Alex (In the Company of Snipers) (30 page)

A single shot blasted from the gun in her hand.

Jess dropped dead.

Alex

“Daddy!” Abby squealed with delight. Alex lifted his baby girl high over his head, her light golden hair spilling around his face as she squirmed in his hands. His only thought was how much he loved her.

“You’re an airplane, baby girl.” He twirled her around in a big circle so she could feel the breeze beneath her.

She laughed with that sweet voice, clinging to his hands on her waist, her golden hair nothing but ribbons of sunshine in the breeze. “I’m flying. I’m flying.” She giggled down at him with smiling blue eyes. “Look at me, Daddy. I’m flying.”

“Not for long. Now you’re landing.” He deposited his fairy princess aircraft on the soft grass at the park. Other kids played on the swing or the slide, but Abby wanted to play with her daddy. She wrestled, pretending he was a dinosaur come to life and she wanted to ride his back. And then he was her pony. Abby could get so rowdy. Alex smiled as he remembered. She was not always a dainty little princess.

“I’m a cowboy.” Her laughter was sunshine to his heart.

“You mean, you’re a cowgirl.”

“No, Daddy. I’m a cow–boy.” She bounced a little harder until Alex rolled over. Down she came, still bouncing and giggling. As he hugged her close, Abby snuggled under his chin. She hugged him hard with all her strength, her soft baby hair spilling over his face. He loved the smell of baby shampoo. And then he felt them. Butterfly kisses. He relaxed, her warm tender body pressed against his heart while Abby blessed him with sweet, eyelash kisses on his cheek.

Too soon she jumped to her feet. With a giggle she was out of his arms, running away as she grinned over her shoulder. “Look at me, Daddy. I have to go. You have to stay.”

He reached for her, but Abby faded right before his eyes. He touched nothing as he grasped after the tiny hand he had just felt around his neck. She disappeared. All he heard was her sweet voice in the air. “Look, Daddy. Find her, Daddy. Find her.”

The grass and ground of the park disappeared beneath him into a gaping black hole. He was falling, falling ….

Alex fell from heaven with a thud. The solid ground beneath him felt like the stings of a thousand cuts. A man’s voice talked to him from very far away.

“Hey, boss, I’ve got you now. You’re going to be okay.”

Alex knew that voice. He just couldn’t remember who it belonged to. Someone held a bottle to his lips. The cool water felt good running down his neck, but then that same someone held his head steady, and eased a trickle between his lips. Drop by drop, it made its way down his parched throat. His head pounded so fierce, he couldn’t think with the smell of baby shampoo still in his nose.

“Abby,” he croaked, barely loud enough to hear himself. “I want Abby.”

Whoever helped him was thankfully persistent with the water. More water and finally, he swallowed enough to moisten his tongue and throat.

“Hey, Boss.” Alex heard that familiar voice again. “I don’t know about Abby. I only know about Kelsey.”

Kelsey
. Her name burst into his brain. Jerked back to reality, his heart screamed for her.
Kelsey
.

“Where is she?” He turned toward the familiar man, but he either didn’t hear him or chose not to answer. Instead, gentle hands loosened the ropes that circled his wrists. They moved over his arms and shoulders, firmly feeling and diagnosing as they went. The man muttered quietly. His hand felt kind and gentle until—

“Sorry, Boss. This is gonna hurt.” With a quick jerk, he pulled Alex’s right arm down to the normal position at his side.

Sonofabitch.
He shuddered at the pain. Black waves of unconsciousness threatened to take over. He had barely caught his breath when the same procedure was repeated with his other arm. Whoever’d just saved him was torturing him now. It took all the strength he had left not to black out.

Once again the man said, “Sorry about that, Boss.”

A warm, wet tongue lapped Alex’s face.

“Whisper. Off,” the man said, and immediately, Whisper’s tongue withdrew.

He groaned in as much confusion as pain.
What the hell? My dogs are here? What’s going on? Where’s Abby? Kelsey? Am I delirious? Dying maybe?

More shuffling sounded around him, and the unknown man set something soft beneath his head. He gave Alex more water. Finally, he knew the voice.

“Harley?” He croaked the question.
I’ve lost my mind. I really am dying.

“Yeah, Boss. It’s me. You’re coming around. I can hear you now. Good. You’re gonna be okay.” Harley patted his chest very carefully. “You’re pretty beat up. Looks like someone cut you up a little, but I’ve got you now. You’re going to be okay.”

“You gotta get Kelsey.”

