When Love's Gone Country - By Merri Hiatt Page 0,46
the cart and sat in the back. She planned on keeping a close watch on both Jacob and Courtney.
When they reached the golf cart, Alex laid Jacob gently in the back seat, his head resting on Purity’s lap. “Keep him on his side, if you can. He swallowed a lot of water.”
“He’s barely breathing,” Purity said, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but very faint.
“The bastards held him at gunpoint and made him go in the river to look for the cave,” Alex said.
“Red and Bart?”
“No. Two other guys.”
Alex got behind the wheel and Courtney sat in Brad’s lap.
“Slow and steady,” Brad said. “Your air will come back.”
Courtney didn’t say anything. She concentrated on breathing in and out. It felt like something was blocking her airway. She leaned into Brad’s embrace, trying to match his breathing rhythm with her own.
Alex turned the cart around and headed back toward the ranch.
“Slow up on the turns,” Brad said.
“I remember,” Alex said, releasing his foot from the gas pedal and allowing the cart to slow down before attempting the turn.
Jacob coughed several times. Water slid from his mouth each time.
Purity rubbed his back. “You’re going to be okay. We’ve got you. You’re safe now. Just hang in there.”
“Where is everyone?” Alex said, frustration making his words harsher than he intended. “There’s usually a ton of people milling around and today, when we need someone, there’s no one to be found.”
Alex headed up the small incline to the main house. Once there, he ran inside to find Emma and Frank. He searched every room, calling their names, but no one replied. He used a landline phone to call 911. They promptly informed him that the nearest hospital was forty-five minutes away in Milton.
“We may not have forty-five minutes.”
“You say you’re at the Double Y?”
“Yes.”
“Frank’s copter will get you here in ten, take it.”
“He has a helicopter here on the ranch?”
“Sure. Most of ‘em do ‘round these parts. It makes it easier to find stray cattle when you’ve got so much land to search.”
Alex hung up the phone and returned to the cart. “Anyone know how to fly a helicopter?”
Charlie Mankins approached the group. “You need to go somewhere?”
“To the hospital in Milton.”
“I know how to fly. I’ve got over three hundred miles logged.”
“Do you know where Frank keeps the key?”
“Yeah. I know where all the vehicle keys are.”
“Then you’re our man.”
“We should go get Meg and Bobby,” Purity said.
“No one’s around,” Charlie said. “It’s like they all just got up and took off all at once.”
Purity frowned. “We have to get Jacob and Court to the hospital, then we can worry about everyone else.”
“Charlie, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Brad asked.
“I can understand why you’d be wonderin’, but I’m real careful. I wouldn’t let anything happen to anyone on my watch. I’ll go get the keys.”
Charlie headed into the house.
“We don’t all need to go. Pure, you can look after Jacob and Brad can take care of Courtney. I’m going to go find out what the hell’s going on around here.”
“Be careful,” Purity said.
“You, too.”
Charlie got behind the wheel of the golf cart and drove them to one of the many areas of the ranch they hadn’t seen yet. Sure enough, there was a helicopter sitting in the middle of a painted yellow square.
“There’s only room enough for four in here. One of you will need to hang back.”
Purity and Brad exchanged glances. “You stay, Purity. I can lift Jacob and Court can walk a little.”
“I don’t know…”
“We don’t have a lot of time to weigh the pros and cons.”
“All right. I know you’ll take good care of them. Call me. I want to know everything.”
“Will do.”
Courtney crawled into the back seat of the helicopter and Alex picked up Jacob and placed him next to her. When they were both seat belted in, he took his place next to Charlie.
“Be safe,” Pure said.
“You, too,” Brad said.
Purity moved to an area behind the safe zone and watched the blades as they began to turn. Charlie was checking gauges and flipping switches. Pure thought it seemed like he knew what he was doing. They had little choice at the moment, they had to trust Charlie. At least he was someone they knew. It didn’t seem like anyone at the ranch was trustworthy, they all had secrets just below the surface.
Once the aircraft was on its way, Purity got in the golf cart and headed toward the ranch hand quarters. Everyone should be