Chapter Eighteen
Saturday morning, Nate strode along the barn’s aisle with an uneasy feeling. He stopped, glanced around, but after seeing nothing, he continued toward the back doors where his truck was parked. He hadn’t told Markie about his tire. She was scared enough.
They’d spent last night together but this morning, he had some things to do in his barn. The stalls always had to be cleaned. He knew he should move his truck, but it was where he’d parked it last night so Markie could put her SUV in the garage when she arrived last night.
“Hey.”
Nate turned to see Markie strolling toward him and it made him grin. He knew she was the love of his life. He chuckled remembering their first meeting. She hadn’t thought much of him then, but he knew she loved him now.
“About time you got your ass out of bed,” Nate said, then kissed her lips when she reached him.
“What do you want to do today?” she asked as she slid her arms around his neck.
“Whatever you want to do is fine.”
“I’d love to go into town and go through all the shops. I have never gotten around to it.”
Nate mentally groaned. Shopping was not one of his favorite things. Markie must have noticed the look on his face because she stepped back from him.
“That’s okay. I can do it one day.”
“No. We’ll do that. It’s fine. I don’t like the idea of you out alone if Knowles is around. Hey, let me give you Rafe’s number in case you can’t get a hold of me for some reason.” He removed his phone from his pocket.
“My phone is at my apartment,” she said, nibbling on her bottom lip.
“Why?”
Markie smiled. “I was in such a hurry to get here last night that I forgot to get it. It’s still plugged in on my nightstand.”
Nate chuckled. “Okay. Well, I’ll give it to you later.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “You can give me anything you want.”
Nate grinned and lowered his head to kiss her lips when a voice stopped him, and he felt Markie shaking in his arms.
“How fucking touching,” Knowles said as he entered the barn from the opposite end. Nate noticed the gun in his hand, and turned to face Knowles, keeping Markie behind him.
“Get out of here, Markie,” Nate said.
“Don’t you move, Markie,” Knowles snapped. “Now, this is how this is going to go. You, Markie are going to go into the hospital and get me those drugs while I keep an eye on your boyfriend. If you’re not back in thirty minutes, I’ll kill him.”
“It takes twenty minutes one way, asshole,” Nate growled.
“It could take me longer than that, Jarrett. There’s a lot going on in town. I could get stuck in traffic, or—”
“Fine! I’ll give you an hour. That gives you fifteen extra minutes.”
“Twenty. Not good at math, huh?” Nate grinned. “By the way, the new hair color and cut isn’t a good look for you.”
“Shut the fuck up! You’ve got an hour. Do not call or talk to anyone. If the police show up, Jefferson will be dead before they get inside the barn. Are we clear on this?”
“Will you leave if I do this?” Markie asked.
“Yeah, I’m heading toward the border, but I’m not telling you which one. It’s just too bad I won’t have a chance at you.”
When Nate clenched his jaw and stepped forward, Markie stopped him.
“Don’t. It’s what he’d love to see you do,” Markie whispered, and Nate nodded.
“I want you to text me when you get there,” Knowles said.
“I don’t have my phone. I forgot it last night,” Markie said, her voice catching.
“She can use mine. I just have to unlock it for her.” Nate stared at Knowles.
Knowles stared at him, but Nate refused to look away, then Knowles nodded and looked at Markie.
“Get it.”
“It’s in my back pocket. I’m going to reach for it.”
“Slowly.”
Nate nodded, removed his phone from his pocket and held it up to show Knowles.
“Add my number, Jefferson.” Knowles told him the number as Nate entered it into his phone. “Show her which one it is.”
Nate grinned. “She’ll know. It’s under dickhead.”
Knowles clenched his jaw as he stared at Nate, but Nate knew he wouldn’t do anything to him as long as there was a chance that Markie could get him drugs.
“I’ll have to show her how to unlock it. It uses a code.”
“Just do it,” Knowles snapped.
Markie stepped beside Nate.
“This is the code to unlock the screen.” He pressed it in. “Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then just go under the contacts.” As he showed her, he brought up Rafe’s number. “Then you can text him.”
He knew Knowles thought he was talking about him, but Markie knew he meant Rafe.
“I will.” She stood on her toes and kissed his lips. “Please stay safe. I’ll text right away,” she whispered against his lips.
“Once you get out of here, pull onto the road and text him. He’s close,” Nate whispered back.
“Get going, Markie!” Knowles yelled.
Nate saw tears in her eyes, then she faced Knowles.
“I’m going. My car is in the garage. I’ll leave now.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Markie. I have no qualms about killing Jefferson.”
Markie nodded, looked at Nate, then walked from the barn. Both men watched as she drove her SUV down the driveway and disappeared.
****
Markie drove out onto the main road, then pulled onto the shoulder two miles from the house. She put her head against the steering wheel and cried. Sitting back, she picked up Nate’s cellphone from where she had set it in the center console. Her hands were shaking so bad that she had to take a deep breath before picking it up.
She scrolled through the numbers until she found Rafe’s and quickly sent him a text.
Rafe? It’s Markie. Jarrett is holding Nate at his barn until I go into town and get him those pain meds. Help us, please. She waited a few seconds, then sighed when she saw the bubbles showing he was messaging back.
Where are you?
On the side of the road, two miles from Nate’s. It’s what he told me to do.
Stay there. Do not go into town. I’ll take care of this.
Please hurry.
I’m across the road. I’ll be there in minutes.
Jarrett said not to call the police.
