Brotherhood Protectors: Texas Ranger Rescue (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Cynthia D'Alba

  Chase was already moving as he spoke. “Nope, but I’m on my way.”

  “It’s probably nothing. You or Lori, or even Fiona, could have left them on today and I just noticed them because it’s so dark out here.”

  “Lori doesn’t have any work on the third floor.” He shut his door and walked toward his truck. “I didn’t leave the lights on, and Fiona doesn’t need lights.” He slammed his driver’s door. “I’ll be in there in five minutes.”

  “Not if you drive the speed limit.”

  “Speed limit? Never heard of it.”

  He clicked off and tossed his phone into the passenger seat. Lights on in Fiona’s house at night? Something was major wrong.

  Gruber was standing on his front porch when Chase jammed his truck onto park. Sure enough, light from the third floor filtered out.

  “Gruber,” Chase said.

  “Adams.”

  “You see anyone moving around?”

  “Nope, but first and second floors are dark. If there is someone in there besides Fiona and they are on either of those floors, I wouldn’t see them.”

  “I don’t want to scare Fi by letting myself in. I’m going to call her and tell her I’m coming in.”

  “Good luck. She didn’t answer my calls.”

  Fiona’s head felt like she had someone with a jackhammer drilling into her brain. She was nauseous and weak. She’d felt fine when she’d gone to bed last night, but she’d been unable to drag herself out of her bed all day.

  Lori had checked on her, even bringing her pain medicine, but nothing helped. She’d waited all day for Chase, but the afternoon Lori had told her he hadn’t come in today. He’d called and said he had to go out of town and wouldn’t be back until Monday morning. Fiona had thought it was odd Chase hadn’t mentioned an out of town trip, but concentrating too hard on it had produced more pain and waves of nausea.

  Her phone had rung off and on all day, but she couldn’t make herself care. Lori told her to ignore it, and she would handle all calls. That seemed like the right thing to do.

  Now, her phone was ringing again. First her house phone and then her cell phone. If she knew where her cell phone was, she might answer, but talking took too much effort.

  The aroma of pipe smoke filled her room, strong enough it made it cough.

  “Oh, dear. Is my smoke bothering you?”

  Fiona’s heart leapt into her throat. Someone was in her room. Her legs shook under the covers.

  “Get out,” she ordered with a cough. “Otherwise, I’ll sic my dog on you.”

  “I’m not too worried about a ten-year-old German Shepard who got a nice dose of sleeping powder in his nightly dinner.”

  “You better not have hurt my dog,” she threatened, anger flushing some of her away.

  “Or else what?” He laughed. “You’re going to flail around and try to hit me or something?”

  “Who are you? What do you want? Money? I can give you money!”

  She heard the plunk of a chair near her bed and then he said, “Money? Why, yes. I do want money. I want all your money, and your house, and everything else that was mine.”

  She frowned. “Go away. My head hurts.” She scooted down into her covers. “I need to sleep.” Was she dreaming? This seemed real, but dreams sometimes did.

  Suddenly, her bedcovers were thrown back, exposing her. “No way, bitch. At least, you can’t sleep right now. But after we’ve had our little talk, then you can take a nice, long dirt nap.”

  She snatched her top sheet back to over her. “Talk.” Maybe if she could see this guy, she’d be more scared, but right now, she was more mad than terrified. “Name.”

  “Name?” He laughed. “You’re not the one in charge here, Blindie. See what I did there? Blindie instead of Blondie.” He laughed, the sound edged with hysteria. “I crack myself up sometimes. Now, which one of us can see what’s going on and which one of us is blind to reality? Need a hint?”

  Her intruder slapped her. Sharp pain shot through her face and head. A dizzying sensation swept through her. But at least she was awake now, her brain starting to function.

  “That help?” he asked.

  She pressed the palm of her hand to her face. “Who are you?”

  “God, you are so stupid, aren’t you? I’m Robert.” He announced his name as though she would immediately know who he was.

  “Robert? Robert who?”

  “Fuck you’re slow. Robert Wood.”.

