Utah, p.13
Utah, page 13
He’d never believed in love at first sight. Hell, he hadn’t believed much in love.
Something about Liza and Tayla made him reevaluate his previous views on love. Not that he could possibly be in love with Liza so soon. If he was capable of falling in love, she was the woman with whom he could see it happening.
He'd never much cared for children, not having been much of a child himself. Since meeting the intrepid Tayla with her bright and cheerful personality, he could grow to love that kid, if he didn’t already. The thought of anyone hurting her, or threatening to hurt her to coerce her mother into doing something horrific, made him so angry he wanted to find those bastards and pound them into the ground.
Utah dozed off and woke to the sound of his phone ringing.
He fumbled for the device, read the caller ID and answered. “What’s up, Hank?”
“Someone tried to kill Congresswoman Lightfeather early this morning.”
Utah sat up. “Were you able to warn her?”
“Yes, we got word to our guys in the Yellowstone office, and they let her know. Fortunately, she’s engaged to one of the Protectors. He was able to successfully defend her.”
Movement caught Utah’s attention.
Liza stood in the connecting door, wearing the T-shirt he’d given her, her blond hair tangled and so adorable, he wanted to kiss her.
Utah put his cell phone on speaker.
“Hank, I have Liza with me.”
“Good morning, Liza.”
“Hank,” she acknowledged.
“What about the congresswoman?” Utah met Liza’s gaze and held it. “Did she sustain any injuries in the attack?”
Liza crossed the room to stand beside Utah’s bed.
“Lightfeather is fine,” Hank said. “Shaken, not injured.”
Utah held out his hand.
Liza put hers in his and sat on the side of the bed next to Utah.
“Did they catch the attacker?” Liza asked.
“No, ma’am,” Hank said. “Our man, Dax, shot the guy, injuring him, but he got away. A sheriff’s deputy found the attacker a couple of hours later, lying on the side of the highway with several more wounds than what Dax inflicted.”
“Dead, I take it,” Utah surmised.
“Very much so,” Hank reported.
Liza squeezed Utah’s hand. “They’ll be back.”
“Dax will be ready,” Hank assured her. “I called to catch you up on the congresswoman and to run something by you both.”
Utah exchanged glances with Liza. “Shoot.”
“Sadie is worried about you, Liza and Tayla. Frankly, so am I. I know Utah can protect you, but we haven’t been able to locate them, and we’re worried they’ll make a play for you and your daughter.”
“I’m worried as well,” Liza said softly. “Though it was fun to go to the wedding yesterday, and the accommodations at the lodge are great, I think it might be time for us to disappear.”
Utah’s gut knotted, and his hand tightened around Liza’s. He didn’t want to let them go.
“I thought you might be thinking along those lines. I want to give you another option.” Hank paused. “Sadie and I would like you to come to stay at the White Oak Ranch with us. The security is a lot tighter here. We’d want Utah to come with you to provide one more layer of protection. You’d be safe, Tayla and Emma could play, and I’d have a chance to talk Utah into joining my team of Brotherhood Protectors.”
Liza frowned. “I’d be afraid the people after me might hurt you and your family.”
“They won’t get past my security system,” Hank said. “My family will be safe. Sadie and I would feel better knowing you and Tayla weren’t on the run with nowhere to go and no protection.”
Liza’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what to say…”
Utah’s heart filled with joy at the thought of spending more time with Liza and Tayla. More time for Liza to learn to trust him and for him to explore his growing feelings for Liza and Tayla. “Say yes,” he whispered and held his breath, praying she would.
Liza stared at Utah’s cell phone for several long heartbeats.
Just when Utah’s hope waned, Liza met his gaze. “Okay. I’ll come as long as Utah comes with us.”
“Absolutely,” Hank said. “You heard that, Utah. I’ll make a Brotherhood Protector out of you yet.”
“When do you want us out there?” Utah asked.
Hank chuckled. “The sooner, the better.”
“We’ll head that way after breakfast,” Utah said.
