Bodyguard Under the Mistletoe Read Free Page B

bleeding, threw you in the back of a truck. One of the ranch hands—a kid named MacKenzie—drove like a NASCAR racer to get you to the hospital. Might have been the best triage I ever did as a paramedic.”
    â€œIs this your way of asking for a raise?”
    Finally, Wentworth laughed. The level of tension between them dropped. “I guess you’ve done okay by me.”
    â€œThat’s good because I’m not sure who’s going to hire Longbridge Security after word gets out that I let our client get kidnapped. What happened next?”
    â€œThe FBI was called in. There was a ransom demand for a million bucks. The FBI tracked down the kidnappers—a bunch of survivalists who were also smuggling. Case closed. Right?”
    â€œWas it?”
    â€œHell, no.”
    Jesse shifted uncomfortably in his seat. With his right hand, he felt in his jacket pocket for the amber vial of prescription painkillers. “Go on.”
    â€œThey couldn’t find Nicole. Last night, she called her husband, met with him and told him that she wasn’t coming home. She wants a divorce.”
    Jesse wasn’t sure he understood. “I thought you said the kidnappers were arrested.”
    â€œTwo are still at large.”
    â€œAnd the ransom?”
    â€œGone.”
    The Carlisle ranch house came into view in the distance. The property was bordered by a white slat fence. A gently curving road led to a big, two-story, whitewashed house with a veranda that stretched all the way across the front. Pine-covered foothills framed the area. Hard to believe so much turmoil had taken place in such an idyllic setting.
    The drumbeat inside Jesse’s head started up again. A low, hollow throb. “What else do you know?”
    â€œThat’s about it,” Wentworth said. “I haven’t been to the ranch house. The client instructed me to stay at the hospital.To protect you. You’re the only eyewitness, and it seemed likely that the kidnappers might want you out of the way.”
    Jesse hadn’t seen their faces well. They were wearing cowboy hats that shadowed their features. When he closed his eyes to get a mental picture, his pain intensified. He opened a vial of painkillers, tapped one out and gulped it down.
    He didn’t know what he’d say to Dylan. The word sorry sprang to mind. Sorry I messed up and let Nicole get kidnapped. Sorry you lost a million-dollar ransom. Sorry your wife left you .
    He winced. All of a sudden, leaving the hospital seemed like a really bad idea. He wasn’t ready for a confrontation. “Don’t go through the gate. Take a left.”
    Wentworth followed his instruction. “Are we headed any place in particular?”
    â€œI need a few minutes to think before I face Dylan.”
    It went without saying that Jesse wouldn’t quit this job until it had reached a conclusion that satisfied both him and his client. Even if Dylan was ready to take his wife at her word, Jesse wanted confirmation from Nicole.
    He turned his head and looked out the window. On the other side of a barbed-wire fence was a field of winter wheat. Still green. Even in December. “Slow down.”
    â€œWhat are you looking for?”
    â€œNot sure.”
    He was hoping for clarity—a flash of insight that would point him in the right direction. In the skies above the field, a hawk circled. His grandfather would have called the bird an omen, a sign that Jesse should be like the hawk. He should be the hunter. Find Nicole. Find the money .
    Wentworth stepped on the brake.
    A woman was running toward the SUV. Her green jacket matched the low grasses growing in the field. Her long brown braid flipped back and forth behind her.
    She yanked open the passenger door. She was thin, delicate. Her cheeks flushed with the effort of running. Her gray eyes shone with a feverish light that made him want to look deeper.
    â€œYour logo.” She gasped. “You’re