Kade: Armed and Dangerous (31 page)

“I trust you,” she whispered, but when he glanced at her, he saw that her eyes were
still closed.

Steady. Steady.
Kade gritted his teeth and eased the plane down.

The nose dipped in the wind, and the plane pitched. Kelsey’s gasp was audible over
the engine’s noise.

He swore under his breath, fighting the wheel more than he should have. Five hundred
feet. Four hundred. Rain made visual impossible. He was flying on instruments, and
on his gut instinct. Hopefully the concussion didn’t affect his instincts as much
as it had affected his hands.

Two hundred feet.

One hundred.

The plane dropped hard, skittering. Kelsey screamed and grabbed her knees. He dragged
hard on the brakes, his breath catching with each shimmy and bump until they rolled
to a stop in front of the hangar.

Kade leaned back in-his seat, his muscles slack with relief. He looked at Kelsey’s
pale face.

“Did—did we land?” she asked, eyes squeezed closed, lips trembling.

He squeezed her hand again. “We’re safe.”

She opened her eyes. Her breasts rose and fell as she took a deep breath. “Fm so sorry
I put you through this. I should have listened to you and gone straight to Bisbee.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Kade hooked his forefinger under her chin. “Fm just glad we made
it. Now let’s get out of here.” He grabbed Sal’s Glock from where it lay between the
seats and tucked it into his waistband at his back.

Damn Sal.
Kade’s lips drew so tight he was baring his teeth. How could he have been so blind
that he’d never seen it coming?

After he helped Kelsey climb out of the plane, she flung her arms around his neck
and hugged him tight. Rain poured down as he squeezed her to him and kissed her wet
hair.

“Senor,” a man said behind them.

Kade released Kelsey and spun around. Instinct had him moving his hand close to the
Glock.

“We have been expecting you.” Dressed in coveralls with the airport insignia, the
man nodded toward the closest hangar. “Please come in out of the rain.”

Kade nodded, his head swimming with pain from his injury.

They followed the wiry man into the hangar, which was so dim he could barely see.
Only a black truck was parked inside the building. Kade’s skin crawled.

Even as he reached for Sal’s handgun and tried to push Kelsey outside, something struck
him in the small of his back. His breath knocked from him, he pitched forward and
hit the floor.

“Kade!” Kelsey screamed.

A boot pressed into his back.

“Don’t move or I’ll have your reporter shot,” a familiar voice said as the man in
coveralls frisked Kade, then took his Glock. The door of the hangar slammed shut,
the only light coming from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Kade’s vision swam. He turned his head to the side—his blood ran cold as he saw the
man in coveralls holding Kelsey by one arm, the barrel of an automatic to her temple.

“Get up, Owen,” Stevens ordered, a toothpick hanging from the corner of his mouth.
“Hands where I can see them. I’ve got this here gun pointed at your head. Don’t want
to leave a mess.”

Heart pounding, Kade eased to his feet and faced Stevens. Dominguez stood about a
foot away.

Kade’s eyes met Kelsey’s and he tried to tell her everything he wanted to say with
that one look. Her lips parted, but she looked calmer, stronger than he’d expected.
He tried to keep his face calm, but inside he was dying. One wrong move and Stevens
could have her killed.

Kade fixed his gaze on Stevens. “How’d you track us?”

The rancher’s face was impassive. “Valenzuela let me know you’d gotten away. 1 called
in a few favors and had you routed here, everything kept quiet. I pump a lot of money
into this town.”

“What—” Kade fought for focus, his injury making it difficult to think clearly or
even to speak. “What do you want with us?”

“Sorry, Owen. You should’ve turned in your resignation.” Stevens cocked his head toward
where Dominguez held Kelsey. “She’ll come with me. For now.”

Rage filled Kade. Adrenaline pumped through his body, making his vision sharper. He
had to keep Stevens talking. Find some way out of the mess they were in. “What kind
of man smuggles people across the border and leaves them to die?”

Stevens’s tone was calm. “Payback for all the damage done to my property. Payback
for the thousands of dollars I’ve lost. Might as well see some of the cash if they’re
gonna be crossing my land.”

Kade gritted his teeth, then spoke. “You killed Pedro Rios, didn’t you?”

Stevens rolled his shoulders. “Rios revealed too much to the reporter. He might’ve
spilled his guts to the wrong folks.”

