THE RENEGADE RANCHER (16 page)

Even in the dim light, she could see Simmons turning red. He was about to explode. Brian kept inching forward. His thumbs were hooked in his jeans and he didn’t look as if he was about to fight with anyone. That casual, withdrawn voice was calming—no matter what antagonizing words were coming from his mouth.

Lindsey held her tongue, but while Simmons’s focus was on Brian, she searched for a weapon. She quickly found the source of the whine.

They weren’t weaponless after all. Brian had turned on the defibrillator.

Chapter Twenty-Four

When John had asked Brian if he could pull the trigger, he’d said yes. In his head and heart he knew if it came down to it, he could. But he’d had a crazy, wild thought while sitting in the police station—he didn’t particularly like explaining himself over and over to the cops.

The empty firehouse reminded him it would be a lot easier to take Simmons alive and let him explain himself. So he’d gone into the abandoned peanut-dryer warehouse thinking he could capture a serial killer who had been at it for half of Brian’s life.

Stupid. He’d stepped right in the middle of it. At least he’d had a backup plan.

Brian might not know a lot about how to extract a target, which was his brother’s world. He did know a lot about what would take a man down without a weapon. And a defibrillator was perfect.

Now all he had to do was get Simmons near the paddles that had begun charging when he’d flipped the lights on. And he had to do it before he realized what the beeping noise behind them indicated.

“Are you a coward, Simmons?” He needed the gun put away, not fired.

“How dare you talk to me that way.” Simmons looked as if he was going to pop a gasket. He was agitated and his gun hand shook. “I have nothing else to prove.”

“Don’t you?” Lindsey asked. “You don’t think I need to know why you were killing my family, but I’m the only one who can judge the real victor of the fight on the staircase. If you hadn’t cut the rope, Brian would have won. So I think you cheated.”

Victor Simmons laughed. His gun wrist went limp when he crossed his arms and relaxed. Brian hadn’t expected that. A different man stood before them.

“Such a valiant effort deserves my appreciation, not my rage. I heard the defibrillator charging next to Lindsey. Did you really think you could manipulate me and shock me?”

Brian saw his chances of disarming Simmons waning. He began to charge when Simmons came to attention, pointing the gun at his chest.

“Far enough, boy. Don’t you think I’m accomplished at the art of killing yet? It’s been twenty years.” He faced Lindsey. “You don’t deserve to know anything. You’re barely a footnote in my manuscript.”

“Manuscript? You’ve written down how you killed my family? You really are a monster.” Lindsey shuddered.

“Nothing personal, my dear. It must have been fate that brought your relative to my office. It began with a mistake. You see, mineral rights automatically sell with a property unless excluded in the contract. I made sure of that, but I didn’t assign them to anyone. Joel Cook thought I was trying to cheat him and wanted my head. We exchanged words. Then blows. Unfortunately, he died. Purely an accident.”

“There was nothing accidental in the other thirteen family members you killed.”

“Oh, there have been more than thirteen.”

One side of his mouth tilted in such a smirk, Brian itched to knock it from his face.

“I can see your anger building. You want to kill me for all the harm I’ve done.”

Brian stretched his hands open, not allowing himself to keep his fingers balled into fists. He opened his palms, as if he was calling a stubborn horse. “That’s not my decision, man.”

“Where’s your car?”

Keeping his back to Simmons, he walked to Lindsey’s side. He didn’t want to lose Lindsey before their relationship really began. This man would kill them both. He stood just in front of the defibrillator. It was charged and ready to go. All it needed was a patient.

In front of his chest, he motioned for Lindsey to grab the paddles and shock him. Simple. His heart would either go into AFib or stop. Either way, it would give her a chance to run. A chance to live.

She shook her head. He gave her a thumbs-up.

“Don’t be stubborn, Brian. It’s time to go,” Simmons said.

Brian ignored him, counting down with his fingers: three, two, one.

He turned, screamed like a Highland warrior and leaped the last six feet before Simmons could pull the trigger. The gun flew from his hand. They both fell to the cement floor and rolled, only stopping because of the engine wheel.

Brian landed on top and got in the first punch. Simmons no longer had a smirk on his face to wipe off. He shoved hard with both hands, and Brian’s shoulder and hand hit the engine. Hard. He thrust the pain aside and threw himself at the murderer.

Lindsey stood ready with the defibrillator paddles. Simmons was scrambling for the gun.

“Not so fast.” Brian jerked on the man’s pants cuffs, skidding him across the cement. He kicked out, keeping Brian a leg length away, then rolled and twisted to his feet.

Brian quickly followed. The man’s eyes were narrow slits; he used the back of his hand to remove the blood dripping from the smirky tilt to his mouth.

“You want a rematch? Come on, boy. I’ll teach you a thing or two.” Simmons gestured for Brian to come at him. Taunting.

Brian normally didn’t respond to taunts. He normally turned the other cheek and walked away because he was the one who always got thrown into lockup. He looked around the dimly lit firehouse. A place where he should have been able to volunteer and save lives.

