Chauncey had turned on his wife, who looked small and afraid as she faced him, and he raised the butt of his rifle, looking angry enough to use it on her. Dan heard the fast-approaching roar of an engine. That had to be Terry, inexperienced, riding a rescue mission straight into a disaster Dan had created, all because he’d underestimated a drunk. A quick decision was called for before someone was killed.
His gun hand was unsteady, leaving him afraid he might hit Elaine by mistake. He had to get Chauncey far enough away from her that she wasn’t at risk.
“Hey, Chauncey,” he shouted. “Drop your weapon. You’re under arrest.”
Chauncey spun toward Dan, and Dan saw the face of a man who’d been scared sober and believed he now had nothing to lose. If Dan didn’t stop him there’d be four bodies for his deputies to collect at the end of the day, because Chauncey would take Dan, Elaine, and Terry with him. That assessment didn’t even factor in the three missing kids.
Where are the kids?
Dan’s vision swam as he lined up his shot. He fired, hitting Chauncey in the chest.
Chauncey’s legs folded. He sagged to his knees, dropping the rifle.
*
Dan opened hiseyes. He scraped at his tongue with his teeth. Aftereffects of the anesthetic left it furry.
Dallas lounged in the chair next to his hospital bed, spooning green hospital gelatin into his mouth. “Great. You’re awake.” He dropped the empty plastic cup and spoon on the bedside tray.
“How can you eat that stuff?” Dan asked, eyeing his friend with disgust.
Dallas poured ice water from a sweaty pitcher into another small plastic cup. “I ate a ton of it during my residency, trying to convince little kids it’s better than ice cream. Eventually, you buy into the lie.” He passed Dan the cup of water. “Sip it slowly. How do you feel?”
“Not too bad, all things considered.” Dan looked around. “What happened to Ryan?” He vaguely recalled him being in the room at one point.
“Gone to pick up Jazz. After I pumped you full of Demerol you became quite insistent you wanted to see her, but ranted on and on about no one letting her drive to the hospital on her motorcycle. It was pretty funny. You have crap tolerance for morphine, by the way.”
“Great.” He really did want to see Jazz, so he supposed he could have made far worse demands.
Dallas shifted into doctor mode. “The bullet struck the femoral artery in your left thigh. It was a solid point bullet, so lucky for you it was clean in and out, but you lost a lot of blood and they had to give you a transfusion. Your deputy saved you from bleeding to death, by the way. He has excellent first aid training. You owe him a big Christmas bonus. And your parents are in the waiting room. Your mom seems pretty mad at you, so you’ve been warned.”
“What about the kids?” Dan asked, suddenly anxious. He’d passed out before finding out what happened to them.
“The kids are fine. The oldest boy kept the two younger ones hidden in the field behind the house. Their mother has taken them to Marietta to be with her parents.”
Dallas gave him a quick rundown of everything that happened after the ambulance arrived. Dan had been rushed to the small local hospital in Grand where Dallas had been on call. Dallas determined the need for a vascular surgeon, so he’d had Dan transported to Billings.
“Chauncey O’Dell is under guard in the ICU. He’s going to live,” he finished. “I doubt if that makes him too happy.”
“I don’t give a damn if the bastard’s happy or not.” Guilt washed over Dan. Never again would he allow a woman to make the final decision as to when she’d had enough of an abusive relationship.
But, while he’d made a mess of the situation, at the same time, his gut told him if he hadn’t taken the call, he’d be a deputy short and those kids would no longer have a mother.
Speaking of mothers…
Dan’s mom eased open the door, saw he was awake, and then spent the next half hour alternately hugging and swearing at him.