Chapter 5
“No. No. No.” This couldn’t be happening. They were close to the pickup. So close. Ivy tried to wake Beau by shaking his good side. “Please, Beau. Wake up. I need you to wake up.”
The man was massive compared to her. How could she get him to the pickup? He was dead weight and, therefore, would be impossible to pick up or carry.
If she couldn’t bring him closer to the pickup, maybe she could bring the pickup closer to him.
Keys were lying a few inches from Beau’s open hand.
Ivy grabbed them and ran to the pickup. If Clay and the others were nearby, she’d be dead in the water if she didn’t figure a way out of this mess.
Not trying wasn’t an option. She climbed into the driver’s seat and started the ignition.
A bush was in the way of getting the vehicle closer to Beau.
She backed over it, praying the pickup wouldn’t get stuck.
Pushing the boundaries of a truck, or any other vehicle, wasn’t something she’d ever done before.
It dawned on her there was a whole lot more she hadn’t done, too.
This wasn’t the time to focus on that. Since the accident, she’d been lucky to get out of bed every morning and put one foot in front of the other.
Losing her mother and brother in one fell swoop had been devastating.
Throw in her father’s issues, and she’d felt like a boat taking on water in the middle of the ocean with no help in sight.
Things were better now. At least, she believed her dad was on the straight and narrow. Had he relapsed without her knowledge? Had he gotten himself involved with someone who’d dragged him back under?
No. Ivy would have known. Wouldn’t she?
She put the gear shift in park and left the engine running. After hopping out, she ran around to the passenger side.
Hands on her hips, she wondered how to go about getting Beau inside the cab.
Was there anything she could use as leverage?
Maybe something in the bed of the pickup?
She scanned the area to make sure no one was following them. When it was all clear, she checked the truck bed.
There was a solid wooden plank about five feet long and two feet wide.
She grabbed it, set it down next to Beau, and then rolled him onto it.
He was losing so much blood. Maybe she needed to focus on that first before trying to pick him up.
Even with the plank, getting him into the truck while he was unconscious was a long shot.
Hadn’t he said something about needing water?
First, finding medical supplies was her first mission. Should she cut the engine?
The answer came quickly. Yes.
She should also grab the firearm from his holster.
Lying on top of it couldn’t be comfortable.
The fact he didn’t so much as blink while she jammed her hand underneath his back and retrieved the weapon scared her.
She examined the gun. Growing up in Texas should’ve made her more comfortable around a weapon like this handgun.
It didn’t. She was scared to death she’d end up shooting an innocent person by accident—or herself if a bullet ricocheted. That would be just her luck.
No, she’d never developed a comfort level with firearms.
The gun was heavy in her hand. She examined it quickly and found the safety.
She knew enough to make sure it was on until she needed to use it.
Ivy prayed that moment wouldn’t come, but if the bear had been tracking them, she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot to scare it away.
Worst case, she would use the weapon to shoot the bear, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Now that she had a weapon, she moved back to the pickup to look for a medical kit. She’d taken basic CPR classes for her summer lifeguard job. Stemming the bleeding would go a long way toward saving Beau.
The engine hummed. Would the truck run out of gas? Balancing the potential need for a quick getaway with the need for gas, she decided to turn the vehicle off while she attended to Beau’s injuries.
Clay and Royce could be out here lost. The bear might have found them.
Or they might have given up and left her for dead.
No matter what the situation, she needed to work quickly and get medical care for Beau.
Real medical care. Could she drop him off at an ER with a gunshot wound and expect not to be required to answer a ton of questions?
Deal with it when the time comes.
Setting those thoughts aside, she unbuttoned Beau’s shirt and exposed the wound on his shoulder. Blood pulsed from it, matching the rhythm of a heartbeat. Think.
The medical kit contained bandages, gauze, medical tape, and a few other essential items. She balled up enough gauze to press against the wound.
The first signs of life stirred in Beau when he made a pinched face.
“I know. This hurts. Stay with me, and it’ll feel better soon.” Those last words had the ring of an empty promise, but she would do whatever it took to make good on the promise.
Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of losing one more person she cared about. Was it too soon to care about Beau? They’d just met. So, why did it feel like they’d known each other for a lifetime already, like kindred souls?
She chalked it up to fleeting trauma bonding. That was the only explanation for why she felt such a strong attachment to someone she’d barely met. Or it could be leftover grief from losing her mother and brother in such a tragic way. Both had gone too soon and died far too young.
Hot tears pricked the backs of her eyes. A few fell, dropping onto Beau’s shoulder as she worked, mingling with his blood.
Ivy exhaled a slow breath to calm her racing pulse—a pulse that beat like a champion thoroughbred’s at the end of a race.
She placed an oversized bandage over the gauze and then secured it with medical tape. No one would accuse her of being a triage nurse, but the bleeding stopped. She would take the progress.
Now, to get him inside the pickup.
Ivy stood up, tossed the medical bag into the cab via the open passenger door. She positioned herself near Beau’s head and reached under the plank.
It required effort, but she managed to get him closer to the door. So close, yet so far.
Beau blinked a couple of times. He mumbled a string of unintelligible words.
A twig snapped to her right. She picked up the gun, took off the safety, and aimed in the direction of the sound.
Without putting a hand down, she hopped to her feet and moved behind the open pickup door to put some mass in between her and whatever or whoever had made the noise.
