Three to Ride

Chapter Sixteen

The sun was high in the sky as Rye drove them home. They chatted about their upcoming trip to Texas. It made her nervous, but she decided she would view it as a vacation. She would put things right so she could get on with her life. Rye was going to book the trip when they got home. Rachel was going to pack what little she had. The men promised to take her shopping while they were in Dallas. She wasn’t going to live out of her car anymore, and they had a huge closet for her to fill up. Rye promised they would shop for wedding rings while they were in the big city.

She would need some winter clothes. She bet it got cold here. She’d never lived in a place where it snowed all winter long. It wouldn’t matter. She had two heat generators to keep her warm in bed. She’d been cozy cuddled between them the night before.

Rye turned down the long drive that led to the house. She was getting used to the quiet of the ranch. It was isolated, with only two neighbors and the nudist colony within a five mile radius.

Rye leaned forward and peered in the distance. “What is that?”

Max rolled down the back window. He breathed deeply. “It’s smoke.”

She smelled the woody smell of smoke billowing in through the window. A cold shiver went through Rachel’s body as she remembered that night when Tommy tried to kill her. She had woken to the overwhelming smell of smoke. It had choked her and caused her to gag. She’d been forced to crawl on her belly to find even the smallest patch of breathable air.

“If those idiot boys set off one of their rockets again, I’m going to have a long talk with their mama,” Max swore. “I told them to keep those fire hazards on their own property.”

Rye reached for her and squeezed her hand. “It’s fine, Rachel. Max is probably right. Those Farley boys more than likely have another wild science project going. They’re ambitious, but not the brightest bulbs in the socket, if you know what I mean. They live on the other side of the valley. More often than not, though, they end up in our pasture. If it’s not them, then someone is ignoring the burn ban, and I’m going to get to write a ticket or two.”

Rachel nodded, but she gripped Rye’s hand. She hated the smell of smoke. It put her right back in that night when she’d fought for her life. She remembered the moment when she realized she couldn’t leave the bedroom. The doorknob had been hot to the touch. The fire had spread, and there was only one way out of her small townhouse. She’d been forced to break the window and jump. She could still feel the glass cutting her flesh and the terror of hitting the ground. She’d been sure Tommy would be waiting to do what his fire hadn’t been able to. Only the sounds of her neighbors coming out of their homes to check out what was happening had driven him off, she was sure of it. Even then, she had been able to feel his eyes on her, watching her. She shook off the feeling now. She wouldn’t let him ruin every good moment she had.

“Hey.” Max reached for her from his seat in the back. He seemed to sense her fear. His hands were a comfort around her shoulders. “Are you all right, baby?”

She took a deep breath and tried to banish the panic. “I’m fine.” She was all right. She was with them. There was no way Tommy had caught up to her. She’d been very careful since he’d almost caught her in San Diego. It was just the fire that was making her edgy. She just had to stay calm. It wouldn’t do to have her future husbands see her flip out at the very smell of smoke.

Rye pulled up to the house. The smoke seemed thicker than before. It bloomed from behind the house, a gray-and-white cloud growing by the minute.

Max was out of the car in a shot. His face was ashen as he realized what was on fire. “It’s the stables,” he said with an air of disbelief.

Rachel knew those horses meant the world to Max. He’d worked so hard to build his business, and now it was on fire.

“Damn it. I have to go and get the horses out.” He looked at Rye, and his blue eyes stark. “Why don’t you get her out of here? Take her back to Stefan’s. He’s got a security system. Call the fire department on the way.”

Rachel scrambled out of the Bronco. “No, I’m going with you. I can help.” There was no way she was leaving him here to fight a fire and rescue the horses alone. Bliss only had a volunteer fire company. She had no idea how that worked, but she knew Max wouldn’t wait for them. He’d do everything he could to save the stables.

She watched as Max and Rye passed a wary glance between them. Rye reached into the back of the Bronco. He pulled out a shotgun and extra ammunition. After making sure it was loaded, he passed it off to Max. Max slipped the extra ammo in his pocket.

Rye nodded to his brother. “Go check it out. I’ll call in the fire over the radio. If I need to, I’ll get her out of here, but I’d rather stay and help you.”

“All right,” Max replied tightly. His face was a mask of tension as he looked her over and then spoke to his brother. “If I can get the horses out safely, I’m going to. You take care of our girl.”

