Ransom Ranch

Running for your life in a zigzag pattern and screaming wasn’t as easy as they made it sound on television and in books, and before she realized it, Stacie had fallen flat on her face. Struggling to get up, not knowing how far away Ramona was and trying to see how much further she had to go to the house, Stacie lost her balance and fell again. Both knees were now scraped and bleeding and her ankle hurt like hell, but she had to get up and get to the house and safety. Once she made it back to her men, she would be safe.

Struggling to get up again, she felt arms come around her and haul her off the ground. “No, let me go!” she screamed, thinking it was Ramona.

“Shh, I’ve got you, relax. We have to get to cover,” the male voice said as they heard a gunshot and Ramona scream out.

She looked to see who had her. It was Luke. He was covering her with his body and moving them swiftly toward the house and her men. He was holding her so close her feet didn’t touch the ground, and they were moving fast.

Stacie heard another gunshot ring out and felt Luke stumble. He was hit, but kept moving. “You have to put me down. You’re hurt, you can’t keep this up. Let me go!” she screamed. They were closer to the house now. She could make it.

“Have to keep you safe,” Luke panted and kept moving. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep this up, but they were so close and it was the only cover around.

Seth was running toward them and Stacie was scared he would get shot, too. Behind Seth was Jake. Grant stood on the porch with a shotgun, aiming toward the road.

Stacie heard gunfire again, but she couldn’t tell whether it was Grant or Ramona. Several of the hands had come out of the bunkhouse and they were all armed, too. Ramona was outnumbered. She turned around and started running back toward where she had parked her car. She knew when it was time to get the hell out.

“Go after her,” Grant yelled to the men from the bunk house. Several started running after her, while several more went to the barn to get horses. Ramona didn’t have a chance.

Grant came running to join Jake and Seth. He picked Stacie up in his arms and carried her to the house, while Jake and Seth helped Luke.

Sitting with Stacie on his lap, Grant dialed 911 on his phone, getting both an ambulance and the sheriff heading the ranch. The next call he made was to Ron Ayers, telling him what was going on. He now knew that Ron was good friends with Luke and would want to be there for the man.

Jake and Seth got Luke settled on the couch. Jake took Stacie from Grant so Grant could go look at Luke’s wound. Grant wasn’t a people doctor, but had treated all the animals on the farm and could at least stop the bleeding and clean the wound. Seth ran to get Grant’s medical kit.

It wasn’t long before two of the men dragged a screaming and spitting Ramona into the house. Stacie cringed in Jake’s lap and he wrapped his arms around her protectively.

“What do you want us to do with this, boss?” one of the hands asked.

There were several things Jake wanted to do with Ramona, but he coldly told the men, “Tie her up and sit on the porch with her until the sheriff arrives. If she

keeps making that noise, gag her.”

“You fucking asshole, I’ll show you a gag!” Ramona screamed as one of the men stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth. The men carried Ramona out to the porch and quickly had her hogtied and sitting in the rocker she had pulled Stacie out of. There were four of them watching her. She wasn’t going anywhere until the sheriff arrived.

Grant looked at the wound in Luke’s leg and it wasn’t as bad as he had first thought. Cleaning it of the blood and debris, he saw it was a small flesh wound. The bullet had missed the bone and major arteries. It looked like it had gone clean through. All Luke would need was a few stitches. Grant wanted to send him to the hospital for X-rays, though, to make sure there were no bullet fragments in the wound.

Luke grumbled and protested but gave in when the ambulance arrived. One of the paramedics was a woman, and very attractive. He wanted to see more of her.

Jake, Grant, and Seth all tried to convince Stacie to go to the hospital, too, but she adamantly refused.

“Look,” she told them, “they probably won’t do anything but clean my knees and send me home with a bandage. Grant can do that and it will be a lot cheaper.”

“We don’t care what it costs. If you need to go, you’re going.” Seth stood with his hands on his hips, ready to battle.

“It’s not about money, you big dummy. I don’t want to be away from all of you.” Stacie started crying. She was at her breaking point. She’d almost been kidnapped by her crazy mother, one man had been shot because of her, and now Seth was starting a fight. Not fair at all.

Jake held Stacie tighter and stared Seth down, something that didn’t happen often. “Seth, think this through. Do you really want her in some hospital where we can’t hold her and be with her, or do you want her here where Grant can take care of her and we can protect her?” If Jake had his way, he’d chain her to the furniture or one of them so she was never out of the house or their sight.

Seth crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Stacie in Jake’s arms. Turning to Grant, he said, “You look at her wounds. If you think it’s something you can safely treat, I’ll reconsider and let her stay, but I don’t want to do anything more to endanger her.”

Seth was feeling guilty because none of them had been there when Ramona took Stacie. It was their job to protect her and they had failed. She had almost been shot, for God’s sake. It was something he would never forgive himself for.

After the paramedics had Luke loaded up and were headed to the hospital, Grant turned to Stacie. “Where do you hurt, baby?” he asked as he took her from Jake’s arms and started to carry her up the stairs, his brothers trailing behind. He could have looked at her on the couch, but didn’t want to put her there until they had a chance to clean it.

“My knees and the heels of my hands are pretty scraped from falling, and I twisted my ankle running,” Stacie answered with a soft voice, her head on his shoulder.

“Okay, baby, we’re going to put you in a warm tub of water and soak those knees before I clean them. Then I’ll look at wrapping your ankle. We may have to take you for an X-ray, and I will not have any protests, understood?” he told her firmly.

Stacie just nodded. She was starting to come down from her adreline rush and the tears were running down her face. Wrapping her hands tighter around Grant’s neck, she buried her face in his shoulder and started to cry.