Hawk was stone still. Whatever he was feeling or thinking was completely masked behind his hard expressionless face. She knew she had to do something, but wasn’t sure what with Joe’s gun jammed in her neck. If Hawk surrendered his weapon, Joe would kill them both.
“I sold the land to Brad. Killing us isn’t necessary. It’ll just get the sheriff involved.”
“Not if it looks like Walker did it. Hell, he’s going to bleed to death anyway, and I’m good at setting up a murder scene— in this case a three-way one. He shoots your girlfriend. You shoot him, then he kills you before he dies. No complications. All tied up nice and pretty. Plus, I hear you fired the worthless shit, even suspected him of being responsible for all the problems you been having on your place for months. Lots of motive and now opportunity.”
“Oh god!” Jenny moaned softly. It was the perfect set up, and Brad Caldwell would never be suspected of being behind all this.
Laughing at her distress, Joe moved his free hand up to fondle and squeeze Jenny’s breast. She felt completely exposed in only her bra. She shut her eyes, which forced her tears to slide down her cheeks. It sucked being helpless and humiliated and used as a pawn to goad Hawk!
“She’s a hot little piece, Larson,” Joe taunted. “Babysitting her was fun. Too bad there’s no time to enjoy her some more, but....” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll save her for last.” Joe then raised the barrel of his pistol to Jenny’s temple. “You can drop that rifle now. I’ll be the only one using it.” When Hawk hesitated a moment too long, Joe growled, “Do it! Then kick it over here to my feet!”
Hawk had no choice but to comply, but he never removed his eyes from the man before him as he gave his rifle a single kick. Jenny knew he was waiting for a momentary lapse of attention. She cleared her mind and tried to remain as alert as she could. She’d have to get out of harm’s way for Hawk to have a chance of taking the giant down.
Steve moaned and stirred against the wall. Conscious again, he looked at the trio before him and tried to reach for the rifle beside Joe’s feet. Joe spun around to kick it away, and his attention was diverted just long enough for Hawk to have his opportunity. He reached behind his head, into the back of his parka, pulled out his long hunting knife, and threw it at the man across from him.
Jenny felt its hiss, then the splatter of blood as it sprayed one side of her face. She turned her head to see the knife stuck in Joe’s shoulder. As he grabbed for the blade with a howl of pain, he dropped his handgun.
Freed, Jenny fell to the floor and scrambled on her hands and knees as far away as she could get. In the sudden frenzy of movement, she saw Hawk dive at Joe’s legs, hit him in the knees, and take him down. The big man hit the floor with a thud that shook the wooden boards.
“Jenny, get out of here!” Hawk yelled at her as he struggled with Joe for his knife. “Go outside, to the truck!”
He wanted her to leave him? No way. She looked for Hawk’s rifle. He and Joe were rolling back and forth over it. She couldn’t get at it, so she looked for the handgun. It had slid across the floor and was lying near the bed. She reached for it, grabbed it, pushed to her feet, and gripped it with both hands.
Just as she was about to fire it over the heads of Hawk and his assailant, the cabin door opened again. To her immense relief, Hank walked through, armed with his own rifle. She ran behind him, but stayed by the door as he strode over to his boss and the man he was fighting with. Hank jammed his rifle barrel into Joe’s thick neck.
“Move again and I blow your head off!” he announced.
Hawk immediately scrambled to his feet, then bent and picked up his rifle. He kept it trained on the big man still lying on the ground.
“I, on the other hand, might just blow your damned head off anyway,” he told the man staring at him as they both panted for air. “Give me an excuse.” Without taking his eyes off him, he told Hank to get some rope. “Use the stuff on the bed he used on Jenny. Let’s show him how cowboys hogtie a steer.” Still breathing deeply after the intense struggle, Hawk leaned down close to his face, his rifle never wavering from the man’s forehead. “You do know what a steer is, don’t you, buddy?” He gave the bodyguard a nasty smile. “It’s a castrated bull. We cowboys know how to castrate a bull real well. What do you say, Hank? Shall we give him a demonstration?”
Joe’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as Hank used the rope to hogtie his hands and feet behind his back. When he was finished, Hawk leaned down and brutally yanked the knife from Joe’s shoulder, causing him to scream. With a smile on his face, Hawk positioned the blood stained knife between the bodyguard’s legs, angled toward his penis.
Hank grinned at Hawk and jammed the rifle into the man’s forehead. “I like the way you’re thinkin’, boss. Let’s give the slime bag who took your partner a taste of his own medicine.”
