Bare Back (2 page)

Chapter 3

Mitch

“Right there Dodge,” I say, pointing at the clearing we’re supposed to land in. Dodge and I have worked a lot of cases together. We work fast and well together. An ex-air force pilot, he’s got a lot of experience flying and is having no trouble with the borrowed Search and Rescue copter. Having spent my time as a medic and MP in the Marines, we’re both used to stressful situations.
“What are we looking for again? Because I don’t see no scared hikers down there,” Dodge says, his voice crackling into our headphones.
“Park Ranger said Smith Bonds and a felon. Three needing pick up, one GS victim. Shoulder wound. They aren’t answering the Sat phone number that the Ranger gave me,” I recite from the sheet on my clipboard, tucking my cell phone back into my pocket. I wish they gave us more detailed info. When you’re picking up scared or hurt people, and you spend ten minutes calming them down to find out their name, it wastes precious time to get them help. Whatever. As Dodge lowers the EC145 to the ground, I see the first sign of our contact. Long blonde hair whipping in the wind, a tiny frame, her face hidden by the long locks. For a moment, my thoughts drift to memories of Kelli. Ten years. It’s been ten years since I’ve seen her and I still think about her all the time. Every blonde I see walking down the street, or like this, as we land for call, I think of her. That woman is a part of my daily thoughts just like breathing. Sighing, I know it’s not going to be her. Whatever my brother did to her, she didn’t want to look past me for it. He never would tell me what happened. To this day, he and I still don’t get along. I’ll never forgive him. She was my one true love.

As Dodge powers down the rotors, I check the clip for my Sig 226. I have a full clip in it and one in my pocket. Nodding at Dodge, I holster the weapon and turn behind me to grab my medical bag. Dodge slides out the collapsible back board. It will suck carrying it far into the woods, but if the wound is bad, we’re going to need it. Descending from the copter, my heart races as the woman nears us.
“Thank god you’re here. Our horses were scared by a rattler, so I need you guys to help me get my dad and bail jumper u-“ The woman stops mid-sentence as she sees me. Her eyes locking onto mine. Pulling strands of that beautiful honey colored hair from her face, I can’t help but smile. That smile quickly fades as her sparkling brown eyes turn ice cold.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hi Kel. Nice to see you after all these years. You look amazing.” I say to her. When she remains silent, I mock a woman’s voice. “Oh Mitch, thank you so much for coming to my rescue. What would I ever do without you? You’re my hero.” Laughing at my own joke, I turn to Dodge for support. He puts his hands in the air and takes a step back, shaking his head no. That sucked the air out of my joke real quick.
“This is between you two. Ma’am which way to the scene?” Like a pail of cold water to the body, I remember why we’re here. Her father has been shot. Without any further acknowledgement, Kelli spins on her heel and begins marching back the way she came. I can’t help but watch the way her jeans cling to her ass. Man she grew up nice. I must be one lucky bastard today. Years of dreaming of this moment, and all I can come up with is a smart ass imitation. Sulking at her lack of excitement to see me, I trail behind them, hanging my head.

Hiking our way through the woods, I hear bits and pieces of what she’s telling Dodge. Her horses took off. Dad shot in shoulder, it didn’t go through, and so we’re going to need to be careful moving him. We don’t want the bullet to dislodge from its spot and cause more damage. Felon tied to tree claiming Gessatti family is out to kill him. That makes me waver a step.
“Hold up guys. Hang on, time out,” I shout at them. They both stop walking and turn to glare at me. How in a few minutes has the gorgeous vixen turned my best friend against me? Although I can’t blame him. The way her tits look, snug under the thin shirt she’s wearing, any man’s cock would throb. It may be long sleeved, but damn, it’s tight and begging to be torn off her body.
“If he’s right, we need to be more careful about this. Dodge, you already know our situation with them. If we’re here, they know we’re here and why.”
“What do you mean they know you’re here? What’s going on?” she yells, storming towards me. Stopping in front of my face, her hands on her hips, I want to reach out and pull her close to me, feel her body against me. Blinking away the dirty images of that luscious body beneath me, I look at Dodge. He knows what I mean. We aren’t supposed to share with civilians, but it’s Kelli and her life is now going to be at stake too.

