Renewing Lost Love (16 page)

He has to admit that he underestimated those
mercenaries. He hasn’t quite figured out yet how they were able to
sneak up on him the way they did. He usually has a sixth sense
about things like that, but not this time. He was taken completely
by surprise. He credits his latest escape to sheer luck and will
power. At any rate he has been rethinking his plans and has decided
he will need to take those guys out one at a time. They are all
obviously very competent warriors. He’s just not sure how he’s
going to get them alone. Keith Williams will probably be the
easiest. He will do anything to protect Jasmine so all he has to do
is get to her and Keith will follow. Time is on his side and he
intends to take as much time as is necessary.

******

Life on Rock Springs Ranch has settled into a
regular routine. I now have a license to carry a concealed weapon
and am very competent. I carry a semi-automatic in my purse
everywhere I go.

Samantha Wells has settled in nicely and is
driving the members of the Drake Security team crazy hanging around
in their office and asking all types of questions and offering her
opinion in whatever discussion she witnesses. She is obviously very
smart and most of the team takes her presence in stride but for
some reason she and Stump have been at loggerheads since the day
she arrived. They can’t be in the same room together for more than
a few minutes without exchanging barbs.

One afternoon Scoot walks in the office to
hear yelling the minute he opens the door and he says, “Stump, Sam,
enough! What is it with you two anyway?”

Sam throws a look of hatred at Stump and
says, “He’s is the rudest, most obstinate man I have ever met!”

Stump looks back at her with just as much
hatred and says, “Me? You are the one always sticking your nose
where it doesn’t belong and you think you know everything about
everything.” He walks out of the office and slams the door as he
leaves.

Sam walks out behind him and stomps back
across the yard to the main house. Bear has been quietly sitting in
the corner of the office observing the two of them and when they
leave he chuckles out loud.

Scoot looks over at him in exasperation and
asks, “Just what is so funny? I regret the day I suggested the FBI
bring Sam here until after the trial. I will be happy when this
whole thing is over!”

Bear says, “Haven’t you figured out what’s
going on yet? They’re both fighting their attraction for each
other. Mark my words, someday, those two will be married.”

Scoot looks skeptically at Bear and says, “I
don’t think I’ll believe it even when I see it. They’ll kill each
other first.”

******

Jasmine travels into Cody twice a week for
her appointments with the psychiatrist at the hospital. Late one
afternoon after one of her appointments she is driving back to the
ranch when she notices she is being followed by an old rusty red
pickup. She has seen the truck before around town but has never had
a reason to think it would cause her danger. Today, it is speeding
and advancing right up behind her and then backs off falling a good
distance behind. It is making her very nervous.

She pulls her cell phone out of her purse and
lays it on the seat next to her. Then she takes her semi-automatic
and lays it in her lap. Picking up her cell phone she calls
Pinky.

He answers, “Pinky.”

“Hey Keith, I think I have trouble. An old
red pickup is tailing me. He is acting like he is going to ram into
me from behind and then he backs off. It looks like just one man.
What should I do?”

Pinky’s heart is pounding in fear. Damn! He
knew he shouldn’t let Jasmine go into town by herself. He asks,
“Where are you Jasmine?”

“I just turned off on the two lane road to
the ranch. He is still behind me. Oh, Keith, I’m so scared.”
Jasmine’s heart is pounding with fear.

“I’m on my way, Babe hang on,” pleads
Pinky.

Pinky runs to the helicopter followed closely
by Stump. Firing up the engine they fly toward where Jasmine said
she was driving. Scoot and Goose load up in the SUV and start out
on the road headed toward the same destination.

Bob Kenner and Jacob Murray from the Rocking
J Ranch happen to be headed toward town and notice the red pickup
acting strangely. They had just seen Jasmine headed back to the
ranch and have a bad feeling so they turn around and follow the red
pickup.

