Lone Star Burn: Lone Star Escape (Kindle Worlds Novella) (7 page)

Mara rolled over, her body sore from two nights in a row of love making with Beau. She stretched lazily and rolled over to realize that Beau was no longer laying next to her. The door creaked open and she saw him trying to quietly enter with boxes in hand.
“Hey, good morning cowboy,” she said, her husky sleep filled voice startled him. L
“Hello there sweetheart. I found these in the shed, so I figured you just used them to unpack and could use them to repack.” She smiled at him, sitting up. The blanket fell, exposing her naked body. Beau groaned. As much as he wanted to join her back in bed, he knew that her guests would be here soon.
“So, how about you get dressed and pack. I will handle checking in your guests and then come back here to help you carry them out the back?” He wanted to check these guys out before he even allowed her near them.
“Sure, want me to cook breakfast?” She moved towards the dresser, piling her now shorter hair, on top of her head in one of those messy buns. It was still long enough to get the locks off her neck, exposing the soft skin. His lips tingled, thinking of kissing that area. Shaking his head, he moved towards the door again.
“I already have coffee ready and I made you some fruit. I’ll cook you an amazing lunch after we get to my place.” He ran to the kitchen, bringing her breakfast back to her.
“It’s like you’re in a hurry to lock me up in here,” she said with humor filling her voice. When he handed her the coffee, he took in the short shorts and tiny tank top she had on. Mara wiggled her ass a little when she noticed he was staring.
“Maybe you can help me shower after too,” she suggested. He reached over, pulling her face to him and kissed her softly.
“Definitely,” he whispered. Bear began to bark and Beau walked out of the room.

The two men who entered were definitely not Mr. Thomas and Mr. Jones.
“Mr. Belmont, I was unaware you had a second job,” Paulie Ciminelli said to Beau. His heart raced and he prayed that Mara stayed in her room. As he indicated the office Mara had set up on her first day here, the men followed.
“Yea, my girlfriend owns this place, so I help her out when I can.”
“Oh, do we get to meet this lovely lady?” Paulie asked. The tone of his voice creeped Beau out.
“Ah, she needed some sleep. I let her stay in bed.” Beau slid in behind the desk as Paulie took the chair across from him. The other man looked like the one Jennie had described last night. He was greasy and quite the stereo type Italian.
“This is Jimmy. He’s going to stay with me.”
“What made you decide to come stay way out here, instead of in Dallas? You would think you’d prefer the excitement of the city. A small town like this is boring.”
“We figure if we’re closer to you, we’ll get news faster. Yea?” Paulie crossed his leg, placing his ankle on the other knee. His fingers tapped his leg. Beau pulled up the reservation on the computer in front of him, marking them as checked in.
“My PO Box is in Dallas, how did you find me here?”
“We took a cue from you and hired ourselves a hacker. Only ours seems to work faster. We found you in a few hours and we think that they can get into those FBI files quicker too. Maybe you should cancel your guy and we’ll give you what you find? You can then earn your money we already paid you and check out any addresses we find.”
“Sure, sounds good. I’ll keep going on my end too. I need your credit card to check you in,” he reached his hand out. Paulie snapped his fingers, Jimmy jumping to and handing a credit card over.

“Alright, you have rooms at the end of the hall. Go up the stairs, all the way down. Do you have luggage?” Beau led the men to the stairs.
“Yea, Jimmy will handle it.” He could see the man grumble as Paulie treated him like a lackey. Beau was anxious to get back to his gun in Mara’s room and get her out of here.
“Well, dinner is at six. Jennie will be here to serve it. I hope you enjoy Fort Mavis while you’re in town.” Beau turned to walk away but Paulie grabbed his arm. If it had been any other man, he would have knocked them out for touching him. But any ruckus would draw Mara’s attention and he couldn’t afford for her to come out here and be discovered when he was weaponless.
“I look forward to meeting your girlfriend too,” Paulie’s leer turned Beau’s stomach, but he forced himself to smile.
“Absolutely. See you fellows later.” He turned down the hall to Mara’s room. Opening the door, he found her bent over, putting the rest of her clothes into a suitcase.
“Hey there, everything go smooth? I’m almost done here.” Beau didn’t respond as he strode to the side table and grabbed the gun. He slid it into the waistband of his jeans and turned to Mara. Her eyes had widened as her hands began to tremble.
“We need to go, now. Forget the boxes. Go.” He calmly opened the door to her patio, calling out for Bear who was pacing the garden. The dog lazily bounded after them as he put his arm around Mara’s shoulders casually. He tugged at his shirt, making sure the gun was hidden. Knowing that the men were in the rooms on this side of the house, he wanted to make sure that they didn’t draw any suspicion in case the men were looking.

