Page 43 of Protective Assignment
All at once, he spotted Xavier in the woods, weaving in and out of the trees along with a few of the other guys from the lodge.
“Cade!”he yelled out.
Cade lifted a hand to acknowledge him.“How far are we from the truck?”he called back.
“A few minutes,” Xavier replied, and he glanced over at River.“What happened?Is she okay?”
“I’ll tell you once we get back,” he replied.“I need to get her to the lodge and out of the cold.And she needs to get checked out.I want to see if they’ve done anything to her.”
“Right,” Xavier agreed, and he looped an arm around her waist and helped Cade carry her the rest of the way back through the forest.Cade knew from the heavier snowfall and the cutting feel of the wind that it must be below freezing by now, but he could hardly feel it.The only thing he felt was her, and the only thing he could think about was getting her back to safety as fast as possible.
The guys around them spread out to fill the woods, probably planning on catching the rest of the Shepards who had scattered earlier.They wouldn’t get far, not in this weather.And when they found out that their leader was dead, they would surely give up once and for all.
Finally, Xavier, Cade and River broke the tree line, and Cade found himself opposite the truck once more.The guys had set up a makeshift tent to hold off the weather, and he noticed a few medical personnel inside.Cade rushed River toward it.
“I need someone to check her over,” he told them, not speaking to anyone in particular.He didn’t care who helped him with this, he just needed to make certain she was all right.
“Okay, bring her in the tent,” one of the medics, Lawrence, instructed him.“I’ll take a quick look at her so we’ve got an idea of what we’re dealing with.”
A couple of guys with Lawrence approached and Cade turned River over to them and watched as she was guided into the tent.Cade stopped and took a deep breath, pulling the cold air into his lungs, and Xavier finally followed up on his earlier question.
“So,” he asked, as Lawson emerged from the truck to join them.“You going to tell us what happened out there?”
“I was right—the two people separated on the heat sensor were Ryker and River,” he explained, sighing.“When I got to them, she was standing at the edge of the cliff and he had a gun on her.I thought she was going to jump to get away from him.”
“Damn,” Lawson muttered, glancing over at the tent where River disappeared.
“But he…when he heard me coming, he took his attention off her for a second, and she hit him with this huge rock she had hidden in her hands,” Cade continued.“He’s dead.Ryker is dead.”
The two fell silent for a moment, clearly stunned by what they heard.Cade couldn’t blame them.Looking at River now, it was hard to believe she would have been capable of something like that just a little while ago.
“Is she going to get in any kind of trouble for it?”Cadeasked, lowering his voice.If he had to cover for her, hide the truth of what she had done, he would.
Lawson shook his head.“I doubt it,” he replied.“After everything she’s been through with that guy, I can’t imagine anyone is going to bother pressing charges.They’ll just be glad to get rid of him.”
Cade nodded in relief.He had thought as much, but with River having been part of the Shepards in the past, he wasn’t certain that they would be so quick to let her walk away from this without some kind of pushback.He hoped she’d be free and clear of it all.
“Where are the rest of the Shepards?”he asked.
“We’ve got our guys tracking them down in the forest,” Xavier explained.“Once they figure out their leader is done for, I think it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier.They’ll give up.They won’t know what to do with themselves when they find out he’s not there to call the shots anymore.”
Cade closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face.He was exhausted, but it was only really just hitting him that she was safe.She was going to be okay, and he couldn’t think of anything else that mattered right now.Even if there were still Shepards out there, he had managed to get her out—no,shehad managed to get herself out.She had fought and found a way to freedom, despite everything she had been through.He just hoped she hadn’t been hurt in the process.
“Go check on your woman, Cade.The rest can wait,” Lawson directed.“There’s nothing you need to do now but get her home and take care of her.”
“And rest,” Xavier added.
“You sure?”Cade asked.“I can stick around, help with rounding up the rest of the Shepards—”
“No way,” Lawson replied as he shook his head.“You’ve done enough.You need to get her back home and warmed up.”
“Thanks, guys,” Cade replied, and turned toward the tent.
He noticed there were more vehicles around, including law enforcement, as he approached the tent where Lawrence was checking her over.This area was going to be active for a while, and tonight’s activities were going to be the talk of the town and the lodge come morning.
Cade saw one of the men from the lodge pointing a couple of officers in the direction of the tent and he picked up his pace to get there first.Lawrence noticed his approach and walked out to meet him and fill him in on River’s condition.
“She looks as though she’s mostly fine,” Lawrence confirmed.“She’s got a bruise forming on her face from where she said he hit her, her wrists are a bit raw from the bindings, and she’s got a few bumps and other bruises from being taken and dragged around.Nothing that won’t heal.The big thing is the cold.You got her back here before it turned critical, but she’ll need to get warm as soon as possible, and a hot meal wouldn’t hurt, either.”
