On Deadly Ground (Dan & Chloe Book 2) (13 page)

She’s alive; she has to still be alive
.

Dan reached back and pulled the Glock from the back of his jeans, he raised his arm and fired a shot in to the sky.

The gunman spun and saw Dan charging towards him.

Half a mile...

Dan aimed forwards and let off two rounds, neither of which was in danger of hitting the gunman but Dan didn’t care, he just wanted the man’s attention.

The shooter raised his rifle (he was now aiming at Dan), and fired.

Over the sound of thundering hooves Dan heard the rifle spewing bullets. Dan grinned demonically, the shooter had no chance of hitting Dan or his horse, not yet, there was still too much ground between them.

Dan wiped at his eyes with the back of his gun hand and he blinked the sweat and tears away. He saw the gunman lowering his rifle and quickly ejecting the now empty magazine. Dan saw the man fumbling for another magazine and Dan leaned forwards in the saddle, once more lowering the resistance created by horse and rider.

‘Now Weiser, now!’

Weiser’s natural reserves of stamina kicked in pushing the horse beyond any pace set so far and the gallop went to a whole new level. Dan praised the horse’s ancestors and his own good fortune to own such a beast.

Dan watched the gunman, knowing that the man’s fear would soon kick in once he glanced up at the horse thundering towards him.

Dan fired off another round.

The gunman looked up at the sound of the gunshot and fumbled the magazine, his face turned white at the realisation of his current situation: that situation being that he was about to come face to face with one pissed off charging horse.

One hundred yards...

The gunman almost dropped the magazine but managed to hold on to it and he slammed the magazine in to the rifle and raised the weapon and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. The gunman quickly realised that he hadn’t pulled back the firing mechanism, by not pulling on the rod the weapon was useless. The gunman quickly lowered the rifle and pulled on the firing mechanism.

The gunman started to raise the weapon, readying to aim.

It was too late.

Weiser slammed in to the gunman, knocking the man backwards and to the ground. The gunman was swallowed beneath Weiser’s pounding hooves.

Dan brought Weiser in a sweeping circle, slowing the horse until he was able to leap from the saddle. Dan ran towards the fallen gunman, he looked down at the broken, bloody mess as he sprinted past. Dan rounded the body of the dead horse and he dropped to his knees next to Chloe.

                                                        *****

Dan knelt next to Chloe, there was so much blood that he feared she was dead.

Chloe’s eyes flickered open and she even managed a painful smile, a smile full of sadness and loss.

‘They were shooting the horses,’ Chloe croaked, her voice barely a whisper. ‘I couldn’t let them do that.’

Dan nodded his head, he pulled his shirt off and pressed it against the hole in Chloe’s stomach.

Chloe cried out.

‘I know Chloe, it’s painful and it’s going to hurt even more but you’re not going to die. You hear me you crazy bitch, you are NOT GOING TO DIE!’

Chloe coughed and again she cried out.

‘It hurts so much.’

‘I know, listen to me baby. I have to hurt you even more but I have to, okay?’

Chloe slowly raised her left arm and her hand brushed his thigh.

‘Okay, but you...won’t be getting any...blowjobs any...time soon.’

Dan laughed and he snorted back a load of snot and tears.

‘Okay, are you ready?’

‘No.’ Chloe managed a brief nod and Dan rolled her slightly so that he could feel beneath her back.

‘Thank god, there’s no exit wound.’

After her scream of pain had subsided Chloe said, ‘I’m totally fucked.’

‘No, you’re gut shot, they’re painful as fuck but it takes a long time to die.’

Dan didn’t know if this was true but he didn’t know what else to tell his wife.

Dan wiped his shirt across her stomach and he waited to see how fast the blood spilled from her, a second later and blood began to bubble forth. He didn’t think any major arteries had been hit.

But again what the fuck do I know
!

Dan wadded the shirt and pressed it to the wound.

Chloe cursed loudly.

Dan took her hands and pressed them to the blood soaked shirt. He lowered his face to hers and looked her straight in the eyes, eyes that were no longer a vivid blue. Dan could see that she was struggling to hold on to consciousness and the colour of her skin, once so healthy and tanned, was now waxy and pallid.

‘Listen up, you’re going to keep your hands pressed to that wound. Through all the pain you’re gonna keep the pressure there.’

Dan wiped at his face spreading tears and blood across his cheeks.

‘Keep your eyes open, no matter how hard it gets, DO NOT close them, don’t even think about just resting them, do you understand me Chloe?’

‘Yes,’ Chloe said softly.

Dan slapped her face, as hard as he could. Chloe’s eyes cleared a little and he saw her anger and fight coming up from the depths of her reserves.

‘I’m ordering you to keep your fucking eyes open. Ordering goddamnit. Do you fucking understand me?’

‘Yes,’ Chloe said and this time there was more life in her voice.

‘Right, I have to leave you for a few minutes. I’m gonna get the four by four. We can’t wait for an ambulance to get out here. I’ll be back in five minutes, count the seconds off.’

‘Tell me you love me.’

Dan shook his head, ‘I will, when I come back, just fucking stay with me.’

‘You bastard,’ Chloe said with a smile. ‘One...two...three.’

Dan was on his feet and moving fast.

Dan swung himself up in to the saddle and kicked Weiser in to a run. Dan could see just how laboured the horse was, thick foam spilling from the horse’s mouth and the horse was bathed in sweat.

