Holiday Hideout (12 page)

Joseph made the attempt even as his eyes widened in terror to see the huge animal heading for him. His desperate move slid him farther from the horse, but not completely out of the way.

There was no way to move, no way to act fast enough to grab the horse or reach Joseph to pull him out of the way. All Cal could do was watch as the heavy animal’s feet shot out from under her and crash, back first, on top of Joseph.

Joseph’s keening cry ended abruptly and Cal’s heart froze with grief and fury.

Someone had shot at them. The shocking realization registered, but his first priority was to rescue his brother-in-law.

Cal raced for the thrashing animal’s head, desperate to pull her away from Joseph. Was he dead? Terror beat a swift beat in his chest. Prayers left his lips fast and furious.

Another scream sounded. This time human.

He didn’t dare look up, but knew that Fiona stood in the doorway of the house, no doubt lured there by the commotion. “Get back inside!” he yelled at her.

He had no idea if she obeyed him or not. His fingers gripped the lead on the horse and pulled. The animal worked with him and soon Cal had the animal back on her feet, trembling, head hung low.

He cast a glance at Joseph who lay still, unconscious, face pale and gray, blood rushing from a gash on his head. His arm lay twisted at an odd angle.

Running footsteps sounded and he saw a flash of red hair as Abby dropped beside Joseph. Fiona was right behind her. His heart thudded in fear at their exposure.

“Someone shot at us,” Cal ground out. “We’ve got to get him inside the barn.”

“Shot at you?” Her eyes went wide as she spared him a shocked glance. Then her gaze dropped right back to the wounded man as she assessed his injuries. Fiona didn’t seem to hear him as she clutched her husband’s hand.

“We need to get him into cover. Now, move, move. Please.” As much as he wanted to help Joseph, he had to make sure the horse wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else if another shot sounded.

“We can’t move him yet, we might do more damage.” Her hands ran expertly over Joseph’s arms, his head, his neck…

Cal pulled the mare farther into the barn and looped her reins through one of the hooks on the wall. Jesse and Zane appeared, eyes on their wounded friend. “Help me get Joseph and the women in the barn. Someone’s up in the hills shooting at us!” Cal hollered as he bolted back toward Joseph and Abby.

Abby looked up, her face tight, jaw clenched. “His arm is broken. I think the horse landed on it. I’ll need materials to splint it.”

“Fine.” Cal’s nerves itched up and down his spine. Did she not understand what he was saying? “Abby, we’ll take care of it in there.”

“I have to help him.” She sounded almost frantic.

He grabbed her and Fiona and pulled them protesting toward cover. “You can’t help him if you’re dead.”

Zane and Jesse lifted the man as carefully as possible. Joseph didn’t even twitch although if he’d been awake, he’d have been in horrible pain.

Desperate fear tugged at Cal as he led Abby and Fiona to shelter. Prayers winged from his lips to God’s ears as the men moved Joseph into the cover of the barn. As soon as they were in, Cal let go of the women and grabbed a blanket. He laid it on a pile of fresh hay.

The men placed Joseph on the blanket and stepped back.

Abby dropped beside Joseph and rattled off the items she needed. Zane said, “I’ll get the stuff.” He raced off to the house before Cal could protest the man making himself a target. He rushed to the door to see Zane make it safely inside.

Jesse grabbed his rifle. “I’m going hunting.”

Cal looked at him. “No, there’s not enough cover out there. You’ll be an easy target.”

Looking like he wanted to argue, Jesse nevertheless clamped his lips shut and turned. “I’m going to find me a window to keep watch then. If he starts shooting again, at least I can shoot back.”

Cal nodded and watched as Abby bent over Joseph, checking his eyes, his pulse. She leaned over and placed her ear on his chest. “No wheezing that I can hear, lungs sound good.” She looked at Cal. “Can EMS get out here?”

He tossed his phone to Fiona. “Call 9-1-1. Tell them what they’re coming into, that there’s a shooter somewhere close by.” But in his gut, he knew that if Joseph needed emergency care, it was going to be bad all around.

Abby must have been thinking the same thing. “Tell them we need a Life Flight helicopter. There’s plenty of space for them to land out here. They’ll have two nurses and everything on board for a patient in Joseph’s condition. And most of them won’t care if there’s danger, they just want to get to the victim.”

