Gina's Private Police Force [Men of Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (26 page)

By the sounds of the clatter on the other end, Glen must have dropped the receiver on the table as he yelled out, “Tanya! The cops want to speak with you! Make it snappy!”

It was a few moments before the receiver moved on the other end as Tanya picked it up. “Hello?”

“Tanya, Jared here. How long has that man that Connor was asking you about been hanging around?”

Waiting while she thought about it, Jared glanced at Connor’s curious face. Finally, she took a breath before exhaling, “About two weeks.”

“Do you remember if he has ever been in while Gina was working?”

“Now that you mention it…he hasn’t. Always in the evening after she left,” Tanya said hastily, then asked, “How’s she doing? Is she all right?”

“She’s shaken up but she’s going to be all right. I’ll let her know you were asking about her.”

Glen yelled out at Tanya in the background. “Tanya, tell those lousy cops to take care of my girl and get off the phone!”

Chuckling, Jared said his good-byes and hit disconnect on his phone. “I think Glen needs to get laid,” he joked.

“Like you believe that would change his demeanor?” Connor asked, joining in on the joke.

Jared glanced in the backseat and met the scowling gaze of the woman resting there. “Sorry about that, babe. Forgot you were back there for a minute. We’ll behave.”

For the next ten minutes, they drove in relative silence until the turn off for the road to take them to the ranch appeared. Turning off, they had to slow down and when they came upon the area where Gina had been pushed off the road, both men turned to glance at each other as shivers ran up their spines at the idea of how close they had been to losing her.

Up ahead, at the turnoff onto the Lawson ranch, three vehicles sat side by side in the roadway, lights off. Connor’s lights glancing off the chrome bumpers of the pickups was the only indication they were there. Connor slowed down just a tad before taking the corner onto his property quickly and slamming on his brakes.

* * * *

The taxi, getting closer, began to slow, getting ready to turn until the scarred man saw the trio of trucks before him. Hesitating, he slammed on his own brakes and was going to throw the car into reverse when two pickups behind him, which had been traveling at a safe distance behind him for the past five miles, turned on their headlights, revealing they were blocking the road behind him.

Panic ensued within the man at the wheel and glancing around, he could see the forms of men coming forth with weapons in their hands. Flooring the gas pedal, he barely missed James and Kevin as they jumped out of the way just in time from being mowed down. The taxi jumped into the ditch and then out again on the other side as shots rang out.

Bullets hit the sides of the vehicle as it bounced along the uneven ground as he tried to drive away from the road into the dried grass and shrubs. The back window shattered as the bullet whizzed by his head. The trussed-up man in the backseat was tossed about not only from the journey but from the anger that was building from the destruction of his only form of income.

Anger driving him, the man lifted his bound feet and slammed them into the back of the driver’s seat, sending it forward a bit. The scarred man felt the impact first from behind and the force of it drove his slight frame forward into the steering wheel. Howling from the pain that ricocheted throughout his body, he tried to keep the car steady, but it began an uphill trudge, the engine gunning as it climbed. The engine sputtered and the lights began to flash wildly on the dashboard. Slamming his leathery hand against the steering wheel, he felt the slam of feet again to the back of the seat, but this time, they seemed to slip up from the top of the seat and kicked the back of his hoodie clad head.

Screaming out in pain, he turned slightly in the seat to hit out blindly at the bound man, but the car at that point hit something. The impact tossed the mystery man along the bench seat of the car causing him to land near the passenger door after he struck his head along the ceiling of the car.

Pain exploded throughout his body. It seared every nerve ending that had not felt pain in ages, as if they had all come back to life. It felt as if his body was on fire again.

Again, it was all due to Gina. Sweet, sweet Gina. The one he had wasted so much time on. The one who was sleeping with the sheriff. She was his woman, not the sheriff’s. She belonged to him and he was going to take her and make her pay for all the pain he had suffered because of her.

Dazed, he could hear the engine revving as it pushed against whatever blocked its path. Fumbling for the door handle, he pulled it open and fell out. The ground was cold and scratchy as dried grass stuck up from the solidly compacted soil. The prickly stalks poked into his skin causing more pain but he tried not to cry out as to not reveal his location to those he was certain were trying to find him.

Listening briefly he could hear the shouts of men getting closer. Standing on shaky legs, he ran off in the direction he had been driving, hoping to put as much distance between himself and the car. With darkness surrounding him, he knew his escape was going to be hampered, but then so was their investigation.

* * * *

Connor and Jared had just stepped out of the Tahoe when the taxi’s engine gunned and the car jumped the ditch after barely missing two of their friends. As chaos ensued, some of the men started out on foot up the small hill while others raced to their trucks, jumped in and headed up the hill. The two trucks that followed them in from the highway backed up and drove off in the direction they came, their drivers knowing their way around.

After watching the others leave, Connor and Jared both got back into the SUV and headed up the dirt road to the ranch house that sat way off the main road. They wanted to protect their woman and they trusted the people going after the mystery man.

The vehicle came to a skidding stop in front of the house and both men jumped out. Connor opened the back door and helped the frightened woman from the backseat, the blanket still wrapped around her. By that time, Jared had come around to her side and both men walked slightly behind her, shoulder to shoulder as they escorted her to the front door. Each man with a hand on their weapon would have stopped a decent man in his tracks but neither one of the them trusted the mystery man or how far he would go to hurt their woman.

The door swung open quickly, light permeating from the inside around the tall, trim, muscular body of Lawrence, his streaked blonde hair a halo around his head. Stepping aside, he helped pull the woman in from the cold and to his side as Connor and Jared stepped in. As soon as the door closed behind them, a figure jumped up from Connor’s recliner and threw herself into first Connor’s arms, and then, putting her arm out, Gina motioned Jared closer to him so he could join in the hug.

