Asking For Trouble (32 page)

"It just looked that way...head wounds bleed
a lot. I have a hard head, if you haven't figured that out by now,"
she snorted, then leaned forward and put a lingering kiss on his
lips. "But I think it might need stitches...probably wouldn't hurt
to get it checked out."

"We're taking you and Carlos to the
emergency room, as soon as we get out of here," Beau told her
firmly.

They'd just made it around the building to
the main exit, and were about to drive through it, when several men
came out of the bushes near the exit and opened fire with machine
guns. "Duck!" Cole yelled and slid down, but floored the car
through the gate then hung a left, leaving the bad guys running for
a black van that was parked nearby.

The rear window exploded and Jazzie
squealed. Susan got on her knees and ducked down on the seat, but
popped up to fire at the men. Jazzie had no idea if she got any of
them, because there was no way she was going to put her head up to
see. Beau had her head in his lap and he was leaning down on top of
her.

Beau's phone rang in his pocket and vibrated
against her arm. "Beau, your phone..." she mumbled against his
thigh. She noticed that he had another problem too, one she
couldn't help him with at the moment. Lifting her head a little,
Jazzie kissed him through his pants, and his breathing hitched, and
his hand tightened on her ass cheek, where he was holding her down.
"Good god, woman, the bullet didn't kill me, but you sure as hell
are," he growled then pinched her ass lightly. "Behave."

Strangely, the pain sent shards of
excitement coursing through her and moisture to parts south. How
she could be turned on when she was in so damned much danger, she
had no idea, but she was. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or the
thrill of the danger, or maybe relief that Beau wasn't going to
die. Whatever it was, it was better than any aphrodisiac known to
man.

Reaching into his pocket, Beau pulled out
his phone and pushed talk, "Yeah?"

From the side of the conversation she could
hear, Jazzie deduced that Dave Logan was alive, and three of his
men escaped without injury, but one had been shot, and they were
bringing him to the hospital.

"Ask him about Frankie," Jazzie said
desperately needing to know her brother was alright, but he had
already disconnected the line.

"He's with them, sugar...and Dave didn't
mention him getting hurt, so he's okay. We need to worry about
getting us out of this mess right now, you just keep your head
down," Beau told her, and she nodded. He leaned over kissed her
hair.

Susan snorted then said sarcastically, "Get
a room will ya? We're kind of in trouble here...I could use some
help shooting out their tires if they get close enough." She popped
up above the seat and back down quickly, then told Beau, "They're
almost on us," then added loudly, "Cole, don't let them get beside
us."

"Yes, ma'am--I got this. You just take care
of them," he said and sliced off a little more of the centerline of
the roadway.

Beau pushed Jazzie off his lap and onto the
floorboard, then pushed her head to the seat. "Stay down," he told
her gruffly, then moaned when he twisted to get on his knees. He
took a sharp breath, then pulled his weapon and kneeled on the
seat, then popped up like Susan had, and then ducked back down. "We
don't have many bullets left, so we better make 'em count," he told
Susan.

"I've got another clip in my belt, but
that's it, how about you?" She asked somberly.

"I have four rounds left...my extra ammo is
in the van," he told her with embarrassment in his tone.

She sighed then said, "Cole hand Beau your
weapon..." and added sarcastically casting Beau a glance, "Did
you
bring extra ammo?"

"Sure did, I have
two
extra clips,"
Cole told her smugly, and laughed before he handed the weapon and
the extra ammo over the seat to Beau.

"Let's get this over with," Beau said
gruffly, evidently pissed that they were teasing him. He checked
the gun out thoroughly, and told Susan, "On three...one,
two...three," then popped up and fired at the van, aiming at the
right front tire. Jazzie put her hands over her ears, and cringed,
as they both fired again.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

When Beau crouched back down behind the
seat, Susan said with a derisive laugh, "You're rusty, man...you
need to get to the range more."

"I'll outshoot you any day lady, and I
didn't see your tire go flat either!" he growled, then popped back
up and fired at the radiator. It was a direct hit and the van
swerved, but Beau wasn't sure the bullet actually punctured the
radiator, because they were at the end of the range of their
pistols. They needed to be closer.

This abrasive woman was starting to get on
Beau's nerves. She was cocky, arrogant and had no concern for her
own safety. "You might want to get your head down!" he shouted when
she lingered above the seat back. "Cole, slow down, so they come
closer and we can get a good shot. Screw the tires, I'm going for
the driver..." Beau told Susan then sucked in a breath and exhaled
slowly, before he popped back up over the seat back and aimed at
the windshield.

"Slow down more, Cole!" Beau yelled and when
the van got close to their bumper, he squeezed off two shots into
the driver's side of the windshield. "Fuck, bulletproof glass!"
Beau yelled then ducked down behind the seat again.

"Figures," Susan said with a sigh, and Beau
held onto the seat as Cole accelerated again. "Tires it is," she
said.

"I'm going for the radiator again," Beau
told her belligerently. She wasn't calling the shots here, and he'd
about had enough of her.

"Good call on the windshield, man, we only
wasted four bullets, right? We have a whole arsenal in here,
right?" Susan chided him dryly.

"Fuck you, Susan...you shoot what you want,
and I'll do the same," Beau grated through clenched teeth.

"Alright children, play nice, don't make me
stop this car," Cole said with a chuckle, then leaned closer to the
rearview, before he slid further down in the seat, "If I'm not
mistaken, the guy riding shotgun, really does have one and is
hanging out the window, ya'll stay down!" Just as the last word
passed his lips, there was a loud boom and the front windshield of
the car exploded, and Cole swerved to one side, then the other and
finally got control again.

"Shit! We need help..." Cole shouted.

