Cowboys In Her Pocket (11 page)

“Brought some supplies that JJ ordered the other day,” she said as she handed Brady the cooler.

He placed it onto the dock and swore he’d never been so grateful to see someone in his life. Blue had been a cop. She would know stuff about how to search for a missing person. Besides, an extra person on hand to search for JJ was a good thing.

As Blue stared at the three of them, she frowned.

“Uh oh. I get the feeling I’ve come at a bad time?”

“JJ’s missing,” Rafe said.

“For how long?” Blue asked. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the surrounding buildings.

“Maybe an hour. Maybe more,” Dan replied. There was an odd tremble in his voice.

“Maybe she took a walk?” Blue said. Brady noticed how her shoulders had tensed. She was suddenly worried as much as they were.

“Or maybe whoever was lurking around came back?” Blue said, echoing what the three of them had been afraid to say aloud.

Dan swore.

“I will kill whoever took her, if it is the last thing I do,” Rafe growled.

Brady nodded. At the moment he was so scared and angry for JJ that he could rip apart anyone who would try to hurt her.

“I did see a spiral of smoke when I was circling. About two miles southeast.”

A fissure of relief snapped through Brady. It had to be the stalker’s camp.

“Can you be more specific, Blue?” Dan asked.

“Well, yeah. Right on the southeast shoreline of this lake. But I didn’t see anyone.”

Brady nodded to Dan and Rafe.

“It’s the best lead we have. Let’s go.”

* * * * *

Branches whipped against JJ’s face and arms and mosquitoes stung her bound hands. Ross kept pushing her forward and the instant she stumbled or tried to slow down so she could step over a fallen log, the son of a bitch cursed her.

Her fear of him was turning to red-hot anger and she welcomed the terrifying feeling.

“Quit pushing!” JJ snapped. In retaliation, he shoved her again. A branch slapped her cheek, leaving a sting of pain.

“Don’t tell me what to do, bitch! You’re mine and you do as I demand!”

“Go fuck yourself, you slimy piece of shit!”

He chuckled. “Feisty one, aren’t you? Unlike your saintly mother.”

At the mention of her mom, JJ came to an abrupt halt. She swung around and faced him.

Moonlight shone through the trees and she spied surprise wash across his face at her sudden defiance. But in a flash, his lips twisted into an angry snarl and his eyes glowed with pure evil hatred.

“My mother didn’t deserve your lowlife father,” JJ said in a cool voice. “She was too good.

You and your sadistic father took full advantage of her gentle nature.”

A nasty rage was building inside of JJ.

“Get me out of these cuffs, and I will kill you just like I did your dad.”

Suddenly, he laughed and jumped around with glee.

“Oh! You’re trying to scare
me
?”

“You should be scared, because I will willingly do another ten to twenty to get rid of you.”

JJ wasn’t kidding either.

Ross’s smile dropped and he went quiet.

Toward her right, she could hear the croak of frogs. Frogs was an indication of water. It could be a pond or it could be the lake. If she could get to the lake…

JJ cried out in surprise as pain burst against her right cheek as he slapped her.

Bastard
!

If he thought violence was going to subdue her he had another thing coming. She would die before she let this trashy nut job near her. It was time to make her move.

In a split second she was screaming and running into the darkness.

Behind her, he cursed her and then shouted at her to stop. She ran faster.

With her hands bound, JJ couldn’t protect herself. Branches snapped like whips against her face and body. It was hard to keep her balance, but she kept running.

JJ stopped screaming, realizing it would only give away her location.

Panic grabbed her as his chuckles drifted along the dark air. He was keeping pace with her.

Following her. Teasing her with his creepy laughs.

As she continued to run, she forced the panic aside and tried to concentrate on her

surroundings. The scent in the air had changed to a mild smell of fish.

The lake. It
had
to be. She had to be close to the lake.

Suddenly, she burst out of the trees and stumbled onto the rocky shoreline. Moonlight shone upon the water, making it look like a mirror.

Because her hands and arms were useless she couldn’t dive into the water and escape that way.

Even if she had been able to swim. The ice had gone out only a couple of weeks ago. The water would still be too cold for her to last long before hypothermia set in.

