The Reluctant Rancher~Badlands (Contemporary Western Romantic Suspense) (29 page)

“No!” he exploded. “I need cash and I need it now.”

The banker’s eyes opened wide. “I’m certain we don’t have that amount in cash. I can have it transferred from one of the Amarillo branches, first thing tomorrow morning.”

E.J. felt Breck’s hand on his shoulder. He took another deep breath and let it out all at once.

Breck stepped forward. “Mr. Timmons, we need it in cash. A life depends on it.” He thrust a duffel bag he had retrieved from the back seat of his pickup into the banker’s hands. “We need it now, so you better get busy. The longer you stand around here jawing at us, the more dangerous the situation for a very sweet young lady.”

“
Yessir, Mr. Ryan. I’ll see what I can do.” Mr. Timmons bobbed his head up and down like a nervous puppet. He grabbed the bag and disappeared into the back of the bank.

“Thanks, Breck. I’m so mad, I can’t even think straight. I can’t believe Jenna is with that lowlife
, and I can’t do a damned thing about it.”

“Not a problem. Let’s just get Jenna back.” Breck’s penetrating gaze calmed him.

He had to believe they would get her back. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.

In what seemed like hours, but was in fact closer to fifteen minutes, Mr. Timmons reappeared with the bulging bag. “Here we are. It’s not a million but I’m giving you all the cash on hand except for the small amount we need to open the bank tomorrow morning.” He handed E.J. a withdrawal slip with the amount hand written in. “Would you like to co
unt it before you sign for it?”

“No.
Hell, no!” E.J. grabbed the slip and signed hurriedly. He reached for the bag. It was a lot less than a million, but it looked substantial enough. He doubted that Leon would stop to count it either.

“Thank you, Mr. Timmons. I’m most grateful.” He backed toward the door and tried the handle, forg
etting they were locked inside.

Mr. Timmons hurried forward and unlocked it for them. When they hit the pavement, Breck and E.J. raced to the truck and got in.

“Thanks, Breck. I couldn’t have done that on my own.”

“Not a problem. Are you going to call Leon now?”

E.J. nodded and pushed the redial button for Jenna’s phone. It rang twice while his stomach churned. Just as it rang a third time Leon answered.

“You got my money?” he snarled.

“Yes, I do. Let me talk to Jenna.”

“In a minute.
How’d you git the money so fast? I thought sure you’d hafta wait til tomorrow.”

“The banker opened the bank for me. Now let me talk to Jenna.”

There was a pause and then Jenna said a shaky hello.

“Hello, honey. Don’t you worry a single
second. I got the money and everything’s going to be all right.”

“Okay,” she said.

It sure didn’t sound like she believed him.

“Really, honey. Just relax and this will be over soon.”

She sniffled, but didn’t say anything else.

“Satisfied?” Leon sneered. “Now let me tell you where to bring the cash. Go out on the highway like you’re going toward Amarillo. When you get right at ten miles out of town, call me again and I’ll give you directions. You better be alone and you better have m
y money.” He paused for effect.

“I will. Just don’t hurt her.”

“If you even think about bringing the sheriff, I’ll put one bullet between her pretty green eyes.”

E.J. sickened when he heard the so
und of a revolver being cocked.

“Leave her alone. I’ve got your money. I’m coming and I won’t bring the sheriff.” The line was disconnected leaving him staring at the phone. He turned to Breck. “You heard?”

Breck nodded. He started his truck, the big diesel engine growling to life. “Going to stop by the sheriff’s office. We need to update him and I need to tell Cami to go on home.”

“Wait! I promised not to bring the sheriff.” E.J.’s gut twisted like a wet rag.

“E.J., don’t fall for that crap. If you do what he said, Leon will probably kill you both just to cover his tracks.” He shifted gears and propelled the big truck forward. “Trust me. I may know a little more about the criminal mind than you do.”

E.J. conceded this fact. “Okay, but I need to hurry. He might get impatient and hurt her. I’ll never forgive myself
if anything happens to Jenna.”

Breck drove to the sheriff’s office and they went inside. Cami was pacing and ran to him the moment he stepped throug
h the door.

“Oh, Breck.
Something awful happened.” She grabbed the front of his jacket and he put an arm around her.

“Mr. Kincaid. Mr. Ryan. I’m afraid Mrs. Ryan is right,” Deputy Samuels shook his head. “Apparently the sheriff located the kidnapper through the veterinarian’s cell phone. He sent some highway patrol officers out to make the arrest and two of them were shot by this Harwell character.”

E.J. felt as though he was going to throw up. His stomach roiled dangerously.
If Leon shot two highway patrolmen, he won’t think anything of killing Jenna…or me
.

~*~

“What is this place?” Jenna felt her throat grow tight. She’d never had occasion to drive down this particular caliches road, and the all-enveloping darkness was almost as frightening as the man beside her in the driver’s seat.

“Just don’t you worry your pretty little head about
it. This is a place where we can be alone and get to know each other a little better.”

She shuddered at the thought. Getting to know Leon Harwell better was not a pleasant
option.

The road swerved to the right and ended abruptly. The headlights came to rest on what looked like an abandoned farmhouse. A cracked window pane had been patched with duct tape and the screen door hung ajar. The trees near the house looked dead, probably
due to a drought some years past, but the bare branches added to the eerie effect.

This place is even worse than the Jessup farm.
Jenna sat transfixed, unable to move, unable to breathe.

Leon switched off the headlamps, the sudden pitch black startli
ng her like a slap in the face.

“Come on, little
darlin’. This is our home, sweet home until your boyfriend coughs up the cash.”

