Page 25 of Engaging the Deputy (Silver Stars of Montana #3)

Jaden wanted to go after Livie lights and siren blaring. But he knew that would only warn Cody he was coming. If Cody had taken her to Starling, he reminded himself. The sooner he found out, the better. Better still if Cody didn’t know he was coming for him until it was too late.

He tried not to second-guess himself as he tromped on the gas. There was little to no traffic on the road out of town. What he did encounter, he passed at high speed. Nothing would slow him down, given the urgency he felt to get to Livie.

The first time he’d seen her on the college campus his senior year, he’d fallen for her the moment he’d laid eyes on her. That moment in time was like a photo he’d snapped, a memory he could never forget. He’d never had that happen to him before. He’d known she was the woman he was going to marry.

He could find humor in that now since they hadn’t married. Not yet, anyway, he mused as he drove. He’d lost hope for a while, but since that kiss… He smiled to himself, remembering that moment he knew.

She’d been coming out of one of the campus buildings with a couple of friends.

Something one of them said had suddenly made her laugh.

Just the sight of her had stopped him in his tracks, but it was the way she’d let herself laugh that had drawn him as if he’d lassoed and pulled her to him.

She’d turned her face up to the sun, a joyous expression making her look radiant.

Her long, silken blond hair seemed to float around her as she’d moved.

I’m going to marry that girl , he’d thought. But first he’d have to meet her, he’d amended, not in the least worried. It had felt meant to be. He still felt that way.

He looked at the highway through his headlights and couldn’t bear the thought that something bad had already happened to her. He’d already called for backup to meet him at the abandoned community. It would take law enforcement from other towns too long to get there.

That meant he was on his own. All he could hope was that he got there soon enough. And that he wasn’t wrong about where Cody had taken her. The backup hadn’t been to help him anyway. It was so Cody didn’t get away if things went south.

Jaden had no idea what to expect. Had it only been Cody who’d taken her?

He hoped the man’s friends wouldn’t be involved.

Either way, he had to assume that Cody would be armed.

What worried him was why he’d take her back to Starling.

Just to get rid of her body? Or was there something else Cody was planning to do out there?

The clock was ticking. He had no idea how long Cody had been gone from the hardware store with Livie. Nor did he know what the man had planned. Get rid of Livie’s body and keep running?

Jaden just hoped there was time to get there, find him and stop him.

He didn’t want to think about what he would do if Cody hurt the woman he loved.

He wouldn’t need backup to take Cody to jail.

If he let himself go, Cody would never see a cell.

But then Jaden would never be in law enforcement again either. Right now, it seemed a fair trade-off.

He loved his career choice because he could find the bad guys and bring them to justice. Even as he reminded himself of that, he still feared what he would do when he got his hands on Cody Ryan.

It was his fear talking, he told himself.

With a curse, he shoved away the thought that he might be too late. She couldn’t be gone. Wouldn’t he feel that in his heart, if true?

* * *

Cody was thinking about his future far from here as he worked his way through the debris toward what was left of the root cellar. It had been such an obvious place to get rid of Olivia’s body. It felt meant to be. No one would look for her there because no one would know where she’d gone.

He liked the idea that some people—the deputy, for one—would think she’d run off with her high school boyfriend.

Why not? It could have happened. If it wasn’t for her being in love with the deputy.

He cursed under his breath at the thought.

Her loss. As his old man often said, there were a lot of fish in the sea.

Lost in dreams of how he’d spend all his money, he’d almost forgotten about Olivia.

Until she seemed to trip and stumble. He still had hold of her bound wrists, so, as she fell, it pulled him off balance—breaking his hold on her. As she hit the ground, he fell beside her.

Before he knew what was happening, she looped her bound arms around his throat and pulled, putting so much pressure on his windpipe that he couldn’t breathe.

She dug her heels in as she drove the rough rope of her bondage into his neck.

He forced out a guttural sound as he clawed at the rope and fought for breath.

It had happened so fast that she had him at a disadvantage, on the ground with her behind him.

