Colters' Gift

CHAPTER 33

WHEN Noah heard a shout in the distance, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Liam had left, taking Noah’s gun with him, as soon as he’d learned that Lauren had struck out on her own.

He hadn’t wanted to let Liam go. Liam was obviously injured and fighting his hold on consciousness. He was bleeding steadily from his head wound.

But what choice had either of them had? How could Noah hold him back when Liam was all the help Lauren could expect so soon?

Liam had been terrified the moment Noah had told him what she’d done. And it was obvious that he was torn between leaving Noah in such a horrible situation and going after Lauren.

Noah had quietly pointed out that there was nothing Liam could do for him. Noah was stuck until help arrived. But Liam could go in search of Lauren and hopefully reach her in time.

Noah had never felt so helpless in his life than he did now, pinned in the SUV while Lauren was out there fighting for her life and Liam was somewhere in between.

Relief made him temporarily weak, and it took a second for him to muster the strength to shout back upon hearing Adam Colter’s call. A moment later, the older Colter brothers appeared at the vehicle, their expressions worried and grim as they took in the wreckage.

“Are you hurt, son?” Adam asked. “Where are Lauren and Liam?”

“No, sir, I don’t think I’m injured that badly. Just can’t move my legs but I can feel them.”

Then he quickly related the events that occurred right after the wreck, and Liam’s departure to go after Lauren.

“I’ll call Seth and give him the update,” Ryan said grimly.

“I did,” Noah said. “He was on his way out. I told him to get everyone in the damn town out if that’s what it takes.”

“Okay then. We just need to concentrate on getting you out of there,” Ethan said. “I have some tools in the truck. I’m calling for a wrecker just in case we can’t get you out of this. I know you don’t want to be stuck here when Lauren is out there and her fate has yet to be determined. We’ll do our best, son.”

“Thank you,” Noah said, his fingers flexing and then curling in agitation. It was killing him to have to sit there, unable to move, while others searched for Lauren.

Ethan and Ryan turned and ran in the direction of their vehicle while Adam stayed with Noah. Adam put his hand on Noah’s shoulder and squeezed.

“I don’t want you to panic. I know you’re worried. I won’t tell you not to worry because in your shoes, I’d be pissing my pants and freaking out. But I want you to know that not one of us will rest until we get Lauren back.”

Noah nodded, not trusting himself to speak. The more time that passed, the sicker at heart he became. Liam hadn’t returned and neither had Lauren.

He yanked his head back up to stare at Adam. “Lauren said she was going to try to make it to your place. Did you leave Holly there alone? They could both be in trouble.”

“I called Max and Callie to go stay with Holly. He was fit to be tied but we told him we didn’t have any details and that we needed him there. I can understand his anger. Lauren is his sister and by rights he should be right here with us, but he doesn’t know this mountain like we do and the last thing we need is for someone to get lost while our focus is on Lauren.”

“You did the right thing,” Noah said. “We need level heads right now.”

Even as he spoke, his fingers formed tight fists and he pounded the caved-in dashboard in frustration.

“Seth and the others are nearly here,” Ryan said when he returned. “They’ve set up a roadblock at the bottom of the road, and they’re coming up the mountain balls to the wall.”

“Can you get me out?” Noah demanded.

“We’re sure as hell going to try,” Ethan said as he held up a crowbar.

Ryan held a sledgehammer and an axe.

“Stand back, Adam,” Ethan said. “Cover your head as best you can, Noah.”

The entire vehicle shook as the two men tore into the door and the frame. Several times, the pressure on his legs made him wince, but he was just grateful to be able to feel anything at all. He was damn lucky he hadn’t crushed both legs.

Using the crowbar to pry the dashboard up off Noah’s legs, Ryan strained, muscles bulging.

“As soon as I loosen this enough, pull him out,” Ryan said through gritted teeth.

Ethan and Adam scrambled to get into place. As Ryan pulled back away from Noah, Adam and Ethan grabbed for his shoulders and they hauled upward.

