Gina's Private Police Force [Men of Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (18 page)

Rising from the bed, she followed him to ready herself for the day.

Connor was reading over some reports in his office, waiting for Gina to arrive. His stomach growled causing him to remember the morning activity that had sidetracked him from eating breakfast. Smiling to himself, he continued reading.

A knock at the closed door broke his concentration. Glancing at the institutional-style clock on the wall, he noticed it was a bit too early for her. Barking out, he commanded, “Come in!”

The door opened slowly and Lyndee’s blonde head peeked through. “Sorry to interrupt, but Tanya from the diner is here to see you.”

Sighing, he nodded his head in an indication to Lyndee to let her in. He was curious to see what she had to say after the talking-to he gave her yesterday morning. Laying the reports aside, he waited for the girl to enter. Hearing her footsteps he looked up and watched her enter in her pink uniform dress from the diner. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her makeup was a bit more subdued than it normally was as if she had really listened to him. Then why was she here?

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Connor, but you told me last night if that weird guy came back, to let you know,” she said nervously.

Nodding, he indicated for her to have a seat in one of the chairs across from him with a flick of his hand. As she sat, he said, “So, I take it he was back this morning?”

“Yes. He came in first thing this morning. I almost missed him since I was so busy, but he had on the same hoodie and that’s what tipped me off. He gives me the creeps.”

“I appreciate your help, Tanya. I just don’t want any more trouble in my town and he seemed odd last night. May be nothing, but we all have to be on our toes,” Connor explained.

“I know. Do you still want me to let you know if he comes in again?” she asked, rising to her feet.

“Yes, please,” he said, standing and stepping around the desk. Motioning for her to go before him, she started to step through the doorway but then stopped. Reaching into the pocket of her apron, she pulled out a ticket from her order book. “Oh. You told me to get his license plate if I could.”

Handing it to him, she smiled. “Glen was furious when I stepped outside to have a smoke as the man left.”

Chuckling, Connor still escorted her to the front door. “When did you pick up smoking?”

Throwing back a laugh, she smiled cheekily at him. “I don’t. But I had to have an excuse to go outside. I even grabbed a cigarette from one of the regulars.”

“You’re good, Tanya. You might want to think of a career in acting or being a detective.” He laughed along with her. He was aware of his employees watching them, and he had to laugh inwardly at their loss of what was going on. That’ll teach those FBI agents to keep me out of the loop again.

Opening the door for her, he let her out and then walked back to his office and shut the door. He could just imagine the looks on all three of their faces as they stared at the door in disbelief and curiosity.

Loading up his computer, he waited for the screen to come up. Glancing at the clock, he saw it would be another forty-five minutes before Gina would get there. The thought of taking her on his desk was strong, but since he had missed breakfast and they did need to run some errands, he knew that ravaging her would have to wait until later.

After the familiar sound of the program appeared, he used the mouse to search for the page he needed before typing in the license plate number Tanya had supplied him. Waiting for the results, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Jared’s number. Waiting for the connection, he held the phone between his ear and his shoulder. Yup, it was time to invest in technology and get a headset for his phone.

“Hey, Connor,” Jared’s voice said cheerfully in his ear.

“So?” Connor asked, knowing that Jared would understand.

“What?” Jared was cheerfully joking with him.

“All right, buddy. I’ll remember this in the future,” Connor threatened lightheartedly.

He could hear Jared draw in a deep breath. “She’s fantastic, Connor. Her pussy was so wet and welcoming. It took all I could not to come as soon as I entered her.”

Smiling at his partner’s remarks, Connor responded, “Yes. She is great. She was made for us. I can’t wait to get her to submit fully to us and let us take her to the club.”

“Yeah, about that, Connor…I had an idea and we may need to bring in some of the others, but I’ll hold my thought until we have some free time to sit and talk. Gina just left here in your truck,” Jared said. “She’ll be there in a bit. I’m going to try to get some more shuteye before Nathan wakes up. Talk to you later.”

Jared hung up and left Connor with the phone resting still on his shoulder. The sheriff had looked at the screen of the computer right before the call was disconnected and now he stared at the computer screen in disbelief.

* * * *

Gina had left the vast acreage of Connor’s ranch and turned onto the road leading into Polson. Used to little trips or having Nathan for company, just the fifteen minute drive from the ranch house to the main road was boring, so she turned the dial on the radio to find a country station. Big & Rich was singing about “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” and she began to sing along. Thankfully, she thought to herself, no one was with her, for she knew how off-key she sang.

As the song went into taking the girl out into the backwoods and stuff about frogs, she felt a bump from behind. Stretching her neck up, she tried to look through the rearview mirror to see what had hit her and was surprised to see a large black truck as it slowed down a bit.

Relief ran through her as she thought perhaps the person wasn’t paying attention to the road and had hit her accidently. Her thoughts on what Connor would say to any damage done while she was driving it were short lived as the truck sped up and rammed into the tailgate of the white truck.

Trying to brace herself for the impact, she was jerked forward, the seatbelt saving her from ramming into the steering wheel. Her heart seemed to lodge in her throat as she watched the truck retreat again. With one hand she tried to find her phone in her purse while she pressed her foot down on the accelerator, hoping to get away from the lunatic behind her.

Glancing down at the phone in her hand, she dialed Connor’s number and waited what seemed like minutes before the connection went through. Chills went up her spine as sweat broke out all over her.

Connor’s gruff voice came on the line, relieving her briefly, “Hey gorgeous. You on your way, baby?”

“Connor! A maniac is…”

The truck slammed into her again, jerking her body within the cab of the vehicle causing her to scream. Vaguely she could hear Connor yelling her name into the phone, and as she felt her body move uncontrollably forward, her forehead came in contact with the steering wheel. She felt it bounce off the device and then her head fell backward.

