Wild Montana Nights (23 page)

Marcus sounded close to tears.

“Shit. She doesn’t know how to drive in the snow,” Randall said.

“We’ve got to catch up with her.”

Marcus said nothing but raced out the door and down the stairs.

Randall caught up with him outside climbing into the driver’s side of the truck.

“Marcus, I’m driving. Get in on the other side and don’t argue.

We don’t have time for it.”

His brother cursed but stepped down and ran around to the other

side. He hardly had his door closed before Randall had the truck in

gear headed for the drive. Randall struggled with his seatbelt as he

drove. He slowed down when he fishtailed, realizing they couldn’t

stop her if they ended up in a ditch. The thought of her careening into a ditch filled his head, making him curse silently. He didn’t want to alarm his brother, but he needed him to watch the ditches to be sure

they didn’t miss her. Some of them were fifteen and twenty feet deep.

“Marcus, watch the ditches in case she slid off the road. I can’t

drive and look.”

He heard Marcus curse, knowing he was now picturing it as he

had. He had a sinking feeling when he noticed how the tracks ahead

of him veered back and forth across the road. She wasn’t handling the car well at all. He knew she didn’t have tire chains on, so she couldn’t get a lot of traction on the icy road. He prayed that God would watch over her and keep her on the road until they could find her. Somehow, though, he knew she was in trouble. He risked increasing his speed

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and told Marcus to hold on. He had to get to her before something

happened to her.

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Chapter
Thirteen

Darla fought the wheel to keep the car on the road. It didn’t help

that she couldn’t quit crying. Through teary eyes, she worked hard at negotiating the snow and ice. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea

to leave right now. She didn’t know how to drive on icy roads, and

she didn’t know her way around either. What if she made the wrong

turn? She hadn’t driven since she took the job.

A fresh wave of tears flooded her eyes just thinking about that

first night. They had been so insistent that she stay there that night.

How had they planned to use the information they had to keep her

there? Did they think they could learn from someone else’s mistakes?

All they had to do was be honest with her.

The car slid toward the bridge rails, stopping when it hit gravel.

She made the mistake of gunning it and slid to the opposite side. She was going to get herself killed if she didn’t pay more attention, but thoughts of the brothers’ faces when she’d last seen them forced

themselves into her memory. They’d looked so defeated. Well, of

course they would, she groused. They’d screwed up, and they knew

the gig was up. But, deep down she knew they looked repentant as

well. Maybe they really did love her, she thought. Darla shook that

out of her head. They’d lied to her, pure and simple. They’d lied just like her bastard of an ex-fiancé.

There were deep gullies on either side of her. How deep she didn’t

know with how high the snow was piled up. If she slid off into one of them, she could be covered with snow and no one would find her for

days, maybe weeks. It was almost enough to have her turning around.

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Except she was sure she couldn’t turn around on the slick road.

Panic set in as she inched along. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good

idea after all. She hadn’t been thinking straight at the time. She should have waited until she wasn’t so upset to leave. Then again, if she had waited, they might have hid her keys so she couldn’t leave. She

realized she had probably gotten herself out of hot water only to jump into the fire. She hadn’t been thinking when she grabbed her suitcase and packed her clothes. All she could think about was what they had

done.

“You knew you couldn’t trust a man, Darla, but you went ahead

and trusted two anyway.”

The car slid again, this time actually hitting the guardrail before

she stopped. Her heart was in her throat, and it took her several long seconds to catch her breath. She carefully eased away from the

guardrail and continued down the road, trying to be extra careful.

“You’ve gotten yourself into a real mess now.”

Not only was she probably pregnant and alone, but she didn’t

have a job or any money. Where was she going to go, and how would

she live?

“You’ll get out of this just like you got out of the last mess,” she

told herself.

“But how do you stop loving someone?”

Darla realized she’d never really loved her ex. She loved Randall

and Marcus with all her heart. She couldn’t deny it. Even now her

heart wanted to forgive them and return to the ranch. Her brain said

no.

No way would she be able to trust them again. They’d just break

her heart again.

“You can’t trust them,” she told herself over and over.

She risked a glance in her rearview mirror to be sure they weren’t

already following her. She’d heard them go outside after she’d

barricaded herself in the bathroom. It had been her one chance, she decided. They would be gone awhile planning their next round of

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deceit. She’d flung everything that would fit into one suitcase because she didn’t think she could risk going back for a second one and she

sure couldn’t carry two down the stairs. Her only regret was that she hadn’t been able to take her beloved books with her. She would

replace them once she was on her feet again.

“I’ll be fine once I get away,” she insisted. But she knew raising a

child alone would be a big hardship.

She would never contemplate an abortion, and she knew she

couldn’t give the baby up for adoption. She’d just have to find a job and save up her money for when she couldn’t work. She could do it.

She was strong enough.

An image of the brothers flashed into her mind. Would her baby

look like them? She didn’t even know which of them was the father.

That bothered her almost as much as leaving did. Not knowing the

father of her baby made her a tramp, didn’t it? She couldn’t believe

she’d actually slept with both of them—and at the same time at that.

Suddenly, a deer shot out of the tree line to her left. She slammed

on the brakes and missed the deer only to start sliding in circles in the middle of the road. She veered off one side rail only to hit the

opposite one, going through it and down into the snow hidden ditch.

Her head hit the steering wheel then bounced off the driver’s side

window. She heard grinding metal and then nothing.

