Friendly Fire

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  Logan didn’t move, staring down at Brent. The man started laughing at him, and that was when Logan reacted. He hit him on the side of the head, knocking him out. Instead of handing the gun to Ben, who was now cursing beside him, he holstered it.

  “You feel better now?” Ben asked, all sarcasm.

  Logan flipped an unconscious Brent over and cuffed his hands behind his back, running his hands over the man’s body to check for weapons. He found a hunting knife attached to his belt and an ankle holster with a gun. When he hobbled to his feet, he took in the unanswered question in his brother’s expression.

  “No, I don’t feel better,” he finally replied.

  Chapter 25

  “Hey, we need some help up here!” a man shouted from the darkness somewhere above them. Ben set his hand on Logan’s shoulder.

  “Down here! What’s up?” Ben yelled.

  “There’s a man injured up here—I think he’s the missing deputy! And we found the little girl!”

  Logan wanted to race up the hill. He started a step, almost dragging his leg, and he sucked in a breath at the sharp pain. Ben was right at his side.

  “You okay? You need help up?” Ben asked. The last thing Logan wanted was to have to be carried up any hill by his brother, but his leg was messed up, and this was the worst possible time. Tom was kneeling beside an unconscious Brent, his backpack open, putting pressure on the bleeding leg.

  “Tom, we’re going to need you up top. Looks like he’ll live. Leave him.”

  Tom appeared ready to argue, but he shoved the first aid kit back in his pack. “I patched it up where you shot him. Doesn’t appear to have nicked an artery,” he said.

  Logan turned to Ben. “I’ll go up with Tom. You stay here with that scum. I’ll send one of your guys down to help you drag his sorry ass up.”

  Ben cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey, get down here! Help me carry this guy up,” he shouted. When Logan took a step away, Ben set a hand on his shoulder and said in a worried voice that Logan had never heard before, “We need to have a talk when this is all over.”

  Logan understood his meaning. The fact was that he didn’t want his family worrying about him or knowing the horrors he carried. They were his, and he didn’t want his brothers tiptoeing around him as if he was some fragile, paranoid, unpredictable nutcase. He didn’t say anything to Ben, but he turned to Tom. “Hey, could you give me a hand up this hill?”

  He grabbed hold of the back of Tom’s jacket and pulled himself up. They cut through the brush to the top just as one of Ben’s men approached, letting them pass before sliding down the hill.

  Logan let go of Tom’s jacket when the path flattened out. They stepped into a large, grassy area and took in the helicopter, its light still shining. He couldn’t see the cabin, but a man in a down vest hurried toward him and said, “Some of our men are inside the cabin. The little girl is in there with someone I believe is your deputy. He’s pretty banged up, too. Somebody worked him over real good.”

  “Tom, go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Logan said. Tom took off at a jog and disappeared into the darkness, but Logan could hear feet on wood steps and knew the cabin was close. “My brother needs some help bringing up the kidnapper,” he explained. “Just be careful with that guy. He’s out cold now, but he’s dangerous.”

  The man glanced toward the path and back at Logan, maybe wondering to himself what Ben had gotten him into. “Right,” he mumbled, then started off into the darkness.

  Logan headed toward the cottage, limping. His limbs, muscles, every part of him ached, but it was nothing a hot shower wouldn’t cure. Nothing could beat the overwhelming relief he felt when he stepped inside that dusty, dirty hideaway lit up with flashlights and a kerosene lamp. On the rotted wood floor, he spotted Trinity, grime and dirt covering her tear-streaked face. She was huddled in Jordy’s coat, and one of Ben’s men was with her. Tom, with the help of the other man, had helped Jordy sit up against the wall. His deputy was in pretty bad shape, with a busted lip and swollen face, as if he been rammed into a brick wall.

  “Sheriff…” he began, spitting out blood. By the looks of his leg, the bent angle, it was a pretty bad break.

  “Jordy, it’s okay,” Logan said.

  “Sheriff, I didn’t hear him. He came up behind me. Felt something hit me. No one does that to—” He choked and coughed.

