Out of the Storm

by B. J Daniels

  KATE HAD RUN up the road, the sound of Jon’s voice in her ears. Run! Think of Mia and Danielle. She’d run like she’d never run before. She’d thought he would be behind her. She’d prayed he would be. But when she’d heard the shots, she couldn’t go any farther. Jon wasn’t behind her.

  She could see the two of them back at the vehicles. Why was Jon still down there? If there really was a bomb...? Maybe there wasn’t. Maybe he’d said that only to get her away from Collin, away from the gunfire.

  That’s when she heard the pop of a shot from Collin’s gun. She’d seen Jon stagger and drop into the deep snow. What she did next had nothing to do with reason or common sense. Her body had just started moving back down the road toward him. She would have gone to him had she not been stopped by a blinding flash of light followed by a deafening boom of noise. The explosion had driven her back as the SUV she and Collin had been in moments before turned into a fireball. Debris showered down around the SUV, blackening the snow.

  Stunned, her breath stolen from the impact of hot air, she’d stopped and stared at what was left of the SUV. Jon’s pickup parked so close suddenly exploded. Even from as far away as she stood, she could feel the heat, smell the caustic smoke that rolled up into the winter-white sky overhead.

  She tried to breathe, gasping at the horrific sight. Her gaze swung to where she’d seen Jon fall after the sound of the gunshot. She began to run down the road, her throat on fire from the smoke and her sobs. As she started out across the snowy field, she heard sirens over the crackle of the burning vehicles.

  Halfway across the field, she saw movement. Jon was trying to get to his feet from where he’d fallen and rolled down to the edge of a frozen creek. She stumbled through the snow, nearly falling time and again until she reached the top of the rise.

  She saw him standing there, looking as if it took all of his strength to do so. She could see the blood that had soaked through to his coat. He was holding his left side as he looked up at her. Her gaze met his. What she saw in his brown eyes made her heart swell as the sound of sirens grew closer and closer.

  Kate felt tears blur her vision as Jon limped up the hill toward her. She took one step, then another until she was running to him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  KATE OPENED HER EYES. They felt gritty. She had to blink a couple of times to focus. When she did, her gaze fell on the hospital bed and the man lying in it. Earlier she’d called her daughters to let them know she was all right and that she would tell them everything when she could. Then she’d hung up and asked to see Jon.

  Now getting up from the chair where she’d fallen asleep, she moved to his bedside.

  He looked like a stranger lying there. His face had been split open from where Collin had struck him with the gun. The blow had broken his nose. It was now flattened and cocked a little to one side. The broken skin had been stitched together from his forehead to his jaw line, an angry slash across his already scarred face.

  “He is never going to look like the man you knew,” the doctor had told her. She’d assured him it didn’t matter. “That’s if he comes out of the coma.” The paramedics had almost lost him on the flight to the hospital. After that, Jon had gone into a coma. The doctor had warned her that there might be brain damage.

  Now as she picked up his hand from where it lay on the white sheet and held it in both of hers, she worried that he was too pale. He’d lost so much blood. But the concussion was what had led to the coma, the doctor had said. His brain had swollen, and if they hadn’t relieved the pressure...

  She’d read about comas on her cell phone as she’d sat beside his bed. Some patients didn’t come out of them. Others came out years later. She knew she would wait. However long it took. She’d waited twenty years for this man. She’d wait another.

  Most of what had happened after Homeland Security and the border patrol had arrived was a blur. Jon had taken a few steps and collapsed. She’d held him in her arms until the paramedics carried him to the helicopter that had set down in the road. Before he’d passed out, the only word he’d spoken was Katie.

  She’d wanted to go with him but hadn’t been allowed. She’d been taken to a Homeland Security office, expecting hours of interrogation. But to her surprise, Earl Ray had arrived and whisked her out of there. Together, they’d flown to the hospital. She’d been by Jon’s bedside ever since.