Hawk’s short hard laugh held no humor. Positioned on one knee before Joe, he stared at the open fly on the big man’s pants, then flicked it with the tip of his knife. “One little snip and you won’t ever attempt to rape another woman.” His fingers unfastened Joe’s belt and yanked his trousers down, along with the briefs under them. “Did you rape my partner?” Hawk snarled viciously.
Joe shook his head frantically. “No! Christ, no!” The tip of the blade touched his limp member. “I swear. A
sk her!” A dark wet stain dampened the man’s trousers.
Jenny had moved to kneel beside Steve and was pressing her torn white blouse to his bleeding wound. She had been watching the three men before her with wide eyes. “He didn’t have time, Hawk.”
He looked over at her and nodded, but it took several long moments before the rage left his features. Disgust replaced it as he pushed to his feet and gave the man on the ground one last look. “Let’s get this scum to the sheriff and Steve to the hospital before he bleeds to death,” he said coldly. “I want him to live to testify against Brad.” Then he turned to Jenny and extended a hand. “Come on, honey.” Tenderness wiped away all the violence from his face. She let him pull her to her feet, and went into his open arms with a cry of relief.
Hawk held her close and fiercely tight for several long moments. Finally, he stepped back to remove his sleeveless parka, then his flannel shirt. With swift efficiency he dressed Jenny in both. From his pocket, he then withdrew a white handkerchief. He wiped as much blood from her face as he could. His fingers moved gently over her cut swollen lip. After inspecting every inch of her tear-stained, blood-streaked face, he bent down and kissed her, softly, tenderly.
When his lips left hers, he captured her hand in his and turned to his foreman.
“Hank, thanks for following me up here. It was the right call. I don’t think I could have taken him alone.” Hawk patted his foreman on the shoulder, and Jenny stepped over to kiss his cheek.
All the gratitude flustered Hank. “I don’t know,” he mused, winking at Jenny. “I think she was about to blow a hole in this guy with his handgun.”
Hawk hooked an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. “Let’s throw this guy in the back of your pick up. I’ll take Steve and Jenny. Follow us to the hospital. We’ll call the sheriff from there.”
“Hey, I’ll freeze in the back of your truck!” Joe protested at their feet.
Hawk shot him a look of contempt. “As if I give a damn.” Stepping away from Jenny, he bent down and grabbed the bodyguard’s shoulders, making him cry out again, while Hank took his feet. Together, they lifted him off the floor and carried him out the door to Hank’s truck. Jenny followed, shocked to see how hard it was snowing.
“Are we going to be able to get down these roads?” she asked as she followed in the dark.
“Yeah, we’ll make it. Both of us have four wheel drive.” In spite of his lack of concern, Hawk threw a couple of old horse blankets over Joe once he was placed in the bed of Hank’s pick up, then they all went back inside to get Steve.
They were more careful with him. They put him inside Hawk’s truck, propped him up against the passenger door, then retrieved everything from the cabin, blew out the kerosene lantern, and headed down the mountain. Jenny held her blood soaked white blouse to Steve’s wound, relieved that most of the bleeding had subsided. It took an hour to reach the hospital in the snowstorm, but both vehicles made it without mishap and pulled up at the emergency entrance. Hawk went inside to explain the situation and get assistance.
When both Joe and Steve were taken by the hospital staff, he called the sheriff. While they waited for him to arrive, a triage nurse came over to Jenny and Hawk to see what medical assistance they needed.
“This isn’t my blood. I’m fine,” Jenny told her. Hawk was about to echo her response, but she interrupted him. “He needs his shoulder looked at. He got injured at the rodeo today, and I believe it may need stitches.”
“Let’s get you into a room and have a look at it,” the nurse suggested, directing all of them, including Hank, to a curtained room.
Hawk went reluctantly and only because Jenny had him by the hand. After he took a seat on the examining table, she helped him remove his quilted undershirt. The bandage the paramedic at the rodeo had wrapped around his injury was loose and blood soaked. The wound had been reopened during his fight with Joe.
Images of Cindy attending him after the rodeo didn’t seem very significant anymore, not after Hawk had come to her rescue so fearlessly and unhesitatingly.
The nurse carefully removed the wide strips of gauze. While she gently pried away the dried parts, Jenny moved to stand between Hawk’s bent legs, at the end of the examining table. Taking both of his hands in hers, she squeezed them reassuringly when he flinched. Hank was sitting in a chair, behind them, watching.
“I’ll get the doctor to take a look and sew you up, Mr. Larson,” the nurse told him. “It shouldn’t be too long.”
“Let me know when the sheriff gets here.”