But if she kept running along the shoreline she’d eventually end up at the ranch. But which way should she go? Left or right?

The snapping branches behind her urged her to go left. Wrong choice. A figure stepped out of the forest, blocking her way.

No!

JJ turned the other way. Another figure.

Oh my God! How many people were there?

In her panic, she almost didn’t see the man directly in front of her motion for her to come to him. A finger was on his lip, instructing her to keep quiet.

What the heck?

Then as he stepped forward and grabbed her by her elbow, she recognized him.

Dan!

In an instant, he pulled her into the safety of nearby bushes and instructed her to crouch down beside him.

“Are you all right?” Dan’s whisper was so low she could barely hear what he was saying.

JJ nodded so quickly, she was surprised her head didn’t fall off her shoulders.

“He was right behind me,” she gasped.

“Stay here. Don’t move until I come back.”

Oh Dan! No! Don’t leave!

But he’d already disappeared.

Silent minutes flew by and JJ froze as someone suddenly shouted. Had it been Dan shouting?

Or Brady? Or maybe Rafe?

Her gut clenched with sickness. She’d put all three of them into danger. If any of them got hurt because of her, she would never be able to survive.

JJ jumped as a gunshot sliced through the air. A wave of cold terror paralyzed her. More gunshots.

She shook involuntarily. She had to do something to help them. But what? And how? Her hands were still cuffed and her shoulders were so sore. She couldn’t move her hands or her arms.

She cringed as another gunshot rang out. This one was very close. Too close.

Silence followed. Her heart hammered in her ears as nearby, some branches snapped.

Oh dear mercy. She didn’t pray much, but suddenly the need to do so overwhelmed her.

Dear God, please protect my three cowboys. Please keep them safe. Please!

A figure suddenly loomed right in front of her. Then a second one. A third followed.

Brady. Dan. Rafe.

She checked her men for any signs of blood. She didn’t see much due to the darkness, but they were all standing, so that was a good sign. Suddenly she spied her white cowboy hat in Rafe’s hand. For some crazy reason, relief spilled through her at the sight of her hat.

“She’s okay. I told you,” Dan said in an exasperated huff.

“Shit! I told you I had to see for myself,” Rafe muttered as he stumbled toward her. His white teeth gleamed as he moved into a beam of moonlight and then he crouched down in front of JJ.

“Hey, beautiful. You are a sight for sore eyes. Looks like we found our thief,” Rafe whispered as he twirled her hat in his hand. Then suddenly she was swallowed in a bear hug that squeezed the breath right out of her.

From Rafe’s embrace, she managed to blink up at Brady who scowled with a concerned

expression.

“She doesn’t look so good,” Brady complained.

Despite the worry etching his voice, he smiled at her. When Rafe released her from the bear hug, Brady held out his hand to her.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

Home.
That was the best word of her life at this moment.

Dan dug around in his shirt pocket. “She’s cuffed. I got the key off the dead — ompf.” His sentence was cut off by Brady elbowing him in the stomach.

JJ caught the word dead. Ross was dead. She felt nothing for him. Maybe she was in shock?

“Just let me unlock the cuffs and we’ll go home,” Dan said.

“I gather it didn’t go down good for Ross?” JJ asked.

“Do you know him?” Brady asked.

“Yeah. Long story,” she replied. She didn’t want to go into it now. What she did want was her damned cowboy hat back.

“Can you put the hat on my head?” she asked.

Rafe frowned and blinked in confusion at her. Then he chuckled and plopped JJ’s hat onto her head. It felt right having the hat back. Weird to think that way after a man had just been killed.

“Blue is staying with him,” Rafe said softly. He turned his attention to Dan, who was behind her. It appeared he was having difficulty opening the cuffs.

“What the hell is taking so long?” Brady snarled. Tenseness etched his words.

“A flashlight would come in handy,” Dan replied. But suddenly the cuffs fell away.

JJ cried out as her shoulders protested movement. She tried to move her fingers but they were numb and cold.

This sucked. But her discomfort was nothing compared to what might have happened had her three men not come to her rescue.

“Easy, JJ. Move slowly,” Brady said as the three men hovered around her like mother hens.

