Page 39 of Holding On to a Hero
“I think you’ll like him a lot. He doesn’t bullshit.”
Brian shook his head at me. “As if you would be with anyone who was a bullshitter.” He reached over to his desk phone and pushed the button to take it off Do Not Disturb, then he pressed the voicemail button that had been flashing like crazy during our meeting.
I turned to walk back to my office, but a familiar voice filled the room.
“Hi, uh, this is Will Graham.” I spun around and looked at the phone in surprise.
“I’m trying to reach Jason. Shelton. Uh, this is an emergency and I really need him to call me. Actually, he needs to call Cole first. I took photos yesterday and there are holes in the barn that weren’t there before the gunshots we heard. It wasn’t a hunter. Someone was shooting at Cole.” Will took an unsteady breath. “I don’t have Cole’s number. Someone needs to call him and tell him to stay inside. Please, please call him. I’m on my way to the ranch.”
As Will’s message came to an end I ran for my office. Cole. I had to reach Cole.
I heard Brian calling out, “I’ll call Will back. You call Cole!”
I picked up my phone with shaking hands. I could barely hold it still enough to connect the call. Finally the phone began to ring. “Please answer, please answer!”
It went to voicemail.
I heard Brian coming out of the office. He was talking to Will. Brian pointed toward the elevator. “He didn’t answer! I’m calling Arturo!” I told him as I followed.
Arturo, thankfully, answered his cell. But this was the morning he’d chosen to walk the fenceline and he was pretty far from the house even if he went back the direct route. He promised he’d get there as fast as he could. I needed to remind him we now had horses that could be ridden.
When we exited the elevator into the parking garage, Brian put Will on speakerphone. I immediately apologized for not having my phone on me this morning. At least Will would get to the ranch house faster than Arturo.
Will told us in more detail about the bullet holes in the barn that he could see in his photos from yesterday. Ice ran through me when I realized Will could have been directly between the shooter and Cole. Luckily Will didn’t seem to have thought of that yet. He was only concerned with Cole. This was the man who’d saved two people from drowning even though he was gravely injured himself. Fucking selfless bastard. I briefly wondered how long it was going to take me to fall in love with him.
Brian and I were still fighting our way through Austin traffic when Will announced he was turning onto the ranch’s road. I’d finally managed to pull my head out of my ass enough to remember our security cameras, and I pulled up the camera that faced the front of the house just as I heard Will shout that Cole was on the front porch.
And he was. I watched helplessly as Cole, dressed to go jogging, ran lightly down the steps toward Will’s truck. I could hear Will struggling to get out of the truck and yelling at Cole to turn around and go back.
“Cole! Go back inside!” Like my words would be more effective than Will’s.
Brian reached over and put his hand on my shoulder as he stopped at yet another red light. Why, why didn’t we have the ability to teleport?
I held my breath as Will got Cole turned around and started running toward the front door. I panned the camera to follow them.
“Go, go, go,” I urged.
They were almost at the door when we heard a gunshot. Will jerked forward into Cole. I saw a spray of blood from Will’s right shoulder.
“No! Will!”
Will lurched forward and reached out, putting his left hand on Cole’s shoulder. He shoved Cole down and to the right just as another gunshot rang out.
“Fuck!”
The door opened as Will and Cole crashed into it. I could see blood spatters around the door handle. Was Cole hit? Will and Cole fell into the house, but their legs remained in the doorway.
“Cole! Will! Answer me!”
Brian pulled the SUV into a fast food parking lot. He pressed a button above the windshield and I heard the emergency alert system answer. I could only stare blindly at my phone and watched bullet holes occasionally appear in the door frame. Vaguely I heard Brian giving the address and discussing that the police would need to wear gear to protect themselves from a sniper.
Cole and Will did not move.
I gasped for air. “No! Cole!” Brian leaned in and grabbed me around the shoulders. “Brian, drive. We have to get there. Please,” I cried.
“On it.” He put the SUV in gear and drove over the curb to get back on the road.
“Please let them be alive. Please let them be alive.”
