A Cowgirl's Pride (21 page)

He might not be able to walk, but by God, he
could crawl. Who was on guard duty? Where was he? Careful as he could, he
slipped from the sofa, not making a sound as he crawled using his elbows and
knees to propel him forward. A dim glow shone from the kitchen to light his
way. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and out walked Michael.

“What the hell?”

Cal
put a finger to his lips. “I heard a noise coming from the
basement. A scraping sound,” he whispered.

“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check it out,”
Michael said as he took a silent step toward the kitchen.

“Wait a minute. Give me a gun. If he gets past
you, at least I’ll be armed.”

“Yours is in Luke’s office. I’ll get it.”

“Thanks.” He crawled to the kitchen doorway and
sat with his back to the wall, in a direct line with the basement door. Whoever
was down there wouldn’t get past him.

Michael returned and passed him his gun before
proceeding to the door. He pressed his ear against the wood panel and appeared
to listen.

Cal
could hear soft footfalls now. Someone was coming up the stairs. He
removed the safety and held the gun in his sore hands, hoping he wouldn’t have
to use it.

Michael sidestepped around the corner, behind
the door, his gun at the ready as he motioned for
Cal
to move out of sight. He shifted to the
other side of the door, partially hidden by the framed archway.

A flashlight beam lit the space where the door
stood slightly ajar. Slowly, it opened, with only a slight creak in warning. As
soon as the man stepped through, Michael pushed the door shut.

“Hands up! You’re under arrest.”

Chapter Thirteen

“What the hell is going on here?”

Cal
recognized that voice. It was Luke’s uncle. “
Cam
?
What are you doing sneaking in through the basement?”

Michael hit the switch and the kitchen flooded
with light.

“This place is locked up tighter than
Fort
Knox
.
My road is snowed in, so I thought I’d crash here for the night. I didn’t have
my key so I jimmied a window loose in the basement. It’s damned cold out there,
too.”

Cal
laughed. “Don’t I know it. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming
home today?”

“Would you believe I wanted to surprise everybody?
Why are you sitting on the floor? And Michael, what are you doing here? I
thought you were in
Vancouver
.”

“I moved back a couple months ago. Good to see
you,” Michael said as he slapped him on the shoulder in greeting.

“Same here.
Cal
, are you going to get up off the damned
floor?”

“Nope, not without some help. Frostbite…can’t
put any weight on my feet.”

“Well, damn! I thought you were smarter than
that.”

“Yeah, so did I, but the storm and a low-hanging
branch knocked me off my horse.”

“The storm has ended. I thought about spending
the night in town but got lucky and followed a plow all the way out. Had to
leave my truck out by the road though. Couldn’t get down the driveway.”

“Sorry about that. Normally, I’d have kept it
clear,” said
Cal
.

“That’s all right,
Cal
. I can still run a plow. Didn’t want to
wake everyone up, though. So, what’s going on? How come you guys are here?”

“There’s been some trouble and we’re expecting
more.”

“Well, that’s obvious. What kind of trouble?
Can’t be rustlers in this weather.”

“No, not rustlers,” said Michael. “Leah’s home
and her ex didn’t take kindly to her leaving.”

“So, call the cops if he’s causing trouble.”

Michael smiled. “I am a cop.”

“Oh, yeah! I forgot. Seems like I’ve been gone
for years instead of a few short months. It’ll be nice to catch up with the
family, especially Leah.”

Talk about Leah had
Cal
remembering that his boxers were still at
Cam
’s
place. Oh, boy! He was in for it now. There was no way he could get out there.
The only thing he could think to do was ask Leah to accompany her uncle home in
the morning…if she would even talk to him.

“Come on, Michael. Let’s get this man off the
floor.”

“Nah, I’m all right. I’ll crawl back to the
living room in a bit.”

“Crawl?” asked
Cam
.

“Yep. How did you think I got out here?”

Cameron rubbed his chin. “Hadn’t thought at all,
but thanks for wanting to protect the family enough to crawl. Did you ever stop
to think that you’re at a distinct disadvantage?”

“Nope, just reacted when I heard a noise.”

“Okay, well, I’d like to stand around and chat,
but I think I’ll grab my bag and head to bed.”
Cam
headed for the door, but Michael beat him to it.

“The trouble around here has been deadly,
Cameron. Always check for outside activity before you unlock any door.”

“You’re serious,” he said as he stared at
Michael. “Let me grab my bag and then I think you’d better fill me in.”
Cam
turned on the outside light and peered outside before
opening the door. He reached out, picked up his duffle from the back porch,
then closed and locked it again.

“I’ll make coffee,” said Michael.

“Really? This story will take that long?”

“Have you spoken to anyone since you’ve been
gone?” asked
Cal
.

“No. Whenever I could, I sent Luke an email,
letting everyone know I was still alive, but I haven’t spoken to anyone.”

“Then it’s going to take a while to fill you in.
I’ll wait for you in the living room. And, Michael, coffee sounds good.”
Cal
smirked as he
delivered the broad hint and crawled to the front of the house.

It had been a lot easier to slide off the sofa
then it was to climb back onto it. Luckily, his arms and upper body were in
good shape. He swung one leg up and angled his body so his weight was on his
arms. From there, he pushed upward to lie on the sofa, and then to a sitting
position. Success!

