StudinTexas (14 page)

“Now, sugar,” Reese said as she gripped her friend by the
shoulders. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this.”

“Reese,” she said, “Mac got on the property by boat. You can
bet he let Midnight out of the stable because…because…” Her brow furrowed as
she seemed to search for a plausible reason. Unfortunately, one hit her hard,
if the shock and dismay that crossed her face were any indication. “Oh shit. He
saw me with the horse.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed on her. “How do you know that?”

“Makes perfect sense,” she said, her tone suddenly raspy
with emotion. “We walked him yesterday, you and me. Down to the lake, by your
cottage. There were boaters in the area. Any one of them could have been Mac,
scoping this place out. If he saw me with Midnight, he’d know that horse meant
something to me. He knows how I feel about those animals.”

“You don’t think he’s going to hold Midnight ransom for
sixty grand, do you?” Caleb ventured in a gruff voice. “He’s not
that
desperate, is he?”

Sam didn’t think it was possible, but Sky turned even
whiter.

“He is that desperate,” she whispered. Reese slipped an arm
around her shoulders. “Which means he might find a way to get Midnight off the
property. We have to do something. We have to find that horse.”

“I’ll go search for Midnight. You stay here, Sam.”

“No,” Sky said. “If you’re going, then Sam has to go with
you. You can’t just go on your own, Caleb.”

“Now hold on—”

Sam gripped his brother’s shoulder. “She’s right. I’m not
letting you out to search on your own. Sky can stay here with Reese and Al.
There’s no way Willet can get to her here. Al has a gun.”

Caleb nodded. “Fine. Let’s make this a quick sweep.” He had
his own radio in hand and contacted the other two security guards who patrolled
the vast acreage, apprising them of the situation.

One said, “I just found Midnight. I’m in the southwest
quadrant, not far from the med facility. He’s backed into a corner, looking
restless.”

“Don’t go near him,” Caleb insisted. “Just keep an eye on
him. And keep your wits about you.”

Sam took the radio and gave Willet’s description once again,
then advised the guard that he was likely armed and dangerous. “Don’t engage
him if you come across him. Just hang back. We’re on our way.”

Sky’s fingers curled around the material of his T-shirt at
his abs. She stared up at him imploringly. “Save that horse, Sam. Don’t let
anything happen to him.”

He nodded. Then he kissed her.

“Don’t let anything happen to you, either,” she whispered
against his lips. “Or anyone else.”

“It’ll be all right.”

Unfortunately, his words didn’t chase away the fear and
dread clouding her deep-blue eyes.

Sam backed away and turned to Al. “Don’t let Sky or Reese
out of your sight.”

“They’ll be safe with me,” he assured Sam.

To both women, Sam sternly said, “Do not move an inch. I am
not kidding. Do not make us worry about you.”

Sky swallowed hard. Nodded her head.

Reese said, “Of course. We’ll be right here.”

The tension filling the stable pressed in on Sam, but the
urgency of the situation propelled him into action.

“I’ll get the hackamore,” he told Caleb. “We’ll take the ATV
to get to him.”

He retrieved the bridle, then cupped the side of Sky’s face.
He stared into her eyes and said, “Promise me you’ll stay put.”

“I will. I swear it. Don’t worry about me. Save that for
Midnight.”

He kissed her again, then strode out, Caleb at his side.

* * * * *

“That fucking
asshole,
” Sky murmured as her fists
balled at her sides. “I should have shot him that night in Luckenbach. In fact,
if Sam gets his hands on him, Mac will
wish
I’d shot him when I had the
chance.”

“The sheriff’s on his way,” Reese said. “Caleb called, like
Sam told him to, so it’s just a matter of time. They’ll get Midnight and—”

“What if Mac gets away?” Sky interjected, her heart
thundering. “Will he just come back tomorrow night or the night after that?”

“No,” Reese insisted. “Especially now that we know how he got
onto the property. You know Sam and Caleb. They’ll quadruple security. Bring in
guys from Austin, if they have to.”

Sky’s mind reeled. “This is a nightmare. Jesus Christ, what
a goddamn nightmare.”

They were all but held hostage on the ranch, while Mac was…
where?

