Secret Delivery (15 page)

Jack pulled Alana into the back yard, fighting to get her away from the collapsing porch.

Cinders, ash and debris spewed in every direction, and that caused the ranch hands to scatter, as well. The porch seemed to groan as it crashed into a burning heap. But Jack didn’t even look back. He kept his attention on Thatcher. Even though the man appeared to be dead, Jack wasn’t taking any chances.

“Stay down,” Jack warned Alana.

He positioned her behind a pair of twin oaks that had a hammock stretched between them. He wanted her to be protected.

While the ranch hands got to work dousing the fire, Jack approached Thatcher, keeping his rifle aimed.

“Need me to call for an ambulance?” Deacon yelled.

Jack went closer. “No.” It was clear that Thatcher was dead. But just in case, Jack knelt down and pressed his fingers to the man’s neck.

No pulse.

“But you can call the medical examiner,” Jack relayed to Deacon. “And get Reyes out here.” He would
need his deputy to tie up loose ends, since Jack had been the shooter.

While they were waiting for him, Jack knew he had to work to contain that blaze. If not, the whole house would go up in flames.

He turned to hurry back to the house, but then he saw Alana. Her face was colorless, despite the intense heat from the fire.

“He’s dead?” she asked.

Jack nodded and went to her.

She blew out a long breath and nodded, as she stared at the man’s lifeless body. “Good.”

He understood her relief. Jack hated that he’d just killed a man. But Thatcher would have just kept coming if Jack hadn’t stopped him.

Because there wasn’t time for anything more, Jack brushed a kiss on her cheek, propped his rifle against the oak and took his gun from her. He reholstered it and got busy. He raced toward the barn, where there was another hose, turned it on and hurried with it toward the house.

Alana grabbed a blanket from the hammock and tried to beat down the flames that were flickering into the yard. It was a good move. The grass was dry in patches, and he didn’t want the fire to spread to any of the outbuildings.

In the distance, Jack heard sirens. Thank God. The fire engine was close by, and even though there’d been a lot of damage, they might still be able to save the house.

“Should I try to go inside and get out anything?” Deacon asked.

“No way.” It was tempting. A lot of his life was in that house. Joey’s life, too. But things could be replaced, and Jack didn’t want anyone else dying today.

The fire engine came screaming into the driveway in front of the house, and Jack hurried to it so he could get them maneuvered in the right direction. Not that they could miss the fire. The black coil of smoke rising into the air was a telltale sign.

The volunteer firemen were all men he knew. Friends and neighbors barreled off the engine, ready to respond. It didn’t take long before they had their hose connected to the emergency tap, and they began to spray the house.

Jack glanced at Alana. She was still battling those grass fires, and he turned to help her. But then he spotted another vehicle approaching. It was Reyes.

“Thatcher’s dead,” Jack told the deputy when he jumped from his cruiser. Reyes already had his gun drawn as if he’d expected the worst.

“The M.E.’s on the way,” Reyes let him know. “We might have another problem, though. Dr. Bartolo’s missing. He’s not at home or at the hospital. His cleaning lady was at his house and I asked her to look around, to see if anything was missing. She said the gun from his nightstand was gone.”

Yes. The doctor. Jack would have to deal with him soon. After all, the man had been involved in an illegal diamond deal, and he might even have had a part in what had happened to Alana. Heck, for that matter, he could have been the one who sent Thatcher after them.

And with that thought, Jack froze.

What if Dr. Bartolo came after Alana?

Jack raced toward the back of the house, and his heart dropped. She wasn’t there where he’d last seen her.

“Deacon, where’s Alana?”

Deacon fired some glances around and shrugged. “I thought she was with you.”

Jack cursed and tried not to panic. The whole yard was chaotic with the firefighters and his ranch hands. There were nearly a dozen people centered on the activity, and Alana could be among them.

But she wasn’t.

“Alana?” he called out.

Nothing.

Jack raced to the oaks and the hammock, and spotted the charred blanket on the ground. She’d been using it to beat out the flames, but there it was, tossed aside. And no Alana in sight.

“Check the barn,” he instructed Reyes. His deputy had already drawn his weapon, and Jack did the same. He prayed he wouldn’t have to use it.

While Reyes went in the direction of the barn, Jack headed for the east side of the house. Away from fire. Away from the chaos.

He raced around the corner. No Alana.

With his breath gusting and adrenaline shooting through him, he stopped, listened and prayed that all was well. But in his gut, he knew something was wrong.

“Alana?” he called out again.