He gave her a long look before turning and heading out. Max held the shotgun with the ease of a man who knew how to use it. He jogged off toward the stables, where the smoke was billowing into the air.

“Why can’t we go with him?” Rachel held on to Rye’s sleeve like it was a lifeline.

Rye hugged her for a moment and then gently disentangled himself. He moved back to the driver’s side of the car. Rye leaned into the Bronco and pulled out the radio. “I have to keep you safe, Rachel. This doesn’t feel right. Stay close to me.” He pushed the button to talk. “Callie, this is Rye. Are you there?”

Callie’s voice was tinny over the radio. “That’s an affirmative, boss.” Rachel turned away from Rye. She tried to catch a glimpse of Max in the distance. He’d disappeared from sight.

“I need you to call the fire truck out to our place.”

Rye’s voice was calm as she struggled to see how bad the fire was. Her feet itched to run down there so Max wouldn’t be alone.

“And send Logan down here, too. Pull him off of whatever he’s doing. Tell him to bring a couple of extra shotguns with him. Callie, I need you to put out the word—” Rye’s voice died as Rachel heard a hard thwack.

“Rye, are you there?” Callie’s voice spiked with obvious worry.

Rachel turned in time to watch Rye slide, unconscious, to the ground. The handset of the radio swung uselessly against the side of the SUV. She could see he was bleeding. Her heart started to pound. There was so much blood.

“Hello, Liz.”

Rachel’s stomach churned as she saw her nightmare standing over Rye. He had a baseball bat in his hand.

Tommy Lane stood roughly six feet tall. He was all rangy muscle. His face was a testament to hard living, and there was always cruelty in his eyes. He had always reminded Rachel a little of a rodent, since his eyes were too small for his face. They were black and often seemed to have no emotion behind them. That was not the case now. He stood looking her over with a stark possessiveness that made her skin crawl.

It didn’t matter, Rachel thought, her mind racing. All that mattered was saving Rye. God, he couldn’t already be dead. He was still bleeding on the ground. The grass around him was becoming saturated. She started to move toward him, but Tommy dropped the bat and pulled a handgun out of the holster he wore.

“Don’t you touch him.” Tommy’s voice was low and ragged. “You lay a hand on him, and I’ll put a bullet through his brain.”

Rachel stopped. She knew he would do just what he’d threatened. She was surprised to see Quigley wander up. The big dog whined a little as he sniffed at Rye’s body. He licked Rye’s face and tried to get him to wake up. Rye was completely still.

Tommy laughed as the dog tried to wake his master. “Dumb dog. I thought I’d have to shoot that monster when I got out here to set up that little distraction in the stables. The stupid dog just wanted to play. I threw a stick for him a couple of times, and now he’s my best friend. Those boys of yours need better security.”

“Please don’t hurt him again.” Rachel concentrated only on the fact that Rye might be dying. She tried to keep her voice calm. She didn’t want to make Tommy any angrier than he already was. She wanted to run, to get away from here. He was going to kill her, and she doubted it would be a quick death. He would want some revenge on her for running. Her feet remained firmly planted. She couldn’t abandon Rye. If she had a chance to save her men, then she had to take it. They hadn’t done anything wrong except to have the misfortune to fall for her. “I’ll go with you if you leave them alone.”

Tommy’s mouth turned up in a ghoulish version of a smile. “You’ll come with me, Liz. You’ll come with me because you’re mine, and I don’t let go of what belongs to me. You should have learned that by now. My truck is over the ridge, off the road. We’re going to walk to it, and then we’ll go someplace where we can talk.”

She shivered. She knew there wouldn’t be a lot of talking. There would probably be a brutal rape followed by him gutting her. She wasn’t an idiot, but Rye’s still body caused her to agree. She thought she saw his chest moving. She prayed he was still breathing. She couldn’t take the chance that Tommy would finish him off. Max could be back any minute. He would be walking into a trap, and Tommy was a trained professional. Rachel doubted he would hesitate to shoot Max. After all, she realized, he had already shot him.

“You’ve been here for two weeks,” Rachel said. He’d been the one behind Max getting shot, not some hunters.

His arrogant smile was all the answer she needed, but he responded anyway. “I’ve been watching you, Liz. I almost took out your boyfriend. That horse of his bucked, and I missed my shot. I thought the horse would do him in when it panicked, but he must have a hard head. Of course, I had no idea you had the other one on your string, too.” He kicked at Rye’s body.

