Cowboy Protector Read online

  “All right.” Pulse racing madly, Annabeth held out the receiver to the leader. “It’s for you, after all.”

  His gray eyes narrowed on the phone in her hand for a few long seconds. For a moment she thought he might refuse it, then he snatched it from her and put it to his face so that the receiver sat under the bandanna disguising him.

  “Yeah?” he barked, then listened for a minute. “What? You think I’m stupid? You don’t get my name, Michael. We ain’t buddies.” Another pause. “That’s easy. We just want out of here. Safe passage.”

  Annabeth nearly dropped with relief. He was going to be reasonable and they were going to be rescued.

  Or so it seemed for a moment…

  “Now why would I want to let one of them go?” the leader asked. “We do that a few times and then you have no reason not to shoot.”

  She froze. This wasn’t going smoothly, after all.

  “Good faith, bull! Take it or leave it!” he barked, checking his watch. “You have fifteen minutes to decide. If I don’t hear from you, I can’t guarantee the hostages’ safety.” He looked directly at Annabeth when he said, “Oh, yeah—the woman will be the first to die.”

  Something in Annabeth died right there.

  Die. Of course.

  The leader slammed the receiver back into the cradle and stormed the wall with the windows so that he could peer out.

  “They gonna do it?” asked the Hispanic.

  “They have to,” the third man said. “They don’t want no one dead.”

  “We’ll see.”

  We’ll see?

  So this was to be her fate…

  Everything else had been taken away from her, so Annabeth didn’t know why she was surprised. She was shaking inside and trying not to show it. Her stomach twisted, threatening her with the little food she’d had for breakfast. Yeah, right, that’s all she would need, she thought, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Throwing up would impress the heck out of the three villains…

  Neil must have sensed her private panic, for he caught her eye and motioned to her to come closer where he was leaning on the edge of the desk.

  Her response was automatic. She did as he indicated and used the desk edge to steady herself.

  If she thought Neil was going to give her a pep talk, she was wrong. All he did was catch her hand and hold it. Warmth surged through her and she sensed his strength of purpose. Her world began to right itself, despite the fact that the other hostages couldn’t seem to look her way.

  “How can you remain so calm through all this?” she asked softly.

  “What good would anything else do?”

  “Are you always so reasonable?”

  “Except when I’m looking for a lost calf.”

  He was trying to make her smile, Annabeth realized. Too bad her sense of humor had fled with the comment about her being the first to die.

  Still, neither of them mentioned that.

  “So what is it you like about this particular job?” Neil asked her.

  “The animals,” she said before she could even wonder why he was questioning her about something so far removed from their imminent situation. “Working with them reminds me of a past life.”

  “You’re old enough to have a past?”

  His idea of a joke, she guessed. She forced a smile. “Okay, I meant when I was young.”

  “You’re not exactly ancient now.”

  “Sometimes I feel ancient.”

  Like at the moment. Like when she was ten minutes away from death…no, more like seven now, she realized. At least three minutes must have passed.

  “Why?” he asked, his apparent interest keeping at least part of her mind focused on something other than the threat. “Feeling ancient, I mean.”

  “Too many bad things,” Annabeth said, remembering. “I was just eighteen when my parents lost the farm that had been in our family for four generations. They just couldn’t make it anymore. So we packed up and moved to the big city to survive. Instead of going to college as planned, I went to work.”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  “It seems like yesterday.”

  Ten years gone. Wasted.

  What had she accomplished with the life that would soon be snuffed out by some greedy bastard who chose not to make an honest living like most of the population?

  “What are you two up to?”

  Startled by the nearness of the vile voice, Annabeth jerked and faced the gray eyes scowling down at her.

  “Nothing,” she choked out. The woman will be the first to die echoed in her head. “We’re just talking, that’s all.”

  He rounded the desk. “How do I know you’re not planning an escape attempt?”

  Neil said, “Because we’re too smart to do anything but cooperate.”

  “If I find out differently—”

  “Leave her alone!” Telek shouted.

  That seemed to surprise the thief as much as it did her. He backed off and switched his attention to the old Indian whose dark eyes spat contempt at the masked man.

  “What’s the matter, Chief?” he asked, voice silky. And deadly. “Am I on to something?”

  “The girl didn’t do anything to you,” Lloyd mumbled. “That’s all he’s saying.”

  “Then maybe I should leave her alone. Maybe one of you wants to die.”

  He was playing with them, now pretend-shooting each of the three men, pointing his barrel from one to the other, using sound effects to mimic the shots.

  “No, don’t kill me!” Alderman Lujan protested. “You can’t kill a family man. What would my wife and children do without me? Who would support them?”

  “Your kids are in college,” Telek groused. “And your wife has a good job with the city.”

  “I still am the main support of the family!” Lujan turned to the thief leader. “You were right in the first place to threaten the woman. No one likes to see a woman hurt. Go ahead and use her! The authorities will respond to that.”

  “Keep your mouth shut,” Neil said with a steely resolve. “Or I’ll shut it for you.”

  “You dare threaten me? I have power in this city. I can make it difficult—”

  “Oh, shut up!” The leader raised his revolver. “I’m sick of your whining and threats.”