Still nothing.

Where was she? Where could she have gone? But the real question was, had Dr. Bartolo taken the gun from his house so he could use it on Alana?

Jack heard a sound.

It was like a muffled scream. A cry for help. He sprinted in the direction of that sound. It’d come from the front of the house, but Alana wasn’t there.

With panic rising in his throat, he glanced all around. At the fire engine. The deputy’s cruiser. His work truck. His damaged SUV that he’d parked out front. No one was around the vehicles. But when he looked up the road, he spotted a dark blue car stopped just on the other side of the open cattle gate.

Jack had seen that car before.

In fact, it’d been at the ranch earlier—when Sean, Margaret and Parker had arrived for their little visit.

He kept his gun ready and headed in the direction of the vehicle. There was a dark tint on the windows, and he couldn’t see if anyone was inside.

God, had one of the three taken Alana?

Jack was within ten yards or so of the car when the engine roared on. He raised his gun and aimed, but he couldn’t fire. He couldn’t risk hitting Alana if she was in there.

“Alana?” he called out again.

He didn’t expect an answer and didn’t get one, but he knew she was inside. He just knew it. And he also knew the person who had her was up to no good.

“Get out of the car,” he ordered, bracing his shooting wrist with his left hand.

But no one got out. The driver, concealed behind that dark tint, gunned the engine.

And drove right at Jack.

A
LANA BLINKED AND TRIED TO SEE
what was happening.

What was wrong with her?

Everything was hazy again, just as it’d been while she was imprisoned at Sauder. She’d been drugged then. Had someone drugged her now?

She forced herself to concentrate, but everything was swimming in and out of focus. She couldn’t see anything clearly. She thought she might be in a car. And someone had put her there.

Who?

Someone sat beside her, in the driver’s seat, and she could hear the sound of the engine. Then it hit her. She was being kidnapped.

She groaned and tried to reach out to strike the person, to fight back, but her meager attack only resulted in a light slap to the person’s arm.

Again, she tried to focus so she could see who’d taken her, but her eyes wouldn’t cooperate. The dizziness was overwhelming and made her sick to her stomach. Added to that, there was a sickeningly sweet taste in her mouth.

The car lurched forward.

Her arm and shoulder rammed into the dashboard, and the pain was instant. But that impact told her something critical.

She wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Nor was she tied up. That meant she could escape.

Someone called out her name.

“Alana?” She heard it clearly. A shout.

Jack
.

Judging from his frantic tone, he knew that she was in danger.

She tried to answer him, but failed.

The car was the last place she wanted to be. Alana groped for the handle to open the door. She felt the window. Then the leather strip below it. Finally, her fingers closed around the metal lever.

But someone stopped her.

A hand latched on to her wrist and jerked her hand from the lever.

Furious and frantic that she’d failed, Alana tried to fight back at the fierce grip her kidnapper had on her. But her arms were weak, practically limp. As was the rest of her body. Her fight ended with her hands dropping into her lap.

The car swerved to the left, causing her hip to slam into the gearshift. What was going on? Was the kidnapper trying to get away from Jack?

Alana blinked several times, and saw something. Jack. He jumped to the side of the road. If he hadn’t done that, the car would have plowed right into him. The blurriness returned in spades, and even though she couldn’t see exactly what was happening, she was almost positive that the driver turned around to go after Jack again.

“No!” she yelled.

She grabbed for the steering wheel. It was a huge risk. Because she couldn’t see, she could do more harm than good and cause the vehicle to hit Jack. Still, she had to try. She had to do something, because this monster might hurt Jack. And once he had Jack out of the way, God knows where the kidnapper would take her. Or what he would do to her.

She doubted he’d keep her alive very long.

There was the whirring sound of a window being lowered, and hot muggy air rushed into the car. Suddenly, the sounds were a lot clearer. She could hear Jack again. He was shouting for her to get out. So Alana tried again. She reached for the door handle.

But the blast stopped her.

After the shoot-out they’d just had with Thatcher, she knew that sound.

A shot being fired.

Her captor had shot at Jack.

She scrambled to get into a sitting position so she could see what was going on. But dizziness didn’t allow her to see much, just the fuzzy image of the person seated beside her. A man, she thought. Outside, there in the darkness, she also thought she saw Jack. He was alive, and scrambling toward the car.

Alana called out his name again. A warning, for him to stop before he got shot. She didn’t want to die, but dying wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to her. The worst would be for Jack to die while trying to save her.