As they crossed the yard and entered Beau’s house, he quickly dug his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Agent Parker. His phone went right to voicemail. Beau left a quick message, asking for a return call. Mara stood, ghostly white, leaning against his counter. Her whole body shook on the walk over, but now she looked like a statue. Bear sat at her feet, looking at her as if worried. Beau dialed Agent Parker’s office, also getting voicemail.
“Damn it, where is he?” His loud outburst pulled Mara from her trance. Beau looked at her just as tears spilled over. “Hey, hey,” he said softly as he moved to wrap her in his arms.
“I’m just so tired of it. I am done with being scared. I don’t want to live a life of fear.” She sounded more frustrated than scared.
“It’s going to be ok. We’re working something out.” Beau pushed Mara onto a stool, pulling another one up next to her. He opened his laptop, checking the email. He had a response from Agent Parker to his email from the night before.
Contacted Joey’s brother, who is in charge if both Joey and Paulie are gone. He’s power hungry and gave us someone else to testify. He said the girl would be off the hook if we can manage to get both men in prison so he could take over. She will be safe once we get those two, and find her ex, Jimmy. Meet with you tomorrow to discuss.

Damn it, Paulie’s lackey was Mara’s ex. The one who beat her to hell.
“So, when are you going to tell me who it is? How did they find me?”
“It’s Paulie and Jimmy.” He paused to allow that to sink it. Her fingers squeezed tight into a fist. Her face reddened with anger.  “They came looking for me, not you. They don’t know you’re here. I just said it was my girlfriends place. Paulie is who I met with in Dallas. He had a hacker find my real address and with you having a B and B next door, it was convenient for them to come stay here and keep pressure on me to find you. They also have a hacker trying to get into the FBI files, which means that if they get in, that they will know it’s you who owns that place.”
“I should have picked a job that was less public. I just, I thought I was finally free, finally able to really live a life.” He could barely hear her as she mumbled.
 

Beau slid closer to her, stroking her face. He cupped her chin so she was looking at him.
“You are free and soon, you’ll be freer than free and you won’t have to testify. Agent Parker and I fixed that. Once we get these guys behind bars, you’re safe.” His phone rang and he jumped to answer it.
“Parker, what the hell, we ne-“
“Mr. Belmont, have you not heard from Parker either?” The man on the other end of the line was a new voice. He had no clue who it was.
“Who is this?” Anger seeped into his voice.
“Agent Michaels.”
“Agent Michaels?” Beau repeated so Mara could hear. She nodded, indicating it was ok. “No, I’ve been trying to reach him. Paulie Ciminelli and Jimmy just checked into Mara’s B and B. I kept her out of sight, but they are right next door. They hacked records to find me and stay close to keep pressure on me to find her. It won’t be long before they figure out who she is and that she’s here.”
“I know, our IT guys have been battling this hacker for the last hour. They are close to getting in. No one has heard from Agent Parker since he left last night. His communications show that you were the last email he sent out and now he’s gone. He hasn’t been home, his girlfriend said that he never showed for their dinner reservation and hasn’t been able to reach him.”
“I haven’t heard either. Now what?”
“Now, we feed them info about her and try to get daddy here. I’m working on that. You just sit still. Keep Mara safe and out of sight. We have a tactical team heading that way soon. They will be ready to go as soon as we have word Paulie is there.”

“So, what? We just hide in my house? They will get suspicious if we aren’t there for dinner or lunch, or if the house stays empty like it is now.” Beau knew that the two men would be searching the house. They probably were already getting concerned about the fact that Beau and Mara left and no one else was there.
“You go back, leave Mara at your place. Do not let them out of your sight. I’ll call when I can.” Agent Michaels hung up and Beau looked at Mara.
“He was the first Agent I dealt with, when I was in the hospital.” Beau just nodded, staring at her. He leaned over and kissed her.
“I need you to stay here. There’s a gun in the drawer there,” he pointed next to the fridge. “There’s one in the coffee table in the living room and end table in the bedroom upstairs. Ok? I need you to stay here. Lock the doors, keep Bear by your side and don’t’ open the door for anyone.”
“You can’t leave me,” she pleaded.
“I have to. Jennie will be there soon and if we’re both gone, those guys will know something is up.” Reality hit Mara. She panted, trying to catch her breath.
No,
she told herself.
I will not panic. I can do this.
“Ok, we can handle it. Go.” Mara moved towards his living room. Knowing she was going to be alone in his house, she figured that she would do some snooping and get to know more about the man that she was willing to not only trust with her battered heart, but with her life. Beau watched her and his dog head into the other room and he let himself back out. On his walk back across the yard, he shaded his eyes against the sun. In the upstairs room, he could see the curtain flutter as someone moved away from the window. Yea, just like they thought. Someone was snooping and someone was looking out.