“We’ve been investigating internally for a leak to the Gessatti’s for a few months now. Somehow they are always a step ahead of us, meaning that they have a mole in the Rangers office. If the call came through with your felon’s name, then the Gessatti’s are going to know that he’s here and that we’re here. They have no qualms about killing cops or innocent civilians. We’re all in danger. We need to hurry, but stay alert.” Hitching the medic bag up further over my shoulder, I unclip my Sig, releasing the safety. Dodge follows suit. Even though I now know that in the years she’s been gone, Kelli became a bounty hunter, it still shocks me to see her pulling a Glock out of her waist and readying it. My protective instincts kick in and I fight the urge to push her behind me so I can keep her safe. She checks the clip and bends to adjust the leg of her jeans. My gaze drifts down those long lean limbs, and I see the edge of a hunting knife before she recovers it with her jeans. Raising my eyebrows, I look at her. She smiles, shrugs and turns to walk away. It was the sexiest thing I have ever seen a woman do. With or without her clothes on.

“That looks like an Alamo Bowie. Those aren’t cheap,” Dodge says, flashing me a quick grin.
“I’ll never be caught unprepared again,” she says over her shoulder. From her tone, and the dirty look she gave me, I’m sure that comment has something to do with Cameron, but now isn’t the time to deal with that. I’ll have time on the flight back to headquarters. She said we were only about forty minutes from the campsite. With a gunshot wound, every minute counts.

Following a path Kelli was leading us through, I took notice of the eerie quietness. No birds, bugs or any other noises besides us moving. Tapping Dodge on the shoulder, he pauses, nodding at me. He noticed as well.
“Kel, hold up a sec,” I say to her, barely above a whisper. She pauses, looking at me, then back up the path again. Shaking her head no, she takes a step towards me. Panting from the hike, I can’t help but notice her chest heaving. My cock twitches a bit, and I shift on my feet, hoping she doesn’t realize what her body is doing to me. Ten long years I’ve dreamt about seeing her again. Never in any of those fantasies did it play out like this. Holding my hand up to her, my ears register movement. A snap of a twig, branches moving. Dodge quickly scans the area around us. Pointing back the way we came, I nod. Dropping the med bag, I pull out my Sig. Quietly I maneuver myself away from them, taking a look over my shoulder. I’m torn. Stay and protect Kelli or find out who’s following us. Dodge takes a step closer to Kelli, shaking his head. That says it all. I go and he will protect her. Dodge and I have been friends for a long time. He knows all about her. I think the moment I figured out who she was, was the same time she figured out who I am. He may look like a dumb jock at over six and a half feet, pure muscle, but he’s pretty smart. That’s what made him a good soldier and now makes him a great Ranger. We may have had a chat or two or thousand about her.

As I creep back up the path, I pause. Voices drift towards us. From the sound, two men, arguing.
“I’m telling you they came this way.”
“Man, this is stupid. You don’t know nothing about tracking people. You’re just guessing. They’re going to take him to jail if they find him anyways. Why can’t we just wait until then? We have people in place to take him out no matter where they lock his ass up.”

“Because this is what Papa told us to do. Take him and the bounty hunters out here. No loose ends.
Plus, we don’t even know where the money is. This is why you don’t get to do jobs. You’re a moron.” From the voices, it sounds like Paul and Ricky Gessatti. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting these two baboons in our investigation. They bicker like little sisters but have a mean streak that would scare most men. Ricky’s the oldest and done time for manslaughter. Paul is the little brother who fumbles everything he touches. He’s also done time, but for stupid things, like discharging his gun into his own foot or trying to steal something he couldn’t carry. Word on the street from our CI says that if Paul messes up one more job, he’s gone. Whether he’s the boss’s son or not doesn’t matter. To Don Gessatti, money is all that matters. Sounds to me like Kelli’s bail jumper was telling the truth. I try looking back. I can barely see Dodge and Kelli should be standing right behind him. I’m sure she’s looking furious. I don’t think she understands just how much trouble this guy just pulled her into. Stepping back to get a better view of them, her gun is at her side, and it’s the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. Focusing, I signal to Dodge that there are two men. As I begin to stand, to make a move on them, something flies past me from the left. A blur of a person running. I can only watch with slight amusement as a handcuffed man runs smack into Paul.