Jenna reached for the door handle. The thought of running flashed through her brain, but once again, she hesitated. She might outrun the man, but she would have to run a very long way to reach the highway, and Leon could certainly run her down in the truck. Even then, a passerby wouldn’t necessarily be driving at this time of night. She swallowed and stepped down out of the truck.
Being shot in the back is not going to work for me either
.

Leon motioned for her to follow him to the house. There was a padlock on the outside and when she got closer, she saw there
were some kind of grid-like bars on the inside.

Oh shit! What does he keep locked inside here?
She stumbled and caught herself before she ate a dirt sandwich. Her legs felt shaky, but she took a few hesitant steps forward.

“C’mon,” Leon insisted, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward. He flipped on a light. “See, we got electric ‘n everything.”

The squalid conditions inside were hard to believe. A broken down sofa with torn upholstery and a wooden kitchen chair were the only furnishings in the small front room, other than a rusted iron bedstead in one corner with a threadbare mattress.

Another shiver coiled down her spine as she eyed the bed.
She definitely didn’t want to be in the same room with Leon and a bed.

“You cold?
Here, I’ll warm you up.” He started taking off his jacket as he walked toward her.

A scream tried to escape her throat, but died when he wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. “Put this on and you’ll stay warm. I can’t have my meal ticket getting puny, now can I?”

She nodded, struggling to push her arms through the sleeves. “Thanks.”

“Sit on that c
hair,” he directed.

A wave of relief washed through her.
The chair. Not the bed.
She heaved a sigh and settled on the chair, not sure what was coming up, but it appeared she might not be molested.

Leon ducked into a closet and turned back to her with what looked like a length of clothesline in his hand. “This should do it.”

“Oh, no! You don’t need to tie me up. I’ll just sit here and wait.”

“Well, I can’t take a chance on that. You’re my meal ticket outta this dung heap,
so make yourself comfortable.”

Jenna could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She watched in horror as Leon tied her ankles to the chair legs and then bound her wrists together. She felt as though she was watching herself sink into quicksand. She wished she had waited until tomorrow to see E.J. She wished he was coming to save her…

That’s ridiculous! Even E.J. doesn’t have a million dollars lying around.

~
*~

E.J. sat on the passenger side of Breck’s pick up. He clutched the canvas duffel with both hands. He could feel his heart thudding inside his ch
est like a blacksmith’s hammer.

“This is ten miles,” Breck announced, slowing the truck. He pulled over to the side of the road and shifted into park, letting the engine idle.

E.J. nodded and let the duffel slide to the floorboard between his feet. He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out as he reached for his cell.
Please let her be all right.

Leon answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”

“Right at ten miles from the Langston city limits. Where to now?”

Leon erupted with rough laughter. “Good boy. Just keep following my directions and you’ll ge
t your girl back in one piece.”

A spasm of fear clutched his gut
. “Where do you want me to go?”

“Drive ten more miles down the highway and then turn to the right on a little dirt road. It’s on your property. An old abandoned farm house. Roll real quiet up to the house and then stop. I’ll be checking you out from inside.”

The phone went to dial tone in E.J.’s hand.

Breck climbed down and came around to the passenger side. He opened the door and motioned E.J. to climb down. “You need to drive the rest of the way. I’ll get down so he doesn’t see me.”

E.J. got out of the truck, reaching back for the duffel.

“No, put that on the seat. I’ll be behind you.” Breck reached in the glove compartment and removed a handgun and a box of bullets. Then opened the back door
and climbed into the back seat.

E.J. tried to breathe like a normal man. He was in awe at how calm Breck remained, although his life was on the line as well. He swallowed hard and rounded the truck to take his place behind the wheel. As he shifted gears and pulled the big truck onto the open highway, he heard Breck speaking into his cell phone.

“Sheriff, Leon Harwell is holed up at the old abandoned Atwater place. It’s on Kincaid property and was one of Eldon Kincaid’s first acquisitions.”

“I remember that,” The sheriff’s voice boomed over the speaker phone. “I always thought there was something fishy about that. I mean, Brody and Marie Atwater just had a brand new baby boy.”

Breck uttered a grunt. “And then they turned up dead in the caves on the Carmichael property.”

“Chalk up two more kills for Eldon Kincaid. That man must be burning in hell right now.”

E.J. glanced in the rear view mirror in time to see Breck give him a pitying look. A stab of pain in his chest reminded him that he had so much to atone for on his father’s behalf. He clenched his jaw together and checked the odometer to make sure he didn’t overshoot the turn.

“I’ll get a chopper in the air and have some ground troops ready to follow up, if needed.”

“Stay back, sheriff,” Breck ordered. “Let us see if we can get Jenna out safe first.”

The sheriff agreed and Breck returned the cell to his pocket. He took the shotgun off the hook in the back window.

“Good to know you have some fire power, Breck,” E.J. said, trying to keep his tone light.

Breck broke the shotgun over his arm and loaded it. “I’m always armed, and usually dangerous.”

“Good to know.” He concentrated on looking for the dirt road to the abandoned Atwater place.

“Up ahead there, on the right,” Breck directed.

E.J. turned down the heavily rutted caliches road, noting the furrows looked like there had been some big vehicles running up and down this road.
Maybe a cattle truck.
“I see a little house up ahead. And a couple of out buildings, but it looks like those are about to fall down.”

Breck scooted down on the rear seat. “Go slow and don’t pull too close to the house. If he comes out and shows himself, I’m going after him. If he stays inside, I’ll just sneak around and be outside the door waiting to see what happens next.”

E.J. slowed to a crawl, the headlamps on bright to light the road ahead. He turned toward the small house, bathing the structure in the high beams. He let the truck idle for a moment and then shut off the motor.