CHAPTER 33
Logan’s text had come through, grabbing Blake’s attention. He tried calling Logan, then Jessie, even his house. No answer.
There had been an explosion, the final round, Blake thought, at the rodeo grounds. It was a diversion. One big fucking diversion to cause a cluster fuck of chaos to trap him in town. He jumped in his SUV, lights and sirens blaring as he headed home. He continued to call Logan until he finally answered.
“Blake, he’s here,” Logan groaned through the phone, sounding breathless. “He…”
“What happened?” Blake interrupted, anxiety consuming him. “What’s wrong?”
“He has her. I can’t find her,” Logan shouted through the phone, full of anger. “He hit me, knocked me out somehow. Fuck, my head.”
“I’m almost there – are you sure he has her?”
“I looked everywhere – thought she was hiding, but his car is still here, and she’s not…”
“Look again. I’ll be there in two minutes,” Blake said before hanging up the phone.
Blake got onto the radio and gave the other guys a quick rundown. Details were sketchy, but it sounded like they were on foot, and if they were, there was a chance she got away. Blake explained his backup plan that he shared with Jessie, just before leaving her. He told them everything.
When Blake pulled in, he passed the car that Jason must’ve used. It was different than that which they originally had him in.
“He switched it. No wonder we didn’t fucking see him. Damn it!” Blake said out loud to himself as he hit the steering wheel.
Logan met him on the front steps, his head wrapped in what appeared to be a ripped t-shirt.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said. “I thought I had the upper hand. He’s more prepared than we thought. What do we do now? I have no idea where they are.”
“The car is still here, so they’re on foot.”
“They could be anywhere out here then. Do we call in dogs? Aerial?” Logan quizzed.
“No. We head to the O’Reilly cabin. If they’re out here, she would have found a way to get away from him. That’s where she is supposed to hide.”
“Supposed to hide?” Logan said, irritation in his voice.
“I told her to run and hide there if something happened.”
A long pause ensued before Logan broke the awkward silence. “Then, let’s go. That’s a mile from here, and they got a head start.”
“Then, I guess we better run. The guys are right behind us,” Blake said, checking his weapon.
“We better move fast, then,” Logan said.
Blake gave him an odd look. “Yeah, let’s go.”
The two men moved quickly along the creek, through the trees, with stealth like movement. Blake hoped they would get to Jessie in time, despite the head start they had. The hairs on the back of Blake’s neck were standing at attention. Something wasn’t as it seemed, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He was afraid they were in for a major plot twist.
Jessie ran the entire way to the cabin. She didn’t know how far behind Jason was, just knew she left him bloody faced and rolling on the ground, holding his balls. Jessie got a lot of crap for wearing her combat boots all the time, with everything, but today, they served their purpose. This was exactly why she wore them.
Jessie stalled at the edge of the trees as she came up on the clearing, the cabin coming into view. She would be a sitting duck out there – it was a wide-open space – nowhere to hide. She looked around, even stilled her breath, and listened for any sign of him.
For all she knew, he circled around and beat her there. He was bigger and stronger, which meant probably faster. She hoped and prayed that the ass kicking she handed him had him hurting for days and slower. Much slower.
With no sign of him or his vehicle, she darted out from the tree line and ran for the porch. The metal box was right where Blake said it would be. Relief washed over her as she didn’t have a moment to spare. When she opened it, she went for the gun first, then the key. The rest could go inside, behind the locked door, with her, where she could sort it out without worry.
She stood to run inside, making it to the door before a sharp pain on the back of her head made her see stars, and everything went black.
When Blake and Logan made it to the clearing, the first thing they saw was Jessie’s semi-conscious body tied to a tree and Jason Bolton pacing, arguing with himself about who knew what. Bolton’s bloodied face pleased Blake – she fought back.
“I will go around, come in from behind,” Logan said. “He has a gun, so don’t go rogue and get shot.”
“You saw a gun?” Blake questioned.
“No, but how else did he get her here? Ask nicely?” Logan snidely replied, seeming irritated.
Gun drawn, Blake stepped out of the trees, not careful about making any noise because he was creating a diversion so Logan could get into position. He caught Bolton’s attention quickly, but oddly enough, he didn’t react. No weapon aimed on Blake – no surprise – he just stood there and paced in front of Jessie.
“It’s over, Bolton,” Blake said, getting Jessie’s attention.
When she looked up, and Blake saw the blood trickling down her head and face, he winced at the sight. He hurt her, and it was taking all Blake had to do this right and not hurt Bolton right back.
“You don’t understand. I need to talk to her,” Jason pleaded. “She won’t wake up all the way.”
“You don’t need
to talk to her. You want to talk to her, and I’m not letting you. Let her go, and you may walk out of here,” Blake threatened.
“If I untie her, she’ll run, and you’ll just shoot me,” Jason reasoned. “I’ve waited weeks for this. I need her, just for a few minutes.”
“A few…what
?” Blake said, blown away by how crass this guy was. “No, buddy. You’re not getting anything with her. You do that to her head?”
“I…I did. I didn’t mean to. I just had to stop her so I could tell her before all of you got here,” Jason said. His anxious tone and honesty was disturbing. Those hairs on the back of Blake’s neck were standing up again.
“Any of who? What is it you need to tell her?” Blake asked, reaching down to flip the switch on his radio so the other guys could hear what was going on, and he’d get any intel they came across.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Mr. Cooper.” Jason ran his hand through his hair before he looked back at Jessie. “She would, but you wouldn’t.”
“Tell me,” Blake said with a shrug. “Maybe I’ll surprise you.”
