Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
Men can get bossy, but usually we shouldn’t kill them. Note: If we do decide to kill them, an alibi is a must. ~ The Lady Elks Secret Archives.
Hawk finished yanking on jeans in Dawn’s bedroom, his vision clear, his head still aching. If he kept staying the night at Dawn’s, he was gonna need a drawer. The sweetheart had thrown his bloody, wet, and dirty clothes in the wash the night before, after they’d left the hospital. Then they’d fallen into bed and slept like the dead.
He glanced at the unmade bed. Hmm. He’d never just slept with a woman without sex before. It had felt…right. Although sex with Dawn felt better. He grinned at the thought.
Dawn hustled in from the other room, clicking off her cell phone. “Henry Bullton is doing just fine and has announced his engagement to the entire world.”
Hawk tugged on his clean shirt. “Good news. Is Mrs. Hudson still with him?”
Dawn nodded, amusement filtering across her face. “Yes. She told the doctors they’d have to physically remove her last night, and nobody had the guts.”
Well, he wouldn’t try to move that woman, either. He eyed his woman. She’d thrown on faded jeans, a girly yellow sweater, and thick boots. Her dark hair tumbled down her shoulders, and even with minimal makeup, she was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. Intelligence shone from her eyes, along with the spark of spirit that was all Dawn Freeze.
She blinked. “What?”
“Nothing.” He brushed back his hair, wet from his quick shower. Next time, he’d carry her into the shower with him, but for now, he had work to do. “Are you ready to go to Colton’s?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re being silly.”
“No, I’m not. There’s nothing wrong with being careful.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not moving until you tell me what’s going on.” The smell of baking muffins wafted in behind her.
He lifted his head. “Huckleberry.”
“Yep, and you don’t get any unless you tell me what your plan is, as if I didn’t already know.”
Yeah, she drove a hard bargain. He’d do almost anything for a huckleberry muffin. Thank goodness his strawberry allergy didn’t extend to huckleberries. “Fine. I’m going to talk to Zonas in the hospital to just make sure he hasn’t let Meyer know where I am. Now I get muffins,” Hawk retorted, brushing by her and jogging into the kitchen.
Less than an hour later, they were on their way to Colton’s, driving over icy roads under a blackened sky .
Hawk spent most of the journey on the phone, an irritated angel spitting at him from the passenger seat of one of his work trucks. His main truck was currently being dragged up an embankment by his ranch hands using heavy equipment and was probably totaled for good. He’d liked that truck.
Right now, he didn’t care if he’d irritated Dawn. She’d be safe, and she’d stay out of the way, just as a precaution. He hadn’t been messing with her about the day at the funeral so many years ago, and now that he’d taken her, finally , he wasn't letting any more danger into her little world.
She was sweet, and she’d remain that way.
Hawk had to live with the fact that he may have put her in danger by coming home. Not going to happen again—and he’d do what he had to do to make sure of it. It was time to move, and now with the guy in the hospital, yeah, he’d get to the bottom of this mess. These bastards had made a big mistake in betraying Reese.
Hawk made the turn for Colton and Melanie’s house, for once not taking the moment to appreciate the snow-covered mountains standing as sentinels around them. He drove quietly, his body settling into a stillness he recognized from battle.
Dawn crossed her arms. “I know you called the hospital this morning. How’s Reese doin’ in the light of day?”
Hawk slowed down to allow a gaggle of wild turkeys to cross the road. “He’s pissed off and yelling at nurses, which I’m taking as a good sign.” Hawk hadn’t thought anybody could get to Reese.
Dawn nodded. “So he’ll be out soon? ”
Hawk turned to pierce her with a hard look. “He’s beat up pretty bad.”
Dawn’s chest moved. “But he’s going to be okay?”
Hawk turned back to the icy road. “Yeah.” He cut his eyes to her. “Dawn, you understand that these guys are dangerous, right? I mean, I doubt they know to come here, but it pays to be cautious.”
She lifted an eyebrow in true Lodge-Freeze defiance. “I know how to fight and shoot better than you think.”
He knew exactly what a great shot she was because he’d practiced with her while on leave more than once. “Could you take me?” he asked quietly.
“Excuse me?”
“All bullshit aside, all ego, all feminine outrage. You against me…guns, knives, or hand-to-hand. Give me the odds.” He didn’t want to scare her, but Dawn had a brain made for statistics, and she’d tell the truth.
She settled back against the door. “Me and you? Hand-to-hand…with clothes on? Eighty to twenty—you.”
He would’ve gone ninety-ten, but he had to appreciate her confidence. “Without clothes?” he asked, his lips twitching.
“Me, one hundred percent.”