Letting himself into the kitchen, he was confronted with the two men, sitting at the counter drinking the coffee he had made for himself and Mara.
“I hopes you don’t mind there, no one was here. We could smell the coffee all the way upstairs.” Beau forced himself to smile.
“Nah, you’re all good. Jennie will be making dinner. But we have no lunch plans. We just opened, so you’re our first guests. I can recommend the diner in town for lunch,” Beau said, hoping he sounded helpful and not like he was rushing them out of the house.
“Yea, we was thinking we would hit up the town.” Paulie nudged Jimmy and they both got up. As they adjusted their suit jackets, Beau saw their guns. Things were happening faster than he expected. Caustiously he followed them out to the front door. As he opened it, Jennie was just walking up. She paused momentarily, stunned at the sight of the men before her. She quickly caught herself and smiled.
“Hello there, you must be our guests. I’m Jennie. Hope I’ll see y’all at dinner,” she said cheerily as she pushed past and into the house with her box she carried. The men said hello and continued to their car.
“Let us know if you find out anything, right Mr. Belmont?” Paulie asked as he got into the passenger side of their rental car. Beau nodded and waved from the porch, watching the men drive off. Heading back inside, Jennie was waiting in the entry way.
“I’m guessing the danger came to town and moved right in?” Beau nodded, still looking out the window as the men drove away.
“Mara needs to stay out of sight, so it’s you and me for now. I have to fill you in. Let’s go in the kitchen and grab some coffee.”

“So, the FBI will be here right?” Jennie asked as her and Beau sat over a cup of coffee. He had told her the whole story. Everything Mara had told him, what the FBI had filled in and what he knew.
“Yes, they will be sending a tactical team. We just have to keep Mara out of sight until then.” Jennie moved to grab her box.
“I’m just gonna drop this in the room and then help you carry her boxes over. With those guys gone, it won’t look odd to see us doing that and then it’s done.” Beau followed her, grabbing at some of the boxes Mara left. Jennie picked up the suitcase. They made their way across the yard to Beau’s house. As they neared, Beau could sense something was off. He dropped Mara’s boxes, turning to Jennie. He tossed his cell phone to her with one hand while pulling his gun out with the other.
“Dial the last number that called me. Ask for Agent Michaels. Tell him to get here immediately. Lock yourself in the B and B. Now,” he said in a harsh whisper. He waited for her to move and then quietly stalked towards his open kitchen door. The shattered mug of coffee on the steps and door wide open raised his hackles. He backed against the wall, peering around the corner into the kitchen. No one was there. He could hear Bear, whimpering from the pantry. With the door closed, the dog couldn’t escape. But at least he was safe and alive. Beau blew a breath out silently. With his gun raised, he crept through the kitchen. He could hear voices in the other room. As he reached the entry to the living room, the floor beneath him squeaked. He silently cursed himself and froze. The voices stopped. He closed his eyes, trying to regulate his heart rate and breathing. Hearing a click, his eyes snapped open.

“Mr. Belmont, thanks for joining us. Jimmy will take that gun.” Paulie stood next to him with a gun to his head. The cold metal pressed against his temple. Jimmy moved in front of him, yanking the weapon from his hand and putting on the safety.
“As soon as I saw you walking across the yard with her, I knew it was my Julie. I know the sway of that ass. Even with that shitty hair she has now, I knew it as soon as I saw her. It was mine for many years. Still is,” he said, leaning in close to Beau’s face. “It’s a sweet ass, isn’t it? I know you’ve tasted it.” His breath stank, blowing right in Beau’s face. He swallowed hard to prevent his stomach from unloading down the front of him.
“Jimmy, let’s get him into the other room, yea?” Paulie grabbed at Beau’s arm, propelling him into the living room. Mara was tied up, a rag tied around her mouth. She was on her knees in front of the couch, her hands behind her back. Tears streaked down her face, her lips bloodied. A bruise was already forming on her cheek. Anger infused its way throughout Beau. He tightened his fists, his biceps stiffening. Every muscle in his body ached to do something about this. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. He stopped mid step, quickly kicking back and twisting into a roundhouse. His heel caught Jimmy in the jaw, knocking him over before he knew what was happening. Beau was in the military. He knew how to get himself out of situations like this, but with Mara’s life at risk, he didn’t want to push it too far. Paulie shot a round into the floor near Beau’s foot as he landed from his assault on Jimmy. The sound of the gun caused Bear to bark and growl from his locked up position.
“Mr. Belmont, though I appreciate your bravado, we paid you for a job. Tsk tsk, you won’t be getting a good reference from us.” Paulie shifted his gun, waving it at the couch. “Jimmy, get off your ass and tie him up.” Beau hung his head, moving to the couch. He didn’t want to look at Mara and see the disappointment in her eyes. Jimmy limped over, holding his head.
“You bastard, I can’t wait for you to watch her die, and then I’m going to enjoy killing you next,” he spat in Beau’s ear. He cringed at the feel of spit landing on his face. Feeling Jimmy behind him, tightening a rope around his arms, he slammed his head backwards. He must have caught Jimmy in the nose, because the satisfying crunch and cry from behind him indicated his mark was hit. “Seriously, try something again and the next bullet goes in her head,” Paulie shouted, moving closer to Mara, the gun aimed at her. Beau held still while Jimmy finished tying him up. The man came around the front of the couch, blood seeping down his face. His fist flew through the air, landing on Beau’s. His nose cracked and his eyes immediately watered. He could feel the blood drip down his face.
“Enough,” Paulie instructed.