  It wasn’t the large hospital she’d expected. Instead, it was a small private one with only a few rooms. Earl Ray had assured her that a specialized doctor had been flown in to care for Jon. She noticed there were armed guards at the entry to both the hospital and Jon’s room.

  “Is he under arrest?” she’d asked Earl Ray, sick with what she’d gotten him involved in.

  “The officers are here for his protection,” the older man had said.

  For a while, she’d forgotten about the mobsters who wanted to kill Jon. She’d been too worried that he’d die from saving her. She had no way of knowing if Collin had made that call back in Buckhorn to the authorities, telling them where they could find Justin Brown. Were those criminals searching for Jon even now?

  “It won’t take much to find him once the story comes out in the newspaper,” she told Earl Ray.

  He had shaken his head. “That isn’t going to happen. At least, Jon’s name or yours won’t be in the story. You aren’t going to see anything about this on the news. It’s been taken care of.”

  While not sure what that meant, she’d seen that it was all the information she was going to get. Her head still hurt from the two explosions, making it hard sometimes to think.

  “He saved my life,” she’d told Earl Ray. “I realize now that he was even trying to save Collin.”

  Earl Ray hadn’t looked surprised. “It would be just like Jon to save the fool. That’s just the way he is.”

  “I’m here, Jon,” she whispered now and lifted his palm to her lips to plant a kiss in its center. “Come back to me. Please, Jon. Come back to me.”

  She looked up to see Earl Ray enter the room and quickly wiped at her tears as she let go of Jon’s hand.

  “We need to talk,” Earl Ray said.

  Kate’s feet felt like lead weights as they walked down the hallway to a private room. She could tell by Earl Ray’s somber expression that what he had to say was serious. Had there been news about Jon’s condition? The doctor said they didn’t know when he’d be coming out of his coma—if at all. But she had to believe that he would open those brown eyes at any time and whisper her name. Katie.

  * * *

  “PLEASE, SIT DOWN,” EARL RAY said as he closed the door to the small room and motioned for her to sit.

  She felt as if she couldn’t breathe. One look into the man’s kind eyes, and her legs felt so weak that she quickly lowered herself onto the couch.

  “I’m not sure how much you know about Jon’s...situation,” Earl Ray said.

  She realized he hadn’t said condition even as she asked, “You mean his medical—”

  “No, his past.”

  Kate nodded. “Collin told me that he was in law enforcement and that there were some killers looking for him because he had busted a bunch of mobsters.” Just the mention of Collin sent a shudder through her. She couldn’t bear to think about the way he’d died. No one deserved that. If only he had listened to Jon. If only he hadn’t done everything he had, including trying to kill Jon when Jon was only trying to save him.

  “There has been a bounty out on Jon from before he came to Buckhorn. It’s one reason I’ve had to do the things I have. I’ve had to go out on a limb and call in a lot of favors. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He hesitated for a moment. “You need to know what happens next. I’m afraid I have little control over that part. It’s one reason I haven’t wanted you to talk about what happened to anyone. The official news is that both Collin Matthews died in an unrelated car acci
dent and Jon Harper died in that explosion.”

  She blinked. “But Jon isn’t—”

  “No,” he said quickly. “He’s still alive. Still in a coma. But officially, Jon Harper is dead. His being dead means that no one will be looking for him anymore.”

  Kate sat back. She didn’t know what to say. “You made that happen?”

  Earl Ray nodded. “If he pulls through—”

  “When he pulls through,” she corrected. “He’s strong. He won’t leave me.”

  The older man’s smile was filled with both hope and sadness. “I certainly hope that’s true. When he pulls through, he can’t go by Jon Harper again. That life is over. He can’t go back to Buckhorn—at least not as the man he was. You’ve seen the damage to his face. Plastic surgeons will be reconstructing it, resetting broken bones and covering the scars—all of them, including those from his burns.”

