by Donna Grant
Chapter 31
December 16th
What day was it? Danny had lost all track of time. He couldn’t remember how many times he’d been knocked unconscious by the two men taking turns hitting him. They knew exactly where and how to strike him to inflict the most damage.
He couldn’t feel his arms and hands any longer. The pain from being strung up had been excruciating. In fact, he thought that might be what did him in. Then, thankfully, the numbness finally set in. When—if—he was ever freed, the agony would be unbearable once the blood went back into his fingers.
Danny didn’t lift his head. It took too much energy. One eye was swollen shut completely, and the other had a cut over it so that blood kept dripping into his eye. He must have blacked out again, but the last thing he remembered was the punch right to his cheekbone.
He was coming to hate the smell of the old barn. It made his stomach roil. Or that could be his sweat and the blood mixed with it. Hell, he didn’t know.
The one thing he was sure of, however, was that Matt had no intention of letting him live. The torture was just a way for Matt to get back at him. Danny’s mind drifted to Skylar as it had since he’d been taken.
As long as she stayed at the ranch, Clayton would watch over her. Danny knew that with certainty. And despite what Skylar might think about him and their budding relationship, Danny knew she wasn’t a fool. She would be careful.
Though he had to wonder if anyone knew he was missing. Surely, at least his own deputies were looking for him. Then again, everyone knew it was his two days off. No one would think he was missing until those two days had passed.
Since the bastards who had used him as a punching bag could be heard laughing some distance away, they didn’t seem too hurried to end his life. That was good since he had some time.
It was also bad because it meant that he had more beatings coming.
His stomach rumbled when he caught the smell of barbecue. His mouth was parched, and he was in desperate need of something to drink. And food. The smell of the barbecue made his mouth water.
Dimly, he heard what sounded like a helicopter flying over nearby. The fighter in him wanted to find some way to alert them to his presence. It was a joke. He knew they wouldn’t see him, and if they did, they wouldn’t have a clue what to think of him.
The realist in him comprehended that it was just a matter of hours before his life was snuffed out. Matt had worked everything perfectly, but the only way he could’ve done that was if he had known that Danny had scheduled two days off.
The sound of footsteps reached him. Danny cracked open his good eye and spotted Matt slowly coming his way. With his eye stinging from the blood, Danny closed it once more.
“You look like shit, sheriff,” Matt said, a smile in his voice. “You aren’t so big and bad now without your gun, are you? Hell, your shield means nothing if you don’t have something to back it up. And you have nothing.”
Danny concentrated hard and did his best to use his numb hands to flip Matt off.
“That’s real mature,” came Matt’s reply.
Danny grinned, even as his busted lip split open again. “You would know.”
“You know nothing about me.” Matt was closer now, just inches from Danny. Anger colored his words. “I can give Skylar everything she wants. You can give her … what? Long hours by herself as she waits on you to come home from taking care of other people you don’t even know?” Matt made a sound in the back of his throat. “That’s no life for Skylar.”
Danny couldn’t argue with him because Matt was right. It hurt to hear it, but generally, the truth always did.
“Skylar will come to see that I’m the only thing for her. I’ll make sure my family leaves her alone. We had several good months together. We will again,” Matt stated.
Danny wished that were true, but he knew it wasn’t. “Right. And then you’ll go back to hitting her again.”
“I won’t!”
Matt’s bellow echoed off the walls of the empty building. Danny just grinned in response.
That expression turned into a wince when Matt grabbed a fistful of Danny’s hair and yanked his head back. “You’ll die knowing that I took Skylar from you. It was so easy to make you think she didn’t want you. One text was all it took.” Matt laughed, the sound evil and cold. “Hijacking cell phones is pretty easy if you know the right people.”
Danny wanted to kick himself. If only he’d gone to talk to Skylar, then none of this would be happening. But he hadn’t wanted to invade her space if she really did want time. Reading that she didn’t want to see him over text had been bad enough. He really hadn’t wanted to hear it from her lips.
“Oh, if you could only see your face,” Matt said with a chuckle. He shoved Danny’s head forward as Matt released his hair and walked away. “It’ll be that easy to get Skylar back.”
“You’ll never get Skylar back.”
“Sure, I will. I’ll make certain of it. All I have to do is threaten her parents, and she’ll come running straight to me.”
Danny lifted his head and opened his good eye. “You’re the one who threatened her parents.”
“No, that was my folks, but it gave me the idea. I saw how Skylar reacted. If I want to be the one who comes in and saves the day and her, then I need to make the situation a dire one. There’s only one thing Skylar really cares about, and that’s her parents.”
“You’re a cold bastard.”
Matt just grinned. “Yes, I am. And it’s given me quite a lot in my life.”
“Money has done that.”
“Skylar had no idea who I was, and she still wanted me.”
Danny sneered, even though it caused him agony. “Yeah, she found out who you really were. Money or not, no man beats his woman.”
“I can control it.”
“Keep telling yourself that. No one believes it, especially Skylar.”
“I’d say you’ll find out how wrong you are, but you’ll be dead. So, you’ll have to take my word for it.”
