Chapter 29 - Outrunning Trouble
Chapter 29
Outrunning Trouble
The women were gazing out at the rim as Bear and Danny brought over their horses. Bear lifted his fairy into her saddle, but he couldn’t look at her face.
“Be careful in the pasture. The grass may be slippery from the rain.” He put his big hand over her small ones holding the reins. “Stay in the trees if you hear any firing. You’ll be safe hidden there. I put a rifle in the scabbard just in case. Remember, you hold my heart.”
“And you hold mine.” She looked to him with fear in her eyes. “If you die down here, I’ll dig two holes. I don’t want to be here without you.”
Eliza turned her horse to the rim and Bear slapped its rump without another word. It seemed so quiet suddenly, despite the plodding hooves. He watched Danny lift Andi onto her horse and say his goodbyes.
“Come back to me as soon as you can. When it’s safe,” the deputy told her.
“I can’t,” she said. “And don’t wait for me either.”
“I’ll always be here waiting, Andi. Whether you choose to come back or not.”
Her mount pranced in a circle and Andi seemed to fight to hold on to it.
Bear asked, “You know how to ride, girl?”
She leaned forward, kicking the horse’s flank, and shot out to catch up to Eliza. “To the top!” Andi yelled.
“To the top,” Eliza answered.
He turned to the big deputy and tried to mask the sorrow in his voice. “They’ll be fine. Eliza will get them out. She’s been riding all her life.”
They watched in silence as their women raced toward the tree line.
“Slow down now, Andi. The holly will rope your horse’s hooves,” Andi heard Eliza shout from ten feet in front of her.
“This is a maze. How do you know where you’re going?”
“There’s a tale of a husband and wife who killed each other. They left gold coins to mark their path to the rim.” Eliza pointed to a dark lightning mark that had become a shadow up on a rock above them. “That’s the opening to the cave.”
Before Andi could answer, a shot sounded from below.
“They’ll be getting past the lock on the gate by the road,” Eliza said, fear in her eyes.
Both women whirled their horses and headed back down, careful to remain hidden in the tree line. They peered through the leaves at Eliza’s farm. Both were silent as they saw the men they loved standing, braced apart, waiting for the shooters to approach.
“They have no cover,” Andi pointed out. “They’re sitting ducks. Once the perps get past the gate, they’ll pick our men off easily. They’re being fools.”
“No, they’re determined.” Eliza straightened her shoulders. “They’re brave. They’ll make sure we’re safe.”
“They’re brave fools,” Andi said. “But I can’t go through the cave. Danny’s putting my life before his own. I can’t leave him.”
Eliza gripped Andi’s hand. “Neither can I.”
“If we split up, they can’t follow us both. And maybe we can get off a few shots before the shooters even get out of their car. That should distract them.”
As they started back down the trail, Andi heard the familiar whirring of a helicopter coming in overhead. She swung the horse around and rode directly toward the perps’ car. Like a three-screen movie, everything seemed to happen at once. The sheriff and his deputies swung through Eliza’s gate going full throttle.
She watched as the shooters tried to scatter, only to find the helicopter lowering and Texas Rangers hanging out of the open side doors, ready to jump. They were fully armed, dressed from head to toe in protective gear. Their police armor similar to what Pecos and his men were wearing.
The perps stepped away from their car with their hands held high, their assault rifles abandoned on the floorboards of their Ford.
Andi’s eyes searched for Dan, and she found him wrestling one of the men into the sheriff’s car.
She jumped off the horse and ran forward. “Danny!” she called.
He looked up and caught her eye. “I’ll meet you at the station,” he yelled over the commotion.
Ranger Ramm cut in from behind her. “No, she can’t. Andi’s coming with me.” He turned to Andi. “There’s a mole in the department. Someone’s been monitoring your emails. The judge pushed up the trial date to keep you safe.”
A mole. That explained how they’d found her in this tiny town.
Dan took a step toward her, sorrow in his eyes. “Come back to me.”
“I don’t know if I can. I don’t know when this will all be over.” She looked away, hiding the tears filling hers. “And even if I came back for a while, I couldn’t stay. You can’t clip my wings. I told you, my home is in the clouds.”
“Andi, do you love me?”
“Yes, but I can’t be tied down.”
“Then I’ll wait for you.”
“For how long, Deputy?”
“For you, honey, I’d wait forever.”
As she followed Ramm to the chopper, no one but Andi seemed to notice Eliza ride straight to Bear and jump out of the saddle right into his arms.
Bear’s heart swelled as he tightened his arms around his fairy. “You’re safe,” he said, burying his face in her hair. “You’re safe now.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks. “I know, but we’ve lost our secret love. Everyone will know now.”
“Maybe. But we’ll gain a marriage,” Bear said.