Wrangler's Rescue

by B. J Daniels

  “But at some point, you caught on to them.”

  “Yes, and that’s when I was thrown overboard. The wedding was supposed to be part of the ruse. And all of it was just an elaborate plot to get the ranch. And it would have worked if you hadn’t believed I was alive and come looking for me.”

  He pulled her to him and kissed her. “I’m so sorry. I got you into this—”

  She touched a finger to his lips and snuggled against him. “We’re together. No couple knows how long they have together.”

  Cyrus shook his head. He’d never met anyone like her. “They can’t get away with this.”

  “I heard Otis whisper to Juliette how they plan to make it look like we ran off together. She won’t give up trying to get the ranch.”

  He hugged her, realizing it was getting harder to breathe. He couldn’t do anything about Juliette or the ranch or getting out of this pickup. He thought of his family. He remembered them all and felt a lump form in his throat that they would never know how much he loved and appreciated them.

  Looking at AJ in his arms, he said, “I love you.” He started to say that if they got out of this... But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. They could no more dig themselves out of this than he could change the past.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  He could tell she was getting sleepy from lack of oxygen. He thought of all the ways they could have died. At least, like she said, they were together.

  * * *

  HARP PULLED UP in front of the warming shack and jumped out. Light snow fell around him as if someone had set off a chalk bomb. As it settled though, he could see the tracks down into the avalanche chute. They stopped abruptly at the edge of the massive snowfield that now filled the gully.

  He ran down the road, slipping and falling and getting back up. When he reached the edge of the avalanche, he climbed up the mountain of snow. He didn’t know what he was looking for until he saw it.

  Red metal. Part of a vehicle was wedged against the other side of the gully. It had been caught in the avalanche and had been swept down the gully twenty yards to be deposited against the mountainside. He ran back to his SUV and put out an urgent call, before grabbing the small shovel he carried to get himself out of a ditch in the winter and ran back down.

  As he uncovered more of the pickup, he could see where the cab was in relation to where he’d dug and quickly moved to the spot. He didn’t know how much air there was in the cab. If one of the windows had been down or broken during the avalanche, then the cab could be stuffed with snow and there was no saving anyone.

  But he kept shoveling, telling himself that if there was even a chance they were still alive, he had to take it. He’d dug down until he could see part of the driver’s side window. He could see AJ lying in Cyrus’s arms. Neither was moving. He shoveled harder until he had enough snow moved that he could break the window and get them air.

  He called to her but with all the snow still covering the truck, she apparently didn’t hear him. Or she was already gone. He tried not to think about that as he swung the shovel. It bounced off the window ineffectually. He started to try again when he heard the sound of a snowmobile in the distance.

  * * *

  FLINT AND HAWK raced down the road toward Horse Thief Canyon. All the way, he told himself that the missing snowmobile probably had nothing to do with the missing Cyrus and AJ, let alone Juliette. But the fact that the pickup involved with the stolen snowmobile was also stolen made him think that Harp might be onto something.

  Anyway, it was all he had to go on at this point. As he reached the entrance into the canyon, he saw the chain was down that had blocked the road. There were multiple tracks in the road. And there was no Harp.

  Flint swore. “I knew he wouldn’t wait. I swear I’m going to fire him.” Giving the patrol SUV gas, he started up the road through the dense snow-filled trees. They hadn’t gone far when he saw the wrecked older pickup in the trees. Stopping, he jumped out and waded through the snow. Otis Claremont lay over the wheel, a bullet hole in his chest. He appeared to still be alive, but barely.

  Back at the patrol SUV, he called for an ambulance and was told that Harp had already made the same call only he also had called for help shoveling out victims from an avalanche.

  “Hell’s bells,” Flint said as he disconnected. He could see where Harp had driven on past the pickup. Flint had no choice but to do the same thing and with probably the same results. He winced as the rear edge of the pickup scraped down the side of the SUV. Once past, he drove into the canyon, terrified of what they would find.

