To Protect the Heart of a Brazen Woman [Brazen Sisters 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

“So you robbed your boss?” Bobbie didn’t have to fake her awe, because she couldn’t believe the woman was spilling the information so easily.

Patrice’s cackle reminded Bobbie of a wicked witch. “That would have been too easy. I bankrupted the son of a bitch, personally and professionally. Hopefully, he doesn’t have a penny to his name.”

“Where does Jake come in?”

“My boyfriend, man he was a winner,” The sarcasm dripped from her words. “He got nervous and when the cops showed up to question me, well, us, he pulled a gun.”

“Oh my God!”

“Right. If he had just held it together until they left we would have gotten away with it all.” Patrice sounded so sure of herself.

“So was Jake one of the cops who came to ask questions?” Bobbie found herself really wanting to hear the rest of Patrice’s story, even though she didn’t know how much of it she could accept as the truth.

“No. It was two old guys. One of them shot my boyfriend. I was so pissed I picked up Ed’s gun and shot the cop. I really never even thought it through. Then other cop started trying to talk me into giving him the gun. Not like that was gonna happen. Next thing I knew I was lying on the floor holding my shoulder trying to stop the pain and blood.”

“Jake?”

“Yeah. He ended all my plans, and now I’m going to return the favor.” Patrice gave her a little nudge with the gun.

Bobbie ignored it and spun around. “You’re planning on shooting Jake?”

“Damn straight. But I’m not going to miss like he did. Now walk.”

Bobbie did as she was told. What she really wanted to do was tell Patrice Jake didn’t miss. There was no doubt in Bobbie’s mind that Patrice had survived because he’d wanted her to. This time she might not be so lucky. Bobbie wondered just how twisted Patrice was to think she was going to pull this off and who the hell she got to help her.

As she followed the path that weaved through the trees, Patrice stayed right with her. Bobbie was tempted to bolt at least a dozen times. It was dark enough that if she got a good head start Patrice might not catch up. The only thing that held her back was the notion of possibly getting shot.

“So since I seem to be a pretty important pawn, yet a pawn nonetheless, can’t you tell me who helped you get this close to Jake?”

“No.”

“Our town is so small that I know just about everyone. Unless the person showed up in the past six weeks.” Bobbie wracked her brain for possibilities and only came up with one.

Clint was new, but Jake had hired him so she was damn sure it wasn’t him. Petty as it was, Bobbie’s instincts were telling her that Kerri was involved somehow. Maybe she didn’t even know it.

“Where have you been staying?” There were only a few places that it could be, and Jake’s people should have checked them all.

“With a friend.” Well, damn, she had a friend.

“Must be a good friend if they’re willing to hide an escaped criminal.”

“Money opens a lot of doors. And you’d be surprised how many people walk away from work furloughs.”

“What I don’t understand is what are you going to do after you kill Jake?” Or how she managed to get on a work-release program in the first place.

“I’ll disappear just like before.” Patrice’s confidence was mind boggling.

“What about your friend?” People would notice if someone from the area just up and disappeared.

“She’s gonna be fine. I’ve set a plan in motion for her, too.”

“As in you’re going to kill her, too?”

“No. I’m not cruel. She’s been a good friend. She’ll be well taken care of.”

“So I guess I don’t have to worry about vying with Kerri for Jake’s attention, since they’ll both be gone.” Patrice didn’t admit it was Kerri, but her footsteps faltered enough that Bobbie knew she was right. “How did you two become friends?”

“I used to babysit her. When I got sent away she was the only person who kept in touch with me. I wanted her to have a better life than I did, so I paid for her to go to school. Who knew that she’d end up choosing a school in the same town where Jake happened to be sheriff? I told her to keep her distance and stay the hell away from him, but she didn’t listen. Then she came to me with a plan to help me get revenge, and I knew all the time we’d spent together meant just as much to her as it did to me.”

Bobbie knew something hadn’t been right about Kerri, and it wasn’t just that she showed too much interest in Jake. It went well beyond that. She was quiet and secretive, always keeping people at arm’s length. God, she hoped Jake or someone was getting all this. She couldn’t wait to tell her sisters. They were probably frantic right about now. Hopefully, her brothers-in-law were keeping them as safe and as calm as they could.

