Safe In His Arms (Manhunt) (12 page)

The ambulance roared up just as Alex ran out the back of the house again. The fire truck had arrived, and firefighters were already rolling out the hoses and spraying water on the flames.

Two medics knelt by Joy, examining her.

Alex’s heart hammered. Mia wasn’t in the house. What if Geoff had her?

In spite of the heat from the fire, cold fear swept over him. He’d promised to protect her and he’d failed.

The noise of the water spraying rent the air, but suddenly he froze. He thought he heard a scream

He pivoted, scanning the property. The silhouette of a person moving in the woods caught his eye.

Another scream.

Mia.

She was running, but a man was chasing her, close on her tail.

Yanking his gun from his holster, he darted in the direction of the figure.  His lungs strained for air as he jogged into the thicket of trees. With daylight long gone and only a sliver of the moon to illuminate the woods, he lost Mia for a moment.

Terror overwhelmed him. Geoff must have orchestrated the fire to lure Mia outside. Killing Joleen had been a diversion.

Another scream pierced the air, and he cursed and picked up his pace, dashing to the right and jumping over branches that must have been blown down in a storm.

The sound of a man’s snarl made his stomach clench, and he spotted a hulking figure lunge at Mia. She went down, the man on top of her.

Pure rage assaulted Alex, and he tightened his grip on his gun and hurled himself through the weeds. A few feet more and he saw the man drag Mia up by the hair.

She was panting and fighting, kicking back at him, fighting like a wild cat.

Alex inched behind a tree, raised his gun and aimed it at the man’s head.  “Let her go or you’re dead.”

Leaves rustled as the man’s head whipped to the left toward him. Alex sized him up quickly.

Not Geoff. This man was larger, burly, had a beard, and hands the size of ham hocks.

Alex’s finger tightened on the trigger. “I said let her go. Now.”

“Son of a bitch,” the man snarled.

Mia’s shaky breathing rattled in the silence as Alex stepped from behind the tree to reveal himself and his weapon, which he kept trained on the man’s head.

“I’m not going to say it again,” Alex said. “Release her this second or take a bullet.”

The man dropped his hands from Mia’s hair. She stumbled, caught herself against a tree and shoved strands of her hair from her face. Blood trickled down her forehead, sending his temper to a boiling high.

“Are you all right, Mia?”

Her gaze met his, her eyes filled with fear. But he recognized fight there as well. “Yes.”

But she wasn’t all right and they both knew it. She’d obviously sustained a blow to the head, and no telling what else. She’d been missing less than half an hour but a lot could happen in that time.

His gaze skated over her, assessing. At least her clothes were intact.

The bastard who’d attacked her shifted, and Alex shook his head in warning. If the jerk touched her again, Alex would kill him with his bare hands.

“Go ahead. Try to run,” he said in a menacing voice.  “Give me a reason to blow your head off.”

The man’s hands flew upward in surrender.  “No. Don’t shoot.”

“Who are you?” Alex asked.

Sweat poured down the man’s ruddy skin. “Look, I wasn’t going to hurt her, but the bitch bit me.”

Alex slid his hand into his pocket and removed a pair of handcuffs, then quickly yanked the guy’s hands behind his back and snapped the cuffs tight. “I asked you your name.”

“Fuck you.”

Alex ground his teeth. “Why you did abduct Mia?”

The man’s jowls puffed out, and he glanced at Mia. Her breathing was finally steadying, but she was still trembling. He wanted to drag her in his arms and hold her, comfort her.

Alleviate her fear.

Kill the man who’d hurt her.

Alex twisted the man around and flung him up against a tree so hard the man winced in pain.

 Alex raised his gun and pointed it straight at his eyes. “Tell me.”

“I –“

But the bastard never got to finish the sentence. A bullet whizzed by Alex’s head and penetrated the jerk’s skull. The man’s eyes widened just as the bullet entered, then he dropped to the ground, blood and brains splattering across the dirt.

Mia screamed, and he lunged toward her, pulled her in his arms and yanked her safely behind a smattering of trees in case the shooter fired again.

C
HAPTER
T
EN

Mia clutched Alex’s arms as he dragged her to the ground to cover her.  He checked her for injuries, but she brushed away his hands and his concern. She couldn’t take her eyes off the man who’d been shot.

Blood gushed from his head, the top of his skull exposed, his body limps. He’d been shot right in front of her eyes.

“Mia, are you okay?” Alex asked gruffly.

She nodded, shock straining her features.

“Do you know who he was?” Alex asked.

She shook her head no. “Joy and I were in the kitchen, and I heard the window crash. When I went into the living room, I saw the smoke and yelled at Joy to run out the back.”

Alex cradled her face between his hands. “Did you see Geoff?”

“No,” she said shakily.  “When I ran back to the kitchen, Joy was on the floor. I helped her outside, then was going to call for help, but someone hit me over the back of the head.”

She automatically touched the spot where she’d been hit, sticky blood coating her fingertips and matting her hair.

Alex craned his head to look for the shooter. For all they knew, the son of a bitch could have a half dozen hired men working for him. All ready to snatch Mia at his beck and call.   “What happened then?”

“When I came to, that man was dragging me through the woods.”

“Was Geoff a good marksman?” Alex asked.

“Not when I knew him. But he had to be good to have hit that man from a distance.” She looked up at him, her eyes haunted. “Or do you think Geoff was shooting at
me
?”