  “Take it easy,” Logan said. He glanced at Tom. “Can you three get him on the chopper?”

  “We got him. Just let me stabilize his leg before we move him,” Tom said. He touched Jordy’s arm. “Listen to me. This is going to hurt like hell.”

  Jordy glanced over at Trinity, a pleading expression on his swollen face. “Get her out of here,” he said. “Don’t let her hear. She’s seen enough.”

  Logan understood what he meant when he took in her wild look. The little girl was in full-blown shock after seeing Brent beat Jordy. Logan went over to her, wincing as his leg started to betray him. “You scared the hell out of us, honey,” Logan said, reaching for her hand. When she stood up on shaky legs, the coat slipped from her shoulders, and Logan lifted her in his arms and faced Tom. “Give me your phone,” he said.

  Tom tossed it, and he grabbed it and hobbled outside with Trinity. With her head resting on his shoulder, he carried her out to the chopper, opened the door and slipped her onto the seat. He pulled off his dirty, muddy coat and wrapped it around her, then dialed Julia on the phone and held it out to the little girl, saying, “I know someone who really wants to talk to you.”

  Chapter 26

  Julia had been beside herself, in tears, since the call came in to the station. Rose had frantically waved her over, and when she put the phone to her ear, Logan had said, “Julia, there’s someone here who wants to speak with you.”

  She had listened and waited, her heart in her throat. There was a rustling on the line.

  “Mommy?” Trinity cried, and Julia had wept and told her how much she loved her, and was she okay? It had been a short call, but Logan had come back on and assured her Trinity was safe.

  He had come through for her. He had never let her down—never lied. He had saved her daughter.

  Now, as she sat in the passenger seat of her compact while Rose drove the twenty-six miles to the hospital in the next town; she was numb with disbelief at the idea that Brent Maloney had been responsible. She couldn’t get her head around it, as she stared out at the black highway; the headlights dancing over the asphalt. Was anywhere safe?

  Clinton drove ahead, lights flashing, giving them an escort. When she saw a chopper in the distance, the lights blinking; Julia sat forward, pressing her hand to the window, imagining her daughter safe with Logan.

  She knew Kevin would be at the hospital, as well, since he’d left right before them in his rental car after getting directions from one of the volunteers. It was a matter of who got there first. She glanced over her shoulder at Dawn, asleep in the backseat, her mouth open as she breathed in and out. That was so Dawn; the way she slept. Trinity always slept with a hand under her chin. The girls were identical but so different.

  Julia had to wake Dawn when Rose pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Clinton parked at the doors to the emergency room, and Rose pulled up right behind him.

  Julia helped Dawn out and wrapped her arms around her sleeping daughter, holding her close as they followed Clinton into the emergency room, which was buzzing with activity. Deputies, sheriffs, and that good-looking brother of Logan’s filled the small area.

  “Julia,” Ben Wilde called as he strode toward her, setting his hand on her shoulder and urging her forward. She spotted Kevin at the nurses’ station, speaking with what looked to be a doctor. He tossed her a look that had her holding Dawn a little more snugly. Ben guided her to a curtained-off area where Logan sat with Trinity.

  Julia cried as Trinity flew into her arms. She kissed her face and held her tight, running her hand over her tangled hair again and again. She looked thinner,
but maybe that was just Julia; as she rocked her and held her with Dawn beside her. When she glanced up at Logan through a mirage of tears, her nose running, she mouthed to him, “Thank you.”

  She didn’t know how long she sat there with Trinity. Logan was in and out, and she noticed the way he limped, doing his best to hide how much his leg hurt. She was sitting on the bed with Dawn on one side, Trinity on the other, her arms around them, not willing to let go, when Logan followed the doctor in.

  He was a large man, balding and middle aged. “Just want to have another look at you, honey,” he said to Trinity with a kind smile.

  Dawn and Julia hopped down from the bed, and the doctor flashed a light in Trinity’s eyes. A nurse in scrubs came in and checked her blood pressure. They said she was okay physically, even after being dragged through the elements of the forest. They offered to keep her overnight, which Julia refused. The doctor exchanged a meaningful glance with Logan and then stopped beside him, saying he’d be right back.

