Matt—The Callahan Brothers (Brazos Bend Book 2) (36 page)

Torie kept her gaze locked on the Formula, on her sister. “Does that woman know we’re back here? Do you think she’s seen us?”

“Depends on whether she’s paying attention or not.” Matt bumped up the throttle and their speed increased, gradually closing the distance between the two boats.

“This is stupid,” Torie said, raising her voice to be heard over the roar of the engines. She had a lump the size of a bowling ball in her throat. “What does she think she’s going to do? Shoot my sister and sail off into the sunset? This is a lake, not an ocean. She can’t get away. This is just crazy!”

“Stalkers often are. She’s had plenty of time to nurse her hate in the mental hospital, too.”

Torie swallowed hard. “What’s your plan, Matt? Are we just going to follow her until she stops? That’s taking a real risk. What if she ... she ... shoots before we get there?”

“We don’t have a lot of choices.”

She steepled her fingers in front of her mouth. What choices did they have? She hadn’t a clue. She had experience with car chases. Motorcycle chases. But she’d never been in a boat chase before. “Maybe ... no ...”

“What?”

“I guess it’s a little too James Bond to think we could catch up and pull alongside and one of us jump into the other boat?”

“We’re going fifty miles an hour, Torie. Stunts like that are only done in Hollywood.”

Speaking of Hollywood ... “I don’t suppose your boat is outfitted with any special equipment? Like sniper rifles?”

“Nope. Taking the driver out is a possibility, but we’d need to get a lot closer and it’d be a real tricky shot.”

“So what are we going to do!”

Half a minute passed before he answered. “She looks like she’s handled a boat before. I have an idea that might just work. Torie, put on a ski vest.”

“Am I going overboard?” She slipped into a red neoprene vest, then frowned when he shook his head at her offer of a larger one in black.

“Not unless I miscalculate. Sit down and hold on, Shutterbug.” He grabbed a pair of sunglasses from the glove box and slipped them on before shoving the throttle all the way down. The boat surged forward.

The spray that hit her stung like ice pellets. She glanced over at the climbing speedometer. Sixty-five, seventy-five. Ninety miles an hour. She had to shout to be heard. “So, are you doing a 007 after all?”

“Think more John Wayne than James Bond,” he yelled back. “We want to herd her to the left right up here where the lake branches.”

Herd? Like cows?

They’d closed the distance between the two boats. The woman had undoubtedly seen them now because she’d increased her speed, too. He was definitely crowding her, coming up between her and the shore on the right.

“C’mon,” Matt muttered as they approached the point where she’d have to choose her path. “C’mon, you crazy....”

He pushed the throttle and their speed increased, the bow of their boat now even with the stern of hers. Pilar shot a furious look over her shoulder, then veered left. She kept on going.

Pilar, Torie repeated. What a pretty name for such a wicked woman.

Matt smiled grimly and eased up on the throttle. “This might just work,” he yelled.

“Why left?” Torie brushed her flyaway hair away from her face. “What are you trying to do?

“There’s a huge sandbar that’s covered by less than a foot of water when the lake is at this level. It stretches well out into the lake and if you don’t know it’s there, you don’t see it. I’ll try to run her aground.”

“Is that safe for Helen?”

“As long as she’s tied securely, she should be okay. She might get banged around a bit, but that’s better than being shot.”

“She’s pregnant, Matt.”

He darted a glance toward her. “It’s the best I know to do.”

Torie nodded. She’d keep her fingers crossed. And her toes. Everything.

A few minutes later, he said, “Here goes,” and he bottomed out the throttle once again. The Fountain surged forward and Torie held on tight to a grab bar. Flying across the water this way felt faster than the time she’d driven a lover’s sports car almost 130. Were she not scared to death, she’d be ... not exhilarated. She’d still be scared to death.

He was coming up on the other boat again, this time on the left, guiding her closer to the shoreline. Something slammed into the seat beside Torie and her eyes went wide. “She’s shooting at us!”