Jasmine is watching the red pickup as it
advances again toward her car. She tightens her grip on the
steering wheel and increases her speed. This time it slams into the
back of her car causing her to swerve and turn sideways in the
road. She struggles to maintain control and just as she gets the
car straightened on the road the truck hits her again. This time,
it is too much and she slides into the ditch. She tries to back out
but the tires spin and spin. She grabs the gun and makes sure it is
cocked and ready, her heart slamming against the walls of her
chest. Watching in her side view mirror she sees James Bixby open
the door of the red pickup grinning his smirky grin and start
toward the car.

She tells herself, all right Jasmine, you can
do this. It is what you have been training for. She takes a deep
calming breath as he approaches. At the same moment he walks up
even with the car, she hears the helicopter advancing from the
direction of the ranch. Bixby looks up and sees the helicopter
headed toward them. Cursing, he stops, looks, then turns and runs
back to the truck. He makes a tight u-turn speeding back toward
Cody nearly colliding head on with a black extended cab pickup
truck.

Jacob Murray and Bob Kenner slide to a stop
behind Jasmine’s car and run to assist her. Jasmine is sitting in
the driver’s seat shaking, still holding the gun tightly against
her chest, with tears sliding down her cheeks.

Jacob says, “Jasmine, are you all right?”

She nods her head, glances at Jacob and says,
“Please, Jacob, take me home.”

Jacob helps her out of the car and into the
pickup. He calls Scoot to let him know he and Bob have Jasmine and
are driving her to the ranch.

*****

Pinky’s heart is slamming against the wall of
his chest. He sees Jasmine’s car, nose in the ditch on the side of
the road with the red pickup parked behind. He sees a man walking
toward the car. He pushes the helicopter as fast as it will go
toward them and he sees the man turn and run back toward the truck,
climb in, u-turn and speed away. His heart is pounding. Please God,
let her be all right!

Pinky circles back around looking for a place
to land when Stump says, “He didn’t get her. She’s still in the
car. Look, that’s Jacob’s truck. He and Bob Kenner are with
her.”

Pinky breathes a sigh of relief. Dear God,
thank you.

Scoot radios up to the helicopter to tell
Pinky that Jacob has Jasmine and is taking her back to the ranch.
She is unhurt.

Pinky turns the helicopter back toward the
ranch, tears of relief sliding down his cheeks. He and Stump are
walking up to the house just about the same time Jacob’s truck
pulls into the drive.

He approaches the passenger side of Jacob’s
truck, opens the door, and pulls Jasmine into his arms holding her
close to his body, tears sliding down his cheeks. He looks at Jacob
and Bob and says, “I can never thank you enough.”

Jacob smiles, “We’re glad we could return the
favor. Let us know if you need anything.”

Pinky takes Jasmine by the hand and leads her
into the house and up to their room. Jacob looks at Stump and asks,
“Bixby?”

Stump says, “It looks that way. That was a
close one. Thank you for helping.”

******

James Bixby is cursing a blue streak. What is
it with these damn mercenaries? Do they have ESP or something?
What’s he going to have to do to succeed? He thought he had
everything planned out perfectly. He has been watching Jasmine come
and go at the hospital twice a week for a couple of weeks now. He
even followed her home on two different occasions. The element of
surprise was completely in his favor. What did he do wrong? Well,
no way will she be alone again. He’s going to have to find another
way. But now he has lost the element of surprise. He’s going to
have to back off and wait a while to get it back.

******

When Pinky and Jasmine enter their bedroom
and close the door, he pulls her into his arms and takes her lips
with his in a desperate kiss, plunging his tongue past her lips,
devouring the moist warmth of her mouth. Jasmine is just as
desperate. She immediately begins unbuttoning his shirt, then his
pants. They can’t undress fast enough. Finally they fall on the bed
and he plunges his swollen shaft into her warmth, pumping in and
out in desperation. Jasmine welcomes his invasion with open arms,
just as desperate as he is for the revivification of their love.
When they crash over into oblivion he smothers their shouts of
ecstasy with a deep kiss.

Slowly floating back to earth he pulls her
close to his side and says, “Oh God, Jasmine, I was so scared.
Thank God you’re safe.”

Tears of relief sliding down her cheeks and
pooling on his chest, she says, “ It was him, Keith. He’s
back.”

“I know. It’s going to be all right. We’ll
get him. I promise,” replies Keith.

