Page 90 of Boss

“You aren’t making any sense!” she said.

“It was a joke,” he groaned.

“Not funny. And you can thank me for saving your life later. Does it hurt anywhere specific?” she asked.

“My body hurts, and not just my chest.”

“You can breathe, though, right? Without any problems I mean?”

“I can breathe,” he said as she sat him down on the sofa.

She left him to retrieve the blankets and the sofa pillow. When she returned his eyes were closed once again. He opened them and forced a half-smile. She put the blankets over him and adjusted his head. The fact that he kept coming in and out of consciousness worried her. She picked up his Stetson from the chair and put it on her head, and buttoned his coat around her petite frame. She wasn’t sure if she’d put on enough layers though. Her feet flopped in the boots, and that made each step even more painful. Kassidy went out of the front door and closed it behind her. She walked over the porch and into the snow that now reached up past the front step. It was dark, and the blasting wind stung her face and eyes. She put up her hand as a shield of protection. She couldn’t find her way in the dark so she returned inside, and located the portable lantern they used when the electricity had gone out. She carried it back out into the storm. It helped. She stepped out into the snow, and though her feet sank an inch she didn’t go all the way through as she had before. It was packed and frozen beneath her.

Kassidy took her time walking against the pushing wind. The lights to the barn were on. That was a good thing, it helped to guide her along with the aid of the lantern. But she had to make the journey mostly with her eyes closed. It took forever. Twice she fell. Twice she prayed. She couldn’t even cry because the tears froze on her face. It felt like the world was coming to an end. Never in all her years in Texas had she seen such a catastrophe.

As she neared the barn, she heard something in the wind. At first she thought it was her breathing. Then she guessed it to be the generator keeping the lights going inside. But something caused her to look back, and when she did she couldn’t believe her eyes. There were headlights. They drove along the drive toward the house.

“Thank you, God!” she said.

She started toward the arriving car, but was slowed from running by the sheer force of the wind and snow. The car was one she knew. It was Daniel’s car. Confused she stood in the snow shielding her eyes from the storm. The car stopped and a shadow of a man stepped out. He wore a long dark trench and a black hat. He slammed the door and looked at the house. He walked to the front of the car and stood before its headlights giving her a clear picture of his face. This wasn’t Daniel.

Kassidy opened her mouth to yell out to him but she stopped herself. She watched the man reach into his dark leather coat and remove a gun. In the distance, she could see the weapon gleam from the high beams of the headlights. This wasn’t Daniel. This was someone else. Why did he have a gun? Why was he driving Daniel’s car?

She took a step back.

And then another step backward.

The man started to go toward the house, but for some reason his head turned in her direction. He saw her. She knew it. She sensed it. And when he raised the gun and pointed it at her, she dropped the lantern and ran. The stranger fired. Several shots hit the barn. He was shooting at her. Kassidy ran faster.

**

Tarek woke. He couldn’t clear his head. Not fully. Every time he tried to force himself to snap out of the fugue state he dwelled in, darkness descended on his mind. He struggled with reality. Was he here, or was he somewhere else? And then a switch flipped on his brain and his mind cleared instantly. He sat upright on the sofa. Dazed and less confused.

“Kassandra?”

He lifted his face from his palm and looked. He was alone. Then flashes of the past few hours blinked on and off in his mind. The kitchen. The tree. The ladder. The fall. Kassidy crying. Kassidy helping. Kassidy leaving?

“Wait, where did she go? Where? Kassidy?” he pushed up. Tarek grabbed the side of his head when headlights swept over the front windows. How long was he out? Had she gone for help? He held his side as he limped over to the window and peered out of the frosted glass. Cash got out from behind the driver’s wheel. Tarek almost let go a deep sigh of relief, until he saw his trusted employee remove his gun from his belt.

Tarek turned from the window and dragged his hurt leg behind him as he went to the front door. But before he reached it he heard a gunshot. He threw open the door. He went out onto the porch. Cash was firing at someone, and running after them. Tarek went to the edge of the porch and immediately realized who was under attack. Cash was going after Kassidy, he thought with horror. Cash was trying to kill Kassidy.

43.

Kassidy slammed the barn door shut. Sheer fright ripped through her bones. She tried to lock it but the man outside fired three times sending bullet holes through the wood. Terror placed its icy finger in her heart and she froze. The bullets whizzed past her head. She found the strength to move and she ran. To where she ran she wasn’t sure. She turned left and then right. She heard him throwing his body against the barn door to force it open. Kassidy knew she had to hide, to find a safe place.

The horses were spooked by the gunshots. They neighed and rose on their hind legs to kick at the doors to their stalls.

“Shhh... shhh... please. Please be quiet!” she begged them. “Smoke, calm down, please, calm down, Smoke,” she said.

They settled, but not much. Kassidy looked around. She plucked a large pair of what looked to her like garden shears from the wall. She held them out in front of her like a weapon. The shears would be useless against a gun. She checked the stalls and found an empty one. It was used mostly for storage. Several tall bales of hay and feedbags were also stacked inside. She eased in and closed the stable door, but it locked from the outside so it swung open a few inches. There wasn’t much she could do about the door. She went around the stacked hay and hid behind one of the large bales. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged herself.

He was trying to kill me?

Why was he trying to kill me?

Shock yielded quickly to fury. She knew Tarek had plans to break her and Daniel for what they had done. But murder? She didn’t think he was capable of ordering a hit on her. Even though, after Alaska she knew very well he was capable of murder.

The stranger whistled. Her breath caught in her lungs. Kassidy heard him stop and talk softly to one of the horses, and imagined he was petting the animal as well. Kassidy knew soon he’d find her. She refused to let go any more tears. She intended to fight to the bitter end. In the dark her foot kicked something. She glanced down and saw it was a shovel. She tossed the sheers aside and went for the shovel instead.

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