  “Bobby? Lori’s brother?”

  “I haven’t been called Bobby since I was a child, but at least I’ve finally gotten through your thick skull. Lori’s brother. Now you’ve got it.”

  “But…”

  “Poor Lori tried to help you. She really did. She told me to go away and stay away from you. But she’s not my boss. I’m the one in charge, not her. Stupid woman. I’m the one who made her take this job. It was all my idea. I’m the one who’s had free rein of the house at night for months. Me. I’m in charge. Not you. Not her. Get it?”

  “I get it.” She rubbed her throbbing cheek. “Why did you make Lori take this job?”

  “Am I going to have to explain everything to you? It’s like talking to a child. This house, all that money you’ve got—everything is mine, or should have been mine. You had no business taking everything.” She smelled his breath as he spoke. He had to be leaning over her. “Very selfish of you. Lori tried to be like you. She tried to learn how to read books for a living.” He snorted, spittle hitting her cheeks. “You fucking read books and people pay for that. Un-fucking-believable. But, hell, if those idiots will pay to hear you, they will love hearing my book.”

  “Your book.”

  “That’s right. I’ve written a book about my life. I’ll put out the digital, print and audio all at the same time. Everyone will want to read it.”

  “And what’s your book about?”

  “I told you. My life. How you stole everything from me, and how I got it back.”

  Fiona rubbed her cheek. “I’ve stolen nothing. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You’re responsible for killing both my parents.”

  He was crazy. That’s the only thing she could come up with.

  “You have me mixed up with someone else.”

  He tsked. “Let me explain and then it’ll be time to get on with tonight’s activities.”

  “Activities...”

  “Right. Once you understood the gravity of your actions, you became so distraught you hung yourself.”

  Her stomach rolled. He was crazy.

  “Enough of this.” She hoped her cellphone was on her bedside table where she usually kept it. She reached for it but her hand met nothing but vacant tabletop.

  “You looking for this?”

  He hit her other cheek with the edge of her phone.

  Pain sucked away her breath. She felt a trickle of blood down her face.

  “I told you. I’m smart. You’re stupid. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. How you killed my parents. And if you say another word, I won’t bother explaining, I’ll just kill you.”

  She had to keep him talking. When he stopped, she’d be in serious trouble. As long as he was talking, she’d be breathing. How long she could keep him yapping was the issue. Long enough for Lori to realize her brother was gone and come for him? Obviously poor Lori was aware of her brother’s mental problems, and that was why she’d kept him away.

  Except she hadn’t kept Bobby away—if he was telling the truth about being in her house at night. Her stomach roiled. With the frequent pipe smoke aroma she smelled over the last few weeks, Fiona figured that was one truth Bobby was telling. Did Lori know Bobby was coming into Fiona’s house sometimes?

  “Fine,” she said. “How did I kill your parents?”

  “Let’s start with the inane name. I hate the name Wood. I was proud to be Robert Havens. But no. Lori said we had to have a different last name to start over.”

  “Havens?” she whispered. �
�Robert Havens? You mean Bobby Havens? He’s dead.”

  “Not so much,” he said a slight sing-song quality to his voice. “Alive and well. Better than you’ll be.”

  “You can’t be Bobby Havens. Bobby died on the day of the accident.”

  “Nope. Wrong again, idiot. And stop interrupting me. Now where was I? Oh, yeah. Pop took me to work with him that day. His boss was an ass. Always yelling at Pop. Always criticizing him, just like Mom. Hell, she was even worse. Telling Pop he wasn’t making enough money, or drinking too much, or coming home too late. She made his life hell, just like his boss did. Who can blame a guy for having a beer at lunch?”

  “A beer? He was way over the limit when he crashed into my dad’s car.”

  “Shut up! You don’t know anything about Pop.”

  He slapped her again, this time on top of the cut cheek. Pain shot through her head and she cried out.

  “I told you to stop interrupting me.”

  What felt like the barrel of a gun jabbed into her forehead.

  “Now, let me finish my story.”