The nurse assured him she would as she left.
Hawk touched Jenny’s cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re going to have a nasty bruise here tomorrow. And what about your head? Any lightheadedness? Any dizziness?”
She smiled at him and shook her head. “Bruises heal. My head feels okay. When he hit me, I was on the bed— I didn’t hit a hard surface.”
“The bastard! I should have....”
“Shhh, it’s over.” Jenny lifted one hand to caress his beloved face. “Have I told you how wonderfully brave and heroic you were?”
Hawk took her hand and brought it to his lips. “None of it should have happened to you.” He cut off her protest with a shake of his head. “Brad’s been manipulating me with Cindy for a long time, and I was too damn stupid to see it. I wanted to protect you. I didn’t manage that very well.”
“You did. You have,” she argued with a squeeze of his hand. “I love you. I should have had more faith in you.”
“And I can’t get by without you, Jenny. You are the blessing that came out of your dad’s death. I don’t ever want you to leave.” Lifting his lips from her knuckles, he held her eyes with such intensity, it took her breath away. “It’s pretty damn amazing, but I love you with all my heart, Jennifer Fletcher.”
“Oh, Hawk, really?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes.” He smiled broadly and chuckled at her amazement.
Tears filled her eyes and rolled wetly down her cheeks, over her cut lip. “Really?”
Behind them, Hank laughed. “Jeez, boss, she doesn’t believe you, you took so damn long to tell her what the rest of us knew weeks ago!”
Their fingers were tightly laced together. Hawk leaned forward and softly kissed her wet lips, his deep blue eyes locked with her blinking teary brown ones.
“What can I say?” he laughed in self-deprecation. “I’m just a dumb, bullheaded cowboy. Takes a while to grasp what’s right in front of my face, I guess. But, hey, I do really, really love you, Jenny, and I....”
He was interrupted by the doctor and the sheriff, who came through the door at nearly the same moment. While one examined and then stitched, the other took down all the details of what had happened from each of them.
When he was finished, the sheriff turned to his deputy and told him to secure the bodyguard, who was down the hall being watched by hospital security while a doctor tended his knife wound. Steve was in surgery, and would be in the hospital a few days, but the sheriff told Hawk he’d have him under guard until he could be questioned. If he testified against Brad Caldwell, it might go easier on him.
The sheriff was baffled by Caldwell’s involvement. “Christ, his father was a judge, and he was an influential businessman in the community. The family has lived here three generations,” the man exclaimed. “How can a damned land deal drive someone like that to arrange three murders?” He shook his head.
“The wrong business partners,” Hawk supplied. “Run a background check on that guy down the hall. I’ll bet you find some interesting history and connections.” Then he gave him a description of the other man he’d seen Brad with, the man he assumed Joe worked for. “Brad Caldwell just always thought he was smarter than everyone else.” He gave Jenny one of those slow crooked grins she loved so much. “Until my new partner came along and bested him.”
CHAPTER 28
It was still snowing heavily by the time they left the hospital. Snow plows
had begun clearing the main highway through the valley, but the side roads were impassable for all vehicles except those with four wheel drive. It was slow going, but the giant flakes that drifted down in the glare of the headlights were lacy, delicate, and beautiful. Jenny had forgotten how lovely the first snowfall of the season could be. Snuggled next to Hawk in the cab of his truck, nestled under his arm, with the heater pumping out warm air, she felt the tension and fear of the day’s events drain from her. She was finally safe. She was going home, and Hawk loved her. Life couldn’t get much better.
Hawk’s declaration of love filled her with elation. For a man who found expressing himself difficult, he’d overwhelmed her with his simple words. She’d risked her heart, her savings, her career, and her life for him, and it had all been so worth it. He was her life. She wanted to spend all of it with him, years and years of it, until they were old and gray. God, how had she gotten so lucky to fall in love with him? Of course, the answer immediately followed the question. This was Tom’s doing. He’d had the sense to value Hawk as a friend and partner. His death may have brought the two of them together in tragedy, but it had also afforded them the opportunity to become friends and lovers. Their partnership may not have been formalized, but she was sure they’d work that out now.
“Are you asleep?” Hawk gave her a quick glance as he drove along the snow-covered road to the ranch house.
“No, just thinking.” She hadn’t been able to stop smiling since he had told her he loved her.
“About?”
“How much I love you, love you, love you!” Twisting in the seat, she proceeded to kiss the side of his face and neck over and over, punctuating each I love you with yet one more kiss.
Hawk laughed and stole a quick kiss himself. “Does this mean you’re going to stay and give me a second chance?”