Gunshots fill the air. Before I can make a move, Kelli is pushing past me, Dodge hot on her heels. Her sweet earthy scent surrounds me. Closing my eyes, I take a moment to breathe it in. Dodge pauses to look at me then follows her. More shots. My body finally cooperates, my military training kicking in and I move forward. The scene before me is bad. The handcuffed guy is laying on the ground, blood pooling out from under his head. Paul is still partially lodged beneath the body, struggling to get up. Paul and Ricky are both dressed to go out on the town, not walk through the woods. With their pressed dress pants and expensive loafers, they look more out of place than a virgin in a strip club. Kelli and Dodge are in a standoff with Ricky. He has two guns, one trained on each of them. Kelli has the perfect shooting stance and I know from looking at her, that she can have the perfect kill shot. What I wouldn’t give to be out on a shooting range with her.
“Listen Ricky,” I say calmly, trying to turn this situation around, “You may kill them, but before you can swing that gun onto me, I’ll get you and your brother,” I say to him. He looks at me, confused for a moment.
“Ahha, Ranger Calhoun. How have you been?” He laughs at me, as if we’re long lost friends. “Nice day for a hike huh? This man just attacked us. Should I file a report? Self-defense right?” The sarcasm and ego that drips from his voice is abundant.
“Oh yea Ricky? This handcuffed man attacked you? With what? Why don’t we go talk about this at the station, I’ll see if you have enough of a claim to file charges.” I answer back at him. The evil grin that spreads on his face sends shivers down my spine.
“Well Sir, I thought he had a gun. I must have been mistaken, but it’s still self-defense.”

“Mm-hm, and why are we holding officers of the law at gun point then?
Why don’t we head into town and chat about this at the station?”

That quickly wipes the grin off his face. Paul finally gets out from under the man, whom I can only assume is Kelli’s convict, and stands, reaching for his gun. Before he can get there, I squeeze the trigger, popping one in his right arm. He cries out, but Ricky’s doesn’t move his gaze from us. What a cold hearted family. His brother’s just been shot and he doesn’t even flinch. Not like he’s really injured. I just grazed him.
“Ricky, put the guns down. Now,” I shout out to him. He doesn’t even blink. Bastard. I walk in between Kelli and Dodge, closer to her. Dodge can take care of himself. I’m more worried about her, but if I show that to Ricky, he’ll take advantage and shoot her faster than you can say ‘Oh Shit’. Unwilling to play this game anymore, I peek a glance at Dodge. He winks at me. Crap. I know what’s coming. We’ve been in this position before. Except last time, it was three Marines, not two Rangers and the woman I love.

Dodge taps his foot, and I quickly leap onto Kelli, knocking her to the ground as Dodge pulls the trigger. Gun fire erupts again, disturbing the peacefulness of the woods around us. I know she was unprepared for what happened, and felt the looseness of her body as we connected. Wrapping my arms around her torso, I pull her to the ground with me, pinning her down. She squirms beneath me and it does nothing more than turn me on. Not that I wasn’t already, but it definitely doesn’t help the situation. A searing pain flares through my bicep, finally registering with my brain. Looking over my shoulder, I see Dodge standing up, and Ricky getting ready to aim again.
“Run,” Dodge screams out. Shoving to my feet, I yank Kelli up and drag her behind me into the tree line. Ignoring the path we were following, I run, checking to my left to make sure Dodge is still there. I can see him between the trees here and there and take his lead, following him to the North. Branches whip at my face, biting into my skin. As I cross over the path we had been on, I spy my med bag. Shoving Kelli ahead of me, I back track a few steps, grabbing the bag as bullets fly past my head. Staying low, I continue at a jog, slipping between two bent trees and falling into step behind them. About fifteen minutes later, we finally stop, all of us panting.

“Shit, what the hell was that?” Kelli yells. I signal for her to be quiet as I listen to the surroundings. Birds are fluttering away, meaning we spooked them, but no clumsy Italians underfoot, so we have a minute to breathe.
“That was the Gessatti brothers. Who was the cuffed guy,” Dodge asks before I can catch my breath.
“That was my convict. Hopefully they don’t trash his body. I get no fee without a body.” She’s definitely not the innocent, wide eyed beauty I fell in love with. Before me stands a goddess warrior. Her blonde hair blowing in the breeze, cheeks red from running and a stunning body. But what makes her so gorgeous, is the strong willed, kick ass attitude emanating from her. There’s no weak kneed damsel here, waiting for a man to lead the way from danger. She’s right there with her gun in hand.
“You’ve been shot,” she says to me. I shake my head no to her and look down at my body.
“Nah, I’m ok.” She steps towards me, her slender hand reaching out to pull at my sleeve. I wince in pain remember what I felt back there. Shit, she’s right. Shot in the arm damn it. My adrenaline must have kicked the pain from my mind so I could run. So what, I’ve been shot, it isn’t the first time and won’t be the last. All I can think of is getting my hands on her. Dodge walks over, pushing on my shoulder, signaling me to sit down.
“I think we’re ok for now, we need to get you fixed up then find her father.”
“Come on man, it’s nothing, a scratch,” I say as my body betrays me.
“Stop acting macho,” Kelli yells at me, “You’re shaking, just sit down and let him help you.”