Was this what everybody had been looking for? Almost afraid to find out she was wrong, Katerina slowly reached beneath the horse’s belly and fisted the object. On the bottom, where it had met the hoof and been protected, she could see sparkling beneath a sheet of clear plastic. This was it! She’d found the hidden treasure!
Before she could straighten she heard a masculine hoot of triumph behind her.
They knew.
* * *
Max had heard a shot, seen it shatter the windshield in his SUV and had checked with Sheriff Tate to make sure nobody was injured.
“My deputy bailed out on the passenger side and made a run for it,” was the reply. “He’s fine. Sorry about the car.”
“It’s replaceable. People aren’t. Don’t worry.”
“What now?”
“I’m behind the first barn with Katerina’s car. I don’t see her yet. Opal and I are going to check the next one. I think that’s where the shot came from.”
“Affirmative. Be advised. Bertrand Garwood is there, too. One of the guys we’re after just brought him out of the house and perp-walked him your direction.”
“Copy.” Max gritted his teeth. It was becoming more a question of who wasn’t there than who was. The only thing more ironic would be the addition of drug lord Angus Dupree, missing agent Jake Morrow and maybe runaway witness Esme Dupree. That would make the roster just about complete.
Of course, not being absolutely positive which side Jake was on these days might complicate matters. So did having Katerina’s father on scene. Max was pretty sure Garwood was innocent but that didn’t guarantee his safety. Nothing could. When Kyle found out that Vern’s secret had died with him, bullets were likely to start flying. At this point, Max wasn’t sure whether he was angry at Katerina or merely petrified of losing her.
Pulling Opal to heel on a tight leash, he drew his sidearm and began to edge forward.
Someone began to cheer and whoop it up.
Max’s gut twisted. He picked up the pace. Reached the rear barn door.
And saw two men slapping each other on the back while Bertrand stood by and stared.
Three accounted for. Why were they so ecstatic? And where was Katerina?
* * *
Standing between the threat and Moonlight, Katerina let Kyle and Heath celebrate all they wanted. She didn’t care one whit about hidden diamonds. All she cared about was Max, her beloved horse—and her father.
In that order? she asked herself, answering yes with the addition of her heavenly Father as number one. The way she saw the future, her fate could tip either way and the longer her enemies gloated, the better for all concerned.
From her position inside the stall she couldn’t see much beyond her father. Hoping for at least a modicum of moral support, she caught Bertrand’s attention and tried to smile before mouthing, “I love you.”
His response was chilling. “This is all your fault, Katerina. I hope you’re happy. Why didn’t you put an end to it before it escalated and turn over the diamonds?”
“Because I didn’t know where they were.”
“Bah. You expect me to believe that?”
She stood tall. “I don’t care if you do or not. If any of you do. The only reason I discovered Vern’s hiding place is because Moonlight was limping.”
Kyle punched Heath in the shoulder. Hard. “Amateurs! I told you it was a mistake to just take those horses for a ride and bring them straight back. You should of had them vet-checked like you said you were going to.”
“Yeah, well, if you’d gotten closer to Vern before he was arrested we wouldn’t be standin’ here at all.”
“I wasn’t sent here in time.” Fists raised, Kyle squared off on Heath. “You brought the feds. You and that dumb idea to teach your boss a lesson by setting off a little explosion. Some little explosion. The whole barn went.”
“Only because it caught fire. Besides, you were keeping the diamonds a secret back when I did that. How was I supposed to know it was a stupid idea?”
“If you had a brain under that cowboy hat you’d have figured it out for yourself.”
“Fine.” Heath backed down and glanced toward the open stall. “What’re we gonna do now?”
“Clean up this mess.”
“How? We can’t just shoot ’em.”
“Maybe you can’t, but I can.”
The ranch manager held up his hands. “Hold on. I didn’t sign up for murder. Vern gettin’ killed in jail is one thing. This ain’t the same. Not a bit.”
Katerina saw Kyle’s expression harden, his eyes narrowing. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”
When Heath didn’t reply Katerina wanted to jump in and ask for her own sake. Kyle had led her to believe they had met months ago. Now she doubted whether or not that was true. He’d spoken and acted like a local good ol’ boy before. Now he sounded totally different and far too intelligent. She studied the man, waiting, wondering.
Bertrand Garwood cursed, directing most of his tirade toward Kyle, and Katerina realized immediately that it was a big mistake. She edged backward until her shoulders touched Moonlight’s. She and the horse weren’t the only ones nervous enough to tremble. Heath was doing a perfect impression of a sapling being buffeted by Santa Ana winds and it served him right. Only her father acted clueless, perhaps because he hadn’t realized how deep a pile of manure he was figuratively standing in. “He’s saying he’s a gangster, Dad. I’d cool it if I were you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t the 1940s or ’50s. That era is long gone.”
“Correct,” Kyle said with a leering smile. “I work for businessmen. That’s all they do. Business. We have connections all over the world and once in a while one of our deliveries goes missing. That’s where I come in. I see that justice is done.” He laughed. “I just do it my way.”
