Rustler's Heart (A Kinnison Legacy Novel) (20 page)

Aimee nodded and proceeded to throw up in the grass. Liberty held her shoulders, keeping an eye out for Franco. She swallowed as gasp as he appeared at the front of the house, not more than a few hundred yards from where they hid. He looked up at his handiwork, his grin the epitome of evil, glowing in the fire’s light.

“You stay here,” Liberty whispered to Aimee. “Promise me.”

The terrified woman grabbed her arm. “No, you stay here with me. Help will be here soon.”

“I’m going to lure him away from the house. Wyatt’s truck is out front. When you see your chance, you get over there and hightail it to town.”

Aimee searched her eyes. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“Aimee, you have to think of your baby, Wyatt’s baby.” She glanced over her shoulder at the house. Glass shattered and she heard a whoop of delight from Franco. The idiot had no idea that the fire had been reported. He was too full of himself to realize anyone had been home. Either that, or he figured those inside had already succumbed to the smoke. “I know this guy, Aimee. This is my fault.” She choked back a sob and cupped her sister-in-law’s face. “Do as I say. You remember where Wyatt keeps his spare key?”

“We should wait together.”

Liberty peered through a slit between the logs. Franco had his phone to his ear, no doubt giving Angelo the news that he’d done his duty. “Do as I say, Aimee. Wait until I get his attention. Then run and don’t look back.”

“No, Liberty, don’t.” She tightened her grip. Liberty patted her friend’s hand and remembered how she’d been the first one to make her feel welcome.

“I was a fast runner in school. Don’t worry.” She didn’t need to stay another moment to know that Aimee would continue to fight the idea. But at the moment, she had little choice. She had to get Franco away from that truck and give Aimee the time she needed to escape.

Careful not to make a sound, she snuck behind Rein’s woodworking shop and ran out into the lane that led to the barn and the cabins. ‘You plan on leaving without me, Franco?” She yelled above the din. The smoke in her lungs stifled her voice and she began to choke, coughing up soot and slime from her throat. He spotted her and as she hoped, took off after her. Her lungs felt like lead as she stumbled down the dirt lane. Hours before, she’d planned on leaving the ranch. Rein had stopped her with his poetic confession of needing her, wanting her to stay. It seemed ironic that she might now die in the exact spot where she’d had her first glimpse at her future. The horses, housed inside the barn, sensed the danger, and whinnied restlessly in their stalls. She snuck in through the back of the barn and one by one opened the stalls, swatting at the horses, getting them out of the building in case a spark should send the building into flames. She froze as she spotted Franco’s silhouette standing at the opposite entrance, unfazed by the stampede.

“None of this would have happened if you’d just come home like Angelo wanted.”

She stayed in the shadows and searched for something, anything that she could defend against his attack.

“Game over, sweetheart. You know we can’t have any witnesses. He ordered this after he hung up. He figured you’d go to the police and you’d mess things up. So, he left it to me. And you know I am a professional.”

Liberty grabbed a shovel and pressed her shoulder against the back door of the barn, anticipating that he’d follow. When he didn’t immediately burst through the door, she crept to the corner of the barn and peered around the edge. Like heaven to her ears, the sound of the fire truck blaring its horn sounded over the roar of the house now almost entirely engulfed in flames. Blue and red lights flashed eerily over the landscape. Close behind Dalton’s truck followed, barreling at full speed, its headlights bouncing over the ruts in the gravel road.

Startled by the onslaught of people barring his escape, Franco faced the entourage, his body silhouetted by the bright lights. Liberty, seizing her chance, ran up behind him, the shovel poised over her head. At that instant, Dalton’s truck made a sharp turn, and crashed through the split rail fence that edged the dirt lane. Blinded by the light, Liberty held her position, squinting for better aim at Franco while distracted. She swung the shovel at his head with the purpose of a baseball player, barely aware of Rein shouting as he leaped from the truck.

“Hold it right there, don’t move.” He ran toward them, even before the truck had fully stopped.

The shovel connected to Franco’s shoulder and the jarring impact of it sent tingles shooting through her arms. To her surprise, a loud explosion followed and a flare of light streamed through the air. She watched in shock as Franco crumpled at her feet.