“I love you,” she said. But it came out mumbled. Jack probably couldn’t hear her, but she wanted him to know how she felt about him.

Beside her, her captor laughed. Maybe he was amused that she was pouring out her heart. That made her angry. It made her want to lash out at him for trying to hurt Jack.

But another shot sounded.

The blast tore through the car, but even over the roar it created in her ears, Alana heard the rev of the car engine. The vehicle spun around, and the driver floored the accelerator.

She glanced around, and even through the haze and the darkness in her mind, she realized they were speeding away from the ranch.

That couldn’t happen.

What if Jack was hurt and bleeding back there? He
might need medical attention. “Stop!” she managed to shout at her captor. “We have to go back.”

He laughed again.

Alana gathered up all the energy and anger that she could. She balled her hands into fists, turned and began to pummel him. Her hands and arms might have been weak, but she tried to go after his face so that her blows might do some good.

She felt cold metal jam against her left temple.

“Stop, or you’ll die right here,” he growled. “And then I’ll go after your son.”

Oh, God.

She stared at the man. Slowly, very slowly, the dizziness faded so that she could hone in on his face.

“How about another hit of chloroform?” he asked. “That’ll make you cooperate.”

Chloroform. So that’s why she couldn’t move or think clearly. That’s what he’d used to get her into the car.

And now he had her.

Jack jumped into his work truck and thanked God that the keys were in the ignition.

He started the engine, put on his seat belt and drove off in pursuit. He’d seen the face of Alana’s kidnapper, and he knew this would be no easy battle.

Special Agent Parker Howell knew how to fight.

And win.

The SOB had Alana. And when Parker had shot at him and tried to run him down, the agent had made it crystal clear that he wasn’t a good guy. Jack figured it was only a matter of time before he tried to kill Alana.

If he hadn’t tried already.

Parker’s car kicked up some dust as it barreled down the narrow road that led away from the ranch. Jack needed to keep a visual on the car’s taillights because once Parker reached the highway, he could go in either direction, and there’d be no dust trail to follow. Jack didn’t intend to lose the man. He vowed he’d stop Parker and get Alana safely back.

Jack kept a firm grip on the steering wheel and took
out his phone to call Reyes so he could request backup. But it didn’t work.

No signal.

There were plenty of reception dead spots around the ranch, but this shouldn’t have been one of them. Did that mean Parker had somehow jammed the phones so they couldn’t be used? Probably. As an FBI agent, Parker would have had access to that type of equipment. But that wouldn’t stop Jack, either. He kept the accelerator pushed to the floor, and tried not to think of what Alana was going through. She was no doubt scared out of her mind. But she would almost certainly know that he would come after her.

But then, Parker would know it, too.

That thought had no sooner formed in his head than he turned a sharp curve. The sides of the road were thick with trees on each side, and along with the darkness, it made it impossible to see what was ahead until he was already deep into the turn.

Parker’s car was right in the middle of the road.

Jack slammed on his brakes, but he knew there wasn’t enough distance between him and the car. He was about to crash into it, and that couldn’t happen. He would hit the passenger’s side, right where Alana was sitting.

Hell
.

Parker had parked the car there so he could set Jack up to kill her.

Jack jerked the steering wheel to the left, praying that it would be in time to miss Parker’s car. It was. Barely. His truck slammed into the back end of the car, knocking it forward but leaving it intact. Jack didn’t have time to celebrate his victory, though, because his
truck left the road and went flying down the steep embankment.

A tree limb smashed into his windshield, cracking the glass so that he couldn’t see what was ahead. But he knew. There were more trees—big sprawling oaks—and a creek. This was the shallow side. He wouldn’t drown if he hit the water, but an impact with trees and the limestone boulders in the creek bed could be fatal.

Jack braced himself for the collision. He didn’t have to wait long. The truck plowed into an outcropping of rocks, and that propelled the right side of his vehicle into a tree.

The jolt snapped him forward, and the airbag slammed into him.

Jack didn’t waste any time assessing if he was hurt. He elbowed the airbag aside and threw open the door. He hit the ground running toward Parker’s car and kept his gun ready. He couldn’t just open fire and risk hitting Alana, so he had to choose his shots carefully.

His knee throbbed as he ran up the embankment. He’d hit it during the wreck but didn’t care. Nothing was going to stop him from making it to Alana.

He slowed when he got to the top and tried to keep low. He walked toward Parker’s car. The road was eerily quiet, with just the sound of the summer breeze rifling through the tree branches and the soft ripple of the creek flowing over the rocks. The car sat there, surrounded by the pitchy darkness.