But he couldn’t volunteer in his hometown, helping the people who should have been his friends.

Because of this man. This man’s plan to systematically kill off Lindsey’s family had destroyed too many things...too many people.

His fingers curled into fists, but his center was ready to do serious battle. Just because he didn’t seek fights didn’t mean he was a pacifist or didn’t know how to fight. He did. He and his twin had fought so much, his mother had enrolled them in tae kwon do.

His fists relaxed, he steadied his breathing, found his calm and waited for Simmons to advance.

“You think you can beat me?” Simmons danced from side to side in his work boots.

Brian watched for the first kick and deflected it with one of his own. He turned and kicked backward, connecting with the center of Simmons’s chest. He absorbed some of the momentum when he took a few steps back.

Brian followed with two punches to the abdomen and then received a right cross that he had not seen coming. They both used trained punches and blocks, sending each of them into walls and the truck. Each time Brian thought he was getting Simmons close enough to Lindsey to jump stop his heart, the older man would kick or roll or throw a punch that could loosen teeth.

* * *

L
INDSEY
STOOD
READY
to blast Victor Simmons with a shock, hoping that she understood how to use the darn things. Braced against the wall, she’d loosened Brian’s T-shirt so she could hold the paddles in her hands. She had to wait for the men to get close to her, unable to drag the machine away from the counter.

Brian was an excellent fighter. He could take a punch, but the way his body rippled was something to admire. If it weren’t a life-and-death situation, she’d let him know how impressed she was. And she’d allow herself to be more excited about seeing his shirt off.

Each time the monster in black kicked or shoved or swung, Brian countered with a beautiful kick or punch of his own. She was so caught up in the actual fight, wanting Brian to knock this horrible person out for the count, that she almost forgot what she was holding.

Simmons crawled on his belly, trying to get to something. The gun. Should she drop the paddles and run to the other side of the garage for it? She couldn’t run. Just balancing on her foot was too painful for words. Gripping the paddle with the hand of her torn shoulder was excruciating. She had to stay where she was and hope for the best.

The fight was slowing a bit, both men drawing longer breaths, both a little slower to get up. Brian threw a punch, pounding Simmons’s inside thigh, and he gave a scream. Brian hit him time and time again. The psycho couldn’t get his arms up to deflect or defend. Brian kept at him, backing him toward her. One last hard kick and Simmons went flying into the office door next to her.

“Are you okay?”

Brian winked at her. It was over.

Simmons lay on his back, crumpled and passed out.

“Get the gun. It’s at the front of the engine by the door,” she told him.

Brian turned to pick up the weapon. She turned to set hers down just as a bloodied hand grabbed her from behind. Simmons wrapped one paw around her chest. And held the knife to her throat, ready to slice her from ear to ear with one stroke. He used her body as a shield from the gun that Brian pointed in their direction.

“Put the gun down or you can say goodbye to her forever.”

“Won’t that mess up your accident plans, Victor?”

“I have contingencies.” Simmons tugged on her neck a little. “I can still make this look as if you decided to kill her. That you abducted her and me and held us captive. Drop the gun.”

Her eyes locked with Brian’s. He looked as though he was apologizing. He couldn’t do it. This devil couldn’t win.

“He’s not going to win.” She didn’t want Brian to surrender. He was the only hero in her life and she trusted him. She knew what she had to do.

“No!” Brian shouted.

Trusted that whatever happened, he’d save her.

Brian ran, the gun falling to his side.

“I trust you,” she said, raising the paddles to Simmons’ arms. She pushed the buttons that sent the electric shock jolting through both of their bodies.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lindsey jerked and the paddles fell from her hands. Brian wished everything happened in slow motion, but it didn’t.

He erupted forward as soon as he saw the look in her eyes. She’d placed both paddles directly on Simmons, but didn’t she know the electric charge would travel through her, too? She had.
I trust you.
Dear God, to bring Simmons down, she’d shocked them both.

Lindsey trusted that Brian would bring her back from having her heart stopped. She crumpled to the floor, the murderer falling on top of her. Brian ran to the paramedic case and half dragged, half kicked it near the defibrillator.

Not so gently, he rolled Simmons off the bravest woman he’d ever known. The only woman he’d ever loved or wanted to love. The murderer had no pulse. Lindsey was facedown; there was a flutter, a chance. He’d told her he could keep her alive with a rig full of equipment. It was time to keep his promise.

The backboard was in place. He’d left it there, ready for Simmons. He skidded it next to Lindsey and gently turned her over to rest on it.

Training took over. He went through the steps that eight long years of practice had turned to muscle memory. Pulse. Breathing. Airway. Air bag. Monitor. AFib. Charge. Paddles. Jolt. Stop. Pray.

Pray harder, it’s Lindsey.

Listen.

Give it a second. No more.

He was about to shock her heart another time when he detected a regular rhythm. Where was the phone? He searched the room perimeter. Nothing. He broke the window on the office door, grabbed the phone on the wall and dialed 911.