Paulie sat himself down in the recliner next to the TV. Jimmy limped around the room, holding his face. He cried about his face hurting and the blood clogging his breathing.
“Stop being such a baby,” Paulie said.
“I’m gonna kill the asshole,” he said, though it came out hard to understand with his broken nose.
“Not yet. We wait for the old man and then do what he says. You’re lucky we even let you live, Jimmy. If you had kept your bitch in line along with your temper, we wouldn’t be in this situation. You should have just taken your bid and done the time. But no, you had to get high and almost kill her. Damn it, if you do something like that, you need to finish the job. Hopefully you’ll get the chance to clean this mess up today.” Jimmy’s eyes widened in fear. Apparently Joey was going to be here, and if he let Jimmy live, they were going to die. Beau felt desperate. He broke his promise to Mara, to keep her safe, to prevent anyone from hurting her again. But instead of anger, when he looked at her, he saw, understanding. As if she accepted her fate already. They sat there silently for almost an hour, waiting, not speaking. The whining from Bear had stopped. The house remained silent.

Finally, after who knows how long, Beau heard his front door open and an older man walked in. The moment he opened his mouth, he knew this was Joey Ciminelli.
“Paulie, good job boy. Good job.” Joey stood in the room, exuding power. Hands on his hips, he looked around the room.
“What about the old lady?” Jimmy asked. Paulie looked at Beau. There was no way he would allow Jennie to be in danger too.
“I told her I was spending the day with my girlfriend. She won’t bother us. She has nothing to do with any of this.” The two gun men looked at Joey. He waved a dismissive hand and looked at Beau.
“Mr. Belmont. I’ll expect a refund, if you’ll just let us know where the money is?” Beau sat silently, hoping that if he didn’t speak, it would buy them time. Hopefully Jennie got through to Agent Michaels and they would be here at any moment. His fingers fidgeted behind him, knowing Jimmy didn’t tighten the ropes enough, in his hurry to get at Beau. He worked at the ropes carefully to keep from being found out.
“Hey asshole, he asked you a question,” Jimmy moved in front of him, sucker punching his face from the other side. Pain exploded in his right eye socket and the lid closed. He couldn’t open it again. Staring one eyed at the man before him, he hoped it expressed his lack of fear. He wouldn’t give this monster what he wanted. He would not cower to him. As they slid from his wrist, he kept his arms behind him, waiting for the right moment to make a move. That moment didn’t come though.

As Joey stood to move towards Beau, the front door exploded open. Canisters rolled across the floor. Everyone looked at them. Beau shut his eye, knowing what came next. A loud bang and flash had the men crying out in pain. He heard clattering, of someone dropping a gun to the floor in an attempt to wipe at their eyes. Even with his eyes closed, the bright flash caused his eyes to water and ache.
“FBI, put your weapons down,” he heard shouted from the front of the room. Yelling ensued between everyone and he knew what would come next. Beau used his judgement to figure out where Mara was. He could barely open his good eye, but did, using it to gauge where she kneeled. He wrapped his arms around her, knocking her to the ground. He rolled so that his body covered hers. Gunfire erupted around them as the men blindly shot towards the intruders, the Feds shooting back. Something hit Beau and he ignored the pain shooting through his side. Mara trembled beneath him and he tried to whisper in her ear, to keep her calm.
“God, I’m so sorry I let you down, but trust me, you’re going to be safe now,” his voice weakened as he spoke, the room going black. The last thing he felt was hands grabbing his arms and pulling at him, then nothing.