by Tina Leonard
River moved to the final window on this side of the hideout. The shades were tightly closed, so there was nothing to see. She wondered if this was Fiona’s room, well protected against prying eyes.
“Hi!” a voice whispered next to her, and River nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Fiona! For heaven’s sake!” She put a hand over her hammering heart, then threw her arms around the older woman. “I’m so sorry I let you get taken! Are you all right?”
Fiona’s eyes twinkled after River finally released her. “I’m fine.”
“Good. Come on.” She grasped Fiona’s hand and pulled her toward the woods, but Tighe’s aunt resisted.
“I can’t go.”
“Why not? Now’s your chance! I’ve already instructed Tighe to be ready for a fast getaway.”
“I like that plan!” Fiona shook her head. “Alas, I can’t.”
“Why not?” River hated to rush the head of the Callahan clan, but if Fiona didn’t quit dithering, she was going to toss her over her shoulder and carry her off.
“Because they’ll come after us. I heard Wolf discussing the plans with his gang of trolls,” Fiona whispered back. “This is a setup.”
“I figured as much. It’s too easy.” River thought quickly. “Tighe’s out there jawing with his uncle even as we speak.”
“I know. Tighe’s brave. Not always the brightest, but always the bravest.” Fiona looked satisfied. “It isn’t very bright to try to beard Wolf in his den, you have to admit.”
“There are a lot of fine points about your family I might be willing to admit, but we should discuss them another time, Fiona. Even if this is a setup, we can go hide in the woods! They won’t be expecting that!” River pleaded.
“True.” Fiona considered that. “But I can’t. If they catch you before we’re able to meet up with Tighe, they’ll keep you here, too. And that won’t be good for those precious babies you’re carrying.”
“I can’t bear to leave you here.”
Fiona fastened bright eyes on her. “Now listen, we have no time for sentiment. I need you to take over my committee for the annual Christmas ball. Talk to my friends at the Books’n’Bingo Society. Those three ladies will be happy to help you plan the thing. Be sure you don’t forget the advertising on the barn roofs.” Fiona tapped her mouth with her finger. “There’s only Jace, Galen and Ash left to manage marriages for. I say you advertise Jace this year on the roofs. I guess the ladies would consider him a decent raffle prize.”
River glanced over her shoulder. “Fiona, if you’re not coming with me, you need to go back inside. I don’t want them catching you out here.” She gave her another hug. “Are you sure you won’t come with me?”
“I’m perfectly happy here. Not as happy as I’d be at home,” Fiona said, straightening her shoulders bravely. “I’d rather be in my own kitchen, around my own family, and the children. But Wolf is trying to get to the family through me, and I won’t let that happen.”
River nodded. “Okay. Go inside.”
“Tell Burke I love him.” For the first time, Fiona’s eyes got a little sparkle in them from unshed tears. “Tell everyone I love them. And they’re not to worry about me. I’m a tough old bird. I’ve handled far worse than Wolf in my life. Be sure they know I expect them to be warriors.”
“I will. Go.”
River watched Fiona head back around the side of the house, heard a door quietly shut. She needed to sneak back to the truck, check to see that Tighe was getting the best of Wolf. At least she’d seen and talked to Fiona, and that would reassure Tighe until they could think of a good plan to get her out of here.
River carefully retraced her steps, making certain not to leave any trace of a footprint in the loose dirt. Once safely in the woods, she looked out toward the field, saw Tighe and Wolf still soaking up some sun while they chatted—although based on the stiff, angry postures, it wasn’t the world’s friendliest conversation. Yet it didn’t look as if any blood had been spilled or bones broken. River didn’t think either man had moved since she’d surveyed the house.
Three minutes later she was back at the truck, crouched down, covering Tighe’s back. She held her breath, watching as Wolf turned around, headed back toward the house. Tighe stared after him, his hands on his lean hips, his wide back strong and stubborn. “Come on, Tighe. Don’t stand out there all day catching rays. Let’s hit the road and regroup,” she muttered.