The cloaked figure let the blanket slide to the floor before she let her hands run through her long blonde hair. “God, that was some trip,” Amanda said as she watched the threesome together, jealousy shooting through her. She wanted that same thing. She wanted the love both these men radiated to Gina.

Seeming to be content with being held by both of her men, Gina didn’t appear to have any fear of being seen by the others as she would have been only yesterday. Even though the room was warm from the fire in the stone fireplace and she was enveloped in her men’s arms, she was shivering. The adrenaline rush that had probably overtaken her since they left the hospital through a side door and secreted away in Lawrence’s new truck was beginning to wane.

“Wh–what happened?” she asked between chattering teeth.

“Don’t worry yourself about it, sugar,” Jared said as he kissed the back of her neck as his hands snaked around her waist to hold her close.

Placing his hands on both sides of her face, Connor drew her in, letting his lips cover hers lightly. His lips made love to hers gently for a few moments before he pulled away. Gazing into her eyes, he saw the fright there and knew they needed to get her to calm down.

“Jared, take her to the bedroom and make her comfortable.” Turning to Lawrence, he waited until the two left the room before he spoke in a hushed tone. “The bastard got away. He jumped the ditch and broke through the fence across the road. He headed up the hill. Everyone is out looking for him now.”

“What do you want me to do with Amanda here? Take her back to the hospital?” Lawrence asked anxiously.

Connor knew the man wanted to be out on the hunt. Being an FBI agent but sitting around the office in Polson didn’t give him a lot of opportunity to be active in the field.

Looking at the woman next to Lawrence, he didn’t want her in danger, especially since she had been originally targeted for information from the mystery man. “Do you have room at your place for her?” he asked Lawrence.

“Sure. I’m sure Angela would love another female to talk to out there,” Lawrence agreed. “She’s been talking about trying to get a job but Wolf and I told her no.”

Connor shrugged. “She doesn’t really have any qualifications.”

“It’s not just that. Wolf is around the ranch so much now that work is slow, and with my hours, we want to be able to be with her whenever we can.”

Smiling, the sheriff nodded. “I know how that goes. That’s why we are going to need to get another deputy on night duty. Jared won’t be working that anymore. We have a family to deal with now.”

A wide smile broke Lawrence’s normal brooding features. “We’ve been talking about it.”

Chucking his soon-to-be brother-in-law in the arm, Connor was pleased. Angela needed something like a baby to ground her. “Good for you, man. I hope it works well for you guys.”

“Me, too. Since I met Wolf and Angela, I’ve been wanting to settle down.”

“Great. Perhaps we can fill this house with children again,” Connor said, still grinning. “I’m sure my parents would love that.”

Lawrence smiled again then glanced at Amanda as she listened quietly to their ramblings about family. “Well, let’s get you to my place, little lady. You’ll be safe there.”

Nodding, Amanda picked up the blanket she had brought with her and wrapped herself back up in it, this time to ward off the cold. Lawrence opened the door for her and let her walk out onto the porch first. As he slipped through, Connor started to close the door behind him but stopped when he found Storm and Austin hauling a tall, lean man between them.

To say that fright written on his face was an understatement. The dark haired Native American man kept moving his eyes between the two men who were taller than he as if they were taking him to his death. Marks around his mouth indicated he had been gagged with some sort of material, recently removed. His hands were still bound before him with duct tape and the remains of duct tape on his pants legs indicated he had been bound at his feet also.

“Who the hell is this?” Connor asked stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind him. He didn’t want Gina to know that the scarred man hadn’t been found yet.

Storm shook the man slightly. “He says he is the taxi driver. Says he was cleaning out the backseat of the car at the hospital when our guy clocked him over the head and tied him up. He was in the backseat, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

“Why is he still tied up?” Irritation was evident in Connor’s voice as he questioned the men.

Both men shrugged as if uncertain how to answer. “Just wanted to make sure he wasn’t involved.” Storm answered. “Besides, he’s hopping mad at the shape of his cab. The maniac crashed it into a boulder.”

Releasing the breath he was holding in hopes they had caught the mystery man, Connor knew the answer before he asked the question. “Did he get away?”

All three men nodded in unison. Connor swore under his breath. “Where’s Trey and Lyndee?”

“They swung around the hill to see if he might go down the other side,” Austin said, pulling a six-inch hunting knife from its sheath that hung off his belt. Moving it toward the terrorized man who jerked back in non-understanding, he added, “I’m sure they’ll check in as soon as they find something.”

Austin grasped the shaking hands of the man before him, placed the blade between his two hands, and pulled up, slicing through the multiple layers of tape, freeing the man of his binds. Moving his hands in freedom, the man moved his shoulders up and down trying to work out the kinks that worked their way into his muscles after hours of being bound.

“You go be with your woman,” Storm offered. “We’ll take care of everything else.”

“Thanks,” Connor said, having to contain his joy. Looking at Amanda standing next to Lawrence who was listening with interest in what was going on, Connor said, “Thank you for your help, Amanda. We really appreciate it. We’ll make sure you get home all right in the morning.”

Nodding, she smiled sadly. “No problem. It’s the least I could do.”

Lawrence escorted her out to his truck while Storm and Austin led the taxi driver out to one of their trucks in the driveway. Connor stepped back inside the house, locked the door, and turned out the lights in the living room on his way down the hallway. Stepping closer to the bedroom, he could hear clothes rustling along with Jared speaking lowly to Gina. A smile lit up his face as he listened to the sounds he hoped would continue nightly in that room while toe-kicking off his boots.