Climbing swiftly into the saddle, he rode toward the desperate sound. Reno still didn’t understand what had happened to him, but there would be time to solve that puzzle later. Right now, someone needed him.
“No!” Journey stumbled, barely catching herself before she hit the ground. The men were coming closer; she could hear them. Taunting. Laughing. Journey trembled in fear. She couldn’t let them catch her. They were crazy. There was no telling what they’d do to her.
“Hey! What’s your hurry, pretty girl? We only want to play.”
Play? Terror ripped up her spine like the blade of a knife. She dashed madly into the shadows, trying to find a place to hide in the shelter of the rocks. If she could calm her breathing and stop the tears, maybe she could be silent and still long enough to avoid detection.
After a dozen or more yards, she stopped, leaning against a huge boulder. Journey placed a hand over her mouth to quiet the panicked pants. She just needed a few seconds to rest – then if she had to run farther – she would run.
“Boo! There you are!”
A scream burst from her lips as a large, cruel hand snatched at her hair. “Stop! Let me go!” she screamed, tearing herself away to bolt blindly into the night. The boulder field surrounding her was a playground of light and shadow. A maze she ran through like a mouse chased by a cat. Journey thought her heart might fail her as she fled for her life. “Oh, please God. I need help. Please.”
Suddenly, she heard a noise. A new noise. Not her breathing. Not the footfalls of the men who terrorized her – no…
Hoofbeats?
In a moment of incredible chaos, a dark horse came alongside her, and a man’s deep, gentle voice spoke to her. “I’m here to save you. Give me your hand.”
As one accepts a lifeline to keep from drowning, she grasped the stranger’s hand. An incredulous gasp slipped from her lips as he lifted her up into the saddle before him. Journey trembled as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly. Immediate and instantaneous relief flooded her soul. She felt safer than ever she’d felt before.
Instead of carrying her away, the rider stopped, waiting for the men who chased her to catch up. “What are we doing? Those men…”
“Don’t understand who they’re up against.”
His voice flowed over her soul like warm rays of sunshine on an icy day.
The two men came dashing up wearing what looked to be hunting goggles. Journey realized at that moment how much of a disadvantage she’d been operating under. With their night vision equipment, they were truly playing with her. She’d never had a chance – until the cowboy came along.
“Where’d he come from?” one asked, surprised.
“Why can’t you leave me alone?” Journey’s voice broke with emotion.
“Why should we? We aren’t afraid of this cowpoke!” Russ declared.
Journey gasped when the greasy redhead pulled a knife. “Watch out!” she managed to say just before the cowboy swung his rifle and hit the man so hard in the head that he collapsed like a felled tree, the knife he’d been holding flying to one side. The other man, Russ, kept coming and was met with the same fate. Her cowboy wielded his rifle by the barrel and struck Russ in the head with the heavy stock. A mighty blow.
Once he was finished, neither of them moved.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you.” Journey was weak with relief. “I am so grateful.”
“Where to, my lady?” he asked in that same soft, sultry drawl.
She’d left her car at the neighbors, but that could wait. At the moment, she just wanted to be somewhere safe and familiar. “My place is not far. Right outside the park, just over the rise.”
“Very well.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Relax. Just lean back. I’ve got you.”
Journey didn’t think it was possible, but she did relax. “I can’t believe you came along when you did.” He’d appeared at just the right moment.
“A fortunate coincidence,” he spoke softly, his breath warm near her ear. “Like you, I was eluding evil men.”
“Oh?” She tried to glance over her shoulder, but she couldn’t see him clearly. “Where are they?”
He chuckled; a sound so compelling that Journey shivered. “I don’t know. I seemed to have lost them.”
After riding a few feet, he stopped. “Hmmm, my sense of direction feels off. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was retracing my