“If that asshole hurts a horse or anyone else,” she said
through clenched teeth, “I
will
hunt him down.” She stomped her foot,
once again wanting like hell to kick Mac in the balls. Hard. Really,
really
hard. The kind of hard that would send him straight to his knees and make him
scream in agony.

Reese gave her a quick hug, then said, “You need to stay out
of this from here on out.”

Sky stared at her, incredulous. “How can you even suggest
that? I’m the reason we’re all in this boat.”

“No.
Mac Willet
is the reason we’re all in this boat.
You realized he was trying to extort money from you and you got the hell out of
Nashville.”

“When I should have gone straight to the police.”

She knew her mistake. She owned up to it.

“I understand why you didn’t,” Reese said. “Ginger didn’t
want to go to the sheriff after she was robbed and assaulted in her boutique.
She didn’t want the reverend and Lydia to know what had happened to her,
because Lydia was so hell-bent on getting Ginger’s lingerie shop shut down.
Ginger thought it’d just be one more black mark against her if anyone knew. As
though she’d brought on the trouble herself because she sells sexy lingerie.”

Sky bristled. “How anyone could lay a finger on that sweet
girl is beyond me.”

“Well, she stood up for justice, and it prevailed. It will
for you too. You just have to let the authorities do what they do best. And let
Sam protect you.”

“I just don’t want anyone to get hurt, Reesie.”

“I know. We
all
know. You just have to trust in
everyone, Sky.”

Conceding the point, she nodded. Though the tension didn’t
ease within her.

Minutes later Sam’s voice came over Al’s radio and he said,
“We have Midnight. Willet’s not in sight. Caleb’s walking the horse back. I’m
on the ATV. I’ll do a perimeter search with the others.”

Sky reached for the radio and said, “Be careful, please!
Both of you.”

“You know we will, dar—”

A loud pop made Sky’s heart launch into her throat. A second
one followed. “Sam! Sam! Are you okay?”

“Didn’t come from this direction,” he said in a tight voice.
“You stay put, you hear me? We’re on our way. Let me talk to Al.”

She thrust the radio toward the guard and they worked their
way through checking in with everyone, luckily making satisfactory connections.
No one had been hurt or was in immediate danger.

To Reese, she said, “Those were gunshots. I know the sound
as well as my own voice.”

And the shots agitated some of the jumpier horses. Sky
tended to them, starting with the white Arabian, talking calmly, trying to
soothe him, though she was equally on edge. Both Reese and Al joined the effort
with the other horses.

All the while, Sky tried to discern Mac’s intentions. He
obviously hadn’t come for the horse. Did he even know what a huge chance he was
taking by being on the property? Maybe he had no idea of the amount of people
who knew to be on the lookout for him.

What exactly was his plan? To separate her from Sam? That
didn’t mean he’d get her alone. There were plenty of others around to keep him
from getting close to her. If he’d kept tabs on ranch activity from his post on
the lake, he had to have come to the realization that the Painted Horse had
plenty of security. Though he likely wouldn’t know about the surveillance
cameras and round-the-clock monitoring.

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t as though he could
storm the stable. Especially with Sam and Caleb on their way back. Then again,
he might not even have ascertained they were on their way back.

Jesus, what was he thinking?

Sky tried to shake off a bit of anxiety, hopeful Mac would
quickly come to the conclusion that trying to get to her on the ranch was
fruitless. With any luck, he’d fired a couple of shots because he was pissed
off and had then taken the old heave-ho in the boat, knowing he wasn’t going to
get around all of the activity on the premises.

When she reached the back of the stable, she poked her head
around the corner of the open double doors and surveyed the lit area that
encompassed an open corral. Six pens were arranged to the right of the corral
and another six to the left, spanning a good stretch of land. The horses
outside appeared relatively calm, not quite as disturbed as the ones inside.
Though one of the mares circled her pen nervously.

Behind Sky, Reese called to Al to help her with Bells. She
glanced over her shoulder to see both moving cautiously into the stall. Sky
wanted to help the mare outside. She stepped into the corral, took a couple of
short strides, then decided it was best she not be out in the open, even in a
contained area.

