Ryker’s Justice (21 page)

Jude
turned around and she climbed onto his shoulders. Nicole wrapped her arms
around his neck so tight he struggled to breathe but he hurried toward the open
door. He stumbled as he crossed the threshold and almost dropped her. Once he
stood on solid ground, Jude lowered her before he collapsed into a heap.

Hot,
sharp pain burned his leg in two places and a pervasive weakness crept over
him, impossible to fight. “I feel weird,” he told her. “My hands have gone numb
and my whole body feels the way it does when your foot falls asleep, all pins
and needles, prickly.”

Nicole
sat down beside him. “Jude, you need to get to the hospital.”

He
nodded, with effort. “I think that’s a good idea, honey. You’re
gonna
have to drive me, though. I don’t think I can.”

His
leg had begun to swell already, increasing the already intense pain. Dizziness
messed with his head and he longed to lie down. If he closed his eyes, he might
feel better but he lacked energy to stretch out. Although he listened to
Nicole’s voice and loved the sweet sound of it, he had to concentrate to
understand what she said.

“Jude,
I can’t,” she said. Her words penetrated through the thickening fog. “I never
learned how to drive a truck or anything with a clutch.”

What
to do, who to call presented a huge obstacle in his mind. He pondered it, then
realized. “Call Adam,” he told her.
“Or Noah or Elijah.
But hurry honey, I don’t know how long I’m
gonna
last.”

Although
he had struggled to hear her soft concern, her anger cut through his confusion.
“You’re not going to die, Jude Ryker,” she said. “Don’t you dare even think
about
it.
Do you hear me? You can’t die. You’ll be
fine.”

“I
hope so.” At least he’d managed to get her out, he thought. “But if I’m not…”

“Shut
up that kind of talk,” she yelled at him. “I won’t listen to it.”

Before
he could open his mouth to answer, the ground shook and something roared. “What
happened?”

She
stared at him, eyes wide. “The house exploded and it’s on fire. We need to move
farther away, Jude. Come on, I’ll help you.”

“Can’t,”
he muttered.

“You
have to do it.”

His
stubborn woman, short and slender, managed to haul him to his feet. Jude leaned
against her and struggled to move toward his truck.
Thank God I parked farther back.
When they reached it, he slumped
against the cab. Nicole reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell.

“Adam,”
she said. “It’s Nicole. Your brother’s been bitten by two rattlesnakes and he’s
in bad shape. We’re at Junior Wetzel’s place and it’s on fire. Jude needs help
now, so hurry.”

Jude
shut his eyes as cold chills racked his body. He shivered and Nicole noticed. “I
think you’re going into shock,” she said. “Oh, Jude, sweetheart, Adam’s on his
way and help will get here soon.”

He
tried to thank her but she shushed him. Then she wrapped her arms around him.
“Do you have a blanket or anything in the truck?”

“Huh-uh,
but I’m thirsty. Water…bottle…in the seat.”

When
she held it to his lips, he managed a few sips but it tasted funny. “It tastes
strange, almost metallic.”

“Save
your strength,” she said. “I see headlights. Adam’s coming.”

With
effort, he resisted succumbing to darkness. His brother’s face, features tight
with concern, loomed up beside him. “How in hell did this happen?” he asked.
“Never mind, tell me later. Nicole, can you tell me where he was bitten?”

“On
his right leg, above the knee and in the thigh, I think.”

Adam
pulled out his pocket knife and slit Jude’s jeans. “I see both places. Wait a
minute.”

“What
are you doing?” Jude tried to see but his vision seemed cloudy.

“I’m
taking off my belt to use it for a tourniquet. I called the ambulance and it
should be here any minute. They’re going to take you out to the highway and the
life flight helicopter will pick you up there. God, kid, you look like shit. How
do you feel?”

“Worse
than that,” Jude managed.

“Don’t
talk.” Adam had reverted to being a bossy older brother. “I found Junior. I
clocked him over the head and he’s tied up in the barn. I called Mitch, too,
and they’ll coordinate with your feds when they show up.”

As
he spoke, Adam cinched his belt tight around Jude’s upper thigh. He welcomed
the pressure, hoping it would help ease some of his symptoms. His brother kept
talking but Jude failed to make out most of it. He heard the thin wail of an
ambulance and surrendered into unconsciousness.

He
roused twice, once as
EMTs
loaded him into a
helicopter with blades whirling overhead. Adam stood beside him, his expression
grimmer than any Jude could remember.

“Where’s
Nicole?”

“She’s
with me. I’m taking her with me. They’re flying you to a trauma center in
Springfield
and we’ll
meet you there. Jude?”

“What?”

“I
love you, brother. Hang in, all right?”

“Yeah.”
He scraped the word from his
throat and out of his mouth with effort.

Nicole
appeared. She leaned over, saying something he failed to hear, and held his
hand for one brief moment. Then they loaded him into the craft and his world
faded to stark, empty black.

Chapter Twenty

The
scent of roses filtered into his consciousness and he struggled to open his
eyes.
I hope I’m not dead.
Jude
attempted to sit up and found it impossible. He lacked the strength and the
effort shot pain through his leg.
Okay,
I’m alive. Dead people don’t feel pain.
He lacked any conscious memory of
what had happened but he thought he must be in a hospital. During his career,
he had landed in enough to recognize the specifics. He struggled to think and
one name, one face came to mind. Nicole.

Scraps
of what had occurred flitted through his mind, like litter driven by a strong
wind. He struggled to put them together into some kind of coherent sense and
when he did, he remembered everything. Alarm coursed through his body and he
forced his eyes open. He tried to say her name but he couldn’t. His throat ached
and he realized he had a tube down there. Jude drew on every ounce of strength
he could muster to shift his head and when he did, he saw her.

