Desert Rescue

by Lisa Phillips

  God, help us. We need You so badly right now.

  She’d forgotten the very thing she had learned all along, raising Nate. Just the two of them. When they had nothing else, they still had everything they needed to get through.

  Because they had their Heavenly Father.

  I’m sorry, Lord. I should have remembered that You have us in Your hands.

  Peace filled her. The kind she’d never felt before.

  Patrick lifted both hands. “What do you want?”

  “Let’s take a ride.” Her brother stepped back. “I’ll explain when we get there.”

  “Let Jennie and Nate go with Tucker. Take me.”

  She wanted to argue that they shouldn’t be separated. But maybe he was right. Patrick was a cop. But she and Nate had been together alone for years, and now they had Patrick back she didn’t want to lose him all over again.

  Martin shook his head. “They come, too.”

  “Why?” Patrick’s tone was hard.

  Was he stalling to wait for his partner? Two men against eight was better than one, but it didn’t scream “winning team.”

  Martin waved his gun around. Jennie and Patrick both flinched as her brother yelled, “Get in the van! Now!”

  Patrick jolted forward. “Easy.”

  They walked toward the paneled van. Jennie stuck out her hand. The second she was close enough, Nate grabbed it.

  “Tucker, heel.”

  The dog moved to Patrick’s side and walked with him, step for step. Body tight. Eyes alert. He knew something was wrong. And he’d found Nate.

  They climbed in and sat in the back of the van.

  Nate huddled against her side. Patrick’s arms around both of them. Tucker lay down beside his leg. Head up. Eyes still alert.

  She reached over and petted his head. “You’re a good dog. Yes, you are.”

  * * *

  Patrick looked up and quickly realized where they were heading. A fact that was confirmed when they pulled onto the drive in front of the house.

  His house.

  Beside him, Jennie gasped, her gaze out the window. “That’s your house.”

  “Not for a long time,” he said.

  Not since her father had forced them from the ranch and from town, as well. At twelve acres, it wasn’t as big as her land. But it had been home, and he’d loved living there with his mom after his dad had left. Long enough ago, he didn’t even remember the man. Something Nate would never be able to say about him.

  Patrick made sure the two in the front—the driver and front passenger—weren’t paying attention as he slid his phone from his pant pocket. Tucker shifted. Jennie had praised him, making Patrick practically melt. It was exactly what they’d all needed at that moment. They were all scared, not just Nate. The break in tension of her petting Tucker had made Nate almost giggle.

  He thumbed through to his texts, making sure he made no sound, and sent a message to Eric.

  The blow came from out of nowhere.

  Jennie gasped.

  Pain rolled through his head, sparking in his vision and raising bile into his throat. He didn’t even feel it when the phone was snatched out of his hand. But he heard Nate cry.

  Patrick hissed out a breath and tried to control his reaction to the pain while Tucker barked. He moved his hand blindly and found the dog’s flank. “Quiet.”

  The bark, way too loud, made the pain in his head worse.

  When he managed to lift his head, he saw the front-seat passenger had his phone in hand. “Looks like our cop here was trying to call for help.”

  Patrick waited for the man to pull a gun and shoot him right now, in front of his family.

  But the shot never came. Instead, the man rolled the window down and threw the phone out.

  Patrick shut his eyes for a second. The guy had to have hit him over the head with the butt of his gun. But he hadn’t killed him.

  That meant he either wasn’t allowed to do anything to them that Martin hadn’t authorized, or they didn’t want Patrick dead.

  Maybe it was that they didn’t want any of them dead. But that only made his pain-filled brain wonder what they did want with him, Tucker, Jennie and Nate.

  Their family.

  The van jolted to a stop and Patrick gritted his teeth as the door slid open and sunlight spilled in. He loved that blazing New Mexico sun. Always had. Other places had cloud cover almost all the time. Who wanted to live somewhere like that?

  Tucker hopped out of the van and did some business. Patrick would have preferred he’d done it on Martin’s shoe but, sadly, that wasn’t meant to be.

  “Tuck.”

  The dog trotted back over to stand by him as Jennie and Nate climbed out and huddled close.

  Martin called out, already walking to Patrick’s old front door. “Get them inside.”

  The house looked so run down. Ten years of weathering and neglect brought with it a pang of sadness. It was never like this before. His mom might have supported them both single-handedly, but she’d always planted shrubs and made sure the lattice fence and garden rocks were freshly painted. Even if that paint was a castoff from a friend of a friend who worked construction.

  Patrick had Jennie and Nate go ahead of him so he could watch their backs. The second they reached the front steps, Martin motioned to Patrick. “Not you. You stay out here.”

  Good. Patrick wanted to talk to him. He’d rather have done it when his head wasn’t pounding and he didn’t feel that warm, wet trickle running down the side of his face that he was pretty sure was blood. But he’d take what he could get.

  God, help me be strong.

  He wanted to rely on God. Patrick had nothing else, not even his own strength, to lean on.

  “Dad.”

  “I know, buddy.” He moved to give Nate a hug, but Martin shoved him back.

