Texas-Sized Trouble

by Barb Han

  How he got inside the ranch was a topic for another day. As for now, Ryder needed to make sure they’d be around to ask the question.

  “You think I didn’t know what you were up to, little girl,” McCabe mumbled as he went about shaking the contents of the first gasoline container from the corner toward Ryder and the others in the middle of the room. “You’re going to watch everyone you care about burn before you die.”

  “How did you find Nicholas?” she asked.

  “The Hattie brothers sang like birds right before they died,” he said and his voice had a hysterical quality to it.

  Ryder pulled on all the strength he had to stay completely still, reminding himself of the stakes. Make a move too early and he’d give himself away. Give himself away and they had no chance of survival.

  Unaware, McCabe moved closer, splashing the contents of the container on the floor in front of him as he walked. The contents were making a wide splatter as McCabe dragged his feet across the floor. He sprinkled some on Nicholas and Celeste. And then, Ryder. A few more steps.

  Let him get close enough...

  In one motion, Ryder swept McCabe’s feet out from underneath him. The elder man came down hard with a grunt as he hit the wood floor.

  Ryder’s arm hurt like hell and the pain weakened him, but he couldn’t allow himself to think about that right now. All he could focus on was bringing down McCabe. Grinding his teeth, Ryder pushed through the ache and used both arms to secure McCabe. The older man kicked and cursed, trying to wriggle out of Ryder’s grip. The left arm was giving him trouble; the pain medication did little more than make him want to vomit and he was losing strength because of the blood loss.

  On a normal day, McCabe would be no match for Ryder. Today was far from normal.

  A boot slammed against Ryder’s chin and his head snapped to the right. He caught a glimpse of Nicholas sitting up, trying to break his arms free. Hurry. Momentum was shifting in McCabe’s direction and Ryder had no idea how much longer he could hold on.

  Faith was shouting, and from the corner of his eye he could see that she was trying to break her hands free, as was Celeste. Any one of them succeeded and this fight would be over.

  Gasoline was everywhere and had splattered them, which didn’t help with the bile burning his throat, trying to force its way out. Ryder couldn’t afford to let McCabe gain an inch. The older man’s arms were free and Ryder had him by the thighs. He needed to hold on. Fists flew at him and then hands were grabbing at his face, poking at his eyes, pulling his hair. Ryder curled downward, angling his face away from McCabe. If they went up in flames, the old man was going with them.

  McCabe was pulling out all the stops to try to break free. With Ryder’s ankles still bound there’d be no way he could catch the old man if he broke out of Ryder’s grasp. Worse yet, there was enough gasoline to light up the building with a single match. He could strike a match and lock the door behind him.

  Ryder was losing strength. His arms felt like rubber. It was taking all his power, all his energy to hold on to the old man’s legs. And then he heard the rip.

  The hand gripped around his skull made it impossible to turn his head and look to see who was free.

  A few seconds later, the hand was gone. Ryder looked up in time to see Nicholas on top of his father, holding his arms. Ryder held on to the man’s thighs, making it impossible for him to kick, but he was trying to head-butt his son.

  “What should I do?” Nicholas shouted.

  Faith was scooting toward him, as was Celeste. There wasn’t much either woman could do while they were tied up, and Ryder had exhausted all his strength getting this far. He wished he could tell Nicholas to grab something hard and bash his father in the head. That should slow McCabe down enough to set one of the women free.

  He didn’t have to. Faith did.

  “I can’t do it,” Nicholas said, anguish in his voice.

  In the big picture, it was probably for the best because it said a lot about the boy’s character. However, in the moment it was problematic.

  “He doesn’t deserve to live,” Faith said, managing to push up to her knees. “But if you can knock him out, we’ll make sure he goes to jail for a very long time.”

  Faith was finally close enough to rip the duct tape off Ryder’s mouth. His adrenaline was pumping too hard to feel the effects from the burn. Later, he’d pay for all of this.

  “I can’t hold on much longer,” he said to Faith. “Put your hands up to my mouth.”

  She did.

  He bit a small tear in her duct tape and she managed to free herself the rest of the way.

  “You okay?” he asked with a glance toward her belly.

  She nodded and then tore the tape from his ankles before freeing herself. She worked quickly and within thirty seconds had freed Celeste.

  The scorned woman had no problem wielding the makeshift weapon. She stood over Hollister and said, “Your daughter and Ryder are going to make a beautiful family. You’re an idiot not to see that Ryder will be more of a father than you’ll ever be to any of your children. And I hope you enjoy your nap.”

