Tag had just flipped two large pancakes on his plate when someone knocked on the door. Hud raised an eyebrow and started across the kitchen when they heard Maverick say, “Good mornin’, Officer. What can we do for you?”
Tag set his plate on the table and followed Hud to the living room.
“May I come inside? I’m Deputy Davis. I’m looking for Taggart Baker.”
Tag stepped around his brother and nodded. “Yes, come on in. I’m Tag.”
“I’m here about your white pickup truck. Where were you last night between eight and midnight?” the officer asked.
“I was here until ten with these guys, and then I walked about a quarter mile over to Longhorn Canyon Ranch, where I stay in a cabin,” Tag said.
“So how did your truck come to be in a robbery over around Mesquite? I got a note this morning from the sheriff over there saying the plates match that truck out there in the driveway. One that was reported stolen.”
“I have no idea,” Tag said, and then groaned. “Billy Tom.”
“You’re runnin’ with him again?!” Hud’s voice bounced off the walls.
“No, I’m not.” Tag wiped a hand across his forehead. “You’d better sit down, Deputy, sir. Billy Tom, that would be William Thomas if you want to look up his rap sheet, has been after me to give him money for some deal he had going. I wouldn’t do it and he was in the pizza place in Bowie the other night when I was there.” Tag went on to tell the whole story. “I’ve seen him switch plates on vehicles lots of times.”
“So you do know him? How do I know that you didn’t switch the plates yourself after you helped with the robbery? If you’re his friend, you might do that, right?”
“I didn’t do it.” He didn’t want to get Nikki involved in this or smear her reputation, but there didn’t seem to be another way out. “A lady I’ve been seeing, Nikki Grady, can vouch for me.” He slipped his phone from his hip pocket, just as it started to vibrate. “This is Nikki right now. Let me put it on speaker and you can ask her yourself.”
“Hello?” he said. “Would you…”
“I’ll tell you when to make turns. You just obey me like a good little woman until we get there. Then maybe I’ll show you what a real rebel is, and it ain’t Tag Baker, honey.”
There was the sound of a car engine that faded as it got farther and farther away.
Tag tensed and balled his hands into fists. “That’s Billy Tom’s voice. He’s got Nikki. I can almost guarantee it, and I know where they’re headed.”
“It’s Billy Tom’s voice, sir,” Hud agreed as he got up to let in the dog scratching at the door.
Red came trotting in, dragging a handbag behind him. Tag took it from the puppy. “This is Nikki’s purse. Red must’ve been there when they left. They don’t have a very long lead. We might catch them if we head out now.”
Davis headed for the door. “If you really want to help, tell me where they’re going.”
“They usually hole up at an old run-down cabin over near Tulia in Swisher County. I can draw you a map if it’ll help. It’s about five hours from here. The place belonged to his grandpa, but the old guy’s been gone for years.”
“Okay, son, I’ll alert the local authorities, and they can check it out.”
“Make sure you talk to Sheriff Lester Roberts,” Tag advised as he followed Davis out of the house.
“You know him?” Davis asked.
“My parents own the Rocking B Ranch,” he said. “And my brother Matthew is a volunteer deputy out there.”
“With a family like that, how in the hell did you get in with someone like Billy Tom?”
“Bad decisions.”
“Well, I hope you learned that every choice has consequences,” Deputy Davis admonished.
“I have, sir, and I’m doin’ my best to get past the bad choices,” Tag said.
Davis nodded and got back into his patrol car. Tag was watching him leave when Hud yelled at him from the porch. “If you take your motorcycle, you might be able to catch them. I packed you some clothes and other things just in case,” Hud said. “You go get it while I pack a bag, and then I’ll call Matthew and give him the scoop while you’re on your way.”
He started out the back door toward the barn where his cycle was stored.
“Call when you get there and give Mama a hug for me,” Hud yelled.
Tag held up a hand in acknowledgment. Choices, bad decisions, consequences, fate, and karma—he had a good thing started with Nikki and now he’d lost it for sure.