  “What are you trying to tell me?” she asked, suddenly terrified that she already knew. She began to cry, shaking her head, silently screaming No!

  “I know how much you love him,” Earl Ray said, his voice breaking. “That’s why I know you can and will do this to save him—if he doesn’t die from his injuries. I know how strong you are. But this means you are going to have to be very strong.”

  “If you’re going to tell me that I can’t see him ever again—”

  “No,” Earl Ray said. “That would be too cruel for both of you. But it is going to take time for him to recover if he—when he comes out of the coma,” he quickly corrected. “There will be months of reconstruction to his face and possibly some physical therapy, depending on what parts of his brain might have been injured. What I’m trying to tell you is that it could be a very long time before he’s well enough to even leave the hospital.”

  “But after that?” she asked, her heart in her throat.

  Earl Ray reached for her hand, sending a chill through her. “When he is completely healed, he will have a new face, a new name, depending on his injuries maybe even some disabilities. He isn’t going to be the same man.”

  “I don’t care,” Kate said adamantly.

  Earl Ray nodded and looked even more serious. “It’s not just that. We don’t know how he’s going to feel when he comes out of the coma. There might be too much damage to his brain. He might not—”

  “Remember me?” Her laugh came out a sob. “I’ve been here before, remember? This time, he will remember me. I’ll wait.”

  He smiled through his own tears as he squeezed her hand. “For both your sakes, I certainly hope so. Now, the hard part. You have to return to Texas and get back to your life as you knew it. We have a cover story for Collin Matthews. He was killed in a car accident on your trip. He’d left you at the motel to run and get a present for you. It was a single-car rollover. He hadn’t been wearing his seat belt. His...remains will be cremated. You will take them back to Texas where you will bury them as if the two of you had never changed your minds about getting married. I understand he has no family.” She nodded, wondering how she could manage such a lie. “You need to stick to that.”

  “Wait, no, I can’t leave here until Jon regains consciousness.”

  Earl Ray was shaking his head. “I’m sorry. That’s not possible. Any more time here, and you will be jeopardizing Jon’s life.”

  She felt the hard, blunt force of his words. “What is Jon’s story?”

  “He had left Buckhorn and was attacked on the highway. It was believed to have something to do with his past and a bounty out on him. His life as Justin Brown will come out. In fact, someone will collect the bounty.”

  All she could do was nod as she thought of Jon lying in that hospital bed and her not being with him when he woke up.

  “I pulled some strings,” Earl Ray was saying. “I wanted your life in Texas to be as normal as possible. But first, we need to bury Jon Harper in Buckhorn. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but everyone back there was betting on you and Jon. You think you can handle his funeral?”

  “I can handle anything as long as he lives, and we can be together again,” she said quickly.

  “I knew I could count on you. He is much loved in Buckhorn. You stole a few hearts in the short time you were there as well.”

  She wiped at her tears. “You don’t know what that means to me.”

  Earl Ray nodded. “His remains have been shipped back to Buckhorn. The funeral is tomorrow afternoon.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  WHEN KATE LEFT BUCKHORN, MONTANA, she’d thought she’d never see the town again. It had broken her heart because it had meant never seeing Jon again. Now returning, she still didn’t know if she would ever see him again. Earl Ray had checked. Jon was still in a coma. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done, leaving him at the hospital, but Earl Ray had insisted the only way to save him was to bury him.

  Kate knew she had to trust the older man. He’d already done so much for her and Jon and her daughters, by keeping them safe. Still it had been hard to go shopping for new clothing and shoes, to call her daughters and not tell them everything. But for Jon, she would keep the secret. He’d saved her life, hopefully not at the cost of his own.

  Earl Ray assured her that he wouldn’t leave Jon alone long. He was planning to head back there as soon as the funeral was over—after he dropped her at the airport for her flight to Houston.

