Cowboy Protector (12 page)

Please, Lord, let this all be a mistake. No hit men. No women murdered. No one who has mistaken me for this Eloise Hill.

As they got closer to the water, she saw her chance to make a break for it. If they kept going, they would be at the lakeshore, and she could get away without them knowing. Heartbeat thundering in her ears, she darted from one tree to the other, trying to hide as much as possible.

She peeked around the large trunk. The muscular man separated from the thin one, making his way deeper into the forest instead of toward the lake. She had to get help.

Backing away, she pulled out her cell to call 911. When she stepped on a limb, it snapped in two, the sound reverberating through the trees. She looked down, then jerked her head up. The heavier-built intruder pivoted, and fifty yards away, his gaze fastened onto her.

She whirled around and started running as fast as she could, her hand still gripping her cell but not daring to take the time to make a call. Help wouldn’t come in time. She had to do something. Now.

Zigzagging through the woods, her back tense in anticipation of being hit with a bullet, she frantically searched the terrain for an escape, a place to hide. Anything.

Lord, I need help!

The thrashing sound of the big man behind her spurred her faster. Pain seared her lungs. Her legs burned. Her side felt like a knife kept stabbing it.

Suddenly she plunged forward, her body impacting with the hard ground. Her cell flew from her grasp.

A
ustin guided his gelding into the woods on a familiar trail that led to the lake nestled at the base of a mountain. There was a chance he and Hannah would miss each other if she went a different way. He constantly scanned the terrain to keep an eye out for her red jacket. He couldn’t wait to see her. Hold her. Kiss her. He’d missed her today while in Missoula.

A sound to his right alerted him to movement. Hannah? An elk? Something else? A large man was running. He stopped and lifted his hand—holding a gun. Not a rifle.

Austin turned his horse toward the intruder and peered at the area he was aiming. Something was on the ground. A wounded animal? Hannah!

The air rushed from Hannah’s lungs from the collision with the forest floor. Cell? Where was it? Panic spiked her heartbeat rate. A sharp stone cut into her palm.

Through the pounding in her head, she heard the pounding of approaching steps. No time to look for her cell. Run!

She shoved to her feet, starting forward before she’d fully straightened. Slightly in front of her something struck the tree trunk and wood sprayed outward. A piece sliced
across her cheek. Without thinking she lunged behind the pine.

Can’t outrun a bullet.

Help, Lord!

Austin pulled his rifle from the scabbard, lifted it and sighted the assailant stalking Hannah. With a calmness he hadn’t thought possible, he squeezed off the shot. Then another—both meant to wound, not kill. The man went down, the gun flying from his hand.

Urging his horse forward, he rushed toward the fallen target, sweeping the area for anyone else. “Hannah, stay where you are.”

Still clutching the rifle, Austin leaped from his gelding and hovered over the man, his weapon pointed at the attacker. Blood oozed from his left shoulder and the fleshy part of his thigh. Pain carved into his features, he groaned while feeling around him for his lost gun with his good hand.

“Who are you?” Austin seethed, his gut churning.

The man fixed his hard gaze on Austin, giving up his search for his Glock. But he didn’t say a word.

“Hannah, are you all right?” Austin shouted, deciding the sheriff could sort this all out.

“Yeah.”

Her voice came from behind him only a few feet away from him. “What part of stay where you are is unclear?”

“Austin, I’ve got his gun. There’s another man with this one.” Hannah stood behind Austin. “He has a rifle. We need to get out of here.”

“You won’t get away, Eloise,” the man on the ground uttered, a laugh escaping him.

Its sound chilled Austin.
Who’s Eloise? Hannah?
What’s going on?
Question after question demanded answers but there was no time.

Austin positioned his body between Hannah and her assailant. “Untie the mare’s reins from my saddle and get on her.” As Hannah grasped the reins, Austin backed away from the shooter, his rifle still pointed at the man’s chest.

“I can’t ride her.” Her voice shook as her body did.

He wanted so badly to hold her, calm her fears, but instead he said, “Grip the reins. Hold on to anything but stay on her.”

His rifle cradled against him but still aimed at Hannah’s attacker, Austin lunged toward her, patting his thigh. “Use this to get on her.”

She started to hike up her leg when a crack frightened the mare. The horse pranced, backing away, eyes wide. Hannah immediately let go of the reins she still held.

Austin dove toward Hannah at the same time another rifle shot thundered through the forest. He rolled them down an incline that would partially protect them from the new threat coming from the direction of the lake.

He fumbled for his cell in his jean pocket and handed it to Hannah. “Call 911.”