  She winked at Nicholas and then swung the weed-whacker like a golf club. The casing cracked after making contact with the back of McCabe’s skull, and he was immediately knocked unconscious.

  He’d come around later behind cold, metal bars and have one hell of a headache to show for it, Ryder thought wryly.

  They’d done it. Faith was safe. That was the only thought Ryder held on to as he gave in to the darkness pulling him under.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Where’s Faith?” Ryder broke through the fog long enough to ask. His body ached and he was being bounced around again. A sense of dread settled around him until he blinked his eyes open and realized he was in the back of an ambulance. There was an oxygen mask strapped over his mouth.

  He lifted it and asked again.

  “You’re okay,” the EMT said, obviously not understanding his question.

  “Faith McCabe,” Ryder said through searing pain, “where is she?”

  “Ms. McCabe is fine. You, on the other hand, have lost a lot of blood.” The man hunkered over Ryder was barely out of his twenties. “And I need you to put that back on.”

  He motioned toward the mask.

  “I need to see her.” Ryder tried to sit up but was easily pushed back down by the strong EMT.

  “You will,” he said, and introduced himself as Carl. “She’s in the car following us and we’re almost there. As for now, I need you to let me do my job.”

  Ryder didn’t have the strength to argue. He would take Carl on his word that Faith was okay, especially considering the fact that he was too weak to fight.

  A few minutes later, the ambulance stopped and Ryder was being wheeled out the back strapped to a gurney.

  “Hold up,” Carl said to his partner and then winked at Ryder.

  “Ryder,” Faith shouted, as Carl waved her over.

  Seeing her face gave Ryder new reason to fight the darkness tugging at him. He wanted to be fully awake so he could ask her the question that had popped into his mind the moment he considered the possibility that they both might die.

  Nicholas was next to her and Celeste behind him as he took her by the hand.

  “I’d get down on one knee if I could,” Ryder started, suddenly unsure of himself in a way that he’d never experienced before. He’d push through the lack of confidence because she needed to know how he felt about her. “Because I don’t want to live another minute without knowing you’ll be there beside me every morning when I wake up. When I’m with you, I don’t need to search for a thrill because just being with you makes me feel like I’m diving off a cliff, no safety net, in a way that I want to last forever. So I’m asking you to take me as your husband, you
r partner in this life. In turn, I promise to celebrate all the good times and be there to help you up every time you fall. Will you do me the honor of agreeing to marry me?”

  Her moment of silence gripped him with fear that they’d never be able to get past their differences.

  And then the wide smile broke across her face when she uttered the only word he needed to hear. Yes.

  He tugged her down for a kiss before Carl broke it up and wheeled him into the ER and to the OR nurse waiting.

  When Ryder woke the second time in a hospital room he was surrounded by everyone he loved. Faith sat on the edge of the bed. His brothers stood around, talking quietly. Nicholas and Celeste sat together in the chair by the bed.

  He squeezed Faith’s hand and she turned to him with a mix of worry and hope.

  “Remember what you said earlier,” he said with a wink. “Because I plan to hold you to it.”

  “Good. Because for a minute there I thought you were delirious before and wouldn’t remember. I had no intention of letting you get away with it,” she quipped. And her smile was all he needed to see. The rest of the people in the room were icing on a cake.

  “Look who’s finally awake,” Joshua teased. And the others mumbled similar sentiments. They might be joking but Ryder knew just how worried they’d all been based on the lines creasing their foreheads and drawn around their mouths.

  He thanked everyone for coming, and then reassured them that he was okay.

  “Good. We didn’t want to stand in line to see whose blood type matched up,” Colin, one of his middle brothers, joked. Humor was the best stress reducer.

  “You all should know that I’ve asked Faith to marry me,” he said. “I love her and can’t wait to be a family. I hope you’ll be able to accept her in time, even if her last name is McCabe.”

  “Correction. Her last name is O’Brien,” Dallas shot back. “And we wouldn’t care what it was...she looks like she can keep you out of trouble and that’s all that matters to us.”

  Congratulations broke out as each of his brothers hugged her one by one.

  “You guys have never made me feel like an outsider,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. She glanced at Celeste and Nicholas. “And I hope you’ll do the same for my family.”

  Dallas turned to Celeste. “Ryder filled us in on your situation and we’d like to offer you a job on the ranch. Janis is lonely in the big house and she’s already preparing rooms for the both of you in hopes you’ll accept.”

  “Wait. Hold on a minute,” Ryder said to his brother. “How did you know I’d bring Faith home with me?”

  “We’re not stupid,” Dallas said. “And neither are you, but you would’ve had to be to let her go.”