“I’ll let Sadie know the good news. Emma will be beside herself. And we can put our heads together to find and put a stop to these domestic terrorists.”
“I’ll help any way I can.” Anything to stop them from targeting Liza and Tayla.
“All right, then. I’ll see the three of you in an hour or two.” Hank ended the call.
Utah brought Liza’s hand to his lips and kissed the backs of her knuckles. “Are you okay with the arrangement?”
“As long as Hank’s security is as robust as he says it is.” She smiled. “Tayla will be thrilled. She enjoyed playing with someone her own age last night.”
“Then let’s get dressed, have some of Dezi’s gourmet breakfast and get on the road to Hank’s.”
“I’ll feel better once we get there.” She grinned. “I can’t wait to see Tayla’s reaction when we tell her she gets to stay at Emma’s house.”
“Mommy?” Tayla appeared in the connecting doorway, barefoot, wearing a pretty blue nightgown dotted with fluffy white lambs in the shapes of clouds. She yawned big enough to split her face and then frowned. “You left me.”
Liza opened her arms. “No, baby. I was right here.”
Tayla ran into her mother’s arms.
Liza hugged her close and then rolled over onto the bed next to Utah, with Tayla landing between them.
Utah tickled her sides and kissed her cheek. “Did you have fun at the wedding yesterday, little lamb?”
Tayla giggled and squirmed. “Yes. Me and Emma danced to music.”
Utah laid back against the pillows, crossing his arms behind his head. “Did you like playing with Emma?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Tayla laid back against the pillow and crossed her arms behind her head.
Utah chuckled, understanding the old saying that imitation was the best kind of compliment. His heart warmed lying beside Tayla with Liza on the other side, grinning at the two of them.
“How would like to see Emma again?” Liza asked.
Tayla popped up to a sitting position. “Can we?”
Liza nodded. “We’re going to stay at Emma’s house for a while.”
Tayla’s eyes widened. “You, me and Utah?”
Again, Liza nodded.
“Yay!” Tayla clapped her hands and bounced up and down. Then she fell back against the pillow, staring up at the ceiling, smiling. A moment passed, and her smile turned to a frown. “Will the bad men from The Camp be able to find us there?”
Utah’s heart squeezed hard in his chest at the fear in the little girl’s eyes. He leaned on an elbow and smoothed a strand of the child’s hair back from her forehead. “It’s safe there. And you’ll have me and your mama looking out for you.”
Tayla’s gaze shifted from Utah to her mother and back to Utah. “Can I take my new clothes?”
Liza laughed. “Of course, you can. And you can thank Emma and Ms. Sadie for giving them to you.”
Tayla took one of Utah’s hands and one of her mother’s and pressed them to her cheeks. “This is the best day ever.”
“Let’s make it even better by having breakfast, and then we can go to Emma’s.” Liza leaped out of bed, grabbed Tayla and swung her up in her arms. “Come on, girlfriend. We have things to pack.”
Utah smiled as Liza and Tayla crossed into the adjoining room. The warmth in his chest was the best feeling he’d had…ever. For a moment, he’d felt a part of Liza and Tayla’s family. And he’d loved it. How would it feel to make that permanent? For Liza to be his wife and Tayla to call him Daddy?
His heart swelled in his chest.
For a guy who hadn’t really liked the idea of marriage and children, he’d done a complete about-face.
Then again, who wouldn’t with a kid like Tayla and a woman as strong, loving and beautiful inside and out as Liza?
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and got busy dressing quickly and packing his stuff. He found an empty gym bag and carried it into the other room. “You might want this.”
Liza smiled, leaned up on her toes and brushed his lips with a kiss. “Thank you.”
He caught her around her middle and crushed her to him, kissing her good and proper.
When he set her back on her feet, she laughed, her cheeks pink.
A little arm wrapped around one of Utah’s legs. He glanced down at Tayla.
She’d wrapped an arm around her mother’s leg as well and grinned up at them. “I like when we’re a family.”
Liza shot a wide-eyed glance at Utah.
