over his horse’s neck. As his horse came to a stop, he slipped from the saddle to the ground.
She dismounted and ran toward the injured man. His shirt and denim jacket were covered in blood, his face twisted in pain. She sank to her knees beside him and pushed his jacket aside. If she could figure out where he’d been shot, she could apply pressure and slow the bleeding.
“Nicole.” His voice was faint. “Couldn’t save her.”
Talking was too much of an effort. He needed to calm down and slow the pumping of his heart. But Carolyn had to ask, “Was she shot?”
“No.” His eyelids closed. “They took her.”
She tore open the buttons on his shirt, exposing a raw, gaping hole in his upper chest. Carolyn took off her suit jacket, wadded the fabric in a ball and pressed against the wound. Blood also stained the sleeve of his jacket and his leg. She had to get him to a hospital.
His hand gripped hers. He forced his eyes open and stared with fierce intensity. “Nicole tried to fight. Two men. One of them hit her. She fell. Didn’t move.”
Carolyn choked back a helpless sob. Oh, God. How could this happen?
“The other guy…” The bodyguard coughed. His fingers tightened. “He stood guard. He got off a shot. Before I could get close enough to…”
“You did the best you could.”
“I fell off my horse. Couldn’t move. Just lay there.” It must have taken a fierce effort for him to mount up. Even now, he struggled to sit. “Saw their faces. I can ID them.”
“Settle down.” Though she respected his courage, this man wasn’t going anywhere. “Help is on the way.”
She glanced over her shoulder. What was taking so long? Lucas should have been here by now.
The bodyguard lay back. His chest heaved. Yet he forced himself to speak. “They said Dylan would pay. He’d pay a lot. To get his wife back.”
“Are you telling me Nicole was kidnapped?”
“That’s right. Kidnapped.”
His eyes closed and his body went limp. He was still breathing. But just barely.
Her arms ached from putting pressure on his wound. The jacket she pressed against his chest was already soaked in blood. His chances for survival decreased with every minute.
“Don’t die.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “Please. Please, don’t die.”
She heard the sound of hoofbeats approaching and dashed away her tears. If the men found her crying, they wouldn’t listen to a word she said. And Carolyn needed to take charge, needed to be strong. Her brother was going to be crazy and illogical—dangerously irrational.
The bodyguard she’d met on the veranda joined her on the ground beside the injured man. “I’ll take it from here, ma’am. I’m a medic.”
“He’s unconscious.”
“You did the right thing,” he said, “putting pressure on the wound. Don’t worry. We’ll get him to the hospital.”
She stood and stepped out of the way, relieved that the wounded bodyguard would be cared for by someone who knew what he was doing. Turning on the heel of her boot, she faced four other men on horseback. All of them had rifles. They looked like a posse from the Old West.
Lucas swung down from his horse and came toward her. “You’ve got blood all over. Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“Where’s Nicole?”
Her lips pinched together. If she told them Nicole had been kidnapped, they’d take off to rescue her. They were cowboys, experienced hunters who were capable of following the track of a jackrabbit across miles of mountain terrain. If they located the kidnappers, there’d be a shoot-out.
The paramedic called out. “I need the first-aid kit in my saddlebag. Somebody call an ambulance.”
“You heard him,” Carolyn said. “The first thing is to get this man to a hospital. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
While the other cowboys followed instructions from the paramedic, she saw her brother racing toward them, leaning low over the mane of his horse, riding like the demons of hell were on his tail. He pulled up and dismounted in a single move, hit the ground running and yanked her into a hug. “Thank God, you’re all right.”
“I’m fine.” She could feel the tension in his body. Every muscle was clenched. Dylan wasn’t going to like what she had to say, but there was no way to get around it.
His eyes were wild. “Where’s Nicole?”
“Listen to me, Dylan.” She grabbed his arm and held on tight, hoping she could save him from his own temper. “Before the bodyguard was shot, he saw two men with Nicole. He heard them say that you’d pay a lot to get your wife back. They kidnapped her.”
He tore free from her grasp. “I’ll kill the bastards.”
Exactly what she was afraid of. “Think about what you’re saying. If there’s a gunfight, Nicole could be hurt.”
He strode a few paces away from her, yanked off his hat and slapped it against his thigh. “What the hell am I supposed to do? Twiddle my thumbs while some son of a bitch holds my wife hostage? Wait for the sheriff to figure this out?”
“Let me handle this. The bodyguard who tried to protect Nicole is already standing at death’s door. I don’t want anybody else to get shot.”
“She’s my wife. I’ve got to find her.”
Her brother was the most hardheaded man she’d ever known. There was no point in trying to talk sense into him. “I can see that I’m not going to change your mind.”
“Hell no.”
“Then give me your gun. I want all of your posse’s guns. It can’t hurt for you to track the kidnappers, but if you’re not armed, you can’t start a shoot-out.”
“This isn’t your call.”
“Before Dad died, he told me to take care of my little brother. And that’s what I intend to do.”
He threw up his hands. “It’s not fair to bring Dad’s ghost into this situation.”
She didn’t play fair, she played to win. “Dad wouldn’t want you to risk your life. Or anybody else’s.”
“Fine. We’ll leave the guns. What are you going to do?”
“Go back to the house and wait to hear from the kidnappers.” That wasn’t enough and she knew it. “And I’m calling in the FBI.”
TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, Carolyn stood on the veranda outside the house. The porch lights shone on a black van that had just parked next to the Delta County sheriff’s SUV. This