Weiser made it to the fence and Dan climbed down, he quickly unfastened the saddle and yanked it from Weiser’s back, he unclipped the bridle and left Weiser to shake it free.

Dan clambered over the fence and ran for the stables where he knew he had a spare set of keys.

Dan had the keys and swung the Volvo’s door open and climbed in behind the wheel. He turned his head and saw Weiser standing at the trough slaking his thirst and Dan nodded his head. He slammed the door, turned the ignition key and put the Volvo in to gear.

Dan turned the 4x4 in a tight circle and he pressed down on the accelerator and drove straight for the fence. He crashed through the fence and accelerated hard in to the paddock.

                                                        *****

‘Two hundred and one twenty,’ Chloe said in a confused croak as Dan lifted her in to the passenger seat of the Volvo. He reclined the seat as much as possible and secured her seatbelt and slammed the door.

The Volvo bounced across the paddock and Dan pressed hard on the accelerator as he saw another fence coming up. The sturdy vehicle smashed through the fence and bounced up on to the highway.

Dan straightened the wheel and pressed his foot to the pedal and the Volvo surged forward. Dan kept the accelerator pressed to the floor and raced for Rockspur.

                                                        *****

PART TWO.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

Time held no meaning. Dan
had lost all track of it and he wouldn’t be able, if asked, to say what time of the day it was, or even for that matter what day it actually was.

From the moment he had slammed through the emergency centre’s front doors time had become his enemy. Every minute that ticked by was another sixty seconds of time that Chloe had lost.

Later he would think about how he must have looked charging in to the main reception area. Drenched in blood, carrying a young lady also drowning in a tide of red, he must have made for one Hell of a sight.

Dan had to admit that despite the scene that greeted them the medical staff had quickly come to his aid, any concerns they may have had about him were pushed to the side as their training and professionalism kicked in.

Chloe’s scantily clad frame was taken from his arms and doctors and nurses had quickly gone to work on saving her.

Dan was lucky that the medical facility was the region’s largest and later he would thank the gods that Rockspur attracted so many tourists, because of them the facility was needed.

A doctor had come to see him and had asked a lot of pertinent questions. Questions relating to Chloe’s medical history and Dan had provided clear, concise details.

At some stage late in the night a nurse had brought him a coffee where it would remain untouched by Dan.

The Sheriff had arrived an hour after Dan had first burst through the doors and he had a load of questions for Dan. Dan had shaken his head and told the Sheriff that he would answer any questions once he knew that Chloe would recover.

‘Unless you want to go ahead and arrest me,’ Dan had said. One look at Dan’s eyes and the Sheriff knew that that wasn’t going to happen, not unless the Sheriff wanted a shitload more blood on his hands.

The Sheriff had settled on leaving a deputy in the waiting area, he gave the deputy instructions to call him the minute Chloe was
out of the woods
.

Barnie and Harry had arrived just before midnight, word having spread through the small community about what had happened. Dan had explained that he wasn’t in the best frame of mind for company but the two men had remained with him. They stayed throughout the night, both were silent and Dan was thankful that neither man had tried to talk to him.

The rage boiling through him only needed a nudge in the wrong direction and Dan had no idea what would happen then.

The hours ticked by. Just when Dan had decided to go and find someone to tell him what the hell was going on, doors were pushed open and the doctor that had come to see him earlier came out. He held a clipboard and was smiling and Dan felt relief flood through his exhausted body.

Dan got to his feet and waited for the doctor to speak.

‘Well Mister Constantine, that’s one tough little lady you have in there.’

Dan felt tears spilling down his bloodied and dirtied face. Harry and Barnie slapped him on the back and Dan noticed that his two friends were also crying at the good news.

‘She lost a lot of blood and there was some internal bleeding that caused a few moments of concern but in the end we were able to cope.’

The doctor, who Dan now realised couldn’t have been much older than Chloe, flicked through the notes attached to the clipboard.

‘No organ damage, the bullet has been removed. Both mother and child are doing well, we have her in recovery. Of course the next forty eight hours are the danger hours, there is always the chance of relapse or infection but we seriously doubt it. She should make a full recovery with no permanent damage.’

‘Thanks doc, can I see her?’

‘Of course, the recovery team is getting her comfortable and then I’ll come and fetch you.’

‘Thank you doctor,’ Dan held his hand out and the doctor shook it. Dan noticed the dried blood on his hand and he apologised.

‘No problem Mister Constantine, I’ll come and get you soon.’

The doctor started back to the door he had come through and then it hit Dan. Something the young man had said, in amongst everything else, Dan hadn’t really taken it in, but now it hit him.

‘Wait!’ Dan shouted and the doctor turned around and offered up a smile.

‘Yes?’

‘Wait, you said mother and child?’

The doctor nodded his head and flicked through his notes and once again nodded his head.

‘Yes, you didn’t know?’

‘Know what?’ Dan was reeling at the news, his brain fighting to over-rule his relief at Chloe being okay.

‘Your wife is with child, about six weeks I’d say.’

Dan rocked back on his feet.

‘You’re sure?’

The doctor laughed, ‘I know how to diagnose a pregnancy Mister Constantine.’

Dan began to laugh and cry. He felt Harry embrace him and then Barnie added to the hug and both men congratulated him. Dan managed to untangle himself and the doctor waited for Dan to speak.

‘And the baby is okay?’

‘Doing well, strong just like its mother. As I said, she’s one tough lady. I have to go Mister Constantine but I’ll be back for you when you can visit with your wife.’