Yeah. He agreed with that one. “Fair enough. But here’s the deal, beautiful. Your odds are based on what you think you know about me and the sides you’ve seen. You’ve never seen the side at war, and you won’t. Ever.” He turned into the perfectly plowed driveway. “The guys I’m after, they’re not like us, and they won’t fight fair. In fact, they won’t fight.” They’d just kill. “I know you don’t get that, and I’m perfectly fine with you not getting that. But what you do need to get, and get right now, is that you’re going to follow orders and stay here until I say it’s safe to go home.”
She rolled her eyes. “Like I said, I don’t like the bossy side of you.”
“Like I said,” he said evenly, “that’s unfortunate.” He cut the engine, unbuckled her seat belt, and tugged her toward him to step out of the truck on his side. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he swept the area, finding extra ranch hands stationed at strategic points. Good. Colton had listened to him. Keeping her body between his and the ranch house, he all but carried her toward the door, which was already opening, with Colton on the other side.
It was a little over the top, but he couldn’t help it. Dawn came first.
Colton drew them in and glanced around the sprawling ranch before shutting the door. “Quinn wants you back at the station as soon as you drop off Dawn.”
Hawk shook his head. “I don’t need the sheriff in the way.” He needed to question Reese’s lying bastard of an employee, and he couldn’t have anybody involved in the law there.
“How bad is Reese?” Colton took Dawn’s coat.
“He’ll live,” Hawk said.
Colton nudged Dawn toward the kitchen, where Melanie sat sipping tea. “Go reassure Mel that you’re okay,” Colton said before shoving Hawk out into the cold.
Hawk braced himself for Colton’s rare but formidable temper. Yeah. He’d screwed up by beginning a relationship with Dawn when things were so up in the air, and if her brother wanted to take a shot, he deserved to make it a good one.
Colton shut the door. “I have men at every station, and we’re good. Quinn and Jake have to stay out of it.” He turned to stride down the stairs.
Hawk paused. “What are you doing?”
Colton’s shoulders went back, and on the middle step, he turned around. “I figured you’d want to talk to the guy Reese fought with, who’s also in the hospital right now.”
Hawk stumbled. “How did you know about Lenny Zonas?”
Colton snorted. “Like there are any secrets in Maverick County.”
Hawk slid his thumbs into his jeans. “Good point.”
“Then let’s go. Quinn’s hands are full right now, but soon he’s gonna take a moment to think, and he’s gonna think about you and what you’re most likely doing.” Colton turned and descended again, his boots throwing snow. “He’s the sheriff, and he has to stop us, so we need to get a move on. Jake’s a lawyer, and we’re probably gonna need him, so he can’t be part of it, either.”
Hawk shook his head and stomped down the steps to grab Colt’s shoulder. “You’re not coming with me.”
Colt moved then, suddenly and without warning, shoving Hawk up against the porch post. Pain ricocheted through Hawk’s head, and he automatically fisted his hands in Colton’s lapels.
Colt leaned in, blue eyes furious, his body strung tight. “Don’t. Fuckin’. Mess. With. Me. Right. Now.”
Hawk could count on one hand the times Colton had been truly mad at him during their lives, and even so, he’d never seen the dark look he was getting now. “ I’m sorry everything is so screwed up. Chances are there’s no danger headed this way, but I have to make sure, you know?”
Colton leaned in closer. “I know, so we’re going to take care of it. This Lone Ranger bullshit you’re sporting just ended.”
Heat. It flared through Hawk along with panic as he glared into his best friend’s face, which was way too close. “You’re close enough to freak me out, Colt. If you kiss me, I’m gonna have to kill you. So how about you get off me?”
Colton shoved him away, hard. “You’re such a dumb-ass right now.”
Yeah, true that. Hawk was trained, and he was deadly. Sometimes he forgot Colton’s training, and his time as an MMA fighter. Colt would be one excellent opponent, and Hawk didn’t want to go there. Ever. “You’re about to have two babies,” he said slowly.
Colton slid his hat further up his head. “I was there for the last doctor’s appointment, Hawk. You’re not tellin’ me anything I don’t know.”
“So stay here and keep your woman safe.” And mine, too. He didn’t say the words, but they certainly filled the air around them.
“I’ve got good men on them, and Jake’s on his way here. So you and I are doing this. No more alone crap, and no more chances.” Colton pivoted and strode toward Hawk’s truck. “If you’re not at the truck when I am, I’m taking it.”
Hawk shook his head, caught between being pissed and grateful. “Colt?—”
“You’re another brother to me, Hawk. You know it, I know it, and Quinn will know it. So let’s go do what we gotta do and keep him out of it. It’s the least we can do.” Colton hitched into the truck.
Hawk gave up. When Colton Freeze set his mind to something, nobody, and that meant absolutely nobody, would stop him. “Fine. But if it gets illegal, and it’s gonna get illegal, you let me break the law.”
