An Unlikely Hero (1) (5 page)

“Thank God, Hunter! We lost contact in the truck!” Chase said nothing. “Good news! Mrs. Scott doesn’t have the bomb. Whatever she’s got her finger stuck in isn’t the bomb.”

Chase Hunter threw down the phone as he began to run toward the truck.

Chapter 4

Lake Tahoe shimmered in the early summer sun. The wind blowing gently across the crystal clear water sent shivers across the bare arms of the Scott children as their father finished unloading luggage and supplies from the SUV. He paused a few seconds to look at his children staring at the lake and noticed them hugging their arms. A smile came to his lips as he saw his oldest, Sean Patrick, put an arm around his baby sister to keep her warm. She leaned into his side then circled his waist with her cubby arms, hugging him tightly. Daniel tosseled Heather’s curly hair playfully as he bent down and whispered something in her ear. Both boys were very tender and loving toward their little sister. Something about Heather made others want to comfort her.

She was missing her mother, Robert knew. Those two were tight. Heather was Tessa’s shadow. She would cry sometimes when Tessa would go out to lunch with friends or to the grocery store without her. Robert often heard Heather tell her mom, “You’re my best friend, Mommy! I really love you.” He sometimes wished Heather felt the same about him. It was obvious she preferred Tessa over him. Even the boys would ask Tessa’s advice before approaching him. But then again, he knew he’d caused that ugly reality by being obsessed with work and making a future for his family. Being an interactive father was difficult after working twelve hour days several times a week. All he wanted to do was watch Monday night football sometimes or relax with a good book. What was wrong with that?

The children turned slightly to look at their father. Robert gulped at seeing their distrusting expressions. All he’d ever really done with them on his own could be counted as chores. Unless Tessa took charge, there rarely had been much fun involved. He just didn’t know how to let go.

Tessa now had given him a chance to change all that. If she’d come along there would already be activities, hotdogs on the grill and wildflowers on the table. There would be laughter and teasing with the promise of an afternoon nap for him. But now he would have to make the magic happen. It would be his biggest accomplishment. Today Robert would acquaint himself with those beautiful children Tessa had given him. How hard could being the hero parent be?

Timidly Robert sat down the heavy, blue cooler packed with delicious meals his wife had so lovingly prepared for their trip. He sucked up his courage then exhaled just before pushing himself into a casual stroll toward the kids. They seemed to move closer together, expecting some kind of reprimand. How had he ever let this thorny crevice separate his life from those he loved? Could he win them back?

“Wow! That’s some view, huh kids?”

They nodded then turned their eyes back toward the lake.

“What’d ya say we carry the gear into the cabin? Then we’ll make a fire by the lake and cook some dogs!”

Sean Patrick sighed. “There’s no open fire, Dad. Fire season is starting.”

Robert bit his lip. This was going to be harder than he thought. “Okay! We’ll eat those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches your mom made for us when we go out in the boat. I think I saw some chocolate chip cookies too.”

All eyes looked up with hope. “Boat?” they said in surprise.

“Yep!” Robert found a magic word apparently. “I’m renting a boat and we’ll have a picnic on the lake! Sound fun?”

“Yeah!” they cheered. Little Heather smiled and moved to her father without any hesitation. He lifted her up into his arms. Her little arms circled his neck just as he felt a wet kiss on his cheek. He could feel his heart warm at her little touch. The boys patted their father’s arm and began talking excitedly. Maybe this would work after all. If only Tessa could see him now!

Chase Hunter scrambled after the truck like a madman. He caught hold of the door handle only to feel his feet start to slip out from under him. The acceleration made opening the door impossible. “Open the door, Mrs. Scott!” He yelled waving one arm wildly.

Tessa turned her head to stare in bewilderment at the handsome stranger who had dragged her into this mess. She glanced at the fast approaching cliff to the ravine then quickly back at Chase. Something had gone terribly wrong! But what? With her free hand Tessa grabbed the door handle only to have it come off and clank to the floor.

