Desert Rescue

by Lisa Phillips

  Patrick met her. When she landed, he swept her into his arms.

  And didn’t let go.

  She lifted her chin. “Rick...”

  “He’s here.”

  She nodded. That should be the focus right now. The fact her brother was here, along with another man. That meant Patrick was outnumbered. “We should make sure Nate is safe.”

  “You think Tucker will allow anything to happen to him? At least not without a whole lot of barking to alert me that something is up?”

  Jennie relaxed a little, which only served to bring her into closer contact, still tucked against him. Safe in his arms.

  He slid his arms from around her and stepped away. A second later, he touched the side of her head and kissed her forehead. “I should call this in. Get backup here.”

  Jennie flushed. In the heat of the moment she could hardly remember the reasons why falling for him all over again was a bad idea.

  Patrick pulled out his phone. She walked to the hall. “Nate? You okay?”

  “Yeah, Mom!” His voice sounded shaky, but he was all right. “What’s happening?”

  “I just dropped a cup, okay?” She didn’t want him to worry that his uncle and one of the kidnappers were outside. He would only freak out even more now than he had before. Like she was right now.

  “Stay there for another minute. There’s broken glass out here and I don’t want Tucker to get a cut.”

  “Okay!”

  Giving him a job, and something to focus on—an animal to take care of—would keep him occupied while Patrick figured out what they were going to do.

  Jennie got a broom and dustpan from the utility closet to sweep up the glass. She’d been so shocked at seeing her brother trying to hide out of sight. But she’d seen both him and his friend. They were getting ready for something. Preparing to come in, and take Nate from her? She would use this broom, and not for sweeping the floor.

  If Martin thought he was going to kidnap her son, he would regret facing her.

  The bravado bled away pretty quickly, though. Replaced by the jitters and the shakes. She glanced over at Patrick, jabbing buttons on his phone and muttering to himself.

  “What is it?”

  “Eric didn’t answer.” He lifted the phone to his ear. “I’m calling Sheriff Johns.”

  She’d figured his partner and the sheriff were busy interrogating the men that had been captured at the hospital. But she had also thought that the sheriff was going to her house to check things out. She wasn’t a cop, so she’d have no idea what the situation was until Patrick got off the phone and she could ask him.

  The same way she planned to ask what the deal was with his mother.

  Jennie kept sweeping as she blinked away tears. Hearing his mother’s voice over that call had hit her harder than she’d anticipated. She’d been swept up in the tide of it. The love she’d had for his mom, a woman who had meant so much to her back in high school. Jennie had lost her mother at a young age, so she barely remembered her.

  Patrick’s mom had filled a void, providing support. A sounding board. Maybe she’d told her too much, and his mother had put two and two together when the intimidation started to heat up. She’d figured out it was all Jennie’s dad. Then she’d taken her anger and frustration out on Jennie, seeing her as part of the problem instead of what she’d wanted to be.

  Part of their family.

  Tucker let out a sharp bark.

  “No! Tucker!” Her son’s cry followed.

  Jennie dropped the broom and ran to the hall. The back door, at the end of the hall, was wide open. She raced to it. Before she could run out, Patrick tugged her away. “Stay here.”

  Because that worked so well?

  She followed him outside, but stood on the top concrete step and tried to find...

  “Nate!”

  Where was he?

  Tucker barked again as he faced off with her brother’s friend—the second one of her kidnappers. The man kicked out at the dog. Tucker latched on to the kidnapper’s pant leg.

  Patrick planted his feet wide. “Police! Let me see your hands!”

  Jennie searched the whole area for a sign of Nate. Where was he? Still in the house or out here? Maybe he was still in the bathroom.

  But when she checked, she didn’t see him.

  Back at the door, she looked outside again. Nothing. “Nate! Where are you?”

  No reply.

  “On your knees! Hands behind your head!”

  The kidnapper knelt.

  She ran over. “Where is my son?!” Her foot caught on a rut in the dirt and she sprawled over.

  “Jennie!”

  She looked up. “I’m—”

  The kidnapper tackled Patrick from behind. A single shove, and Patrick stumbled. Tucker barked and the man raced into the trees.

  Instead of following him, Patrick sprinted toward her. She thought he was going to help her to her feet, but he ran inside.

  Jennie followed him, but Tucker beat her inside.

  When Patrick reappeared, holding a shirt belonging to Nate, she shook her head. Her brother was still out there, and Patrick was messing with a shirt? “You should have gone after that guy. You could have interrogated him until he told you where Nate is and what’s going on.”

  Patrick closed the gap between them and touched his lips hers. “Get your shoes.”

  What was...?

  He held the shirt in front of Tucker’s nose. “Scent.” The dog stuck his snout in the shirt, nostrils moving. Jennie could hear him taking in air.

  She realized what they were doing and ran for some shoes.

  The second Tucker moved back from the shirt, Patrick said, “Find.”

  * * *

  The familiar pull of Tucker on the end of the leash settled his stomach, at least some. Up ahead was another neighborhood. Streets. People who could be witnesses. This was work. This, they could do. The worry of a parent was unfamiliar, and Patrick didn’t know how to begin to control it.

