Chapter Five
Erika’s scream cut right through him. He turned to see her sitting on the ground. Blood on her hands, shards of her camera lying on the ground around her. The right-hook landing on his jaw spun him around. Get to safety, he mentally urged, and from the corner of his eye, saw her working her way back down the embankment. That’d have to do, he thought as he focused on the man before him. The one on the ridge was nowhere to be seen; Logan doubted he’d hit him with his shot.
He used the momentum from the punch to spin back around, hitting the man with an uppercut to the jaw. The silver muzzle of a pistol pointed not at him, but down toward the hill where Erika had gone. Not on his watch. He slapped the gun away, hearing it fire into the air, then grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted. The gun fell to the ground. Logan kicked it away.
Buckshot hit the ground near his foot and scattered. He growled, frustrated by the uneven odds. He punched his assailant again, hopefully sending him in the direction of the shots. He needed help. Domino might have heard. He hoped so, because he couldn’t exactly stop the fight to send a text at the moment. A quick flurry of blows had the man doubled over.
“What do you want?” He yelled.
The man looked at Logan and spat blood. “I want her to go away. I want those filthy horses to go away.” He glanced to his left.
Logan followed his gaze and didn’t see Erika. He hoped she’d gotten out of here, ran back to camp and sent Domino. Gull might be there too, and the three of them certainly could take out these guys. Heck, give him enough time and he could do it himself.
“Why? These animals are federally protected. Did you really think you could shoot them?”
The man laughed, an ugly mocking sound. “The federal government doesn’t give a shit about these horses. They steal resources from the ranchers who have built this country. They’re vermin.” He eyed the gun on the ground.
Logan’s stomach twisted. His sister talked about people like this man, those who believed the federal lands were being stolen from them, taken just so local ranchers couldn’t use it. When he’d commented about it, his sister had given him a huge lecture about how horses evolved…He cut off his thoughts by punching the man.
The man stumbled, blood dripping from a cut on the corner of his mouth and dripped into his sparse brown stubble. He went down backwards.
Logan jumped on him, pinning him down and punching him again. Neutralize the threat. He’d done it often enough as a PJ. More buckshot hit the ground around him. He looked up to see the guy who’d been on the other ridge quickly racing towards him. The man on the ATV was older. The ATV stopped and the man jumped off. “Aaron! Son! It’s not worth it.”
“Too late.” Aaron bucked, throwing Logan off.
As soon as Logan hit the ground, he bounced back to his feet. He pulled out his weapon just as Aaron dove for the gun. Aaron came up, pointing it at Logan.
Logan kept his weapon trained on Aaron. “You don’t want to do this. Listen to your father.”
“It’s too late for that.” Aaron stared at Logan, and in his eyes Logan saw fear and determination to see this through—wherever it led. He knew that look, had seen it in the eyes of Libyan rebel fighters who’d ambushed his team. “Your girlfriend’s pictures are hitting the web about now. The whore who wants to protect the mustangs.”
“We’ll deal.”
The older man stepped forward. “Aaron, put your gun down. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. You took this too far.”
“The fucking feds don’t want you to have the land. Say that they didn’t like what my friends and I did a while back. It wasn’t vandalism to cut their fences. It was an act of patriotism!” He raised the gun, his hand shaking.
“Not easy, is it, to face another man down the barrel of the gun. No one wants you to get hurt, Aaron. Listen to your father.” Logan stepped forward. He thought he heard the sound of an ATV. Come on, Domino!
Aaron turned and yelled, the gun discharging as he did so. “Don’t come any closer!” The bullet flew over Logan’s shoulder, too close for comfort.
“I have to,” Logan said, more for the benefit of Aaron’s father, and fired at Aaron’s weapon.
The shock forced Aaron to drop the weapon, and in a split second, Logan rushed forward. He caught the man full in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards. Logan jumped on him. He reached for a knife, the silver glint the only notice Logan had. He grabbed Aaron’s right wrist and pinned it to the ground.
The ATV’s roar filled the air. Logan glanced to see it was Domino, and he turned to Aaron’s father. “Put your weapon down,” he ordered. “My buddy isn’t going to think twice, not when it was your buckshot that almost hit us.”
The older man nodded and gently, one hand in the air, knelt down and put the rifle on the ground. He stepped back, hands in the open. “I never meant for any of this to happen.” His voice wavered.
“You’ll have to tell that to the sheriff.”
Domino stopped the ATV and hopped off. “Everything under control, Mustang?”
“Confirmed.” Logan flipped Aaron over and pulled his hands behind his back. Domino tossed a zip tie onto Aaron’s back, and Logan secured him, not moving from his perch on the man’s back. “Erika okay?”
“A few cuts. An EMT is tending to her. When I heard shots, I called dispatch and told them to send deputies and an ambulance just in case.” He turned to the man. “You’ll have to come with us, too.”
“I know.” His shoulders slumped, a man defeated. “I never wanted this to happen.” He repeated the words and this time his voice caught. “My son thought he was doing what was right.”