If they would be able to fly in this weather. He looked at the sky. Possibly. But it was the shooter on his land that worried him the most. Regardless of whether they’d be willing to take a chance on getting hit by a stray bullet, he wasn’t willing to put them in that kind of danger on his land.

Zane made it back into the barn, arms laden with the items Abby needed. Jesse stood in the window, alert, rifle ready.

Tossing a glance in Jesse’s direction, Cal told Zane, “We’re going to have find the person who shot at us. If they could even make it, we can’t expect EMS to come out here with a sniper on the loose and Joseph can’t afford for them not to.”

Zane nodded and grabbed a horse. “I’ll find him or make sure he’s gone.”

“Tell Jesse to cover you. With the two of you watching each other’s backs, you should be all right.” He hoped.

A vehicle approached, chains crunching in the snow.

Cal looked out the door of the barn to see his mother pull up. He wasn’t fast enough to stop her from getting out of the vehicle. He bolted out of the barn to wrap his large frame around her smaller one. With his other hand, he grabbed Tiffany. He practically carried the two of them to the shelter of the barn. The entire five seconds his back was exposed to the hills, he expected to feel a bullet slam into it.

ELEVEN

“C
al, what on earth are you doing?” his mother demanded as she pulled out of his hold. Tiffany struggled to get down. Then his mother’s eyes landed on Joseph. “What happened?” Her horrified voice trembled through him.

Fiona gave a wailing cry, her fingers still clutched around the phone, and flew to her mother, wrapping her arms around the woman as best she could. “He’s hurt bad, Mom. Someone shot at him and spooked the horse.” She finished the tale and his mother immediately went to her son-in-law to feel his pulse and check him out for herself.

Cal dialed Eli’s number and filled him in.

“Give me the vicinity where the shot came from,” Eli demanded. Fortunately, the sheriff knew the McIvers property almost as well as his own. Cal told him. “Zane and Jesse are already up there, so tell the boys not to shoot unless they know what they’re shooting at.”

“They’ll be careful.” Cal heard the censure in Eli’s voice. He was right. Cal had no cause to give such a reminder. The deputies were well-trained and beyond competent. Eli said, “Joel’s already out near you. His SUV can probably make it pretty quick. Mitchell might be a while.”

“I need that helicopter able to land, Eli. Joseph might die if it doesn’t.” He kept his voice low, casting a glance in Fiona’s direction.

“I hear you, buddy.”

Cal hung up with another silent prayer. He walked to the back of the barn and unlocked the rifle case his father had built when Cal was just a boy. He pulled out his dad’s Winchester rifle and a handful of bullets.

As Fiona gathered her composure, Cal turned to watch Abby continue her examination, hands moving expertly over Joseph, pushing his heavy jacket aside. “What can I do to help?” Cal demanded.

She paused at Joseph’s stomach and pressed. Pressed again.

“Abby?”

“Shush.”

She felt Joseph’s pulse again. Listened to his chest. When she raised her eyes, she said, “We need him out of here now. I think he’s got some internal bleeding going on in his abdomen.”

Cal blinked in the face of Abby’s competence. Mentally, he knew she was a doctor. Seeing her in action brought it home to him. She was a
doctor.
She’d help Joseph. Relief flowed over Cal. Joseph had medical care.

One by one his mother handed the splint items Jesse had placed next to Joseph over to Abby. She then scooted out of the way. Fiona had fallen silent, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched Abby work on her husband.

Within minutes, Abby had the arm splinted.

She then returned her attention to Joseph’s abdomen area. She unbuttoned his flannel shirt and placed her hands on his stomach. Her lips tightened. “This area is rigid, tight. Look at his belly button.”

Cal did. It looked to be a light shade of blue. “It’s bruised?” His jaw tightened. “Internal bleeding?”

“Yes. It’s called Cullen’s sign,” she whispered. “Which means he’s definitely bleeding on the inside. If he’s got Cullen’s sign, his pancreas could be damaged—and who knows what else. He needs X-rays and surgery asap.”

Worry clutched him by the throat and wouldn’t let go. “Fiona, is EMS on the way?”