He couldn’t breathe and the rope tore into his neck.

If he didn’t get her off of him soon, she was going to strangle him to death.

He quit trying to rip the rope from his throat. Stretching back, he clawed at her, trying to reach her face, her eyes. She managed to avoid his hands, but at least his attempts had forced her to let up on the pressure on his neck at little.

Getting a grip on one of her arms, he squeezed as hard as he could until she cried out. He wanted to call her names, but he didn’t have enough air as he began to kick back at her legs while digging his fingers into the flesh of her arm.

He felt the pressure on him slacken, but then she jerked as hard as she could, slamming his head back into hers. The blow stunned him, but only for a moment. He swung an elbow around and caught her in the side of the head.

With relief, he felt her body go limp. Swearing, he grabbed her arms, the pressure off his throat, and tossed them back over his head.

Through blurred vision, he rose awkwardly from the ground.

Maybe she’d hurt him, but she’d hurt herself as well, he saw through his fury.

Her eyes were unfocused from the blow to the head and her nose was bleeding, maybe even broken.

He was breathing hard as he rubbed his bruised and scraped throat and looked down at her.

He wanted to kick her, beat her into the ground, to take out all his anger and frustration on her.

He pulled the gun from his pocket, telling himself to save his energy and just shoot her.

Her eyes must have focused enough that she saw how close she was to dying right here on the hillside.

She closed her eyes, expecting a bullet. He tried to catch his breath, tried to keep to his original plan. Killing her here would mean he’d have to carry her dead body up the rest of the way to the root cellar. Yet it felt impossible to rein in his wrath. She symbolized everything he couldn’t have.

But then she opened her eyes and looked at him with raw defiance. Her gaze said that he’d have to look in her eyes as he killed her. He pointed the gun at her head and told himself she wouldn’t be that heavy to carry up the hill. Seconds passed, his finger on the trigger, her gaze locked with his.

With a curse, he swallowed back his rage, reminding himself that he didn’t have a lot of time. He needed to take care of her, then get what he’d left up on this hillside and clear out.

“Get up.” His voice sounded rough. He coughed and swore again. “Get up or so help me…”

She rose slowly, looking dizzy and a little disoriented. Two blows to the head had probably left her with a raging headache. That made him feel a little bit better.

“Move,” he said, motioning with the gun. “Try something again and I’ll empty every bullet in this gun into you.”

Olivia looked as if all the fight had gone out of her. She finally saw him for who he was, not some boy she would wrap around her finger. Not some teenager she’d left pining for her. That Cody was gone, replaced by a dangerous man she didn’t know.

* * *

Jaden turned off his headlights as he reached the road into Starling.

It was hard to drive slowly, but he wasn’t going far.

He pulled over and cut the engine in a stand of trees that had weathered the storm.

With luck, his vehicle wouldn’t be seen or heard from Starling.

He took his shotgun. He was already wearing his sidearm.

Both were loaded. He climbed out, closing his SUV door quietly.

He could see Cody’s pickup with hardware store logo on the side parked up the road. Taking long strides, he headed for it, all the time watching the hillside for any movement.

A thin layer of clouds muted the moon and starlight, but he could see well enough when he reached Cody’s pickup. Empty. No sign of a struggle that he could see. What he really hadn’t wanted to see was blood—and he didn’t.

The chilly breeze stung his face but he welcomed the cold. It kept him alert and sharp, he told himself. If Cody had heard his vehicle engine coming up the road, he might be lying in wait somewhere up there to ambush him.

He slowed and listened hard. Voices. He waited, hoping to catch Livie’s. When he did, he felt his heart soar. She was still alive. All he had to do was get to her quickly. He could think of only one reason Cody had brought her here.

When they spoke again, he realized that they weren’t far from the open root cellar.

He needed to get closer. His options weren’t good, given the mountains of debris spread across this hillside.

There would be no charging up the hill. They would hear him coming as he bounded over what was left of the community, only to get himself and Livie killed.

He began to work his way through the debris that separated them until he could get a decent shot at Cody.

* * *