Bucking Bronc Lodge 04 - Cowboy Cop (17 page)

A commotion sounded from inside the barn, and Miles froze. “Jordan?” A pained silence tore at his gut, making him desperate to see what was going on. “Dugan, what happened? Is someone hurt?”

“Shut up!” Dugan suddenly appeared at the barn door, his face barely visible behind the wooden doorway he was using as a barrier. “You promised me a chopper, now where is it?”

“Our deal was that you let Jordan and Timmy go and then I give you a way out,” Miles shouted, unable to control his anger. “Are Jordan and Timmy okay?”

By God, if Dugan had hurt one of them, he would die.

A slow and painful death.

“Your son is fine,” Dugan said.

Relief made Miles dizzy. Then again, the sicko could be lying. “What about Jordan?”

A long pause, then a raspy reply. “She’s alive.”

Miles glanced back at Brody and saw the boys fidgeting nervously, whispering in hushed tones, their faces drawn with worry and anger.

“I need proof,” Miles said.

A bitter laugh echoed from Dugan. “Do what I said or you won’t ever see them.”

“Not working this time,” Miles said, standing his ground. “How do I know you didn’t shoot both of them?”

A string of curses rolled off Dugan’s tongue. Gone was the smooth-talking, confident man in the courtroom who had won half the jurors over and played innocent until even Miles had momentarily wondered if he had arrested the wrong man.

This was a desperate man out for revenge, one who had been cornered and saw no way out.

The most dangerous kind...

Still now, with Ables on the loose, he had to wonder if Dugan had committed all the murders or if they’d worked together as he’d suspected. Or could Ables have committed the crimes alone?

Another possibility nagged at him.

What if the half brothers had some bad history and Ables had set Dugan up to take the fall?

No...otherwise Dugan wouldn’t be here now...unless he wanted a hostage to help him until he could get to Ables. Maybe Ables was in Mexico....

“Let me see them or no chopper,” Miles said more firmly.

Another hiss echoed from the barn, then a moan, and suddenly Dugan shoved Timmy in the doorway. He held his son by the collar, the gun to his head, an evil leer on his face.

Miles choked back the bile clogging his throat. Timmy was so close...yet so far away. He wanted to touch him, to yank him away from this monster. But any sudden move could mean death for him and Jordan. “Are you okay, son?”

For the first time since Marie’s death, Timmy actually looked at him. Tears blurred his eyes, but he gave a small nod. Miles’s heart broke.

“What about Jordan?” he asked, his breath stalling in his chest.

“You saw the boy, now I want to see that chopper,” Dugan said.

Then he disappeared back inside the barn with Timmy, leaving Miles to wonder if Jordan was alive or if he’d killed her.

* * *

J
ORDAN FOUGHT A WAVE
of dizziness as she pushed herself up from the floor to a sitting position. Near the barn door Timmy was sobbing softly as Dugan held him by the collar. She wanted to go to him, but she couldn’t chance spooking Dugan.

Pain ricocheted through her shoulder where the bullet had struck, and she pressed her hand to the wound to stop the blood flow. Her hand felt sticky and damp, but she wasn’t bleeding badly. Maybe just a flesh wound...

Timmy tried to twist away from the man and she called his name. “Timmy, it’s okay, sweetie. I’m all right.”

Dugan spun around and glared at her, then slammed the barn door shut and shoved Timmy. He ran to her and collapsed at her side. She cradled him next to her.

“It’s going to be all right.”

“B...ut y...ou’re hurt,” Timmy said with big eyes.

They’d waited so long to hear Timmy speak again, and now he was worried about her. Tears blurred her eyes, but she blinked them away.

“It’s not bad,” she said gently. “I’m going to be fine and so are you.”

Dugan paced again, his agitation obvious with his jumpy movements. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me,” Jordan said, determined to calm him. “It was an accident. I’ll tell them that when the police come.”

“You’re a fool, lady,” Dugan said. “The police...McGregor...no one is going to lock me up again.”

He wanted to go to Mexico. Again, she wondered if someone was waiting on him there.

Timmy quieted beside her, and she wrapped her arm around him and held him close. He had tried to protect her. Poor little guy. Had Dugan’s attack on her triggered memories of his attack on Marie?

“There must be someone you want to see now you’re free,” Jordan said.

