The Trouble With Love (17 page)

Great,
Cole thought, that was
even closer to the border, not what
he
wanted to hear.  They had to get there quicker than five hours, and he thought he knew just the person to help them.  "Thanks, man.  I appreciate it."

He looked around at the other guys milling about drinking coffee he'd made for them earlier.  Walking over to the Special Agent in Charge, Cole tapped him on the shoulder. "
I'm
heading toward
Midland
,
I'll
see you guys there."
The guy
didn't look like he gave a shit one way or another.  He nodded and Cole
folded the paper and put it in his pocket
. Giving Gabe a silent message with his eyes he ticked his chin toward the garage door in the laundry room.  Gabe nodded and Cole left him standing there.
 

Cole had just made it the door at the other end of the big garage when Gabe opened and closed the access door quietly, then walked over to stand beside him.  "What's got that smirk on your face?" Gabe asked him.

"We're going to
find
your sister," he told Gabe and broke into a
big
grin, then slapped his back.

"That's not news, you
basically
said that inside...searching ten miles for her is not a breakthrough
, dude
.  They'll probably have the address before we find her.
  Didn't you say it's a five hour drive?
"

"
We're not driving
," Cole
told him with a grin, then s
hoved his key into the door and opened it then pulled the string to turn on the light. 
"
Come on I need your help loading all this stuff
,"

Gabe
walked in behind him then
froze
, his
jaw dropp
ing
open.
"
Holy fuck," he said
,
his eyes moved
around
the room,
then
he asked,
"You have an army?"

"I like to hunt
...and I'm a collector,
" Cole said
then
winked at Gabe
.
"Bri accused me of being a survivalist one time...if she saw this she'd give me hell," he said with a chuckle.

"I want her to be here to give you hell.  Let's go get her," Gabe said and then asked, "What are we taking?"

"Grab four of the AR-15s and as many magazines as you can.  I'll get some semi-
auto
rifles and pistols," Cole told him and headed for the gun cabinet where he kept the rifles.

They loaded up his daddy's truck with as much weaponry as
Cole
thought they could take on the chopper
,
then they
headed for the Double B
to get Luke
.  When they passed through town,
and he had reception,
Cole
called Elmer and told him what was going on
then
asked if he wanted to go with them. Elmer had about talked his ear off in excitement, before
Cole managed to cut him off and tell him to meet them at Junebug's place.
Next, he called Junebug and made sure he would help them. 
June
said he'd love to help them and th
at
the
chopper was already fueled and ready to go.
 

Junebug was a Vietnam Vet, and one of his daddy's oldest friends. 
After he was released from the Army, June had
bought the same type of helicopter he'd flown in the war
,
and restored it. 
June
offered it up
now
for local law enforcement agencies
when they
did search and rescue.
..and he'd been known to help with cattle roundups now and again.  The guy was a crackerjack pilot.
  The feds wouldn't like it, but he and Gabe would be there long before them.

It was almost daylight now and Cole wanted to be in the air shortly after the sun came up.
  That meant they'd probably be in
Midland
by at least seven or eight.  He'd like to feed those bastards lead for breakfast.

Cole pulled the big dually truck up in front of the Double B and he and Gabe slid out and walked to the front porch and knocked loudly. 
He rang the doorbell a few times then knocked again.
  Finally, Luke opened the door wearing nothing more than a smile, his
h
air was sticking up in fifty directions and he had sheet marks on his face.

"Jesus, Slick, do you ever wear clothes anymore?" Cole laughed and brushed past him into the entry way then headed for the kitchen.
  Gabe and Luke followed him and then Luke grabbed the white table cloth from the breakfast table and wrapped it around his waist.

"What the fuck are you doing here?  Is everything okay with Sabrina?"

"Get your clothes on, I'll make coffee," Cole told him and went into the kitchen and pulled down the coffee grounds and a filter.  "We're going to get her."

"You found her?" Luke asked and pushed his hand through his hair making more of a mess of than it had been.

Cole glanced at him as he put the filter in the basket of the coffee machine and said, "Sort of...we know within
ten
or
twenty
miles."

"You actually think we're going to search that far and actually find something out in the middle of nowhere?"

"We have a secret weapon," he told Luke with a smug grin.

"Oh yeah...what?" Luke asked putting his hands on his hips.

"Junebug's helicopter."

Luke threw
h
is hands
up
and took a few
steps back, his face paled and
his eyes filled with horror, "Oh hell no, I'm not getting in that thing. You know I don't like
heights
."

