Cowboy Love on Hold [Love: The Cowboy Way 1] (11 page)

“And if Travers kills you both and finds me here sitting at the side of the road on my own?”

He stared at her for a second, his gray eyes unreadable while he weighed what she’d said. He grabbed her hand.”Okay, good point. Come on.”

Wade put her on his back and leapt the ditch, cutting across the field towards the house. The tall grass wouldn’t offer much cover, but it was better than approaching in full view along the road. Kimber strained to see over his head, her heart pounding hard in her chest when she could see that the front door to the ranch house was now closed. Were they still inside?

She slid to the ground when Wade let her go, creeping to his side behind the large oak at the edge of the field, thirty feet from the house. Wade grabbed her hand, turning it so her palm faced upwards and gave her the gun. Kimber tried to give it back. “Aren’t you gonna need this?”

“I’m gonna circle around back and grab my rifle from the shed. I want you to wait here.”

“No! I’m coming with you!”

Wade gave her a brief, hard kiss on the lips. “Can you, for once, please just do what I ask? I can’t help Brandon if I’m worrying about you.”

Kimber nodded, unable to speak when the urge to cry overwhelmed her.
What if he died? What if they both died?

He hugged her and took a step away, his gaze fixed on the gun in her hand. She knew he didn’t want her to see how scared he was. “If anyone but me, Brandon, or someone in uniform comes for you, you shoot first and ask questions later, okay?”

She tried to smile and wiped at the tears blurring her vision. When she looked for Wade again, he’d already gone.

Chapter 11

Wade stuck his head up above the kitchen window ledge, and ducked down again. The room was empty. If Travers had come in through the kitchen door, it should still be unlocked.

The handle creaked when he pressed on it, the rusty springs mocking him for not oiling them as regularly as he should. He pushed the door open a couple of inches and stepped through, crossing the kitchen floor quickly and pressing his body against the dining room wall. He could hear Travers laughing, and for a heart-stopping moment, Wade thought Brandon might already be dead.

“He’s here now. I haven’t got long, Manny. Just say what you must and let me get on with it. I need to get out of here like ten minutes ago.”

Travers must have handed the phone to Brandon because his was the next voice Wade heard.

“Hey, Manny! So is this is how you jailbirds get your kicks these days?” Brandon fell silent, and Wade assumed he was listening to what Manny had to say. “I’m flattered that you’ve thought of me so often. Five years is a very long time to stay bitter but, hey, what else did you have to occupy your time?”

“Get on with it,” Travers muttered. Wade could hear him pacing the floor.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, but I gotta go. I’ve got a feeling you’ll be seeing me again real soon. My face will be the last thing you think of when they put that needle in your arm.”

“Enough!” Travers snapped, and Brandon laughed in response. Wade would never have believed that the kind, almost gentle Brandon he knew had nerves of steel and seemed to have ice water running through his veins. To see him in action when he charged Travers, grabbing Kimber and throwing the gun to Wade with the precision of a pitcher, was breathtaking. Wade grimaced, angry again that he’d let Brandon down. He had one chance to take out Travers, and he’d missed. He wouldn’t let Brandon down again.

“Yes, I’m gonna record it!” Travers said, the strain beginning to get to him. “Jesus Christ, Manny, give me a fucking break here! Okay, bye.”

The pair fell silent, and Wade’s heartbeat kicked up a notch, his muscles tensing as he prepared to move. He held his breath when Travers spoke again. “Ok, I’m recording. Brandon, I don’t suppose you’d like to ham it up a bit and give old Manny his money’s worth? You know, beg for your life…plead with me not to kill you…that sort of thing. I could use the extra money.”

“Fuck you.”

Wade broke cover, stepping into the doorway and swinging in the direction Travers’ voice had come from. “Hey!” he shouted, waiting until Travers turned before pulling the trigger. The bullet hit him in the arm, sending the gun flying from his hand. Wade chambered another round, and lifted the rifle to his shoulder, ready to fire again. But then, Brandon lunged at Travers, roaring as he shoved him across the room and smashed him into the wall.

Brandon’s fist connected with Travers’ nose just as his knee came up into the guy’s stomach. He punched him again, landing a firm right hook on his jaw. Travers slid to the floor, and Brandon reached down to yank Travers to his feet, his fist clenched ready to strike him again, but then he changed his mind.

“You so much as think about her, never mind lay a hand on her again, I’m gonna kill you…if it’s the last thing I do, I swear I will hunt you down and kill you.” He threw him to the ground and stepped away.

Wade put the rifle on the bench beside him, opening his arms and dragging Brandon to him. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Where’s Kimber?”

“She’s safe.” Travers groaned and tried to get up. Suddenly, the urge to make Travers sorry that he’d ever tried to hurt the people Wade loved overwhelmed him, and he lunged towards him.

Brandon caught him around the chest and held him back. “Leave him alone. He’s a prisoner now, and he’s got rights. I can’t let you beat the crap out of him.”

Wade stopped struggling. “So you can hit him, but I can’t?”

“I was apprehending a criminal. It was in the line of duty. You could be arrested and, believe me, he isn’t worth any more of our time.” Brandon turned to walk away, and then laughed when a thought occurred to him. “Besides, you shot him already. Isn’t that enough?”

“I guess.” Wade grinned. “Let’s go get Kimber.”

After they’d hog-tied Travis and locked him in the den, they went to look for Kimber. She was where Wade had left her, but she was sitting on the ground, her head buried in her hands, hard sobs wracking her body.