  “You guys really are going to make me cry like a baby,” Faith said, turning to Ryder. “I’ve never felt so accepted or so much like home than when I’m with you.”

  “I don’t want to be no charity case,” Celeste said.

  Nicholas started to protest, but she shushed him.

  “I didn’t say that I wasn’t taking the job. I just meant that I’ll work harder than anyone else to prove I’m capable,” she said.

  “I have no doubt that you will,” Ryder said.

  Dallas agreed, kicking off another round of hugs and congratulations.

  “Welcome to the family,” Dallas said to Nicholas and Celeste. “One thing I’ve learned this year is that families only grow in love as they expand. I’m looking forward to growing ours with the two of you.”

  A nurse scurried into the room and then stopped when she saw the small crowd.

  “I’m sorry to do this but I need everyone out,” she said. Her name tag read Adeline.

  “We’ll be downstairs,” Dallas said, leading the way out of the room.

  “My future wife stays or I go with her, Adeline,” Ryder said with a wink, pulling out all his charm. It must’ve worked because she fussed a little before agreeing.

  Adeline checked his blood pressure and a few other things he didn’t care about as he focused on the thought that he and Faith were going to be parents together.

  A few minutes later, Adeline warned him about doing anything that would spike his blood pressure before she scurried out the door.

  He laughed.

  “We should probably check on your mother and Jesse,” he said.

  “Tommy called and said they were in trouble but since they hadn’t intended for anyone to get hurt that the courts will most likely go light on them,” she said. “He even said that he’d speak on their behalf if I wanted him to.”

  “And?”

  “I do. My father will do everything in his power to make sure that she ends up with nothing, so I’m planning to offer my escape route to them once she serves her time.” She looked at him and he could see warmth in her eyes. “I don’t need it now that I have you.”

  “I meant every word of what I said before,” he said to her. “I’m head over heels in love with you and I can’t wait to make our family official.”

  “Want a shock?” she asked, and he couldn’t read her expression.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks when she rubbed her belly and said, “I think I’ve been in love with you from the very first day we met in second grade...and I can’t wait to be Mrs. Ryder O’Brien.”

  Ryder pulled her down on the bed next to him and kissed the woman he loved, the mother of his child and his future wife.

  * * * * *

  Look for more books in USA TODAY

  bestselling author Barb Han’s miniseries

  CATTLEMEN CRIME CLUB in 2017.

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  An explosive new case...

  A suspect with a hidden agenda...

  and a Special Agent whose past could cost her everything!

  Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first episode of

  TOUGH JUSTICE: COUNTDOWN (Part 1 of 8)

  by New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy.

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  Tough Justice: Countdown (Part 1 of 8)

  by Carla Cassidy

  Episode One

  A year after FBI Agent Lara Grant put her past—in the form of a very personal manhunt—behind her, the Crisis Management Unit is called in to take lead on a sh
ocking new assignment. A serial bomber is targeting some of the most powerful people in in the city, threatening to expose their deepest secrets.

  And soon Lara will face a deadly foe—with an army of skeletons just waiting to fall out of her own closet…

  Prologue

  Dammit, he’d been so careful. And now this.

  A trickle of sweat worked down the side of his face and he closed his eyes as fear tightened his lungs and squeezed his throat. He’d been in a simmering panic since he’d received the email.

  He opened his eyes and reread the damned thing.

  12:01a.m., from yourworstnightmare@nowhere.net:

  I know what you did with all that money. I’ll keep your secret but it will cost the lives of innocent people. Or confess to the press and nobody gets hurt. The choice is yours. You have until noon tomorrow.

  The lives of innocent people? What did that mean? His gut tightened as nausea overcame him.

  Things like this weren’t supposed to happen to him. He’d done everything right in his life. He’d had high hopes. He had big ambitions. The New York Times was running a cover story on him next week that he hoped would launch him to a new level of success. Everything was in place and now this.

  Somebody knew his secret.

  He twisted his gold wedding band around and around his finger as he stared at the grandfather clock across the room. He had to make a decision fast. Time was running out.

  Coming clean would destroy everything he’d worked for. Hell, it wouldn’t only destroy him, it would also destroy his wife.

  How much could this anonymous person know? Did the emailer know about all the gifts, the secret hotel visits and the faux business expenses?

  Just last weekend they had spent two days together at a luxury hotel upstate, ultimately paid for by taxpayer dollars.

  Four minutes…he had four minutes left to make a decision. He should have contacted his brother when he’d received the email. But what could he have done to help? What could anyone do?