  Ahead, he spotted Harp’s SUV parked by the warming shack. But there was no sign of the deputy. As he and Hawk climbed out he saw the tracks down to the avalanche. Tire tracks—and boot tracks. That’s when he heard the snowmobile headed toward them. A moment later a bullet whizzed past.

  * * *

  HARP SWUNG THE shovel again. The side window shattered. He quickly squatted down and looked in. Cyrus was holding AJ. They both appeared to be asleep. Harp swore as he reached in and shook the cowboy’s by his sleeve.

  “Wake up!” he yelled. “Wake up.” He pulled on Cyrus again. As oxygen began to fill the pickup’s cab, the rancher stirred. “Cyrus!” he called and tugged on his sleeve until he turned to blink at him. “Come on, I can get you out the window. Can you get AJ to move? Shake her. Hurry.”

  He watched as Cyrus shook AJ. For a moment, it appeared that she was already too far gone. But then she let out a gasp. “Drag her this way, closer to the window.” Both seemed disoriented. Harp realized they were probably suffering from hypothermia along with lack of oxygen.

  Cyrus helped get AJ through the window and then crawled out himself. Both were shivering. But Harp could hear a siren in the distance.

  The sound of gunshots reverberated through the pines and across the expanse of the avalanche area. He looked up at the top of the mountain. One large cornice had broken off and swept down. But there were others. Anything could set them off.

  “Come on,” Harp said as he and Cyrus got AJ to her feet. “We have to get out of here.”

  * * *

  FLINT DREW HIS weapon as the snowmobile barreled down through the pines at them. He recognized Arthur Davis. Resting his arm on the roof of the SUV, he fired. The bullet caught Arthur in the shoulder. He saw the man’s surprised expression. But the snowmobile kept coming. Arthur tried to raise the gun in his hand but couldn’t. Nor did he seem able to stop the snowmobile. At the very last minute, Arthur rolled off the speeding machine into the snow. The snowmobile crashed into the side of the patrol SUV. The sheriff swore as he holstered his gun.

  Hawk had taken off down the road toward the avalanche. Now Flint saw him coming through the pines. He and Harp were helping AJ and Cyrus. Behind him he heard the sound of the ambulance.

  He retrieved Arthur, locked him in the back of the patrol SUV and rushed to his brother and AJ.

  “They were caught in the avalanche in Cyrus’s pickup,” Harp said. “They’re suffering from hypothermia. We need to get them to the ambulance.”

  “He saved our lives,” Cyrus said, coughing as he still fought to breathe in the cold mountain air. He pulled AJ to him as the ambulance arrived, lights flashing, siren blaring.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  “I’M AFRAID I have bad news,” the sheriff said, taking off his Stetson as he stepped into Juliette’s cabin later that evening. “I’m sorry, but were you expecting me? You don’t seem surprised.”

  She looked flustered for a moment, but quickly checked herself. “Honestly? I wasn’t surprised to see you at my door. I’ve had a terrible feeling since seeing Cyrus earlier,” Juliette said. “He was so distraught. He finally remembered everything, us falling in love, getting married, our baby... I knew he didn’t want to believe it because it meant losing AJ. He was going to find her when he left. I was so afraid
that when he did, she would end it, and as despondent as he was... Tell me he didn’t kill himself.”

  Flint looked down at his Stetson in his hand and said nothing.

  “Oh no, I knew it. I feared he’d do something like this. I knew he loved AJ...” Her eyes widened in alarm. “When he left here, he was going to find her. I was afraid if he did... He didn’t hurt her, did he?”

  “Juliette—”

  “As much as she seemed to love him, the news had to be devastating for her.”

  “Juliette, they’re both alive.”

  “What?” She blinked, her expression one of disbelief. She was shaking her head. “But I thought you said...”

  “I said I had bad news. It wasn’t Cyrus and AJ. It was your ex-husband, Arthur Davis.”

  She frowned. “Arthur?”

  “And a friend of yours, Otis Claremont.”