“Dupree,” Katerina whispered before realizing she’d said it aloud.
Kyle turned on her. “Smart. I knew you were. That’s too bad.”
She raised her hands, palms forward, to fend him off. “Go. Take the diamonds, all of them. We won’t say a word, will we?”
Her eyes pled with the other two men, each in turn. Heath seemed ready to cave but Bertrand was his usual bombastic self. “After all you’ve done? All you and your kind have cost me? Not on your life.”
“How about on your life?” Kyle drawled.
The older man blustered. “Do you know who I am? I’m the mayor of South Fork. Sheriff Tate is a personal friend of mine.”
“Then you’ll have plenty of mourners at your funeral, Mr. Mayor.” Waving the pistol, Kyle used it to point at the stall where Katerina and Moonlight stood. “Everybody in. Now. I want to do this right to impress the feds and I haven’t got all day.”
Nobody moved.
All Katerina could think of was Max, praying he hadn’t been shot. When he hadn’t returned fire she’d feared the worst, yet held on to the hope that he’d chosen to merely take cover, not suspecting that she or anyone else was in jeopardy.
That had to be it. He could not be gone forever. They had to meet again, if only long enough for her to tell him how much she loved him.
NINETEEN
Max overheard everything. It was all he could do to hold himself back. He’d advised Tate of the situation and was waiting until more officers were in position before giving the order to storm the barn.
His elite team would have had a better chance of success. Trouble was, they weren’t there. He was essentially on his own. And he didn’t like it. Superheroes were a fantasy. Real men, real agents, used their brains and technology to outwit criminals, they didn’t go charging into danger dodging a hail of bullets.
Or running through a minefield, he added. It was time to activate some of their usual precautions
. He turned his back on the open door, hunched over his cell phone and called Dylan O’Leary.
“What’s up,” the tech guru said. “I see it’s you but I can hardly hear your voice, Max.”
He cupped the small device and tried again. “Can you kill all cell signals from the relay towers around my location?” In the background he could hear computer keys clacking.
“I can, but you’ll lose the ability to talk to me.”
“We can communicate by police radio, relaying via a landline at their station, if we have to.”
“Do we have time to ask for permission?”
“No.”
“That’s what I figured. Can you at least fill me in so I’m prepared when they threaten to fire me again?”
“A Dupree hitman is holding people at gunpoint and I can’t figure out why he hasn’t shot them yet. If he’s the same one who’s been planting bombs around here, he may not need to. The place may already be wired.”
“Copy. Works for me. How long do I have?”
“Time is already up,” Max said. “Just do your best.”
* * *
Katerina was out of ideas. Apparently her father was, too. Kyle gave him a hard push and he ended up inside the stall.
“You, too,” the Dupree cohort said to Heath.
“Hey, wait a minute, man. You and I are in this together.”
“Right. Do you really think I’d join forces with the likes of you? I needed help on the inside, that’s all. I don’t need you anymore.” He motioned with the gun barrel again. “Move it.”
If Katerina had not been so disappointed in the foreman she might have felt sorrier for him. As it was, she could hardly bear to be near him.
“You were like an uncle to me,” she rasped. “How could you?”
“It was comin’ to me. I ain’t had a raise in five years. A man’s gotta eat.”
Bertrand interrupted. “There was nothing coming to you that you deserved.”
Shocked, Katerina turned on her father. “This is partly your fault, after all. When are you going to learn to treat everybody fairly?”
The stall door started to swing closed with the gunman on the outside. “Don’t hold your breath, lady,” he taunted. “There won’t be time for any of you to reform.”
Pleading and weeping openly, McCabe dropped to his knees in what was left of the opening. That was enough distraction for Katerina to duck, crawl beneath Moonlight’s belly and pull out the cell phone Max had given her. The only number entered in it was his so she opted to dial 9-1-1.
What she had not counted on was the loud “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?” reply.
Kyle shouted obscenities and started shoving the others aside to get to her.
Katerina screamed. Slipped her phone beneath the straw bedding. And heard glass break when Moonlight sidestepped in fright and crushed it.
Bedlam ensued. Katerina rolled aside, hoping to keep from being grabbed or shot. Heath scrambled out the open stall door like the crabs she’d seen crossing hot sand along the Pacific coast, twenty miles due west.
Bertrand Garwood went for the gun and failed. Kyle’s punch flattened him.
Breathing hard, the hired thug kept his back to the side wall and the pistol trained on his remaining captives while he pulled out his own cell phone.
“Okay, this is how it’s going to be,” he said with a sneer before glancing at his revolver. “I like this piece so I was trying to keep from leaving ballistics but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I can always pick up another one like it on the street.”
He cocked the hammer with his thumb. “I’ll do the horse first so it doesn’t get in my way again.”
“No!” Katerina launched herself at him.
Moonlight reared. Her hooves grazed Kyle’s arm and deflected the bullet he fired as a reflex.
Katerina shrieked. Was she hit? Was her mare? Was her father?
The pistol barrel came up again, pointed right at Moonlight. Screaming unintelligibly, Katerina lurched toward it.