Nicole
stood between the bed and the window, with her back to him and her head bowed
down as if she were in prayer or crying. He managed to make a sound and she
whirled around. Her tired face erupted into a wide smile and she came to the
bed. She grasped his hand in hers.

“Oh,
Jude,” she said. Her tone made his name an endearment. “You’re awake.
Everything will be fine now.”

She
burst into tears and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t do anything to
comfort her.

****

Jude
sat up and stared at his lunch tray. He stirred the lime gelatin without any
interest and poked at the mystery meat with disdain. “I can’t figure out what
the hell this is supposed to be,” he said.

Nicole
laughed. “I don’t know either. I can’t decide if it’s a chicken fried steak,
chicken patty, or pork chop. Try to eat it so you can get your strength back.”

“I
don’t know if I can,” he said. He stirred the mashed potatoes and gravy,
then
tried a bite. “I just want to go home.”

Her
eyes welled up with tears. “You will, soon,” she told him. “Jude, you almost
died. It took twenty vials of anti-venom to save your life. You ran a high
fever for three days and you weren’t aware of anything for two more. As soon as
you’re strong enough, can pee standing up, have a decent bowel movement, and
can walk, they’ll release you.”

“It
won’t be soon enough for me,” he griped. “I’d go now if they’d let me.”

“Good
thing they won’t,” a deeper, male voice said. Jude glanced up as Adam entered
the room. “The nurses all think you’re a troublesome patient.”

He
laughed. “Maybe I am. I thought you’d headed home.”

Adam
parked his rump in the room’s only chair. “I should but no, not yet. Are you
feeling better?”

“I
feel good enough to wish I felt better,” Jude said. “So, tell me what happened.
You keep putting it off but I’m strong enough to hear it now.”

Nicole
smiled. “I’m going downstairs to get something to eat. I’ve heard this three
times and it still upsets me.”

“Adam
hasn’t told me three times, has he?”

“Yes,”
his woman and brother said together. Nicole added, “You don’t remember because
you were still very sick.”

They
had to be right although he didn’t remember. “Whatever,” he said. “Tell me
now.”

“Where
do you want me to start?” Adam said. “We went to Granite Springs Cavern
together. Do you remember that?”

“Hell,
yes. I got snakebite, not crazy.”

His
brother shrugged. “Then you headed home but when you got there, Nicole was
gone. She left Junior’s initials in spilled sugar or something, then before you
took off after her,
Junior
called. According to your
boss, Agent March, I think, you called him at some point to tell him you’d found
the location of the moonshine operation. You drove to Junior’s, got him to
admit the leader was Senator Bell, then sent him on a wild goose chase to get
ten grand for his getaway.”

Jude’s
pride stung. “Damn, Adam, you make it sound like I made some wrong decisions.”

“Not
at all, kid. But sending Junior to the barn wasn’t one of your most inspired
moments. Then you called me, I went over, knocked him in the head and tied him
up. From what Nicole’s told me, you went into Junior’s house and although she
warned you he’d let rattlesnakes loose, you played the hero and fetched her
out. The fact you were bitten by two huge rattlers didn’t matter—except it came
near to killing you. Daddy let you watch too many John Wayne movies, I think,
or they messed with your head in the Navy.”

Beneath
his brother’s teasing, Jude caught the undercurrent of concern. He had scared
hell out of Adam as well as Nicole plus all the Ryker clan. “If I hadn’t got
her out when I did, both of us would’ve been killed when the house exploded.”

“True,
I guess,” Adam said. “So, okay, you did your good deed for this year. I knew I
shouldn’t have let you come to Boy Scout camp with me. You took it too
seriously, Jude. Then Nicole called me and we got you here.”

His
patience eroded. “I know what happened to me. What about the investigation?”

Adam
grinned. “Oh, yeah, that. Sheriff Cole arrested Junior, probably before you
ever reached the hospital. Your feds showed up and raided the cavern in
conjunction with some of Mitch’s deputies. Over in
Memphis
, they took Senator Bell into custody.
Rick Cockrell and all the other folks who got involved in selling moonshine or
meth were arrested. Mary Cockrell went to stay with her sister down at
Tulsa
and the inn’s for
sale. And they busted the meth lab over by Aunt Tillie’s but it turned out to
be an independent operator after all. You did what you came home to do, Jude. I
don’t know what you plan to do but your boss is waiting for you to recover and
return to
Washington
.”

He
had made up his mind. “Adam, I’m resigning. I want to stay here, where I
belong.”

Adam
grinned. “That’s what I hoped you’d say. I’m glad, little brother. I got
kinda
used to having you around again. You’ve got time to
figure out what you want to do and you already know who you plan to do it
with.”

Jude
smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then
I’m heading home. I
gotta
go back to work—I’ve missed
more than a week already. Elijah and Noah were here the first few days, too,
but they had to go back sooner than me. David even came for a while but you
were out of it.”

“How’s
he doing?”

“Healing,”
Adam said. “Just like you.”

Three
days later, Jude came home. Since it was Sunday, most of the family gathered at
the old home place to welcome him. The kitchen table held more food than they
could eat and the freezer held more. After many hugs and well-wishes, everyone
left except Nicole.

She
sat cross-legged on the floor in front of his chair, leaned back against his
knees. “Let me know if I’m hurting you,” she told him.

“You’re
fine,” he said. Jude let one hand drift through her hair. “I’m happy to be home
and I’m so glad you’re here. Think you’d like to stay forever?”

“I
would, Jude.”

“Then
would you marry me, as soon as I can get you to a preacher?” he said. “I should
be kneeling but I doubt I could get up if I got down.”

Nicole
faced him. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll marry you, Jude Ryker. I love you.”