“Stop, please,” she practically begged as Rye’s body slumped back down. Quigley whined and came to sit at her feet.

Tommy pointed the gun at Rye’s head. For a moment she thought he was going to shoot. “Tell me, Liz, how does it feel to whore yourself out to two men? What kind of woman does that? Did you think I would let you get away with it?”

“No.” She would tell him anything if it got him to move that gun away from Rye’s head.

He pointed the gun at her and took a deep breath. “You walk in front of me. I hear one scream out of you, and I shoot him and that other fucker, you understand?”

She nodded and started to walk. Tommy pointed to the woods they’d just driven through. She started up the steep climb. It led back to the road she’d nearly driven off of earlier in the week.

“How did you find me?” Rachel asked quietly as she climbed. Quigley panted beside her. She wished that Max and Rye had trained the big, dumb dog to kill. Here was an animal of mammoth proportions, which should have been a vicious predator, and instead he ambled along beside her, probably hoping for a treat.

“I found you because I’m smarter than you, Liz,” Tommy rasped. She could hear he was already struggling with the altitude. They were going up a slow, steady incline. Tommy was in shape, but he came from a place that was barely above sea level. Rachel had weeks of acclimation on him. They were still too close to the house, she thought as they walked into the woods. When they got farther up, she would run. She had no intention of docilely getting into his truck. If he wanted to kill her, he was going to have to work for it.

“That backhills sheriff you’ve been fucking called around looking for information on one Rachel Swift,” Tommy explained. “Stupid. I figured out you had help a long time ago. I traced a line from that nosy, interfering nurse to a man named Lonnie Hayes. He’s a two-striker, Liz. He helps out the nurse, but his main business is fake IDs for kids and people who want to disappear. I leaned on him. He spat out your fake names faster than my fists worked. No one wants to go to jail. Those high-and-mighty principles go straight out the door when a person is faced with hard time.”

Rachel’s heart was pounding. She thought about all the people who helped her along the way. What kind of danger had she placed them in? “Did you kill him?”

Tommy laughed. “No, but he didn’t work for a while. It’s hard to type when your hands are broken. I did kill old Auntie Sadie, though.”

Rachel stopped and turned. She had a sudden vision of her sweet, elderly aunt. She’d been so kind to her as a child. “You killed my aunt?”

Tommy shrugged. “I knew you would come see her one last time. You couldn’t help yourself. She was on her way out anyway. I just gave her a shove in the right direction.”

Rachel’s hands started to shake, and it was with a righteous anger. That anger was blocking out fear and all of her survival instincts. This man had taken everything from her. He’d terrified her and made her life miserable. He’d driven away her friends and killed her dog. She’d lost her job and her aunt and her home to him. And why? Because she wouldn’t go on a second date with him? Because she wouldn’t cede her body to him and take his abuse?

“You bastard,” she said, not recognizing the growl that came from her throat. It was a predatory growl, not the sound of a prey animal.

“You watch your tongue with me, girl,” Tommy said. His every word dripped with threat.

“How dare you?” Rachel snarled. “You pathetic piece of shit. Do you have any idea the hell you’ve put me through?”

“No less than you’ve put me through, Liz.” His dark eyes were glassy. “You women think you can take and take from a man and never have to give back.”

“I didn’t take anything from you!” Rachel screamed. “You are delusional if you think for one second that we had any kind of a relationship.”

“I loved you!” Tommy didn’t seem to care now that his voice resounded through the trees. “You treated me like shit, and I won’t take it. I don’t take that from any woman.”

She was through, she realized with a shock. She was through running, and she was through taking his crap. With a rage she hadn’t known herself capable of, she launched herself at him.

His eyes widened as she threw her body at him. It seemed to take him off guard, and his hand flew back. Rachel heard the gun go off as it hit the ground yards away. Quigley barked and ran away. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was showing Tommy Lane that she wasn’t his victim anymore. Rachel let herself go. She screamed and scratched at him. She used her nails on his face and tried to get at his eyes. She was satisfied with his groan as she planted her knee in his belly when he fell back to the ground.

It didn’t take him long to recover. After a moment of trying to guard his face, Tommy shoved at her with his strong arms. He pushed against her chest, and she flew back. She hit the ground and tried to scramble up. It was too late. He was fast. He was on his feet in an instant, hauling her up by her hair.

