Missionary Position (Masters of the Prairie Winds Club Book 7) (25 page)

Fischer had been sitting on what Elizabeth Hunt referred to as the front veranda sipping sweet tea with his vivacious hostess when he heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire. Without even thinking he opened the mind link he shared with his brothers and let everything he was seeing and hearing flow out freely. Distance was ordinarily a huge hindrance when they wanted to communicate telepathically, but he was hoping the surge of emotion would be enough to overcome the problem. He’d never felt more helpless in his entire life than he did as he closed the distance between himself and the track. Watching John Hunt sink out of sight and Lara fly off the back of the horse she’d been riding turned his blood to ice.

Seeing a horse stand on its hind legs, front legs pumping in the air had always seemed like poetry in motion—until it was the horse the woman he loved had been riding. As she disappeared behind the tall rail fence, Fischer noticed her gaze was fixed on her grandfather and she didn’t seem to be making any attempt to cushion her own fall. The moment his hands connected with the top wooden rail of the fence, he heard two more shots from the trees along the drive leading to the house, but the second set of gunfire hadn’t sounded the same. He could only hope that didn’t mean there were two shooters.

Fischer was sure he’d never forget the sound of Lara’s body hitting the ground and the whoosh of air leaving her lungs. Leaning over her as she gasped for breath, he remembered the terror he’d felt the first time he’d had the wind knocked out of him. There was a part of Fischer’s mind that registered both Peter’s and Adam’s alarm just as his phone vibrated in his front chest pocket. Knowing it would be Adam, he pulled it out hitting the speaker button and simply shouted his location and hung up. Fischer knew his oldest brother would alert the authorities if they hadn’t already been called—Peter knew where he was and wouldn’t have needed to call and ask.

Lara’s eyes were unfocused and the minute he touched her, Fischer felt her slipping into the dark void of unconsciousness. The relaxation the darkness would bring would help her breath easier, but since he hadn’t seen her land, he worried about the implications if she had a concussion. It quickly became apparent he wasn’t the only one there watching Lara, but he was grateful the two men who were obviously agents didn’t hesitate to step in and help. They’d stopped the bleeding in John Hunt’s upper leg before Fischer heard the wail of sirens quickly closing in. Keeping his attention on Lara, he felt her begin to stir and he placed his hand on her shoulder when she tried to sit up.

“Stay where you are, baby, let’s be sure you don’t have any back or neck injuries before you begin moving around.” Seeing her eyes fill with tears she tried to blink back squeezed his heart. “I know you are worried about your grandfather, but I assure you he is fine. We obviously had more company than we knew about and they’ve been taking very good care of him. The paramedics are here now and they’ll get you both loaded up in just a few minutes.” Fischer leaned over her and kissed away the tears that ran from the corners of her bright blue eyes, “Don’t cry, cupcake. He’s fine and we’ll figure this all out. The horses are being taken care of and you can bet your sweet ass my brother is tearing up everything in his path trying to get to you.”

John Hunt’s heart rate had spiked so the EMTs wanted him transported quickly even though it had returned to normal after he’d been told Lara had regained consciousness. The second ambulance arrived just as Fischer heard the distinctive
thump, thump
of a helicopter. Before the paramedics made their way to Lara, Peter was sprinting the distance between where Lara lay on the soft turf of the track and the grassy center of the large oval where the FBI’s helicopter had landed. ‘
Glad you were meeting in a place with blades, bro.’

‘
This tells you how eager they were to get rid of us. How is she?’

Fischer didn’t get a chance to answer before his phone vibrated for the second time and he knew better than to ignore Adam again. Stepping away to take the call, Fischer let Peter take over while he filled their older brother in on what had happened. Adam was well connected and would be able to ensure they had the full cooperation of local law enforcement and he promised to send a couple of his own security to the hospital to help keep Lara and her grandfather safe until they could figure out who had been responsible for their injuries. Smiling to himself as he hung up the phone, Fischer wondered if he’d ever outgrow the comfort he found in talking to his brothers. Knowing he and Peter had their family’s support and blessing in making Lara their own was just another assurance they’d made the right decision.

An hour later they were still standing alongside Lara’s bed waiting for the doctor to see her when Peter’s thoughts filled his mind, ‘
I’m fucking fed up with this. I’ll be right back, I’m going to make a couple of calls and see if we can’t light a fire under somebody’s ass.’
Fischer nodded and held Lara’s hand as Peter explained that he’d be right back and stepped quietly from the small room. She turned to him and grinned, “He’s calling somebody to hurry this place up, isn’t he?” He would have laughed if he hadn’t been so surprised. “You aren’t the only one who pays attention you know? I watch you both too, and I can tell when you have reached the end of your patience. It saves my ass—literally, being able to know when I’m getting close to that line and these folks raced by that point about forty-five minutes ago.”

Fischer didn’t even try to hold back his laugh, “Cupcake, you are amazing and you are also right. I’d expect to see a doctor in just a few minutes, and knowing my family I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Chief of Staff walk through the door.” He could see the skepticism in her eyes and worked hard to hold back his grin when the door opened moments later and a man introducing himself as the hospital’s chief neurologist walked in. Peter followed with a self-satisfied expression that was easy to read.

Two hours later, after Lara had spoken with her grandfather, they were on their way back to the penthouse. John Hunt had assured his granddaughter that he planned to milk the fourteen stitches he’d gotten for all they were worth and would have her grandmother waiting on him hand and foot in no time at all. They could all hear Elizabeth’s protests in the background and Fischer was thrilled the elderly man had managed to make his granddaughter laugh despite how stressful their day had been. Once she’d disconnected her call, Lara leaned against him and within seconds he heard her breathing even out and knew she was sound asleep.