She turned around to retreat into the building, but the
shadows along the outer wall shifted and a hand shot out, strong fingers
curling around her upper arm and yanking her to the side with such force, she
stumbled and fell against a hard body.

Mac’s hard body.

She didn’t have a chance to gasp in surprise, let alone
scream. His other hand clamped over her mouth and he shoved her heartily so
that her back slammed to the wall, knocking the wind out of her.

He pinned her in place and said, “You’d be much better off
not caring so much about these damn horses. I knew you couldn’t resist calming
them down.”

She wasn’t able to answer, but her eyes widened with fear.
Exactly how long had he been watching her on the ranch?

He leaned in close and, in a menacing voice, said, “Here’s
the plan. We’re going to get in my boat and go back to my camp. I’ve got duct
tape for your mouth and to bind your wrists. You’re such a nice piece of ass,
Sky, I think I’ll have one more go at you.”

Fury and panic raced through her.
Shit!
Where were
Sheriff Johnson and Ryan? Why didn’t she hear sirens already? How far away
could they possibly be?

Sky tried to breathe. Tried to calm her raging insides. She
remembered that Deputy Baker had staked out Mac’s car… Provided the sheriff
didn’t call him out to the ranch as backup, he’d be there if Mac got her that
far off the property.

But what if the sheriff had called him out to the Painted
Horse?

Oh God.

Her knees nearly buckled.

Mac continued. “In the morning, we’re going to a bank in
Austin and we’ll walk out with a check for two hundred grand, in my name.”

Her wide eyes narrowed.

“The extra hundred and forty is for all the frustration
you’ve caused me. I have to have the money, Sky. Or I’ll be one more body
buried in the Vegas desert.”

Son of a bitch, why couldn’t the loan shark or whoever he
owed money to have gotten to Mac before he’d gotten to her?

“If you’re thinking of not cooperating or going to the
police after I get the check, just remember that I know where your daddy lives.
And your twin sisters are in Austin. I’ll happily pay them a visit if you start
talking. Tie them to a bed, facedown, and ram their tight asses.”

He was absolutely
fucked
in the head!

Sky thrashed against him, as best as possible, which wasn’t
saying much because he had her caged by his body and the wall.

“We keep this between us, you hear me?”

He had no idea she’d gone to the sheriff?

“Your new boyfriend doesn’t need to know, either. I’ll let
you go after we’re done and we’ll call it even. But if you shoot off at the
mouth, Sky, I’ll come back and shoot some of these horses.”

A chill ran through her, making her shudder.

“Let’s go,” he said. “And don’t even think of trying
anything, because I have your gun.”

He hauled her up against him, his hand still on her mouth.
Sky gave serious thought to sinking her teeth into his fingers and drawing
blood, getting her to release him enough for her to scream. But he was clearly
too far down this path of criminal intent to just let her go, especially
without shooting a horse out of sheer angst. Or shooting her…

Quickly jerking open the side gate Sky had forgotten all
about, he shoved her through it and then maneuvered her so her back was pressed
to his chest. He pinned her arms at her sides with his massive arm wrapped
around the front of her. He walked briskly toward the wooded area that led down
to the lake. Panic seized Sky. In the dense patch of trees, no one would see
Mac taking her hostage.

She dug in her boot heels to slow the progress, but that
only prompted him to lift her slightly off her feet. Her legs flailed and she
kicked clumsily at his shins.

“Save your energy for later, Sky,” he said with a grunt. “I
want you all wild and worked up when I fuck you again.”

Asshole!

She bucked against him, writhing harshly, but as she’d once
told Sam, she was no match for Mac physically.

They reached the shore and he set her on her feet. A breath
later, she caught the wail of sirens so close, she knew the sheriff and at
least one of his other deputies were on property.

Now was the time to bite Mac and scream bloody murder so
someone heard her. Hell, she even made out the hum of an ATV motor headed in
their direction!

She was about to put her plan into motion, but Mac released
her. She whirled around to face him and he backhanded her soundly, right on the
mouth. Her body twisted from the force of his strike and she fell to the sand,
the salty grit making her split lip sting so intensely, it took several seconds
for her to catch her breath.