Monday morning shortly before 2:00 a.m.: Ft. Peck Indian Reservation

Lindsay hit the end button on her burner phone, fuming once again at the audacity of Rainhorse. How could he possibly feel empowered to tell her who she could and couldn’t like after the way he’d treated her?

She thought for a moment about hiding her burner phone but decided that since the FBI had already been to the house twice, it was unlikely they’d come back a third time.

She slipped the burner phone into her back pocket and switched off the light to the shed. She heard a noise coming from outside as the shed went dark.

The anger she had been feeling toward Rainhorse had evaporated instantly and she wished for nothing more than for him to be with her now. The noises continued, and she now heard footsteps outside the shed. She also heard whispers—two men. They were circling the shed.

She took in a deep breath, suppressing urges to cry out. She suddenly felt a chill. She wanted to turn on the light and look for something that could be used as a weapon but was afraid the light would draw attention. Suddenly, the noises seemed to stop.

Lindsay cautiously reached for the door handle and opened the door just a crack, just enough to peek outside.

Standing outside the door were two shadowy figures, facing her. She gasped as the two figures moved directly toward her. She squelched a scream and backed away.

The door swung open, and she again saw the silhouettes of both men.

“I found her,” one of them said.

“Get her—let’s move,” the second man said.

“Get away from me!” Lindsay screamed as one of the silhouetted men stepped toward her.

“Lindsay, it’s me... it’s Matty,” came the reply.

“Matty? Thank god,” she replied, running to him. She fell into his arms. “What are you doing lurking around here. You scared the crap out of me. I’m so relieved.”

“Don’t relax yet,” he said. “There are intruders in the house... right now. Men with automatic weapons.”

“Holy shit. Who are they?” she exclaimed.

“I don't know but keep your voice down,” he replied. “I don’t think they heard you out here but you can never be too sure.”

“How did you know I was back here?” she asked.

“We didn’t at first,” Red Feather said, stepping inside the shed with Yellow Wolf and Lindsay.  “As we came up the drive, we saw a black Yukon parked down the way, out of sight. We stopped. The vehicle’s engine was still warm, so we knew they had not been here long. We approached the house slowly. Matty saw an armed man through the window.  We thought they had you. We waited for a few minutes to see if we could tell what we were up against. There are at least four men.”

“Where’s Rose?” Lindsay asked.

“I sent her home, thank god,” Red replied.

“We circled the house to see if we could find a way inside and surprise them,” Matty added. “It was Red who noticed the light on in the shed. At first, we thought you might be one of them but when we approached we heard your voice as you were talking on the phone. Then we saw the light go out.”

“What do we do?” she asked. “Do you have guns?”

“We’re on our way home from jail, Lindsay?” Yellow Wolf replied. “No, no guns.”

“Is there anything in the shed that can be used as a weapon?” Red Feather asked.

“I don’t know,” Lindsay answered.

Red Feather turned on his cell phone, allowing the low light of the phone’s display to serve as a make-shift flashlight. Lindsay heard him rummaging around as Yellow Wolf stood guard.  Red Feather came back holding a Phillips-head screwdriver and a forty-eight-inch heavy-duty chain.

“Shit!” Yellow Wolf gasped lowly, “Red, two men coming this way. They’re holding automatic weapons.”

“You stay with Lindsay,” Red Feather said, handing Yellow Wolf the chain. “I’m slipping out the back window.”

Red Feather flipped the inside latch, opened the window and slipped out of the shed, pulling himself upward. A few seconds later Lindsay could hear light footsteps on the roof.

The men were closer now. She could hear their voices. 

“You check inside the shed,” one said. “I’ll check around back.”

Lindsay heard harder steps on the roof.  Red Feather had leapt. Next there was a thud and a howl of pain from one of the men. There was a gunshot. Yellow Wolf opened the door and lunged outside. She heard a second gunshot.

Lindsay mustered enough courage to peek through the door where she saw Yellow Wolf struggling with the second man. Matty had disarmed the perpetrator and had the chain wrapped around his neck.

She saw a third man approaching from the house toward them.

“Matty—behind you!” she screamed. The third man cocked his gun.

Yellow Wolf turned toward the sound, pulling the second man’s body in front of him.

Lindsay heard shots. She heard the second man cry out as a bullet ripped into his chest.

Red Feather appeared from the side of the shed holding an automatic weapon.  He had taken it from the first man he subdued.

The man Yellow Wolf had been holding slumped to the ground.

