A Real Cowboy Always Protects by Stephanie Rowe

Chapter Twenty-Eight

As they continued to ride,Logan kept looking over his shoulder.

It didn't take long until he could see the faint outline of the truck behind them.

It was closing fast.

Skylar was doing the same thing, and she clearly saw the truck when he did. "Logan?"

"He's too far away to shoot us," he said. "We have to wait."

They continued to gallop on the flat plains. To their right were hills with rocks and boulders that a truck would have trouble navigating, but they didn't ride up into them.

Because they weren't trying to escape him.

They were going to trap him and end it.

Logan had used himself as bait many times over his career. He never worried about it. He never worried about getting killed.

But with Skylar by his side, and his family around them and back at the house, the stakes were high. Too high. He cared what happened. He was worried about their safety. He was worried that the choices he'd made for the last decade were going to burn the only people he cared about.

It was too late for regret, but he knew for absolute certain that he was never going back to his job. He was never again making a choice that could bring harm to the people he cared about. Whatever he had to face tonight, he would stand and face it. Whatever came tomorrow, he was staying. No more running. Not today. Not ever.

Quintin checked behind them, and then gestured to Logan.

Logan nodded and looked up ahead. "I think we can make it." They'd had a spot in mind, but it had been a push to get to it before Eugene caught them. Not Eugene. The man hunting them went only by the name Arrow. To make Skylar feel safe, Logan had been willing to call him Eugene.

To make sure he was prepared for what he was facing, it was time for him to be called by who he was.

"We're almost in range," Falcon shouted.

"One more minute!" Logan shouted. "Come on!" He urged his horse faster, as did the other riders and Skylar. Up ahead, loomed their target. The trail they were on curved to the right between two cliffs. It was the perfect place to set an ambush.

Logan looked behind him. The vehicle was closing fast. The lights were off, and it was driving in darkness, getting closer and closer. It was going to be close. "Now!"

The pack turned right hard, galloping into the canyon. For about twenty yards, the canyon went straight, and then it made a hard right, taking them out of view of their pursuer. The moment they were out of sight, they pulled up. "Off!"

Everyone leapt off their horses, except for Keegan. They all tossed their reins to him, and then he took off with all the horses in a gallop in the direction they'd been heading.

Logan led the way up the west cliff, joined by Skylar and Brody. Quintin led Falcon up the east cliff, while Keegan disappeared around the corner with the horses. Quintin and Falcon shot up the side of their cliff, but Logan's group was slower. Skylar was athletic, but she wasn't as fast as he and Brody were.

"Go ahead," Brody said. "I'll keep her safe."

"I'm not leaving her. You go ahead. I told you what to do."

Brody nodded and sprinted past them, while Logan stayed with Skylar as she climbed. He kept watching behind them, waiting for the truck to show up, even though he knew it wouldn't.

It was the perfect place for an ambush, and Arrow would know that.

Arrow would also know that Logan would expect Arrow not to fall for it.

Which meant that Arrow would know that Logan was expecting him to circle around and try to take him out. Which meant Arrow would do something else.

But Arrow hadn't spent hundreds of hours playing around the rocks of Dead Man's Notch with his brothers, making plans for what they would do if their father came after them.

"Here." He reached the crack in the rocks. "In here." It was narrow and pitch black. Scary as hell to someone who didn't know where it led.

But Skylar didn't hesitate. She just hurried up, sat down on her butt, and then jumped down into the darkness.

Logan followed after her, landing softly. "Skylar?"

"Here."

"Brody?"

"Here."

"Let's go." He took Skylar's hand and started leading her through the tunnels that had once been a mine. Now it was a series of tunnels through the rocks, tunnels that he and Quintin knew inside and out. It had been years and years since Logan had been in the tunnels, but old instincts knew exactly which way to go.

Brody followed behind, and Logan kept Skylar close. He knew she wanted to ask a zillion questions, but they had to stay silent.

They were close. So close to where he knew Arrow would access the mountain. There were two possibilities, one on the east cliff, and one on the west cliff. He hoped Arrow chose the west cliff, where they were.

Arrow was his problem.

He wanted to deal with it.

The tunnel became narrow, and Logan had to turn sideways to get through. It was absolute darkness, and he squeezed Skylar's hand, letting her know that she was doing a great job.

She squeezed his hand back, a little harder than necessary, and he smiled. He knew she had to be scared. They were literally sliding through a rocky passage barely wide enough for them to get through. With the darkness, they were all completely blind. It had to be terrifying for her, but she didn't even hesitate.

She was giving him her complete faith, and he wasn't going to let her down. Not fucking ever.

The path widened to a small cave that had several small openings that let in a faint bit of moonlight. With his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the faint bit of light was enough for Logan to see clearly. They had a forty-five-degree view of the plains leading up to the mountain.

Logan gestured for Brody to set up there. If Arrow tried to get up the cliff on that side, Brody would see him. Shoot to kill. That had been Logan's order to the team. He hoped they wouldn't have to do it.

Taking a life was a burden he didn't want on anyone. But they'd all nodded without hesitation.

Still holding Skylar's hand, he led her down another narrow crevice. They had to get down on their knees at one point, and Skylar kept her hand on his ankle as she followed him.

Within moments, they came out on a tiny ledge hidden behind a large rock. They were exposed now. If someone were above them, they would be in trouble.

But Falcon would have his gun trained on the top of the cliff from the other side, while Quintin would be down in the rocks, like they were.

Logan gestured for Skylar to crouch down, and she did. He eased around the rock and peered down at the ground.

A black truck was parked at the base of the cliff.

He was there.

Logan's adrenaline spiked, and he pulled out his gun. The night was silent. So he listened.