Nikki had drunk all four bottles of water by the time they reached Wichita Falls. “We’re going to have to make a pit stop. I can’t go much farther.”
“Once you’re on Highway 287, you can stop at the next station you see. I’ll go in with you and the same rules apply. You run or turn me in and I start shooting everyone I see,” he said.
“I understand,” she said.
She whipped into a service station and hurried inside, glad that she had on flip flops, because the sign said NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE. She pushed into the bathroom, praying there would be another woman in there, but no luck, so she removed a grocery store rewards card from her wallet and wrote Help me. I’ve been kidnapped. She wrote Tag’s phone number on the back and laid the card on the vanity.
Once she’d finished, she slowly washed her hands and checked her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Lord have mercy! She looked horrible. Her hair was a tangled mess since she hadn’t had time to brush it before Billy Tom knocked on the door. There were black mascara streaks down her face from all the tears she’d shed, and bags under her eyes. She took time to wash her face and then pulled her hair up into a ponytail with a rubber band she took from her wallet.
When she opened the door, Billy Tom was right there blocking her way with a hand on each side. “What took you so damn long?” he hissed.
“If you’ll notice, I washed my face and tried to do something with my hair,” she said.
“Gettin’ pretty for me, were you?” He grinned.
“No, just trying to look less like someone you kidnapped so you won’t cause a scene. Can we go now?”
“I want another six-pack,” he told her. “Get it and pay for it.”
She saluted smartly and walked under his arm. “Anything else?”
“Nah, we got enough food to last until we get to the hideout,” he said. “We’ve wasted enough time. The guys are waiting for us.”
“When are you calling Tag to ask for ransom money? It’ll take him five or six hours to bring it to you. You willing to sit still that long and wait?”
Billy Tom glared at her. “He’s got rich relatives. His brother Matthew can get it to us in less than thirty minutes, and after the money is in my hands, I’ll tell him where he can find you.”
“Am I going to be dead or alive? You’ve been letting me use my debit card everywhere. You do know they can track me with that?” she asked.
“I don’t give a shit. This’ll be over before they find you anyway. And dead or alive depends on whether you make me mad…”
She shot him the evilest look she could muster and marched straight up to the beer cooler, got out a six-pack, and went to the counter to pay for it. The old gray-haired fellow asked for her ID, and she gladly gave it to him, hoping that when someone came to find them, he’d remember the name Nikita Grady.
“Good girl,” Billy Tom said. “You even remembered the brand I like.”
“If I hadn’t been afraid you’d shoot some kid’s grandpa, I’d have bought you arsenic,” she said as she started the engine. “I need more water.”
He flipped four more bottles up on the passenger seat. “Sure you don’t want something to eat? I’ve got burritos and one sausage biscuit left.”
“You ate five biscuits?” She wrinkled her nose at the sight of him in the rearview.
“Didn’t eat all day yesterday,” he sneered back at her.
“Tag is going to kill you,” she muttered.
“Tag is probably trying to talk his way out of a jail cell right now,” Billy Tom laughed.
“Well, genius, did you remember to get the tag off that truck in Mesquite and put it back on his truck, or were you in such a hurry to kidnap me that you forgot?” she asked. “I don’t remember us taking a detour by the ranch for you to take care of that.”
He slapped himself on the head with the gun. “Don’t you worry, darlin’. By the time the cops figure out my tag-switchin’ business, it’ll be too late. I’ll just wait and call Tag when we get to the hideout. It won’t take Matthew long to get the money.”
Billy Tom’s attempts at intimidation weren’t working. For the last three hours, his tactics just made her that much more determined to go against the oath she’d taken as a nurse to help heal people. At some point, she’d take that gun away from him and enjoy giving him a reason to beg her to call an ambulance.
“Ain’t got nothing to say to that, do you?” Billy Tom talked with food in his mouth.
There was so much tension in the car she thought for a minute that Billy Tom would tell her to pull over to the side of the road, shoot her, and take her car on to wherever his hideout was located. But a glance in the rearview let her know real quick why he had slumped down in the seat. There was a police car coming up on them pretty fast from the rear.