  “Are you telling me that they’re...”

  “Both were shot. Otis is dead. He died at the scene, but Arthur is going to survive. He’s at the hospital. He’s already agreed to turn state’s evidence against you and Otis. Right now, the FBI is at the hospital taking his statement. The real FBI. Have you heard the expression, ‘sing like a canary’?”

  Her mouth formed a hard straight line. Her blue eyes were cold as ice chips. “I have nothing more to say to you without a lawyer present.”

  “Oh, you’ve said quite enough. I know you were expecting Cyrus and AJ to be dead. A double suicide, isn’t that what you’d hope for? Or at best an accident? Sorry. They’re both suffering from hypothermia and lack of oxygen but the doctor said they’ll be just fine.

  “The bad news for you though is that when Arthur finishes telling the FBI everything he knows, investigators from Arizona and Florida will be flying in. They’ll be taking Cyrus’s statement as well as Arthur’s. This time, Julie, you aren’t going to get away.”

  He stepped to her, spun her around and cuffed her as he read her her rights. With luck, she would spend the rest of her life behind bars. Still, she would get off better than almost all her husbands.

  * * *

  CYRUS REACHED ACROSS the space between the two hospital beds to take AJ’s hand. The doctor had said that if either of them had been alone, they would have died of hypothermia before their oxygen ran out. But together they’d stayed warm enough until almost the end. In the ambulance and later at the hospital, their body temperatures had been brought slowly back to normal.

  The doctor had wanted to keep them overnight, saying it could take twelve hours before full cognitive function returned. He was more worried about their extremities. “You both had low pulses and difficulty breathing in the ambulance on the way in. Now I just want you to get plenty of fluids and rest.”

  Cyrus had insisted at the hospital that they be put in the same room. “I never want to be away from that woman again.”

  “I can’t believe we’re alive,” AJ said now as she squeezed his hand.

  He smiled at her, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky to find a woman like AJ. “Only because of you.”

  “I believe the credit goes to Deputy Harper Cole,” she said.

  “That time, yes,” Cyrus agreed. “I keep thinking about what would have happened if you hadn’t come looking for me.”

  She shook her head. “Me too. I just felt it in my heart that you were alive. Everyone thought I was crazy.” She laughed and then coughed. “There were times I thought the same thing. I was ready to give up and then I saw you.”

  “I’m so glad you’re not the kind of woman to give up on anything, especially me,” he said and smiled over at her. He could tell that she was still shaken from their latest brush with death. Earlier in his pickup under all that snow, they’d shared what they thought were their last moments together.

  They turned at a knock on the door. Flint stuck his head in. “Good news. The doctor said the two of you are going to be released in the morning.”

  “I’m hoping you brought us even better news,” Cyrus said. “Juliette?” His greatest fear was that she would escape, skip the country, do this to someone else.

  “Under arrest,” Flint said. “I put the cuffs on her myself. She’s now behind bars. And more good news. The FBI is interrogating her ex, Arthur Davis, after he was treated for his gunshot wound to his shoulder. He’s agreed to turn state’s evidence against Juliette. Meanwhile, the investigators from both Florida and Arizona would be coming to take statements from the two of you.”

  Cyrus lay back on the bed and tried to relax. He’d lived with this nightmare for so long, he’d thought it would never end. “So it’s over?”

  “Yes,” Flint said. “And now that you have your memory back...”

  Cyrus smiled at his brother. “I remember all of you. I owe you all such a huge debt. If you hadn’t held Juliette off—”

  “I doubt Hawk will ask you to go after any more bulls though,” Flint joked.

  “What about the baby Juliette’s carrying?” AJ asked.

  “She has agreed to put it up for adoption,” Flint said.

  “And Juliette is okay with this?” AJ asked.

  “Apparently, she wasn’t planning on keeping it anyway.”

  She shuddered. “The woman is soulless. I’ve never met anyone more inhuman and yet when she was telling me about her childhood... I felt sorry for her.”

