Buch lesen: «Colton 911: Cowboy's Rescue»

Chapter 1

When it was raging at its worst, Hurricane Brooke was gauged at having winds that were blowing through Whisperwood and its surrounding area at over 125 miles an hour, making it almost a category four hurricane. Taking the Texas town totally by surprise, the death toll quickly mounted and was currently up to thirty-eight and rising with dozens more still missing and unaccounted for.

A lot of Whisperwood’s residents sought refuge in their basements, but others weren’t so lucky. They were out in the open when the storm struck and scrambled for shelter anywhere they could, praying that shelter would hold.

Jonah Colton and three of his brothers had returned to the town where they were born a few days before the hurricane struck. At the time, they were all looking forward to seeing their brother Donovan become the first of their family to get married. As it turned out, three of the brothers belonged to Cowboy Heroes, a search and rescue team that scoured the countryside on horseback, rescuing people. They never dreamed they would have to put their skills to use in their own hometown, but things didn’t always go according to plan.

And this was one of those times.

The moment the winds died down, before the hurricane was even officially declared to be over, Jonah, Dallas, Nolan and Forrest, a former police detective forced into retirement after sustaining a leg injury, were out, putting their acquired skills to good use, searching for and rescuing survivors.

Some of the houses in the area lucked out and were barely touched, but they quickly saw that others had been completely demolished. In some cases, the people who had lived in those houses were now buried beneath them in the rubble. Those were the people that Jonah and his brothers focused on helping first, bringing them to the church’s recreational center, where survivors were being temporarily housed.

“You do a head count?” Jonah asked Forrest.

The latter, eight years Jonah’s junior, had recently been forced to resign from the Austin Police Department when a bullet to his leg had left him incapacitated. Thanks to adhering to a diligent regiment of physical therapy, Forrest was now able to get around again, although he did have a pronounced limp. Unable to just do nothing, he had joined the volunteer search and rescue teams in order to feel useful. When the hurricane struck, he immediately volunteered to help find victims of the storm.

Jonah knew better than to insult his younger brother by treating him any differently than he would the other members of the team.

They had been at this now for over twelve hours without a break. Most of the people they had helped dig out had just sustained injuries, some more serious than others. But some of those they dug out would not be recovering. Those bodies were wrapped up as carefully as possible and placed out of sight until they could be taken to the morgue. Ironically, the morgue had been untouched by the hurricane.

Inside the rec center when Jonah had asked him the question about a head count, Forrest knew that his brother was referring to the members of their family. He was relieved to answer in the affirmative.

“Dallas found Mom and Dad. They’re okay,” he said, realizing that was the first thing that any of them would have asked. “So are Donovan and Bellamy,” he told Jonah. “Nolan’s supposed to be bringing them here,” he added, looking around the rec center.

The recreation center was quickly filling up with people and cots at this point, but it was the largest common area available in Whisperwood. This was where town meetings were held, although the meetings had never drawn half this many people.

“There’s no way we are going to be able to put up even half the town in here. There’s got to be at least 5,500 people living in and around Whisperwood,” Dallas Colton guessed as he walked into the center.

“We’re sending the overflow to Kain’s Garage and the General Store. They’ve got large storm cellars,” Jonah told the others. “Hopefully, the storm’s not going to be doubling back. Otherwise,” he speculated as he looked from one brother to another, “the damage is going to be even worse than it is now.”

“This really isn’t so bad,” Dallas commented, reviewing what he had seen in the last twelve hours. “Compared to other hurricanes.”

Forrest frowned. “Try telling that to the families of the people who lost their lives in this,” he said grimly.

Rehashing the situation served no purpose now. “You’re right,” Jonah agreed. “Help now, talk later,” he told his brothers.

At that moment, Jonah spotted Donovan heading toward them, his hand firmly holding on to his fiancée’s. Donovan appeared exhausted and he looked as if he could definitely use a change of clothes. His were wet and streaked with mud. Beside him, Bellamy appeared almost numb.

“Are you two all right?” Jonah asked, concerned that the woman next to his brother looked as if she was about to have a complete breakdown.

“I am, but—” Donovan began, but he never got a chance to finish.

Because at that moment, Bellamy grabbed Jonah’s arm, clutching it as if she was holding on to a lifeline. The zombie look on her face vanished, replaced by an animated expression that looked as if it was actually bordering on hysteria.

“You’ve got to find her,” Bellamy begged him with feeling.

“Her?” Jonah repeated, unsure of who the woman was referring to.

“Magnolia—Maggie—my sister,” Bellamy almost shouted before she was able to get herself under control. “Please,” she pleaded, still clutching his hand and squeezing it hard for emphasis. “She’s out there somewhere, maybe hurt, or—”

Bellamy couldn’t bring herself to utter the condemning word. It was just too frightening to give voice to. Instead, she repeated herself. “You have to find her and bring her back.”