“Working on it, Boss. You’re gonna be okay. You need to hold still though. Help is on its way, but I’m trying to stop some of this bleeding.” Harley’s voice was calm. Too calm.

“Listen.” Alex tired to command. “You tell me I’m gonna be okay one more time, and I’ll—” A spasm of breath stopping coughing intervened. He spat the blood out of his mouth, the taste sweet, salty, full of copper and bile.

Once again Harley did not hear or did not choose to listen. His hands were on Alex’s chest were too gentle and too kind. Taping. Pressing. Bandaging. “Hold still, Boss. I need you to stay still so I can bandage your back.”

Alex lay heavy on the ground, laboring to suck in enough air just to talk. “You’ve got to find her.”

“I will in a minute. Honest, I will. I promise.” Despite his words, Harley continued bandaging with steady hands. “Can you tell me what happened?”

At that point Alex was angry. “Get me the hell up.” He tried to rise, but pain skewered him into the ground. Another fit of coughing left him gasping for air and weaker still.

Harley wiped Alex’s mouth and chin with a cloth. “Boss, I’m sorry, but you aren’t going anywhere. I need you to lie still so you don’t make things worse. Your bleeding to death isn’t going to help anyone.”

“Stop patting my sonofabitchin arm.” Alex gasped, but he also heard the gentleness in Harley’s voice.
Damn. I’m in bad shape.
“They mean to kill her,” he huffed.

“Who, Boss? Who’s got Kelsey?” Harley continued with his first aid as patiently as a parent with a demanding child. At least he listened this time.

“Durrant. Her ex. He’s got a couple others with him.” Alex looked toward Harley’s voice. He thought of Kelsey. If they had done this to him, what were they doing to her?

“You need a lot more help, Boss. I need to finish what I’m doing here before you—”

“No. No.” Alex writhed in frustration. “Save her. Not me.”

Harley stopped what he was doing. “It’s the middle of the night, Boss. She’ll be hard to find. They’ve got ATVs and a head start. Hell, they burned your ATV. They could be in the next state by now. Even if I do find her—”

“Harley. Please.” Alex couldn’t see and he could barely talk. All he had left was heart. It must’ve been enough. Without a deep sigh, Harley stood. Alex thought maybe he had left, but the man returned with a blanket. He covered Alex and crouched alongside, his hand firm on Alex’s shoulder.

“You’ve got an open bottle of water and your SIG at your right hand. I know you might not be able to reach it, but just in case.”

Alex strained to listen.

“I’m leaving Smoke. He’ll stay with you until search and rescue gets here.”

“Go,” Alex commanded hoarsely.

Harley sighed.

“Please go.” Alex felt something warm trickle down his cheek. Blood or tears, they were all the same.

“Yep.” Harley stood. “You stay put and wait for them, you hear me? Don’t go dying on me.”

Alex heard the pain in Harley’s voice. This would be the last time they ever talked to each other. Harley had to understand.

“I love her,” he whispered.

“I know,” Harley replied gently. “Whisper. Come.” This time he walked away.

Alex shuddered, the pain of all he stood to lose more than he could bear. Kelsey. Maybe Harley now, too. He had to know.

“Where … you been?” Alex shook beneath the blanket. He heard his voice—old, weak, and dying.

The quiet answer came from the edge of the trees. “Rehab, Boss.”

Twenty

Kelsey

Kelsey opened her eyes. She was bound and gagged, tied to the back roll bar of Buck’s ATV, and headed away from the cabin. Shooting Jess had surprised her as much as everyone else. She had gotten another shot off before Nick and Buck tackled her, but it went wild, and giving herself up didn’t help Alex like she had hoped. They had kicked and cut him anyway, then slapped her around and tore her shirt off. Down to just her bra and jeans, she knew the worst was yet to come. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to cry. His words came back to her.
It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s how you learn to carry it.

The reality of the brutality she had just witnessed battled her last shred of hope. There was no way Alex could help her tonight, but he had rescued her so many times in the past year. She clung to irrational optimism. Somehow he would find a way. She knew it.

At last, the ATV stopped. Buck jerked her out off the back and dropped her against a tree like a bag of potatoes. With a few quick twists of a rope, he tied a noose around her neck and then to the tree. She wasn’t going anywhere with her hands tied behind her back and her ankles tied, too. Kelsey didn’t see it coming. He slapped her hard, the rings on his fingers sharp on her cheekbone. He had knocked the breath right out of her.

“You killed my brother.” He hit her again, his face mean and hard in the ATV’s headlights.