Three sets of hands helped her to her feet and then embraced her.

She laughed. “A group hug never felt so good.”

They hugged her tighter.

“Wow! JJ, you should get yourself kidnapped more often to get such a wonderful reception.”

Blue’s amused voice shot out of the darkness from somewhere nearby and JJ spied Blue peeking through some bushes at them.

“I guess she’s safe. Good stuff. I’ll hang back here and you guys can radio in the cops. I’ll stay with him until they get here.”

“Thanks, Blue,” JJ heard Brady say.

“Yeah, Blue, had you not seen the guy’s camp, we would have been screwed. As soon as JJ is settled in at the ranch, I’ll come back out and keep you company,” Rafe said.

“I’d appreciate the company. Oh, and make sure you bring out some coffee. I have the feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

“Will do,” Dan said.

Thank God for Blue. She owed the woman and these guys her life.

The guys stopped hugging her, and then JJ was being ushered back out of the bushes and onto the rocky shoreline. They turned left and walked in silence for a few minutes until she spied a boat pulled halfway up on the beach.

“We had the motorboat going at top speed but as we got closer to this area we had to cut the engine. You never saw three guys and a lady paddle so fast. We had to keep quiet in case he was at his camp,” Brady said as he held her tightly to his side and they watched Dan and Rafe push the boat further into the water. They brought the boat sideways against the shoreline and JJ made a step toward it but Brady swung her into his arms and carried her.

“Brady, I’m not an invalid,” she complained.

“No complaints, sweetheart. We almost lost you and we’re going to be paying a lot more attention to you. Right, guys?”

“Hell yes, we’re never letting you out of our sight again,” Rafe said.

Gosh, she hoped he wasn’t serious.

“So much attention that you’ll get sick of us,” Dan laughed as he accepted her from Brady and set her gently on the front seat of the boat.

“Grab onto the sides of the boat and hold on tight, because we are going to give the ride of your life,” Rafe shouted as he settled himself into the back of the boat. In a moment, the motor roared to life.

JJ’s shoulders protested as she reached out and curled her fingers over the cold metal sides of the boat. She held tight.

Brady and Dan jumped into the boat, making it rock precariously as they took their seats. All three men watched her as Rafe angled the motorboat away from shore. Moonlight shone down on them and JJ’s heart leapt with both alarm and happiness as she swore she spied tears in their eyes.

Wow. She couldn’t stop herself from grinning at the overwhelming emotions bubbling through her.

They had risked their lives to save her. They had tears in their eyes for her. She had the feeling that when everything was settled, her three cowboys were going to show her exactly how much they loved her and she could hardly wait.

* * * * *

JJ lounged on one of the several Adirondack chairs on the dock and stared at the lake. Wind whipped against her and white-capped waves rolled along the water beneath the full moon and crashed over the nearby rocky shoreline. Despite two weeks having passed since Ross kidnapped her, JJ continued to struggle with what had happened.

Ross had been harboring a hatred toward JJ for all these years because she’d killed his abusive father. She’d also found out Ross been killed by a shot to his head, from his own weapon. He’d killed himself.

The police had been here several times via floatplane asking questions. But they had assured them that no charges would be laid. A police investigation into Ross — who was a cop just like his father — had turned up information Ross also had been charged with domestic abuse of his wife and two children. He had a restraining order against him on behalf of his wife and children.

Several weeks ago, Ross had been fired from his job after being convicted of abuse of power and then he had disappeared. JJ figured that was about the time he must have shown up here, secretly watching them.

Blue had been a wonderful help. She’d been the one who’d seen a faint stream of smoke from a smoldering campfire a couple of miles south on the eastern lakeshore. She’d circled around and had seen the camp before coming in for a landing on the lake. She’d told the guys and how they’d been able to locate his camp. They’d discovered a small tent, a stash of food and a canoe.

They’d waited there, with hopes of Ross returning with her.

When he had, they’d been there to greet him.

JJ shivered as she thought of how things could have gone badly for her. She should be glad that Ross was dead, but she just couldn’t be happy. He’d abused his wife and his three children. He’d had the same abusive behaviour as his father.