He winked and ruffled Tayla’s hair. “Me, too, baby.” He left them to pack their meager belongings and finished jamming everything he owned into his duffel bag.
Liza entered the room wearing the jeans she’d escaped in and his T-shirt knotted at her hip. Tayla had on a pair of colorful leggings and a matching T-shirt. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head in a ponytail.
“Do you want to eat in the dining room or here in this room?”
Liza sighed. “After the wedding yesterday, I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re here. Let’s eat in the dining room. Then we can get to Hank’s place, where we’ll be safer.”
Dezi was talking to one of the guests in the dining room when Utah, Liza and Tayla entered.
She grinned, excused herself and met them halfway across the room. “You’re just in time. I was just about to put on a fresh batch of Belgian waffles. You can have whatever toppings your hearts desire. My personal favorite is strawberries and freshly whipped cream. We have chocolate, blueberries and maple syrup.”
“Can we help?” Liza asked.
Dezi grinned. “Of course. I can always use another assistant in the kitchen.”
They spent the next thirty minutes making waffles and smothering them in the toppings of their choice. Dezi made Tayla’s day by outfitting her with her own chef’s apron and hat. The fun continued into the dining room when Dezi joined them for breakfast, entertaining them with stories about growing up on the Double Diamond Ranch, where her father was the foreman. She went on to regale them with some of the mischief she and her friends, Cassie, Gabbie and Penny, got into as teens.
At the mention of Penny, Dezi frowned and looked across the table at Liza. “You were in one of those camps run by The Chosen Way, weren’t you?”
Utah could feel Liza stiffen beside him. Some of the sunshine faded from her face as she nodded.
Dezi leaned forward. “We recently learned that my friend Penny was one of the people held hostage. You see, she disappeared almost five months ago, and we haven’t seen or heard from her since. I don’t suppose you ran into her?” She pinned Liza with her hopeful gaze.
Liza shook her head. “In the camp where we were held, we weren’t allowed to say our true names. Instead, we were given names, and that’s what we called each other.” She gave Dezi a crooked smile. “They called me Fly.”
Dezi’s brow puckered. “Fly?”
Liza shrugged. “I was Fly for the past ten months. Even the trainers and the man in charge went by call signs or nicknames. Spike was my trainer. The guy in charge was Commander. The recruit who helped me escape was PJ. So, you see, if she was there, I wouldn’t have known her by the name Penny.”
Dezi sighed. “She was blond, like you, but her hair was more sandy than golden. She was shorter than you, an inch taller than me.”
“There were a couple of women who could fit that description. PJ was one of them.”
Dezi’s eyes narrowed. “P for Penny?”
Liza touched Dezi’s hand. “Even if PJ is your Penny, they’ve moved everyone who was there.”
The chef’s hopeful look fell. “Yeah, but it would be nice to know she’s still alive. Hank and his team have been trying to find them since they busted up the other location. I just know it’s only a matter of time before they find them and bring Penny back home to us.”
“I’ll help in any way I can,” Liza said. “I want PJ out of there as well. She got us out when I didn’t think it was possible. Do you have a picture of Penny?”
Dezi smiled. “I do.” She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through, stopping at a photograph of four young women.
Liza recognized Dezi’s brown hair, brown eyes and perky smile. She studied each face stopping at the two women of the same height. One had auburn hair and green eyes, the other had sandy blond hair and brown eyes. Both were smiling and happy.
She pointed at the blonde. “Is this your Penny?”
Dezi nodded. “Penny was the kind of person who made the impossible happen.”
PJ had done the same. Still, she’d never seen PJ smile. Penny and PJ could be the same person, but she just didn’t know for certain. “It’s hard to say.”
Dezi sighed. “I like to think your PJ is our Penny, and she’s out there, not too far away.”
The chef pushed back from the table. “And now, I have work to do. You’ll love being out at Hank and Sadie’s. The ranch is gorgeous, and the house is perfect.” She gathered dishes and headed for the kitchen.
Utah, Liza and Tayla helped by carrying their empty plates and cups to the big sink.