Noah bit back a bellow of pain when he came free.

The Colters lowered him to the ground when in the distance they heard, “Dad! Dad! Damn it, where are you?”

“Over here!” Adam yelled.

Then he knelt back down by Noah.

“Okay, talk to me, son. You hurt anywhere?”

“Help me up,” Noah said, extending his hands to Adam and Ryan. “There’s only one way to find out.”

They grasped his hands and hauled him to his feet. For a moment, the two men pressed close to Noah’s side, offering him support until they were certain he could stand on his own.

“I’m okay,” Noah said. “Nothing feels broken. Just bruised and cut.”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, you’re bleeding in half a dozen different places.”

All four men looked up when Seth barged onto the scene, two of his deputies on his heels.

“Why aren’t you looking for Lauren?” Noah demanded.

Seth gave him a look that sent a shock of fear hurtling down his spine. “We came to get you. Liam tracked Lauren’s route back to the road where he found one of the men dead. Two gunshot wounds. Looks like Lauren shot one of the assholes and then got hit from behind. There was a depressed area of grass with a small amount of blood. A good distance from the other body, so it wasn’t his. We also found a roll of duct tape with several hairs that match Lauren’s. Half the roll had been used. There are fresh tire tracks that aren’t a match to one of ours leading away. If I had to guess, judging by the pattern and the disturbance to the area off the road, the truck was coming up the mountain when Lauren came into view. I think the guy she shot was driving. The other two were tracking her on foot and came in behind her while she was distracted by the first guy. They knocked her down, subdued her and then tossed her in the truck, turned around and hauled ass off the mountain, getting away before we arrived with the roadblock.”

Noah went numb. His mouth went dry. His pulse pounded painfully in his head.

He’d failed her. He and Liam both had failed her in a huge way.

They’d planned in detail. They’d taken into account so much. They’d made a plan of action. None of it did a damn bit of good, because those bastards had gotten to Lauren faster than Noah could have ever imagined.

How?

He put a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed, trying to alleviate the knotted tension coiled in his muscles.

“How in the hell could they have put this kind of plan into motion that damn fast?” Noah demanded. “We only called the D.A. yesterday.”

“Can you make it on your own or do we need to carry you out?” Seth asked. “We can talk on our way back up. Liam is with my brothers and volunteers and first responders. They were combing the area where the body was found to make sure we weren’t missing anything.”

“I can make it,” Noah said in a determined voice.

He took a step forward, falling into stride with Seth as Seth’s fathers followed behind. Seth’s deputies went ahead of the men, one of them talking into the radio.

“How did they manage this, Seth?” Noah asked again.

“I think Joel Knight had already made her,” Seth said grimly. “He may not even know about the meeting with the D.A. If he’s had people looking for her all these months, it’s possible they were finally able to locate her and were just waiting for an opportunity to make their move.”

Noah swore long and hard. “And the very thing we thought we were doing right—taking her to a more isolated area—proved to be their golden opportunity. They couldn’t make this kind of attack in town, even one as small as Clyde. But on a lonely mountain road that’s only traveled by the people who live on the mountain? Son of a bitch. We may as well have just gift wrapped her and delivered her to the bastard, complete with a bow.”

Seth put a hand to Noah’s shoulder as they completed the climb back to the road, where a string of police cars and SUVs were parked.

“Beating yourself up over the what-ifs and maybes doesn’t do you or Lauren any good right now,” he said quietly. “What we have to focus on is getting her back.”

Noah nodded, his jaw tight, and determination so fierce that he wouldn’t entertain any other option took firm grip of his insides.

“I heard them talking,” Noah said as they continued to walk toward Seth’s SUV. “They came looking for her and thought Liam and I were dead. They didn’t waste any time going after her, but they didn’t say a word about killing her. They specifically talked about dumping her on Knight and getting paid. Knight wants her alive, and so if we find Knight, we’ll find Lauren.”