“Liberty?” Rein’s voice sounded puzzled.

She dropped the shovel and ran toward him as he dropped to his knees in front of her.

“What is it? What’s—” Her eyes widened. She couldn’t breathe. She stared at the dark stain beginning to soak through his grey tee shirt.

“I think I’ve been shot.”

“Wyatt looks like he’s been dragged through a knot-hole backward.” Betty shook her head. “This is the second time in twenty-four hours that I’ve found myself in this waiting room. And folks say nothing exciting ever happens in small towns. Come here, darlin’. You must be half out of your mind.”

Liberty walked into the big woman’s embrace, welcoming the warmth of her hug. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. It’d been several hours since they’d arrived back at the hospital. They’d rushed Rein into surgery with a bullet wound to the shoulder and hurried Aimee to the floor to have her and the baby checked over.

“We all pretty much look like shit,” Dalton mumbled and downed his third cup of coffee since sunrise. He looked at Liberty, removed his ball cap, and pushed a hand through his thick black curls. “Doc says Aimee and the baby are going to be fine. You did the right thing getting her out of there when you did.”

Tears pooled in Liberty’s eyes as she stepped from Betty’s arms. She felt nothing like the heroine they’d painted her to be. “But the ranch. You’re beautiful home that Jed built.”

Wyatt stood then and met her in the middle of the room. He took her hand and pulled her close, hugging her tight.

“The house can be rebuilt and thanks to your techno-geek brother over there,” he nodded toward Dalton who raised a weary hand. “All of our important documents are safely tucked away in a deposit box at the bank. He’s even got all of our pictures on a flash drive.”

“You can thank me later.”

Wyatt chuckled, gave her another squeeze and kissed the top of her head. “You did good, baby sister.”

“If I’d not come. If I’d just gone back like Angelo wanted, none of this would have happened.”

He held her at arm’s length, regarding her with a curious smile. “You’re right, I suppose. But Aimee wouldn’t have known her brave, wonderful sister-in-law. Our baby wouldn’t have an aunt to teach him how to be ornery and, we’d have never known we had such a courageous sister.” He narrowed his gaze. “And Rein, well….”

She covered her face, reliving the moment when she realized he’d been shot. “Oh God, when I saw he’d been shot, that I’d been the one to cause the gun to misfire….”

“That sequence of events may well have saved his life, Liberty. He’s a tough old cuss. He’ll be fine. The idiot leapt out of the truck before we could stop. Hell, that alone could have killed him. Guess he had more important things on his mind.”

Liberty sniffed and met her brother’s dark, gentle eyes. For the first time, she felt a sense of belonging, the warmth of family.

“You know he’s going to need someone with a keen sense of design to help him rebuild the house.”

“What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

Dalton’s arm dropped over her shoulder. “I’d be happy to knock some sense into his head if you like. Seems to me that you two have been dancing around each other long enough, don’t you think?”

Her cheeks warmed under the twin scrutiny of her brothers. They seemed to have more faith in Rein’s forgiveness than she did. Guess she needed to find out for herself. She straightened and quickly swiped her fingers over her cheeks. “How do I look?”

They glanced at each other, then her. “Like hell,” they answered together.

Betty’s laughter peeled through the waiting room. Liberty stepped into her brother’s embrace. It felt good to belong.

Nerves gnawed at her gut, Liberty peeked into the room and met the nurse as she finished her hourly assessment. “Just a few minutes. He’s still weak from surgery.”

She pressed her lips together and held back the tears that threatened to escape as she stepped cautiously into the dark room. The dim light behind his bed cast him in a surreal blue-white glow. He lay with his eyes closed. She stood staring down at his ruggedly handsome, face. Even without benefit of a razor he was beautiful. His upper body, bare except for the gauze bandages wrapped around his rib cage and shoulder, showed a stark contrast to his bronzed skin. Many times she’d watched him sleep after they’d made love, and she cautioned herself not to get too close, not to lose her heart. But she had, and she couldn’t turn back now, even if she tried. Her gaze traveled across the wires and tubes connecting him to various machines and came to rest on the steady blip of his heart on the monitor. How many times had she fallen asleep listening to that strong, steady beat?

