Promises (30 page)

Good girl.
 
No
—
great woman.
 
My woman
.

“I was going to contact you after I had the key,” Ballard hissed.

“You don’t even know where it is!
 
They don’t know where it is!
 
Her brother gave it to her disguised as a bracelet.”
 
Coulee jerked Bobbi to his side and yanked up her shirtsleeve.

Travis froze.

“Where is it?”
 
Coulee yanked up her other sleeve.

She wrenched free of his grasp, taking a step closer to Travis.
 
“I don’t have any bracelet.”

The traitor grabbed her by the arms and shook her.
 
“You’re lying!
 
I saw Jason give it to you.
 
I was there.
 
Now, where is it, bitch?”

Bobbi’s teeth felt like they were going to pop out of her pounding head.
 
She knew then their chance at survival was near to nothing.
 
They couldn’t afford to let them go.
 
Her future with Travis would never be.
 

The man suddenly cried out and pushed her away.
 
She stumbled backward and caught herself before falling to the concrete.
 
Snarls and growls drew her attention.
 

Rocky?
 
Where did he come from?

“Shoot him!” Coulee yelled, as he wrestled with her fury companion.

A scream erupted from her throat as she flung herself between Rocky and Ballard’s henchman, her eyes squeezed closed waiting for the bullet to rip through her body.
 

Strong arms grabbed her around the waist and threw her to the floor as the gun went off.
 
She felt no pain other than her aches and bruises.
 
No torn flesh, no gaping hole in her body.

“Rocky!”

She snapped her head up then breathed an unsteady sigh of relief.
 
He was still alive, and strangely enough he wasn’t trying to kill Coulee.
 
He would have instinctively gone for the throat unless told otherwise, but by whom?
 
And what about the gunshot?

The sound of cursing pulled her attention away from her furry savior.
 
Travis had handcuffed the gunman to the metal stairs, but where was Ballard?

Looking across the warehouse, she spotted him as a man in ragged clothes tackled him to the ground.
 
Once down, the stranger threw punch after punch until Ballard no longer struggled.

“Looks like we had a little help,” Travis said, as he helped her to her feet.
 

“Oh, Travis.”
 
She fell into his arms and pressed her bruised face into his chest.
 
Safe.
 
She was safe.

He pulled away slightly, gently taking her face in his hands and brushed her sore cheek.
 
“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”
 
She sniffled softly, trying to keep her happy tears at bay.
 
Her head ached with all the knocks she’d taken over the past week, but she did feel fine.
 
More than fine.
 
Almost perfect.

A woof caught her attention.
 
“What made you think to bring Rocky?”

He looked down at the brindle mastiff sitting squarely on Coulee’s chest, the man having obviously given up the struggle.
 
“I didn’t.”
 

Motioning for Rocky to move, Travis jerked Coulee off the floor and cuffed him to the other man beside the stairs.

With a whine, the dog trotted off across the abandoned warehouse.

Travis and Bobbi watched as the ragged man patted him on the head then came toward them.
 
Lifting his dirty hands to his face, he peeled off his nose, a pair of burly eyebrows, then a dark wig.
 

“Hello, Barbie.”

“Jason?
 
Jason!”
 
She ran into her brother’s arms with happy tears streaming down her face.
 

“Holy
—
what the
—
how did
—
”

“You always had a way with words, ole’ buddy,” Jason said to Travis with his arms still tightly wrapped around his blubbering little sister.

Rocky nudged between them, and Jason patted him on the head.
 
“You did a good job, boy.
 
I knew you’d be better than the cavalry.”
 

“What the hell is going on, Jase?” Travis asked.

“I’ll explain everything, but first, Barbie, where’s the bracelet?”

She swiped her tears away, smiling wider than she had in months then bent over and rolled down her sock.
 
“It was always getting in the way of my work.”

Jase shook his head with a chuckle.
 
“I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“Explain,” Travis seethed.
 
He stepped behind Bobbi, supporting her as Jase unfastened the bracelet from her ankle.

Her brother stood, dangling the sparkling gold between his fingers.
 
“It’s to a safe deposit box.
 
Steele was stupid enough to keep a few of his stolen treasures.
 
Over a quarter of a million dollars worth.”

“You planned this.
 
You planned the entire thing.
 
You set us up!”
 
Travis shifted, pulling back his fist preparing to push it through Jase’s face.

“Travis, no!”
 
She jumped between them, holding tightly to his arm.
 

“Bobbi,” he snarled.

“Please.”
 

He glanced down at her with wide, furious eyes.
 
She gave him a teasing wink then spun around and punched her brother square in the nose.

