Saving Sidewinder: Brotherhood Protectors World
Page 10
“You can’t do that, bitch. You may think I’m stupid but I know the law. Been getting the best of it my whole life.” He snarled and poked a couple more wires into the putty like substance he held. “He won’t get out till he gets parole.”
“He will if I file a petition claiming malfeasance.”
“What malfeasance?” He drawled, his hands slowing.
“I’ll think of something! Please. Let Charlie go. He’s not involved in this.”
Price’s expression turned canny, his eyes shining in the dark. She had to keep him talking, had to keep him distracted.
Then all hell broke loose. Sam tackled Price, bringing him to the ground. The explosive bounced on the ground and Alana raced for it, her heart pounding as she scooped up the square putty with the wires sprouting from it like an old man’s combover. She yanked the wires from their moorings, stuffing the mass in her pocket as she did so. She wheeled and raced back to the battling men, trying to pull the pistol from her pants as she ran.
Sam punched Price in the face, his hands holding the other man’s collar as he did so. He pulled back to hit him again and Alana yelled, “Stop”.
He glanced at her, still astride Price. “You okay?”
She held up the explosive. “Got it.” She gestured toward Price who appeared half conscious. “Can we tie him up or something?”
Sam muttered, “Something,” and punched Price once more. The older man’s head sagged and Sam let it drop to the ground before standing. He held his hand out, “Got a long piece of wire in that C4?”
Her eyes widened as she reached into her pocket and retrieved the bundle of wires then handed them to Sam. “Is that what it is? I’ve seen pictures but never held it.”
He huffed a laugh, “You’re something, woman. Take on a madman with a bomb and marvel at explosives you’re squeezing like playdough.”
She loosened her grip on the putty and watched as he rolled Price, then hogtied his wrists and ankles together with the long tail of wire. “I’ll collapse later. Can we go find Charlie?”
He nodded and stood. They walked toward the mine, only to stare in horror as the front of the mine collapsed into piles of rock and dust.
“Charlie!” Alana raced to the opening and started pulling rocks and sticks away, her hands scrambling in the dirt. Sam yanked her back and she hit him, trying to get back to the rumble.
“Stop! You might only make it collapse more.”
“How can it collapse more?” She shouted, her voice shaking to the beat of her heart. “There’s nothing left, Sam, and he’s in there. They’re in there!”
A slow, low noise turned them around and Alana stared at Price, who lay on his side, chuckling. “You didn’t think I only had one piece of C4, did you? Stupid bitch.”
Sam advanced, obviously planning on beating him senseless again, then stopped and took a breath. He pulled his radio from his belt and bit out instructions and directions. Responses immediately came through as the other teams stated their locations and times to meet at the mine.
Alana studied the mine. They needed light. “Tell them to bring whatever light they can.”
Sam didn’t answer but she heard him speaking to Hannah and figured he was relaying the message. She started clearing away the closest rocks and debris, inching her way toward the original opening site. She’d made it there when Sam joined her. “I don’t think it was an explosion. I think the mine just collapsed.” He seemed to be trying to reassure her but Alana didn’t care about the how but the what.
“Charlie? Kid? Can you hear me?” She shouted, her face almost touching the rocks in front of her. Waiting, holding her breath, she strained to hear any response. Nothing. She repeated her call again and again, aware of her throat becoming scratchy and dry. Still, she called repeatedly, silent only to listen for a response.
It seemed only minutes before the area became lit with lights ranged around her and ATVs parked in a circle, adding their headlights to the mix. She turned to find Hannah, her face creased with worry, at her side. “Take a break, Alana. Get something to drink.”
“In a minute,” Alana responded only to have Hannah take hold of her elbow and tug.
“You’ve been calling for them for forty-five minutes. You need to drink something and let the men get to the opening.” She gestured toward the knot of men standing with shovels and pickaxes. Alana blinked and moved out of the way. Sam, grim and silent, led the group and started moving the rock and rotted timber.
“Where’s Price?” she mumbled, not really caring at this point.
“Sheriff McCauley took him. He’s going to question him and see if there were any other openings to the mine.”