She sent up a silent prayer asking that the lights would begin to flash and the sirens would blare.
“You better hope we don’t get stopped, or I’ll shoot the cop the minute he walks up to the car,” Billy Tom threatened.
“I’m sure someone has missed me and put out my tag number,” she said.
“Honey, your tag changed while you were in the bathroom at that first gas station. I switched it with a car the same color as yours in the parking lot of that convenience store.” Billy Tom slouched down farther.
As if in answer to her prayer, the lights on the police car came on and the noise of the siren filled the air. Then the police car whipped around them and sped down the road until it was nothing but a dot in the distance.
“Now ain’t this that policeman’s lucky day?” Billy Tom sat up straight and took a bean burrito from the sack. “Riding makes me hungry. Want one?”
Nikki’s stomach knotted up at even the thought of food. “No, I don’t want food, but I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Good God, woman, you got a bladder the size of a thimble. It ain’t been thirty minutes since we stopped. Stop up here at Estelline, but this is the last time. Once you get done, we’ll get on Highway 86 and in an hour and a half, we’ll be at the end of the road,” he said. “Remember the rules when we’re in the gas station. You might as well fill up with gas while we’re there. Once me and the guys divide up the money, I’m going to use this car to go back to Mesquite to get my motorcycle.”
“I thought you were going to use the ransom money for a new bike.” She pulled up next to one of the two gas pumps.
“We’ll all split five ways and won’t see each other for a month until this all dies down. Ten thousand dollars will go a long way in Mexico, and I like my motorcycle just fine, so I’ve changed my mind,” he said.
“What about all that money y’all got by robbing an ephedrine truck?” She looked up into the rearview mirror.
“That won’t last a long time, and besides, me and the boys like adventure, so we’ll get back together after a few months, just like always,” he answered.
Billy Tom had probably been a fairly good-looking kid as a teenager, Nikki thought. He had a square jaw and nice green eyes, but the life he’d chosen had made him hard and downright mean. Now he made her skin crawl. One thing for absolute sure, she would not be spending an hour with him, much less a month. Someone would come get her before that happened. Emily checked on her every day, and Tag would know something was wrong when he found her purse lying on the ground outside the cabin.
“You going to call your thug friends and tell them we’re close?” she asked as she turned off the engine, undid her seat belt, and opened the car door. “Do I go to the bathroom first or pump gas?”
“No, I’m not calling my buddies. They know I’m on the way,” he told her. “Pump the gas and then we’ll go inside.”
That meant she had no way to leave a message on the gas pump for the folks in the car who waited behind her. After she’d filled the tank, Billy Tom got out of the backseat, threw half a dozen empty beer bottles into a nearby trash can, and followed her into the small convenience store.
“Bathrooms?” Nikki asked.
The young lady behind the counter pointed toward the far corner of the store. Nikki felt as if she’d never had a shower or washed her hair as she entered the two-stall ladies’ room. When she left the restroom, an older woman with gray hair passed her in the doorway, but Billy Tom was standing not three feet away with his hand inside his nasty vest.
“Thought I might have to wait in line, judgin’ by all the cars out there, but looks like it’s empty,” the lady said.
“It’s all yours.” Nikki smiled.
“You done good,” Billy Tom growled as he grabbed her arm. “I was ready to pull the trigger and drop that old bag where she stood.”
When they got close to the beer cooler, Billy Tom grabbed a case. “We’ll take the boys a little something. They’re probably spittin’ dust since they can’t go to a store.”
Paying for the beer aggravated Nikki so badly that she almost refused, but then the lady from the bathroom set a candy bar and a root beer on the counter and leaned over the counter to hug the cashier, who didn’t look a day older than eighteen. “How’s things goin’ today, darlin’?”
She stretched over the top of the counter and hugged her back. “Slow, Granny, but it’s a job. The money will help with my college fees this fall. Then it’s on to grad school.”
Nikki paid for the beer with her debit card, hoping all the time that the police were already tracing the places she’d used it. Without incident, they got back on the highway and she made the next turn Billy Tom demanded. He yawned several times, but he kept his eyes wide open for the next hour and a half.