She heard more shots. Lindsay gasped as she saw Yellow Feather groan and place his right arm over his left bicep. In the soft glow of the moonlight, she saw blood seeping down his arm, appearing as black as the night.

Red Feather raised his weapon and returned fire: pop, pop, pop, pop.

“Got’em both,” Red said.

“Is that all of them?” Yellow Wolf asked, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Yes,” Red Feather replied. “How bad are you hurt?”

“It stings like hell,” he said, “but I’ll live. I need to stop this bleeding.”

Red Feather nodded and called out, “Lindsay, find something to use as a tourniquet for Matty’s arm and see if you can find a clean cloth to stop the bleeding. I'll check the house to make sure there is no one else. I’ll be back.”

Red disappeared toward the house.

Yellow Wolf fell to his knees then slumped onto his behind. Lindsay rushed toward him, kneeling beside him. She unbuttoned her blouse.

“What are you doing?” Yellow Wolf asked.

“There’s nothing out here except oil-stained rags,” she said pulling off her blouse. “I'll use this as a tourniquet.”

He winced in pain but glanced at Lindsay in her sheer white bra, looking almost florescent in the moonlight.

“Last night I dreamed about you taking your shirt off for me,” he said, continuing to wince in pain, “though these weren’t exactly the circumstances I had in mind.”

“How about you shut up while I get this tied,” Lindsay replied. “You’re an idiot, you know that. You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“We were just trying to protect you,” he argued.

“Red Feather jumped his man from behind,” Lindsay snapped back. “You charged an armed man head on.  See the difference?”

She wrapped his arm tightly with the shirt.

“I had no choice. He was coming right for us. He knew where we were. In another couple of seconds, he would have fired through the door. He would have killed both of us.”

Lindsay looked into his eyes momentarily as she put the finishing touches on the knot of the make-shift tourniquet.

“You’re right,” she said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Thank you, too... for the tourniquet.”

He stole another glance at the swell of her breasts spilling out of the top of the bra.

“The bullet did not go inside your arm,” she said. “It grazed you, though it tore out a decent-sized chunk of flesh. I think you’ll be fine but you need to see a doctor.”

He smiled at her. She smiled back. Yellow Wolf had the most perfect set of white teeth she had ever seen, and his smile was to die for. Their eyes made contact.

“Does it hurt much?” she asked.

“Does what hurt much?” he replied.

“The bullet wound, silly.”

His smile faded but his eyes never wavered.

“I have a bullet wound? I guess I forgot. I'm focused elsewhere at the moment.”

Lindsay blushed, hoping the night masked the redness of her face.

“Oh, yeah?” she said. “What exactly are you focused on, besides my boobs?”

“The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said, without hesitation.

She was no longer able to resist. She leaned over and kissed him. His mouth was hot and moist. He returned the kiss. She had never experienced a kiss like it before. It was literally making her melt.

“Holy shit, you two,” Red Feather said.  He was standing about ten feet away, going through the fallen men’s pockets. “What’s going on out here? In case you need a reminder, there's a lot of dead guys lying around.”

Lindsay broke off the kiss and sat up on her knees, realizing she was only in her bra. She crossed her arms and covered herself.

“I had to use my shirt as a tourniquet,” she said.

“Right,” Red Feather replied. “And I supposed that kiss was a medical procedure, too?”

“Well, I do feel much better,” Yellow Wolf affirmed.

Lindsay’s face turned bright red. She was glad it was dark outside.

“I...”

“Hey, no worries,” Red Feather said. “We got them all. The house is empty.  How is our patient?”

“It’s a flesh wound,” she said. “He’ll need stitches, but I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

“Good. Let’s get him inside.”

“I’ll call nine-one-one,” Lindsay said.

“No,” Red Feather urged. “Don’t do that.”

“Why not?” Lindsay asked.

“Yeah, I’m rather curious about that, myself,” Yellow Wolf added.

“Because I found this on the last dead man,” he said, holding up a shiny badge.

“Holy shit!” exclaimed Lindsay. “Is that what I think it is?”

Red Feather nodded, “He’s FBI.”

“What is an FBI Agent doing with these other thugs?” Yellow Wolf asked.

“Good question for another time,” Red Feather replied.

“We have to get out of here,” Lindsay said.

“I agree, but where?” Red Feather asked.

“I know just where to go,” she said. “No one will find us.”

“Where’s it at?” he asked.

“Nashua. It’s about three hours away.”

“Once we pack up and get on the road, we can make it by morning. Let’s do it now,” Red responded.