Hannah handed Alana a bottled water, which she chugged then shook her head. “He won’t tell him if there is.”
“Probably not, from what I’ve seen,” Hannah agreed. “Hank Patterson is making some phone calls to the old timers in the area, seeing if any of them have any recollection of this mine. Sometimes there are other openings or branches of the mines, so we might be in luck.”
Alana watched the men haul off debris in wheelbarrows, buckets, and their hands. They’d need all the luck in the world.
Hours passed and dawn broke. Coffee appeared, as well as ranchers and townspeople from Eagle Rock, spelling the workers. When there was an opening made, Alana wormed her way through and called. Silence fell over the ever-enlarging crowd. Nothing. Until, after eight hours of digging, praying and work to shore up the opening, a faint voice was heard from the other side of a fall. “Charlie? Is that you? Are you okay?”
“We’re okay Mom. Can I get out of here?” His voice held a touch of panic and Alana wanted to claw through the wall of dirt, rock, and wood to grab him.
“We’re working on it kid.” Sam’s voice held relief and something that surrounded Alana’s heart and squeezed. “You injured?”
“I hurt my arm, but not bad. Tell Mom it’s not bad.” Charlie’s muffled voice held urgency.
Sam smiled slightly, “I will. What about Kid? He with you?”
A pause then, “He’s hurt, Sam. I think he might have hit his head.”
Oh, God. Just what Kid needed, another brain injury. “Is he breathing okay, Charlie?” Alana reached for Sam’s hand and squeezed.
“Yeah. He’s breathing okay. He just kinda sat down when the rock fell and hasn’t gotten up.”
Sam’s grip on her hand tightened and he swallowed before answering Charlie, finding out if the area was safe and instructing him to back up several feet to prevent getting hit by any rock fall. After a couple minutes, she retreated and let the men go to work. She carried lighter loads, insisting that she didn’t need to sit and wait. She couldn’t sit and wait.
Half an hour later, Charlie emerged in Sam’s arms, his face dirty and tear streaked. Alana stumbled to him, engulfing him only to rear back when he cried out. His right arm lay cradled in his left, an unnatural bump noticeable mid forearm. “Sorry, honey.” She lightly touched the spot. “I think it might be broken.”
He stood as Sam lowered him to the ground, “I know. I just didn’t want you to worry till you saw me.” He raised his face her and grinned wobbly, “I won’t have to write for a few weeks,”
Her laugh shaky, she waggled her head, “Probably not. You okay, otherwise?”
He nodded then looked over his shoulder toward the mine. “I’m worried about Kid, Mom.”
She took the blanket someone handed her and wrapped it around Charlie’s shoulders then led him to the side out of the worker’s way. “I am too, honey. Sam will get him out.”
Charlie watched silently at her side, refusing to let a ranch medic take a look at him. Minutes later, Kid was hauled through the opening with curses and several snipes at the men around him. Shocked, Alana looked at Charlie, whose avid expression told her he was storing the information for later use. Great.
She found Sam in the mix, his hands under Kids’ shoulders as he carried him to the clearing. “We need a s
tretcher constructed. He’s got a busted leg.” He called over his shoulder as the men carrying Kid lowered him to the ground. Alana and Charlie rushed to them. Charlie gingerly squatted down beside Kid. “Your head isn’t busted?”
Kid laughed tightly, his hand on his thigh, “No more than usual, kid. You okay?”
Charlie smiled. “Busted arm. Guess Beast will have to exercise himself for a while, huh?”
“Guess so.” Kid agreed and winced. A makeshift stretcher was brought forward and Kid was transferred to it with more muttered oaths. Alana chalked that up to more education her son shouldn’t have had, along with the cave in and Price Shepherd.
They made it to the small hospital in Eagle Rock, where Kid’s and Charlie’s breaks were set and cast. Kid gave Charlie another set of curses to catalog when he was told he’d be a guest in the small hospital for several days. “Damnit to hell, I’ve had enough of these places to last me a lifetime,” he groused as Alana tucked him in. Sam noticed he didn’t push her away.
“It will only be for a few days,” she actually patted him on the arm before adding, “I’ll bring you something to eat every day.”
