Bitter Wild (8 page)

She
dismounted and examined the ground beside a tree. Jack got down and noticed
that this time there was considerably more than a smear of blood. Whoever had
left it behind had been seriously hurt. The dog was rooting at something a few
feet away and Casey walked over to investigate it. Jack tied his horse to a
nearby tree, then took hold of the reins of Skip’s mount as it trotted up. Skip
was getting off the horse when Jack heard the dog bark once. He spun around in
time to see a figure break cover and take off at a dead run. Casey was at least
forty feet away from where Jack stood, which put her just a few feet away from
the other person. Jack reacted instinctively. He let go of Skip’s horse and
reached for his gun. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched Casey lurch
into motion. She called out to the dog, ordering him to wait. Immediately the
dog dropped to its haunches. Jack got his gun drawn, then hesitated when he
realized Casey wasn’t running away from the person, but toward them. She was
chasing them down. He called her name, then did the only thing he could do when
she didn’t so much as slow down. He went after the pair. Jack felt his
adrenaline surge as he chased Casey and the other person through the trees. He
was amazed to realize that Casey was gaining on them. What the hell was she
thinking? He had visions of her catching up to the person and it turning out to
be Jester. He could kill her before Jack even got a chance to get near her.
That thought spurred him to move forward even faster.

Casey
didn’t allow herself to think about the searing pain that tore through her leg
with every step she took. She focused instead on the figure in front of her. He
was running as fast as he could and she knew he was running blind. He was being
fueled by pure terror. That’s the only thing that explained why he was running
at all. She’d have tried to call out to him to stop but she knew it would be a
waste of much needed breath. The only way to stop him was to catch him and
bring him down. So that’s what she was going to do, whatever it took.

Jack
watched as Casey steadily closed the gap between herself and the man in front
of her. Finally she was close enough to reach out for the man, but she didn’t.
Instead she took two more steps and simply launched herself forward. They went
down hard in a tangle of arms and legs. Jack didn’t slow down. He saw Casey and
the man struggling. He was fighting her hard. Casey’s head snapped back as the
man drove an elbow into her chin. Jack felt fury sweep through him. Casey
didn’t let the blow daunt her, though. She threw herself onto the man, using
her weight to help hold him down. Jack came to a skidding stop a few feet away
and brought his gun up. He couldn’t risk firing with Casey in the way, like she
was. Before he could yell at her to get away, he heard her start talking in
between gasps.

“Stop
it, Terry! It’s me, Casey!”

She
repeated herself a couple of times and finally the man beneath her fell still.
Jack had gotten a good enough look at him by now to realize that he wasn’t
Russell Jester. He’d also figured out that though he was a male, he was barely
more than a kid. He might be twenty, but Jack doubted he was any older. Jack
didn’t relax until the kid burst into tears and wrapped his arms around Casey
in a vise grip. Skip came running up just about then, his gun drawn. Jack waved
him off as he lowered his own weapon. Casey was crooning to the kid just like a
mother would to a child. It took a while for the boy to stop sobbing. Eventually,
he released his hold on Casey long enough for them to both sit up. The kid
caught sight of Jack and Skip then and there was no mistaking the fear in his
eyes. Casey reached out and touched his shoulder.

“It’s
all right, Terry. These men are federal agents. They’re with me.”

It was
the first good look Jack had gotten at the kid. What he saw didn’t look good.
He stepped forward. “Are you hurt?”

Terry
looked down at the blood that covered most of his shirt. Then he lifted his
gaze to Casey. “It’s not mine. Paul, a friend from college. He was shot.”

Casey
nodded and got to her feet, then reached out to take hold of Jack as her leg
almost gave way. Jack immediately slipped an arm around her waist and held her
while Skip helped the boy to his feet. Jack figured the fact that Casey wasn’t
pulling away from him was evidence of just how much she was hurting. Skip shot
them a questioning look, but said nothing. It was Casey who spoke.

“Where’s
your friend?”

The boy
nodded back the way they’d all come. “We were hiding behind a fallen tree.” He
dropped his gaze to the ground. “I left him there when I heard you coming.”

Casey
did step away from Jack then, reaching out to touch the boy’s face. “It’s all
right, Terry. Let’s go find him, okay?”