  “Trinity, what happened?” she asked, though she looked to Logan as if he had all the answers. She slid her arm around Trinity again, who looked down at Dawn, who was holding the edge of Julia’s jacket.

  “I’m sorry for being mean to you, Dawn,” Trinity said. “I didn’t mean it.”

  “It’s okay,” Dawn said, glancing up at Julia. “Is it okay if I sit on the bed with Trinity, Mom?”

  Logan actually came up behind Dawn and lifted her onto the bed beside her sister. Dawn smiled at him in appreciation, and Julia took in the grit and dried blood in his hair, the scratches on his face, the dirt and mud on his jeans and his coat—and on Trinity’s clothes, too. Both Logan and her daughter were a mess.

  “Mister Maloney took me,” Trinity said, looking to Logan. “I thought he was a nice man. He was my teacher. Why did he take me?” she asked. She was perched on the edge of the bed, legs dangling over the side, her sister beside her. All of them were so close together, like a family.

  “Sometimes people do things that don’t make sense, Trinity,” Julia said. “Mister Maloney wasn’t really who he said he was, but he can’t hurt you anymore, I promise.”

  Logan turned towards her. “Julia?” he said, reaching for her hand and leading her away from the bed, far enough so the kids couldn’t hear. “I talked to Trinity already about what happened. Maloney called her as she was about to leave the class. Apparently, she thought she was in trouble for something, and she stayed behind after the other kids left. He told her he’d found a girl’s bracelet in the parking lot and thought it might be hers or her sister’s. She told him she didn’t have a bracelet, but Dawn did, and he asked her to come out to his vehicle so he could show her. She went with him out the side door of his classroom. She doesn’t remember what happened—just that she woke up in the trunk of his car.”

  Julia set her palm over her mouth to stifle her cry, horrified at what her daughter had been through. What had Brent done to her?

  Maybe Logan saw her horror, because he held her shoulder. “Hey, Julia, he never touched her. I don’t think he even knew what he was going to do with her.”

  She nodded, taking hold of his hand on her shoulder. How had he known what she had been thinking? “Logan, if you hadn’t found her, God knows what could have happened. Why did he take her? Why Trinity? What did he want with her?” she pleaded. Her voice cracked.

  “I don’t know, Julia. Trinity did say she heard him talking about how you were going to want him now. I think he planned to be your hero, in a sick sort of way. It was about wanting you. I’m sorry, honey…but if it helps, I shot him in the leg.”

  “Logan, he took my child. What kind of sick…?” she started. She was overcome by a sense of repulsion that she had allowed that man to touch her. “I know this sounds heartless, but is there any chance he won’t survive?”

  Logan set his hand over her hair and just watched her. “He’ll be fine,” he finally said.

  “Well, that’s a pity,” she spat.

  Logan smiled. “Yeah, it is, at that. Don’t worry, though. He’ll be locked up for a long time.”

  The doctor strode back over and stopped in front of Logan. “I’d really like to get you in for a CT and take a look at your leg, too,” he said.

  Julia looked over as Logan stubbornly shook his head.

  “The leg’s fine, and my head, too. I’ve had worse happen. Just make sure Trinity’s fine, and my deputy.”

  “Logan, I heard you were knocked out,” Julia said. “I would feel better if you let them do a CT. Please, for me? You can’t always be the one looking after everyone, and if you’re not okay, how do you think I’ll feel?” she pleaded, not hiding how much he meant to her. With the way he watched her, as if she was something special, she couldn’t help herself from reaching up and brushing at a smudge of dried blood on his cheek. “You’re bleeding…” she started.

  He set his hand over hers, and she was flooded with warmth and a sense of rightness. Whatever this was with Logan, she realized she couldn’t live without it.

  “Please, Logan,” she said again.

  He gave her a look and then a smile that touched the edge of his lips, lighting up his deep blue eyes. “You can have your CT if you do it now, and then we’re leaving,” he said to the doctor while staring down at Julia.

  “You got it,” the doctor said. He hurried out, and Julia took in the expression on Logan’s face.