Bobbie figured she had gotten more than enough from Patrice. She turned her thoughts to being ready to help Jake if he needed it. Hell, even if he didn’t need her help he was going to get it. Thwarting Patrice and Kerri was second to protecting Jake. Still, there had to be something she could do. She tripped over a root sticking out of the ground, but managed to catch herself from falling.

“Watch your step,” Bobbie warned Patrice, not wanting her to trip and accidently shoot her.

Maybe she should have let her stumble and helped her to fall. If she could manage to get the gun from Patrice, that would change the dynamics of this scenario, giving Bobbie the upper hand. Between the instructions her daddy had given her and her sisters and Jake’s self-defense lessons, Bobbie had decent skills. There was no way Kerri or Patrice could know about that. Bobbie would have done it, if she wasn’t worried that Patrice would switch her attention to Bobbie’s sisters. So she just kept walking, putting her trust in Jake to handle things.

They reached a point where the path forked. While the right would lead them farther up the mountain, the path to the left skirted the water’s edge. Bobbie paused for a second and waited for Patrice to tell her which way to go. Her shove was the only answer she got. They headed toward the lake. Bobbie heard the water before she saw it. As they emerged from the trees to the clearing she was surprised to see the faded red canoe sitting half in the water tied to a nearby tree. Then she spotted the pile of ropes. Bobbie’s fight-or-flight instincts, which were already on high alert, soared even higher.

“So I assume the next step in your plan is to tie me up?”

Patrice nodded. “If Jake is quick and as good as everyone thinks, you’ll be just fine.”

Before Bobbie could argue she felt a tug on her shirt, and then the most intense pain she’d ever felt blasted throughout her entire body.

Bobbie groaned and winced as she raised her head. She looked to the right then to the left. Finding herself trussed up and lying in the canoe was the last thing she needed, but not totally unexpected. Everything swirled around her. Bobbie closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, hoping it would keep her from throwing up. She lifted her hands to push her hair back from her face, but the motion was stopped by the ropes tied around her wrists. A quick glance down and she saw her ankles were tied together the same way.

There was another rope looped between the ones binding her hands and feet that was keeping her from moving, because it was tied to not one, but two cinder blocks. With a grunt that vibrated out of her chest, she pulled harder and she got her hands to her face, but lifted her feet at the same time. Bobbie noticed the rope attached to the bricks was wrapped around her feet. After a bit of maneuvering, she got it untangled enough that she could move her arms without moving her feet, but not much. Maybe she could stand up hunched over, though she wasn’t about to try it since her legs felt like they were made of tingly rubber.

She grunted and groaned, moving mere inches at a time—since her body felt like jelly—but she managed to get herself in an upright position. The spot on her hip hurt like a motherfucker, but everything else was just sluggish. Her jerky movements had the canoe rocking wildly from side to side. Bobbie held her breath waiting for it to capsize and send her into the water. As it settled, she realized she was only about six feet from shore. Under normal conditions, she could swim it easily.

Her back and ass were wet from where she had been lying. It was then she noticed there was about an inch of water in the bottom of the boat. It could have gotten in when Patrice shoved her into the canoe, but there was a better chance the piece of shit was leaking. She scanned the floor and spotted three holes. There was one at each end of the canoe and one under the seat in the middle. She figured she had maybe five minutes before the boat would sink.

Maybe more, if she could get her foot over the hole under the seat in front of her. The cinder blocks made it hard due to their weight. Bobbie used both feet to slide one of them under the seat, covering the hole.

Her brain was finally starting to function as she scanned the shore for Patrice. She was nowhere in sight, but Bobbie knew she had to be there somewhere, watching and waiting for Jake to show up. If Bobbie wasn’t already pissed off this would have done the trick. In every movie or TV show she’d ever seen where someone was left in this predicament they’d never, ever used more than one cinder block to hold someone down. Yet she was tied to not one, but two. Were Kerri and Patrice trying to insinuate something? Did they think she was fat, or did they merely want to make sure she’d stay down? It didn’t matter. If one brick was good enough to hold down a three-hundred-pound mobster then it should have been fine for her.

