44. Travis
44
TRAVIS
T ime was running out. Travis had spent enough time trying to get Switch out of the way. He wasn’t going to be distracted anymore. The guy barely dodged a swing that could have crushed his skull like a watermelon. A hit to the shoulder wasn’t as effective as a hit to the head.
Travis had done some of his own dodging. Switch wasn’t the best shot, but at this range, it was just a matter of time until he couldn’t miss.
Switch clamored across on the ground toward his gun, but Travis swung again, knocking the guy off his knees and onto his back with a blow to his side.
Travis reached the gun and leveled it at Switch’s head. “Don’t move.”
As if that would have worked. Switch lunged for the gun with wild eyes and gritted teeth, but Travis swung the bat with his left hand. The metal finally connected with Switch’s head, knocking him to the ground in a limp pile.
Bella.
Travis didn’t have time to tie Switch up. Someone had Bella, and who knew what they’d done to her while he’d been fighting off Switch.
Travis darted around the back of the truck, keeping a tight hold on the bat and the gun. He’d choose which to use once he found Bella.
Scanning the forest around them, he spotted two figures about twenty yards off the path on the other side of the truck. His boots pounded the ground as he raced toward them. A man crouched over Bella with his back toward Travis.
The gun was useless as long as the man was that close to Bella. Travis shoved the gun in his pocket and gripped the bat with both hands.
Bella’s legs squirmed beneath the man, but they went limp just before he reached them.
No. He couldn’t be too late. From his angle, it was impossible to see what the man was doing to her.
The leaves crunched beneath Travis’s boots, but the man didn’t turn to face him until he was only a few feet away. The bat was already poised over Travis’s shoulder, and he only had a half second to assess the face before the barrel of the bat connected with his head.
The bat vibrated in his hands, sending the shiver up his arms. Dropping the weapon, he crouched beside Bella’s limp body.
“Bella. Bella!”
Her eyes opened, wide and panicked as she clawed at her throat. She gasped for air and coughed hard.
“It’s me! It’s me! What did he do to you?”
She tried to lean up and coughed again. “Choked me,” she mouthed.
Travis scanned her body from head to foot. “Try not to move. I need to check you. Does anything hurt?” Putting a hand behind her back, he helped her lower back to the ground.
Memories of the first time he’d met Bella flashed into the present. The situation was just as dire the second time, clamping his guts into a knot.
Bella’s head rolled back, and she closed her eyes. Her hand rested on the side of her belly.
No. Not the baby. Please, God. Anything but that.
“Did he hit you?”
Bella squeezed her eyes closed and scrunched her nose as she nodded.
He glanced over his shoulder to see the man still lying still on the ground, and the other guy wasn’t coming after them either.
Travis squeezed Bella’s hand that rested on her side. “I’m going to check you out, okay?”
She nodded but didn’t open her eyes.
Gently, he pushed her coat out of the way and lifted her sweater. The side of her belly was swollen and already turning purple.
“He kicked me,” Bella whispered.
Travis clenched his jaw as he moved his bloody hands over her belly. If the man beside him wasn’t already dead, Travis would make sure to finish him off before the police arrived.
The police.
Travis’s phone was still in Bella’s pocket. “I’m just getting my phone. Don’t move, baby.”
She gave him a small nod and let him pull the phone from her back pocket.
Travis put the call on speaker and put it on the ground. “Nathan.”
“I’m here. We’re pulling into the ranch. Matt should be there soon.”
As if on cue, Matt Benson’s truck sped along the path and jerked to a stop in front of Travis’s truck.
“Over here!” Travis shouted. “Bring my med bag out of my truck. Back seat.”
He turned back to Bella and brushed her hair from her face. Leaves and pine straw were tangled in the strands, and the blood on his hands spread wherever he touched. It was probably his blood. His left arm was growing heavier by the second.
“I’m here, baby. Just relax.”
Matt appeared at his side and dropped the bag. “What can I do?”
Travis unzipped the bag and pulled out the stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. “There is a wound kit in here. It’s in a clear box. Can you get it out?”
Hooking the stethoscope to his ears and pressing the bell to her abdomen, Travis closed his eyes to listen.
There were sounds, but they were too faint. His hope for the baby’s safety was dwindling. Blunt force trauma like that could have easily killed a baby that size. He had to pray that there was enough amniotic fluid to cushion the blow.
Matt handed over the wound kit. “Everything okay?”
“I don’t know yet. Who else is coming?”
“Nathan said he was bringing the police and paramedics.”
Travis dropped the stethoscope and picked up the blood pressure cuff. Every movement brought stabbing pain from his shoulder, but he gritted his teeth to bear it. “Bella needs to get to a hospital.”
“Looks like you do too,” Matt said, pointing at Travis’s shoulder.
Travis swallowed hard. He couldn’t think about his arm yet. Every movement was limited, which made his work on Bella slower. “Can you check that man for a pulse?” Travis asked, pointing to the man he’d hit with a home-run swing.
“Um, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Matt said, turning back to Travis.
Fine. At least Bella and baby Ariana would get all of the attention from the medics when they arrived. The guy who stabbed Travis’s shoulder hadn’t made an appearance either. He’d probably met the same fate as his friend.
Travis cleared his throat. Two lives lost, blotted out of the world like a candle being snuffed out. They weren’t the first he’d seen, but they were the first he’d caused.
Lights flashed through the woods as Travis finished counting Bella’s blood pressure. “It’s high. She needs to get on the road now.”
Matt stood. “I’ll lead them over here.”
He jogged off toward the approaching line of first-responder vehicles, and Travis leaned over Bella. Pressing his fingertips to her neck, he focused on the steady thump of her pulse. “They’re here. You’ll be on the road soon.”
She lifted her hand, and he grasped it. “Don’t–”
“I’m not leaving you, baby.”
“The baby,” she whispered.
Travis pressed a hand to her belly and closed his eyes. “God, we need Your help right now. Please be with Bella and Ariana. I pray You’d keep Your healing hand on them. Help them remember You’re always here. God, please protect these girls. I love them, and…”
He squeezed Bella’s hand, unable to talk anymore. His nostrils flared as he sucked in deep breaths.
“Hey,” Bella whispered.
Travis opened his eyes to find her looking up at him.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered. “No matter what happens.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He was supposed to be the strong one. He was supposed to remind her everything was going to be okay. Instead, she was the one whose faith was steady even in the darkest moments.