by Dale Mayer
“The truck,” he said.
She got in, put her travel mug of coffee in the holder and buckled up. By the time she was settled, Rory was out of the compound and onto the main road. “Are the horses in trouble?”
“It’s hard to say. I’m hoping not. No need to expect trouble, I just know Haggerty’s worried.”
Rory nodded. “New fathers are always the worst.”
She chuckled. “Haggerty’s had lots of babies. But these horses hold a special spot in his heart.”
With Rory driving, they made it to Haggerty’s place in twenty-five minutes. Haggerty was overjoyed when he saw them. “Moonrise just had her baby. It’s a colt,” he said, dancing from foot to foot. “I haven’t been in to see her. I’m trying to give her a moment.”
Louise smiled. “That’s good news. And Mom and baby need time together. I’ll check her first.”
When she got to the stall, Moonrise nickered at her. Louise stepped inside and gently patted the new mom. With tears in her eyes, she watched as the little one struggled to his feet. Within minutes, he had made it to a propped-up version with his legs splayed out, holding his body in a precariously balanced position. He was too adorable. From what she could see, he was perfectly healthy. She gave Moonrise a quick glance over, saw she was doing just fine, gave her a hug and a little bit of extra grain, and said, “She’s doing great.”
Haggerty opened the stall door and let her out.
“Where’s Mona Lisa?” she asked.
He led her back to the biggest stall.
“She gets the grand room, does she?” Louise teased.
He blushed and shrugged. “You know how I feel about this little lady.”
Louise looked into the stall to see the mare standing and shaking; every few minutes a tremor would slide down her spine. She was definitely in labor. Louise ran her hand down the beautiful animal’s neck.
Mona Lisa nickered gently in her throat.
“It’s okay, sweetie. This is your first, and you have no idea what’s going on.” Louise checked her out and found the foal in the wrong position. She swore softly.
“What is it?” Haggerty called. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed. “I’ve got four feet.”
He stared at her. “Twins or a bad birth position?”
“I’ll let you know in a few minutes. I need water,” she said. She grabbed her medical bag, and, when Haggerty brought the water, she pulled her T-shirt sleeves up well over her shoulders, rolled them to keep them there, quickly washed up, lathering both entire arms, then raising them, and stepped behind the mare. She talked to her gently as she slowly eased one hand in, following the legs back up to the body. It took a few minutes to understand what was actually presenting itself. She grinned. With any luck, Haggerty was about to become a very happy man.
But first she had to shift the bodies so the twins weren’t fighting to come out at the same time. That was a recipe for disaster. Determining which one was farther down the passage, she gently pushed the smaller of the two back up again. As soon as she did that, the first one, now no longer obstructed, slid free of the birth canal.
The magic of birth was a phenomenon that never failed to awe her. Mona Lisa turned to nicker at the young one. He still had the sack over his nose, and Louise quickly broke it open, letting his mom do the rest. But she knew the second baby was still to come, and new mothers weren’t the best at handling twins. Louise would stay exactly where she was until that second one was born.
Ten minutes later Mom strained again. Talking quietly, Louise kept an eye on the baby’s progress. When the hooves came back out again, this time the back two with a tail, she smiled. This would be a normal birth. As long as it was alive. When the second baby fell to the hay below, Louise was a little concerned because it wasn’t moving much.
She ripped the sack from her face as Mona Lisa turned and nuzzled the body. The baby was struggling. Louise rubbed her chest to help clear the mucus from her lungs. When she then checked the baby’s throat and pulled out a great big gob there and threw it to the straw, the filly breathed, her chest rising and falling. She was weaker than her brother and would need more care, but Louise could see the filly was healthy enough. Louise shifted the second one closer to the first, so Mom could look after both at the same time. As Louise watched, Mona Lisa stood gently over both, delighted with her two babies.
Louise stood and walked toward Haggerty. If there was ever a proud papa, it was him. He had tears in his eyes, and his face was wreathed in smiles. “Two of them,” he whispered in awe. “Oh, my gosh, two of them.”
She smiled, looked at herself, completely covered in muck and sighed. “We’ll have to take that detour to my place and get a change of clothes,” she said to Rory.
The gentlest look was on his face as he studied her. He nodded and said, “No problem. That was in the plan anyway.”
She didn’t want to leave the animals. There was something so special about being around newborns like this. She talked to Haggerty for a few minutes about their care. “I’ll come back at the end of the day. Don’t hesitate to call me if you are concerned. We need to make sure they’re nursing. So …”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving them. I’ll be here all morning. We will make sure they are both eating.”
She nodded. The colt was on his legs, trying hard to find Mom. Mona Lisa, being new and inexperienced, wasn’t exactly sure what she could do.
“I’ll stay a little longer to make sure they each get that first dose of colostrum,” Louise said, walking back over to help. She nudged the little colt until his mouth attached to a teat. Instantly he started to work it.
She moved to the little filly trying to get up, but it was weaker. With a little assistance from Louise, the baby gained her feet and stood for a long moment, trying to find her balance. Mona Lisa gently nickered at her. Finally she stumbled to Mom’s side and latched on for her first meal too. Satisfied that, with a good dose of the colostrum from their first nursing, they’d both be just fine, Louise stepped away and said, “Okay, I’ll leave it to you. I’ll be back later today.”
