Justice Inked (Cowboy Justice Association 7) (34 page)

D
are turned the SUV into his neighborhood, fatigue lying heavy on his shoulders and mind. It had been a damn long day and he was anxious to have a hot shower and a cold beer. He wouldn’t mind some tender loving care from the woman in his life either, if she was offering. A neck rub sounded like heaven after the crap he’d been through at the coroner’s office.

He’d shown up thinking that they were going to perform the autopsies but there’d been a paperwork snafu, so instead he’d stopped at the station to have them start running the prints before heading back home.

To Rayne.

It felt right having her in his house, his bed. She made even the everyday things like making coffee or watching television better, and he had a sneaking suspicion he was going to want her to do those things with him for the foreseeable future. And beyond.

He passed Billy’s cruiser and was pulling up into the driveway when Billy and Sophie came barreling out of the house right in front of Dare’s truck. He slammed on the brakes and threw the vehicle into park before jumping out to see what was going on. Sophie’s face was red and tearstained while Billy’s forehead had a trickle of blood between his eyebrows.

Dare’s chest felt heavy and he had trouble exhaling as he desperately looked for Rayne as well. He ran up to Sophie and wrapped his arm around her waist, supporting her slight weight. She was still crying and he had a hard time making out her words between sobs. He turned to his deputy who was holding a dishtowel from the kitchen to his head.

“What the hell happened here? Where’s Rayne?”

Billy’s breathing was labored and he seemed to have trouble getting the words out with a couple false starts. “Tim knocked me out and stole my gun. Then he locked Sophie in the utility room.” Billy paused, his eyes wide with fear. “He’s got Rayne and he’s on the move.”

Dare half coughed and half gasped, feeling like he’d been punched in the gut. Tim had Rayne? Did that mean Tim was part of…

Son of a bitch. He’d known that pissy little bastard was trouble.

Dare placed his hand on Billy’s shoulder to get his attention. “Radio for backup and an EMT. You need someone to look at that bump on your head. Then radio Tanner Marks in Springwood and tell him to get his ass over here. He’s going to want to be in on this. Go.”

Stumbling down the driveway, Billy made it to his vehicle and Dare turned his attention to his weeping sister. He lifted her quivering chin so she had to look up at him and brushed at her wet cheeks. “Baby girl, I need you to tell me what’s happening here. Are you hurt?”

Sophie shook her head, hiccuping as she scrubbed at her swollen eyes.

“Do you know where Rayne is?”

She nodded but her breathing instantly sped up. Not a good sign. “Can you tell me where Tim took Rayne? Can you do that for me?”

“He–he took her to the caves outside of town. The symbol on the design is spray painted on the side of one of the caves. That’s where the money is.” More sobs shook her slight frame. “He robbed that bank and he dated me to keep an eye on you.”

Holy fucking hell, when Dare got his hands on that prick, Wallace was going to wish he’d never been born. No one touched his sister and his woman.

He didn’t have all the details he’d like to have but there was no time for a long interrogation. He needed to get to Rayne as soon as possible. He guided Sophie back into the house and set her down on the couch. “I need you to stay here with Billy, okay? I’m going to get Rayne and then we’ll be back and you can tell me all about this.”

Sophie nodded, tears still flowing, but she wiped her face with the hem of her shirt and put on a brave face. “Go get her, big brother. She has to be so scared. He made me handcuff her so she can’t defend herself.”

Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, Dare strode out of the house to his SUV. Protecting his woman was uppermost in his mind and he wouldn’t falter from his task.

Because he fucking loved her.

He hadn’t said it yet but he did. It was what the entire relationship had been leading up to and he desperately wanted a chance to tell her. Prove to her how he felt even if her feelings weren’t the same.

Tim Wallace had made a grave error and was about to pay the price.

*   *   *   *

“You’ll never get away with this.”

Rayne wasn’t sure why she was even bothering to speak, especially a cliché such as this one, but she couldn’t seem to control her mouth. Something deep inside was forcing the words out as if talking affirmed her continued state of…aliveness.

Tim’s old truck pulled to a halt at the end of the dirt road. “I think I will. Your hero Dare is going to be caught up with those autopsies for hours so there’s no one to come to your rescue.”

That’s exactly what she was afraid of. Until Deputy Billy woke up or Sophie managed to get out of the utility room, Rayne was up a creek without the proverbial paddle. There was only herself to depend on and the last time she’d been in a life or death situation she hadn’t saved her own life. It had taken Jason and his father to drag her butt out of that burning building, and they were in a completely different state at the moment. She had to blink away the tears that were welling up in her eyes and swallow the lump that had taken residence in her throat.

The outlook was bleak.

If Tim meant what he said about leaving Rayne alive he would probably abandon her here once he found the money. She could die of exposure while waiting for rescue and she had a feeling that was a particularly nasty way to go.

If Tim was being honest…

He exited the truck and came around to her side, pulling her out and to her feet. His fingers gripped her arm as he dragged her toward the cave, a flashlight in one hand. She stumbled over the uneven ground trying to keep up with his longer legs but he didn’t slow his gait, clearly anxious to recover his money. As they moved closer, Rayne could make out the spray painted image on the rocks that matched the drawing.

“Slow the hell down. If the money’s here it’s not going anywhere.”

“What do you mean if it’s here? It has to be here.”

Tim’s brows pulled down and his eyes narrowed, not liking her statement at all but then she hadn’t said it to make him more comfortable.

“It doesn’t have to be,” she countered, sweat sliding down her back, making her shirt stick to her skin. Rising fear kept her heart galloping, but she tried to ignore it by keeping up a steady dialogue. “Moulson could have been using the tattoo as a red herring. Maybe the money is in some offshore account in the Cayman Islands.”