She looked at him and nodded. “I told them to send a helicopter. She said she would if one could get out.” Fiona looked at the phone as though she’d never seen one before. “I’m still on the phone with her.”

Abby shivered. “Okay, it’s chilly in here, but I don’t want to move him unless we just absolutely have to. Without X-rays, I don’t know about anything else going on inside him, but we need to protect him against shock. His heavy coat is waterproof, that protected him a little from his fall in the snow. Now we need some blankets to cover him with.”

“I’ll get them,” Cal’s mother said. She hurried back into the tack room leaving Fiona looking lost and afraid but trying to be brave. Tiffany clutched her hand, her eyes wide and curious and a tad alarmed.

Cal’s mother returned with an armload of blankets and Cal jumped up to take them from her. “Thanks, Mom.”

Abby looked up at Fiona. “Are you all right? Any pains?”

Fiona placed a hand over her belly. “No, we’re okay. I’m just worried about Joseph.”

After what seemed like an eternity but was in reality probably only about twenty minutes of watching Joseph get worse and Abby’s face get tighter, Cal finally heard the helicopter. Abby was right. The crew was willing to fly into the face of possible danger. Probably wasn’t the first time for them.

Two minutes later, the chopper landed in the field behind the barn and Cal opened the barn’s back door, eyes scanning the horizon, looking for any kind of movement or reflection of light. The bullet had come from the opposite side of the building, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He had no guarantee the person hadn’t changed locations.

One woman and one man dressed in uniforms hopped from the chopper. One grabbed a stretcher, the other, a red box.

They ran toward Cal, faces intense, ready to save a life. Cal held his rifle ready in case he needed to offer fire coverage.

He felt better already and offered a silent prayer of thanks to God for placing Abby in their lives.

Abby, the doctor.

He moved out of the way as the medical team hustled into the barn unscathed. And Abby started barking information. One of the paramedics raised a brow at her professional tone. She noticed and simply said, “I’m a doctor.”

Soon, Joseph was hooked up to an IV, his vital signs being monitored by the minute and he was being carried toward the waiting helicopter.

“Wait!” Fiona cried. “I’m going, too.”

At Fiona’s cry, Abby looked up, ready to protest but the paramedic beat her to it. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said, “there’s no room. It’s an older chopper. They’ll barely have room to do what we need to do to keep your husband alive.” And then he was gone, rushing to save Joseph’s life.

Jesse, who had returned from the search empty-handed, wrapped an arm around Fiona’s shoulders. “I’ll drive you in.”

Cal hustled out behind the medical team as they rushed Joseph to the waiting chopper. He held his rifle ready and Abby wanted to weep, to fall on her face and beg their forgiveness for bringing danger to their doorstep. But there was no time. Abby waved the chopper on and it took off in a rush of wind and the roar of the blades.

Cal raced back to the barn and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Which hospital are they taking him to?” Fiona cried.

“The one in Asheville,” Cal said. “Mission Hospital.”

“I’ve got to be with him.” Then she grasped her stomach and gave a different sort of cry.

One of startled surprise.

Abby gasped as she watched the woman’s face tighten, her breathing practically stopped. Fiona made no sound for several seconds, then she pulled in a deep breath.

“You just had a contraction, didn’t you?” Abby asked.

Wide-eyed, Fiona nodded. “I think I did.” Still wide-eyed, she said, “That hurt.”

Concerned, terrified she’d sent the chopper off when she had another patient on her hands, Abby felt a wave of nausea rush over her.

Cal reached out and grasped his sister’s arm. Jesse looked alarmed. “We need to drive her in?” he asked.

“It’s too early for the baby,” Fiona breathed.

“Babies make up their own minds about when they want to put in an appearance,” Cal’s mother warned.

Abby shivered, looked out the nearest window and noticed the darkening sky. The clouds rolled in and more snow threatened. “I think we need to drive Fiona in to the hospital while we can.”

“No.” Fiona’s stubborn streak reared its head and Abby wanted to smack her. “It would be a different hospital than Joseph. I don’t want that. Let’s just wait and see.” Fiona looked up at her brother. “Just help me get inside and lie down for a—” Her breath cut off again as her face scrunched with the pain of another contraction.

And Abby felt dread crawl up her spine as she glanced at her watch. Four minutes between the two contractions.

