Diamond in the Rough (Precious Gems) (18 page)

“Look, I know that this is stress full but you have to work with me.?

             
With that, Brian walked into the house.

             
Danger registered in Cheyenne’s body.  Something was not right, he should not have been able to walk in the house, she had locked it when she left.  The hairs on her neck prickled and her stomach suddenly had butterflies.  The gate had been her first overlooked clue but they had been too busy arguing with each other for either one of them to take notice of the disabled gate.   Cheyenne began back peddling out of instinct and suddenly a firm hand grasped her around her neck as a gun barrel was placed against her temple. 

“Get in the house,” a
gravelly voice demanded in her ear.  Stunned, she began taking small tentative steps toward the door.  Her captor shoved her hard from behind, signaling her to pick up the pace.  Not wanting to take a chance with her baby, Cheyenne complied with the unspoken demand. 

Where is Brian?  He should have noticed I have not come in yet.  I have to get his attention before this man shoves me into the house.

             Without thinking it through Cheyenne yelled out for Brian.  She felt a sharp, cracking pain in the back of her head and then nothing. 

Chapter Eighteen

Cheyenne was only out for what seemed like a moment, but when she opened her eyes, many things had changed.  She was tied to a dining room chair and right next to her was Brian, also tied but blindfolded as well.  Cheyenne began panicking, straining against her ropes that bound her helpless body.  Her head hurt and she could not feel her fingers.  Her ropes were too tight.  “Cheyenne, are you okay?” Brian’s concern was evident. 

“My head hurts and the ropes are really tight.  I’m scared Brian.”

“Cheyenne, I am so sorry.  If I had not been mad at you, this would not have happened.  Don’t be scared, I am going to get you out of this.” Brian assured her with compassion.

What about getting his
self out of this?  Was that a slip of the tongue or would he give his life to save mine? Oh, I’m so scared, God please help me.

From the next room, Cheyenne could hear their captures talking.  “We have them at the ranch…their tied up and the cop is blindfolded.  What next?” 

A shiver passed through her body and she knew that she needed to find a way out of this but she could not think clearly with her head pounding.

Cheyenne began working
her wrist in an attempt to loosen the ropes that were binding her wrists. 
Oh this hurts so bad…
The bonds were not loosening. 

“Cheyenne move your wrists around.” Brian whispered.

“I am already doing it, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up.  They are really cutting into me.”

The masked men walked into the room as Cheyenne was squirming in her seat.  She was sure that
they had caught her, but as they walked by, neither said anything to her.  They both went straight for Brian.  They struggled, but finally managed to pick his chair up and move him away from her.  Brian struggled and called out, “Do either of you know who I am?  This is prison time for both of you.” He threatened. 

“We know who you are and the
only way we will get caught is if you live through this.  We can assure you that you won’t.  Now shut up or we will gag you.”

Cheyenne tried to recognize either man’s voice.  She decided that she had never heard them before.  She was afraid to make eye contact with them, so as they walked from the room, she concentrated on the ground.  “Brian.” She whispered loudly.  “Brian!” 

No answer.  Cheyenne struggled against her bonds again and felt them giving way.  She could hear the men on the front porch and knew that she had a small window of time to save them.  Shaking the rope off of her hands, she quickly bent and removed the ropes on her ankles.  Quietly, she moved from her chair and reached for Brian.  “I have freed myself and will have your ropes off in a moment.”

She made quick work of the ropes and he removed the blindfold from his eyes.  He squinted as he adjusted to the bright light from the window.  Brian removed a pistol from his boot and protectively pushed Cheyenne behind him with his other arm. 

“Stay behind me until I tell you to run.” He instructed as he quickly kissed her on the lips.  “Cheyenne, in case I don’t get the chance later….”  Brian’s voice trailed off as he saw the front door open.  In walked Ed Crowley.  Close behind was Jason. 

“I thought you said you had them tied up.” Ed screamed as he motioned toward the empty chairs. 

“Boss, we did have them tied.” Ed’s goons exclaimed.

“Find them now.” Ed demanded. 

Jason walked in and surveyed the situation.  “You should have let me handle this my way Dad.”

Cheyenne could not believe what she had just heard.  Looking over at Brian, she knew that he was as surprised as she was. 

Dad? Ed is Jason’s father? Can this get any crazier? 
 

Hiding behind the china hutch again brought back bad memories of Maria’s tirade. 
The memories were fuzzy but unpleasant to relive.  Cheyenne felt Brian’s arm tense and knew that he was about to come unhinged.  Suddenly, he sprang from the hiding place in a hail of bullets.  The group was caught off guard and one of the kidnappers fell instantly, but the other, along with Ed and Jason ducked behind the door. 

Cheyenne had never seen a dead body before and she was sure that the sight would not be easy to forget.  As she moved to step over the body, she was yanked backward.  The feeling was familiar and she knew instantly that Jason had her.   She was hauled
forcibly against him and then thrown to the ground.  Cheyenne protectively wrapped her arms around her mid section. 

In the confusion she had not realized that Brian was not in the living room until Ed marched him back in at gun point. 

“Now that I have your attention, maybe we can get something accomplished.” Ed said.

              “Why are you doing this?” Cheyenne demanded.  “It is not for you to ask why my dear.  This is just simply the way things are going to be.  After I have disposed of the two of you, I can go about my life like none of this ever happened.  It really is unfortunate though, if Jason had not became greedy, your father would still be alive,” he said as he scowled at Jason.  Cheyenne refused to believe that anything could have changed the course that Ed, Jason and Maria had been on.  They were all pure evil.  Ed leveled his gun on Cheyenne.  “You are going to be first, my dear.”  Jason came from behind Cheyenne and grabbed her by the hair.  As he lifted her, it felt as if each strand would be pulled out one at a time.  She wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach.  Knowing that she would have to expose her secret to save their lives did not make it any easier to do.  Taking a deep breath Cheyenne pleaded,

“
Mr. Crowley please do not hurt me.  I am pregnant.”  Brian’s eyes widened as she spoke. 