Kade fought back a wave of nausea. “Don’t add another murder to your charges.”

A smile tugged at the rancher’s mouth. “I’ve been doing this for years, and with you
gone nothing’ll change.”

Kade shook his head. “You’ve been under surveillance. Jose Hernandez, aka Gordo, a
known coyote, has been seen going to and from your ranch. Your phone has been tapped,
conversations recorded. It’s over.”

The smile faded from Stevens’s face. Kade’s heart thundered as Dominguez suddenly
looked nervous and his hand started trembling, the weapon still pointed at Kelsey’s
forehead. His eyes darted back and forth from Kade to Stevens.

Stevens worked the toothpick between his teeth as if chewing on what Kade had just
said.

Kade lowered his hands. He glanced at Dominguez—the man’s attention was on Stevens.

“With a name like Bull, it wasn’t too sharp, allowing yourself to be called El Torero.
A matador,” Kade said. “And you left one of your toothpicks at the crime scene with
Rios. A DNA test of the saliva on the pick’ll prove you were there.”

Stevens spit out his toothpick and gripped the automatic even tighter. “You’d better
be shiftin’ me.”

It was what Kade had been waiting for—to get Dominguez’s attention completely off
Kelsey.

Kade charged Dominguez, jamming his arm upward, away from Kelsey’s temple. He drove
Dominguez back, back toward Stevens and the other handgun.

Stevens fired.

Pain exploded in Kade’s arm.

Dominguez slammed to the ground, striking his head. Hard.

Kelsey screamed.

A hot knife split Kade’s chest. He felt the bullet before he heard that second shot,
and then—darkness.

***

“No!” Rage swept over Kelsey, fast and furious. She spun around. “You bastard.” With
all the strength she possessed, Kelsey rammed her knee into Stevens’s groin.

Total shock crossed his features. The weapon toppled out of his hand and he dropped
to his knees.

“Son of a bitch.” Kelsey reared back, and as Stevens tried to straighten, she kicked
him in the balls again as hard as she could.

The man gasped and collapsed onto his side, curling into a fetal position, vomiting
and whining.

Kelsey kicked Stevens’s handgun to the back of the hangar, well beyond his reach.
Then she kicked Dominguez’s gun to the back of the hangar, near Stevens’s weapon.

She pulled Kade’s handgun from her front pocket and trained it on the rancher as she
checked on the other man and saw that he was completely still—knocked out. She didn’t
have the slightest idea how to use the weapon, but Stevens wouldn’t know that. She
hoped.

Sirens approached as she ran to Kade and tried to keep the handgun pointed at Stevens.
“Oh, God,” she sobbed when she saw blood pooling across Kade’s shirt and mixing with
the mud covering his clothing. “Don’t leave me. Please don’t die. I love you, Kade.
I love you so much.”

His eyelids fluttered and his hand clenched hers. “I know, honey.” A weak smile, then
his face went slack and he passed out.

She caressed his stubbled cheeks, her lips trembling, hot tears spilling down her
face. His skin was clammy. “Damn it, Kade. Don’t you dare die on me.”

Dominguez moaned beside Kade. She turned and saw that the rancher still writhed in
pain on the floor. She held Kade’s gun with both hands, keeping it pointed toward
Stevens. Her heart screamed for help as she looked from the vomiting Stevens back
to the other man, now moving.

Sirens wailed and brakes screeched outside the hangar. She checked to see that both
Stevens and Dominguez were still down, then threw Kade’s handgun to the back of the
hangar near the others. She ran to the door and yanked it open and saw police cars
and an ambulance crowding the runway.

“Help, please!” she cried to the first officer that approached her. “John Stevens
shot Kade Owen. And there’s another man that held a gun on me. Kade knocked him out,
but he’s coming around.”

Officers poured into the building and in moments had cuffed Stevens and Dominguez.
When the building was secure, paramedics rushed in and started attending Kade.

Everything was a whirl of action, flashing lights, shouts, conversations, and her
cascading emotions.

Kelsey turned to follow when Don Mitchell took her by the arm.

“How is he?” Don asked.

She blinked, for a second unable to process his question, then told him what had happened.

She started to shake. “There’s so much blood. He can’t die. He just can’t.”

Don patted Kelsey’s arm, then pulled her to him in an awkward hug and she sobbed against
his shirt.