“This ends now,” Jack shouted to Parker. “I want you to release Alana.”

No answer.

That could mean Parker was sitting there, waiting to ambush him, but Jack couldn’t just wait him out. The
car was still in the middle of the road, and if any other fire department vehicles came racing this way, they’d plow right into it. He had to get Alana out of there.

“Parker?” Jack called out.

Still nothing.

Jack eased closer, with his gun still ready, and he looked inside the darkly tinted windows.

He cursed.

The car was empty.

Jack dropped to the ground and not a second too soon.

A bullet came right at him.

He scrambled to the back of the car so he could use it as cover. He needed to get off the road, and to Alana, and staying put wouldn’t accomplish that.

Another shot fired. Then another.

The shots came from the opposite side of the road from where he’d crashed.

Jack lifted his head slightly and looked around. He didn’t see any sign of Parker or Alana, but they had to be out there somewhere. What he needed was a little visual help.

Staying low, he made his way back to the passenger’s-side door, reached up and grabbed the handle. The door was unlocked. That was a lucky break. He opened it and reached inside to turn on the headlights. The high beams were aimed right at the trees where Parker was hiding.

Jack saw a flash of movement. But he had to duck back down because another bullet came his way. This one smacked into the car just above his head.

“Parker, you’re only digging your own grave,” Jack shouted. “Surrender now. You know I won’t let you get away with this.”

Jack waited for an answer for several long moments.

“Okay,” Parker yelled back. “I’ll trade Alana for a head start. You get her, and I get back in my car and drive away. You all right with that?”

He wasn’t. Jack didn’t want Parker getting away. But Alana came first. Once he had her back, then he could go after Parker.

“Let’s do this,” Jack agreed.

“First, put down your gun,” Parker shouted.

Jack cursed under his breath. “Not without some kind of assurance that Alana is all right.” Even then, he was taking a huge risk because Parker could just shoot him.

In fact, that was probably Parker’s plan.

The agent wouldn’t want to leave any witnesses, especially a sheriff and a former hostage. No, this was almost certainly a trap to draw Jack out so that Parker could kill him and then hightail it out of there with Alana. But that did make Jack wonder…why had Parker kept her alive?

What did he want with her?

“Alana’s fine,” Parker insisted. “A little woozy from the chloroform, but she doesn’t have a scratch on her. Cooperate, and she’ll stay that way.”

Jack wasn’t untouched by that threat, but if he allowed himself to be killed, then Alana would be at Parker’s mercy.

“I want to see her now,” Jack countered.

The silence returned. So did the fear. Not for himself…Jack was terrified for Alana.

Finally, there was some movement in the trees, and a second later, he saw Alana. Alive, thank God. And
Parker was right—she didn’t appear to be harmed. Well, except the look of terror on her face.

Parker had positioned her in front of him to use as a human shield. He had his left hand squeezed over her mouth, and his right hand held a gun pointed directly to her head.

“Now you’ve seen her,” Parker said. “Put down your gun.”

Jack stood there, debating. He couldn’t put his gun down. But he had to do something. “Bring her closer so I can get a better look at her.”

From the way Parker’s mouth tightened, it was obvious he was having a debate with himself, as well. Still, the man walked closer and stopped just at the edge of the embankment. With the slope, Alana was still a good fifteen feet away. Much too far for Jack to try to lunge at the man.

“Put down your gun,” Parker repeated.

“I will. Just as soon as I’m sure she’s okay. Take your hand from her mouth so she can speak.” Jack eased closer. Just a step.

“There’s no reason for her to speak. She’s fine. And you’re stalling.”

Jack took another step. “I want to hear from her own lips that you haven’t hurt her.”

“I haven’t,” Parker snapped. He jabbed the gun harder against her temple. “But I will if you don’t stop this. Put down your gun now!”

Jack managed another step, but he figured that was as far as he could go. Parker already seemed ready to snap. He certainly wasn’t the composed agent who’d visited Jack earlier. So even though he was still about
ten feet away, Jack would have to risk making a dive for Parker if the man showed any indication that he was going to shoot Alana.

“Okay, I’m putting down my gun.” Jack started to lean down.

But then he saw Alana.

She frantically shook her head.

That garnered her another jab from Parker’s gun, and he cursed at her. As hard as it was to do, Jack ignored that latest jab and followed the direction of Alana’s gaze toward the woods.

The headlights didn’t illuminate that area, but Jack fastened his attention there, and saw something move.