Tag cursed every single one of the 250 miles to Tulia.
“She’s never goin’ to speak to me again,” he muttered to himself. Tag couldn’t blame her if she didn’t. He’d brought all this crap down on her head—Billy Tom might have been the actual culprit, but if Tag hadn’t ever been associated with him, then it wouldn’t have happened.
Guilt lay on his shoulders like a heavy wool blanket every time he even thought her name, and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Had Billy Tom hurt her? Why had he even taken her? He could have demanded her car keys and left her alone. He should have thought of all this at the pizza place. He knew Billy Tom and the guys he rode with—that they were ruthless and wild. He should have protected Nikki better.
When he went through Vernon, Texas, it hit him that he’d never told Billy Tom where his ranch was or that he was staying in a nearby cabin, so how did he know where to go?
“Small town living,” he muttered. All he’d had to do was ask someone in Sunset about the Baker boys who’d recently settled there. Everyone probably even knew that he was now staying at the cabin.
He wanted to stop the motorcycle and kick something—a tree, a cactus, even one of those “Don’t Mess with Texas” trash cans along the side of the road would do just fine. But he didn’t have the time to give in to his anger. He had to keep riding until he got to the hideout—and he just hoped he could beat Billy Tom there.
But what if he doesn’t go there? It’s been years since you rode with him. He could’ve changed places.
If that was the case, then Tag couldn’t rescue Nikki. He couldn’t apologize to her, beg her forgiveness, and own up to the fact that this horrible kidnapping was all his fault. One for being such a stupid teenager, the other for getting her into the mess with Billy Tom to begin with.
He was a ball of nerves, anger, and guilt when he finally reached the turnoff to the cabin. He parked his motorcycle under a big scrub oak tree and dismounted, looked around and caught a movement to his right. Matthew came out from behind a big scrub oak tree and gave him a quick hug. “He’s not showed up yet, so you’ve beat him.”
“Thank God,” Tag said. “Are you the only one here?”
“No, there are others, but they’re well hidden. We didn’t want to spook him since he’s got the hostage,” Matthew said quietly. “I’ve got to get in position up on that rise over there. You wait until they’re parked.”
“Y’all goin’ to let me go in first?” Tag asked.
“You armed?” Matthew asked.
“No. I didn’t even think to bring a gun,” Tag answered.
“Good.” Matthew laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “You don’t need one. We’ve got your back, but if you want to try to talk him into surrendering, you can have the job. But don’t worry, we will get her back. Just talk calmly so he don’t hurt Nikki.” Matthew touched the phone on his shoulder.
“Baker here,” he said.
“He’s been spotted turning off to the main road,” a voice said.
“Thank you, Darrin,” Matthew said and then looked at Tag. “That’s my cue to get up on that little rise behind an old log. See you when it’s over.”
“Thanks for letting me be a part of this,” Tag said.
Matthew nodded and disappeared across the clearing and into the trees that led up to a high spot.
Tag took a deep breath and leaned on the old log blocking the path to the cabin, his heart pounding, guilt still filling his heart and soul, and hoping with everything in him that Billy Tom hadn’t hurt Nikki. If he had, Tag wouldn’t need a gun to take care of him.
Billy Tom sat straight up in the backseat and growled, “Make a right at the next gravel road. We’ll go about a mile and then turn into a lane. I’ll tell you where, and, honey, no cuttin’ and runnin’. I’m a damn good shot, and you can’t run as fast as a bullet.”
Nikki drove slowly, hoping that at any minute she’d see police cars behind her, but there were none. A mile of dust boiled up behind them, and then he motioned with the gun for her to make another right turn. There was nothing more than a rutted path from that point on. She’d only driven a couple of minutes when she saw the old tree lying across the road and remembered the story of how Duke died. She braked and brought the car to a stop.
“We’ll walk from here. It ain’t far.” Billy Tom picked up a case of beer in one hand and held the gun in the other.