Danny held Matt’s gaze, blinking away the blood that continued to drip into his eyes. There were so many things he wished he could do to Matt, but he was chained, preventing him from doing anything but wish.
“You’d kill me if you could,” Matt said with a grin. “That’s never going to happen, sheriff. Never.”
“I’ve learned it isn’t wise to tempt Karma by saying things like that.”
“Karma?” Matt snorted loudly. “When you have as much money as I do, Karma stays away.”
“Karma. Fate. Call it what you want. It always comes back around.”
Matt laughed as he shook his head. “Not with me. Not with my family.”
Danny didn’t want to waste what little strength he had left by arguing. Matt wouldn’t listen or understand anyway. It was like talking to a brick wall.
“Everything you’re getting now is because you intervened when you shouldn’t have,” Matt continued. “Then you had the audacity to think you could step into my place as Skylar’s man. No one is going to have her but me.”
“She’ll never go back to you.”
Matt shrugged. “She’ll have me or no one.”
Danny knew exactly what those words meant. If Matt couldn’t have Skylar, then Matt would make sure no one did. Danny jerked futilely at the chains holding him while Matt laughed as he walked away.
Danny looked up, squinting through his one good eye to see if there was some way he could get free. Even if he had to break his thumb, he was willing to do it. Because he had to get to Skylar before Matt could hurt her.
But when Danny lowered his gaze, the two men were standing before him once more. He barely had time to prepare before the first punch landed in his kidney.
* * *
“I’m not leaving until I get an answer,” Skylar told the deputy at the front desk.
The young man, who looked barely old enough to drink, shifted his gaze past her to where Jace stood.
S
kylar leaned to the side to get the deputy’s attention. “I’m the one talking to you, not Jace. Stop looking at him.”
The deputy visibly swallowed. “Ma’am, I want to help you, I really do, but the thing is, I can’t. You aren’t related to Sheriff Oldman.”
That was the last straw. What did being related have to do with anything when Danny was in trouble? Didn’t everyone realize that? Before she could say anything, Deputy Wilson walked out.
“Skylar,” he said as he approached, shooting her a quick smile. “Come with me.”
“You found something, didn’t you? Danny told me you were good,” she said as she followed him so they could speak without being overheard.
A slight blush stained Deputy Wilson’s cheeks before he cleared his throat. He glanced at the deputy behind the desk.
“Please tell me you know where Danny is,” Skylar said when they were out of earshot of everyone.
Wilson flattened his lips as he shook his head. “I wish I could. We’ve tried to activate the GPS on the patrol car as well as the sheriff’s phone, but both are disabled.”
“That isn’t an accident,” Jace said.
“No, it isn’t. Everyone is working overtime to locate the sheriff.” Wilson took off his hat and ran a hand through his cropped, dirty blond hair. “Several deputies are out looking for Danny now, and the police are also working in conjunction with us, but I don’t think the sheriff is around here.”
“Neither do I,” Skylar said.
Jace frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “If they turned off the GPS on his cruiser and phone, then they could have very well kept him in the area, but I agree with Skylar. With Danny being sheriff and so well known, I believe whoever took him brought him out of the county.”
“Look, I’m going to be honest,” Wilson said. “The sheriff knew Matt Gaudet was a bad apple from the get-go. He’s had everyone on the lookout for anyone that fit Matt’s description in case he came back into town. No one has seen him, not even the undercover deputies or police.”
Skylar paused, letting that sink in. “You don’t think this is Matt?”
“I’m not saying that. What I’m telling you is that Matt isn’t in the area,” Wilson said.
Jace caught her gaze. “In other words, Matt probably hired someone to take Danny.”
Images of all kinds of horrors being visited upon Danny ran through her mind. “We’ve got to find him.”
Wilson shook his head and put a hand on her arm when she tried to leave. He dropped it as soon as she halted. “No, ma’am. You need to get back to the East Ranch. This could all be a ploy to get you away from the ranch so someone can grab you.”
“I know that,” she began, then stopped, an idea forming.
Jace immediately shook his head rapidly. “No. I know what you’re thinking, and I won’t be a part of any of that. Danny would have my head.”
“I’m doing it with or without you,” she informed him.
Wilson scratched his chin. “What are y’all talking about?”
“She’s going to use herself as bait,” Jace said with a long sigh.
Skylar adjusted her purse in her hand. “If we want to find Danny, then we need to go to the source.”
“I agree with Jace, Skylar,” Wilson said hesitantly. “I can’t see this going any way but wrong.”
Chapter 32
“It’s going to go wrong.”
If Skylar heard that one more time, she was going to scream. This time, it came from Leslie.
Once Skylar had convinced Deputy Wilson and Jace to help her, Jace had put everyone on a group call so they could all be told what was going on.
“I don’t know,” Caleb said. “It could work.”
Ryan quickly added, “With the right planning.”
“Skylar needs to have a tracker on her,” Cash said. “I have some. We just need to get it on her person so we know where she is at all times.”