They'd spent hundreds of hours trying to sneak up on each other out here as kids. He knew the sound of a dislodged pebble. He knew how to track it. He knew every inch of these hills. This was where he'd first honed the skills that had saved his life professionally a dozen times.

And now he was here again. And again, it was personal—

A pebble clattered above them. Faint. Tiny. Moving maybe a couple inches. But it wasn't supposed to be there.

Logan swung around, pressing his back against the rock as he looked up, scanning the rocks above them. If Arrow was up there, Falcon would have him. There was no way to hide from the east cliff on the top.

And yet, he'd heard a pebble move.

Without taking his gaze off the cliff above them, he gestured for Skylar to freeze. They were both in the open if Arrow came down from above. It was dark, but not that dark.

He waited.

There was more silence.

Arrow was waiting, too.

But Logan could wait forever. He leaned his head back ever so slightly so he could look down at the truck again. It was still there, and no one coming up from below. Where the hell was he?

He wished he could communicate with his team, but they didn't have the technology. Even texting them would light up his screen. They were all alone out here.

Waiting.

If he didn't have Skylar, Logan would go up the side to look for Arrow, but he did have Skylar, and he wasn't going to leave her.

He risked a glance at her. She was tensed in a crouch, one hand on the rock to support her. Her hair was hanging forward over her shoulder. She was looking up at the cliff, giving the moonlight the chance to cast shadows across her face. His chest tightened as he watched her.

This woman was his future. His soul. His everything. He was never going to let her go.

As if sensing his perusal, she looked over at him. She smiled, and then a shadow fell across her. The wrong kind of shadow.

"Down!" He shouted the warning as he threw his body in front of her, twisting on his back as he fired up the cliff. Pain shot through his side, and he used his body to shove her backward into the tunnel as he kept shooting.

Suddenly, there was movement above him, and he shot again as Arrow fell past him, rolling down the side of the cliff, his gun clattering ahead of him.

Logan scrambled to his feet and ran to the edge of the ledge. He leaned over, watching as Arrow thudded to the ground. The way he landed made it obvious. "He's dead. It's over." Skylar was safe. His family was safe. His—

"Logan!" Skylar caught him as his knees buckled.

He grabbed her arm as he went down onto the ledge. Pain suddenly shot through him, a sharp, shooting pain in his abdomen. Skylar propped him up as he ripped his shirt out of his jeans and yanked it up. Blood. A hole. Son of a bitch. "I've been shot."

"Oh, my God." Horror shot through Skylar when she saw Logan's wound. There was so much blood.

"It's fine. I've been shot before." But his words were slurred, and his hand kept sliding off the wound. "Need to put pressure on it."

"I've got it." She ripped her sweatshirt over her head and balled it up as Logan slid off her to his side. "Logan's been shot," she shouted into the night. "Help! He's been shot! Help!" The words tore at her as she pressed her sweatshirt to his side. "Help! He's bleeding!"

Brody suddenly appeared beside her. "Son of a bitch. We're going to have to drag him out."

"Through the tunnel? There's no way. It's too narrow." Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Brody's phone rang, and he answered it. "Quintin! We're on some ledge on the south side. Arrow's dead. Logan's in trouble."

Skylar pressed harder on Logan's wound, and he grimaced. "Sorry." She released the pressure, but he grabbed her wrist.

"No. Keep the pressure on." His eyes were half-closed, but he was watching her. "I love you, Skylar."

"I know. I love you. Don't you dare die."

He tugged at her hair. "Skylar. Look at me."

She could hear the men shouting now, trying to find them, but there was so much blood. "What?" she said.

"I'm not going to let you go. I said I would, but it's a lie. You're my world. You need to know that. That ring is yours. Everything I have is yours. If I don't make it—"

"No!" She practically shouted the word. "Don't even say that! I need you!"

At that moment, Quintin burst out of the tunnel. "Logan!"

Skylar backed up as Quintin dropped to his knees beside his brother. He had a flashlight, and he quickly inspected the wound. She hugged herself as Quintin tied her sweatshirt around Logan's ribs. "Life Flight is on the way to the ranch. We need to get you off the cliff and back there."

"Climb down." Logan's eyes were closed. "We gotta climb down."

"Son of a bitch." Quintin looked over the edge. "We're not sixteen anymore."

"Fuck that. We're better than we were then. Where's Skylar?"

She hurried over and knelt beside Logan, taking his hand. "I'm here."

He cracked his eyes open just enough to see her. "I gotta go. Wait here. Not safe for you to climb." He smiled. "You have your life back, sweetheart. What are you going to do?"

Before she could answer, Quintin interrupted. "Tell her later, bro. We need to get you down." He draped one of Logan's arms over his shoulder, and Brody grabbed the other. Together, they dragged him to his feet.

Logan stumbled, leaning on them heavily.

Skylar couldn’t believe they were going to be able to get him safely down. "How are you going to go down the cliff?"

"Carefully." Quintin dragged Logan toward the edge. "You stay alive for her, bro. You hear me? Because if you die, I'm pretty sure Falcon's going to marry her. Once he does that, then he'll be family, and no one wants him in our family."

Brody laughed. "Ain't that the truth. Let's go."

And with that, the men dragged Logan over the edge of the cliff. Skylar ran to the edge and leaned over, watching in near terror as the trio eased down what looked like a sheer rock face. Tears filled her eyes as she watched Logan's head loll to the side, and she knew he'd lost consciousness.

Below them, Falcon ran to the truck and climbed into it. She prayed he'd find the keys.

She knew it was so dangerous what they were doing, trying to carry an unconscious man down the side of a cliff. Any of them could lose their grip and fall to their death.

But it was the only way. And they were willing to do it for him.

Tears blurred her vision, and she turned away and ran for the tunnel.