Nikki got out of her car and caught a movement in her peripheral vision. Then Tag walked out from behind a fallen down log right in front of her. At first she thought she was seeing things, or dreaming, or maybe Billy Tom put a silencer on the gun and she was dead.
No, she couldn’t be dead because Tag had come all that way to rescue her. She had to be alive so she could thank him. Things began to blur around the edges, but she refused to give in to it and faint. She stiffened her back and took several deep breaths so that Billy Tom wouldn’t have the satisfaction of winning.
“I think you have something that’s mine.” Tag didn’t even look her way but locked gazes with Billy Tom. “I want it back.”
What was Tag talking about? A few kisses didn’t make her his.
“You can have her for ten thousand dollars.” Billy Tom leveled the gun at Tag’s chest.
“I don’t think so.” Tag folded his arms over his chest and finally looked Nikki in the eye.
Fear and anger all rolled into one was the message she got, not that she wasn’t important enough for the ransom.
“So she’s not worth that to you? She’s just another one of your bar bimbos after all,” Billy Tom taunted. “If she’s worthless to both of us, I can just kill her right here.”
“I’d give everything I’ve got for her, but that’s not the issue here.” Tag’s gaze went back to Billy Tom. “You are surrounded by men from the Swisher County Sheriff’s Department and the Tulia police. Did I ever tell you that my brother Matthew is a volunteer deputy? He can take the eyes out of a rattlesnake at a hundred yards. If you’ll look to your left, you’ll see the glint from his gun.”
Billy Tom cut his eyes around toward the shiny dot among the trees on the slight hill. His face went gray as the blood drained out of it. “Nobody can make a shot that good.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. You willing to take that chance?” Tag asked.
“You think his bullet can get here faster than mine can get to her?” Billy Tom moved the gun to point at Nikki’s forehead.
“I wouldn’t want to see if Matthew’s can, but maybe one of these other fellers’ will.” Tag held up a hand and motioned.
Uniformed policemen began to circle around him. The one with the sheriff’s badge said, “We have already got your buddies from the old shack back there in custody. We’ve confiscated the money, and you’ve got nowhere to run, Billy Tom. It’s taken us twenty years but this time, boy, you’re on your way to prison for a long time. The Montague County police called me a few hours ago and said you were on the way. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Billy Tom glared at Tag and then at Nikki, his eyes shifting from one pistol to another—all aimed right at him. He must’ve realized he was out of options because he dropped the pistol on the ground, fell to his knees, and put his hands behind his head.
Nikki picked up the gun and, using the butt, hit him square between the eyes. He tumbled backward, squalling like a little girl as he tried to catch the blood flowing from his nose. She dropped the gun in the dirt and turned to see Tag coming toward her, his arms outstretched. She couldn’t let him touch her, not when she still had the stench of Billy Tom in her nose. She shook her head. “Don’t touch me, not until I get this filth off me. Where’s the nearest motel?”
“You can stay at my folks’ ranch,” he offered.
“No, thank you. I’d rather stay in a motel.” Her hands shook so badly that she had to clasp them together.
“I need to talk to you, and we’ve got showers at the jail,” the sheriff said. “I can even get you a set of scrubs if you don’t mind orange.”
“Then I’ll follow you.” She started for her car.
“You shouldn’t be driving alone,” Tag said.
“You’re going with this deputy right here,” the sheriff said. “I’ll take Billy Tom with me.”
“I’ll drive her car,” Matthew offered. “Keys still in it?”
It wasn’t easy to let them make decisions for her, but the adrenaline rush was crashing. She nodded toward Matthew. “It stinks of him and beer.”
“I’ll take care of it, Nikki. You just go with the deputy,” Tag assured her. “I’ll be right behind you, and thanks, Sheriff, for letting me be part of this.”
“Matthew had a lot to do with that. I called him the minute the sheriff from over in Montague County got in touch with me.”
“I need a doctor,” Billy Tom whined.
“Shut up or I’ll tell everyone in the jail that a woman half your size took you down,” a deputy told him as he put him into the back of a police car.