As she reported what was happening, he kept a vigilance on the woods, trying to see where the man was holed up. Depending on how good a shot he was, he could be hundreds of yards away. He zeroed in on his cohort trying to crawl away, his blood staining the earth.

“You might tell your partner the sheriff is on his way.”

“You’ll be dead before he arrives.” The large man spoke in a hoarse whisper as he gave up moving and sank to the ground, moaning.

“I’m not this Eloise Hill you’re looking for.” Then louder Hannah repeated that sentence as though she hoped that would stop the other assailant.

He needed to find where the man was located. Austin stuck his head up a few inches farther and a bullet whizzed by, nicking his scalp.

“Let my foreman know what’s happening. We need help. Tell him the man is just in the forest by Crescent Point.” Austin gave her the number.

“You’re bleeding.” Her voice quavered.

“It’s nothing. At least now I know where he is. Max can get here in fifteen minutes. He was an Army Ranger. He’ll know what to do.” Because the man was right. They could be dead before the sheriff arrived.

The sight of Austin’s blood flowing from his head threatened Hannah’s composure more than the man had chasing her. She’d never wanted this. And the thing was these men here had nothing to do with Devon Madison. Eloise Hill? Who was she? What was going on? She’d never had the time to search the Internet for Eloise Hill. Why hadn’t she done that first? Because after not discovering much on the two women’s murders, she hadn’t thought there was anything to Violet’s theory.

“Max said he’d call when he took care of the man by the lake.” The assurance in his foreman’s voice didn’t calm her. She quaked so badly she finally thrust the gun she’d picked up from the ground at Austin. “I’m afraid I’d shoot myself. I don’t like guns.”

He laid it in front of him on the ground, using a tree and the ditch to protect himself enough to keep watch on any movement. “Just stay down no matter what happens while we play this waiting game. Do you know who this Eloise Hill is?”

“I don’t know who she is.”

The minutes ticked excruciatingly slow. She tried to inhale deep breaths to calm her rapid heartbeat, but all she
did was gulp in shallow ones. Watching the second hand go around and around on her watch only frazzled her nerves even more. She tore her gaze from it.

Then a thought intruded. What if the goon with the rifle made a wide circle to come up behind them? Flipping onto her back, she searched the woods behind them, not sure what she would do if she saw him creep closer. But at least she knew what he was wearing and could possibly see something.

The ring of Austin’s cell jolted her. She flipped it open, her hands trembling so much she almost dropped it. “Yes?”

“This is Max. Tell Austin the man was here, but he’s gone now. We found some spent cartridges at the scene. His footprints are heading away from the woods along the shoreline. Several of us are tracking them. A few more are making their way toward you, combing the area as they go.”

“Thanks.” Hannah ended the call and peered toward Austin. “The man’s gone. At least that’s what Max thinks. They’re checking it out while others are coming this way.”

“I see Rodney.” Austin cautiously stood, shielding part of himself with the tree and shouted, “We’re over here.”

Five men, all carrying guns, converged on them. Hannah stayed on the ground in the ditch as two of the hired hands hauled the assailant up while one retrieved Austin’s gelding about a hundred feet away. They slung the would-be killer over the saddle, none too gently.

Hannah turned away and kept her gaze trained on the forest behind them. Just in case, she told herself, but really she didn’t want to look at Austin at the moment, not with blood matting his hair, trickling down his neck. It only emphasized what could have happened earlier if the bullet had been an inch to the right.

“Hannah, are you ready to go?” Austin said slightly behind her and to the side. “One of the men found the mare. We can ride together back to the ranch. I found your cell.”

She clasped her knees to her chest. No matter how much she hugged herself she couldn’t stop the fear tumbling through her. Her whole body shook so badly she didn’t think she could stand. She could have lost Austin today. Misty could have been without a father and mother. She couldn’t get that out of her mind.

“Hannah? Are you okay?” Austin knelt in front of her.

Her gaze riveted to the bullet graze on the side of his head, the red mocking her with the type of life she had been forced to live. She couldn’t take her eyes off the sight.

He grasped her upper arm and, with his finger on her jaw, swiveled her attention toward his face. He smiled. “The cavalry arrived in time. We’re safe. We can go home now.”

The soothing cadence of his voice tempted her with the idea she was truly safe. But she knew the truth. She would never be safe, and now she knew he would never be safe with her near. That one day in her life five years ago had changed it forever. If only she hadn’t been…

“Hannah, you’re worrying me. Talk to me.”