Colton rolled his eyes. “Shut up, and think about one thing for a moment—it wasn’t your fault Meyer stabbed your buddy. Stop feeling guilty and just live your life.”
Hawk recoiled like he’d been punched. Was that his mindset?
They didn’t talk on the way in, both lost in thoughts, both pissed off. Anger swelled in the truck, cascading around, at home and not going anywhere. Hawk figured they should probably talk about Dawn, but now wasn’t the time.
They reached the hospital and slipped in the back door behind an orderly returning from a smoke break. “I called Junnie Allice earlier to get the guy’s room number.” Junnie Allice ran the florist shop in town and knew everyone at the hospital. Hawk didn’t know who she’d called to get the room number, and he didn’t care. “Room two eleven.”
Colton nodded.
It occurred to Hawk that he’d seen some shit, Colton had seen some shit, but they’d never actually seen shit together. They’d always had each other’s backs, though. On the football field, the baseball diamond, even back alleys after bar fights.
They found the room and then quickly backed around a corner. A Maverick County deputy stood outside the room, holding up the wall .
Colt rubbed his whiskered chin. “Quinn isn’t stupid.”
No. The sheriff was nowhere near stupid. Hawk scrubbed both hands down his face. “That guy new?”
“Yeah. I think his name is Chuck. Or George.” Colton shrugged. “He doesn’t know us, and he’ll have orders from Quinn, who he does know. We’re screwed. Any ideas?”
“Besides blowing up my truck in the lot as a diversion?” Hawk whispered. “No. Besides, if Quinn is onto us, then he’s told the deputy not to move…no matter what.” He eyed the far door. “Remember last year?”
Colt tipped up his head. “Yeah. When we jumped out the window.” It could work. “Chances are the window isn’t unlocked though.”
Hawk’s spine straightened, and he nudged Colton aside. “There’s only one option, and you can’t be a part of it.”
Colton shook his head. “There’s no choice.”
Hawk eyed the distance between the deputy and him. Running would draw attention, and stealth would take ten long strides. “There are no cameras in the halls, although there was one in the entryway. We could say we were visiting Reese. We need a way to knock the deputy out without him seeing us. One of us could distract him, but Quinn will know it’s us.”
Colton shrugged. “Quinn’s going to know it was us no matter what. The issue is proving it, and we have to make sure he can’t. If for nothing else, then to protect him.”
Hawk nodded. “Good point.”
Colt cut him a look. “You distract the cop, and I’ll have a talk with the patient.”
Hawk shook his head. “No. This guy’s mine.”
“Fine. Give me a few.” Turning, Colt jogged out the back door.
Hawk took several deep breaths—his hands steady, his head wound still pounding. What he wouldn’t give for a week on a beach with Dawn just to play and explore whatever they had going on. But right now, he had to break the law and scare a guy in order to keep everyone he cared about safe.
So much for leaving violence behind.
He’d only been seeing Dawn a few days, and she’d already been in a car wreck—and had actually saved his butt the previous night. Pride, unwelcome and irritating, slid through him. His girl had stepped up, now hadn’t she?
Colton’s voice came from down the corridor. “Dude, I’m the sheriff’s brother, and he sent me to talk to the guy in this room. You need to get out of my way.”
Hawk peered around the corner to see the deputy facing Colton, hands at his hips, shaking his head. The hallway was quiet with no witnesses. The cop reached for his phone, and Colton grabbed for it. “Mr. Freeze, I have to ask you to stand down.”
Hawk moved silently and grasped the guy in a headlock.
Colton feigned a gasp, his eyes widening on Hawk, his hands going up in fake shock. “Who are you?”
The deputy scuffled, and the guy had bulk. Hawk held on tight, grimacing, finally relaxing when the deputy lost consciousness. “Quinn’s going to kill us,” he muttered, settling the deputy in a fluorescent orange chair and adjusting his cowboy hat over his head.
“Yeah.” Colton sat next to the guy. “Hurry up, so I can call this in like I actually witnessed something. ”
Hawk dodged inside the room and stalked patiently toward the bed. The guy was in his early thirties, long brown hair, scruff across his chin, body gone partially to fat. His eyes were open, and alarm filled them. He reached for the call button, and Hawk knocked it out of his hand.
Leaning in, Hawk placed a hand over the man’s neck. “You have a millisecond, so listen up. You put a friend of mine in the hospital, and you put in jeopardy everything I care about, which means you should die. Killing you wouldn’t bother me much, but it’d put my friend, the sheriff, in a spot, so if you work with me, I’m gonna let you live.” To emphasize his point, Hawk slid his hand up to cover the man’s mouth and nose just long enough to cut off all oxygen.
The guy went still.
“Do you get me?” Hawk asked.
The man nodded, and machines around them beeped rapidly.
“Where’s Meyer and what does he know?” Hawk asked.