She looked at herself and smiled. “And everybody thinks being a vet is a glamorous job.” She laughed a full-bodied freely loving-life laugh. Why not? It was a great day.
*
Rory eyed her clothes. “It’s a messy job, isn’t it?”
She chuckled. “Sometimes, yes. I normally carry a towel in my vehicle and a change of clothes. But …” She looked at him sideways. “Remember that part about needing my vehicle again?”
At the truck, he pulled out an old towel from the back seat and handed it to her. She brushed off the best she could and said, “Let’s just head to my place. I can get changed fast enough there.”
He hopped in, and, with a friendly honk at Haggerty who was waving, they zipped down the long driveway and back to the main road. “That was quite the job,” Rory said. “It’s obvious you love your work.”
“I love the animals,” she said happily. “And this day is a hell of a lot better than it could have been.”
He’d lived and worked on a ranch long enough to understand. He pulled up to her apartment and said, “Let’s go. You’ve got barely enough time to make your first appointment at eight-thirty.”
“We have a little bit longer than that. Because it’s Saturday, my first appointment is at nine.”
“Great. C’mon. Let’s go then.” He hopped out of the truck, waited for her. Within minutes they stood outside her apartment.
She took a deep breath, unlocked the door and followed Rory in. She remained at the entranceway while Rory checked out the whole apartment. Nothing appeared different. At his nod, she smiled happily and headed to the bedroom.
He paced, sending a text to Ice and to Logan, updating them on the morning. When Louise finally came back out, her skin shiny and pink, her hair was still in the same braid she had pleated it in earlier, but now she wore clean clothes. He smiled and said, “Ready for the
day?”
“But maybe a good one. Mannford’s sting netted several of the top men in the drug cartel. He’s getting answers from one of them right now. It was a member of the cleaning company that killed their man in jail. So that’s a start. Also one of the two original men that were killed at the clinic was the scout at your place. He screwed the security system so he could return later when the clinic was closed. He’s also giving the details of where the drugs are being manufactured in Mexico and shipped across the border. So huge progress.”
“It’ll be another long one,” she admitted. “But it is what it is.”
With a last glance around, she stepped out of the apartment, and he locked up behind her and led her back to the truck. He opened the passenger door for her to get in. As soon as she buckled up, he shut the door and turned to walk around to the driver’s side. That’s when he was attacked. A vehicle peeled out of nowhere and drove so close to him he couldn’t move. Another man raced around from the apartment and threw a hood over his head, and, with a hard punch, he went down. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard Louise scream at the top of her lungs for him.
And then the darkness took him.
When he opened his eyes again, he surveyed his surroundings, finding one large space, empty except for him and Louise. She was unconscious beside him, tied to a chair the same as he was. And of course his hat was missing. Damn, that was the third one in as many years. In a low voice he muttered, “Louise, can you hear me?”
She murmured something.
“Wake up. Wake up.”
She shifted on the chair, slowly rolling her head toward him.
He hated to see her like that, but he knew they wouldn’t be alone for long. He couldn’t believe he had been taken just outside her apartment. Frustration and anger wouldn’t help them now though. Only that’s all he could think about. Then he remembered the text he’d just sent to the others, saying they were heading to the clinic. However, if anybody checked in at the clinic, how long would it take them to clue in something had happened? Had the kidnappers left any sign for Levi and the others to follow?
Rory doubted it. It would just look like they never left her apartment building. He tested his feet, but they were tied tight against his chair. His hands as well. He shifted them, looking for any kind of give. He had tools hidden in his boot heel if they were still there. But he had to get loose first. He had a double-jointed thumb, but it wasn’t enough to get him out of his restraints this time. He checked Louise’s restraints.
Her feet didn’t appear to be tied quite as tightly. Neither did her hands. Men often thought women were incapable of getting out of anything. So they were treated easier. He was all for that. But he wasn’t so sure about Louise. The bindings might be too tight for her to do anything. He kept working his hands, trying to figure out what he could use to get them free. The floor was cement, and the room had a single window at head height. The one and only door was on the same wall as the window. It appeared to be steel due to the rivets along its frame. They could be in a basement somewhere. That in itself was unusual. Not many places in Texas had basements. Or it could be a fabricating shop. As he considered that, it seemed more likely. He studied the floor, looking for anything he might use to get free. But there was nothing.
“Louise, wake up.”
Her voice was low when she said, “I’m awake. I don’t really want to be. But I’m awake.”
“Test your bindings. See if you can get your hands loose.”
She straightened in her chair and winced. She struggled with her hands and shook her head.
“There are a couple tricks you can try.” He slowly led her through some attempts to slide one hand out.
She struggled and swore and cursed until suddenly she turned and said, “My thumb is out.”
He held his breath as she managed to slide out the rest of her fingers, and the rope dropped to the ground behind her. She bent to look at her feet. That was even easier. She took off her shoes, slipped her feet from the relatively loose ties and stood. She raced to his hands and struggled to untie the knots.
