20. Lana #2
The bottom dropped out of my stomach and bile rose as what was left churned. Slowly, I sat up, arms and legs unfolding. One word whispered through my mind: No.
“No.” Toren’s quiet voice echoed my thoughts and held an edge.
“It’s not a request, McCrae.” Deke’s hand moved toward his jacket. “She’ll be returned unharmed once?—”
Toren moved.
He covered the distance in two steps, crutch abandoned. With all his weight on his good foot, he extended his arms and grabbed onto Deke’s right arm before the man finished his sentence.
Deke moved fast, though, and, in the same motion, he bent his arm and pivoted on his left foot into Toren. His boot came down with a swift chopping motion directly onto Toren’s left ankle.
The sound that came out of Toren’s throat made my vision go white at the edges as fury swelled in my veins. My feet hit the ground.
Toren went down on one knee. Deke grabbed Toren’s injured left hand and wrenched his fingers sideways.
“Toren!”
I didn’t think. I ran at Deke, hitting him shoulder-first in the side as hard as I could. I bounced off, and had a minimal effect on his balance, but the few inches I managed to move him were enough to break his grip.
Toren reacted. I don’t know how, but somehow, he pushed past the pain he was in and regained his footing, getting a fistful of Deke’s collar.
Deke pulled his gun before Toren could land a punch.
But it wasn’t pointed at Toren. It was pointed at me.
“Back off.” Deke was breathing harder now. His flat eyes hadn’t changed. “Now. Both of you.”
Toren’s fingers loosened slightly, then tightened again. He looked at me, then back at Deke.
The other man pulled the hammer back on his pistol.
Oh, shit…
I closed my eyes, waiting for the searing pain of a bullet tearing through me. Maybe I’d get lucky and it’d go straight through the part of my brain that handled pain, and I wouldn’t feel a thing. Just keel over and wake up in another life, floating through a sunny grass field, next to my gram.
“Hey!”
A distant shout made my eyes pop open.
Deke took two steps back, wrenching his coat collar from Toren’s grasp. Gun still up, he looked around for Vic and Toby.
Vic was gone. A trail of fresh boot prints led into the forest to the right. Toby, eyes as round as saucers, stood with his hands up at his shoulders, not moving toward anyone. His gaze was fixed beyond us at something in the distance.
I chanced a look and saw Walker and another man about seventy-five yards away, running toward us.
Muscles ticked in Deke’s jaw as he followed Toby’s gaze, then looked back at us. He held Toren’s gaze for a beat, then another, before he lowered the gun and turned, running off into the forest in the same direction Vic went.
Nobody moved for about three seconds, then Toren dropped into the snow.
“Toren.” I dropped down beside him.
“I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
“No, you’re not.” I eyed his now crooked fingers.
“I said I’m fine.” His tight tone said he was absolutely not fine.
“Lana! Toren!”
I glanced up to see Walker only fifty feet away now. With a few more running steps, he and his companion were at our sides.
“Jesus. That looks terrible.” Walker nodded to Toren’s hand.
“It’s fine.”
Walker snorted.
“Oh, man.” The other man, whom I didn’t recognize, walked up. “That’s a gnarly break, McCrae.”
“It’s fine.” There was a bite to Toren’s words now. “It just needs set and it’ll be all right.” He raised his good hand. “Make yourselves useful and help me up.”
The two men got under both of Toren’s arms and lifted.
I tipped my head, looking at Toren’s ankle. I couldn’t tell if it was worse off than before. It probably was after being smashed like that, but he’d put his boot on this morning, lacing it as snug as was comfortable, to help protect it as we walked, and so he didn’t have to carry it.
“Where else are you hurt?” Walker’s friend asked. “Your foot?”
“Yeah. I sprained my ankle a few days ago. Asshole, there”—he tipped his chin toward the trees—“just stomped on it again.”
The man winced. “Ouch.”
“Go after him, would you? We can’t let him get away.”
“I would, but he’s armed. I saw the gun. And I’m by myself.”