"Quit being a wuss, Luke..."  Cole teased him then said, "If you're good, I'll let you play with my guns."

Luke's eyebrows shot up and he grinned, "The ARs?"

"Yep, I'll even let you use the Kimber...they're all in the truck.  Now, get your ass in gear, I
need to get there
now
."

Gabe snorted and
said, "You sure know what buttons to push to get him moving," then

walked over to pull down three coffee cups and set them beside the coffee maker.

"I better
know," Cole told him, "Luke's
been my best friend, hell brother, since we were five."
 
Pain flashed across Gabe's face and Cole knew he must be
thinking about Kenny
.

"I'm sorry about Kenny, Gabe...I know it must be hell
,
"
Cole told him.

"Yeah, it is
--
was
--hell for me..." Gabe told him then his jaw tightened and sadness filled his eyes, "But it was worse for Bri."

"I would imagine...I know she loved him," that was hard for Cole to admit about the woman he loved, but it was the truth.

"
Kenny was a good man
...
the best fucking friend a man could have
...a
nd he loved Sabrina so damned much
." Gabe ran a hand through his black hair then finished, "
But
he had a wild streak that wasn't good for her.
  I was afraid he was going to get her killed
along
with him.
"

Cole hesitated wondering if he should say what was on his mind since it wasn't really his business, but he felt he needed to, for Sabrina's sake. 
"That's what got him killed Gabe, not you...Sabrina doesn't blame you
a
nd you need to quit blaming yourself.  Don't make her lose a husband
and
a brother. She wouldn't survive it."

Gabe sucked in a shuddering breath and nodded, then grabbed a cup and poured himself coffee.
  "
She
might not blame me, but I've done enough of that on my own," he told Cole while he stirred in some sugar, "But I've been thinking about things too...and you're right. Kenny lived life on the edge, because he had to have the excitement.  I went along with it as his sidekick, because, hell...he needed a keeper."

Cole thought of him and Luke again and smiled.  Luke wasn't as edgy as Kenny, but he was edgy enough to need Cole to watch out for him
growing up.  Or
at least that was the role Cole had assumed
.
  He knew exactly how Gabe felt.  "I was the same way with Luke, until he went through the academy and became a deputy, but lately he's become
my
keeper," Cole chuckled.  "Your sister has been driving me crazy."

"Probably because I've been driving
her
crazy..." Gabe laughed then told him, "Since Kenny died, I've been pushing the envelope--a lot.  I think maybe I wanted to see why he needed the constant drama, why he
did what he did." Gabe
s
hook his head
, then admitted, "But since Bri and I are talking again, I think it's time for me to move on--grow up.  When I get back to
Mesa
, I going to look at a career change
."

"We always have room in
Bowie
for another good deputy.  Risks are minimal, pay is too," Cole laughed then poured himself a cup of coffee too.

"Sounds like the perfect job for me after this is over," Gabe
grinned and then sobered before asking,
"Are you serious?"

Cole leaned back against the counter and took a sip of his coffee, then looked at Gabe directly. 
"Yep...just say the word and I'll call you Deputy Kelley."

"Thanks, I'll think about it.
 
Bowie
has kind of grown on me.
"

"It tends to do that," Cole said then teased, "But if you're moving here you'll have to cowboy up and lose the BDUs and combat boots."

Gabe snorted, "I don't own any shit kickers, but I'm sure I could borrow a pair of yours...
only problem is
yours have the
bullshit
on the inside, right?"

Cole almost spewed his coffee across the room,
then
coughed beating his chest, which caused Gabe to laugh riotously, while he slapped him on the back.
  Luke walked back in dressed in his standard black t-shirt and jeans with his Stetson and boots, and stopped to look at them with his hands on his hips.  "You two sure are in a good mood for
six o'clock
in the morning."

Cole elbowed Gabe in the ribs and said, "
There's a prime example of the shit being on the inside of the boots...study and learn.
"

Luke looked down at his snakeskin boots then back up at them and frowned, "What the hell is
wrong with my boots?"

"Nothing, Slick...
" he laughed then said, "G
et some coffee and let's get going
."

They made it to Junebug's farm right when the sun was breaking over the trees at the back of his land.  When they got out of the truck, Cole saw that June had already used his tug to pull the chopper out of the barn and had it out in the middle of the field on the pallet he stored it on.
  He was out there walking around it, evidently doing a pre-flight check.
  Cole looked over his shoulder when he heard another vehicle coming down the gravel drive.