Sharon Dunn - Montana Standoff

“Which is why we’re not staying in here.” Bryan opened and closed the drawers and cupboards on the checkout counter, clearly searching for something. “Sometimes they have a gun for protection.” He opened one more drawer before giving up. He looked at her. “Make a run for the back door. Open it as little as possible. I’ll be right behind you.”

Questions raced through Sarah’s head—How would the friend find them if they left the store? Wasn’t there a risk that the friend would be shot, too?—but she knew it wasn’t the time to ask them.

Sarah crawled toward the back door, reaching up to work the latch. She glanced back at the shattered window. The shooter wasn’t in view, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see them leaving the store. He had to be hiding in the trees across the road. She eased the door open to a narrow slit and squeezed through. Bryan pressed close to her back as they made their way along the outside wall of the store.

“Over there,” he whispered, pointing to one of the boats for rent. He scrambled toward it and lifted a corner of the canvas cover. “Get in.”

When she came to the end of the boat, she saw that a shed concealed it from view of the trees where Acne Scars likely hid. Sarah crawled through and lay down on the bottom of the boat, positioning her feet underneath the seat. Bryan crawled in beside her, reaching up to move the canvas cover back into place.

Lying on his side, he turned toward her and whispered, “Stay quiet. Jake’s car has a loud engine. We’ll hear it coming. We need to jump out and be ready to get in when he arrives.”

She nodded, wondering when her heart rate would return to normal. She knew it wouldn’t be any time soon when he lay close enough for her to feel his breath on her cheek. She inhaled his faint musk scent and looked into his deep brown eyes. The minutes ticked by. She dared not move.

A door slammed. She gasped. Bryan placed a calming hand on her shoulder. Footsteps crunched on gravel, growing closer. Every muscle in her body remained frozen. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears. Warmth radiated from her shoulder where Bryan’s hand remained.

The footsteps passed by the boat and then stopped. She dared not take a breath. If Acne Scars tore the cover off the boat, they’d both be dead in an instant. A century went by before the footsteps resumed.

Bryan squeezed her shoulder. She turned her head to see him better. For a long moment, they lay in silence facing each other. She used to think she could drown in the deep brown of his eyes.

He motioned with his eyes. At first, she didn’t know what he was trying to say. Then she heard it, the distant rumble of an engine.

This plan was fraught with risk. Was the killer lying in wait in the store? Had he returned to his post in the trees or had he assumed they’d run back into the forest and left altogether? There was no way to know.

The engine noise became more distinct. Bryan reached up to flip back the cover. He lifted his head above the rim of the boat and then pulled himself out. She rolled toward the edge of the boat and sat up.

“Hurry, we don’t have much time.”

She jumped to the ground and followed him as he raced toward the shed, pressing his back against it. She leaned close to him, holding on to his muscular arm. The car engine sounded like it was on top of them.

“Now, now.” He pulled her toward the parking lot. The car was still twenty yards away. The first rifle shot kicked up rocks in front of them. The car zoomed into the lot at a high speed, turning a hundred and eighty degrees. The second rifle shot hit the side view mirror.

Bryan yanked open the back door, pulling Sarah ahead of him so she could get in first. A bullet hit the door as Bryan crawled inside. He slammed the door shut. The car stirred up gravel, swerved and sped down the road.

FIVE

By the time they had reached the outskirts of Discovery, Sarah’s heart rate had mostly returned to normal. Though she kept glancing over her shoulder expecting to be fired at, she could manage a deep breath.

Bryan hadn’t said anything on the ride into town other than to ask her if she was okay and introduce her to Jake. They sat close together in the backseat, their shoulders touching. What they had been through left them both speechless though she found some comfort in having him close. Bryan seemed to take his own comfort from the handgun that rested on his thigh.

As soon as they had gotten into the car, Jake had tossed it back to Bryan. Another gun sat on the front seat of the Dodge Charger. Bryan kept up a steady vigil of checking all the windows at intervals. From his actions, he too worried they would be attacked again. Even though she knew both of the men who had come after them were now on foot, the fear settled in her belly like a heavy rock.

She’d almost died today. And all because of something Crew had done. Sarah closed her eyes and tried to make sense of it all, but nothing seemed to fit. Yes, her brother had been in trouble before, but she knew he had a good heart. How had he gotten mixed up with those thugs? She’d seen the level of violence these men were capable of. Her heart squeezed tight. What if the sheriff didn’t catch those men? What would they do to her brother when they found him? She had to get to Crew before those thugs did.

Jake slowed the car as he came within the city limits. He was a burly man with salt-and-pepper hair. He dressed in army surplus fatigues and smelled like cigars. She guessed he might be in his mid-fifties.

What kind of life did Bryan lead that he knew men who had access to guns at a moment’s notice?

Bryan tensed as they drew nearer to the police station. Jake pulled into the parking lot, and they all exited the car.

Bryan slapped Jake on the back as they gripped hands. “Thanks, you saved my life.”

“That makes us about even,” said Jake. “You can take it from here?”

Bryan raised a leery eye toward the police station. “I’ll be all right.”

Jake got back into his car as Bryan escorted Sarah up the sidewalk. Sarah glanced back at the rough-looking man getting into his car. “So how do you know Jake?”

“We worked together on a case when I came here. Then he took early retirement.”

A case? She wanted to ask what case he’d have worked on as a forest ranger, but the bitterness embedded in Bryan’s words indicated he didn’t want to tell her anything else.

Inside the station, only a few officers sat at computers. A series of cupboards, some of them locked, took up one wall of the police station. At the far end of the long, narrow room was an office with a window. The sign on the door read Chief Sandoval. Radios and scanners buzzed on and off throughout the station.

All of the men and the one woman working at their computers raised their head when Bryan stepped inside.

The officer closest to the door said, “Hey, Bryan.”

The greeting was neither friendly nor hostile.

Bryan looked at one officer and then another. “Have you guys heard anything about what happened on Fire Mountain today?”

“I picked some things up on the scanner,” said the female officer. “Don’t think County ever caught up with those guys.”

Sarah cringed. That meant they were still out there. At least it was a long walk into town.

Bryan rested a hand on her shoulder. “This is Sarah Langston. She’s the woman who was abducted and almost killed today. She needs to make a statement, and we’ll have her look at mug shots. She can identify her attackers and so can I.”

“I’ll get right on that. Just give me a second to set things up.” The female officer scooted back her chair and disappeared around a corner.

From the familiarity that Bryan had with the other officers, it was clear he had some sort of connection to the police. “So how does a guy in a fire tower have such a cozy relationship with the city police?”