What she wouldn’t give for some nefedipine. But Fiona didn’t need the drug to stop her contractions. She was only two weeks from delivery. If she had the baby now, the little one would most likely be fine.

But Abby would rather she wait. She looked at Cal. “Is it safe to leave the barn and get to the house where she can lie down?”

Cal got on the phone. Abby heard him asking about the shooter. When he hung up, his lips pursed tight. Then he said, “They found where he was waiting, but he was gone by the time Zane got there. Joel’s up there now working the area like it’s a crime scene.”

Abby swallowed hard. “It was just one shot. Maybe it was an accident?”

Cal lifted a brow. “I don’t think so.”

He helped his sister into a sitting position against the wall of the barn. “Come on, let’s get comfortable. We’re not going anywhere until we get the all clear.”

An hour later after two more contractions by Fiona, a good bit of whining from Tiffany and some under-the-breath muttering from Cal, he finally got the call he was waiting for.

Abby had just breathed a sigh of relief because once Fiona got still, her contractions stopped.

Cal opened the door to the barn and Abby looked around him. She saw an SUV headed toward them, chugging through the snow, the chains caked with the powdery stuff. But at least it was coming.

Two men she recognized as Joel and Mitchell got out of the vehicle, facing the trees where the shot had come from. They both had on bulletproof vests. “Y’all can come on out,” Joel hollered. “We followed his tracks to the edge of the road. Looked like he used some kind of snowmobile to get away fast. But I’m pretty sure he’s gone. Tracks coming in and going out.”

Cal shook his head. “He came prepared, then.”

“Yep. Zane insisted on continuing the search, but we don’t think he’ll find anything new.”

They walked into the house where Cal and Jesse helped Fiona to the couch. Tiffany went to the toy box in the corner that was kept especially for her.

Cal looked up from his phone, his expression grim. “Asheville’s covered up with snow and ice. Most likely we’d be able to make it with the chains on the tires.” He looked at Fiona. “However, I don’t want to take a chance on being stranded on the side of the road with you having contractions. Might be best if you just stay here.”

“No!” Abby burst out.

Cal looked at her, compassion in his eyes. “Let’s see what happens over the next several hours.”

Abby felt the heat rise into her face and wanted to tell him by then it might be too late. Fiona breathed a sigh and lay back on the pillows, her hands cupped in a protective gesture under her belly.

Abby watched the second hand tick around, counting off the minutes. Once, twice, three times. Four. Five. “Anymore contractions?” Although she felt sure she would notice if one hit Fiona, she asked anyway.

Fiona shook her head, but Abby wasn’t ready to breathe another sigh of relief yet.

Fiona sat up. “Someone needs to take me to my husband. Now. I’m not having this baby without him.”

Abby laid a hand on the woman’s arm. As much as she didn’t want to do it, she had to convince the woman to stay. She hated it, but Cal was right. “You simply can’t take the chance. You’ve had several contractions that finally stopped. You need to stay in bed for the rest of the day and probably tomorrow, too. I’m afraid if you start out of here, not knowing how the roads are, you might just have that baby in the back of the car.”

Fiona simply stared at Abby. “Why do you know so much about medicine?” Recognition finally lit her eyes. “You knew exactly what to do with Joseph, you sound knowledgeable about how to tell when a baby’s coming. Why?”

Fiona had been so distraught, Abby wondered if she’d even noticed what was going on in the barn. Apparently so.

“I’ve had a lot of training.”

“She’s a doctor,” Cal said.

“A doctor!” Cal’s mother let out a surprised laugh. “Well, how about that?”

“Yep.” Cal’s eyes were as warm as his eyes when he said, “She saved Holly and Eli’s little Daniel. Apparently, he was choking and turning blue when Abby took over and saved his life.”

“Well, I’ll be…” Mrs. McIvers stared at Abby in wonder and Abby shifted, uncomfortable with the praise. After all, if she hadn’t stayed, none of this would have happened. Except maybe Daniel wouldn’t still be alive. Maybe God had used her after all.

Glancing around the sweet people who’d taken her in without question, nursed her back to health and protected against the person after her, Abby knew she needed to come clean.

“I think I know who the person who shot at Joseph might be.”