“Take Walker and Dustin.” Toren waved a hand at the man who hadn’t moved from his boulder through all the commotion. “Hell, Lana will probably jump at the chance to go after him.”
“He’s not wrong,” I said.
The man shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. We’d probably end up in a shootout, and I want him alive. He’s got information about this poaching ring I want.” He turned to Toby, who still stood off to the side with his hands up. “More than what that one can provide, I think.”
His gaze swung to me. “Are you injured?”
I shook my head. “Just pissed.”
He flashed a quick grin, the smile lighting his hazel eyes. “I can see that. You must be Lana. Walker told me about you. I’m Jesse Wakefield, one of the Fish and Game officers for this area.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” The hilarity of the exchange of mundane pleasantries in the midst of the craziness was not lost on me.
Suddenly, I was extremely ready for it to all be over.
“Listen, if you’re not going after Deke and Vic right now, can we leave?
We’re all done with this shit.” I fluttered a hand, encompassing nothing and everything.
Jesse nodded. “Let me make a couple calls to get the ball rolling on getting a department plane up here with some more officers, then Walker can load you all up and take you back to civilization.”
His gaze fell on Toby. “Except you. You’re staying with me.
” His boots making a soft squeak-crunch in the snow, he crossed to the quiet man.
“You’re under arrest for poaching, and probably for a bunch of other things, but we’ll figure the rest out later.
” He took a set of handcuffs from the back of his belt.
“Can I take these three back to the plane to get warm?” Walker called to Jesse.
Jesse nodded.
“Let’s go, then.” Walker waved us toward the aircraft.
He didn’t have to tell me twice.
In a few quick strides, I was at Toren’s side to help Walker get him to the plane. I tucked my shoulder under his before either of them could argue with me. I needed the contact as much as Toren needed the support.
At the plane, Walker tossed our bags inside, then hopped in to help Toren climb the steps.
I kept a hand on his back to steady him as he hopped up the short flight of stairs to the cabin.
Dustin followed and went to the back of the aircraft settling into a seat on the right and immediately closing his eyes.
I could only imagine the sense of relief he felt now.
Yesterday, he probably thought he was a dead man.
Toren took my hand and tugged, pulling me toward the seat next to the one he’d settled into just behind the cockpit.
I sank into it, letting him hold onto my hand, our arms hanging over the aisle.
His hand was warm and solid in mine, grounding me to reality.
I didn’t want to too closely analyze the feelings of comfort and peace that simple touch provided.
Not because I didn’t like the idea of where the analysis would take me, but because I simply didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with it right now.
He stared at me for long moments, emotions crisscrossing his face at a speed I couldn’t read.
“What?” I finally asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Thank you.”
I frowned. “For what?”
“Coming to my defense. Keeping me from falling over.” A smile tipped one side of his lovely mouth.
My eyes went to his full lips. They were a bit chapped from the cold today and yesterday, but that didn’t stop me from wondering how they’d feel against my own.
I tamped down that thought. Now that we were safe, it seemed my hormones had decided to come out and play again.
I raised my gaze.
The low burn of need simmered in the dark depths of his eyes. Something sparked between us and lit an ember in my belly. Heat curled upward from it to lick at my cheeks, fanned by the feel of his hand in mine.
“All right, folks. Let’s get you warm.”
Walker’s voice from the cockpit broke the moment.
I blinked, and the heat died. Toren’s gaze returned to its normal, everyday brown, and he let go of my hand.
Sitting back in my seat, I folded my hands in my lap and faced the front of the plane, mentally wiping sweat from my brow. That had been some look.
I needed to be careful. That little bit of fire promised a lot more. Being consumed by it could be dangerous.
Or it could be the best thing to ever happen to you.
I kept my expression neutral, but internally, I frowned at my inner voice.
Was she right? Could this go somewhere?
The memory of his dead wife popped into my mind.
I wasn’t sure he was over her. Did I want to compete with a ghost?