Trying to hold onto the phone, she also tried to turn the wheel and then slam on the brakes, but the mysterious truck slammed into her again, causing Connor’s truck to begin to fishtail. Gina tried to hold onto the steering wheel, more for a sense of control than anything else but then the truck hit the soft shoulder, splattering gravel up behind it.

The wheels lost traction and slid down the small embankment of the ditch that ran alongside the road before it began to tumble down and then over several times before coming to a stop. Fog seemed to rise in Gina’s brain as her vision became dimmer and dimmer, Connor’s voice calling her name over and over before she was totally engulfed in darkness.

* * * *

Connor hadn’t been so scared since Owen had kidnapped Angela several months prior. Yes, this area of Montana was becoming a hot bed of crime and he hated it. Before Lyndee arrived with the Russian mob after her, all he had to worry about were shoplifters and kids raising Cain on the weekends as an outlet for their boredom. Now here he was again in the midst of something and this time, Gina was involved.

When he had heard her screams and then the crunch of metal before the ominous silence set in on the phone line, he felt helpless. He wasn’t there to help her, hold her, and comfort her.

Jumping to his feet he pulled his door open quickly, the wooden object slamming against the wall as he strode through. His cell phone was in one hand, up to his ear, hoping he could hear Gina since the connection hadn’t been dropped as he walked over to Lyndee and Trey’s desks.

“There’s been an accident with Gina! Get Jared on the phone for me!”

Lyndee grabbed the phone before he had finished speaking and began dialing. Trey was picking up his cell phone. “Any idea where she was?”

Connor tried to remain calm, but when he spoke, he choked on his words. “She had…she had just left the ranch heading here.”

Lyndee stood and put her free arm around his shoulder as she held the other phone. “Jared? It’s Lyndee. Here’s Connor.”

Connor grabbed the phone from her. “Jared, Gina’s been in an accident.” He listened, then said, “No. She started to tell me what was going on and then she screamed. I heard the truck crash, but the call didn’t disconnect.”

Handing the phone back to Lyndee, Connor blindly walked toward the front door but Lawrence caught him before he could exit. “I’ll take you out there,” he said. “You don’t need to drive.”

The office phone rang and everyone looked at it in anticipation. Trey picked it up quickly. “Sheriff’s office. Yes, Austin,” Trey said, releasing a sigh. “Ok. Connor’s on his way out right now. Jared will be there soon.”

Hanging up the phone, he looked at Connor. “She overturned about five miles east of your driveway. Austin came across her. He’s going to assess the damage until we get there.”

Connor knew he was slipping into a state of shock and had to come out of it. He was the sheriff and needed to pull himself back together. Squaring his shoulders, he stood straighter. “All right. Lyndee, can you stay here and man the phones? Also, call the ambulance and a tow truck for me. Let Doc Anderson know to stay by the phone because I’ll need him to look her over even if she has to go to Kalispell. Trey, come with us.”

Feeling back in control, he headed out the door with Lawrence and Trey following him. They all climbed into his Tahoe, but Trey took over the driver’s seat. Starting the engine, he flipped the switch for the lights and siren as he backed up. Cars moved out of their way quickly as they sped through town and then out onto the country road.

The whole time on the journey there, Connor listened to the phone, waiting to hear Gina’s voice. He didn’t. Austin’s voice was faintly audible as he tried to get her attention, but apparently she didn’t respond.

Fuck! He couldn’t lose her now. They couldn’t lose her now.

Arriving to the scene was already chaotic. The fire department was already there along with an ambulance, the tow truck, and three other vehicles. One belonged to Jared, one was Austin’s, and then one belonged to one of his ranch hands.

As the Tahoe came to a screeching halt, Connor had his door open and was running for his mutilated truck before Trey threw it into park. Coming to a stop at the passenger side of the truck, which was now upside down, he found Jared laying on his back half in the truck and half out, holding onto Gina’s limp hand. On the other side of the truck, two firemen were working at wrenching open the door and pulling on the broken windshield to gain access to her.

Their woman hung upside down in the vehicle, the seatbelt keeping her trapped there. The concern was cutting her away from the belt without her falling so it would take careful timing and strength to avoid further damage. A neck brace had already been secured and now they mainly had to worry about not damaging her back.

Squatting down next to his partner, he called out, “Gina, baby? I’m here.”

Jared lifted his head slightly to look at him. “She’s been unconscious since I got here. Austin said she was the same way when he came across her. She has a big gash on her head and bruises all over. Andrew over there said her stats were holding steady.” The man choked back a sob. “We can’t lose her, Connor. We just found her.”

Resting his hand on Jared’s arm briefly, the sheriff nodded. “I know, buddy. I know.”

The crash of glass caused both men to jump slightly as the windshield was pulled down. It didn’t completely shatter as the tempered glass held a lot of it together, but there were some broken bits. Connor didn’t care what they did to his truck as long as Gina was all right.

All of a sudden a thought arose, causing a bit of panic to rise in his voice. “Where’s Nathan?”

“Brock has him in the truck. I put in a call to Angela to see if she can help with him until we figure out what’s going on,” Jared responded. “She should be here any time.”

Trey had come around the side of the truck with his camera and squatted down next to Connor. “Any change?”

Both men shook their heads sadly.

“I know Morgan and Kyle are doing all they can to get her out and the medics are standing by to take her to the hospital,” Trey said patting Connor on the shoulder. “I need to get some pics, do you guys mind?”

Connor shook his head. “No. Do your job so we can find out what happened here.”

Trey began snapping pictures from different angles before pulling away to gather more evidence.