Chase’s eyes widened in horror at seeing the dilemma. He felt the door rattle beneath his hand as it slipped away. “Kick it open, Mrs. Scott!” He shouted as he stumbled nearly to the ground.

Tessa, confused at what she may have done wrong, but hearing the new instructions, leaned away from the door and kicked three times with a force that surprised her. As the door flew open Tessa raised up just in time to see a large hand reach in and grab her shirt. She could feel it begin to ripe away as her body became airborne through the open door.

The ground flew up at her as the sound of crunching metal and falling rocks reached her ears just seconds before the impact of Chase’s truck hit the rocks below them. At the same time Tessa felt the wind burst from her lungs when Chase landed with all his weight on top of her. The momentum of the landing and the steep grade of the hill spun them into a roll toward the edge. Tessa could feel Chase digging his heels in to stop their plunge and she instinctively began grabbing at vines growing along the ground. Just as her body began to slip over the edge a scream tried to escape but there was no wind to expedite the terror. Suddenly Tessa felt her legs dangling in thin air and strong arms pulling her hack to safety. She could hear heavy breathing and grunting as her movement continued upward.

“Are you alright, Mrs. Scott?” Chase panted as he removed vines from her hair and a dirt clod from her face. When she opened her mouth to speak and grabbed her chest he realized that he’d knocked the wind out of her during the extraction from the truck. “You’re alright, Mrs. Scott. There’s no bomb. Just try to breathe. Relax.” He rubbed her arms gently as she fought to a sitting position.

A gasp of dusty air filled Tessa’s empty lungs. Waves of coughs spasmed her body as she felt the stranger thump her on the back. Collecting her confused wits, Tessa pushed his hands away and tried to stand up only to be assisted by Chase. Strangely, his firm touch made her feel uncomfortable. “What is going on!” she demanded with a choke stepping away on wobbly legs. “The bomb!” Tessa looked down at her hand that no longer contained the mini nuke. “I’ve lost it! Dear Lord!” She began to look around the area. “It must have come off when you pulled me from the truck!” she choked, now on the verge of tears. “You saved my life!”

Chase’s stern eyes searched the perimeter as he casually pushed Tessa aside. He walked with a quick determination toward a flashing object tangled in some brush nearby. Bending down he jerked the once menacing object into the air. Moments before it had been stuck on Tessa Scott’s finger. “This is a child’s toy.” He examined it after reading the toy manufacture’s name on the side.

“Looks like a bomb,” Tessa said covering her mouth with a scratched and bleeding hand. The loose dust mingled roughly with her tears, turned Tessa’s face into a patchwork of thin, muddy streaks. The realization dawned on that her life had nearly been sacrificed for nothing.

“The bad news is the real one is still out there.” He threw the toy against a tree in anger. The shattering caused Tessa to flinch and step back from this suddenly menacing man.

Chase’s attention turned to the eighteen-wheeler stopped on the main road. The large man exiting from the cab now carried a sawed off shotgun. As he came around the front of the truck he pulled up his sagging jeans with one hand and lifted the gun to his shoulder with the other. When he saw Chase running toward him with the scarecrow of a woman close behind, he nodded a greeting like a four star general. He was proud of the work he’d just done, although he really wasn’t sure just what it was he’d saved. All he knew was some dispatcher had commanded him to intervene for this athletic looking daredevil who nearly ran over the cliff.

“Where are they?” Chase never stopped as he ran past the trucker to the edge of road.

The trucker pointed with his gun then returned it to his shoulder.

Tessa hurried to Chase’s side in time to see him slide down the hillside toward the upside down van that appeared to be smoldering. “Get over here and help him!” she snapped at the truck driver.