  “Jon Harper is dead,” Earl Ray told her as they drove through the middle of downtown Buckhorn. She nodded, not surprised how little the town had changed. So much had happened to her, and yet everything appeared the same, including all the snow.

  “Just remember that the man you knew died trying to escape his past.”

  “The man I knew died saving my life,” she said. “How can I ever forget that? I took so much from him, his name, his life here...” She couldn’t bear to think of him still lying in that hospital bed in a coma. What if he never woke up?

  “Kate,” Earl Ray said. “You brought Jon back to life. He was slowly dying in Buckhorn from regrets, and I suspect you were one of them.”

  Her worst fear had been that she would return for Jon Harper’s funeral and now here she was. She kept thinking of that day when she’d pushed open his workshop door and seen him standing there. She couldn’t lose him now. Not after everything they’d been through.

  “Are you ready?” Earl Ray asked as he parked in front of the bar where it appeared everyone had gathered. “Jon’s funeral will give you a chance to grieve for him openly because he’s gone, Katie. That man won’t be back.”

  “I’ve been grieving for him for years. But now, just the thought that he might not ever wake up or that, even if he does, I might never see him again...” She wiped at her tears. “Are you sure the people of Buckhorn won’t tar and feather me for destroying the man they knew?”

  He chuckled. “They knew how much you loved him, how much you didn’t want to leave him, how much you will always miss Jon.”

  She nodded, took the handkerchief he handed her and looked out on the beautiful day. It was one of the few clear days so far that winter, Bessie said when she spotted Kate and hurried to her. She said that the funeral was being held at the only space large enough and still open in winter, Dave’s Bar.

  “The sun coming out is a good sign,” Bessie assured her. “It gives us all hope that Jon is in a better place.” Kate could only nod, thinking of him back at the hospital. All the townspeople turned out, packing the bar. Even some who had gone to Arizona for the winter had returned.

  She need not have worried about how everyone was going to feel about her being there. Even the snowbirds had heard the story of Kate and Jon. The two of them had become legend in town. She thought of him the entire service, unable to hold back her tears. Fortunately, Bessie was there with tissues and a strong arm around her.

  Axel Mullen read from the Bible. Vi, Mabel and Clarice sang
“Amazing Grace” and “Rock of Ages.” After that, anyone who wanted to say something about Jon Harper was offered a chance to speak.

  The townspeople came up, one after another. They told stories of Jon’s generosity, of his kindness, of his quiet strength. Some of the stories were funny, like those told by Earl Ray, who knew him best. Other stories broke her heart at the small kindnesses Jon had done in the years he’d been here. Jon had been loved in this small, isolated town in the middle of Montana. He would be sorely missed.

  She knew she couldn’t tell her story, but still she rose and went to the makeshift podium Dave had provided for the funeral. She told about the first time she’d laid eyes on Jon Harper, how much he reminded her of the husband she’d lost. “It was his quiet strength, the love he put into everything he made and the kindness he showed me. I will never forget him.”

  When it was over, Dave bought everyone a round. They drank to Jon. She wished he could see how much he was loved. Hopefully one day she would get to tell him.

  Earl Ray gave her a ride to the Billings airport after Jon’s supposed ashes, along with some sawdust from his workshop, had been scattered on the pines near the creek outside town.

  The call had come in on the outskirts of the city. Kate could tell by Earl Ray’s reaction to the call that it was good news. “Jon came out of the coma,” he said. “It’s too early to know any more than that.” He held up his hand and quickly added, “He’s got some major memory loss. The doctor said this isn’t his first concussion. So, it was much worse. But the doctor was cautious but optimistic.”

  “I want to see him,” she said, but Earl Ray shook his head.

  “It’s too dangerous, and you don’t want to see him when he can’t remember anything, maybe especially you. Trust me, he will heal, and in time...”

  She’d nodded, hating to hear that. Time. She’d spent so much time apart from the only man she’d ever truly loved. She desperately wanted him back, not knowing if that would ever happen.