“Bravo,” said
Cam
from the doorway. “I would’ve helped you.”

“Thanks, but it wasn’t as difficult as I thought,
except I had to use my hands to push up.” He grinned and accepted the cup of
coffee
Cam
held out to him. “Where’s Michael?”

“He’s still in the kitchen making us a night
lunch.”

“Sounds good. I missed dinner.”

“Dinner was hours ago, and if we’re going to be
up for a while, we could all use some sustenance.”
Cam
crossed the room and poked at the embers in the fireplace. It wasn’t long before
he had a raging fire going.

“The heat from that fire feels good already,”
said
Cal
,
watching the flames dance and catch the dry wood. “Did you get caught in that
storm?”

“Yeah, the flight landed in
Edmonton
and I picked up my truck, anxious to get home but had to stopover in
Calgary
until it blew
over, and the roads were clear. It sure came up fast.”

“Yeah, I was out riding Diablo when it hit.
Couldn’t see a thing. Diablo veered off the trail and that’s when I hit my head
and fell off. Luckily, the horse stayed with me or I might still be out there.”

“Very lucky.”

Cal
looked up when
Trent
entered the room. “Trent Erickson, this is Cameron Manning, Lucas Sr.’s
brother, home from his travels.
Cam
, this is
our resident trespasser and the man who doctored me up when they brought me in
tonight.”

The men exchanged greetings, but
Cam
looked puzzled.

“So, tell me, how does a trespasser end up
staying as a house guest?”

Cal
laughed. “That’s another story. We’ll get to it.”

The fresh-brewed smell of coffee preceded Michael
as he came in balancing four plates of sandwiches and sweets on a tray along
with four mugs. “I heard you get up,” he said to
Trent
. “Dig in.”

As they ate, he and Michael took turns telling
Cam
about the trouble they’d had that year, beginning with
Zakia’s stalker.

“Yeah, I wasn’t too happy to find out it was my
brother, Roy, who’d caused all the trouble,” said Michael.

“That must’ve been hard on your mother,”
Cam
remarked, sympathy and concern showing in his
expression.

“It hasn’t been easy. That’s for sure and
certain. I was still in
Vancouver
when all that was going on.”

“I imagine Luke was happy to have Zakia back,
though.”

“Zakia
and
their five-year-old twin boys,”
Cal
said.

“Wooeee! You don’t say! And you went from that
to the trouble with Leah’s ex?” asked
Cam
.

“Not directly.
Roy
escaped with some friends and hid out
here on the ranch. They caused a lot of trouble.
Calgary
had been in on the investigation from
the beginning, and that detachment was responsible for rounding them up.”

“Good God! I picked a poor time to go
gallivanting around the world.”

“We could’ve used the help, but don’t go beating
yourself up about it. Blake made sure your family was well-protected,”
Cal
said.

“Where is Blake? I’d expect him to be in the
middle of all this.”

“Blake is on medical leave from the department,”
said Michael. “He managed to get himself shot, and I took over his position.”

“Is he all right?” asked
Cam
.

“Yeah, he’s okay, just taking some needed time
off.”

“Good. Now what’s going on with my niece?”

Cal
remained silent this time, afraid
Cam
would pick up on his feelings for Leah if he started talking. He sat back and
put his feet up, content to let Michael and Trent tell the story.

“Any idea what he’ll try next?” asked
Cam
after they’d brought him up to date.

“None whatsoever, but Kendall is a guy the
Vancouver
police have
been trying to nail for a long time. With Leah’s help, and now Trent’s, I’m
hoping we’ll have enough evidence for an arrest soon.”

“Great, but in the meantime, we’re all holed up
here to protect each other. Is that it?”

“Pretty much,” said Michael. “Makes my job a lot
easier.”

“How many people
are
here?”

“Lucas, Winnie, Luke, Zakia, Casey, Cammy, Leah,
and us. That makes eleven.”

“Did you say Cammy? Luke named one of his boys
after me?”
Cam
said, looking mighty pleased.

“From what I understand, Zakia did the naming,
but yeah, one of the twins is named Lucas Casey, and the other is Cameron
Lucas. She got all three Manning men in there,”
Cal
told him.

“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.”

Cal
chuckled. “Yep, they’re little monkeys all right. Wait until you
meet them.”

Cam
glanced at his watch. “Which could be anytime now. It’s almost six.
We’ve been at this all night.”

“At least now you know what we’ve been up
against,” Michael said. “In addition to all that, Lucas suffered a heart attack.
He’s fine now, but they had to do bypass surgery. Mom watches him and his diet
like a hawk.”

“Good for her, but I wish I had known all this.
I would’ve flown home right away.”

“We survived, but next time, try taking one of
those international cell phones along with you.”

Cam
fidgeted in his seat, which wasn’t like him at all. “Something
tells me I might be doing more traveling in the future.”

“Because of the fun you’ve missed?” asked
Cal
.

“No, because of another story to be told, but
that can wait for another day. I hear movement upstairs. Time to start
breakfast.”

“You’re going to cook?” Michael asked.

“Sure. Why not?”