Power of the Raven (23 page)

Crouching low and out of sight, Gene watched the van continue on for about fifty yards, then come to a full stop. Steve yanked Lori out the driver’s side and pulled her into the shadows.

Lori yelled something and ran into the alley, but Steve pulled her back while she appeared to struggle.

Although they were doing a great acting job, Gene couldn’t see the green pickup anywhere. Trying to mask out their phony argument, Gene listened for the sound of an approaching vehicle.

Finally losing patience, he slipped out from cover and made his way to the end of the alley for a quick look around. The Ford pickup was parked across the street and the driver appeared to be watching the action through binoculars, his own face hidden.

As the pickup’s driver swung the binoculars in Gene’s direction, Gene ducked back instantly, then moved back down the alley, out of view. All he could do now was hope he hadn’t been spotted.

Several heart-stopping minutes passed before Gene heard a vehicle roaring up the alley. The pigeons all took flight, wings fluttering in panic mode.

Gene looked around the corner of the Dumpster and realized that the pickup was racing straight toward him. He’d be crushed between the trash bin and the wall.

“No!” Lori’s scream pierced the air.

As he turned his head, he saw her run straight at the pickup and, at the last second, hurl a rock directly at its windshield.

The rock bounced off the glass and the pickup swerved, catching the big trash bin with its fender instead of head-on. The force of impact slammed the heavy metal container into Gene, hurling him back. He bounced off the brick wall and fell onto the pavement.

For a second, Gene’s vision grayed, but anger gave him the energy he needed and he managed to get back on his feet. Lori was nowhere to be seen, but the pickup was just ahead. The driver placed the truck into Reverse, did a one-eighty and raced out of the alley.

His body ached, but the only thing on his mind was Lori. As he took some shaky steps forward, he saw her sprawled on the ground, facedown, completely still. His body turned cold, and as he ran to her side he felt nothing except a bone-deep terror.

He was only a few feet away when he saw her move. Relief exploded through him. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t speak. He crouched down and checked her over gently. To his surprise, there wasn’t a mark on her. She rolled over onto her back and looked up at him, terror in her eyes.

“I hugged the ground and stayed as flat as I could,” she said, trying not to cry but failing.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice unsteady.

“No, I’m okay,” she said, sitting up.

With a groan, he drew her against him and held her tightly.

“You’re crushing me,” she gasped.

He eased his hold instantly. “You make me crazy,” he growled. “You should have stayed back. I would have figured something out.” Yet, even as he spoke, he knew that he would have probably been dead by now if she hadn’t distracted the driver.

“You were pinned in with no place to go! What did you expect me to do?” she asked, nuzzling into him.

He sucked in a jagged breath as pain shot through him.

She pulled away. “
You’re
hurt!”

“And Sue is as good as dead now,” Steve said as he approached. “Now they know you guys are involved, and there’s nothing else I can do.”

Before Gene could answer, Daniel pulled into the alley and came to a stop with a screech of brakes. “Paul’s circling, trying to locate the pickup,” he shouted, climbing out of the van. “You okay, bro?”

“I’m fine,” Gene said quickly. “My shoulder took a hit, but it’s not dislocated.”

“I couldn’t get over in time to block the pickup before it got away. Unless Paul gets lucky, we’re going to need a new plan,” Daniel said, his eyes still on Gene. “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the E.R.?”

“I’m fine.”

“Maybe
you
are, but we blew it, and now Sue’s going to pay,” Steve said in a curiously flat voice.

Gene glanced at the man and could have sworn that Steve had aged ten years in the last ten minutes. “You’re forgetting one thing, Steve, and you need to hang on to this. Sue’s valuable to them because she’s a means to an end. What they want is the information they forced you to get. These guys are probably the ones responsible for the rash of identity thefts in our area. So hang tough, because I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of them.”

“He’s right,” Dan said. “From the response they saw here today, they also know that the cops aren’t involved yet. You’ve kept that part of the deal, so in their minds they still have a chance to get what they’re after.”

“Maybe so,” Steve said, his weary voice betraying the tug-of-war between hope and fear that was going on inside him. “So what do we do now?”