Kid waggled his head and put on a resigned expression, “Not from the chow hall,” he bargained. She agreed to stop at the diner in town and get home baked pies and gravy laden steak.
The sheriff, back from securing Price in his small jail, stepped forward. “You drugged up too much to answer questions, son?”
Kid shook his head. “I don’t like pain meds.”
“I can answer questions, too.” Charlie piped up from his spot beside Kid. Other than his own medical care, he’d not left the young man’s side since coming to the hospital.
Sheriff McCauley scratched his morning stubble and continued. “You two want to tell me what happened?”
Sam leaned against the wall near the bed, his arm around Alana’s waist, and listened as Kid outlined his actions. “I went in the mine and found some opened food cans, chip bags, that sort of stuff. Let me know someone had been living there for a bit. When I entered this one larger area, I saw Charlie. Thought he was alone. I saw Price and tried to get between him and Charlie. I figured Price might accept if I acted like I didn’t know anything so I acted like I’d just stumbled on the place. He believed me until I tripped over a wire and the rock came down. That was it, then”
“It was not!” Charlie interrupted Kid and threw him a disgusted look. “When he came in Price was getting ready to do something to my finger.” Charlie held out his left hand then gestured to his right. “He had a knife and was holding my hand. He kinda took the knife and drew a line across here,” he indicated his right wrist. “Then Kid started acting like he wasn’t too smart and Price relaxed. Kid jumped Price then, pushing him out of the way and took his knife. Price ran out of the mine and Kid started to follow him. That’s when the rock fell.”
Kid shrugged, “Okay. But I didn’t get Price.”
Alana, who’d all but fell against Sam at the mention of the knife, choked out in a whisper only Sam could hear. “He’d have cut off his hand.”
Sam closed his eyes and swallowed. But for Kid and his actions, there could have been a different outcome. He looked at the young man before him. “Nice job, Jacob.”
Kid shot him a surprised look, “I didn’t think you even knew my given name.”
Sam quirked a grin. “You hadn’t earned it till now,”
Kid grinned and held out a fist which Sam thumped, copied quickly by Charlie who awkwardly bumped fists using his left hand.
Alana turned to Sam and sighed. “I think I’m taking Charlie home and getting some sleep. You coming?”
He looked at her, aware of everyone else going about their business, as if the world hadn’t shifted. “You asking?”
She nodded. “I need to touch base with my boss in Helena but I want to take some time off and get some real rest. Maybe we can talk about things?” Her tone drifted from sure to hesitant and Sam knew she’d started doubting him.
He squeezed her against him. “Well, we both are up in the air. I guess Jacob will be staying close by for rehab on his leg. I don’t know if I want to stay with Hank and his team. I have a feeling keeping up with you and Charlie will be enough bodyguard work for me. So I’m going to be unemployed.”
She smiled. “I doubt it. If you want to work as in investigator for the State’s Attorney’s office, there’s always an opening. You’ll have a good reference.”
He held the door open for her, throwing a wave at Jacob who grinned widely and ushered her and Charlie into the hall. “I might just do that.”
“Mom, Sam, can we buy a horse? I bet we can find someplace in Helena to stable Beast and I bet Hannah would let me buy him.”
Original Brotherhood Protectors Series
By Elle james
Brotherhood Protector Series
Montana SEAL (#1)
Bride Protector SEAL (#2)
Montana D-Force (#3)
Cowboy D-Force (#4)
Montana Ranger (#5)
Montana Dog Soldier (#6)
Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)
Montana Ranger’s Wedding Vow (#8)
Montana SEAL Undercover Daddy (#9)
Montana SEAL Friendly Fire (#10)
Montana SEAL’s Bride (#11) TBD
Montana Rescue
Hot SEAL, Salty Dog
About Elle James
ELLE JAMES also writing as MYLA JACKSON is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of books including cowboys, intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edges of their seats. With over eighty works in a variety of sub-genres and lengths she has published with Harlequin, Samhain, Ellora’s Cave, Kensington, Cleis Press, and Avon. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, snow skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories. Learn more about Elle James at www.ellejames.com
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