‘
We’ll get an update from Kyle and Kent as soon as we get her settled, but it doesn’t sound like the kid they caught knows much.’

Kyle West was straight up pissed. Eric Roberts had his nose so far up the ass of Lara Emmons’ case Kyle knew the man had to be skating on thin ice professionally since the man was seriously stretching the bounds of his jurisdiction. The interrogation of the young man they’d detained in the trees had been short and sweet since he didn’t know jack shit. He was a financially strapped college student working at a local gun range who’d been promised an absurd amount of money to fire two shots into the dirt causing a distraction. The kid didn’t know the identity of the woman who’d hired him and all of their communication had been done over the phone. And the kid seemed to be truly mortified that two people had been hurt as a result of his greed and carelessness.

Looking at his laptop screen, Kyle shook his head when Peter had asked what charges the shooter was facing. When his friend’s jaw dropped, Kent spoke up, “Listen up, this was John Hunt’s call. And, well—frankly, I hope like hell I’m as wise as he is someday.”

Kyle shook his head, “Not in this lifetime and probably not the next.” Then turning his attention to Peter and Fischer, he continued, “Something about the kid’s interview impressed John Hunt’s attorney, who then talked to Hunt. The young man has been offered the opportunity to have all traces of this incident expunged from his record in exchange for his compliance with a rather rigid list of requirements, including public service hours, completing college with a GPA above a 3.0, and he’ll be living in the Hunt’s guest house, working his ass off for the next two years.”

“Christ, is he planning to adopt the damned kid, too?” Kyle could tell Peter wasn’t entirely thrilled with what he was hearing, but Kyle was equally sure Lara was going to be thrilled when she heard what her grandfather had done.

“Can’t say as it would surprise me much.” Kyle laughed and shook his head, “Elizabeth grilled her husband for almost an hour before signing off on the plan. Hell, the kid wants to be a SEAL someday and I suspect BUDs is going to seem like a cakewalk after she gets done with him.”

Kent leaned into the frame of their call and added, “I can tell you two aren’t thrilled with this plan, but I want you to know everybody who has talked to this kid agrees this is a great idea. He’s really bright, but dirt ass poor—and if he isn’t set on the right path now, we’ll be dealing with his brilliance later after the wrong side of the law has a chance to fully train him, and quite frankly we’ve already got enough of those folks out there.”

Peter finally let out a breath, he’d never had trouble trusting his former teammates but when they were talking about the woman he loved—well, he was finding it a much harder sell. Fischer didn’t appear to be any more pleased than he was, but he appeared to be resigned to accepting what had obviously already been set into play.

Kyle leaned forward and the move got both Peter and Fischer’s attention, “Here’s the kicker. The distraction worked—someone entered the horse barn during the chaos in front of the house. The board that had recently been replaced was removed and the fake key we left there was taken.” This was the shit Kyle West lived for and the smile on the man’s face reflected just how much he was enjoying the way things were working out. Hell, Peter wouldn’t be surprised if Kyle didn’t start rubbing his hands together in glee doing his best Snidely Whiplash imitation. “We have people in place waiting for them to show up at the bank. But let’s face it, Lawrence and Rita Emmons have been spooks for a long time, so I’d be awfully surprised if they boldly walked into our set up.”

“There isn’t much we can do aside from watch, because they haven’t broken any laws as far as anyone knows.” Kent shrugged and then added, “I’m sure their employers are interested in how they’ve managed to accumulate such an impressive
portfolio of assets
, but I don’t think they’ve got anything to pin on them.”

Peter finally gave in and asked the question that had weighed on his mind from the beginning, “Which of them is really the leader here? I know the natural assumption is that it’s Lara’s dad, but for some reason I have the sense that’s wrong.”

“I think the general consensus is that Rita is the push behind everything. Lawrence might be the brains, but it’s his wife who is driven and, her profile indicates she is far more aggressive than her husband who easily slid into his missionary persona. Rita, on the other hand, struggled with living the simple life, thus their lavish vacations several times a year.” Kyle’s explanation made sense and Peter assumed that was a large part of the reason they were never in one location for more than a few months.

“Now, we need to switch directions before our lovely wife bounces herself right out of the ‘fuck me’ shoes she showed up in a few minutes ago.”

“Doesn’t she know those four inch heels aren’t going to make any difference? She’s never going to be tall enough to be a threat.” Peter laughed out loud because he could hear Tobi gasp in the background.

“Peter, I swear I don’t know why my friend thinks you hung the moon. Now, Fischer is a sweetie, but you are just mean. Does your mama know you’re mean to girls?” The little imp was wound for sound, damn he missed working at Prairie Winds.

Fischer nudged him aside and flashed a smile at Tobi that had been getting him girls’ panties since he’d been a damned teenager, “Darlin’, both of my older brothers are beasts, and our mama tells me that she was determined to keep trying until she got it right. That’s why I’m the youngest.”
Oh spare me. ‘Honestly, Fischer, you keep flirting with the Wests’ woman and they’ll take you apart at the seams.’

‘
Ehhh, she and I are just playing with you so lighten up. Jesus, you are such a tight ass. And the plans she’s made for our proposal and collaring are fucking amazing. This is my way of thanking her. She’ll get punished tonight for playing with me, and she and her Doms will all be thanking me—watch and see.’
Peter wasn’t entirely convinced, but decided he wanted to crawl into bed and cuddle with Lara more than he wanted to argue with his brother so he let it go.