“
You’re what?” Brian exclaimed. 

Cheyenne knew that it was a shock to him but the intended t
arget just laughed and replied, “That is of no consequence to me young lady.”

“Before you kill me, please tell me why you have done all of this.  Why have you hidden the fact that Jason is your son?”

“I have done all of this for love.  You see, I came to town many years ago.  Jason was only ten at the time and lived with his mother.  When he turned seventeen he came to live with me.  I had fallen in love with Maria and she did not know about him.  She was a wonderful lady but she did not like kids.  Maria wanted to marry your father for financial security and I wanted her to marry me; we were at an impasse.  In the meantime, Jason had begun working on one of Charles’s rigs.  Charles liked Jason very much and brought him into the office to work.  No one ever found out that he was my son, so no one suspected anything when we began insider trading.  We all appeared to be unconnected.  Hiding the fact that Jason is my son helped us to cover up what we were doing.  I will say that Jason and I had no idea that Maria was going to kill Charles.  That was a total surprise, but at the same time, we have kept our secrets from her as well.  There is only one thing that I regret.  Killing your mother was a mistake.  I had no idea that Maria planned on marrying your father as a result of your mother’s death.  If I had known that, I would have never carried out Maria’s plan.” 

“That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard.  You are the most self centered person I have ever met in my life. 
You regret killing my mother because you felt used?  You make me sick!”  Cheyenne screamed. 

“Young lady, in life things do not always go our way.  You have been through some hard times but you should be thanking me.  From what I learned, your mother was a no good con artist who had no business having children and your father was too clueless to understand.  He should have never left you in your mother’s care.  I was quite surprised that you turned out so well considering the role model you had.”

Cheyenne moved forward at lightning speed, taking Jason by surprise.  She almost reached Ed, when Jason regained his composure and hauled her backwards with such force that she bounced off of his body.

“You disgust me Ed Crowley and you should be ashamed of yourself.  Maria was right about one thing.  She knew that your son was trouble but was obviously too stupid to realize that you are too.  It has been funny watching you all tear each other apart.  Maria killed my father and tried to set your son up to take the fall.  You are caught in the middle not knowing which side
is going to frame you and your precious son is out for himself.  All of you deserve each other.”

Ed studied Cheyenne intently.  “I may have misjudged you, young lady.  You have more fire and grit than your mom and dad combined.  It is such a waste to kill you but it is necessary.”

While he was distracted with Cheyenne, Brian lowered his shoulder and pushed him, knocking him off his balance.  Every muscle in his body tensed as he pulled his right arm back and smashed it into Ed’s face.  While on top of him, he pressed his knee into the attorney’s neck with all of his might.  Ed was turning red in the face as he struggled to ask his son for help.  Jason released Cheyenne and lunged for Brian.  Just as he was about to reach him, a sharp bang echoed through large living room.  Everyone froze for a moment.  Everyone that is, except Cheyenne.  She held the pistol that Jason had left behind, trained on Ed as she ordered him to let Brian go.  Jason lay on the floor bleeding.  Cheyenne had shot Jason in the back and he had fallen immediately. Ed released Brian long enough to reach for his pistol that had landed on the marble floor.  Taking deliberate aim, Cheyenne fired the pistol one last time.  Ed Crowley fell to the ground on top of the gun he had so desperately tried to get.  As the shot rang out she was stunned it had been so easy to kill two people who were trying to harm the father of her child.  She felt no remorse for the killing and knew that she would have done it again if she had to.  Cheyenne stood there, holding the gun by her side as Brian reached her.  He did not say a word as he took the gun from her dangling hand.

“
How long have you known?” 

“About a week,” Cheyenne admitted, as she looked at the ground.  “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, but I did not want you to feel trapped.”  So many emotions were coursing through her body that she did not know what to do next
.  He said nothing more.  She was waiting for the big blowup but it never came.  Brian radioed for backup and the coroner.  Soon they would be arriving and Cheyenne would have to recount the ugly ordeal.  He walked to her and put his hand on her shoulder.  “Don’t worry, it is all going to be ok,” he said through gritted teeth. 

Cheye
nne could tell that even at his maddest, Brian was still concerned about her feelings.  It broke her heart to have shut him out the way that she had, but in the end, she knew that she had done it for the right reasons.   Brian made it look so easy to walk away from her and she could not get over that.  She wanted someone in her life that would be by her side no matter what happened.  Cheyenne could allow him a few slip ups here and there but she could not over look a blatant disregard for her feelings, especially now that a baby was in the picture.

But, she could not deny that she loved him desperately.  She had just taken two men’s lives to save him and their baby.  Cheyenne knew that they would have to talk about the situation but she was not looking forward to the confrontation.  Any man would be furious to learn that his child had been hid from him, but Brian was so passionate, she knew that his reaction would be over the top.

Chapter Nineteen

After the coroner
removed the bodies and the statements were taken, Cheyenne was ready for everyone to leave.  Brian helped her to a nearby chair while he spoke with the chief.  The adrenalin was still coursing through her veins and she wanted to put it to good use. As the chief walked past her on the way to his car, he smiled.  It was a reassuring and knowing smile as though he knew that things would not end so easily.  The mental fallout from killing two men would stay with her for the rest of her life.