“Honey?”

She raised her head at the sound of Brandon’s voice, her gaze flitting from one to the other as she scanned them from head to toe, as if checking for injuries. A fresh wave of tears stole her breath, and Wade could barely make out what she was trying to say.

“I heard a shot. I thought…”

“It’s all over now.”

Brandon leaned down to look at her wrists, swearing when he saw the marks where the ropes had burned her skin. He scooped her up in his arms and walked towards the house just as a Blackhawk helicopter swooped almost silently over the valley, flying so low that the down blast flattened the grass around them and tore at their clothes.

“Here, you better take her.” Brandon put Kimber into Wade’s arms. “I’m gonna try and keep you out of this okay? Wade, don’t argue with me,” he said when Wade shook his head in protest. “You guys don’t need to be involved. We have enough evidence to prove what Travers was up to. The idiot practically recorded a confession on his phone, plus they’ve got my testimony.”

He kissed Kimber on the lips and turned his head towards Wade, so close he could feel Brandon’s breath on his face. “I better not kiss you in front of the guys. I’ll see you both soon.”

Wade sat down in front of the tree and pulled Kimber into his lap while they watched as Brandon ran towards the helicopter hovering over the house. Four men, dressed in black and holding machine guns to their chests, rappelled to the ground, stopped to listen to Brandon for a second, and then stormed into the house.

Thirty seconds later, the helicopter turned and flew out of the valley, disappearing almost instantly in the late evening dusk, with the soldiers, Travers, and Brandon on board.

Chapter 12

Two months had passed since they’d seen or heard from Brandon, so when Kimber was upstairs cleaning the bedrooms one Saturday afternoon and saw a familiar figure walking down the winding footpath that linked his property to theirs, she was almost afraid to believe her eyes.

He paused as he turned the bend and stared up at the house, his hand going up to rub the back of his neck. For some reason, Brandon was nervous about seeing them. Kimber had no intention of giving him enough time to talk himself out of anything.

“Wade! Brandon’s here!” she shouted, running down the stairs two at a time and tearing open the front door.

Kimber raced across the yard towards Brandon, speeding up when she saw a wide grin light up his face and he opened his arms. She slammed into him and almost knocked him off his feet as she leapt into his embrace. Kimber wrapped her legs around his waist and rained kisses on his brow, cheeks, nose, and jaw, only stopping when he held her still by threading a hand into her hair and locking his mouth over hers.

When he let her go, she slid to the ground, a little embarrassed by her over enthusiasm. Kimber knew Wade was spitting mad at Brandon, but she didn’t feel the same way. Brandon was back, and that’s all she really cared about. She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the house, looking up to find Wade waiting on the porch with his arms crossed and a deep frown marring his handsome features. In that instant, she realized he was more hurt than angry.

“Hey,” Brandon said, slipping his hand from hers and extending it to Wade. “How’ve you been?”

Wade didn’t leave him hanging and accepted Brandon’s handshake. Kimber smiled, knowing that he’d only done it because his mother had brought him up right, not because he wanted to. “Good to see you.”

Brandon laughed, and some of the tension left his face. “So it’s gonna be like that, huh?” Wade looked away and just frowned harder. Kimber ignored him, sure he’d come around in his own time. He’d missed the other man in a way that would have made her jealous if anyone other than Brandon was involved.

“Have you eaten? There’s some leftover chili.” She laughed, remembering that’s what she gave him before. “There’s always leftover chili.”

“I ain’t complaining,” Wade said, sending her a warm smile that faded away the instant he turned his gaze back to Brandon.

“Come on, you two can keep me company while I cook.” She hooked her arms through theirs and pulled them into the house.

By the time they finished eating, Wade had halfway forgiven Brandon. Once he’d explained that he’d spent the last few weeks working with his old team, rounding up the rest of Costanza’s family and their accomplices, even Wade couldn’t stay mad at him for long.

“I wish there’d been some way you could have told us what was going on,” Wade said, doing a poor job of masking his feelings. “Kimber was worried out of her head.”

She let that one go, sure Brandon would know she wasn’t the only one who’d been concerned. “We were a little hurt that you didn’t call,” she said, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

Brandon stroked her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. “Rogue agents have access to phone records, Internet conversations…you name it. I just couldn’t take the risk in case someone was monitoring my contacts. Besides, I promised you both I’d be back.”

“That’s what I kept telling myself.” Wade sat forward and reached for Brandon’s hand, clasping it between his. “But as time went on, I figured you’d changed your mind.”

“Never.” Brandon’s green-eyed stare locked with Wade’s steel gray one, and Kimber could almost feel the last bit of resistance between them crumble away to nothing. Brandon tugged on Wade’s hand as he got to his feet, forcing Wade to stand, too. “Can I come back home now, Wade? Please…”

Kimber watched, awestruck with love for them both, when Wade dragged Brandon into his arms and kissed him. Brandon groaned and opened his mouth to accept Wade’s tongue, his hands yanking at Wade’s hips to tug him closer.

The sight of them wrapped in each other’s arms left her breathless. Kimber wanted to be a part of the tangle of hands, lips, touches and moans, but she couldn’t move. A wave of heat snaked its way up through her groin, the feeling so intense that she had to dig her nails into her palms to keep from crying out. When Wade released Brandon’s lips and they turned in unison to smile down at her, it took Kimber a second to realize they were talking.