“We wait for them to contact you again,” Daniel said. “I’ll ride with you back to your house.” Daniel looked at Lori. “Take my truck and drive my brother to an E.R. so he can have his shoulder looked at. Just don’t say what really happened, or the doctor will want to call the cops.” He tossed Lori his keys. “The kidnappers will keep their eye on Steve because he’s their main asset. I’ll link up with Paul and have him tail us back to Steve’s house.”

As soon as Steve and Daniel got under way, Lori hurried with Gene back to the pickup.

“I’ll get you to the E.R. as quickly as I can,” she said.

“Not necessary,” he said. “I’ve had broken bones and dislocated my shoulder before. The pain isn’t at the same level now. Sure, I took a hit, but the worst of it is that I’ll have a rough time lifting bales for the next few weeks. Forget about it and let’s get going.”

“Where? To Steve’s?”

“No, that’s exactly where we shouldn’t go. We want the kidnappers to ease up, and a crowd at Steve’s place is going to do the exact opposite.” He paused, thinking it over. “Head over to Preston’s.”

She placed Daniel’s truck in gear. As she drove, she kept shooting Gene quick, worried glances.

“Trust me, I’m fine,” he said.

“I still say that Daniel’s right. You should have that looked at.”

“I’ll tell you what. You can look me over once we’re at Preston’s.”

She smiled, the words teasing her imagination and making her skin prickle. “Okay, you’re on, but if anything looks really off, you’re going to the E.R. Agreed?”

“Deal.”

As Lori wove her way through traffic, Gene thought back to what had happened in the alley. Lori had stepped right out into the path of an oncoming truck, ready to die in order to save his life. That one act had left him far more shaken than the bruise on his shoulder. “What you did today…”

“You’d have done for me—though your arm would probably be better if my aim didn’t suck,” she added with a sheepish smile. “I wanted to shatter the windshield right in front of the driver, but I missed and hit the passenger side.”

“Close enough,” he said. Lori was a handful of trouble, and she never did what he expected her to do. She questioned everything and had some serious baggage, but she understood him better than anyone else ever had. She also loved and valued the things he did, including his ranch, and was willing to risk everything to do what she thought was right. Lori could comfort him with her silence—though admittedly those moments were few—and make him laugh. His life would never be the same without her. Tonight he would show her just how much she meant to him.

“What’s that smile about?” she asked.

“I have plans,” he said, then steadfastly refused to answer any more questions.

When they arrived at Preston’s a short time later, Gene used his key and hurried her inside. “No one followed us. I kept looking in the rearview mirror,” she said.

“I know. I did the same thing. For now, we’re safe,” he said, flipping on the lights. “I’m going to call Dan and Paul and let them know where we are.”

“What happens now?”

“We wait until Steve’s contacted. The way I figure it, they’ll turn up the pressure on him a notch or two, making more threats directed at his wife, but they’ll be in touch soon.”

She dropped her purse down onto a chair. “Okay, let me take a look at your shoulder—and, remember, you agreed that if I didn’t like the looks of it, you’d go with me to the E.R.”

He gave her a slow smile. “So come take my shirt off and have a look.”

He heard her sigh as she drew closer to him. Then, standing in front of him, she began to work the buttons of his shirt, her hands trembling slightly.

“Let me know if you see something you like,” he said, tucking a strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear. He smiled as he saw her try to suppress a shiver.

“It doesn’t look bad, though you’ve got the beginnings of a very colorful bruise,” she said. As she slid his shirt away from his shoulders, her hands brushed his skin in a light caress.

He hissed in a breath.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked quickly.

“Darling, hurt’s the last thing I’m feeling right now, but just so there’s no mistake…” He held her face in his hands, then took her mouth roughly, parting her lips, and loving the soft inside with his tongue.

As Lori rubbed her body against his, he groaned, and his kiss turned even hotter. He plundered her mouth, drinking in the taste of her until it became one with his own.

At last he drew in a breath. “Fair’s fair,” he murmured. “I have no shirt on. Take off yours.”