Bobbie wasn’t about to find out. She twisted her hands until she got one of them in her pocket and pulled out her phone. She pressed the button, but nothing happened. It was dead. She was on her own.

Bobbie knew the first thing she had to do was get out of the fucking ropes. She bent forward, reaching for the rope on her ankles. Her frigging fingers refused to listen. She tugged at the knots, but her fingers may as well as have been two times bigger for the luck she was having. The water was still coming in, and if she couldn’t find a way out of this she was going down with the ship. She pressed her head to her knees and let the tears fall.

* * * *

Jake wasn’t going to lose her. He cursed as he picked up the pace. They had to be closing in. He’d lost cell contact about five minutes ago. Just before the line went dead Bobbie had said something about being tied up, then he heard her scream. It took everything in him not to panic and keep calm. What the hell was Patrice up to? The only thing he could be sure of was that he was most likely walking into a trap, and Bobbie was the bait.

Jake halted and grabbed Cameron’s arm as he passed and pulled him to a stop. “Hold on, I need to check in with Clint.”

Jake yanked his phone from his belt and called his deputy. “Where are you?”

“We just passed the ATV trail that heads down to town.” Clint was nearing in on their position, which meant they were all getting closer to their quarry.

“I lost the connection, but not before she mentioned ropes and being tied up. And that Kerri is up to her neck in this.” Jake needed him to know what they should expect.

“Fuckin’ A.” The hushed curse came through loud and clear.

“Exactly. We can assume this is probably a trap so be on alert, and let me take the lead.” Jake figured it was Bobbie’s in-laws he’d have to worry about jumping in before thinking.

“Always, boss.” Clint ended the call.

After a quick call to Fred instructing him to go pick up Kerri before she could flee, Jake stuck the phone back in its harness and turned to Bobbie’s brothers-in-law. “I need you two to follow my lead. Patrice isn’t the type to act on a whim. She’s got a plan. We don’t want to spook her and her do something rash.”

Cameron and Hal nodded in agreement, and the three of them started forward again. When they came to a fork in the path, Jake paused. He scanned the area around them and listened. Beau and Jake had played in these woods all their lives, and Jake knew every inch of them. Off to the left sat the lake, and to the right the trail would take them to farther up the mountain.

There weren’t many hiding places he hadn’t used a time or two. Patrice was playing on his turf and that should’ve given him the upper hand, but with Bobbie in the mix he wasn’t so sure. His instincts told him to go left. They’d never failed him before, but just in case he was off his game he’d have the guys check the trail that broke off to the right.

“I’m going this way. You go that way.” He pointed to the right. “If you don’t find anything in three minutes, come back and go this way. You find sign of Bobbie or Patrice call me before you do anything.”

Cameron nodded. “Set your phones to silent, so no one will hear it.”

They whipped out their cell phones and made the adjustment. Jake hoped Clint, Victor, and Tyler had their phones set on vibrate mode, too. He didn’t want anything tipping Patrice off that they were onto her already. Since she hadn’t called him yet—and yeah, he fully expected her to call him at some point to set things in motion—he guessed she must have thought she had plenty of time to get whatever her scheme was underway. Not sure what exactly he was looking for, Jake found himself looking at every tree half expecting to find Bobbie tied to it, or to have Patrice jump out from behind one.

As he got closer to the water Jake swore he heard someone crying. He practically ran the last few feet to the spot where there was an opening in the trees wide enough so he could see the lake. Smart enough to stick close to tree line, he hoped he wouldn’t be seen until he wanted to be. The red canoe floating aimlessly about instantly caught his eye. He could make out Bobbie bent over on the seat. Her whimpers reached him, and he wanted to call out to her. Instead, he turned his back on her and raked his gaze across the woods and trail looking for Patrice or anything else out of the ordinary. He told himself that if she was crying she was alive, which was good.