Terry
nodded and Jack watched as Casey limped along beside him.

“She
turn her ankle?”

Jack
started to shake his head, then stopped and shrugged instead. It was the first
time he could ever remember not being entirely truthful with his partner. He
had no idea why he’d crossed that line, either. Except he’d seen the pain on
her face and knew what it must have taken for her to keep running after the kid
in spite of the pain. He was furious with her for being so rash but he had to
respect her determination. They found Terry’s friend lying on the ground beside
a fallen tree. The boy was no older than Terry and from the looks of him, he’d
be lucky to ever see another birthday. He was unconscious and as pale as a
ghost. But he was still alive. Casey checked him over and praised Terry for the
job he’d done of bandaging the bullet wound in the young man’s shoulder. If the
boy survived, he’d have his friend to thank for at least stopping the bleeding.
Terry explained what had happened.

“Me,
Paul and Jesse decided to do a little camping this week. We went up to Hanging
Rock and then decided to come back down to the lake and fish. Jesse was worried
about Tina, though. You know, she’s due any time now.”

Casey
nodded and the boy continued. “Anyway, he wanted to hike to the ranger station
to use the radio to check on her. We told him we’d wait for him at the fork.
When he didn’t come back after three hours we got worried and went after him.
Paul and I were just clearing the tree line around the tower when I heard the
shot. Paul went down and I dragged him to his feet and started running for the
trees. There were more shots, I don’t know how many. One of them hit my
backpack. My dad’s old canteen stopped it, though.”

He
paused for a moment and Casey could see the tears gather in his eyes. “We ran
as fast as we could until Paul couldn’t go any further. Then we hid. Paul
passed out sometime during the night and has only come around for a little
while a couple of times since then. I knew he needed help, but I was afraid to
go back to the tower to try to find help.” He stopped and the tears started
sliding down his cheeks.

“Jesse’s
dead, isn’t he? Mom’s going to kill me. I was supposed to take care of him.
It’s my fault for letting him go alone.”

Casey
pulled the boy into her arms and held him. “It’s not your fault, Terry. It’s
the fault of the lunatic with the gun. And we don’t know what happened to
Jesse. He might have gotten away just like you did. He could have gone to
ground, just like you did. I promise you that we’ll find him.”

The boy
nodded and Casey got up. She caught Jack’s eye and he and Skip followed her as
she walked toward the horses. Once they were out of earshot of the boy, she
spoke.

“Terry’s
friend isn’t going to survive if we don’t get him some help in a hurry. I can
make a call with the satphone, but the only area around here with a clearing
large enough to get the chopper in here is at that Ranger station.”

Jack
shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere near that station. If Jester’s
decided to hole up there and pick people off as they try to approach then you
could get yourself shot.”

She
seemed to be ignoring him as she reached into a pocket to pull out the
satphone. She lifted it, then cursed softly. Jack’s gaze flicked to the phone.
The large crack in the screen was obvious. Still, she tried to turn it on but
after fiddling with it for a few minutes, she lifted her gaze to him. “It’s no
good. It must have happened when I was struggling with Terry.”

Jack
saw the concern and determination in her gaze.

“You’re
right about the danger of going to the station, but if we don’t get to the
radio there, Paul will die for certain and while I don’t relish the thought of
being a target, I don’t see where we have much choice.”

Skip
spoke up. “We’ll go to the ranger station. You stay here with the boys.”

Casey
swung her gaze to him. “And how are you planning on finding the station?”

Skip
opened his mouth, then shut it again. She had a point. She turned to Jack.

“I
propose that one of you come with me and the other one stay here with the boys.
It’s the only sensible choice.”

After a
few seconds of thought, Jack was forced to agree. He suggested Skip stay with
the boys and his partner didn’t argue. Casey explained what they were going to
do to Terry, then she and Jack left the others behind.

“How
far is it?”

“About
three miles or so.”

Jack
frowned. “You mean that kid ran three miles with a bullet in his shoulder?”

Casey
turned to meet his gaze. “Fear can give you the strength to do things you
wouldn’t believe.”