After a moment, he turned around, headed to the truck. Pretended he didn’t remember that she was there. Started the vehicle, backed it up, wheeled it around, giving her enough cover to jump in the passenger side. She was in the truck so fast that he simply made one smooth backup and then pulled away.
“Well done,” Tighe said as she tossed her backpack into the backseat.
She kept low so Wolf or one of his many henchmen wouldn’t spy her from a window. “Thanks. What were you two shooting the breeze about?”
“Nothing of real interest. Mainly I didn’t want him to see you sneaking around the cabin. You nearly gave me heart failure!” He glared at her. “What were you thinking?”
“That while you two were busy reminiscing about old times, I’d rescue your aunt. I found her and I talked to her.” River sighed. “But she wouldn’t leave.”
“I could have told you that,” Tighe said, his tone irritated. “This is Fiona we’re discussing. She’s never going to do what anyone expects or hopes she will. You put yourself in jeopardy! What if you’d been captured?”
River shrugged. “I wasn’t worried about that. Now help me think of a way to get Fiona out of there.”
“I can barely concentrate! You’ve got me so rattled I can’t string two thoughts together. You’re supposed to ride shotgun, not be the spy who loved me!” He sighed, and River thought it was very heartfelt.
“If it makes you feel any better, Fiona looks awesome. I think she’s enjoying her role of family plant.”
“We did not plant her there to spy on Wolf.”
“But she’s a counterbalance to his operation, and I think she relishes that.”
“There are days,” Tighe said, “when I wonder why I couldn’t have fallen for a mousy bookworm who only wanted to stay home and cook and bake for me.”
“Because the sex probably wouldn’t have been as awesome. I’m pretty sure you’re not interested in my cooking skills as much as some other skills.”
She could tell he was trying not to laugh, despite his aggravation with her. “I do, however, make a mean lasagna, and I’ve read all the Five-Foot Shelf books— every one. I can keep your interest, cowboy.”
“Impressive, and yet in spite of that, I’m still trying to recover from the sight of you creeping up on Wolf’s hideout.” Tighe let out a long breath. “On the other hand, I find it awesome that you care enough about my aunt that you’d put yourself in danger to rescue her. That’s very sexy.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“But,” he said, wagging a finger as the truck bumped over ruts in the road, “you have to be careful about putting yourself in danger. You have to think of the babies.”
“So you prefer me making lasagna and reading How to Please Your Man for when you get home at night?”
“Is that so much to ask?”
She laughed. “That sneaky look on your handsome face tells me that even you know you’re not going to have that pleasure, cowboy. You’ll have to stick with the real me.”
“I’m sticking like glue. Uh-oh,” he said, and the smiled disappeared off his face. River turned to look at what had his attention.
Four armed men blocked the road ahead.
Chapter Eleven
“Wolf’s henchmen,” River said. “Run them down.”
“I can’t do that!” Tighe slowed the truck, came to a halt in front of the armed guards. He couldn’t risk getting shot at with River in the vehicle. Tighe was sure Wolf would have the road blocked behind them, as well. Woods stretched on either side of the road, thick and i
mpenetrable. “We’re going to have to hope for the best.”
He had a sick feeling in his stomach, though. Henchmen carrying AK-47s indicated his uncle meant business.
River pulled her backpack up beside her. “Don’t do anything crazy,” Tighe warned. “Let me see if I can talk my way out of this.”
Even he knew that probably wasn’t likely. But if River started shooting, they’d fire back. He shouldn’t have brought her with him.
The passenger door jerked open. “Out, little lady,” one of the thugs said to River.
“I’m pregnant,” she replied. “At this moment, I’m carsick and likely to vomit.”
“That sounds like a personal problem to me.” He gestured with his gun toward the jeep hidden off the road. “Take a seat over there, princess.”
“Tell my uncle he doesn’t want her. He wants me,” Tighe said.