After years of being estranged, Bellamy and her younger sister, Maggie, had finally cleared up the misunderstanding, centered around their parents, that had kept them apart all this time. Bellamy had thought that Maggie had turned her back on the family to marry well and run off, when the exact opposite turned out to be true. When they finally sat down to talk, the truth came out. Issues had been resolved to the point that Bellamy had asked Maggie to be her co–maid of honor, along with her best friend Rae Lemmon. Maggie had happily agreed.

And now this happened.

“You have to bring her back,” Bellamy insisted. “I can’t lose her!”

“Where did you last see her?” Jonah asked, trying to retrace Maggie’s steps.

Bellamy closed her eyes, trying to clear her head and summon the memory. It didn’t come at first.

“At the house.” Her eyes flew open. “The last time I saw her was at the house,” she exclaimed.

“But she’s not there.” Donovan spoke up. “We went there are soon as we could,” he explained to his brothers.

“Something awful’s happened to her, I just know it,” Bellamy declared, struggling to keep her tears back. “You have to—”

Still clutching his arm tightly, Bellamy was beginning to make his hand seriously numb. Even so, Jonah smiled reassuringly at his future sister-in-law.

“We will. We’ll find her, Bellamy. I promise,” he added. “But if I’m going to do that, I’m going to need the use of my arm,” he told her, looking pointedly down at her hand.

Bellamy followed his gaze, totally oblivious to the fact that she was holding on to him so tightly.

“Oh,” she cried, as surprised as he was that she was gripping his arm so hard. Belatedly, like a person waking up from a dream, she released her hold on him. Collecting herself, she asked, “You’ll let me know the second you’ve found her? One way or the other, you’ll let me know,” she begged.

“If they get the phone lines working, I promise I’ll let you know as soon as I find her,” Jonah told Donovan’s fiancée.

“As soon as we find her,” Dallas corrected. “We’re in this together, remember?” he reminded Jonah. “Don’t worry,” he told Bellamy. “Four sets of eyes are better than one.” And then he turned toward Jonah again because there was no denying that Jonah was the team leader. “Just in case your superhero radar is off,” he said, attempting to add just a little levity to what was a very dire situation.

“Spread out, guys,” Jonah ordered, ignoring Dallas for the time being. “Before we go running off, beating the bushes for any sign of Maggie, let’s find out if anyone here saw her or talked to her before this storm decided to redecorate the landscape. Plenty of people here to talk to,” he added, gesturing around at the people who occupied the rec center. Still more were filing in by the hour.

* * *

Jonah felt he was getting nowhere. Questioning resident after shaken resident, he was forced to detach himself, putting up a wall between himself and those who were so very desperate to share their story with someone. He hated being so impersonal but needed to keep a clear head if he wanted to be able to find Maggie.

And he did.

Not just to keep his promise to Bellamy, but because he felt a special connection when it came to the woman he’d been tasked with finding. He remembered Maggie Reeves all too well from school, even though he was five years older than she was. He’d been a gawky kid back then, skinny as a rail until he’d started working on his parents’ ranch in his teens. He’d filled out then, but Maggie, Maggie had been born beautiful and only grew more so as time went by. He remembered that she’d even won the coveted title of Miss Austin in a beauty pageant. There had been other accolades along the way. But that was before she had gotten married.

The marriage didn’t last, but he could have predicted that if anyone had asked. James Corgan might have been wealthy, but he was an amoral alley cat. All the money in the world couldn’t change that, Jonah thought as he continued questioning survivors. He never understood what Maggie had seen in James, but whatever it was, her vision cleared up soon enough and she had divorced him.

And now Maggie was out there somewhere, hopefully alive—

“Hey, Jonah, I found somebody who saw Maggie maybe an hour before the storm hit,” Forrest called out.

Jonah looked up to see his brother trying hard not to limp as he made his way over. The former detective had Rae Lemmon with him. Adrenaline raced through Jonah as he instantly crossed to the duo, meeting them more than halfway.

“You know where she went?” Jonah asked the young woman with Forrest.

“I think so. Maggie talked to me just before she left.” The petite brunette nodded, as if that added weight to what she was about to say. “She told me she was going to Live Oak Ranch.”

Jonah looked at Rae, puzzled. “Doesn’t that belong to her ex’s family?” he asked the woman. Maybe Rae had gotten her facts confused. “Why would she be going there?”

Rae raised her slim shoulders in a helpless shrug. “I don’t know. Maggie said she was going there because she needed to uncover a secret.”

“A secret?” Jonah echoed, in the dark as much as ever. He glanced at Forrest, who just shook his head. He obviously didn’t have a clue, either. “What secret?” Jonah asked the paralegal.

“I don’t know,” Rae repeated helplessly. “She wouldn’t tell me anything. Maggie said she’d know more once she got there.” And then Rae remembered something. “She did say she had a map.”