I won’t. Not yet. Markie, take a deep breath. It will be fine. I promise I’m going to do all I can to get Nate out of this and have Knowles arrested. Promise me you will stay put.
I promise. Please be careful.
I will. Nate or I will be in touch. Stay there!
Markie set the phone down and sobbed. If something happened to Nate, she’d want to die, but she didn’t feel good about sending Rafe into that situation either. She would stay here like he told her and hoped they would both be safe. She didn’t know that Rafe worked so close to where Nate did. Thank God!
So, Nate had been right when he thought it was Jarrett with blond hair. She smiled thinking about Nate ribbing him about it, but sobered when she wondered what exactly was going on between the two men right now.
****
“Are we just going to stand here and stare at each other while we wait?” Nate asked as he folded his arms across his chest.
Knowles smirked. “Did you want to have a beer together?”
“What I want is to knock you on your ass, but for now, I’ll settle with sitting down on a haybale.” Nate crossed the barn, sat down, and leaned back against the wall. He watched Knowles lean against the barn wall. Nate cocked his head.
“You really didn’t give a lot of thought to this, did you?”
“Just shut up, Jefferson. In fact, get the fuck up and go back to where you were. I need to keep an eye on you. Get up!”
Nate sighed, pushed to his feet and walked back to the center of the barn’s aisle.
“You didn’t have to slash my tire, you know.”
“I saw an opportunity.” Knowles grinned and Nate wanted to knock it off his face. He clenched his fists as he stared at him. Knowles laughed and nodded toward them. “You really want to hit me, don’t you?”
“You have no idea.” Nate shook his head. “You won’t get away with this. Even if you leave the country, you’ll be caught.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“You’re just an addict. You could get help—”
“I don’t want any fucking help!”
“So, you lied to Stella about that. I knew you were when you said it.”
“You think you know me, but you have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“Oh, I think I do. Most junkies will do anything for a fix.” Nate shrugged. “You’re no different.”
As Nate stared at Knowles, he saw Rafe step into the barn behind him, carrying a rifle. He was silent in his approach. Nate looked back at Knowles, then at Rafe, who gave him a slight nod.
“Now what are you going to do?”
“We’re waiting.”
“I didn’t mean that.” Nate watched the color drain from Knowles face when Rafe cocked the rifle and put the barrel to the back of his head.
“Drop the weapon or you’re going to have one hell of a headache,” Rafe said.
“I’ll kill him,” Knowles said, but Nate could hear the fear in his voice.
“And I’ll kill you.”
Nate looked at Knowles and shrugged. “I’d do it if I were you. Rafe has no problem blowing your head off. Trust me. I’ve known him practically my entire life.”
“Besides, I’m not the only one here. You’ll never get out of here alive if you try. The sheriff and his deputies are right outside those doors.”
“I don’t believe you,” Knowles snapped.
Nate watched Rafe take a deep breath and then sigh.
“Come on in, Sam,” Rafe yelled.
Nate turned to see Sam, and Logan enter behind him, and Nevada, and Brody behind Rafe. He looked at Knowles and grinned.
“One thing Rafe doesn’t do, is lie. I’d put that gun down if I were you.”
“Do it! Drop the weapon and kick it away,” Sam yelled.
He watched Knowles lower the gun to the floor and give it a kick. Nate strode toward him, stopped in front of him, then punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor. He shook his hand to alleviate the pain.
“That’s enough, Nate,” Sam said as he handcuffed Knowles. “Are you alright.”
“I hurt my knuckles,” he said, then grinned. “But damn that felt good.”
Sam chuckled and shook his head. “I get it.” He pulled Knowles to his feet. “Let’s go. Jarrett Knowles you are under arrest, you have the right to remain silent…” Sam told him as he walked him from the barn.
Nate watched the deputies as they followed their boss outside, then he looked at Rafe to see him lower the hammer of the rifle back to its resting position, removing tension from the firing mechanism so the gun was no longer ready to fire.
“Are you alright?” Rafe asked him.
“Yeah. I’m glad Markie did what I said. Can I have your phone?”
“Sure, but you don’t need to call her, she’s pulling up.” Rafe nodded toward the doors. “One of the deputies probably let her know it was safe to come back.”
Nate turned just in time to catch her in his arms. She sobbed against his chest. He ran his hand over her soft hair.
“I’m fine, baby. We’re all fine, now,” he murmured.
She looked at him with tears rolling down her face. “I was so scared.”
“I know. But Rafe—”
“Oh, Rafe!” Markie ran toward him and hugged him. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, Markie. Everything will be fine now.” Rafe hugged her back and grinned at Nate when he narrowed his eyes at him.
“You can let go of my woman now,” Nate snapped.
“Not yet. I kind of like this.” Rafe laughed when Nate stepped toward him but shook his head and chuckled.
“Seriously, Rafe, thank you.” Nate shook his hand.
“You would have done the same for me.” Rafe shrugged.
Nate shrugged too. “Maybe,” he said but grinned, letting Rafe know he was kidding.
“I’d better head into the sheriff’s office. I’m sure Sam will have questions for me. You two will probably have to talk to him too.”
“Yeah, we’ll head in there too. I just want Markie to relax a little first.”
“I’d give Sam some time to talk to Knowles then lock him up before Markie gets there. She might want to punch him too.”
“Too? Did you punch him?” she asked Nate.
“I did, and it felt damn good.”
When she laughed, he knew she’d be alright. She was tough and been through so much lately, but she would get past it. He’d make sure to be by her side to help her. There was nowhere else he’d rather be.