“Send emergency vehicles to Aubrey Fire Station. Police and ambulance.”

“Please stay on the line, sir.”

“Brian?” Lindsey called, her head twisting from side to side.

Brian dropped the phone, leaving the line open. He knelt between Lindsey and Simmons, attempting to block her view of the dead man. Taking her hand between his, he brought it to his lips, more grateful than he’d been since his dad’s stroke that she was alive.

“I’m so...tired. Is he...?”

“Dead? Yes. You shouldn’t talk. Just rest.”

“Will they think we... That...I killed him?”

“He was a serial killer. We did what we had to do.”

“You saved me.” Her hand curved around his chin.

He caught it and kept it there, wanting to kiss her and tell her everything would be all right and she was perfect. But he didn’t know if it would. Simmons was dead from the shock. Lindsey was still in danger.

“Shh, sweetie. I called for help. If I had the keys to this engine, I’d take you to the hospital myself.”

“Selling Jeremy’s house. Never step foot again. I want my beach. Don’t you love beach?”

“I don’t think there are too many horse ranches on the beach, hon.”

“Nope. Not many boots...in sand. So sleepy.”

“Lindsey, wake up, sweetheart. Stay with me.” Brian patted her check and her blue, blue eyes opened, acknowledging him with a soft smile. “I hear the police, darlin’. Stay awake now, okay? Concentrate and promise me.”

“I prom— Kiss me bye.”

“Not bye.”

He bent down and dropped his lips against her cool cheek. She turned her head, sealing their lips together. He wanted to devour her; the need hadn’t gone away. If anything, it got stronger the more they went through. He straightened onto his knees again, hearing the squeal of tires on the pavement outside.

“Get away from her,” Ronnie Dean shouted, pulling his handgun. “Cindy, I have two down,” he spoke into his radio. “Confirm ambulance needed. Where the hell’s the volunteer EMT?”

“Holy smokes, it’s the fugitive, Brian Sloane,” a second officer said, charging through the door. “What’s he doing, trying to kill her?”

“Step back, Sloane.”

The dialogue continued between the two officers who had pulled the Sunday night speed trap duty. He ignored them. The most inexperienced. The youngest.

Lindsey’s eyes closed. Her head fell slack.

“Lindsey? Come on, hon.” He shook her chest. “Wake up.” He grabbed her wrist, her pulse was erratic. “No. No. No! I am not going to lose you.”

The monitor showed her heart was AFib again.

“I told you to get away from her,” the guy he didn’t know shouted.

“Ronnie, you guys can shoot me and let her die. Or you can let me do my job and try to save her life.”

Ronnie nodded and stuck his hand out to stop the other officer.

“She’s in AFib. I need to get a regular beat back. Clear.” Brian shocked Lindsey’s heart a third time.

“But you’re not a doctor. Should we let him do that?”

“Do you know how to work that machine?” Ronnie asked the younger man. “Go outside and call Cindy. Check on the ETA of the ambulance.”

Lindsey had a regular heartbeat. Brian dropped his head to his knee, more than a little emotional and not wanting to lose it in front of these guys.

Once the younger cop was gone, he knelt to feel for a pulse on Simmons. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“How long until your rescue unit shows up?”

Ronnie shrugged, “Who is she?”

“Lindsey Cook.”

“She’s wanted for questioning. You kidnapped her?”

“No. He did.” Brian nodded to Simmons’s body.

“How do I know you didn’t kill him, too?”

His beautiful, brave woman did.

“You don’t. But you’ll be the next one lying here if you try to move me before help arrives for this woman.”

The younger cop came back inside. “About five minutes on the ambulance. What should we do?”

Brian listened to Lindsey’s heart, now beating in a normal rhythm. Her chest rose with normal breaths.

“We’re going to watch. If anything looks wrong, we’ll take him down,” Ronnie ordered.

They stared at him and he stared at Lindsey, willing her to beat the odds and survive. She had to live. They were a good team. She thought so, right? He stroked her hand and saw where the plastic cuffs had bit into her wrists. He dressed the gouges, biting back the emotion. Using the back side of his hand to indiscreetly wipe his eyes.

Then he secured her shoulder and strapped her to the board for transport. He didn’t want there to be any delay. It was a long way to Denton Regional.

The ambulance arrived, he gave them Lindsey’s vitals and history, they loaded her and they were gone.

Brian didn’t care what happened next. He was handcuffed and stuck inside a squad car while Ronnie argued with the Denton P.D. that had been patched through and wanted him transported ASAP.

Lindsey’s care was out of his hands. If she forgave him for getting her captured by that monster, as she called him, he’d go anywhere and do anything she wanted.

Terror that she might die hit him. He couldn’t hold back any longer. He dropped his head as low in the car as possible and let go. He kept the noise to some sniffs and a couple of deep breaths. If anyone had been watching him closely, they would have seen the tears of fright mixed in with the prayers.

Lindsey Cook wanted to go to the beach.

Brian Sloane would make sure it happened.

Just let her live.