“Get down, baby. We’re almost there.”

Terror gripped Torie as she watched the redhead wave her gun around with one hand as she steered the bouncing, speeding boat with the other. It appeared that she pulled the trigger again and again, but Torie couldn’t tell where the shots went. She kept her gaze locked on the gun, fearing that any second she’d see Pilar point the barrel toward her sister.

Matt’s gaze flickered from the lake in front of him to the boat. “Get ready. Ready.” He shot a glare toward the other boat. “C’mon...”

He veered sharply toward the middle of the lake and yanked the throttle back. Torie jerked forward, then sideways as their motion changed and he circled back around. She scrambled to watch the other boat.

It happened in an instant. The outdrives grabbed the wet sand, slowing the boat so that the hull settled into the muck, which brought the Formula to an abrupt stop. Pilar de Romo flew headfirst into the windshield, bouncing off it to go over the bow and into the water off the starboard side.

“Helen. Helen!” Torie scrambled to her feet, clutched the grab bar in front of her as Matt cut the engines. She gazed helplessly toward the other craft for the longest twenty seconds of her life.

She saw her sister’s head come up at the same moment she heard the splash as Matt dived in and swam toward the other boat.

“Torie,” Helen called, the sweetest sound ever.

“Are you okay? Helen? Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Matt climbed into the Formula, pulled a knife from the sheath on his belt, and cut her sister free. Tears of relief fell from Torie’s eyes as she watched him give her twin a hug, then settle her gently into a seat.

Then, he walked to the bow, gazed over the side for a moment before calling out to Torie.
 
“It’s over, honey. It’s over.”

Chapter Nineteen

Matt helped Helen over to the Fountain, then returned to the Formula as the lake patrol arrived, having been alerted by residents who’d witnessed the accident. He left Pilar de Romo’s body floating out of the women’s line of sight.

Matt’s first priority was to check on Mark, and upon learning that he was in surgery, he begged a car and the law’s indulgence. “I can explain everything,” Torie assured the officer escorting them to lake patrol headquarters. “He needs to be with his brother.”

Maddie met him in the hospital lobby. “He’s going to be fine,” she told him. “They pumped some blood into him and sewed him up. He’s in post-op now. The nurse said they’ll move him to his room in probably half an hour.”

Matt relaxed a little at that, but he didn’t breathe a full sigh of relief until he heard Mark flirting with the nurse who helped wheel him into his room. At that, he wrapped his arms around Maddie and gave her a hard hug, pretending that his knees hadn’t really gone a little weak.

“Really are living dangerously, aren’t you, Matthew?” Mark teased. “Be glad it’s only me and not Luke.”

Maddie laughed, leaned over Mark’s bed, and kissed him on the mouth. “There. Now you’re in trouble, too.” Then her eyes teared and she grabbed hold of Mark’s hand. “You worried me, Mark Callahan.”

“I’ll try not to do that again,” he assured her, then looked up at Matt. “What happened?”

Matt explained what he’d been able to piece together about events after speaking briefly with Helen. He finished by saying, “She broke her neck when she hit the windshield.”

“Smart thinking on your part to use the sandbar, bro.” Mark shook his head. “At least there was some thinking going on in this debacle. I deserved to get shot for letting her get close. And where were the security guys?”

“She killed them,” Maddie said with a shudder. “And another man she apparently picked up at the bakery in town.”

“The fault is mine for leaving,” Matt said. “I should have been there.”

“What was that about?” Maddie asked. “I heard the doctor’s message on our answering machine. Then Branch told me you’d met when he called and asked me to take him home from the hospital. He wouldn’t tell me what the meeting was about. He didn’t look so good, so I didn’t say anything about Mark’s being shot. Not until we knew for sure he’d be okay. I was afraid to bring on another heart attack.”

“Another? How about the first?” Matt couldn’t help but say.

Mark’s stare turned knowing. “He faked it.”