Jason staggered backward, cupping his face.
 
“For crying out loud, Barbie!”

“I’m sure it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as if Travis had done it.
 
And don’t call me Barbie.”
 

She gave her hand a few shakes then cradled it against her chest.
 
That was the last time she would ever punch anyone.
 
No one told her it would hurt her as much as the other guy.

“I guess I deserved that.”
 
He dabbed at his nose and examined his hand for blood.
 
“If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t actually enjoy playing chaperone for you two.
 
Toting mailbags and scrubbing toilets are not one of my favorite pastimes.”
 

“All those odd characters.
 
The mailman in Gator Creek, the maid at the motel.
 
It was you,” she said, staring open-mouthed at her brother.
 
She never dreamed he’d been with her, protecting her the entire time.

Jason nodded.
 
“Cab driver, drunk driver.”
 
He paused, looking down at his clothes.
 
“Bum.
 
I’ve been keeping an eye on you since the beginning, Barbie.”
 
He quickly held up his hands to protect his face.
 
“Bobbi.
 
I meant Bobbi.”

“You pulled me out of that burning house, didn’t you?”

A crooked smile stole across his face as he relaxed.
 
“You scared the hell out of me that time.
 
Then I was afraid I’d have to go back in for my ole’ buddy here,” he said, slapping his hand on Travis’ shoulder.
 

“You aren’t a lightweight, my friend.
 
I nearly wrenched my back toting you to the cabin and didn’t look forward to having to save your butt again.”
 
He looked back at Bobbi.
 
“But when he came toppling out of the bathroom window and found you in the bushes where I’d left you, I knew he wouldn’t let me down, and he’d take good care of you.”
 
His smile widened.
 
“Looks like that’s your fulltime job now, Travis.
 
I’ve had about all I can take.”

Sliding his arm around Bobbi’s waist, Travis pulled her firmly against his side.
 
“That’s a mighty tall order, but I think I can manage.”

“Oh!
 
When are you two going to get it through your thick skulls I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself?
 
I am not a kid anymore!
 
And you,” she said, poking her brother firmly in the chest.
 
“Don’t think you can get off that easily.”
 

Jase chuckled.
 
“Would you shut her up?”

“Be happy to.”
 
Travis pressed his mouth to hers, silencing her mile-a-minute sputtering.
 
She balked for barely a second then went fluid in his arms.
 

He whispered against her lips.
 
“Marry me, bright eyes.”

“Giving orders again?”

“Marry me, be the mother of my children, and make me the happiest chef in the world.”

Ignoring the painful lump on her forehead, she puckered her brow as she studied his face.
 
“Chef?”

“I’ve decided to open up a café in Charleston, but I want you there with me.
 
Maybe Joe will let us rent out his cabin.
 
At least until we build one of our own.”
 

“Won’t you miss this exciting life, city boy?”
 
She didn’t want him to change his career because of her, even if she did despise it. Regardless of the nagging fears that went with his profession, she wanted to be with him, love him for as long as she could.
 

He chuckled softly and tapped the tip of her nose.
 
“You’re about all the excitement I can handle.”

“You’re sure?
 
You’re really, really sure?”

“Positive.
 
Come on, say yes.”

Smiling up at the man she loved, her dark princely chef, she let out an exaggerated sigh.
 
“Well, if I must, I must.”

The corners of his mouth turned up in a rakish grin, and he gifted her with a soul-searing kiss.

Blaring sirens echoed inside the empty warehouse, but they ignored them.
 

“Well, I guess that’s my cue,” Jase said, sticking his face close to theirs.
 
“This mushy stuff’s too much for me to stomach.”

Turning to him, they replied in unison, “Go away, Jase.”

Laughing, Jason bent down and patted Rocky on the head.
 
“Guard them boy.
 
Nobody gets close.
 
Understand?”

Rocky barked then licked Jason’s hand leaving a trail of drool down his sleeve.

“Man, Rocky,” he grumbled.

Bobbi giggled then turned back to Travis.
 
As his lips caressed hers, turning from soft and sweet to hot and hungry, she realized that happily-ever-afters did in fact happen.
 
But they marked the beginning of the fairytale, not the end.

~~~

JO BARRETT is a native of North Carolina where she currently resides with her husband and teenage son.
 
Since becoming inspired by the romantic stories from her personal reader collection, she has become a prolific romance novelist in her own right.
 
She has been awarded honorable mention from the 2001 Writer’s Digest Short Story Contest, was similarly recognized by the 2002 Southern Heat Contest, and was awarded second prize in the Utah Chapter of RWA’s Great Beginnings Writers competition.

Visit her website at www.jobarrett.net.