Praying for Daylight (18 page)

“I don’t think it’s enough,” I glanced at Chase. “Maybe you should make it fifty million. Cheyenne has a thing for rich guys. If Perry is richer than Jake, she will definitely go back to him.”

Chase nodded, right on board with where I was taking this, “Good idea.”

“Think about it Perry,” I shrugged. “More money you have, more attractive you’ll be.”

Perry really seemed to be thinking this over, “The problem is I’m in jail. I can’t use that money locked up.”

“I have access to some the best lawyers in the country. I’ll have you out of here in no time. All we need is to know where Kate is,” Chase said, trying not to sound like he was begging for Perry to accept his offer. “But I can see you’re set on what you’ve planned, so we’ll leave you alone.”

I wanted to argue at first, but I knew Chase was playing Perry. So I nodded, and followed Chase toward the door. We’d just stepped over the threshold, when we heard Perry shout, “Wait!”

I turned, trying to keep from smiling, or acting like we’d won. “Yeah?”

“As much as I’d love to keep the little brat’s location secret, I have to say this is just too good an offer to pass,” Perry sighed, straightening up. “All I need from you boys is a guarantee that you won’t screw me over.”

Chase pulled out his cell phone, in seconds had his lawyer and financial advisor pulled out of bed. They set up everything to satisfy Perry, and Chase even handed him the phone at one point to make him feel ever more secure in our deal.

Once the call ended, Perry smiled, “Kate’s at the old cattle camp on the edge of town. Down by Willow Lake.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Kate

Whenever I opened my eyes it was pitch black. Most of the time they stayed closed. I was tired from struggling against the ropes, so I drifted in and out of a restless sleep. There were strange sounds and smells. I wondered if Perry really would come back in the morning to check on me. Maybe he just said that, and maybe I hoped he was truthful, so I had another shot at convincing him to let me go.

Whatever happened to me, I hoped someone found me, even if I didn’t survive. The thought of my family never knowing what happened to me made it even harder to bear than the thought of them always wondering.

The person I was most worried about was Dustin. He was going to beat himself up over this for the rest of his life. I could almost see his anguished face as he did everything he could to find me.

I doubted he would even know where to start looking. Perry was too slick to get caught, and even if he did, he’d never talk. No one would ever find me.

The only choice I had was to keep fighting to stay awake, and somehow escape.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Dustin

Chase and I were in the truck faster than I thought was possible. We left the keycard on the floor in the hallway where we found it, and I secretly thanked whoever had dropped it.

Willow Lake was a thirty-minute drive, but we cut it down to fifteen. The truck reached ninety on the highway, but there was no one to pull us over, because everyone was on the other side of town slowly working their way north in search of Kate. At this rate, they wouldn’t get close to finding her ‘til morning.

We left the truck about a mile up the road from the old cow camp and started in on foot. I didn’t trust Perry, even with the money as a bribe, so I brought a shotgun, and a small revolver for backup. Chase was armed too, and we very carefully covered the mile, keeping our eyes peeled.

“You think he set traps?” Chase asked behind me.

“I’m not sure. Part of me thinks he felt confident no one would find her. Though being that crazy…I wouldn’t be surprised.” When the barn came into view, I peered into the scope on my rifle and took a good look around the area. “What do you think?”

“I have no idea.”

I wasn’t too keen on walking right out into the open, but what other choice did we have?

“Okay, cover me,” I stepped out from the cover of the trees, alert and ready for anything.

Except being shot at.

There was a loud crack - searing pain, like fire, lashed my right arm and I hit the dirt. Chase fired back, cursing and shouting for me to take cover. I ignored him and kept hold of my rifle, crawling on my stomach. I was halfway to the barn when bullets peppered the ground just feet from me.

I scrambled for the cover of a bush and fired back.

“Dustin?” Chase shouted.

“I’m good!” I called back so he didn’t come out of his hiding place and risk getting hit. “Just a graze.”

“Better be, or I’ll have to kill the bastard.”

“He’s mine!” I shouted, knowing that I wasn’t giving up until I had a clear shot at the person trying to keep me from getting to Kate.