  “Both of you get in the house. Now.”

  Jennie winced.

  Patrick wanted to give her another kiss. Anything but think about the one he’d given her earlier. He didn’t need to be distracted right now.

  “Can Tucker stay with me?” Nate sounded braver than Patrick felt right now. Perhaps he was gaining strength with everything that had happened.

  He’d turned to Martin, who said, “No. Now obey your elders and get.” He waved at the door.

  Jennie ushered him toward it. “Come on, Nate.”

  Tucker whined, his weight steady against Patrick’s leg as Patrick said, “Just tell me what you want.” The quicker this was over, the quicker he could get Jennie and Nate out of here. To somewhere safe they could recuperate.

  He was thinking Maui.

  When Martin didn’t answer, Patrick said, “You don’t care about anything but yourself, do you? You’re traumatizing both of them.” All of them. “And it doesn’t bother you one bit.”

  “Wrong.” Martin sneered. “I care about money.”

  Patrick pressed his lips together, trying not to let disdain for Martin’s choices show on his face.

  “I care about interruptions in my business. That’s where you come in. Since you were good enough to respond to the sheriff’s summons, now you’ll help me with my problem.”

  “You coerced him into bringing me here?”

  “Not one bit. I hadn’t even thought about using a search and rescue dog when I took Jennie and Nate from their house. That was just to scare her so she’d quit calling the cops and the Feds, and then sign her land over to me. Lo and behold, you show up.”

  Martin lifted his hands and continued, “Lightbulb.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You can find my missing truck. She quits calling the law, gives me her land and leaves town. Everyone goes home happy.”

  “You want me to find a truck?”

  This was the first he was hearing about a missing vehicle. They
’d played into Martin’s hands. Unknowingly, but it was still the truth. Patrick’s presence here had made things so much worse for Jennie and Nate. He hadn’t wanted his arrival to have done that, even with all they’d gained from him being there.

  The truth was out. They would be a family now.

  He could explore what was obviously still between him and Jennie—the deep feelings he’d always had for her. They’d never gone away.

  Martin shrugged. “I’m an entrepreneur. We have to think on our feet. Two problems, turns out there’s one solution.”

  “You need me.”

  “Correct.”

  Patrick’s heart sank. “One single hair on either of their heads is touched, and you get nothing from me.”

  Martin laughed. “That’s the spirit. There’s nothing like a good bargain.”

  This man was exactly the same as he’d been in high school, but with added experience—which honestly made Patrick more worried right now. Ruthless. Spiteful. He would absolutely hurt them if he thought it would motivate Patrick to do what he wanted.

  “I’m supposed to find a truck?”

  Martin nodded.

  “A truck with drugs in it.”

  Another nod.

  He was tempted to just string Martin along. Instead, he said, “Tucker can’t find a truck. And he’s not trained to sniff drugs.” Since they also didn’t have a scent trail, it wasn’t as if there’d be anything for the dog to follow. “What do you expect me to do?”

  “I expect you to problem solve.” Martin waved to one of his guys. “Get me the thing.” The man brought him a bundle of material in a grocery bag. Martin held it out. “Here’s his sweater. Find this man, I get my truck and the drugs back.”

  Patrick said nothing.

  “If you don’t find my drugs, you’re all dead.” He leaned forward. “All. Four. Of. You.”

  EIGHTEEN

  The hallway closed in around her. Nate huddled close to her side. Gunmen all around. It was dark in here, the walls bare. The floor nothing but broken floorboards and bits of trash.

  “It smells in here, Mom.”

  “I know.” She squeezed his shoulder.

  Grief rolled through her for what had become of Patrick’s house. His mom had taken such good care of it, making sure it was a pleasant place for him to live. A sanctuary from everything that happened outside.

  Jennie had modeled her own home for her son on the same principle. A place Nate could rest. Somewhere he wanted to come home to at the end of the day, where the atmosphere was one of peace and rest.

  Instead, her father had forced Patrick and his mom from their home. Had her brother been using this house since going AWOL from the army?

  The man ahead of them shifted. He shoved a door open. “Get in here, kid.”

  When Nate didn’t move from her side, the man reached for him. Both of them stepped back. She stumbled a little but kept them from falling down. She didn’t want to know what nasty thing they would land on.

  “Let’s go, Nate.” She tugged him forward so they could enter the room. Safety. Space. Somewhere they could wait together and not be bothered.

  “No,” the gunman said. “He goes. You’re in there.” He pointed at a room across the hall.

  “We’re staying together.”

  “Those aren’t my orders.”

  “And you do everything my brother tells you?”

  “Pays the bills.” The man shot her a toothy grin, his stubbled face displaying his amusement. He enjoyed this. She might even be inclined to believe he particularly enjoyed their fear. What horrible things had he done in his life?

  Maybe she didn’t want to know.

  He waved his gun between them and the room. “Now, he goes in there. Got it?”