“A map.” Jonah was beginning to feel like a parrot, just repeating things that made no sense. He felt as if he’d been swallowed up by the hurricane and was now being tossed around without rhyme or reason. “Why would she need a map?” he asked. “Maggie lived on Live Oak Ranch when she was married to James, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” Rae answered. “But she took the map with her because she said she needed to pinpoint the biggest tree on the ranch.” Rae shrugged again, feeling frustrated and helpless. She pressed her lips together, silently upbraiding herself that she hadn’t made Maggie tell her more. “She really wasn’t very clear, and I have to admit that I wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying. I was too busy going over last-minute details for the wedding,” Rae confessed.

Rae flushed. The excuse sounded so weak now that she said it out loud.

“Not that it looks like that’s going to happen now, at least not on schedule,” she added in a small voice. Her tone shifted as she returned to the more important subject under discussion. She needed to tell Jonah anything that sounded even remotely relevant. The smallest thing could be instrumental in locating Maggie. “But I know Maggie—she gets something in her head, she doesn’t let it go. I’m positive that she was there somewhere on the ranch when the storm hit.”

“And you’re sure about this?” Jonah pressed.

He was still somewhat skeptical about this information. After all, it had been a significant amount of time since Maggie had gotten divorced and she and her husband had gone their separate ways. From what he had heard, hers wasn’t one of those divorces where the couple remained friends even after their marriage was dissolved. Maggie gave every indication that she didn’t want to have anything to do with her ex.

So why would she suddenly go wandering around his family’s ranch?

It didn’t make any sense to him.

But sense or not, it was the only lead he had about Maggie’s last whereabouts, so unless he found out something that was more immediate, he was going to act on this.

And he made up his mind that he was going to act on it alone.

“Absolutely sure,” Rae told him solemnly. There was a slight hitch in her voice. “You’re going to find her, right?”

“Right,” Jonah replied without a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll find her.” And he fully intended to do just that, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

More reports of missing residents were coming in even as Jonah stood there, listening to Rae. The volunteer search and rescue organization he and his brothers belonged to was already stretched to the limit, not to mention exhausted. He wasn’t about to ask any of them for help, but he didn’t plan on stopping until he located Maggie. The thought of her out there, stranded, possibly in danger and clinging to life, wasn’t something he could live with if things took a turn for the worse.

Even if he hadn’t already given his word to Bellamy and to Rae, he had made up his mind to do everything in his power to find Maggie.

By the sound of it, the wind was picking up again. Jonah looked out the rec center windows and saw the trees bending like flexible dancers before the oncoming winds.

Were they in for a second wave? It didn’t matter, he thought. He knew he needed to get out there now, before traveling on horseback became hazardous and maybe even impossible.

“Thank you, Rae,” he told the distraught woman. “You’ve been a great help.”

She began to say something more, but he didn’t have any time to waste. Jonah searched the area for someone he could charge with looking after Rae for now.

“Forrest,” he called to his brother. The latter turned toward him after a moment, eyeing Jonah quizzically. “Look after Rae, will you?” he requested. “She seems like she could use a friendly shoulder to lean on.”

Forrest didn’t look happy about the reassignment. “What about going to look for Maggie Reeves?” his brother asked.

“I got this,” Jonah said, shrugging off the implied offer to help. “You take care of Ms. Lemmon and anyone else who might need you.”

Forrest’s face darkened as he took offense. “I was shot in the leg, Jonah, not the head. I’m perfectly capable of going out there with you to look for Bellamy’s sister. Don’t treat me like I’m an invalid,” he warned his brother.

Jonah backtracked. “I know you’re not an invalid,” he said gruffly. He wasn’t accustomed to trying to tread lightly around any of his brothers and doing so was tricky. “After you make sure Rae’s taken care of, go out with the others and search for survivors. And I’ll do the same,” he declared authoritatively.

With that, Jonah headed out the door. He zipped up his rain slicker. Not that the outer garment would give him much protection if the storm got worse again. He supposed he was doing this more out of habit than anything else. If he followed a ritual, covering all the steps, maybe that would help him find Maggie.

No stone unturned, he thought.

Jonah hurried across the street toward what was left of the town’s stable. He and his brothers had housed their horses here to keep them from being left out in the open once the storm hit.

Once inside, he made his way over to his horse, a sleek palomino. Aside from the horses, there was no one around.

“How are you doing, Cody?” Jonah asked, taking time to interact with his mount before going out. He and Cody had been “partnered” for three years now. “Okay, boy, ready to play hero and earn your feed? I know, I know,” he said as he put the saddle on his horse and tightened the cinches, “I don’t want to go out, either. But there’s a crazy woman out there who needs us because she doesn’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain—or take shelter when a hurricane is predicted to come rolling through,” he said, talking to the palomino as if he was a person. Taking the horse’s reins in his hand, he swung into the saddle.

“Let’s go do this. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can come back.”

Cody whinnied as if he understood. Jonah never doubted that he did.