“You want it off, then you do it,” she said, stepping back, her eyes burning.

That soft challenge was his undoing. With need pounding through him, he pulled her closer, then tugged at her shirt and bra, tossing them aside. He kissed her breasts, loving the way she sighed.

He was too hot. He had to draw back and slow down, but when he eased his hold, she whimpered softly.

“More.”

That one word tore through him like a bolt of lightning. She was ready for him and that’s all he needed to know. Dropping to his knees, he pulled her slacks and panties down, then left a moist trail down the center of her body with the tip of his tongue. He loved the way he could make her gasp and quiver, but before he could finish what he’d begun, she took an unsteady step back.

“My legs won’t hold me if you keep doing that,” she managed.

Laughing softly, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and guided her down onto the bed. “I won’t let you fall, little raven. Before tonight’s over, you’ll fly.”

Standing by the side of the bed, he unbuckled his belt and discarded his jeans. As he took a step toward her, she shook her head.

“No, wait. Let me look at you first,” she said, her gaze devouring him, fueling the heat inside him.

He remained where he was, fighting the fire coursing through his veins, until she opened her arms to him.

“We’ll start slow and easy, but I’m too hot, so things won’t stay that way for long,” he whispered, lying beside her.

He kissed her deeply, wanting to burn tonight into her memory. He loved Lori and he needed to show her what was in his heart. Words weren’t enough.

“I’ve never felt like this,” she said, gasping for breath as he parted her folds and caressed her there. “Everything is so…intense.”

“Just let go,” he whispered in her ear.

“I…need you so much!” she said, her body arching and peaking with pleasure.

“You’ve got me.” He waited until her breathing evened once again. The way she came alive for him made him crazy.

Unable to wait any longer, he entered her slowly and, trying not to hurt her, moved gently, in rhythm with her own body. He wanted everything she could give him, now, while he could still think.

Gene slipped one hand between them and touched her in a way he knew would drive her wild. With a cry, she came apart for him.

He felt her tighten around him and fire spilled into his blood. He drove deep and hard into her, heat blinding him as he followed her over that brittle edge.

As his breathing evened, he gazed down at her and saw Lori smile. It was the lazy, thoroughly contented look of a woman who’d been well loved.

Gene shifted so he could lie beside her, and as he did, he saw her gaze drift over him.

“How’s your shoulder?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip.

“What shoulder?”

She smiled. “You’re so beautiful naked.”

He laughed. “Nobody’s ever called me beautiful—naked or otherwise.”

“You are,” she said, lying on her side, stroking his stomach muscles and the coarse hairs on the lower part of his belly. “What we shared…it was amazing. No one’s ever made me feel that way before.”

“Everything was right between us,
sawe,
” he said, pulling her against him.

“Sawe?”

“It means sweetheart,” he answered.

“Before, you called me raven,” she said, remembering. “Why raven? My hair’s not black.”

“Raven’s your spiritual sister,” he said, then stood and reached for his slacks.

Digging into one of his pockets, he returned to the bed and held out a small box. “This is now yours, something to add to your medicine pouch.” He waited until she opened it, then continued. “Raven is your ally, and a source of power to you.” He told her the story of Raven, then continued. “The spirit of Raven will teach you how to soar above all the shadows that follow you.”

“This is such a beautiful gift. Thank you,” she said, leaning over to kiss him.

After placing the small fetish into her leather pouch, Lori lay beside Gene once again. “Tonight I loved and was loved in return,” she said softly. “And now I have something that will always remind me of tonight.”

“And should you ever lose your way, trust Raven to show you the way back into my arms.”

Chapter Twenty-One

They fell asleep, her head resting on his chest, but sometime later Gene’s cell phone rang, jolting them awake. He picked it up on the second ring.

“The kidnappers called,” Daniel said quickly. “We’re trying to trace the call, but Paul’s not optimistic. He’s sure it’ll be a burn phone, and the most his source will be able to get is the closest cell tower.”

“What’s their new demand?” Gene asked.

“They still want the files, but they’ll only trade if Steve can deliver the information before morning. They ordered us to meet them at a private landfill west of town.”