Cowboy Sing Me Home (37 page)

            Dusty cried out, her breath
coming in short, shallow sobs, and she cringed away from the gun.  Luke could
see her fight for composure and he silently willed her his strength to keep it
together.

            “Your turn.  Lay your gun on
the desk and slide it toward me.  Butt first,” he said with a cock of his
head.  “I’d hate to shoot my own hostage in the head.”

            Luke laid his gun on the
desk, making sure he did as the man said.  Wayne’s moans filled the silence in
the room.

            Broeker took it and looked
at it a moment.  “Man, I am
heavily
armed and dangerous now!”  He barked
over his shoulder.  “Quit your whining.   You’re lucky I didn’t do that a week
ago.  But don’t worry.  When you lose enough blood you won’t be able to feel it
anymore.”

            He tucked the third gun in
his pocket and looked at Luke, his eyebrows raised.  “All righty then.  I think
I’ve covered everything.  I have arms, ammunition, a pretty hostage.  It looks
like – oh yeah.  I’ve gotta shoot the deputy. Again.”

            Luke backed into the hall,
his arms up, taking a chance that Broeker would want to look him in the eye
when she shot him.

            “Now where do you think
you’re going?”  He shoved Dusty forward and stepped into the hallway.

            “You don’t want to do this,”
Luke said, keeping his voice even, his hands in the air to be as
non-threatening as possible.  He kept backing until Broeker was in the dining
room.

            “Of course I want to do
this,” Broeker said jovially.  “I’ll get the money, and I’ve got the girl.
What’s not to like about this?”  He leaned over to look at Dusty.  “Ever been
to the Caribbean?  I hear they have lots of tiny islands, you can just get in
your boat and cruise from one to the other.”  He smiled and kissed her on the
cheek.

            Dusty pulled away, her lip
curled.  She looked at Luke and said again, “I’m sorry.”

            He nodded, helpless rage
roaring through him.  Once he got her out of that jackass’s hands…

            “Close your eyes,
sweetheart, unless you get turned on by the sight of blood.” 

            Dusty looked at Luke with
tear-filled eyes.  “Don’t let him do this,” she whispered.  “I love you.”

            “I love you too,” he
whispered back, his heart thumping in his chest.  “I love you, too.”  He could
hear Wayne still groaning in the bedroom, could see Dusty’s red-rimmed eyes. 
He held his breath, not sure he could keep his nerves steady enough to pull off
the only hope he had.

            “Oh, that is so
sweet
!” 
He leaned back over Dusty.  “I’m so happy for you, really I am.  Time to go.”

            “They won’t let you get
away, Broeker.  Not with a hostage.”  Still talking, he pivoted slowly.  If he
could just keep him talking, keep the man’s attention until his back was to the
kitchen… “You might have some hope if you let her go, but with her you’ll have
every law officer in this part of the country looking for you.  And I know
where you’re going.”

            “But you’re gonna be dead,
remember?”  He leveled the gun at Luke.

            Now.  Luke looked over
Broeker’s shoulder.  “Thank God you’re here!”

            Broeker whipped his head
around and looked back into the kitchen.  Luke put all his might into an
excruciating kick to the hand that held the gun, connecting with a force that
knocked it from his hand and sent it crashing into the wall.

            Broeker whirled back around,
his face contorted with rage.  Luke was already there, and he shoved Dusty out
of the way as he crashed into the man.  Before Broeker could recover his
balance, Luke had pulled his own gun out of Broeker’s pocket and held it to the
man’s head while he knelt on his stomach.

            Slowly, Broeker lifted his
hands.  “Man, I can’t believe you got me that way.  Very smooth.”

            “Don’t think I’ve forgotten
about the gun at your back.  When I move my knee, you are going to sit up, real
slow, and Dusty’s going to get it.  And I swear to you, if I so much as
think
you’re going to make a wrong move, I will shoot you.  Do you understand?”

