Читать книгу Her Cowboy Defender - Kerry Connor - Страница 11

Chapter Three

The sound of another bullet hitting metal knocked Piper out of the shock holding her in place.

The driver of the other car wasn’t the only one with a gun.

Gritting her teeth, she turned all the way around in her seat, just as the cowboy shouted, “Friends of yours?”

“Just keep driving!” she yelled, pushing her arms out the shattered back window and taking aim. As soon as she had her target, she pulled the trigger.

She didn’t hear anything, but the shot must have hit, because the car wavered slightly, sliding across the road. Satisfaction surged inside her, but she never let the vehicle out of her sights, matching her movements to it.

Confident she had another shot, she took it.

The windshield cracked.

She shot twice more in quick succession.

The glass cracked farther, the webbing spreading across the windshield. If she wasn’t mistaken, there was no way the driver should be able to see through it.

As if to confirm it, the car suddenly skidded across the road. Seconds later, it went right over the edge of the shoulder, disappearing from view.

A triumphant grin briefly flashed across her lips, the feeling unfamiliar, before she sobered, pulling her arms back into the truck and turning to the cowboy.

“I guess you really do know how to use that,” he said drily.

“And don’t forget it.”

He didn’t reply, frowning slightly. She watched his eyes lower to the panel in front of him. It was only then she realized they were gradually losing speed.

“Why are you slowing down?”

“Something’s wrong.”

She cocked the gun. “Knock it off. We don’t have time for this.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he snapped. “I think he got one of the tires.”

“He couldn’t have. The tire would have blown.”

“Then something must have ricocheted into it or we hit something.”

Dread shot through her. “Ignore it. Keep going.”

“I can’t ignore it. The truck isn’t going to let me.”

“How much farther do we have to go?”

“Too far. We’ll never make it.”

Before she could argue further, he was already easing off the accelerator and pulling over onto the shoulder.

She opened her mouth to tell him once more to keep going, but even as she did, she could feel the truck was starting to list on its left rear tire.

The cowboy shifted the truck into Park and shut off the engine, then opened his door and stepped out without even acknowledging her. Piper quickly scrambled across the seat and followed.

To her horror, the tire was already half-deflated. It must have been a graze or a nick or something, since the tire hadn’t exploded, though it might as well have for what the damage meant.

They didn’t have time for this. “Change the tire,” she ordered.

“I’m going to,” he grumbled. “It’s the only way I can get out of here.”

“How long is it going to take?”

“Long enough.”

“I only have fifteen minutes!”

He finally glanced back at her. This time there was a trace of sympathy in his eyes that shook her more than anything he could say. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I don’t think you’re going to make it.”

She raised the gun at him. “Not good enough.”

He simply shook his head and turned away. “You can shoot me, but it won’t change anything.”

She didn’t want to believe him. She wanted to scream, call him a liar.

But as she watched him work, she realized with a sinking heart that he was right. Changing a tire on a pickup truck was a bigger task than on a passenger car. He didn’t seem to be taking his time, but it was still taking far too long. And even if he managed to get the tire changed quickly, they still had to travel to their destination.

She peered down the road, raising a hand to her face to shade her eyes. There was nothing but the strip of highway and endless stretches of desert as far as the eye could see. No indication that they were anywhere near where she needed to be.

Finding it suddenly hard to breathe, she pulled the cell phone out of her bag with one hand, even though there wasn’t much of a point. She couldn’t even call the kidnapper to beg for more time. The two times she’d spoken with him, he’d called her from an unlisted number. All the contact came from his end. She had no way of reaching him.

All she could do was stand there, feeling time—and Tara’s life—slipping away from her with each passing moment.

She watched in horror as her watch counted down to the appointed meeting time all too quickly, then reached it.

No.

She stood frozen, waiting for something to happen. Something should happen. The end of her world, the end of her sister’s life, couldn’t just pass like this, uneventful, in silence.

At exactly two minutes past, the cell phone suddenly rang. She glanced at the screen even though there was no one else it could possibly be. As expected, the caller was identified only as “Unlisted Number.”

She quickly took the call. “Hello?”

A long silence echoed across the line before the silky, superior voice she expected finally spoke.

“It would seem I overestimated how much your sister means to you, Ms. Lowry.”

“I would have been there if your people hadn’t tried to force me off the road! What were you trying to do, get the drive without having to release my sister? We had a deal!”

She’d responded without thinking, the panic and anger inside her too fierce to hold back in the face of the man’s condescension and everything that had just happened. She fell silent just as quickly, a fresh wave of panic washing over her. She couldn’t afford to make him angry, not if there was any chance left of getting Tara back, not when he held all the cards.

His silence lasted for a torturous eternity.

“I assure you, Ms. Lowry, no one who works for me tried to force you off the road. It’s like you said. We have a deal. I wouldn’t jeopardize that with foolish tactics that could prevent me from getting what I want.”

Of course he was right. If she’d been thinking clearly she would have realized that. “Then who—”

“It would seem that someone doesn’t want you to give me the information.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask who that was, but that was exactly what she couldn’t do.

“So what happens now?” she made herself ask calmly instead.

Another silence. She almost wondered if the bastard was really considering his answers this carefully or if he simply enjoyed tormenting her by dragging them out.

“We will have to arrange another meeting,” he said finally. “I will be in touch—”

“But Tara—”

“Your sister is fine for the time being,” he interrupted with a trace of impatience. “And will remain so as long as you do as you are told.”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth? How do I know you didn’t try to get to me because my sister is already dead and you didn’t have anything to exchange?”

“I suppose you have no choice but to trust me.”

“Not good enough—”

“You will be allowed to speak with her when we set up the meeting.”

“No, I want to talk to her now—”

He’d already disconnected the call.

A sob rose in her throat, and she nearly gagged holding it back. She couldn’t give in to it. If she lost control, she might never get it back again.

The gun was suddenly snatched away from her, far too quickly for her to tighten the grip she’d unwittingly loosened.

She jerked her head up to find the cowboy standing over her, her gun now clenched in his hand. He didn’t point it at her. He simply held it as he stared down at her, his expression thunderous.

“From the sound of your half of that conversation, the immediate danger is over. Now I want to know what the hell is going on.”