Wilson then said, “If you need a place to set up, there’s room here at the station. Every deputy available will join in to help.”
“The PD, as well,” Ryan said.
Brice asked, “Are you sure, Skylar?”
“Absolutely,” she stated. “Danny would do it for me. He’d do it for any of us. I’m not about to sit on the sidelines helplessly when I’m who Matt wants. If we want to find Danny before it’s too late, then we need to do this.”
Everyone but Clayton murmured agreement, including Abby.
Skylar waited a moment before she asked, “Clayton? You haven’t said anything.”
He blew out a loud breath before his voice traveled through the phone. “It’s a tough situation. I know you want to save Danny, and we just might pull it off. But if something happens to you during it, Danny will never forgive us.”
“Let’s worry about that later,” Cooper said.
Jace nodded as his gaze met hers. “Time isn’t on our side. We have to put this plan together quickly.”
“Stay at the station. I’m on my way,” Cash said.
Skylar swallowed, thankful to her very soul that she had convinced everyone to help her undertake such a risky plan. She was terrified to be around Matt again, but she would do anything for Danny.
Anything.
And with the men Danny was friends with, if any group could pull this off, it was them. Skylar was merely standing there. Everyone else would have the difficult part.
She barely listened as the group began laying out plans. Skylar knew next to nothing about military operations, and she certainly didn’t understand the jargon they used, but she didn’t need to. All she had to do was trust that they had her back.
It wasn’t long before Cash walked in with a black bag in hand. Wilson motioned him to follow, and the four of them went into the back of the building to a conference room that had several TV screens mounted to the wall.
With one click from a panel she hadn’t seen, Wilson flicked on the screens. She was able to see the camera from the helicopter, as well as several patrol cars.
“We’ll watch you on these,” Wilson said.
Cash set the bag on the table and unzipped it. “Let’s get you ready.”
* * *
Danny spit out a mouthful of blood. He hurt everywhere. His legs could no longer hold him—one might actually be broken. But without his legs, he hung by his arms, which pulled at the already numb limbs, doubling his pain.
The two men beating him were talking among themselves since they likely believed he was unconscious. They were discussing the time, saying that they only had a few more hours before it was time to kill him. The fact that they were having fun beating the shit out of him shouldn’t surprise Danny, but it did.
Danny had witnessed all sorts of things in his time working in law enforcement. He shouldn’t be shocked anymore, but new things kept cropping up every year. No wonder so many cops were jaded. It was hard not to be in such a career.
“I need my souvenir.”
That caught his attention.
“You take souvenirs?” The one with the beady eyes asked.
“Always.”
There was a snort. “I just get more ink added. I don’t need to carry anything around.” After a short pause, he asked, “What do you take?”
“A pinky.”
“What? You mean you have a box of pinky fingers at your place?”
Beady Eyes laughed. “It’s way more than a box. You should’ve seen all those bastards I killed in Afghanistan.”
Danny knew his chance would come when they tried to take the souvenir. They couldn’t do it with his arms chained above him, which meant they’d have to loosen at least one arm. Now, if only his body would obey his mind and move like he needed it to.
“Let’s get it done,” the brute said with a sigh.
Beady Eyes rubbed his hands together in excitement. “First, I have to get my knife.”
Danny remained limp, his mind going through exactly what he was going to do. H
is father always said to visualize what you wanted to do, and your body would follow. Danny really hoped it worked this time. So much depended on it.
Beady Eyes returned, and only then did the two of them come toward him. Danny kept his eyes closed, letting them believe he was unconscious. When one of them hit him in the ribs, he grunted because he had clenched his teeth together. That was the only thing that kept him from crying out in pain.
“What are you worried about?” Beady asked. “He’s so far gone, he won’t even know we’ve taken his finger or slit his throat.”
“True.”
Danny heard the chains rattle as they loosened them. The next thing he knew, he was falling. He landed hard upon the packed earth. The men were on him immediately, and he wasted no time in lashing out.
He wrapped his arm around the head of the one nearest him as he squinted through his good eye. The second Danny saw that the brute was near his feet, he quickly locked his ankles around the man’s neck.
Danny tried to knock away the knife from Beady Eyes before it cut into his side, but he wasn’t quick enough. Danny then kicked Brute in the face, knocking him on his ass as he tried to shake him off.
That gave Danny enough time to get his feet under him to stand up. He twisted, moving behind Beady Eyes, and using a combined move from what he’d learned as a policeman and something Clayton had shown him, gave a hard twist, breaking the man’s neck.
The knife fell to the ground out of the dead man’s hand. Danny reached for it, but Brute kicked it away before kneeing Danny in his cut side.
Danny grunted and used his arm to shield his injured side as he squared off against the big man.
“You won’t get away.”
Danny grinned. “I was never supposed to get this far, and yet I killed your friend.”
Brute shrugged in concession. “Perhaps, but you won’t do the same to me.”
They circled each other. Danny realized that he was too injured to fight properly against someone so much taller and heavier than he was. The only way to win this was to use his weakness to his advantage and draw his opponent in.