“No.” The ugly brute with the facial scar staring in the window shook his head with a sick smile. “He specifically said he wanted you to go home and ruminate on your bad manners.”
Tighe cursed his softness in allowing River to accompany him. He should have foreseen this moment. His uncle and he had said nothing out of the ordinary to each other. Tighe had asked him to release Fiona; Wolf had said no. The conversation had merely been the two of them circling each other.
“Go, Tighe,” River said. “I’ll be fine.”
She marched off with her backpack. When one of her guards tried to take her arm to help her into the jeep, she shook him off. Tighe swallowed hard, knowing the arsenal she was carrying. River was likely to leave the place in bits and pieces. His stomach clenched and he could barely breathe past the fear in his chest. She was stubborn, she was fiery and she had Fiona as an accomplice.
Nothing good could come of those two ladies being on the loose and in cahoots. And spirits help her if Wolf decided to have her bag searched.
Tighe looked at the goon next to him, studying the scar. “I know who you are. You’re Rhein, Wolf’s right hand.”
“That’s right. And you’re the nephew that used to be such a ladies’ man. Funny thing, but Wolf’s just been dying to pick off a Callahan female to drive you boys nuts. And now that you’ve decided to settle down with just one lady, that’s the lady Wolf gets to hold as a bargaining chip. I call that irony.” Rhein laughed out loud.
“Now drive on, if you know what’s good for you,” the guard to his left said. “And don’t look back, if you don’t want to make trouble for the little lady and the old woman.”
“I don’t suppose you’d take me instead and let them go?”
The ugly man shook his big head. “Boss man says he’s got the big fish now. The old lady’ll break eventually, and she’s the one who knows every secret Running Bear’s hiding.” He smiled, and Tighe felt ill. “With the little pregnant lady as a hostage, Wolf’s got all the leverage he wants. Somebody’ll sing like a bird sooner than later, I reckon. And then we’ll know where to find your parents, won’t we? Both sets of ’em. We’ve waited years for this.”
“River doesn’t know anything,” Tighe said, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. It was eating him, driving him out of his mind.
“Your lady might not know anything, but the old lady knows everything. Wolf says there’s only one captive with higher value than her, but we don’t need to play that card yet.”
Tighe wanted to keep his talkative friend dropping clues. “Who’s a higher value target than Fiona? Running Bear?”
“Wolf wants nothing to do with his father. If he ever gets the chance, he’ll shoot Running Bear dead.”
“Seems like a pretty harsh way to treat one’s dad.”
“Not my problem. I just draw my weekly pay and do my job. Now, move along, and no heroics. We shoot heroes on sight.”
Tighe glanced toward River one final time, though he didn’t move his head. Didn’t want Rhein to suspect her importance to him. River sat in the jeep, tying her whiskey-colored hair up into a tighter ponytail, acting as if she wasn’t a hostage, as if it was just another day in an unexciting life.
Trying to keep him calm.
He was anything but.
* * *
TIGHE CALLED AN emergency family meeting upstairs in the library as soon as he returned. He’d even sent Ash to locate Running Bear—although he made Jace ride at her side for protection.
As his brothers and sister and Running Bear took their places, he waited, his heart beating hard. Tighe didn’t think his pulse had quit hammering ever since he’d driven away, leaving River in Wolf’s clutches. He’d sped home, barely stopping for anything, to consult with his family and develop a plan.
The plans they’d had so far had gone horribly wrong.
Running Bear sat in silence, shaking his head when Galen offered him a drink. The rest of them accepted a crystal tumbler of whiskey, their eyes on Tighe the whole time.
“Where’s River?” Ash demanded.
“River and Fiona are both with Wolf in Montana.” Tighe watched his family take in this news with dismay etched on their faces. “I didn’t want to leave either of them. I had no choice. We have to figure out how to bring them home.”
“What happened?” Galen demanded.
“I talked to Wolf in person. He said he has no intention of letting Fiona go. She’s his ace in the hole for making sure he finds out where our parents, and our cousins’ parents, are in hiding. None of us know that information, but Fiona might. At least Wolf’s banking on that.”
