He'd set up their honeymoon, but he hadn't
told her where they were going. As usual, her patience was almost
non-existent, so she'd been snooping and pestering him for a week
to tell her, but he hadn't given in. She still had a week to get it
out of him though, and she wasn't giving up.
A barn cat rubbed up against her leg, and
Cassie bent down to pick it up for a cuddle. The tabby began
purring on her chest and she rolled it over in her arms to scratch
its little belly, then she bent her nose down and rubbed it to the
kitten's nose and he swatted her cheek with his little paw. She
laughed and did it again.
"What the hell do you think you're doing,
sugar?" Luke boomed as he stomped down the corridor to her.
"Wow...hello to you too, husband-to-be," she
said bristling at the tone he'd taken with her.
He reached over and pulled the cat out her
arms by the scruff then put it on the floor and swatted its behind
gently. The playful kitten swatted his hand, but then took off down
the aisle. "Hey--why'd you do that?"
"You're not supposed to be handling cats,
darlin'," his voice was frustrated and terse. "I've been reading up
on it, and the book I got says--"
"It's litter boxes, nimnuts. Not cats.
Pregnant women all over the world have cats...and they manage to
birth healthy babies just fine."
"Well yeah, but...cats all play in their
litter boxes, and the bacteria is probably on their fur too," he
defended.
"Bullshit, Luke...and barn cats don't even
use
litter boxes," she said with a incredulous laugh. A hurt
expression flickered over his face and his jaw tensed. Cassie hated
that she'd put that look there.
Walking over to him, she slid one arm around
his waist and put her hand over his heart, before looking up at
him. "If it bothers you though, sugar, I won't play with the cats
anymore. I know you're just trying to protect me and the baby."
He dipped his head down and gave her a sweet
kiss. "Thanks, cupacake," he said then hugged her to him.
Cassie sighed out her frustration, but she
was glad she'd appeased him. Although he set her britches on fire
with his over protectiveness, if he was any other way, he wouldn't
be the Luke that she loved. She smiled up at him, "You done for the
day?"
"Yep, we finished," he told her grinning
proudly.
"Why don't you give me a grand tour, and
then we'll go take a shower...together...to conserve water of
course. You know how dry it's been lately," she told him with her
tongue in her cheek.
"Oh yeah, very dry...." he agreed then bent
to lick her earlobe, before tracing kisses down her neck.
"Mmm...definitely need to conserve water," he told her kissing back
up her neck then along her jaw, before he captured her mouth in a
fierce kiss.
Bud cleared his throat behind them and they
broke apart like guilty teenagers. Cassie felt her cheeks heat up
and she saw Luke's were similarly red. "Sorry to interrupt, but
someone named Sabrina is on the phone up at the house for you,
Cassie Bee."
Alarm skittered along Cassie's nerve
endings, but she shut it down, telling herself it could be
something as simple as matching her shoes to her dress that could
have Sabrina calling her the day before she was supposed to arrive
in Bowie. "Thanks, Bud...I'll head up to the house."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cassie started to walk away, but Luke's hand
on her elbow stopped her. "Wait up, I'm coming with you," he said
and dropped his arm around her waist to lead her toward the back
porch.
"I can't imagine what she could be calling
for," Cassie told him a little out of breath.
Luke didn't respond, just held her by his
side and led her up on the porch and through the door, then to the
alcove where the receiver was sitting by the phone. He stepped back
and let her pick up the phone.
"Hello...Sabrina?" Cassie said forcing
brightness into her tone.
Sabrina didn't respond for a second, then
she asked Cassie in a tense and hesitant tone, "Hi, Cassie...is
Luke there with you? Are you sitting down?"
No, this definitely wasn't good, Cassie
thought, and gripped the phone a little tighter, before she said,
"Yeah, he's here...just tell me what's wrong Sabrina."
Glancing over at Luke she saw he was
studying her with concern in his eyes.
"James escaped this morning," Sabrina
informed her in a voice tinged with anger and frustration.
Cassie felt like an anvil had just dropped
on her chest. She couldn't catch her breath and the phone dropped
from her fingers, as she leaned back against the wall and slid to
the floor.
Luke pushed inside the small alcove and
picked up the phone. "Sabrina, what happened?!" he yelled into the
phone, then sat down beside Cassie on the floor and grabbed her
wrist checking her pulse, it was rapid and shallow. He pressed the
back of her head down and shoved it down between her knees.
"Breathe, honey."
"James was being escorted to the courthouse
this morning for sentencing, and his guard was new and female and
he talked her into taking his cuffs off so he could go to the
bathroom...he slipped out a window," she told him.
"How the hell could they let that happen?"
he shrieked in disbelief.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Luke. Tell
Cassie, I'm not coming tomorrow...I rescheduled my flight for next
Friday. I'll do my best to find him."
"Thanks, Sabrina. Keep us posted," he said
then put the receiver back on the cradle, before he lifted Cassie
into his arms and sat on the floor to hold her to his chest rocking
her gently.
"Oh, god Luke, what if he comes here..."
"I'll put a bullet in him," Luke told her
matter-of-factly. And he would. Nobody was going to hurt Cassie and
their baby. Not on his watch.
She whimpered and buried her face in his
chest, her fists clutching his shirt as her tears soaked the front.
Luke reached up and pulled down the phone to the floor, then he
dialed Cole.
"Sheriff Jackson," Cole said into the phone,
sounding distracted.
"Cole, we have a problem..." Luke told his
friend.
"My specialty...what's up?"
"James Barton escaped from jail in Phoenix
this morning."
"
What!
" Cole shouted and Luke pulled
the phone away from his ear for a second.