Instead of firing this time, Kyle used it to bat her away, the blow propelling her across the stall where she slammed into a solid plank wall. Reality dimmed. She began to feel as if she were floating above the conflict, a feather in the wind.
Another shot echoed. Katerina was too groggy to react. Sliding to the straw in a heap she closed her eyes and passed out.
* * *
Max was running full out. So was Opal. He’d heard the loud response from the emergency operator and had anticipated a negative result. Boy, had he been right.
Plastering himself against the outer wall of the stall where the battle was taking place, he commanded Opal and the gathering lawmen to wait while he made a silent entry. Sweat dotted his forehead, His hands were slippery. He wiped them dry on his jeans and braced for counterattack, then whipped around the corner and came face-to-face with the armed criminal.
Instead of firing, Max hesitated. This man had admitted working for the Duprees. His insider knowledge might be invaluable—if he could bring him in alive.
“Drop the gun.”
“Sure.” He tossed it aside.
That didn’t fit the profile. What was Max missing? He didn’t dare take his focus off Kyle to check the Garwoods. Both were down and out, although neither showed signs of serious injury.
It took Max only a few heartbeats to deduce the problem. Kyle no longer needed his gun because he had another weapon in hand. His cell phone. He was holding it in front of him, pointing it like a laser. There was only one logical conclusion. He was preparing to detonate more bombs. On the ranch. And these weren’t like Heath’s meager efforts. These were seriously deadly.
“Don’t,” Max warned, eyeing the phone.
“Then get out of my way and let me go.”
Had Dylan succeeded in cutting off the cell signals? Katerina had gotten through to 9-1-1 so if he had managed to kill the phones it had happened within the last couple of minutes. Max couldn’t take the chance. He retreated in the direction of Katerina’s still form, although he didn’t turn his back on the hired killer.
Katerina began to stir. Blinked and looked up at him. “Max. You’re alive.”
“Yes.” There was nothing more he could do to prevent the planted bombs from exploding. If this was his final second on earth he was exactly where he needed to be. With his woman. Best of all, she was smiling up at him, He knelt to cradle her head and shoulders.
“I need to tell you,” she began.
“Hush, honey. Everything’s fine. I’ve got you.”
There was no way for him to tell if his back and vest would shield her enough to keep her alive during an explosion but he intended to try.
She slipped one arm around his neck. “I have to say it. I love you, Max.”
“I love you, too.”
Pulling her closer he gave Kyle a sidelong glance and saw his evil grin as he dramatically pushed one of the buttons on the phone he held.
Nothing happened!
Max wanted to cheer.
* * *
Katerina was so focused on being back in Max’s strong arms she was late noticing how intently he was watching Kyle. When she saw the criminal’s sinister expression and the way he was handling his phone, she realized what was going on.
“Freeze,” Max shouted. “Hands on your head.”
Instead, Kyle threw the phone, pulled a second gun from a holster strapped to his ankle and ran.
“Get him!” Katerina screeched.
“Are you...?”
“Fine. Stop him. He works for the Dupree crime family.”
“I know. See to your dad.”
Katerina had no trouble doing that. Bertrand was very subdued, sitting on the floor and holding his head. “D
ad?”
“He shot me!”
“Apparently.” She gently pulled his hand away from his forehead. “It’s just a scratch. Your hard head must have deflected the bullet.”
The confused look he gave her wasn’t conciliatory but it wasn’t angry, either. Maybe there was hope for them, at least to the point where they stopped being avowed enemies.
“Are you okay?” Bertrand asked hoarsely. “I saw him pitch you across the stall.”
“Guess I have a hard head, too,” Katerina said. “It runs in the family.”
They paused to exchange quizzical looks just as a volley of shots echoed through the barn.
Katerina gasped. “Max.”
Bertrand patted her hand. “He’ll be okay. Listen. I can hear him yelling orders.”
“You’re right.” Although she managed a smile, there were tears of gratitude to God in her eyes.
“I sure like this one better than Kowalski.”
She sniffled and shook her head. “I’m so used to doing the opposite of whatever you want I hardly know what to say.”
“Never mind me. When he asks you, say yes.”
“What if he doesn’t want to get married?”
“Then you convince him.” The older man started to chuckle and winced. “Ouch.”
“You’ll probably have a dandy headache, Dad.”
“Not as bad as the headaches you gave me trying to raise you without a mother. I was scared to death of making a mistake. When you said you wanted to marry that oddball, Kowalski, I figured I’d failed big-time.”
“That’s what turned you against me? I thought you were ashamed of me.”
“I was. And of myself for not being a better father.” He started to frown, then moaned and grabbed his forehead again. “I thought, when I said it was him or me, you’d come to your senses.”
“And when I didn’t, you stuck to your guns.”
“Of course I did. What other choice did I have?”
Katerina had absorbed all the regret she could handle so she grabbed Moonlight’s lead rope and led the mare out into the wide aisle at the center of the long rectangular barn. Thankfully, the limp was almost gone.
Special Agent Page 18