“Hey,” his husky voice startled her. He pried open one eye and then the other and offered her a sloppy grin.

She walked around to his side, and bit down on her lip determined not to cry.

“Aw Libby. Don’t, baby.”

“I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know he had a gun.”

He took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “Careful there, slick. You know what happens when you try to apologize.” He used her words and offered a weak grin.

“You might have been killed.”

“Hey.” He coughed and then winced at the pain. “The way I figure it, he might have had better aim had it not been for that hit with the shovel, slugger.” He licked his lips and glanced at the water glass. “I could use a little help.”

He took a sip through a straw and settled back on the pillow, releasing a deep sigh. “How are Aimee and the baby?”

He held tight to her hand, not letting go.

“The doctor says they’ll both be fine. He wants to keep her here overnight, as a precaution.”

“Any word on Michael?”

In all the chaos of the past few hours, she’d nearly forgotten her brief conversation with Rebecca. “Doing very well, I guess. They told Rebecca she could take him home in a day or two. He’ll come back in a week or so to start rehab and go over his diet.”

“No more taste-testing Rebecca’s pies.” He smiled and she noticed the fine smile lines creasing the corners of his eyes. A gorgeous cowboy with laugh lines? She could do a helluva lot worse, and truth be told, she’d had her fill of losers in her life. She glanced at their hands, seeing that he hadn’t let go and decided maybe she should stop running, that maybe what she’d been looking for was right in front of her. But could he still want her after all that had happened? Right now, doped up on pain meds, groggy still from surgery, he’d likely just glad to be alive—and God, so was she.

“What about that Franco guy? What happened to him?”

“Besides a very bad headache?”

“That’s my slugger.”

“His name is Franco Martinez. One of Angelo’s goons.”

“You make it sound like the mafia.”

“Angelo is bad news. It’s one of the main reasons I left like I did. I’d hoped he’d forget about me, find another girl to charm. I hadn’t counted on his pride or his greed to want revenge.”

“Revenge? For what?’

Liberty sighed and pulled a chair close to the bed. Rein resumed holding her hand. “He talked me into dancing at one of his clubs. He bought me things, an apartment, clothes, but I began to realize there were strings attached to his affections. And as I began to pull away, he became more possessive. There was talk that he used the club for drug trafficking. That’s when I decided I needed to get out.”

“Smart girl.”

She shrugged. “Except that he found me and tried to hurt my family by sending Franco who I’m guessing has a list of arsons under his belt. I saw his face as he stared at the fire. I couldn’t believe he could do something so horrific, worse, because of me.”

“Liberty, this wasn’t your fault. It’s because Angelo is a very dangerous and sick man. I just want to make sure he can’t hurt you ever again.”

She proceeded to tell him how her friend Elaina had escaped after Angelo left her with one of his guards and managed to get to a neighbors to call the police. “I owe Elaina so much for what she’s done for me,” Liberty said. “She and I, and a few others at the club have agreed to testify against Angelo and some of the shady dealings they’ve seen go down at the club.”

“And what about this Franco?” Rein asked.

“I think Franco will be only too happy to strike a deal with authorities, once he realizes that they’ve closed the club and taken Angelo into custody on some other charges while they do their investigation.”

“Did Angelo ever threaten you personally?” Rein’s brow furrowed.

“By phone, yes. It became his habit to threaten anyone who didn’t do as he said. He enjoys controlling people, just like my father.”

“You don’t have to go back. You have a home and a family here, now.”

She searched his eyes. “I may have to go back to testify.”

“And I’ll be right there with you. I imagine, so will Wyatt and Dalton.”

A lump formed in her throat. She held his gaze. “How’d I get so lucky to find you?”

He motioned his head for her to come closer. She scooted nearer the bedside.

“Closer, up here.”

She stood and leaned over him, careful not to touch him, though she wanted to more than anything. His blue eyes darkened and she grinned. “Those meds must be working great.”

He took her chin in his fingertips and drew her face to his, searching her eyes.

“
You
are what’s good for me, Miss Liberty Belle.” He pulled her face down, touching his mouth to hers in a soft, lingering kiss.