She would shoot the second she saw something if it broke through the tree line.
Her hands trembled, and she hoped like hell she could hit a target if need be.
While she was hoping, why not go all the way?
Make the noise come from a squirrel instead of the men who’d abducted her or a bear that might have double her weight, at a minimum, and could crush her with one swipe, not to mention what those claws could do to her bare flesh.
Ivy sucked in a breath and did her best to steady her hands.
“Hey,” Beau said.
“I got this. Don’t worry,” she said, hearing the shakiness in her own voice.
Beau sat up and winced.
Without looking away from the bushes, she asked, “Can you get inside the pickup without my help?”
“I’ll try.”
She moved out of the way so he could climb in.
“Do I want to ask what’s going on?”
“Probably not.” She didn’t know exactly what they faced, but she’d be ready as soon as that person or thing emerged.
Whatever had made the sound was moving faster now.
“If you could go as fast as you can, that would be a big help.”
“Got it.” His movement was slow, and his breath labored, but he made it inside the truck before the person or thing broke through.
Ivy ran around the front of the pickup faster than a sprinter and claimed the driver’s seat as Beau slumped over. He probably needed a seatbelt, but she’d deal with that later once they were literally and figuratively out of the woods.
At least Beau was alive and somewhat conscious.
By some miracle, Ivy navigated onto the road. She white-knuckled the steering wheel as she floored the gas pedal. A quick glance at the gas gauge showed they had enough in the tank to get to civilization. She exhaled before asking, “Where are we headed?”
No response came.
She glanced over to find Beau slumped over, unconscious.
Taking him to the nearest hospital was probably the smart plan. There was no way she could drop him and go.
“Please, hold on until I can get you some help.”
Did he hear her?
Beau blinked his eyes open. It was black as pitch, and he was hungry as hell. Brain fog kept him from recalling where he was or how he’d gotten there. Trying to sit up caused enough pain to force him back down. His head hit a…pillow.
Pillow.
A flood of memories washed over him, clearing the fog. Where was Ivy?
He felt around the bed. It was soft. Familiar.
Pain caused him to grunt. Could he reach over and flip on a lamp?
The room had zero light, and when he reached out, he knocked something off the nightstand. A loud clunk sounded. A light flipped on. Ivy’s worried face came into view.
Was she real or a figment of his imagination? Was this wishful thinking?
She pushed off the armchair where she’d been sitting and crossed the room. “You’re awake.”
“Am I?”
His attempt at humor fell flat.
“I’ve been so worried about you, Beau.”
“This looks like my room at the ranch,” he said, taking in the surroundings.
“Because it is.”
“How did you…?”
“You mumbled about Rescue Ridge Ranch, so I stopped off at gas station after gas station until I found someone who could point me in the right direction.”
“And you brought me home?” Ivy was something. “You’re amazing.”
Those words caused a red blush to crawl up her neck and to her cheeks. It took him by surprise that someone as intelligent and beautiful as Ivy would be uncomfortable with a compliment. He’d wrongly assumed she was told how wonderful she was on a daily basis.
“I’m not,” she said, diverting her gaze and motioning toward the side of the bed. “Mind if I sit?”
“Go ahead.”
She settled beside him. “First, are you hungry?”
Food sounded good. Coffee sounded better. “Let’s head to the kitchen.”
He threw the covers off and started to get up. A wave of dizziness set him right back down.
“You stay here,” Ivy said, rising. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it.”
“Thanks, but no. I just need a minute, and I’ll be fine.”
“You lost a lot of blood, Beau.”
Ivy sat down beside him.
“The family doctor stopped by and said you should stay in bed a couple of days to get your rest,” she said.
“No way. We don’t have that kind of time.” He glanced around, looking for his phone. Realization dawned. He’d stashed it in the SUV. Had the bastards found it? “How long have I been out?”
“A day,” Ivy said.
“People don’t fill up the gas tank every day. Maybe there’s still time to…”
He stopped when he caught a glimpse of the way Ivy stared at him like he had two foreheads.
“I stashed my phone on the SUV so I could track it, and, hopefully, figure out where my mother and your father are being held against their will.”
Her eyebrows shot upward. “Oh-h-h-h-h-h. That’s great thinking right there. I noticed that you didn’t have your cell with you when we got here. I tried to find it in case you wanted it when you woke up. Leaving it on the SUV was a smart move.”
His chest puffed up with pride. The rest of his body craved more sleep.
With effort, he stood up. Ivy followed suit, letting him wrap his arm around her shoulders for support.
“If you insist on walking to the kitchen, at least let me help you get there safely,” she said, her voice resigned.
Being too stubborn to give in had kept him going as a kid when he’d needed his mother and she couldn’t be there for him, for herself, or anyone else, for that matter. Depression was hard on everyone.
In this case, he would relent. Easing Ivy’s concern was more important than proving to himself he could walk across a room without assistance.
“Take it easy,” she said when he winced.
“I need to make a pitstop in the bathroom.” The stagnant taste in his mouth had to go. Plus, he needed to use the facilities.
“Okay.” She walked him to the door and said she’d wait outside.
Time was the enemy. Beau took care of business and washed up, fully aware every second that ticked by could mean one or both of their loved ones could die. When he finished, he opened the door to find Ivy standing there, leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest.
“Let’s go find them,” he said to her.