  She nodded, afraid he would pull the trigger if she said anything else.

  “So what? Pop had a little drink from time to time to get through the day. He deserved it, what with all the world against him. All the world, but me. After your little accident—and I’m still sure your father hit us—his ungrateful boss fired him. Can you believe that? After all those years of working for Lone Star Furniture and More, they fired him. And then my mother, that bitch. She cried, and moped around the house for weeks. Bitched about him not having a job and bitched about him having a nip from time to time. What’s a man to do?

  “I knew I had to help Pop. Poor mom. Her drug overdose was so tragic. Did you hear about that?”

  Fiona said nothing, a chill spilling down her spine.

  “I said, did you know my mother killed herself?” He punched her throbbing cheek with the barrel of the gun.

  She shook her head, even though the action made the throbbing worse.

  “See? That’s what I mean about you being such a selfish bitch. You ruined my family and didn’t even care enough to find out how we were doing.”

  Fiona sat stone still and said nothing.

  “Well, how boo-hoo sad. Poor Bobby and Lori only had their father left. Dad knew what I’d done. He knew I’d helped Mom along on her journey, but how could I not? She was bringing down the whole house with her whiny attitude. Understand?”

  She nodded, but what she understood was that Robert-Bobby Havens-Wood was crazy.

  “But my dad? He cried. He got mad at me about Mom. Mad. At. Me. Can you believe that? Here I was doing everything to help him, but did he appreciate it? No, he did not. Ungrateful bastard. So I let him crawl back into his bottle. I didn’t care. I had to take care of Lori and me. We were the future of this family. We were shocked, shocked I tell you, when his car went over a cliff late one night. Boom! The car and he went up in flames.”

  Hot breath raked across her face but she didn’t dare turn away

  “Bastard got what he deserved, don’t you think?”

  Fiona nodded. Hell, she’d agree with anything this insane man said. She had to live a little longer. Long enough for help to come. Long enough to figure out she could rescue herself.

  “So,” he continued, a pleased tone to his voice, “Lori and I had to go live with our grandparents for a few years. It was okay. Once I made those old people understand who was in charge, they fell in line. And so, here we are.”

  “Why are you here now?” she asked, nervous that his storytelling was over.

  “You mean, why did I wait twenty years? Simple. I had stuff to do.”

  He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her from the bed. She cried out, pulling against his strength.

  “And now, the final chapter to my book. You die.”

  She was on the floor being dragged toward her door. She tried kicking, or wrapping her feet around something to slow him down, but her feet connected with nothing. Finally, she got a toehold on the carpet, got her hand around her hair and somehow got her feet under her. Now, she crab walked behind him, slowing his progression.

  “Where are you going?” she gasped out.

  “I’m going home as soon as I’m finished. You, poor woman, are going to hang yourself.”

  “I’m not.”

  She straightened her legs, rose, and rushed forward, slamming into his back. He stumbled forward.

  “You bitch,” he shouted, but his voice was different, higher in pitch.

  She swung her arms, connecting with his torso. He released her hair, and then his hands were under her arms.

  “Fine. Don’t hang. I’ll just throw you off. Those hardwood floors below will do the job just fine.”

  The railing in her sitting area pressed into her back. She wrapped her arms around his very thin waist.

  “If I go, you go,” she snarled.”

  Bobby raked at her arms, trying to get them off him. She was able to get her feet back on the carpet. He pulled her toward the staircase.

  “You fucking bitch. You had to do this the hard way.”

  Just before she fell, she heard the front door slam open.

  “Fiona!”

  Bobby shoved her backwards. She was momentarily airborne before the hard edge of a step dug into her back.

  Chase was here, but he was too late, she thought as she tumbled down the stairs.

  Chapter Six

  “Is that a light in Fiona’s bedroom window?” Shade Gruber asked. “I’m not sure what room is hers other than it’s on the second floor.”

  Chase looked up from dialing Fiona’s phone and saw light filtering from Fi’s bedroom curtains. “I’m going in. You coming?”