  Then too fast for anyone to anticipate him, he smacked the gun across the alderman’s head so hard that blood dribbled down his face. And then the big-mouthed, small-spirited man slumped to the ground unconscious.

  “Now, anyone else have anything to say?”

  Repulsed by the violence, Annabeth felt her heart thud against her ribs. Her pulse raced so fast she feared it would tear through her arteries. She’d seen violence like this before. This was only the start. Someone would be in bloody bits before this situation was brought to an end.

  Starting with her!

  The woman will be the first to die.

  She believed it now—if Lujan wasn’t already dead, that was. On the floor next to him, Telek checked for vital signs. His fingers pressed against the alderman’s throat, he grunted and nodded.

  Annabeth drew a shaky breath.

  She had to get out of there, somehow, before her life spun totally out of control. It was out of control, she thought. What she had to do was to reel it back in.

  She had to do something to save herself.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” Neil said softly, as if he’d read her mind.

  Too late for assurances—the violence had already begun. She wanted to believe him, only she couldn’t.

  Save herself.

  She had to.

  But how?

  Her blood felt thick, her limbs heavy, her head light.

  She scanned the room. Only one way out—the door guarded by the nervous Nellie, who was pacing before it. Distracted. The Hispanic was staring out the window at the gathering authorities. And in a few minutes their leader would be occupied on the telephone.

  It would have to be then
, she thought, plotting at triple speed. Surely every man in the room would be focused on that conversation, all but the one on the phone, only guessing what the negotiator might be saying from the other end.

  The woman will be the first to die.

  As if he heard the refrain echoing in her head, Neil touched her arm. The breath hissed through his teeth and he froze, staring at her, his wolf eyes so intense she shuddered.

  He was acting as he had when he’d touched her in front of the barn.

  The shrill of the phone made Neil let go.

  Annabeth’s heart began to pump again as she moved away from him on legs of wood. “Should I answer that?”

  “Nah, I’ll get it,” the thief said, closing in on the phone as she moved away from it.

  Annabeth could feel Neil’s eyes, could almost hear him begging her not to go through with her plan.

  “You had your ten minutes, so what’s your answer?” she heard the thief ask.

  A feeling of unreality filling her, Annabeth backed toward the door. As she’d suspected, all eyes were glued to the man on the phone.

  All eyes but Neil’s.

  The wolf eyes followed her.

  “Wrong answer,” the leader was saying. “Too bad for the woman…”

  Annabeth moved as fast as she could and yet had the unreal feeling of moving in slow motion. But now was the moment. Purposely, she tromped the nervous thief’s sore feet, and when he squawked in pain and did an awkward dance, she lunged for the door.

  Her hand grasped the knob…the door opened…one foot slipped outside.

  Then her head jerked back…followed by her body…her hair caught in a vise.

  The leader had her by the ponytail. He plunged a hand to the door, threatening her only chance at freedom.

  At life!

  Seeing red, she screamed and struck out hard to free herself, her fingers tangling in something soft as she tried to pull away. But he didn’t let go.

  She jerked her hand free and whipped her head around to see how she could fight him and realized what she had done.

  The mask—she’d somehow managed to pull it down and she saw every detail of his face!

  Annabeth averted her eyes as if she hadn’t seen anything.

  The villain jerked her around. The mask was back in place. And a gun barrel was inches from her forehead. She stared into the little round, dark circle that spelled her death.

  “Nickels, don’t be stupid!” hissed the Hispanic so softly that she might have imagined it.

  But she wasn’t imagining the danger she’d dared by trying this escape. Fear crept through her and squeezed her heart so hard that she thought it might burst from her chest.

  The woman will be the first to die…

  Chapter Three

  Annabeth stood stock-still, her big blue eyes wide and staring at the gun pointed at her.

  Muscles bunched, Neil slipped off the desk silently, his focus on the woman.

  Her breath was labored and she licked her lips.

  Just like in his premonition.

  He could see the trickle of sweat that ran down the side of her forehead, trailed her cheek and glistened along her jaw. And he swore he could hear her heartbeat against the silence of the small room.

  …ba-bump…ba-bump…ba-bump…

  Fear oozed from her in waves as thieves and hostages alike stood transfixed, no one making a move, no one making a sound. Until…

  The sharp snick of the hammer being drawn back on the revolver decided him.

  Neil lunged for the thief before he could pull the trigger and blow Annabeth’s brains out. Wrapping an arm around the would-be murderer’s neck, Neil wrestled him down to the ground as he would a steer. Then, grabbing on to the man’s gun hand, Neil slammed it to the floor.

  The revolver skittered off.

  With a huge twist, the thief used his greater weight to shift Neil from his back. A closed fist then connected with his jaw, sending him flying.

  “Neil!” Annabeth cried. “Watch out!”

  The room spun, but still Neil saw the thief go after his jettisoned revolver.

  Other guns turned toward him so he rallied fast and flung himself forward and knocked the bigger man to the side.

  They tussled, threw mostly ineffective punches and rolled across the floor. The thief struck out. Another fist smacked into the side of Neil’s face. His head snapped back, and before he could recover, he felt fingers closing around this throat. He tried to break the hold, but the thief threw his greater weight to the side and rolled them both, with the man landing on top and losing his hat in the process.