“Free?” Dugan growled. “I won’t be free till I get rid of McGregor.”

Timmy shuddered next to her, but she stroked his arm. “I don’t understand why you came after him and why you killed his wife,” Jordan said. “You were out of jail. All you had to do was walk away.”

Dugan’s face twisted into a nasty grimace. “Walk away? McGregor ruined my reputation, my name. He convinced everyone I was guilty.”

“But the courts freed you.”

“Do you think that changed the way people looked at me?” He waved the gun wildly. “Janet even left me.”

“Janet?”

“Yeah, the only woman I ever loved believed him over me,” he said bitterly. “I’ve lost everything.”

He was delusional, still not able to confess that he was a murderer. Her best strategy would be to play along. Feed his ego.

The mind was like a puzzle—if she could figure out where the pieces went, she could complete the picture.

That would help her know how to deal with him...to reach him.

“So far you haven’t hurt anyone here,” Jordan said. “And Miles believes there’s a copycat, that someone else killed those women. Maybe someone who wanted to set you up.”

A fire lit Dugan’s eyes. “Yes, yes, that’s what happened. I told them that over and over and over.”

Jordan nodded. “I think he’s on the man’s track now.”

Hope warred with the anger in Dugan’s eyes. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. Miles knows you didn’t kill June Kelly. That made him start thinking that maybe you were innocent all along. That this other man committed the murders and framed you.”

“He thinks that?” Dugan’s voice trembled.

Jordan nodded again. “But holding us hostage only makes you look guilty.”

He was, of course, for killing Haddock. And Lee...she had no idea if he’d survived.

“Just let us go, and take that helicopter. You can leave, meet that woman you love and explain that we were wrong. Then the two of you can build a life together in Mexico.”

“Yes, Mexico,” Dugan said. “I have to go to Mexico.”

Jordan continued to stroke Timmy’s hair. He had finally stopped crying and looked stronger now, as if speaking had relinquished some of his fear. She only hoped that he could fully recover once this nightmare ended.

“Why Mexico?” Jordan asked, resorting to the calming voice she used with patients.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Anybody ever tell you that you ask too many questions?”

Jordan shrugged. “I’m a woman, we like to talk. I know Mexico is beautiful, but is there another reason? Do you have friends or family there?”

He had reacted when she’d talked about his mother.

“Is that where your mother lives?” she asked.

An odd expression colored his face, and he walked the length of the barn, then paused and leaned back against the wall as if remembering something.

“Did you grow up there?” she asked. “Or maybe your mother took you on vacation.”

A bitter laugh that sounded far away echoed in the air. “My mama didn’t have money for vacations. She used every penny she made on cigarettes, booze and drugs.”

Another piece of the puzzle. His mother had slept around—or was a prostitute. Had she made him watch?

If so, no wonder he hated women and thought they were whores.

The fact he’d grown up without money had motivated him to work hard and become financially independent.

Suddenly Miles shouted again. “Dugan, the chopper is on its way. Is Jordan all right?”

“I’m—” Jordan opened her mouth to shout, but Dugan backhanded her. Her head whipped sideways. Timmy jumped up to defend her, but she grabbed him and held him firmly by her side.

Dugan checked his watch. “Five minutes, that’s all you have left,” he yelled. “Five minutes till I start shooting.”

Jordan gritted her teeth. She had to keep talking. Keep him thinking, distracted.

“It is your mother you’re going to see in Mexico, isn’t it?” she asked.

He stormed toward her, lifted her chin and pierced her with his maniac eyes. “Yes. Don’t you think she’ll be proud of what her baby boy has become?”

A cold chill slithered up Jordan’s spine. Now she understood. All the women he had killed—they were only substitutes for the mother who had sold her body to support her habits.

He was going to end his killing spree. But he intended to do it by finally murdering the real source of his anger and hatred—his mother.

* * *

M
ILES WANTED TO HEAR
from Jordan. He told himself she had to be okay, that he had heard her voice just then, although he couldn’t be sure.

“Where are we on the chopper, Brody?” Miles asked.

Brody cleared his throat. “Johnny said it would be here in a few minutes. We have to keep Dugan calm.”

Miles nodded. His son’s life depended on it.

“I talked to the sheriff. I’m moving these kids to the dining hall with the others.”