I pushed to my feet, edging around the building until I reached the doors. There was a heavy metal chain and lock keeping me from opening them.

Kind of stupid though. The barn was half rotted. I kicked it. Wood crumbled around my feet, and I used the butt of my rifle to make the hole bigger. In a few seconds, I was crouching to slip into the barn.

It was almost too dark inside to see, but I carefully walked further in, thinking that it couldn’t get much worse. I’d been shot. I think I could handle whatever that asshole threw at me next.

“Kate?” I peered through the scope on my rifle, the night vision giving me a clear view of the barn. So far I didn’t see anything. “Katie?”

The second time I called her name I inhaled something other than dust, and hay, and dirt.

Smoke.

“Dustin!” Chase’s voice carried in from outside. “Fire!”

“Damn, Kate if you’re in here answer me!”

The smoke was getting thicker, and I didn’t know who Perry had working with him, but it was clear he didn’t want me to find Kate. She had to be somewhere close or he never would have shot at me, or set the barn on fire.

Ignoring Chase’s shouting, I went further into the barn. There were some old stalls toward the back. The smoke was thickest there. I couldn’t get a decent breath, and decided that it was probably best to turn back before I passed out from lack of oxygen.

I still had another area of the barn to search, and I was making my way toward it when I heard something heavy hit the floor.

I took a deep breath and forged deep into the thick smoke. My eyes burned. It was getting hot. Almost too hot to bear. Red and orange flames consumed the stalls on my right, but I searched each one until I came to the last.

“Kate!” She was tied to a chair, struggling to get out of the ropes. She had one arm free. But instead of helping her, I went past her for the barn wall and began kicking it open, and beating it with my rifle until the wood gave way. I turned back and grabbed Kate, along with the chair and ropes, and dragged her through the opening I’d made. I stopped as far from the barn as I could get without putting us out into the open.

I used the knife from my boot to cut the ropes, then I grabbed Kate’s hand and led her toward the trees and a safer spot. I thought we’d made it, until gunshots rang out again, and I flung both of us on to the ground.

“Are you hit?” I asked her.

“No, you?” she rasped.

“Not this time…” I glanced around for my rifle. It was just out of arm’s reach. I’d have to leave our cover to get it. “Chase?”

He shouted back, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

“Come on, let’s get out of here!” I reached for Kate, but she screamed and I turned to look up at a man coming out of the bushes not five feet from us. I surged to my feet in a split second decision and threw myself at him, knocking him to the ground. His gun fired twice, and missed. He was massive. Just huge. I hit his face, and even went so far as to knee him in the balls, doing everything I could to take him out.

He still had the damn gun, and I grabbed his hands, forcing him to aim it away from me. He was big, using his flab against me to roll me on my back.

I pushed at his hands, but my right arm wasn’t at full strength. He was aiming for my face.

A shot rang out, and for a second I thought he’d fired at me.

But then, he dropped to the side, clutching his shoulder.

I grabbed his gun, keeping him in my sight in case he moved.

“Bastard,” Kate said, drawing my attention to where she was standing with my gun still pointed at him. “I hope you rot in hell.”

I stood, slowly, and held my good arm out for the gun, “Give it here, Kate.”

“That’s my bodyguard, Marco.” She didn’t lower it and looked at me. “I want him to spend the rest of his life in jail with Perry.” She didn’t hand me the gun, but let it drop to the ground.

I picked it up just as Chase came running toward us. “Him too?”

“What? Was there a second guy?” I wondered if there was another.

He nodded, “Yeah, he was the one that set the fire. Never seen him before. Tried to shoot me when I surprised him, but I was faster.”

“Dead?” I asked.

Chase nodded grimly, “It was him or me.”

I kept an eye on Kate, wondering how she was holding up, and asked Chase to call Walters. We needed him out here, and an ambulance. Marco was bleeding something fierce, and I was starting to wonder if my being dizzy was from adrenalin, or the graze of a bullet.

I sat at the base of a tree, clasping my hand over my arm. “Damn.”

Kate sat beside me, trying to get a look at it. “You two are crazy.”

I smiled at her, “Yeah, and we saved you. So our kind of crazy works.”