“Yep. And milked the sympathy for all it was worth.” Matt probably should have kept his mouth shut, but considering today’s results of his father’s interference, he couldn’t hold back his frustration. With quick, concise sentences, he explained about the deal Branch had made with the doctor.

Affronted, Maddie said, “He faked it? That old goat faked his heart attack? And kept faking it? Why of all the nerve! Luke will have a fit when he hears this.”

Mark snorted. “Family counseling? Are they serious? Tell me you’re not counting on me being part of that nonsense.”

“I’m not going to be part of that nonsense. Not now. That interfering S.O.B has tried to manipulate this family one too many times. He knew what we were doing out at the lake was important. He knew that lives were at stake. He pulled me away from Torie at the worst possible time. If I’d been there, chances are you wouldn’t be here tonight.”

Mark allowed his head to drop back against his pillow, his eyes closed. “Saints be praised. Matt’s turned away from the dark side. Now you see him for all he is and always has been. A scheming, controlling bastard.”

“Now, guys,” Maddie protested. “Yes, what your father did was crappy. Nevertheless, I think the counseling idea has merit. I’ve tried for as long as I’ve known Branch to get him to agree to counseling. He needs it and whether you realize it or not, y’all do, too. This might be your chance to—”

“To what, Maddie?” Mark interrupted. “Hold hands and sing Christmas carols? Counseling, my shot-up butt. Didn’t you hear what Matt said? A lot of what happened today is because Branch lied. As far as I’m concerned, that old bastard can get counseled to death. It can’t come too soon for me.”

“Mark,” Maddie protested, wincing. “I know you’re angry and I know what he did was awful, but he’s still your father.”

“My father is dead to me. He has been for a long time.”

Matt exchanged a look with Maddie, trying to signal her to let it go. She didn’t take the hint.

“But you guys can’t keep this up. I’ve told Luke the same thing. Nursing this kind of bitterness isn’t healthy for any of you.”

“No, it isn’t. But just maybe, my dear sister-in-law, you need a lesson in the harsh reality of what Branch Callahan really is.”

“Mark,” Matt warned.

“No. You, too, brother.” Mark belligerently met Matt’s gaze. “Get my wallet, Maddie. I need to show y’all something.”

Maddie shared a curious look with Matt, then started to give Mark the wallet, but his hands shook too much to hold it. “No. I can’t.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about your arm. It’s got to hurt to move it.”

“That’s not it. My arm doesn’t compare to the hurt I get from what you’re holding in your hand. Flip it open, Maddie. Look behind my driver’s license.”

Maddie slipped her fingers into the leather compartment and pulled out a worn photograph. A hospital photograph of a newborn with a pink elastic bow around her bald head. Matt put the pieces together in an instant. “Where is she, Mark?”

Maddie just looked puzzled. “Who is this?” she asked.

Mark spoke without opening his eyes. “Margaret Mary Callahan. My wife named her for Mom.”

Maddie’s jaw gaped.

“Where is she?” Matt repeated, though in truth, he didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to hear confirmation of what he suspected. That the baby was gone, too.

“She’s dead. They’re both dead.”

Matt’s heart twisted. His brother’s loss was even bigger than he’d known. “What did Branch do, Mark?”

“Branch?” Maddie murmured.

“Carrie was seven months pregnant when I deployed to Iraq. We were young and stupid, but we were happy together. She made me happy, and feeling the baby kick the day I left her standing on that airport tarmac ... I can’t even describe. That the last time I saw Carrie.” He smiled bittersweetly, lost in the past.

Maddie’s hands were now over her mouth, her voice muffled as she asked, “What about the baby?”

“The baby was born in April. April tenth. On April twentieth, Carrie received the first letter from Branch. He wanted her to bring Margaret Mary to live with him in Brazos Bend until I came home. Carrie knew how I felt about Branch and she turned him down. He sent two more letters and then a lawyer to the base housing where she lived. She tried to contact me, but I didn’t get the message until it was too late.”

Matt grimaced. He had a bad feeling about where this was headed. He gripped the safety rail on the hospital bed for support.