Jack
nodded, then carefully approached a subject he knew she wasn’t going to like.
“By the way, before we get to the station I think there’s something we need to
straighten out.”

Casey
resisted the urge to groan out loud. Instead she reined her horse to a stop and
turned to face him.

“Yes?”

Jack
tried to broach the subject as carefully as he could. “I don’t want you to
think I’m questioning your abilities. I’m not. Believe me when I say that by
now I’ve seen enough to know you are every bit the expert you were touted as.”

She
gave him an annoyed look. “Just spit it out, Jack.”

“Okay,
I hate to sound like a broken record, but we agreed that your job was to track.
Nothing more, nothing less.”

She
frowned. “What’s your point?”

He
leaned forward in his saddle. “My point is, you took off after Terry like a dog
after a rabbit. You could have gotten yourself killed. What if he’d been Jester
instead?”

He
watched as she stared at him for a long moment. He could see the flush creeping
up her skin and knew she was purposefully holding back her temper as she
answered him.

“First
of all, I knew it was Terry.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a
silver chain that held a small medallion. She held it up so he could take a
look at it. “His mother gave him this when he graduated last year. It’s got his
name etched onto the back. I found it just before he took off like a terrified
deer.”

Jack
shook his head. “It could have been Jester wearing his clothes. Don’t underestimate
the threat he poses.”

Casey
sighed as she slipped the necklace back into her pocket. “I’m not
underestimating anyone. I’ve known Terry all his life. I’ve watched him play
high school football. I know how he runs. There was no doubt in my mind that it
was him. In addition to my own conclusions, I relied on Chance’s reaction as
well. If that had been anyone he didn’t know he would have been all over them
long before I could have caught him.

“Secondly,
I didn’t have any choice. He was scared out of his mind. He wasn’t going to
stop until he collapsed in exhaustion and I knew that wasn’t going to happen
nearly quickly enough.”

“What
do you mean?”

Casey
shook her head. “You didn’t even see it, did you?” At Jack’s blank look she
continued. “Just about sixty yards beyond where I caught Terry is a sudden
drop. It’s close to fifty feet straight down. He would have run right off that
cliff if I hadn’t tackled him first.

“I’m
not nearly as naïve or careless as you seem to think I am, Jack. I have no
intention of trying to do your job for you. But I’m not going to pretend to be
overwhelmed just so you’ll feel less threatened. I can take care of myself when
I have to. Which, in case you’re wondering, is my way of saying that if your
fugitive makes the unfortunate mistake of thinking I’m just another woman he
can have his way with I won’t hesitate to put him down like a rabid animal. I
don’t carry my gun for show. I carry it because I am both willing and able to
use it. It’s that simple. Now why don’t we get moving and stop wasting time?”

She
turned her horse around and left him to stew in his annoyance. Okay, so maybe
he had a way of sounding condescending when he was talking to her, but did she
have to turn every conversation they had into some kind of battle of the sexes?
He wasn’t threatened by her. He liked strong women. A voice in his head taunted
that he liked this particular woman more than any other he’d encountered in a
long while. He shoved the irritating thought away and focused instead on the
task before them. It was the only topic he could think about rationally.

They
dismounted long before Jack saw any sign of the ranger station. Casey led the
way as they cautiously moved closer. Finally, Jack began to catch glimpses of
the tower through the trees. By the time they were close enough for him to make
out the outline of a building he was dealing with a constant expectation of
getting shot. They kept to the shelter of the trees until they ran out of trees
to hide behind. That’s when Jack put a stop to Casey’s involvement. The tower
stood in the center of a small clearing. There were a couple of buildings at
its base. Jack could see into the larger of the two. Inside was a four-wheel
drive vehicle. Off to their left was a narrow track that Jack assumed was
supposed to be a road. From where they stood, Jack could see that the two rear
tires of the vehicle were flat. He was guessing that the front two would be as
well. What he couldn’t see was whether or not Jester might be hiding behind the
vehicle, waiting for them to show themselves. The truth was, he could be
anywhere. The hiding places were abundant. They couldn’t just sit there,
though. They had to get to that tower. The only way to do that was to run for
it. If Jester were out there somewhere then they’d find out soon enough. He
turned to face Casey.