Logan doubted Aaron ever thought shooting at mustangs, or people, was right. He kept his thoughts to himself. A moment later an off road vehicle came towards them, emblazoned with sheriff’s markings. Two deputies jumped out of the vehicle and ran toward them.
“Everything under control?”
“Yes, sir,” Logan said. “Just waiting for you to take out the trash.”
Aaron’s father flinched at the words; he couldn’t deny them, not in Logan’s mind anyway. The deputy he’d spoken with in town relieved him of his duty and took Aaron back to the vehicle. The father walked toward them, arms outstretched, wrists together, as if he expected to be cuffed.
“You going to cause any trouble, Mr. Whittaker?” the deputy asked.
“No, sir. I’m sorry for what my son has done.”
“I still have to use these,” he said, sounding genuinely unhappy to have to put handcuffs on the older man. A moment later they walked back to the vehicle. “I’ll expect to see you at the station for a full report,” he said to both of them, and Logan nodded in response.
With the threat neutralized, Logan took off at a run to the ATV. “Tell Hank the photos are in the wild. I have to get back to Erika.”
“Take the ATV. I like to walk.” Domino replied with only a little smart ass in his tone.
“Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.”
“Introduce me to your sister,” he replied.
Logan laughed. “You already know her. Do it yourself.” He fired up the engine and raced back toward the camp. The urgent need to get to Erika thrummed through his veins. The image of her sitting there, blood in her hands with the shattered remains of her camera, filled his mind. It sickened him. She shouldn’t have gotten hurt—not with him there. That she did made him want to kick himself all the way back to camp.
The flash of red and blue lights were visible well before he returned to their camp, though he realized they were headed up the road into town. This time, the tent and gear was intact. He stopped the ATV and raced over to a camp chair where Erika sat, bandages wrapped around her hands. She tried to type on her phone with her unwrapped thumbs.
“You’re okay?” He dropped to his knees before her and cupped her shoulders. “Oh god, you scared me.” Dimly he noticed Gull standing by the road.
“Domino coming?” he asked over his shoulder.
“He volunteered to walk back so I could take the ATV.” Logan turned his attention back to Erika. “Talk to me, baby. You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, sounding anything but fine. “I think so. My camera’s ruined.”
He vowed to by her a new one. “I’m sorry. They have Aaron and his father in custody. I don’t think either one is going anywhere anytime soon.” Time in jail was too good for Aaron, and he still didn’t know what the old man thought he’d accomplish by shooting at them. Either way, both of them were going to face attempted murder, among other charges. He pulled Erika into his arms, folding her against his body. Nothing would harm her ever again. He’d make sure of it. She’d be his permanent assignment.
“Logan,” Erika breathed against his neck. “Don’t leave me.” She pressed her lips to his skin. Heat radiated from the contact, driving straight through his body to tighten his cock.
“I won’t. Ever.” He pulled her even tighter, turning his head so that his mouth could find hers. He kissed her, long and deep, drinking from her like a starving man. To think that she could have been hurt worse—or killed—heightened the sensation of her in his arms. His tongue swept across her lower lip, drawing it into his mouth and sucking gently on it. He wanted more, knew he couldn’t have it in the middle of the camp.
A throat clearing behind him punctuated the point. “You two lovebirds done?” Domino’s voice penetrated the haze of lust fogging his mind.
Logan pulled away. “Yeah, Caid. We are for now.” He pressed a quick, hard kiss to Erika’s mouth, then leaned back. She scooted back in her seat. “Hear anything?”
“The photos have been neutralized. They didn’t get much traction online, and we were able to pull them down permanently. No traces.”
“You hope. Nothing ever dies online,” Erika said, though she sounded far calmer about it than he would have expected.
“They’re dead,” Caid assured her.
“Thanks.”
“The deputies want you at the station by 1600 hours. They want a full statement.” Caid turned his attention to Erika. “They want you to confirm that you’re planning on pressing charges.”
“They shot at me. Damn right I’m pressing charges.”
Caid grinned. “That’s what I told ‘em, but they want to hear it from you. Stay close to her, Logan. She looks like she might want to get into some trouble.” With a friendly swat to the back of Logan’s head, he went to his truck, Gull following close behind. A moment later it started up and pulled out of the parking lot.
“You ready to head into town? Want to break camp first?”
“Yes to town. No to camp. I want to come back here and finish my work. One more session, maybe two, and I’m sure I’ll have enough photos, and some at dusk will be perfect.” She slid forward in her chair and placed her lips close to his mouth. “Besides, there’s some things I want to do to you without anyone hearing us.”
“So you’re going to do it in the middle of a national forest?” Logan chuckled.
“Better than your sister hearing you shout my name when you come.” She traced a finger up his shirt. “Let’s get the business over and done with, so we can make time for pleasure. Besides, I think we probably ought to talk.”
Her words chilled his ardor, but he also knew she was right. They needed to talk. About what she’d do when her work was done here, and about how much he didn’t want her to leave.