  Last time Nate had been missing, Patrick had been a cop and Nate the victim. Now Patrick was both cop and parent, with the victim being his son.

  If Eric was there, he’d be taking lead.

  If he’d answer his phone.

  Patrick gritted his teeth. He glanced back to make sure Jennie was right behind him. She was flushed, probably more with worry than exertion. She wasn’t unfit. But she had hit her head recently, and been knocked out. He’d have to make sure she remained all right. Otherwise she would become a liability that would delay him finding Nate.

  Then again, Patrick had zero intention of letting her out of his sight.

  Okay, God. If You really are there, then I need Your help. Keep us safe. Together. Help us find Nate.

  He wondered then what “together” meant. Here with each other...or more than that.

  Tucker took a left turn. Patrick should load the GPS on his phone and figure out where they might be headed. He unlocked the device and handed it to Jennie.

  “Find a map. Figure out where we might be going, yeah? But be careful. You don’t want to trip and twist your ankle.”

  She nodded.

  He faced forward again, trying not to think about that kiss. Heat of the moment. He knew she’d been scared. How else was he going to reassure her? Maybe it was selfish, and it was actually him who’d needed reassuring.

  Would he have to apologize later?

  “We’re almost to the edge of town. After that we’re in the middle of nowhere,” Jennie said. “But there’s a road up ahead.”

  So Martin could have taken their son along this route to get him to that road, where presumably he’d had a car waiting. Or he was being shuffled into another house.

  Patrick picked up his pace. “Are you good?”

  “Yes.” That breathy v
oice had returned. “Let’s just get him back.”

  Nate was the priority. Over everything, including their safety and their emotions. He knew if the rescue wound up costing him a future relationship with Jennie in some way, it didn’t matter. As long as they got Nate back.

  He wasn’t prepared to give up anyone’s life except his own. Though he knew what Tucker was prepared to do to protect the ones he cared about. The dog was relentless, and Patrick knew he wouldn’t care if he had to give his life for any of them.

  Jennie could stay back. Patrick and his K-9 were going to get their boy. There was no other result that was even remotely acceptable.

  “How did it even happen?”

  He didn’t look at her, just kept going. Right to Nate. “I don’t know.”

  Except that he’d been distracted. She’d seen her brother out front, along with a friend of his. Had that been the distraction? Get Patrick away from Nate, leaving the boy exposed. But Nate had been in the bathroom. Which meant either Martin or his friend had to have opened the unlocked back door. Perhaps Nate heard the sound and thought the coast was clear enough to come out. Or at least enough to take the dog out the back.

  “We’ll find him, right?”

  “Yes.” He realized how short the word had sounded. But he couldn’t explain because his phone rang. She handed it to him. “Sanders.”

  “Hey.” It was Eric.

  “Where have you been? Martin came to the house. Somehow he found out where we were and he took Nate. We’re in pursuit.” It physically hurt to say the words.

  “I’m on my way. I’ll do that ‘find your phone’ thing and track your location.”

  “Okay.” He managed to navigate through to the settings to enable that feature without slowing down too much.

  “Backup would be good.” So long as Eric could get here in time. There was a serious chance this whole thing would be over before he showed up. “What about the sheriff?”

  “He found nothing at Jennie’s house. No one on the land, no one in the house. Just a bunch of tire tracks. Someone was there, but they’re gone now.”

  Patrick frowned. “And the guys from the hospital?”

  “I just came out of interrogating the second one. That’s why I didn’t answer. Because I was getting answers.”

  Patrick heard a tone there, at the end. “But?”

  “Yeah.” Eric sighed. “Word is, he’s more ruthless than the father—who had a serious reputation himself. And the brother is worse.”

  “I know.” Patrick had lived it. Being beaten and then run out of town.

  “You said he has Nate?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’ll be there, fast as I can.”

  “Thanks.” Patrick ended the call and handed the phone to Jennie, so she could look at the map again.

  Out in front of him, Tucker pulled on the leash, still chasing the scent trail Nate had left behind. One that apparently wound through this end of town. And not in circles. They were heading somewhere specific. If they went too far, or if there was an interruption in the scent, they would lose precious seconds finding it again.

  God, help us.

  Patrick was desperate enough to call on God when he wasn’t sure he believed in Him. It might not be faith, but it was a start at least.

  “What did he say?”

  Patrick scanned the area around them. Tucker took another turn. He told Jennie what Eric had said about her brother.

  She said nothing until, “This, up ahead, it’s the end of...” Jennie’s voice trailed off.

  “I see that.”

  Town just...ended.

  The last street, last house. Then nothing but dirt and shrubs. Like the landscape he’d found her in last night, which felt like weeks ago but had only been a day.

  Tucker barked.

  Across the street, a paneled van had been parked on the dirt shoulder at the side of the road, the door on the side still open. He couldn’t make out what was inside. Patrick unclipped Tucker’s leash and commanded, “Find!”

  Tucker darted across the street toward the van and hopped in.

  Jennie made to rush after him, but Patrick slid an arm around her waist. “Wait.” He pulled his gun as men emerged from every hiding spot. Behind parked cars. A waist-high brick wall to their right. Someone in the van yelped. Tucker barked and growled.