“Get down!” Alana shouted, tearing Parker’s hand from her mouth.

Jack dived to the asphalt just as someone fired a shot from the pitch-black woods.

A
LANA KNEW HER WARNING WAS TOO LATE
. The shots had already started.

She saw Jack hit the ground and prayed that the bullet hadn’t found its intended target.

Parker took aim at Jack while he shoved his hand back over her mouth and tried to drag her back behind the trees. Alana was still dizzy and weak from the drug, but she couldn’t let that stop her. She had to help Jack survive or they would both die right here in these woods.

She rammed her elbow into Parker’s stomach. It didn’t pack much of a wallop, but it did cause him to move back slightly. It was just enough for her to turn and grab his wrist so that he, too, couldn’t shoot at Jack. One shooter was more than enough.

“Alana!” she heard Jack say.

It was a warning for her to be careful. But she didn’t have the luxury of being careful now.

The shots from the other side stopped as she hoped they would. But Parker was still a huge threat.

She dug her fingernails into Parker’s wrist and drew blood. But it wasn’t enough to stop him from hitting her. He slapped her with his left hand and sent her staggering backward. Alana felt herself falling, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She crashed into some thick underbrush, and her head smacked hard against the rocky ground.

Jack called out her name again, and she tried to get up. Thorns and sharp brush cut into her hands, but still she tried.

Parker raised his gun, and aimed at Jack. Alana struggled even harder to get up and managed to fight her way out of the underbrush. There was no time for her to yell for Jack to get down, to take cover.

She was too late.

Jack launched himself at Parker, and the two men crashed into each other. She heard the sickening sounds of bone and muscle colliding.

She got to her feet, somehow, and tried to help, but the men were in a fight for their lives. Worse, they maneuvered themselves out of the line of the headlights, and in the darkness, she couldn’t see who was winning.

Alana grabbed a fist-size rock from the ground and went toward the fight. It wasn’t much of a weapon, considering that both men were still armed, but she might get lucky and land a blow on Parker’s shooting hand.

“I can’t let you do that,” someone said.

Margaret.

Alana’s heart went to her knees. She looked up at the top of the embankment and spotted the woman with the rifle. It had a night scope, and even though Margaret wasn’t holding the weapon with much confidence, it didn’t take a mountain of confidence to kill.

Just seconds before Parker had stopped his car in the middle of the road, he’d called someone and told them to “get ready.” In that moment Alana had realized that he had a partner, but she hadn’t thought it would be Margaret. She’d expected her brother or Dr. Bartolo to be positioned in those woods.

“Don’t move,” Margaret warned.

Alana shook her head. “I can’t let Parker hurt Jack.”

Margaret shook her head, as well. “And I can’t let you and Jack escape.”

Alana glanced at Jack just as he landed a hard punch to Parker’s jaw. Jack was winning, but even if he managed to subdue Parker, they had to deal with Margaret.

“What’s in this for you?” Alana asked. She kept her eye on Margaret’s trigger finger while she tried to inch her way to Jack.

“I won’t go to jail.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.” Alana managed another step.

“I didn’t know Parker kept you at Sauder illegally. I swear, I didn’t know, but a judge will never believe that.”

“He will if I testify for you.”

Parker shouted, “Shut up!”

But Margaret shook her head again. “Parker said I can have a fresh start in Mexico. He gave me money.”

“Money he stole from me.” Alana took another step toward Jack and tightened her grip on the rock. “You can testify against him, Margaret. You might not have to go to jail at all.”

It was obvious that Parker was the dirty one here. She didn’t know all the details of what he’d done, but Margaret could provide some answers.

But for now, Alana had to do something about Parker.

She prayed she was reading Margaret right. The woman didn’t seem to have murder on her mind. Yes, she had the rifle pointed right at Alana, but she was making no moves to stop her. So Alana turned toward the men, just as Parker managed to aim his gun at Jack.

She saw Parker’s hand tense, and knew that unlike Margaret, he would shoot to kill. So she did the only thing she could.

Alana dived at them.

The rock fell as she latched on to Parker’s hand. But she could only hold him for a few seconds before he shoved her aside.

But with Parker’s right hand temporarily occupied fighting her off, Jack took full advantage. He bashed his fist into Parker’s jaw twice. The bone-crushing blows echoed through the woods, as did the feral growl of pain that came from the man’s throat.

Jack didn’t let Parker regain control. Neither did Alana. She snatched away his gun and scrambled away so that Parker couldn’t grab her again and use her as cover. Jack shoved his gun right against Parker’s head.