She shook. Nick had hit her before, but this felt different. The blood pouring from her nose and down her chest chilled her, but the hard look on Buck’s face filled her with paralyzing fear. Nick was mean, but Buck was cruel. And she knew the difference. She gulped, prepared for another slap, but Nick charged up to the tree wild eyed and full of – concern?

“Knock it off, Buck. Let her be.”

Kelsey stared dumbfounded at her ex-husband.
How odd that he came to my rescue.

“You gonna make me, Durrant?” Buck whirled on Nick, his knife drawn and ready to fight. “You man enough to make me?”

Nick’s hands went up in instant submission. “Just don’t want you killing her too soon, that’s all. We got what we wanted. Let her be.”

“No, we didn’t get what we wanted, you fool. I got five dead men back there and one of them was Jess.” Buck gestured angrily back in the direction of the cabin. “Keep shooting your face off, and there’ll be one more right here, right now.”

Of course Nick backed right down. Kelsey blinked the sweat out of her eyes. Nick wasn’t here to help her. No way.

“And you.” This time Buck leveled an accusing finger at Ethel. “You can’t torture a dead man, you ever think of that? I thought that was the plan, but no. You had to hit him so hard. You nearly took his head off, you dumb bitch.”

Ethel glared at Buck without a word.

“We move at first light,” Buck growled. “Til then, stay the hell outta my way.”

Kelsey lay against the tree trying to catch her breath and listening to the power struggle. When Buck was done threatening and bellowing, he stomped off into the trees. She knew exactly what would happen next. Nick had to prove he was a big man. She was right. Buck was no more than out of sight when Nick strutted toward her, kicking dirt as he came. She was already hurt, and he was only going to hurt her worse, but she wasn’t the same foolish girl he had married. He was going to understand one thing before he killed her. Fear gripped her throat, but strength raised her eyes.

“You proud of yourself?” Nick leaned into her face. “Who do you think you are running around with that guy anyway?”

“I’m your ex-wife. Ex as in no longer married. Remember?” She glared back at him, like she wasn’t the one tied to a tree. Every muscle trembled, but she didn’t care.

“You think you can sass me? Do you, huh?” He was so close she could smell his cheap brand of beer breath.

“I don’t belong to you. Never did.” Even in her precarious position, it felt good standing up to him. That was one lesson she had learned from Alex when he had taught her how to shoot.
Never back down, Kelsey. You might take a beating, but you’ll know you gave your best shot.

“Shut your stinking mouth.” Nick punched her in the chest like she knew he would, but she had anticipated his move. It still hurt, but she lifted her head and glared back at him. Again Alex’s words reminded her.
Never lie down to a bully. They’re nothing but cowards. You’re not.

“Coward,” she gasped. “That’s all you’ll ever be.”

Nick pulled his knife, and with a fancy little twirl of the weapon, pressed it under her chin. Kelsey felt the blade nick her skin, but she didn’t lower her eyes. Inches away, she willed herself not to cry or blink. Instead she pictured Alex. He had told her she already possessed what she needed to win deep inside. It was all about heart.
And you have the perfect heart, Kelsey.

“What you looking at?” Nick sputtered.

Until now she had never realized Nick was so easily antagonized. For an instant, she was back at the shooting range, Alex’s arm around her and his words soft and warm in her ear.
Never give up, Kelsey. Even when you’re outnumbered and out gunned. Never give up. Help might be just around the corner.

“A baby killer. That’s—”

He slapped her before she could finish, knocking her head sideways with his open hand. She spit, caught another breath and turned to face him, her eyes stinging and her voice shaky. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. You can’t hurt me anymore.”

“We’ll see about that.” Nick tossed his knife to the ground. Kelsey knew what was coming. With a jerk, he snapped the belt off of his waist and wrapped the buckle around his fist. “I said I was gonna teach you a lesson, didn’t I?”

She stiffened and waited. She had used to think she deserved this kind of treatment, but no more. Now she knew Nick Durrant was nothing but a cruel little man who preyed on babies. The strength and enlightenment that Alex had bolstered her with flooded her now. Just in time.

Nick took a half step forward, cocked his arm back like a baseball pitcher, and brought the belt down. Again and again, it bit into the tender skin of her arms, chest, stomach, and legs. She twisted to protect herself, but the ropes held tight.

Alex, she thought.

With each whip, Nick cursed everyone she loved, Tommy, Jackie, and Alex. At last he tired. Despite her resolve, she whimpered. Red welts crawled like fire across her tender skin. Some bled, but she hadn’t given Nick what he wanted. She hadn’t cried, and she hadn’t begged him to stop. Not once.