  Neil gasped at the combination of weight straddling his chest and pressure paralyzing his throat.

  “Stop!” Annabeth yelled. “You’ll kill him!”

  “That’s the idea!”

  “Do it quick, then,” one of his men said. “Those are reinforcements arriving.”

  Even as the other added, “Damn, it’s the SWAT team! We’re never gonna get outta here alive,” a blur of yellow came hurtling toward Neil.

  Annabeth crashed into the thief’s side, breaking his stranglehold. Neil sucked in much-needed air and tried to clear his head even as, while still straddling him, the thief grabbed for Annabeth’s arm.

  The moment the connection was complete, inexplicable power suddenly shot Neil into a whirling vortex…

  Annabeth hurries, looking over her shoulder.

  Behind her, a city neighborhood, dark and deserted, eerily lit.

  A rapid-transit train overhead breaks the silence…clack-clack…clack-clack…clack-clack…

  Throwing another look over her shoulder, she gasps.

  And the pulse of the train softens into a rapid heartbeat…clack-clack…ba-bump…clack-clack…ba-bump…ba-bump…

  Neil can’t see more than a man’s silhouette, but he recognizes the danger…

  The thief exploding into movement shattered the trance and Neil started, blinking to clear his head as the bigger man let go of Annabeth, grabbed his hat and jammed it onto his head as he shot to his feet.

  “Come on!” the leader roared. “Let’s get out of here right now!”

  He went for his gun, but to Neil’s surprise, Annabeth was quicker, snatching it up and aiming with both hands. She held it on him as if she knew how to use it.

  The leader glanced at the saddlebags on the desk, but he would have to get past Neil and an armed Annabeth to get them. He seemed to change his mind about wanting them and put a hand on the doorknob.

  “Let’s be quick about getting out of here,” he told his men.

  “What about the money?” the Hispanic asked.

  The other insisted, “I can’t do no jail time! We gotta take hostages.”

  The leader glanced from Annabeth, who was crouched against the wall and appeared ready to shoot if he approached her, to the alderman, who was getting to his feet.

  “Forget the money and we need just one hostage,” the thief muttered. “I knew you would come in handy, Chico.” He indicated the alderman. “Get him!”

  Perhaps it was because Lujan cried, “No, not me. I’m a family man! The woman, remember, get the woman!” that the others hesitated to jump to his aid when the men grabbed him and dragged him to the door.

  “Where do we—”

  “Follow the plan!”

  It all happened so fast that Neil had no time to move before they were out the door. Not that he could have stopped them with two of them still armed in any case. He wasn’t stupid enough to chance a bullet.

  A clunk made him turn to see Annabeth, hands empty. She had dropped the gun at her feet and she was shaking.

  No, he wouldn’t be that stupid, unless it was to save some woman desperate enough to make a break for it when she should have stayed put, Neil amended.

  Shots rang out and he hit the wall next to the window where he could see out. The nervous thief, trigger-happy and shooting at anything that moved, was cut down in seconds. He sprawled across the pavement,
leaving trails of blood spiderwebbing out from his body.

  But the other two, still with Lujan as a shield, cut right into the gathering crowd and disappeared from view.

  “Damn! They got away,” Neil said, even as armed, uniformed men were deployed after them. He turned to the others. “It’s over, at least for us. Just hope they don’t hurt Lujan.”

  Wainwright removed his hat and wiped at his sweaty face with a handkerchief. “I thought we were dead men.”

  Telek nodded at Neil. “We might have been if not for you.”

  “Right, and you saved my life for sure,” Annabeth said. Her arms were wrapped around her middle as if to stop the shaking. “How can I ever thank you?”

  “By not ever pulling a stunt like that again,” he gritted out.

  Her expression closed. “I—I’m sorry. I thought he really would shoot me to make a point. I panicked…I—I wasn’t thinking…”

  Her obvious contrition softened Neil. “What’s done is done. No use worrying about it now.”

  Her panic was understandable, considering the thief had threatened her directly.

  And the threat wasn’t over.

  Just as had happened earlier, he’d seen what the future held. Annabeth had been the focus of both visions.

  Somehow the thief had made the connection between him and Annabeth when he’d grabbed her arm. Or maybe they were all three connected, the thief himself being the danger.

  Annabeth had seen his face, after all. He’d seen the mask come down, but she’d been in the way and he hadn’t seen the guy’s face himself. She was the only one who could make a positive identification. No surprise if the bastard came after her to keep her from fingering him.

  Neil knew she was in danger, but how could he convince anyone else, even her? How could he tell anyone what he knew, when he was having trouble taking it all in himself? He’d never before this day experienced a precognitive moment, so he didn’t have a clue as to how to handle it.

  If he warned the police, what would he say? That he’d seen Annabeth in danger earlier, and then what he’d seen in his vision had really happened. Would they believe it?

  No way, he decided. They would think he was a kook. And that meant they wouldn’t take his seeing her in danger a second time seriously. So there was no point in telling them something they wouldn’t want to hear.