  “I’m coming. Let me get my gun. Wait for me.”

  Chase wasn’t waiting for anyone. He charged across the street to the front porch. The door was locked, to no surprise. Fiona took her security seriously. There was no sense in trying to break through a solid oak door. Chase shoved his house key in the lock and flung the door open.

  “Fiona!” he yelled as he rushed in.

  Two figures were struggling at the top of the staircase. He watched in horror as Fiona was shoved backwards and rolled down the wooden steps, stopping only when her head hit the floor with a sickening thud.

  “Fiona,” he shouted and rushed to her side.

  She was breathing, thank God.

  “You bitch,” he yelled up the stairs.

  Lori Wood stood grinning down the stairs. “Lori’s gone. I’m Robert.”

  Lori/Robert lifted his gun and pointed it at Chase and Fiona. Chase threw his body over Fiona’s to protect her from the bullet.

  The reverberations from a gunshot echoed in the house. A female scream followed the shot and then a slap of a body hitting the wood sounded above him.

  Chase looked up and found Shade Gruber with a Glock extended, Gruber’s gaze directed over Chase’s head. He turned in that direction and saw Lori Wood sprawled on the wooden stairs, her blood forming a pool beneath her and dripping down to the next step.

  “Shit,” Chase said. “We need an ambulance for Fiona. Is Lori still breathing?”

  Keeping his gun at the ready, Gruber climbed the steps and bent to feel for a pulse. “Damn, I’m good,” he said. “She’s alive.”

  “For now, unless I get to her,” Chase ground out.

  A phone call from the chief of police had a tendency to get special attention. Two ambulances rolled up to the house within minutes. Neither woman regained consciousness while being stabilized and transported to the hospital.

  ***

  Two Hours Later

  Chase sat in the surgery waiting room with Vivi Gruber, Shade’s wife. Shade was still on the scene with the investigating officers.

  In all his life, Chase had never felt as helpless, even after the bomb in Afghanistan. At least then, he’d been fighting the pain, which gave him foe to battle. Now, all he could do was sit, and
pray, and –God help him—shake.

  “God damn it,” he growled. “How much fucking longer?”

  Vivi put her hand on his arm. “She’d got the best surgeon in Texas working on her. They’re doing everything they can.”

  “I know,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I need to do something.”

  “You did,” she said. “You saved Fi’s life”

  “I was almost too late,” he said, pounding his fist on the arm of the sofa. “Too fucking late.”

  “But you weren’t too late. If you hadn’t been there, that crazy woman would have shot her for sure.” She squeezed his arm. “Shade told me how you put your body over hers to shield her from being shot. That was very brave.”

  “I can’t lose her. I just can’t.” His gaze dropped to the floor.

  He couldn’t live without her. He’d never told her that.

  He’d never gotten a chance to tell her that he was in love with her. What if he never did? What if she died without ever knowing?

  The waiting room door opened. He looked up, expecting the nurse again with an update from surgery. Instead, Hank and Sadie Patterson rushed in. He stood.

  “Oh my God, Chase,” Sadie said, throwing her arms around his neck. “Thank goodness you were there. Fi could have been killed.”

  With Hank’s wife still wrapped around him, Chase shook hands with Hank. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey, yourself,” Hank replied, his expression grim.

  Sadie finally released him, but kept an arm around his waist. “Thank you. A million times thank you for saving my friend.”

  Chase looked at Hank. “‘Easy job’ you said. ‘It’ll be like a vacation,’ you said.”

  Hank shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to add audio engineering bodyguard to our list of services.”

  Chase chuckled for the first time in hours.

  “Fill us in,” Hank said, gesturing toward the empty seats.

  Chase introduced them to Vivi Gruber and then started at the beginning.

  Another two hours passed. Shade joined them with the news that Lori Wood, nee Havens, had died without gaining consciousness. His department had discovered she’d been hospitalized for years for her mental instability. Her brother, Bobby, had died that day. He’d been quite a bit younger than she and, due to her mother’s ongoing mental depression, Lori had been his primary caregiver.