“You think I need that gun, Liz?” He spat the question in her ear. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her scalp. He pulled her close. They were chest to chest. “I was never going to use that gun on you. It’s too fast. It wouldn’t teach you the lesson you need to learn.”

His mouth was pressed to her ear. She struggled, but he held her firmly.

“I brought this for you, Liz,” he whispered as though he’d brought her flowers he wanted her to admire.

Rachel swallowed as he pulled out a wicked-looking knife. The silver knife glittered in the sunlight. It was long, and there was no question what it was used for. Some knives had a utilitarian purpose. This knife had been made to kill.

“It’s for you, Liz. I made it special, and I’ll bury it with you.”

He started to pull the knife back. Rachel knew she had mere seconds before he shoved it into her belly. She brought her knee up as hard as she could and aimed directly for his testicles. He groaned as she made rough contact. His hand let go of her hair. She stumbled backward.

“You bitch!” Tommy screamed as he cupped himself.

Rachel didn’t think. She turned and ran. She felt Quigley running beside her, but she couldn’t afford to look down. She just ran, knowing Tommy was behind her every step of the way. If she could just make it to the road, she knew Mel’s house was right across the way. She would start screaming. If she had any luck at all, he would hear her and come running.

Tears streamed down her face as she ran. Branches and shrubs cut into her. She ignored them. Her lungs burned. Still she ran. She could hear him catching up.

“I’m going to make you scream, bitch!”

She moved to the left. She could see the road come into view. She was almost there. Then she was falling. She hit the ground hard. The breath was knocked from her lungs as she slammed down. Her ankle twisted painfully.

She forced herself to turn over and tried to get up, but she’d tripped on a rock. Her ankle was swelling before her eyes. Her heart seized. They would find her here. Max and Rye—please let him be alive—they would find her body here. They would be so heartbroken. She would give anything for just one more minute with them.

“Poor Liz,” Tommy said, walking slowly toward her. The knife was in his hand. He looked satisfied that she couldn’t run anymore. It was apparent from the light in his eyes that he wanted to play with her.

Quigley nudged her with his nose, and Rachel realized he had something in his mouth. He dropped it on her lap. Quigley had gone after the gun. Someone had thrown it, so in his doggy mind, it was something to be fetched. His huge mouth had easily carried the handgun.

Without hesitation, Rachel picked up the gun and fired. There was no warning. He had given her none. There was no request to stop or she would shoot. There was not even the inkling in her mind that now she could send him to jail. There was only the need to be free of him once and for all. Rachel pulled the trigger again.

He looked down at the expanding red blossom on his chest. His eyes registered a dull sort of shock. He staggered toward her, still holding the knife as though he would take her with him.

Rachel pulled the trigger yet again.

He stopped at the third shot, and his knees buckled. He fell face-first to the ground.

“Rachel!” She could hear Max screaming for her.

She got to her feet. Her ankle protested, but she had to get up. Her whole body shook. She felt tears streaming down her face. Blood pounded through her body reminding her that she was alive. She was alive. She had won. She stood over Tommy Lane, and it wasn’t enough. She aimed at his head. Rachel pulled the trigger one last time to be sure.

“Rachel!” Max’s tormented scream reverberated through the woods.

Quigley barked. His tail thumped, and he took off looking for his master.

Rachel was still holding the gun when Max burst into view following Quigley. He was running full out, shotgun firmly in his hand. He stopped when he saw the scene before him.

“Oh God, baby,” he breathed, walking to her.

She dropped the gun and fell into him, sobbing the whole time. Max’s arms tightened around her until she thought she might burst. His hands ran over her body, looking for damage.

“You did good, baby. You did so good. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” He pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

Rachel felt his tears on her shoulder. She looked up. Panic seized her again. “Rye?”

“Is a lot slower since someone used his skull for batting practice.” The words were low, but the sight of Rye walking toward her with a shirt wrapped around his head was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She limped over to him, holding on to Max and gently kissed Rye. His face was tight with pain, but he held on to her as though she was the fragile one.

“You need to go to the hospital.” Rachel wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d had every test known to the medical world.

“They’re on their way.” Max pressed himself against her back as Rye hugged her front. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to anyone listening.

In the distance, she heard the sound of the ambulance making its way up the road.

She looked down at Tommy’s body. He didn’t matter anymore. She was in their arms, wrapped in her future, and no one could take that away from her.