  “Thank you,” she said, rising up on her tiptoes and brushing a kiss to his lips when he met her halfway.

  Logan slid his hands around her waist and set his intent blue eyes on her. “You do know I wouldn’t agree to do that for just anyone,” he said.

  Ben appeared beside him, taking them both in. He glanced around them at the girls, huddled together on the bed. “Hey, big brother, just heard you’re going to let them do a CT on that hard head of yours,” he said.

  With the same magnetic blue eyes his brother had, Ben set his gaze on her. It was intent and powerful, and for a moment she wondered whether she would have to step back. The brothers resembled one another in height and build, even looks, but at the same time, they were like night and day.

  “I take it you’re responsible for talking him into that?” Ben said. She couldn’t help the heat that flooded her cheeks. As Ben glanced from her to Logan, an amused smile touched his lips, and then he winked at her. “Thank you, Julia. Listen, I’d like to pry my brother away for a minute,” he said.

  Julia watched Logan. His expression had become guarded, blank, not the teasing smile he had worn a minute before. She wondered what that was about, and Logan rubbed her arm distractedly.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, and she watched intently as he followed his brother into the hallway. Whatever was going on, Logan appeared none too happy.

  Chapter 27

  Logan ended up in a small waiting area that was surprisingly empty. There were half a dozen chairs in the middle of the room and a large plant in the corner. Logan sat down before his leg could give out, and Ben pulled over one of the wooden chairs and turned it around, straddling it. He rested his arms on the chair back and didn’t say anything as he seemed to study Logan.

  Logan stared back, crossing his arms and letting Ben know he was wasting his time.

  “So how are you doing, Logan?” Ben asked, sounding awfully serious.

  “I’m fine. How about you, Ben? I recall you had some woman with you when I called. Sounded like I was interrupting. Anything serious?”

  Ben shook his head and let out a chuckle under his breath. “You’re unbelievable. I never realized how easily you get everyone to stop focusing on you. No, I’m not involved with anyone. That was just…no one.” He sighed. “Look, don’t change the subject. I’m concerned over something I heard out there.”

  Logan started to get up, shaking his head. He had no intention of sharing anything about what he was going through, but Ben was quick, reaching out and grabbing his arm. The emotion Logan saw in Ben’s expression had
him sitting back down.

  “Logan, do you have any idea what we went through when we heard you’d been hit by a roadside bomb? Everyone, Joe, Jake, Samuel, Mom and Dad…we were sick with worry. I was there every day with you when you were in the coma. I yelled at you, I gave you hell, told you to wake up and pull it together. I held your hand, and the longer you stayed in that coma, the more I thought you’d never wake up. When you finally did, you couldn’t have known the relief I felt. You’ve always been there for every one of us, sticking your nose in even when we don’t want it.

  “Now it’s your turn, brother. I love you. I watched you come back from the dead. I saw your determination, and I also saw how torn up you were when you found out your career in the marines was over. Any fool could see how you took the medical discharge as a sign that you were weak, but you aren’t. I was grateful you were done with the military, because that meant I could have my brother back. I don’t want you fighting any more wars. That may be damn selfish on my part”—Ben shrugged—“but I want you safe. I also know, Logan, that nobody walks away from something like what you went through over there without scars.”

  Logan leaned forward and stretched out his aching leg. He must have winced, as Ben’s eyes went right to it. “Stop, all right?” Logan said. “I’m fine. I’m in one piece. I have all my limbs intact.”

  “You’re not fine, Logan, and hearing that monster mention you shooting your gun in the cafe, as if you were some lunatic… Well, I have some questions, and I want answers from you.”

  Logan took in the determination on Ben’s face. He knew his brother wasn’t going to let it go. “Ben…” he started. He shut his eyes.

  “Hey, Logan, whatever it is, I could never think less of you. Just tell me,” Ben said.

  Logan took in the sensitivity and worry in his brother’s eyes. “Ben, I have nightmares sometimes.” He stopped and realized Ben was waiting for him to finish. “When I met Julia, there was a noise outside, a car backfiring, and the sound of the espresso machine. I don’t know what happened, but I…”