            He spared a quick glance at
Dusty.  She was obviously and understandably shaken, but he thought she was
going to be okay.  “It’s all right, sweetie.  It’s almost over.”

            “You two are gonna make me
cry,” Broeker said.

            Luke dug his knee in a little
harder, then let off gradually.  He no longer held any hesitation about
shooting.  “Roll up, and keep your hands in the air.”

            Broeker groaned.  “Man, my
abs aren’t that strong.”  He put a hand to the floor to brace himself.

            Luke kicked it out from under
him.  “I said keep your hands in the air.  You can do it.  And don’t worry.  I
hear the Texas prison system has some real nice workout equipment.  You’ll have
plenty of time to get in shape.”

            Broeker glared at him, but
slowly rolled to a sitting position.  His eyes and gun still trained on
Broeker, Luke said to Dusty, “Stand to the side and reach around to his back. 
Don’t get directly behind him.  If I have to shoot, I don’t want it to come
through and hit you.”

            He wanted desperately to
look at her and see how she was doing.  But he knew Broeker was waiting for him
to slip up, and he wasn’t going to give it.  From the corner of his eye, Luke
saw Dusty’s arm stretch out, then draw back and she said, “I have it.”

            “Roll over and put your
hands on the back of your head.  Dusty, see if you can find something to tie
his hands with.”

            Broeker was silent as he
rolled over.  Luke didn’t trust him not to put up another battle, but he also
knew he would not hesitate to shoot if that happened.  Whatever hesitation he
felt was erased when Broeker held a gun to Dusty’s head. 

            She came back a moment
later, holding a ball of twine.  “I found this, but I don’t think you’re going
to need it.”

            “Did I miss all the
excitement?” Toby said as he entered the room behind Dusty.  “I hate it when
that happens.”

            Luke kept his eyes on
Broeker as he said, “As usual, I play the entire game and you show up in time
to cross the end zone.  Throw your cuffs on this guy, and call in an ambulance
for Wayne.  He’s lying in the floor in the other room, acting like he’s dying.”

            “Ambulance is already on its
way.”  Toby leaned down and snapped his handcuffs on Broeker’s wrists.  “I
called them as soon as Corinne told me you were out here.  I figured you were
ready to put the whoop on someone.  Onto your knees.”  He stepped back and
pulled Broeker’s arms back so he could go to a kneeling position, then guiding
him into a stand.

            “What about our friend
Kenny?” Toby asked.

            Luke shrugged.  “That’s
something we need to discuss with these guys.  He’s not here, unless he’s
hiding under a bed somewhere.  My guess he’s either holed up somewhere waiting
for them, or else he’s no longer among the living.”  Broeker seemed to have
little compunction about killing his team members.  Luke studied his face for a
sign.

            Broeker smirked.  “Don’t
worry, he’s alive, unless he managed to kill himself somehow.”  He turned to
Toby and cocked his head.  “I might be coerced into making a deal.  Say, I tell
you where he is, and call it even.”

            Toby looked at Luke.  “Isn’t
it touching to see loyalty among partners?”  He turned and pushed Broeker
toward the door.  “You’ll tell us where he is, and we don’t call it even.  We
get a little irked when people shoot our law officers.  Your social calendar is
going to be full for a while.”

            As they passed Dusty,
Broeker leaned close and leered at her.  “Wait for me, darling?”

            Luke palmed the top of
Broeker head and shoved him forward.  “It’s not too late for me to shoot your
ass.”

            He stood in the doorway and
watched until Toby had driven out of sight.  The ambulance pulled into the
drive as soon as Toby left, and Luke led them into the bedroom where Wayne lay
groaning.  Luke called for Adam to come out and guard the house until the FBI
team could get there and wrap up the crime scene.  Then he stood back and
watched, his eyes on the EMTs, but his mind seeing Dusty’s tear-filled,
terrified gaze as Broeker shoved the gun up under her chin.  His ears heard the
technicians tell Wayne he was going to be okay, but his mind heard over and
over again Dusty’s words, and he felt his own answer on his tongue, saying the
words only his heart had known.