  “No.” Anger surged in her. She wanted to stomp her foot. Put her hands on her hips. It worked with a room full of boys at a sleepover. These were just overgrown boys, right? She planned to treat them as such because she was just fed up. “No. We aren’t getting separated. My son will stay with me.”

  The door behind her was shoved open so hard it bounced off the wall. Martin stormed in. “What’s going on?”

  “You’re not separating us.”

  Beyond him she could see Patrick, standing outside with Tucker. The look of helplessness and fear on his face was surely a match to what was on hers. Neither of them could get their family out of this alone. He’d tried, and they’d slammed his head.

  Now there was blood running down the side of his face.

  “You’ll do as you’re told.”

  Jennie faced down her brother. “Nate is nine years old. He was already kidnapped and terrorized. You’re not separating us.”

  She prayed things weren’t going to get worse. That her actions now wouldn’t cause additional problems for any of them. But this was nonnegotiable. She held Nate to her side.

  Martin huffed out a breath. “This is all your fault. I should separate you, considering all the problems you’ve caused me.”

  “Because I wouldn’t allow you to trespass on my land.”

  He really thought this was her fault? All she’d done was call the authorities. Had she known at the outset that it was her brother, she would probably do the exact same thing as she had before. After all, a criminal didn’t get special treatment just because they were family. Especially not when Martin had been absent from her life longer than Nate had been with her.

  Seeing him now did nothing more than break her already shattered heart.

  The man he could have been was evident when she put him side by side with Patrick. Goodness and evil. There wasn’t a greater contrast in life, was there? The ultimate opposites, they would be forever at odds.

  She was sad for who he was now—who he thought he should be. The man her father had made him into. She’d had Patrick, and it just hadn’t been the same between her and her father. But he’d groomed Martin to follow in his footsteps. To do exactly this.

  Still, the life he lived now... On the run, full of not much besides illegal activity to fill his time. He would have to always look over his shoulder. It was all down to his own choices.

  The decisions he’d made.

  As much as she wanted to be immune to him, a tear rolled down her face anyway.

  Martin ignored it. “I’d have been free to do what I wanted if you’d just left things alone. Instead you’ve caused me so many headaches I have a migraine because of you.”

  She should have called the army back a year ago. They’d have swooped in and taken him into custody, right? Problem solved.

  Martin snickered. “I can see you planning something. Well, you know what? It won’t work. So don’t waste your energy. Keep your son quiet. Patrick does his job, and you get to go free.”

  “But you’ll continue like nothing is wrong?”

  “No. I’ll be long gone. One last severance payment for everyone I employ and I go live my life. You’ll never see me again.”

  That was enough to make her smile. He would be gone? “Fine.” She had every intention of calling the army and telling them everything as soon as she got to a phone. “Nate and I stay together.”

  “Get in there.”

  She looked at Patrick. He gave her a short nod, everything he wanted to say plain on his face. She wanted to mouth the words I love you, though she wasn’t all the way there. Yet. Those feelings were fast coming back.

  Jennie had loved him once. Had that ever really gone away? Giving those words to him now would mean everything to her. Yes, there were qualifiers. She was falling for him again. But complicating it with specifics didn’t mean much. In a situation like this, she needed to either go for it or not. Their lives were on the line.

  Why not her heart, as well?

  He lifted his chin. “It’ll be okay.”

  She nodded b
ack. “Okay.”

  A pact. They were together. Even if they got separated, they’d stick with each other through this. Come out of it a family. Where it wouldn’t be too soon or too complicated. She’d be able to tell him the simple truth of how she felt.

  Martin strode outside. His man shoved them into the empty room and slammed the door.

  Nate walked around the empty space for a second. He settled against the wall and slid down, knees to his chin. Jennie sat beside him.

  “I wish Tucker was in here.”

  She gathered him to her, holding him in her arms. “Sorry, buddy. I guess he needs to work.”

  Nate made a pfft sound through his lips but said nothing.

  “We should pray.” She didn’t wait for him to agree or disagree. It shouldn’t matter whether she “felt like it” or not. The situation was out of control and they needed to hand it over to the One who was in control of everything.

  Jennie prayed over them, and over Patrick’s work with Tucker, asking God to help them get out of this alive.

  Nate said, “Amen.”

  Jennie shuddered. A vibration of fear she could no longer contain.

  Help my son to live.

  * * *

  A gun jabbed into his back. Patrick stumbled away from the house. “Okay. Ease up.” He turned to them, hands raised. “You got what you wanted, so just lay off, okay?”

  Yeah, he was repeating himself. But it seemed like these guys needed an extra hand understanding. He was supposed to find a truck? Martin knew that didn’t have a scent. And a man, from his sweater? Sure, if they could find a place where he’d actually been. If they had no idea where he was, how was Patrick supposed to have Tucker find the scent? It would be like finding a needle in a haystack that could be thirty miles away, for all they knew. And drugs? Tucker hadn’t been trained as a drug detection dog, so that wasn’t a possibility.

  Patrick scrubbed both hands down his face. When he looked, Tucker was leaning forward. Body straight, muscles tense. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Any second now he would flash his teeth and growl.