Jason stood still, mumbling to himself, shifting from one foot to the other. He was crazy – the text book kind and then some. But, he was afraid, which wasn’t the kind of emotion a psychopath typically expressed. They were confident and tended to think they were winning a losing battle because they couldn’t see past their own arrogance. This guy wasn’t any of those things – not in the moment at least.”
“Blake, you copy?” He heard Liam come through his earpiece.
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Blake replied, sending a message to Liam without giving away anything to Bolton.
“What?” Jason stopped, and gave Blake an odd look.
“Oh, just a saying, Bolton. You’re the messenger
. I’m not shooting you. You can tell me what you got – what is it that I won’t believe and Jessie will.”
Blake was careful in word choice, trying to communicate with the O’Reillys and Carter that something wasn’t right, and Bolton may not be their guy. In other words, shoot on sight was off the table. Their problem was about to get a whole lot bigger.
“Copy that,” Carter said through the radio.
“I found the signal, Blake. It’s been right here in McKenzie the whole time. Whoever was detonating had been here the whole time
,” Liam said. “It couldn’t have been Bolton because I traced it back before he was out, and I even found it in Portland, man.”
“Son of a bitch,” Blake said under his breath.
Then the words came that Blake didn’t want to hear, “He isn’t our guy – repeat – he isn’t
our guy.”
Blake tried to get Bolton talking again when he saw Logan coming in behind him, and untying Jessie. “So, are you going to tell me? Why’d you do it? Why’d you burn up the town, and terrorize all of my friends? Why’d you take Jessie…again
.”
“Look, I regret what I did all those years ago, but things aren’t always what they seem. I was messed up. I was…on drugs,” Jason started. “I found God, and I wanted to tell her that. I wanted to ask her forgiveness.”
“You found
God? Yet here you are, kidnapping her all over again?” Blake questioned. “Were you going to apologize
then finish what you didn’t get to all those years ago? Were you going to kill her, Bolton?”
Blake’s verbal attack was brazen, but he wanted Bolton riled. The more riled he became, the more he said, and they needed to know what he knew.
“No, no, no, no!” Jason yelled. “You’re not hearing me. I’m not here to hurt her. I’m helping her. She’s in danger. You all are.”
Logan had freed Jessie and pulled her behind him, guarding her as he moved in, gun aimed on Bolton.
“In danger? Ya think? You blew up the whole fucking town! Then, you cornered Jessie… tied her up so you could kill her!”
“NO! I didn’t do all of those things. I didn’t burn the town down. I’d never kill her – I could never hurt her any more than I already have,” Jason said. “I know I’m broken, and I have to live with what I did and what I still find myself craving, but I’d never hurt her. Not now. Not after what I learned.”
“You aren’t making any sense, Bolton,” Blake continued, waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Bolton to tell him what he was afraid to hear.
“I know! I’m…trying to tell you. Things aren’t always as they seem. People aren’t always who we think they are. I’m not your enemy, not today. I’d never hurt Jessie. I could never hurt the mother of my child,” Jason said.
“What the fuck? Your child
?” Blake said, looking between Jason and Jessie.
“I…I hurt her too bad. The baby…” Jason was rambling, making little sense as he told the rest of Jessie’s story. “Jessie’s dad came to the prison. He talked to me, prayed with me every week. Then, he told me what I did, that I killed my own child. I hurt her too bad, you see? It’s my fault she can’t have a baby. Things aren’t always what they seem.
“He’s not who you think he is. You don’t know who he really is,” Jason said.
“Goddamn it. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot your crazy ass right now, Bolton. You sick son of a bitch.”
“I know, I know,” he said with his hands up in surrender, finally flashing his gun but not aiming it at anyone. “You can’t trust him, Mr. Cooper. Nobody can – he isn’t who you think he is! He isn’t good.”
“Who? Jessie’s father? Is he here? Is he behind all of this?” Blake asked, missing too many pieces still.
“No. Things aren’t always as they seem. Look.” Bolton pulled up his pant leg to reveal a bulky ankle bracelet.
“Keep him talking, Coop. ETA one minute and moving into position,” Blake heard through the radio.
Blake shrugged his shoulders at Jason Bolton’s show and tell. “You’re under house arrest. It’s a home monitoring system. So, what? Sounds like your parole officer didn’t look hard enough for you if you’re wearing that.”
“No,” Jason said, with an eye roll. “It’s not what you think it is – it’s a bomb!”
“Why…why would you wear a bomb? You planning to blow yourself up?” Blake asked.
“I’m not. He
is. He
threatened to blow me up, and he has been blowing everything up. How do you think I knew how to find all of you – knew your every move? He
told me everything. He
used me to get to you, Blake. Not Jessie…you
! He
isn’t trying to hurt everyone Jessie cares about...he’s
after you. Things aren’t always as they seem
.”
Carter came through the radio, “I don’t like this, Coop. We need to know who he
is, and I’m afraid I already know the answer.”
“Just get in position. He’s already here. I got eyes on him,” Blake said.
“Son of…” Carter didn’t finish what he was going to say. Blake knew exactly why.
“Bolton. Last chance. Get your crazy little thoughts together, and give me a fucking name. Now,” Blake demanded.
Jason started to pace again, running his hands through his hair, the psychotic break getting the best of him as he continued to argue with himself, his voice and movement becoming more agitated.
“Don’t fucking move, asshole,” Logan said, moving in closer, standing between Bolton and Jessie, shielding her.
Jason spun on his heels, “You. You were dead. I thought you were dead.”
“You wish,” Logan replied with a smarmy grin.
Jason quickly turned to Blake and said, “He’s not dead…”
But that’s all Jason Bolton said. A loud echoing blast pulsed through the air, and Jason Bolton dropped to the ground with a hole in the back of his head.