Tighe looked at the chief, but Running Bear’s gaze was flat, emotionless, giving away nothing. “His goal, of course, is to make them pay for informing on the cartel. That’s what he’s been hired to do, and he won’t rest until that happens. Eventually, he says he’ll take over Rancho Diablo. The cartel has promised him this in exchange for our parents, Molly and Jeremiah, and Julia and Carlos.”
“How could you leave River?” Ashlyn demanded. “She’s going to be confined without prenatal care!”
“There wasn’t an option. I even offered myself in exchange.” Tighe wanted to kill Wolf at the thought of River being held hostage. “Trust me when I tell you I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
Ash flew to him, throwing her arms around him. “I’m so sorry!” she whispered, hugging him hard.
He let his sister comfort him for a moment before he moved away. “While I was talking to Wolf, River managed to get to Fiona and talk to her.”
“That was brave,” Sloan said. “Scary, but brave.”
Tighe remembered the startled fear he’d concealed when he’d seen her moving stealthily through the trees. He’d kept his gaze on Wolf, barely allowing his peripheral vision to acknowledge what River had been doing—but his heart had fallen into his boots. “She said Fiona is fine. She says to tell everyone not to worry.”
“Not to worry?” Falcon challenged. “Like hell!”
“I want to kill Wolf,” Ash said, “Grandfather—”
The chief held up a hand, and she fell silent. “That is not the answer.”
“I personally think it would solve all our problems,” Ash muttered, “at least ninety percent of them. And we could get Fiona and River back!” She gazed at her brother. “What are you going to do, Tighe?”
He remembered River tying her hair back, ignoring her captors. Many women would be scared. Many men, too, up against what she was facing. “I don’t know. The part that frightens me is that I know that, carrying triplets, she won’t be easily moved forever. At some point, she’ll be confined to bed rest.” It would be a whole lot harder to rescue her then.
“This is a dilemma,” Dante said. “I’m sorry as hell.”
Tighe looked at his twin. “River was carrying a backpack full of things I can only describe as bodyguard goodies. I’m concerned that Wolf will search her bag. Either that, or she’ll blow the place sky-high.”
“I hope she grabbed the charge I put in the truck for contingencies,” Jace said. “It’s for one of those j
ust-in-case moments, when you want to make a really big exit.”
“Oh, great,” Tighe said, closing his eyes with exasperation. It wasn’t in the truck now, so River had in fact packed it into her little black bag of fun and games. He opened his eyes and glared at Jace. “There’s no reason to encourage her, so don’t even say that out loud. She’s carrying my children!”
“Yeah,” Galen said. “You’ve got to admire a woman like that. Uncle Wolf has no idea what he bit off by taking on Fiona and River. Those two could hound the devil himself.”
“I don’t want to think about it.” Tighe finished his whiskey and Ash refilled his glass in a hurry. The liquid burned through him, bracing him, but not giving him any creative ideas on how to rescue his woman.
I can’t even really call her my woman. She’s not exactly overly enthusiastic about marrying me.
“I never thought the day would come when I couldn’t defend my own family. And there I sat, with no options, while my family, my whole world, went off with a bunch of armed thugs.” Tighe felt as if he’d been smashed to bits, stomped by something stronger and meaner than Firefreak.
“We will wait,” Running Bear said quietly, and they all stared at him in surprise.
“Wait for what?” Tighe demanded. “I don’t have long to wait. River’s a couple months pregnant. I need to get her home.” In my arms. Where she belongs.
“Well, you can’t go after her,” Ash observed. “You’re still limping. Bet you wish you hadn’t tried to ride that stupid hunk of meat, huh?”
“I’m fine,” he snapped. “I just came home to get backup.” Tighe looked around at his brothers expectantly.
“No,” Running Bear said. “You’re too hotheaded right now. When passions rule, danger is near. Wolf will expect us to come to him. Yet we will not.”