He complied with a snarl as he opened the cab door and carefully placed the shotgun back inside. This time it took both his hands to pull up his sagging jeans just before he cautiously edged down the hillside to join Chase. The scent of sweat and greasy onion rings clung to his clothes as he lumbered down toward the van. With relief, the trucker halted when Chase raised a hand for him to turn around.

Tessa pushed pass the trucker and awkwardly side stepped down the embankment.

Chase circled the crushed van cautiously. Unaware of her presence, he pulled out a Beretta from the back waistband of his jeans. Quickly, he knelt down to look through the shattered windows. One arm dangled out through the windshield.

Visible, as Tessa drew near, was the driver pinned underneath the front of the van. The sight of so much blood and exposed bone caused Tessa to suddenly wretch. As she slid her ripped shirt sleeve across her mouth, Tessa watched the captain check for a pulse on each man, all the while keeping his weapon pointed with intent. Even from where she stood, the moan of yet another person came from the rear of the van.

Chase quickly ran to the back of the van with gun aimed for deadly contact if necessary. The rear door had been ripped off during the crash. The back end, although badly damaged, tilted upward having landed on a large flat rock. Just inside the twisted van lay the fourth terrorist that had invaded the Scott home. He reached toward Chase with pleading eyes. Blood streaked his face where glass had torn at his brown skin. A gash above his right eye gushed over an already bruised cheekbone. Half of one ear lay open and bleeding down his neck.

“Help me,” he cried weakly. Tessa noticed the Middle Eastern accent. It was Jamaal, the man who had threatened her in her own home.

Chase did not lower his weapon. “Who are you with? Essid?”

“Please,” he moaned.

“Where’s the bomb?” Chase growled the demand.

“I donno,” he coughed a blood splatter that landed back on his face. “Please!” he cried. “Help me.”

Chase reached inside the van. Grabbing the man’s collar he roughly dragged him out across broken glass and twisted metal. The scream of pain punctured the silence around them.

Tessa gasped at the cruelty in which the captain threw the injured man on the ground. The man screamed again when Chase jerked him to his feet like a rag doll. He shoved him forward where his friends lay trapped in the van.

“I need answers,” Chase yelled in the man’s ear.

The man cowered as he felt the butt of the pistol hit him upside the head. “Now.”

Tessa tried to turn her legs around but was frozen at the scene before her. Never had she witnessed such brute force.

Chase stepped away from the injured man and lowered his gun to inside the van. “Where’s the bomb?”

Nothing.

Chase fired three rounds into the man inside the van. With callousness, Chase shoved his prisoner against the van. “Your buddy on the hood isn’t going to make it without medical help. Give me what I want or …”

“I do not know!” he wept.

“Fine!” Without looking, Chase extended his arm and unloaded his gun into the man on the hood. “Their blood is on your hands! You’re next unless you start talking!”

“Yes! Yes! Whatever you want!” Tears burst from his eyes like a punctured dam. “I-I need medical help.”

Chase jerked him around then shoved him toward the embankment. Suddenly his eyes fell on Tessa. The horror in those pretty blue eyes troubled him. The overpowering urge to comfort her unsettled him more than wrestling with terrorists bent on killing thousands of Americans.

“What the hell!” Chase snarled, disgusted at himself for such a feeling of tenderness. “Get up there!” he commanded.

Tessa tried to scramble up the hillside only to slip and fall to one knee. She felt the rock bruise her bone but quickly regained her footing as Chase continued to push the injured man upward with the gun.

They reached the top at the same time. The trucker had witnessed the scene below. He quickly backed away from the oncoming injured man who gasped for air while Chase’s breath seemed almost normal.

Chase extended his hand to the trucker and told him he’d single handedly saved the state of California from a very dangerous terrorist cell. The chest of the trucker puffed out like a proud peacock. He tilted his greasy John Deere hat back with a finger that resembled a large sausage. The toothy smile followed by a loud obnoxious laugh grated against Tessa’s nerves. The obvious patronization of this man was meant to buy his patriotic silence. Even she could spot an oncoming cover-up.