22. Hail #2
Inside the kitchen, she climbed back into the box, and I secured the lid, hefting it and carrying it back out to the wagon with my cowboy hat low to shield my face. Tark had purposefully worn the same clothing as me with the assumption they couldn’t tell us apart.
The eastern sky was brightening toward full dawn, painting the world in soft pinks and golds. It would be a pretty day. I could only hope today would see a successful and safe end to this threat.
Tressa scooted through the darkness and hopped up into the back of the wagon, where I covered her with hay.
I turned the sorhox pulling the wagon in the alley, guiding him along the back of the buildings, taking the vehicle past the pottery barn, the larger barn where we held functions, and along the road leading out of town.
Greel would follow at a distance, providing cover, and two of my other brothers would be hiding in locations along the way to give assistance as needed. The plan sounded good. It should work.
It had better work.
The barn felt bigger somehow with Allie’s little car sitting in the middle of it. The familiar scents of hay and wood shavings mixed with the faint smell of motor oil from the car. Greel and Tark had done good work getting it here without being seen, but now came the hard part.
After being released from the back of the wagon, Allie stood beside the car, keys jingling softly in her hand, her jaw set in that determined way she got when she was scared but ready to face the situation anyway.
Tressa stood by the cracked-open barn door, watching everything outside with sharp eyes.
“It’s going to be alright,” I told Allie.
“It is.” She looked up at me with trust in her eyes. “This will end soon, one way or another.”
The courage in her voice, the willingness to put herself at risk so we could have a future together, made me proud and terrified all at once. This woman who’d stumbled into our lives only weeks ago was now ready to face down the people who’d been hunting her for years.
I stepped closer. “I’m proud of you, you know that?”
Her eyes softened. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re-you’re incredibly brave.”
Her smile lit up her face. “I learned from the best cowboy I know.”
She launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist. I caught her, her warmth pressing against me.
The sweet scent of her soap filled my senses.
Turning, I pressed her back against the wooden barn wall.
Her fingers tangled in my hair, tugging enough to bring on my groan of pleasure.
Her kiss was fierce and desperate and full of everything we couldn’t say. I could feel the rapid flutter of her pulse against my palm where I cupped her neck. I kissed her back just as hard, trying to pour all my love and fear and hope into the connection between us.
“I love you,” she whispered against my lips when we broke apart.
“I love you too.” I set her down gently, my hands lingering on her waist. “More than I ever thought possible.”
She smiled up at me, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright. “Good thing, because you’re stuck with me now.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other wa-wa-way.”
She squeezed my hands and stepped back to open the car door. “Time to go set this up and catch some bad guys.”
The engine turned over on the first try. I moved to the barn doors and pulled them wider, the metal hinges creaking as bright midday sun streamed across the valley floor, warming my face and arms.
Allie backed out slowly, gravel crunching under her tires, careful not to hit the doorframe. She gave me a little wave through the windshield, and I could see her smile even through the glass. Then she put the car into drive and headed down the dirt road toward town, dust trailing behind her.
I unhitched Calli and leaped onto her back. She’d go faster than the car.
Tressa came over to stand beside us, her gaze on Allie’s car slowly making its way toward town.
“I know.” I urged the sorhox forward. “I don’t like letting her go either.”
Tressa released a soft whine that showed both agreement and reassurance.
She raced behind me as we took off after Allie.
The valley spread out before us, vast and open under the early morning sky.
Tall grass swayed in the warm breeze on either side of the road, golden and rustling.
The air smelled of sun-warmed earth and growing things, with the faint sweetness of wildflowers carried on the wind.
It was a beautiful part of the world, peaceful and quiet, the kind of place where nothing bad should ever happen.
I knew better now.
We followed the dirt road at a steady pace, the sorhox’s hooves raising puffs of dirt with each step that I could taste on my tongue.
Allie’s car remained ahead of us, maintaining the distance we’d agreed on.
Far enough that anyone watching wouldn’t immediately connect us, but close enough that I could reach her if needed.
Tressa kept pace beside me, her head turning this way and that to scan the grassland around us, her nostrils flaring as she tested the air. Her senses were sharper than mine, and if she was alert, I would be too. I kept my eyes moving, looking for anything out of place in the familiar landscape.
A bird called from somewhere in the grass, clear and sweet, its song carrying on the warm air. The sound of insects buzzing in the heat created a steady hum beneath it all. Normal sounds. Normal sights. Everything was as it should be.
When we reached the edge of town, the sounds changed.
Voices drifted on the air, plus the creak of boardwalk planks under boots, the jingle of tourist spurs and calls for a pretend shoot-out.
Allie drove down Main Street, toward the center of town.
She signaled and pulled into a space right in front of the saloon and got out, the car door slamming shut with a metallic thunk that echoed off the false-front buildings.
I guided the sorhox to a spot near Holly and Sel’s bakery where I could watch Allie with ease.
The scent of fresh bread and cinnamon drifted from the open bakery door, mixing with the smell of dirt and sorhoxes and the faint aroma of coffee from the restaurant.
The boardwalk was busy with the usual midday crowd, boots thumping on wood planks, tourists wandering between the shops. Everything looked as it should.
I climbed down from the wagon and checked the sorhox’s harness, adjusting the straps and buckles while I watched Allie step up onto the boardwalk and stop to peer through the saloon window. She moved with easy confidence.
She locked her car with a soft beep and started walking toward the pottery barn, her hair catching the sunlight as she moved. The plan was working perfectly.
Then I saw a man in a dark jacket standing in the overhang of a supply building across the street. His attention was fixed on Allie with an intensity that made every instinct I had scream danger.
He was watching her like a predator watches a chumble baby who’s strayed from its family crumble.
I kept my hands busy with the sorhox, my eyes never leaving the man.
Tall, he appeared in his forties, and he showed a controlled stillness that suggested he knew how to handle himself.
When Allie walked past me toward the end of the boardwalk, he lifted his phone to his mouth, speaking quickly into it.
Fear and rage roared through me, and it was all I could do not to rush over to him and slam my fist into his face.
Another figure caught my attention across the street near the restaurant. A woman in jeans and a cowboy hat, with the same predatory focus as she tracked Allie’s movement on the boardwalk.
They were here, in our town, watching my mate. I quickly and carefully notified Fernandez.
Tressa growled from beside me, telling me she’d spotted them too.
My pulse slammed in my throat.
Will’s people had taken the bait. The trap was in motion.