“No, I think the shooter wanted to abduct you and take you to Jones.”

Because Geoff wouldn’t kill Mia, at least not at first.

He was just the type of sadistic monster who’d toy with her. Torment her. Make her suffer.

A sound cut through the tense silence, branches and twigs snapping, and a figure sprinted up the hill toward the west end near the road.

Alex cursed.

Mia nudged his shoulder. “Go after him.”

“I’m not leaving you.” Alex pulled her up against him. “I made that mistake before. Not again.”

Alex hugged her to him, punching in a number on his phone. “Sheriff, this is Sgt. Townsend. A man tried to kidnap Mia. I caught up with them, but a shooter was in the woods and killed Mia’s attacker. We’ll need the crime techs and the ME here to examine his body and transport him to the morgue.”

“Jesus, what a cluster,” the sheriff said. “First Joleen, then the fire and now this.”

“It has to all be related,” Alex said. “Killing Joleen was a diversion, then the fire was set to draw Mia out. She took a blow to the head.”

“This is some determined fucker,” Sheriff Leonard muttered. “I’ll send one of the techs and Dr. Ponderson over there.”

“Good. I’ll wait here until one of you arrives.” Even if the dead man couldn’t talk, identifying him could help solve the case.

If he’d murdered Joleen, her family deserved to know and have closure as they laid her to rest.

Mia sank down onto the ground and leaned against the tree, her head spinning. She couldn’t believe all this was happening. Twenty-four hours ago, she’d thought she was safe. She’d been happy riding across the ranch.

Now Joleen had been injured, the farmhouse might be lost, and another man was dead.

All because of her.

“This has to stop, Alex.”

Alex knelt beside her and squeezed her hands between his.  “We will stop it, Mia. Just hang in there, okay?”

She nodded numbly, although she desperately wanted to turn back the clock. Leave the Crossties before anyone else she cared about was hurt.

The McCauleys were the closest thing to family she’d ever known. She hated that they’d been drawn into her problems with her sick, twisted ex.

Alex walked over to the man’s body, dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a wallet. He flipped it open and checked the ID. “Man’s name is Farr Olander. Do you recognize the name?”

“I’ve never seen or heard of him,” Mia said, averting her eyes from the gruesome bloody scene. Although she had a feeling she’d be seeing his shattered head in her nightmares for years.

The sound of a car screeching up to the house echoed from the dirt road down the hill, and minutes later the sheriff and ME approached them.

Smoke still curled in the sky above the house, but she didn’t see flames anymore. Hopefully the fire fighters had contained the blaze before it could spread through the house. But there would be smoke and water damage.

The sheriff ambled up, eyes narrowed as he spotted the dead man on the ground.  “Well, this is a helluva day. Who is he?”

“His name is Farr Olander.” Alex handed the sheriff the man’s wallet.  “He probably works for Jones, but let’s verify that and find out everything we can about him.”

A crime tech strode toward them, and Alex explained what had happened. 

“I’m going to make sure the medics examine Mia while you guys handle transporting his body to the morgue.”

“You shot him?” the sheriff asked.

Alex shook his head. “No, the shooter was up there in the woods. He got away. Look for bullet casings. Maybe we can match them to the gun that killed Joleen and connect the dots.”

Mia’s heart ached as she thought of Joleen. Joleen’s daughter and grandchildren would be devastated when they heard she was gone.

Alex returned to her side, held out his hand and helped her to stand. “Come on, Mia. You need to get checked out.”

“I’m fine,” Mia said although she felt shaky from the ordeal, relented and allowed herself to lean on Alex as they walked down the hill back to the house. The scent of charred wood suffused the air, but at least the house was still standing.

It looked as if the firefighters had contained the blaze to the front of the house, but there still was extensive damage.

Poor Joy and Henry.She’d have to figure out a way to pay for the repairs.

As soon as she saw Joy on the stretcher beside the ambulance, she let go of Alex and ran toward her.  Regret mingled with relief.

At least Joy was alive. But she never would have been hurt if not for Mia.

Henry hovered beside his wife, his face ashen with fear for Joy.

Mia stopped by the stretcher and looked down at her friend. “Joy, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yes, honey, are you?” Joy ran her fingers over Mia’s face.

“Yes. But I’m so sorry, Joy. You’re hurt and your house is damaged…I’ll try to pay you back…”

 Anger and sorrow surged through Mia. The McCauleys didn’t deserve this.

“Our house is just a house,” Joy said. “You are far more important, dear,” Joy whispered.

Tears blurred Mia’s eyes, and she looked up at Henry, expecting to see anger, but compassion and love shimmered in his expression.

Henry wiped at his teary eyes. “She’s right, as long as you girls are okay, everything else can be replaced.”

“What happened?” Joy asked.

Alex had come up behind Mia, anger radiating from him.  “There were two men,” Alex said.  “We think they were working for Jones, and that they set the fire to lure Mia outside.”

He paused. “The man who attacked Mia was named Farr Olander. I caught him, but someone else in the woods shot him before I could bring him in. The shooter escaped.”

“This is crazy,” Mia said. “I can’t go on like this.”

“It’s going to be all right,” Alex said in a deep voice.  “We’ll find him, Mia.”

Mia shook her head.  “Let me go on TV. I’ll make a plea with Geoff, agree to meet him if he’ll leave everyone else I care about alone.”

Joy and Henry both shook their heads in protest, eyes alarmed. “No, Mia,” Joy said.