  Cyrus shook his head. “Looking back, I know it seems impossible that I wouldn’t have seen through them.”

  “No,” Flint said. “I saw the badges and identification they were carrying. They’d both dealt with enough FBI, I’m sure they were very convincing.”

  “Hopefully I’ll never be detained by a real FBI agent,” Cyrus said with a curse. “I really will end up in jail because there is no way I’m going anywhere with that agent.”

  AJ met his gaze. “I suggest you stay close to home.”

  He smiled at her, their gazes locking across the space between their beds. “Trust me, you aren’t getting me out of Montana or far from you ever again.” He looked up at his brother. “I’m going to marry this woman. That is, if she’ll have me.”

  AJ’s eyes filled as she nodded and smiled through her tears.

  “But what about your honeymoon?” Flint asked. “We were going to chip in on a Caribbean cruise.”

  “Funny,” Cyrus said, even though he could laugh now that it was over. He’d been through so much. He wondered if he would ever get over it. He looked to AJ and knew that with her by his side though, he could overcome anything.

  “The only way you could get me back on a ship is hog-tied, but I’d let Hawk lasso me if it is what you want,” he said to her.

  AJ laughed and shook her head. “I’m thinking something a whole lot closer to home. But first we need to get Billie Dee and Henry married. Their wedding plans have been held up long enough.”

  “Operation wedding is in full swing,” Flint assured them. “Lillie is on top of it. Billie Dee’s daughter, Gigi, is flying in Friday night. All the arrangements are made. Unless someone else in this family disappears... Billie Dee and Henry will be wed Saturday afternoon at the saloon with family and close friends.”

  “Good job, Lillie,” AJ said. “Please tell her that I’m sorry I haven’t been around to help.”

  “You two have been through so much,” Flint said. “I’m glad you’ve both agreed to talk to the hospital psychiatrist.”

  They’d agreed to appease him. Cyrus knew what he needed more than anything was AJ and his Montana life back. He was a cowboy and when not on a horse, he liked both boots planted firmly on the ground—or kicked off at the end of his bed with AJ waiting in it.

  Just then the family poured into the room. Lillie ran to her brother and threw her arms around him. “You remember me?”

  “How could I forget you?” he asked with a laugh.

  They all
gathered around AJ and Cyrus, anxious to hear about everything that had happened. Cyrus looked at each of them, amazed how blessed he was. Even when he hadn’t remembered his family, he’d felt their love. They were the bedrock that he’d depended on and would in the future. Together they were a force to be reckoned with, he thought with a smile.

  “Dad’s heart finally gave out, huh,” he said finally.

  “Massive heart attack,” Darby told him. “We had to go ahead with the funeral under the circumstances.”

  He nodded around the lump in his throat knowing he’d never see his father again.

  “The whole county turned out,” Hawk said, quickly filling in the silence as he saw his brother’s distress.

  “They wanted to see if aliens flew over to give him a send-off,” Lillie joked.

  “Did they?” Cyrus asked, only to have his sister playfully slug him.

  “So when can I start planning your wedding?” Lillie asked.

  “Knowing you, it will be at Billie Dee’s wedding reception,” Cyrus said with a laugh. He looked over at AJ. She was so beautiful it took his breath away. “Also we don’t want to steal Billie Dee’s thunder.” He looked at Flint. “I need to get the annulment first.”

  His brother nodded. “With Juliette’s arrest it should be fairly easy to push through the paperwork.” Flint could see that AJ and Cyrus needed their rest. “Come on, everyone. Let’s get out of here before the doctor kicks us out.” He herded them all out the door, stopping in the doorway to look back at Cyrus. “I’m so glad you’re back. You were missed.”

  * * *

  BACK AT HIS OFFICE, Flint called Deputy Harper Cole in. “Please have a seat.”

  Harp took off his hat and sat down in a chair across the desk, his head down. For a moment, the sheriff didn’t speak.

  “Harp, what am I going to do with you?”

  The deputy raised his head. “But I—”