"No help to be found, this is off the
books...none of us can call for backup," Susan said morosely.
"We're just going to have to work it out."

"Well, we better work it out fast, we have
about a quarter tank of gas left," Cole informed them.

"If we can make it to the interstate, we can
at least have some cover...maybe they won't shoot at us in the
middle of traffic," she said.

"Not too far from there now, probably five
minutes," Cole estimated.

"If we could find somewhere to make a right
turn, I can probably take out the guy hanging out of the window,"
she said arrogantly.

You probably couldn't hit the broad side
of a barn
, Beau thought nastily. When this was over, he was
going to invite her to the range and give her an education.

"I'll keep my eyes peeled," Cole said.

A couple of minutes later, Cole shouted,
"Right turn!" then he turned the wheel and Jazzie rolled against
Beau's leg and jarred him right as both guns blasted.

"Fuck!" Beau shouted then looked down at her
with angry eyes.

Susan chuckled, and told him, "Nice try
rookie."

"Go to hell, Susan..." Beau said then turned
and sat down on the seat.

"Don't worry, I had your slack," she teased,
then added with a grin, "Right between the eyes--now that's how
it's done, Junior."

"Are they still behind us?" Beau asked, not
even bothering to look.

"No, I think they stopped to pick up the
roadkill," she said with a chuckle, then sat down too and added,
"He fell out the window...quite a dramatic exit."

"Well, I made the right turn, and now I have
no idea where we're headed. The interstate was straight down that
other road," Cole told them.

"I think I hear banjos playing the theme
from Deliverance," Susan said with a snort, when they'd gone a
little farther down the dark country road.

"I sure hope we haven't got out of the
fryin' pan and hopped into the fire," Cole said.

"We need to get off of this road, in case
they come after us again once they get that guy picked up," Susan
told them, then finished, "If we're lost anyway, might as well go
for broke. We don't have enough ammo left to fight them off if they
find us, and you're almost out of gas."

"You have a point," Cole told her and huffed
out a sigh. "Less than an eighth of a tank left."

"Well, I sincerely doubt we're gonna find a
gas station on this road. How about we find a hiding place, and
call Dave to come and get us?" Beau suggested gruffly.

"If we had cell service out here, that would
be a great plan," Susan said somberly looking at her phone.

Beau checked his phone and saw he only had
one bar of reception on his phone as well. "I have one bar...but
I'm about out of juice."

"Forgot to charge your phone,
and
forgot to bring ammo?" Susan chided sarcastically.

Jazzie, who'd been quietly sitting between
them, sat up straight then said angrily, "Susan, you need to lay
off of Beau--he's a freaking Texas Ranger for god's sake, and
damned good at his job! I'd trust him with my life any day of the
week!" then she added a little neck action to her tirade,
"
You
...on the other hand...are not a team player, and that
could get someone hurt."

She could say that again, Beau thought with
a snigger. Love for the tiny bundle of dynamite sitting beside him
rose up inside of Beau and threatened to choke him. Her defense of
him, both surprised and pleased him. His brain still couldn't wrap
itself around the fact that she told him she loved him earlier.

Those three little words scared the hell out
of him. Jenny had said them to him for the first time in his life,
and he had never been able to say them back to her, so after a
while she stopped saying them.

Although he felt them, and tried to show
her, it hadn't been enough in the end. It wasn't going to be enough
for Jazzie either, he knew. He was a fucked up mess where love was
concerned, because of his cold and uncaring mother, and his loving,
but emotionally stunted, father, and there wasn't a damned thing he
could do to change the way he was raised. That is why he'd never be
able to have a relationship.

Beau tucked those unwelcome thoughts away
until he had a clear head to take them out and examine them...until
they weren't in danger, and she didn't think he was dying. Jazzie's
declaration could have simply been from fear, so he wasn't putting
much stock in it, until they talked about it in the light of day,
without men shooting at them.

Beau saw Susan's head jerk back and surprise
filled her face. "Well, well, the kitten has claws after all..."
she commented, then finished, "He might be a Texas Ranger, but
coming into something like this unprepared can get someone killed
too, and I never claimed to be a team player. I never count on
anyone else to watch my back."

Anger surged up inside of Beau and heated
blood shot straight to his head. "I was not unprepared!" he
shouted. Susan just snorted and folded her arms under her breasts
then looked out the window. "No, I didn't bring an extra clip, but
who the hell do you think took out Glen Baker, while you were
walking like a sheep to slaughter to the van at that
warehouse?"

"I had a plan too..." she told him
defensively.

"Well I had a plan
and
took action,
so I guess I win on that front...we got out of there," Beau told
her smugly.

Jazzie growled then said loudly, "This is
not a competition! Ya'll need to act like adults and stop this
shit!"

"Let's go down this road and see where it
leads," Cole said calmly deflecting the conversation, then turned
left onto a narrow dirt road barely visible between two trees. The
headlights shown down the long rutted track, and the car bounced
violently over each rut. It was so dark with the tall trees on
either side, the blackness was almost complete, except for the path
of the light in front of them. Cole clicked on the high beams and
slowed down a little.

Carlos grunted from the passenger seat, then
moaned and said weakly holding his side, "You might want to go
back, I think you missed a hole or two."

Cole chuckled then said, "Sorry, man..."

"Just find somewhere we can park, and I can
get out of this torture machine for a little while...I've got glass
in places I'm afraid to move or I'll wind up singing soprano,"
Carlos told him.

"Me too, I'm glad most of it blew out onto
the hood," Cole agreed with a snort.

The road was longer than any of them
imagined, and they drove for about fifteen more minutes, and it
finally became smoother, then the trees parted and the headlights
hit on a wood cabin. It must be an old line shack or something,
Beau guessed, and it looked like it hadn't been used in a long
time.