  Patrick spun around. There were at least eight men surrounding them, all armed. He shoved Jennie behind him, but they were everywhere. Martin’s hired help? They looked like thugs. Street dealers. Men who’d do anything for the right price.

  “Nate!” Jennie’s cry rang out.

  Patrick looked over at the van and saw a gunman drag Nate out onto the street. The boy stumbled but didn’t go down. Tucker hopped out, barked once and sat beside the boy. Patrick gave him a hand signal that meant “Stay.”

  Patrick glanced around at the men gathered. “Let him go.”

  “No,” a man’s voice called out.

  Jennie gasped as Martin Wilson came into view.

  Her brother lifted his chin. “You’ll be putting your gun down now.” He grinned without humor. “You’re surrounded.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Jennie tore her eyes away from her son and stared down her brother. “Why are you doing this?”

  Tears rolled down her face. Intellectually she’d known her brother was behind this, a “head” knowledge she had understood. Now her heart knew. The realization brought with it the deep sting of betrayal. Her brother was the one who had repeatedly put her and her son’s lives in danger.

  Now there were guns pointed at them. Nate was scared. So much so that she could hardly meet his gaze. What was she supposed to do? The mom bloggers never covered how to emerge unscathed from a crowd of angry armed men.

  They were shady looking, with scruffy hair and dark circles under their eyes. Baggy clothes with stains. The kind of people she didn’t want to stereotype, but if she was walking through town with Nate she would have crossed to the opposite side to steer clear of them. Along with saying a prayer that they would find help, if that was what they were looking for.

  Then she looked at her brother. Exactly the same kind of man. What had happened to him? The army? His time since then? Maybe she was staring now at the person he had been all along.

  Her son moaned. The dog shifted, moving closer to Nate so he could lean on the boy’s leg.

  Jennie wanted to drop to the ground and start bawling. Though it would likely look and sound more like scared whining.

  As her brother stalked toward her, Jennie realized she had no idea what they were supposed to do.

  Patrick still had his weapon out.

  Martin’s gaze was on him as he lifted his gun. And pointed it at her. “You’re gonna put that down now.”

  A muscle flexed in Patrick’s jaw.

  She tried to speak, but nothing emerged except a moan.

  Patrick shifted his grip. The gun slipped around in his hand, rotating until he held the butt of it. One of Martin’s men snatched it from his hand. The man kicked his foot into the back of Patrick’s knee. He fell, hissing in pain, but making no other sound.

  Jennie moved to put her hand on his back. As he stood, she held his arm. “Why are you doing this?” she asked her brother again.

  Martin only sneered.

  “What do you want?” She shook her head, struggling to believe him capable of involving family in his business affairs. He had to know how she would feel about him kidnapping them. Seriously. How could he not know?

  He didn’t answer her.

  She said, “Why don’t you just leave us alone?”

  “No can do, little sis.”

  “You and I are not family. This isn’t what family does. And the second you thought I wanted you—” she waved her arm, encompassing all of the men ar
ound her real family “—and this, you gave up the little piece of me that I might have considered giving you.” She shook her head, vehement now. Shocked to her core that this was happening to her. After all she’d struggled through. The way they’d grown up. The life she’d had with just her and Nate.

  Her brother had walked out of her life a long time ago.

  “I have to say, I missed the way you get mad at every single thing I do.” Martin tipped his head to the side then zeroed in on her with a hard stare. “No, wait. I don’t miss that.”

  “You have to know the army is looking for you. This is only drawing attention to yourself.” She wanted to wave Nate over. To have him run to her so she could hold him. But what if he got shot? She didn’t want to do anything that would induce these men to hurt her son. Or to hurt Patrick...again.

  “I know how to run my business.”

  “Using my land?”

  “That land belongs to both of us,” he said. “I have as much right to it as you do.”

  “That’s not true. You are no part of this family. Something that was entirely your choice, which you never even bothered to tell me about. You just left. So even if it wasn’t completely legally mine, you’d have no part in the ranch. Because you gave it all up.”

  “Jennie.” Patrick’s soft voice penetrated, but only a little.

  She shifted to square up against her brother again, but Patrick tugged on her elbow. He pulled her close to his side and said, “What do you want, Martin?”

  Her brother chuckled. “I guess you have more you owe me than I thought. Including your thanks. Cause you know what? You’re welcome.” He clapped his hands together, making her jump. “Back together again, right?”

  “That has nothing to do with you.”

  “No?” He grinned.

  Why he disagreed, she had no idea. And didn’t want to stand around waiting for him to deign to reveal it to them.

  “Just tell us what you want.” She lifted her chin.

  Martin stared at her. “I’ll admit, you were a nuisance. Sticking your nose in. Now things are so much worse. Or better.” He eyed Patrick. “Depends on how you think about it.”

  She took a half step back and Patrick put his arm around her waist. She looked at Nate, so sorry that he couldn’t be part of the embrace. Tears rolled down his cheeks, causing a new crop to spring free of her eyes and trail down her cheeks. She wanted to mouth I’m sorry. As though she’d had any control over this.