“Don’t bother untying them. See if my phone is still is my pocket, then get the knife in my right boot heel.” He lifted his hips and straightened out his thighs enough that she could get her hand inside his pocket. She shook her head, then dropped to his feet, as he walked her through the trick to twist apart his boot heel. She pulled out the penknife, popped open the blade and cut his ties. “See if they left your phone with you.”
She checked her pockets and pulled out her phone.
On his feet, he took the knife from her and held it at his side. He motioned at the ropes. “Grab those. We’ll need them.”
She nodded, hurriedly collected them and stuffed them in her pockets as best as she could with the ends dangling out.
He walked to the window and peered out. There was a large parking lot, but he saw no vehicles. He saw no guards either, but they could be flattened against the building. “I don’t know if they’ve gone, or there were no vehicles here to begin with.” He motioned at the door and said, “When I go through there, it could get crazy real fast.”
She looked at him and said, “We need to let the others know.”
He nodded toward her phone, still in her hand. “Text Ice.”
While she did that, he approached the door and placed an ear against it to see if he could hear anything. When there was nothing, he tried to turn the knob. It was locked. He pulled out a little tool kit from the back flap in the middle of his belt as he analyzed the screws holding the knob in place. Those he could handle. He unscrewed the ones that held the doorknob and managed to quietly slide the bolt out of the door. Motioning her to stay behind him, he slowly opened the door.
Bullets slammed into the room. He pulled back, his arm holding her safely behind him. He kept his arm pressed against her to hold her against him. Footsteps raced toward him. Sounded like a pair of guys. He waited. With his knife in hand, he knew the first thing through that door would be a weapon. As far as he was concerned, that weapon belonged to him.
Sure enough, seconds later, moving so slowly they were obviously prepared for an ambush, the nose of a gun appeared around the corner of the door. Rory grabbed the weapon, dropped to his knees, his fist shoving the first man’s gun arm around, and Rory shot the second man. Rory didn’t know if he’d killed him or not; he was too busy trying to subdue the man in his arms.
This one was more of a fighter.
Louise stepped out to face the man and kicked him hard in the balls. The man screamed and dropped to his knees. Rory pinned him to the floor, lashing his hands together with a piece of rope from Louise. She handed him a second length of rope, and then he did the same to his feet.
He grabbed Louise’s phone and sent a second text. Two secured, one is injured. Still looking.
He jumped to his feet, both weapons now in his hands. He looked at her, then held out a handgun for her. She grinned, accepting it. “Hell, yes. This is Texas. I really don’t like to go into any trouble without a weapon of my own.”
He flashed her a grin, loving her spunk along with everything else he’d learned about her. Keeping her behind him, he opened the door a bit more and peered through it to watch a vehicle pull up to the front with several men getting out.
The first one shouted and pointed. The others took one look at Rory and raised their weapons.
Rory fired. The windshield blew apart with his shot. He pulled back and slammed the steel door closed, hearing bullets slam into the outside. He had counted four men. He quickly texted the compound again. One more down. Three more from a vehicle outside the building.
He had barely hit Send before the window beside him shattered. He ducked underneath the frame and came up on the far side, lined up for a shot and took out a second man. A hail of bullets came his way. He looked around the room for another way to get more shots in. He had two more of those assholes to take out. With any luck, they would think he’d been shot, b
ut he couldn’t count on it.
So far it had been relatively easy, but he couldn’t rely on that continuing. As he looked at Louise, he saw her ashen face and how she held her arm. He swore and raced to her side.
“It’s nothing,” she whispered. “Just glass.”
He studied the wound, a razor-thin cut that was bleeding pretty heavily. He knew she would know how to take care of it—once again everybody had their specialties. He nodded, collected her weapon, then ran back to the window and peered out of the corner, saw two men with their weapons trained on the window and door. He couldn’t open the door without being fired upon. What he needed was a chance to sneak up on them. He noted some kind of hoist raised up to the ceiling on the far side of the room. This place may have been used for vehicles at one time, maybe as a chop shop, but then in a warehouse-type setting, the hoist could’ve been for suspending other things.
He shoved one of the weapons in the front of his jeans and the other in the back. He jumped and caught the bottom part of the rope, pulled himself up onto the hoist. Moving as fast as he could, he maneuvered himself across the steel beam to where he could see one of the men outside. He popped off a shot and gave a knowing smile as his target dropped dead. They were down to one asshole.
The other man tucked in behind the car. Crouched low, his shots were all over the place as if he couldn’t pinpoint where Rory was. That worked. He needed a chance to get this asshole. Just then he heard vehicles arriving behind the last gunman. Rory hoped they were aware of the shooter out there. Two trucks raced toward the shooter who started firing. From where he lay, Rory could see Logan lift a weapon, line it up and pull the trigger.
The man’s head exploded backward against the trunk of the car.
Rory swung down, dropped himself to the cement floor. He raced over to Louise, sitting against the wall. “The cavalry came.”
She smiled at him. “Nah,” she said calmly. “The cavalry lives with me all the time.” She stood and threw her good arm around his head, and he held her tight.