His fervent tone drew her back to the here and now. She blinked, focusing on his endearing face, the smile that warmed her cold, cold body. “I’m okay,” she said slowly, trying desperately to believe those two words.

“Let’s go home. The temperature is dropping fast.”

“Yes, home,” she whispered, wishing she had one.

Austin shrugged out of his overcoat and slipped it around her shoulders. “I’m gonna help you up and onto the horse. Okay?”

She nodded.

His arms about her made her want so much more in her life. His support as they walked toward the mare, cocooned for the time being in a shelter of protectiveness she knew wouldn’t last long. She leaned into him, drawing on the solace of his strength.

He mounted the mare, then reached a hand down to her while Rodney formed a step by interlocking his fingers together.

“Boss, we’ll take this one back for you.” Rodney tossed his head toward the assailant strapped to the gelding’s saddle. “Max called to say that they tracked the footprints back to a place along the highway where it looks like a pickup was parked.”

“I think it was a black, Ford-150 truck, new, clean. I saw it earlier.”

Like the one in town last night
. She hadn’t overreacted for once.

“I’ll call that in to the sheriff so they can be on the lookout for one,” Rodney said as he walked toward the gelding.

Austin gripped the reins. The muscles in his arms that touched her bunched. “I’d like to get my hands on that guy.”

“If he’s smart, he’s long gone.” Rodney led Austin’s gelding away.

Austin directed the mare toward the edge of the forest, near where she’d come into it hours before. An eternity. He didn’t say a word on the long ride back to the main house. But he held the reins in one hand and clasped her to him with his other arm. Exhausted, she laid her head back against the cushion of his shoulder. His warm breath fanned her neck. The gentle rocking of the gait lulled her into a trance she welcomed.

The sight of the house, the sheriff’s car parked next to it, aroused Hannah from her daze. She didn’t look forward to being involved with a law enforcement agency yet again in the area. She didn’t want some inquisitive sheriff delving deeper into her life. She had caused havoc not once but twice in a short amount of time in his county.

Thank You, Lord, for Your help. I would have died back there if it wasn’t for You. Austin would have, too. Now I have another request. Help me make it through the interview that is surely going to follow
. The fact she was so automatically praying again was a marvel to her and gave her some peace.

Dusk cloaked the landscape as Austin dismounted and held his arms out to help her down. She practically fell into his embrace. He gave a hired hand the reins of his mare, and then without a word, led her up the steps to the deck. Caroline threw open the front door, her mouth etched in a frown, worry in her eyes.

“Gil told me what happened,” Austin’s grandmother said, placing a hand on her arm. “Come in. I’ve got a fire going. You two must be cold.”

“Is the sheriff in the living room?” Austin entered his house holding Hannah against him as if he were afraid to let her go.

Caroline nodded. “I’ll get something for you two to drink and keep Misty away.”

“Does she know anything?” Austin asked.

“No. I made sure of that. You might go see her when things calm down.” His grandmother shifted her attention from Austin to Hannah. “You, too. She’s been wondering where you are. She wants to show you her arm and what she has on her leg now.”

Hannah wanted to postpone the interview with the
sheriff for as long as possible. Maybe then she could have made some sense out of what happened and have something to tell the man. “Let me go talk to her for a minute.” Hannah slipped from Austin’s embrace and almost crumpled to the floor if she hadn’t clutched the table nearby.

Austin wound his arm around her again. “We’ll go together.”

She didn’t argue with him, but when they drew close to the child’s bedroom, she halted. “If I go in with you supporting me, she’s going to know something happened. And one look at your wounded head will alert her something is wrong.”

He stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. “I’d say we both better do something about how we look.”

“Listen, I can make it.” She straightened her shoulders, pressed her lips together and lifted her chin a notch. “I’ll change and go see her. You talk with the sheriff. I’ll be in there by the time you finish. Then you can clean up and see Misty.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.” Because she had to be. She didn’t want to alarm Misty, and she needed time to compose herself before talking to the sheriff. And at the moment Austin’s nearness complicated things.

As he saw her to her own bedroom door, she stiffened her resolve. She’d lived with fear for five years. This was really no different. Falling apart didn’t accomplish anything. By the time he left her, she knew what she needed to do. Slowly she undressed, her movements jerky. After she donned another pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, she examined herself in the mirror in the bathroom and saw the haunting linger of terror in her eyes.

Somehow she had to camouflage that from a perceptive little girl. Concentrating on the positive—she and Austin were alive—she washed her hands and face, cleansing the cut on her palm and cheek with some peroxide. She could keep her hand hidden, but she would have to come up with something to explain the scrape on her face.