“I’ll take it from here,” Dezi said. “You three need to get moving.”
Utah thanked Dezi and ushered Liza and Tayla back to their rooms. Utah gathered their bags. Liza carried the gun Utah had given her the night he’d saved her life, and they left through the side door.
While Utah loaded their bags into the back seat, Liza slid the gun into the glove box and closed it. She had just turned to help Tayla into the truck when an older woman rushed up to them, wild-eyed and frantic. “Help me. Oh, please help me!”
Liza gripped the woman’s arm. “What’s wrong?”
The woman turned toward a car in the far corner of the parking lot. Dark smoke rose from the rear of the vehicle.
“My husband came out earlier. I was still packing. He’s in that car. There’s smoke, and the doors are locked. He has the key inside. I pounded on the window, but he didn’t respond. Help him! Please!”
Utah glanced around. No other people were standing in the parking lot. A blue repair van stood near the entrance to the lodge with Town & Country Heat and Air written in bold red letters across the side.
A couple of workers in blue coveralls were entering the lodge. The doors closed behind them before Utah could yell for their attention.
He turned to Liza. “You and Tayla get in the truck and lock the doors.” He reached behind the back seat and grabbed the tire iron. “I’ll be right back.”
Liza nodded and helped Tayla up into the truck.
Once Liza was inside and the doors locked, Utah ran toward the smoking vehicle.
The man inside lay slumped against the steering wheel. Like the woman had said, the doors were locked from the inside.
Smoke poured from the back of the vehicle. With the possibility of whatever was causing the smoke igniting the fuel in the gas tank, Utah didn’t have time to spare. He slammed the tire iron against the back window, shattering the glass. He reached inside toward the driver’s door, fumbling for the door lock button.
The wind shifted, blowing the smoke toward Utah. He coughed and hit every button his fingers touched. After he thought he’d hit everything, he landed on a button, heard a loud click and the door unlocked.
Utah yanked open the door and reached inside. The old man lay with his cheek against the steering wheel, unresponsive.
Utah tried to drag him out and was stopped by a buckled seatbelt holding the man in. Not breathing, Utah leaned in, jabbed the release and leaned the man back to remove the shoulder strap.
With the smoke getting worse, Utah hooked the man beneath his shoulders and dragged him out of the vehicle and across the ground.
As he laid the man on the pavement, the car behind him exploded.
The blast threw Utah several feet in the air. He landed hard, hit his head on the asphalt and blacked out.
Chapter 13
Liza watched in horror as Utah struggled to reach the man in the vehicle. He raised the tire iron and slammed it against the back window.
At the same time as he hit that window, a loud crash sounded behind Liza, and splinters of glass flew across the cab.
She spun toward the sound.
A man in blue coveralls with a tire iron in one hand reached through the driver’s window and unlocked the truck.
“What the hell!” Liza yelled and reached for the gun she’d tucked into the glove box. Before she could get her hand around the grip, her door flew open, and a big meaty hand grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the cab.
Liza opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth.
The blue van that had been near the entrance a moment before rolled to a stop, blocking her view of the smoking vehicle and Utah.
Liza twisted and fought with every ounce of her strength and cunning. The arm around her was like an iron band. Like the nightmare of her first abduction, she was carried into the waiting van. The man holding her climbed in with her.
The other man who’d busted the window was right behind them, carrying Liza’s squirming daughter, who was fighting as fiercely as Liza.
As the man carrying Tayla stepped up into the van, Tayla wiggled free and dropped to the ground. Instead of running away, she launched herself at the man holding onto Liza. “Leave my Mommy alone!”
At that moment, a loud explosion rocked the van.
The man behind Tayla scooped her up, dove into the van and slid the side door shut. As the van spun around, Liza could see flames shooting up from what was left of the vehicle Utah had been working beside moments before.
Her heart stopped beating for a full five seconds and then slammed hard against her ribs. No. Utah was okay. He had to be. He’d promised her that last night wasn’t a one-night stand. That meant he’d be around for a while, didn’t it?