“Kade’s one tough hombre.” Don rubbed her back like an affectionate father. “He’ll
come through.”

Unconsciously Kelsey clenched the fabric of his shirt—and felt something hard beneath
it.

“His vest.” She looked up at Don, hope blossoming within her. “He was wearing a vest.
I’m sure of it.” She broke out of the man’s embrace, turned, and ran into the hangar.

Kade was lying on the stretcher, his shirt and vest gaping open, the paramedics working
on him. An enormous bruise covered the left side of his chest, below his heart.

“He did. He had on his vest.” Her voice quavered and she was dizzy with relief.

Don walked up behind her as one of the police officers came to Kelsey’s side. “Sure
enough did.” The officer nodded toward Kade. “Saved his life.”

“But the blood.” Her knees weakened and she grabbed Don’s arm to keep from falling.
“So much blood.”

“From the flesh wound to his arm,” the officer replied as Don pulled Kelsey against
him and held her up. “He’s got a bunch of bruises and he’s lost blood, but other than
that, the paramedics think he’ll be fine.”

Kelsey’s stomach roiled. She tore away from Don, ran outside, and vomited. Even after
there was nothing left, dry heaves continued to rack her body.

Kelsey sprawled in a chair in the hospital’s waiting room, her hair drying but her
clothing still damp from rain. She was cold and exhausted, but all she could think
about was Kade.

She drew the blanket that a nurse had provided earlier around her shoulders, seeking
warmth even though nothing would take away the chill of her fear for Kade.

“You need to let a doctor examine you,” Don said as he watched her.

“I’m fine.” Her stomach churned again as she inhaled the horrid antiseptic smells,
but she was sure there was nothing left in her belly to throw up.

“You’re in shock.” Don stood and started pacing. “That’s why you’re vomiting and still
shaking.”

Kelsey pulled the blanket tighter around her. She wasn’t about to tell Don the real
reason she was throwing up. Maybe shock had something to do with it, but she was pretty
sure it had a lot more to do with her pregnancy. Not to mention the hospital’s pea-green
walls. They were ugly enough to make anyone puke.

“How did you know where we were?” Kelsey asked, trying to draw Don’s attention away
from her and how she was feeling at the moment.

Don shrugged. “When Kade tore home after you, Sal followed. I’ve had a strange feeling
about him lately, so I checked in with Miguel and found out that Sal never called
for backup like he said he did. So Miguel called the Sheriff’s Department and also
sent out the closest Border Patrol units. They arrived as Kade’s plane took off.”

Kelsey shuddered at the mention of the plane but only nodded. “Sal had just put down
the cell phone when the agents and deputies surrounded him and the other two men.
They were all arrested.” Don stared at a framed print of yellow gladiolas. “There
was some confusion as to where Kade was landing, or we would’ve arrived sooner. We
were misdirected to the wrong airport while you were told to land in Douglas.”

Don sat in a chair across from Kelsey as he asked, “When’s Kade’s family getting home?”

“Late tonight,” Kelsey said. “They have seats on the last flight out of San Francisco
to Tucson.”

A silver-haired woman in a white lab coat came through the double doors into the waiting
room and Kelsey sat up in her chair. “I’m Dr. Taylor,” the woman said. “Is either
one of you a family member of Kade Owen?”

Before Kelsey could speak, Don said, “This is his fiancee, Kelsey Nichols. The rest
of Kade’s family is out of town.”

Kelsey blushed as the doctor shook her hand with a firm grip but didn’t contradict
Don. “How’s Kade?”

Dr. Taylor smiled. “He’ll be fine. He lost a lot of blood so we’re going to keep him
here a couple of days and then he’ll be able to go home.”

Kelsey’s head spun and her stomach cramped. She was so relieved that she barely heard
the doctor’s explanation of the extent of Kade’s injuries.

“May I see him?” she asked when the doctor finished.

Dr. Taylor nodded and indicated to Kelsey to follow her. “Only for a few minutes.
He needs his rest to help him recover more quickly.”

A humming noise filled her head as the doctor led her into Kade’s room. Her chest
tightened when she saw how pale he was. Bandages were wrapped around his upper arm.
Bruises covered one side of his face and his eyes were closed.

Her hand trembled as she caressed Kade’s cheek, his stubble rough to her fingertips.
He opened his eyes and gave her a weak smile.