******

Timmy Thompson’s adoption by Keith Williams
is scheduled to be finalized in a few weeks and he is very excited.
He loves living on the ranch and loves going to school with Damian
and Eric. Because of the uncertainty about whether or not others
are trying to get to Timmy, Pinky or one of the other members of
the Drake Security team escorts all of the school age children at
the ranch to school each day and picks them up each afternoon.

One day just after lunch, Scoot’s cell phone
rings, “Scoot.”

“Scoot, Jacob Murray. Dani just called me
from school. She said she saw Timmy being taken from school by a
man in a dark blue SUV. They grabbed him from the playground during
lunch recess. Dani just happened to be between classes and heard
his screams. She said they left in a hurry spinning their wheels in
the gravel.”

“Damn! Thanks for calling Jacob.”

After disconnecting he yells at all of the
other guys and then Goose, Scoot, Pinky, Barry, and Stump all head
to the helicopter with their weapons. Bear is on the phone with the
FBI giving them the details of the abduction. Jasmine is pacing
back and forth in the great room. Samantha is fuming, stomping
around the room, because the guys wouldn’t let her go with them.
Melanie and Sherrie are sitting on the sofa watching the scene
before them.

Pinky’s heart is pounding as they board the
helicopter, dear Lord please protect Timmy. Please let them find
him quickly. As they near Cody they check the roads out of town but
don’t see any sign of a dark blue SUV. Dread begins to settle in
Pinky’s gut.

Jasmine has had enough. She stops her pacing,
grabs Samantha by the shoulders, then shakes her violently and
says, “For God sake Samantha, shut up! You are not helping! You are
the only person that has ever been around any of these people.
Think, did you overhear anything?”

Sam is shocked at the vehemence in Jasmine’s
voice. She stops cursing, looks at Jasmine with a confused look on
her face, then says, “Yes, yes I do! I remember, they were taking
me to a ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyoming. It was going to be
their command post for trying to get to Timmy! And ... and ...
during one of his cell phone calls I heard him call a name ... it
was ... damn ... Randall!”

Bear gets on the phone with the FBI and
relays the information to them and then radios the guys in the
helicopter. They turn toward Sheridan but don’t see anything of a
blue SUV. Leaf is on the computer in Barry’s office researching
ranches owned by anyone named Randall in Wyoming.

Cursing Pinky says, “Damn! What do we do
now?”

Goose says, “Let’s make some passes around
the area. Sam said they were taking her to a ranch near here. Maybe
we will see the SUV at one of the houses.”

So, Scoot begins making wide sweeps of the
area moving further and further away from the center of Sheridan,
Wyoming. It’s not too long till they spot a blue SUV parked in
front of an old ranch house that looks like it had been abandoned.
They can tell from the air the roof is badly in need of repair. The
barn is falling in on itself and most of the corrals and other
normal ranch buildings appear to be completely missing.

Scoot radios the FBI. “We have spotted a blue
SUV at what appears to be an abandoned ranch. We are ten miles east
of Sheridan. The nearest cross road is highway 183.”

The FBI agent says, “That sounds like the old
Wilson place. Let me run it through the database.”

About the same time Bear radios the team that
Leaf had found information on the internet that someone named
Joshua Randall purchased a ranch near Sheridan six months ago.
Joshua Randall is the former CFO of Westbrook Oil Company in
Texas.

After a few long minutes the agent says, “I’m
showing that the Wilson place sold six months ago to someone named
Joshua Randall. That’s it! I’ll send a team out to that location.
It will probably take about an hour to get everybody on site.”

Scoot says, “It’s going to be dark by then.
We’ll make our way to the area surrounding the house and wait for
you to arrive.”

Pinky’s heart is pounding as he’s listening
to the FBI agent. After Scoot disconnects with them Pinky says, “I
have to say that after the way the Bureau has been messing up with
the Bixby case, I am very nervous about waiting for them to save
Timmy.”

Barry says, “I completely understand. The day
those guys took Eric I wasn’t about to wait for someone to come
from town to the ranch to try to save him. Can’t we do something
Scoot?”