* * * *

“Look at her tracks, Randall. She’s all over the road.” Marcus

leaned forward to see better.

He feared they would be too late. The way she was driving, she

wasn’t going to be able to stay on the road for any length of time.

What worried him was that they could be too late getting to her. If she were hurt in these temperatures, it wouldn’t be long before shock set in and then… He didn’t want to think of what would happen.

“Watch both sides for her tracks,” Randall said.

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Marcus could almost feel the tension radiating off of his older

brother. They just had to find her soon.

“Damn, it’s getting harder to see her tracks now. The wind is

kicking up, blowing the snow.” Marcus gripped the dash.

“Keep looking. I’m scared to go too fast or we’ll end up in a ditch

ourselves.” Randall’s knuckles were white from gripping the steering

wheel.

Marcus tried to put the what-ifs out of his mind so he could

concentrate on following the tracks and watching for her car. The

little car wouldn’t offer her much safety if she ran off into one of the ravines that lay on either side of the winding road. He couldn’t help but wonder how fast she was going. Did she realize what kind of

danger she was in? Marcus tried to relax his jaw from where he was

clenching it. He would crack a tooth if he didn’t relax some. But how could he relax knowing the woman he loved might be hurt or dying

somewhere out there?

“Damn, Randall. I can’t see her tracks anymore. The wind has

blown the snow all over the road.”

“Look for where a lot of snow might have been knocked off the

road,” he suggested.

“Hell.” Marcus drew in a deep breath and concentrated on the

edges of the road for any sign a care might have gone off it.

After what seemed like hours later, Marcus spotted where a large

amount of snow had been knocked off the road. Evidently his brother

had noticed it at the same time he had.

“I see it,” Randall said as he pulled the truck over as close to the

edge as he dared.

Both men jumped out of the truck to look down the ravine. He

could see the path the car had taken, but he couldn’t see the car at first. He started to climb down, but Randall grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

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“You’ll step off into a snow hole, and I’ll be fishing you instead

of looking for Darla. Get the rope out of the back. We’ll tie it to the bumper and use it as an anchor.”

Marcus hurried back to the truck and grabbed the rope out of the

back. Then he tied it to the bumper of the truck. He handed the rest of the coiled rope to Randall and watched as his brother threw it out and down into the snow. The rope hit something that clanged and stopped.

“Must be the car,” Randall said. “It gives us an idea of where to

start looking. Remember, don’t step off without holding on to the

rope. There is no telling how deep this is.”

“I’ve got it. Let’s just get down there. Time is wasting.”

Randall nodded and, grabbing the rope, began the long journey

down. Marcus waited until his brother was almost all the way down

before he took hold of the rope and lowered himself as well. He heard when Randall’s boots hit metal. Someone’s car was down there all

right. Unfortunately, it was probably Darla’s.

He continued down and landed next to where Randall knelt

brushing off snow. It looked like he was uncovering a door. The car

was on its side. He fell to his knees and began brushing off the snow as fast as he could. The window to the passenger side emerged intact.

He peered inside and groaned. The driver’s side window was broken

as was the windshield. Snow poured inside until only her shoulders

and head were above it.

“Randall,” he began.

“I know. We have to hurry. Looks like the windshield is the best

place to get inside. Start getting rid of the snow as best you can.”

Randall grabbed the rope and eased off the car to climb through

the broken windshield, careful not to put any pressure on Darla. Snow kept trickling in now that they had unsettled it. Marcus stopped long enough to see Randall climb through the hole and inside with her. He

reached down to feel for a pulse then gave Marcus a thumbs-up.

Marcus let out a quick breath in relief. They needed to get her out of there and quick.

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He scooped armfuls of snow off the car by leaning over the edge.

He wanted to be the one inside with her. But Randall was the oldest

and had a greater knowledge of first aid and safety than he did. He

had moved as much snow as he could without falling head first into

the mess. Now he watched his brother work to get their woman out of

the car.

One thing he knew was that it could be dangerous to move her

without using some sort of backboard, but exposure posed the greatest threat now, so they couldn’t wait for an ambulance to get there.

Besides, they couldn’t get reception to call out where they were now.

He heard Randall, curse and his stomach took a nose dive.

“What is it?”

“She’s stuck behind the steering wheel. I’m can’t get her out

without pulling on her,” Randall said.

“You’ve got to do it. Every second she’s in that snow is counting

down her chances of surviving, Randall.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” his brother yelled.

He seemed to realize he had yelled and apologized. “I’m sorry,

Marcus. I’m just so damn worried and frustrated.”

“I know. Just do the best you can. I’m up here, so when you get

her out from behind the steering wheel, I can help haul her out and on the side of the car.” Marcus knelt on the car watching his brother.

Randall turned her on her back and wrapped his arms under her

arms and pulled her out from under the wheel. She didn’t make a

sound despite how much it had to hurt. Once Randall had her out of

the car, he picked her up in his arms and handed her up to Marcus.

Marcus rolled, pulling her up and out of Randall’s arms. She landed

on top of him. When Randall managed to climb back up using the

rope, he checked her over.

“She’s got a huge knot on the side of her head where she must

have hit the side window. Looks like several cuts on her face and in

her scalp. That would be from the shattered glass.” Randall continued his evaluation until he was satisfied with what he found.

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“She’s got a concussion, I’m sure, and the cuts. The one on her

forehead would have bled like a stuck pig if the snow hadn’t stopped