            The EMTs loaded Wayne onto a
stretcher, and two carried him out while the third turned to Dusty.  “Let’s
take a look at you.”

            Dusty crossed her arms over
her chest and hunched her shoulders.  “I’m okay.  He didn’t hurt me.”

            “You’re pale and shaking and
frankly, you look like you’re about to pass out.  Sit down here on the bed and
let me take your blood pressure.”

            “I said I’m okay.”

            “I’ll bring her in in a few
minutes, Albert,” Luke said.

            Albert looked at Luke, then
shrugged.  “Okay, but make it quick, okay?  I don’t want to have to come back
out here.”

            Only after everyone had left
and the house was filled with quiet did Luke trust himself to look at Dusty.

            She stood perfectly still in
the center of the room, her hands clasped tightly before her, her eyes wide,
and though he could see she fought to control them, tremors ran through her
body.

            Her eyes met his.  She
swallowed and bit her lower lip.  “I really don’t need to go to the hospital. 
He didn’t – “

            Her voice broke. Luke
reached for her and pulled her into his arms, wrapping himself as tightly as he
could around her.  He held her while the aftershocks of the ordeal shook
through her, he felt the soft thump of her heart alive and beating against his,
the rise and fall of her chest with each breath she took, heard her voice and
rejoiced at all these things telling him what he needed most to know – that she
was okay.  She was live and okay and in his arms.

            And she loved him.

            “I’m sorry,” she whispered
against his neck.  “I wanted to help and I made it worse.  I couldn’t stand the
thought of you being down here alone, probably outnumbered, so I came but I
didn’t help at all, I just made it worse.”

            “Shhh.”  He stroked the back
of her head and held her tightly.  “It’s okay.  It’s okay now.  We’re both here
and we fought the bad guy together, and we won.  You did great.  You’re fierce.
You’re a warrior. It’s okay.”

            She sniffled a laugh against
his neck, and he pulled back and tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. 
He thumbed the line of tears that ran down her cheek. 

            Her eyes shifted away from
his, and the words they’d spoken to each other became the elephant in the room.

            “Dusty.”  He wanted to hear
her say it again, needed to know he hadn’t just made it up.  But he couldn’t
bring himself to ask.  All he could say was, “Dusty,” the one word that filled
him simultaneously with joy and terror.

            She refused to meet his
gaze, but instead of frustrating him, this only filled him with more
tenderness.  She was afraid.  She’d leaped across that precipice, and now she
was on the other side, off-balance, out of her element.

            It was okay, Luke told
himself.  She’d said the words, he knew now that she loved him, and he could
give her the space she needed to come to terms with that.  They had time.  His
heard soared with the glad knowledge of it.  Broeker and Wayne were safely out
of the way now, and they had all the time in the world.  They had their whole
lives.

            He hugged Dusty to him
again, then pulled away.  “Let’s get you to the hospital.”

            “I really am fine.  You saw
it.  He didn’t hurt me.”

            “You’re not going to put up
a fight over this, are you?  Make me drag you in kicking and screaming?  I’m
tired, Dusty.  I’ve had a hard night.”

            She laughed, and he knew it
was more out of relief that he didn’t bring up the “L word” than it was at his
lame joke.

            “All right, all right.  But
just a quick blood pressure check.  I don’t like a lot of people touching me
and hovering over me.”

            “You’re probably going to
have to answer a lot of questions.  Don’t worry.  If you’re not up to it, I’ll
make them wait until you are.”

            “I’ll be up to it.”

            He took her hand and led her
out the back door.  They stood hand in hand in the yard, comfortably silent
together, until Adam pulled up to guard the house.  The sky was growing pink in
the east, and Luke realized with a shock that it was almost dawn.