She nodded, eyes watery and voice thick with emotion, “Thanks…I had this horrible feeling I’d never see you again.”

“I’d never let that happen.” I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, “You’re my Katie. I gotta’ take care of my girl.”

“I think you’re worse off then you let on,” She laughed, but there wasn’t any humor to it. “How much blood have you lost?”

I shrugged, wincing as the gash in my arm throbbed, “I don’t know. I don’t care. I’ve got you back. That’s all that matters.”

I felt her fingertips smooth across my forehead, and her lips press against my cheek, “Just keep your eyes open for me, okay?”

“Fine,” I opened them, giving her a lazy smile. “You have the prettiest green eyes. Like gems. Like some sort of…shiny gem.”

“Emeralds?”

“Those too.”

“Dustin,” she slid closer, her warm hands framing my face. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Nah, it was nothing,” I tried to laugh it off, but my arm hurt too much. “Anything for Kate Kelly, country star.”

She rolled those pretty eyes, “I could care less about being a star.”

“You’re my star. That shiny little thing every guy wishes for. That he could keep forever.” I tried to keep my eyes from drooping closed. “I love you, Kate. I always have…always.”

“Dustin… hey!” She shook me. “Keep your eyes open!”

I blinked hard, “It’s cool, Kate. I understand if you don’t feel the same. I’ll love you…forever.”

“You big idiot. Stay with me!” She was shouting now, and I don’t know why. I was right in front of her. “Chase, where the hell is that ambulance?”

“I’m fine…” Somewhere in my head though, I wondered if I wasn’t. Kate sounded frantic. And before I could tell her it was okay, I was being loaded onto a gurney by some swarthy guy with a gold earring.

I was in and out. Floating on a cloud of some meds they gave me. Kate’s face swam into view every so often, but mostly I dozed off. My arm didn’t hurt anymore, and I figured that was a good thing.

So, I told Kate I loved her one last time, and closed my eyes again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Kate

Stupid, crazy, stubborn cowboy.

He had to go and tell me he loved me, then pass out.

I was sitting beside Dustin’s hospital bed, wondering when he was going to wake up. He’d been shot twice. Not just in his arm, there was also a bullet in his thigh. It’d taken surgery to get it out. Fortunately, he was going to be fine. It hadn’t damaged anything that needed major healing time.

He’d been lucky.

We were all lucky.

When they got me to the hospital, I was very hungry and dehydrated, but I was more concerned about Dustin. I knew I’d be fine, but my heart was so wrapped up in that reckless cowboy, I was nearly inconsolable.

I paced outside the operating room, and refused to wait anywhere else.

Once he was out, the nurse tried to take me to a room to rest, but I refused again. I stayed right by his side. So she let us share a room. I wasn’t going anywhere until he opened his eyes and said those three words that made my heart feel so full and happy.

He loved me.

It was at least an hour that I stared at his closed eyes. His family was right outside, wandering into the room every few minutes. He was somewhat awake, but not really ‘with it’. Soon enough he started to move, and tried to pull the IV in his arm.

I leapt out of my chair, hovering over him. “Hey, lay still.”

Dustin smiled up at me, “It’s my star.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Drugs make you very mushy. I’m going to film this. I just need a camera…”

He tried to kiss me but I pushed him back, “You need to rest. You were shot twice.”

“I feel fine,” he laughed like a little boy, and gave a whistle. “Man, I’m starving. I’ve never had the munchies like this.”

I glanced behind me when I heard his mother laugh, and saw her hurry outside to tell everyone he was awake.

Great, now that she was gone, how was I going to keep him in bed? “I’ll call for the nurse, and she’ll put you to sleep again if you don’t chill out.”

He pouted, “Fine.”

“Good. Want to watch some TV?” the doctors came in to check on him just as I said this, and I was shooed out of the room. I waited with his family. His mom and dad were seated by the door with phones glued to their ears, calling everyone to let them know Dustin was going to be okay.

When I was finally let back into the room, after his parents had gone in to visit, Dustin looked upset, and glared at me. “What’s wrong?”

“I told you I loved you.”

“Yes, I know.” I smiled, hoping to tell him the same when he wasn’t hopped up on drugs.