"Yeah, that's what I said." Luke told him
angrily, "Cassie's a mess, and I think we need to get Judge to put
out a restraining order, and we should probably give everyone
notice to look out for him."
"I'll do that right now."
"And Cole?"
"Yeah?"
"If he shows up here, I'm gonna shoot first
and ask questions later."
Cole hesitated a moment then told him with
seriousness in his voice, "Make sure it's self defense, buddy."
"If he gets within a half-mile of Cassie, I
won't care," he told Cole in a lethal tone. "If she had walked in
that house instead of me in Phoenix, he'd have shot her. That could
have been why he was there in the first place. I'm not taking any
chances. Get that restraining order."
"Will do," Cole told him then
disconnected.
Luke lifted Cassie higher in his arms then
he pushed up the wall to stand and then carried her up the stairs
to their bedroom. Gently he laid her down on the bed and kissed her
forehead before he slid in behind her and pulled her into his
arms.
"Shhh, don't cry, sugar. The baby will be
sad too," he cooed close to her ear and kissed her again. She
hiccupped and nodded then rolled over to press her face into his
chest, and he tightened his arms around her. "I'm not going to let
anything happen to you baby, you believe that?" She nodded again
then sighed brokenly.
After a few minutes, he felt her relax in
his arms and he sighed in relief letting the tension ease out of
his muscles. When she miraculously fell asleep, Luke slipped his
arm from under her and eased out of the bed. He was going to put
everyone on the farm on notice about James Barton and tell them to
arm themselves, just in case. Like he'd told Cole, he wasn't taking
any chances with Cassie and his baby.
He talked to Bud first and he assured Luke
that he'd take care of informing and arming the hands. Then he went
and spoke with Carl, and boy he'd never heard such blue curses fly
from the man. Before Luke left the office in the barn, Carl was
strapping on an old Colt 45, that Luke wasn't even sure would fire.
He felt slightly better when Carl walked to the corner and loaded
his old double-barrel shotgun.
Luke knew from personal experience, the man
knew how to use that one.
Imelda's weapon of choice was her rolling
pin and as a backup her cast iron skillet. She assured Luke that
she wouldn't hesitate to use either should that fancy pants show up
on their doorstep.
Luke's next step was to go down to the
station to talk to Cole in person, and get him to arrange for
off-duty deputies to secure the perimeter of the Double B at his
expense. He went to his house next and unlocked his gun cabinet
pulling out every rifle, handgun and shotgun he owned, and he had a
lot, with ammo for each, then loaded them into his truck and headed
back to the Double B. If that sonofabitch was dumb enough to show
his ass up at the Double B, Luke was going to make sure he didn't
live to regret it.
Anger surged through him, and the longer it
stewed, the hotter it got. By the time he got back to the Double B,
it was like lava coursing through his veins about to erupt. He knew
he had to get a grip on himself, and keep his cool so Cassie would
too, but damned if he could manage it.
That bastard wasn't going to have a chance
to touch a hair on Cassie's beautiful head, because Luke was going
to be sticking to her like white on rice, until they caught
him...or Luke killed him.
Maybe some target practice would help him
relieve some of his anger, Luke thought, as he carried in the guns
into the house and loaded them before strategically placing them
around the house. Putting on his shoulder holster over his t-shirt,
he checked and loaded his Sig P228 9mm and slid it in the holster.
It had been a while since he'd practiced, so shooting some things
up would not only relieve his tension, it would also assure him he
was on top of his game.
He was going to take Cassie with him, and
give her the snub-nose .38 Special that he pulled out of the cache
and loaded. He knew she knew how to shoot a rifle, and shotgun, but
she needed a handgun. Having it with her would probably make her
feel better too. Shooting it now, might remove some of the fear
that he'd seen in her eyes earlier.
Luke ran up the stairs two at a time and
burst through the bedroom door. Cassie sat up straight in the bed
and her hand flew to her chest, fear sparkling in her eyes. "Oh,
god, Luke...you scared me," she said breathlessly. Her eyes moved
to the gun strapped under his arm and the one he held in his hand
and they widened. "What's that for?"
"This is for you, sugar and I'm going to
show you how to use it," he said with determination.
"I know how to shoot, Luke."
"You know how to shoot a handgun?"
"No...but I'm pretty good with a rifle."
"You need to learn how to use a handgun,
darlin'. It's faster and easier to use. Not to mention it'll fit in
your purse better than a rifle," he tried to infuse humor into his
tone.
Cassie snorted, then pushed up on the bed to
sit on the side. "I know why you're doing this, Luke and it's not
going to help."
"I think it will...and it'll make me feel
better for sure."
Cassie shrugged and stood up. "Okay...", she
said then walked over to take the .38 from his hand. She tested its
weight in her hand.
"Careful, darlin', it's loaded."
She almost dropped it and Luke grabbed it
from her and put on the safety, then handed it back to her. Cassie
chuckled, "I think I'll be more likely to shoot myself in the foot,
or you in the ass, than hit a target."
"It's easy as pie, sugar. If I know you,
you'll be shooting better than me before we finish this first
lesson."
She snorted. "Not likely, but I'm glad you
have confidence in me."
He opened the door and spread an arm to
invite her to go first then said, "Always, sugar..."
Luke grabbed a stack of aluminum pie tins
that Imelda had stored in the pantry, then took Cassie out to the
pasture and set the tins up on cross-fence, then handed her the ear
protection and goggles he'd grabbed from the truck on the way
out.
After counting off seven yards, Luke stopped
and drew a line in the hard packed earth with the toe of his
boot.
"Isn't that too close?" Cassie asked
him.
"No, darlin' this is a close range gun,
something you can carry in your purse and can have in your hand in
seconds if you're attacked. It's basically point and shoot. I'll
show you how to sight it, but you need to practice point
shooting."