“Good. We don’t want them out in the open in case something goes wrong.” And bullets started flying. “Any word from Cook? Have they spotted Ables on the ranch?”

Brody shook his head. “Hopefully that’s a good sign.”

“Maybe. But he still could be hiding out, waiting to help Dugan escape.”

“We’ll keep looking,” Brody said. “The sheriff called in a couple more deputies to comb the property. One of them is close by.” He pointed to the rocks on the hill to the north. “He’s watching from that angle in case we need him. And when Dugan heads to the chopper, we’ll catch him. Or the deputy might get a shot at him.”

Miles clenched his jaw and stepped behind the tree near the boys. “No one shoots unless I say so. We can’t do anything to endanger Timmy or Jordan.”

Brody nodded, then gestured toward the group of boys. “My truck is about two hundred feet away, hidden behind some mesquites. I’m going to drive you back to the dining hall.”

Carlos stood and faced Miles and Brody. “I want to stay here and make sure Miss Jordan and Timmy are okay.”

“Me, too,” Justin said.

The other boys all jumped up to join Carlos and Justin as if they were a team.

These kids all had troubled pasts, and the fact that they were bound together now by this event had seemed to strengthen them. Still, it was his job to protect them.

“I know you guys are worried, but you have to go with Brody.”

Carlos crossed his arms. “We’re not kids so don’t treat us that way.”

Miles laid his hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “I realize that, Carlos, and you’ve been a tremendous asset here. But it’s time for the lawmen to handle it. You can help by protecting the younger kids.”

Carlos squared his shoulders and stared into his eyes as if he wanted to argue. Miles knew he was trying to be a man, and felt for the kid. So many of these boys had seen things no kid should have seen.

Just like his son.

They’d had to grow up fast.

Miles pulled him aside for a moment while Brody talked to the others. “Please,” Miles said. “Help me out, Carlos. The other guys look up to you. You’re their leader.” He gestured toward the mound of rocks on the hill. “The deputy is waiting on that hill, the chopper is on its way, but we have no idea if things will get ugly. Dugan is armed and dangerous. We have to get these other boys out of the way in case we have to rush in and rescue Jordan and Timmy. The others will listen to you, so do your job and let me do mine.”

Carlos shifted restlessly, then seemed to accept what he’d said. “All right, man. But...don’t let anything happen to Miss Jordan. She stood up for all of us in there.” He jammed his hands in the pockets of his dusty jeans. “She’s getting to him, too.”

Miles drew a deep breath. Jordan was smart. She would do that, try to figure out a way to calm him.

He just hoped that it worked and that she and Timmy both came out alive.

* * *

D
UGAN HAD TO GET THE
damn woman out of his head. Stop her incessant talking.

His mind raced, voices whispering at him to shut her up. To torture her and carve her up like the others.

“Just look at Timmy,” she said. “Don’t you see yourself in him, Robert? Don’t you see that innocent little boy? He’s lost his mother. All he wants now is to be with some friends. Learn to ride horses and grow up.”

“Shut the hell up!” He strode over and slapped her again.

Her head whipped back, and Timmy cried out. Then suddenly the brat ran over and bit his arm.

Dugan bellowed and shook him free, then threw the kid against the hay. Jordan jumped up in front of Timmy, and Dugan shoved her aside. The gun went off again, and Jordan screamed.

“Kill her,” the voice whispered. “Take the boy and run. You know what you have to do.” Yes, he did. There would be no time for pleasure with her.

Although that certainly would have tormented McGregor more.

He had to get out of here, had to get away.

See his mama.

“Dugan!” Miles shouted.

Outside, footsteps pounded. Something banged against the barn door. Suddenly the side door flew open, and a deputy dived in firing.

Jordan screamed again, and he hit her with the butt of his gun and knocked her to the ground. Timmy dived on top of her.

“Miss Jordan...”

Everything happened so fast. Bullets flying. The deputy shouting his name. McGregor racing in.

Dugan jerked Timmy up and pulled him in front of himself. McGregor halted and threw his hand up to warn the deputy not to come closer.

Dugan had no choice. The damn bitch started this. But he had to finish it.

He pressed the gun barrel to the boy’s head then glared at McGregor. “Don’t come any closer or you’ll be putting your boy in the ground beside his mother.”