His head whipped around and he jerked her up close so she was looking into his blazing eyes. “It’s fucking here. It has to be here.”

“I’m sure it is. I was just conjecturing.”

Rayne used her most soothing tone but he didn’t appear mollified. He yanked her over to a large rock at the mouth of the cave and pushed her down onto it, adding a few more bruises to her already sore body.

“Sit the fuck down and shut up. Don’t try and run or scream, either. Not that there’s anyone here to help you. We’re all alone, baby.” Tim ran his finger down her cheek and she shuddered in revulsion. “Maybe after I get the money you and me can celebrate. I bet you’d like that. I always thought you’d be hot in the sack. I can count your tattoos and piercings.”

I’ll see you in hell first.

“Fuck you.”

Tim laughed as he reached for Rayne’s foot, tugging off first one tennis shoe and sock and then the other.

“Fuck you too, sweetheart. I’ll just take these shoes to make sure you won’t go anywhere. It would be suicide to run even with them. You’d die of exposure before sunup but this will make sure you stay put.”

Stuffing the socks into the shoes, he reared back his arm and tossed a shoe into the darkness. She heard a thud in the distance before he threw the other one.

“Those were my favorite Chuck Taylors.”

Cold was already beginning to seep through into her toes. Tim Wallace was a true bastard extraordinaire. He was going to leave her to freeze to death in all likelihood.

“Women love to shop. Now stay here and be a good girl.”

“Fuck you.”

“I think we’ve been through this once already but luckily for you I don’t hold a grudge.”

The moon was high in the black sky and Rayne shivered as the cold breeze dried her damp skin. Tim went deeper into the cave until she couldn’t see him anymore but could hear his heavy boots stomping on the packed ground.

As soon as he was out of sight, Rayne struggled to her feet. Her heart pounded wildly and her mind raced with possibilities, each one more dire than the last. Her odds weren’t good either way but staying with him was surely a death sentence. Best case scenario she’d be raped and left for dead. Running was a lousy option but it felt like the only one she had. That little voice in her head that had saved her ass too many times to count was chattering away in her ear, urging her to get away. Run. Move. Anything but stay here like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

Her gaze darted in every direction, calculating the most advantageous place to run or hide. She wanted to run toward the main road but that direction was too exposed and Tim would easily spot her even from a distance. Running away from the road didn’t make much sense either, as she would be moving farther from civilization and a human being that might help her. To her right was rocky terrain that would be hell on her now freezing bare feet.

To the left then.

Not wasting any more time, she took off running into the dense trees and bushes, hoping against hope that Tim couldn’t see her in the dark. It wasn’t a full moon but there was enough to light her way until she was in the dark shadows of the large pine trees. It was then that the reduced visibility played havoc and she found herself stumbling and falling to her knees a few times.

She struggled to stand without the use of her arms and pushed forward, only to hiss in pain as rocks cut into the soles of her feet. Her vision blurred with tears and she didn’t have a hand free to wipe them away. Staying and enduring the tender mercies of Tim Wallace hadn’t been a good idea but this one didn’t seem any better. She was quite likely going to perish out here and they’d find her body in the spring.

Because she was an idiot who didn’t know how to survive in the woods.

She’d been too busy living in cities and using plumbing and air conditioning, ignoring the lessons her adventure loving parents tried to teach her. She’d been so smug and now she was going to die because she was stupid. Sniffling, she awkwardly bent her head and tried to wipe her nose on her shirt but she couldn’t reach. She had no doubt she made a pathetic as hell picture. Her shoulders, arms, and wrists ached, her feet burned, and she could barely see a foot in front of her face. Goosebumps were raised on the flesh of her skin and the rapidly chilling air made a cloud of fog in front of her face with every ragged breath.

Finding a large clump of trees, Rayne huddled behind them, trying to bury her feet under the bed of pine needles hoping they would keep her from losing her toes. A sob rose up in her throat choking her as she swallowed it down, hesitant to make a sound when Tim was so close. Once he had the money, he might come after her.

Crumpled into a ball on the frigid ground, Rayne could hear the beat of her heart like a freight train in her ears, the whooshing sound drowning out any other noise. Feeling more tears leak down her face, she concentrated on breathing in and out, not allowing fear to swamp her common sense. If there was any moment she needed to be smart, it was now. Right now. And that voice in her head was telling her to lie low and hide. Stay quiet and hope the curtain of darkness cloaked her whereabouts.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, the scent of sweat mixing with pine. Time drifted on without meaning and she only counted each breath, one after the other. Each one meant she was still alive and kicking.

Lost in that fog, she jumped when she heard the sound of gunshots. Two. Then three. Then two more. Had Dare arrived? He should have been back at the coroner’s office but if Billy or Sophie got free…

Silence.

She heard shouting in the distance and her body trembled with hope. Had the cavalry arrived or had the gunshots been fired by someone else?

Holding her breath, she waited…listening…praying…

If I get out of this alive I’ll never complain about anything ever again. And I will tell Dare that I love him. Because I do, and if he wants to be grouchy every day for the rest of our lives that’s okay with me.

When she heard his familiar voice she collapsed into a heap, relief suffusing every fiber of her being. Despite all the odds, he’d fucking found her and she wasn’t going to die a miserable death out here, cold and forgotten.

It took every ounce of energy she had to call to him, her voice coming out as a croak.

“Dare! I’m here!”

She waited and could hear his calls more clearly. Crawling out from behind the trees, she somehow managed to stand on her shaky knees. “Here! I’m here!”

This time the words came out stronger and she heard him call back that he was coming. Her legs gave out underneath her, and she sat there waiting for Dare as tears of relief and happiness replaced those of fear and anger.