“Start filling these bags,” another man demanded shoving heavy sacks at the tellers who quickly began stuffing notes into the sacks. Another man grabbed the bank manager shoving him toward the vault and grabbing all the money he could just before the doors crashed open once more.
Two policemen charged inside and opened fire, their shots going wild as Pierce’s men raced toward them. The sound of a shotgun blast roared in the small space and one of the officers jerked backward as if pulled by an invisible thread. The other officer fell in seconds as one of the robbers clubbed him with his weapon then charged back out through the bank doors carrying all they could as they fled.
Blake, shocked by the appearance of the officer, turned seeing a bank guard sliding down the wall next to him, a crimson stain pouring from his shoulder. As sirens blazed, Blake’s amber eyes sought Darcy, now slumped beneath the tellers counter, a pool of blood gathering at her side.
Blake never knew how he got to the woman so quickly. He couldn’t recall gathering her into his arms and running to the car, still idling on the street. His first recollection after the robbery was racing out of Casper, a bleeding Darcy sprawled at his side and no trace of Pierce and the others to be seen.
Somewhere in the distance the young lawman could hear the sound of police cars, sirens blaring, but he pressed the gas pedal to the floor and was soon skidding around a curve and onto a little used road hidden by a deep gully and a small clump of trees.
He had to save her. He had to keep Darcy from dying. It was his fault that she had been in that bank. Blake’s mind raced, keeping pace with the speeding car, as he tried to make sense of what had gone wrong. Image by image, his mind slowed the events of the past five minutes.
The police. Why had the police come? Blake had sent a notice to the commissioner explaining what he was doing and how he wanted to take the leader of the gang. The plan had been clear, let them get in and get out un-harassed.
The officers should never have been there. The plan had been that no one would get hurt. Now Blake prayed for Darcy and the men who had been shot in the heist. One guard, two officers, Darcy, were there more? If they died he knew that this whole thing would rest fully on his shoulders.
“Please God,” Blake groaned. “Help.”
Dust rolled out behind the fast car as he skidded around another turn. There was only one place he could go, only one place where he knew he wouldn’t be found. The Broken J. He would get to Mae and Reese and trust to heaven that his uncle, a skilled physician, could save the young woman who had risked it all.
“God please don’t let them find us. Please don’t let Darcy die.”
“Hey Turnip,” a weak voice echoed over the roar of the engine. “I’m not gone yet.”
Blake skidded the car into a pull off along the dirt road behind a row of trees, and then turned to Darcy. “I’m going to try to stop the bleeding,” he said, as her face dipped into a whiter shade of pale. In moments, he had pressed his handkerchief tightly into the wound, flinching when Darcy cried out in pain. With deft fingers Blake soon had the makeshift bandage wrapped with strips from Darcy’s gown.
“Are they following us?” she asked as her breathing steadied once more.
“No, I think we got away,” Blake cringed at the twitch of her mouth. “They must be following the other car.”
“What happens next Turnip?” Darcy’s voice was weak, a mere whisper in the air.
“I’m taking you home,” Blake said, brushing her dark hair from a sweating brow. “There are people there who will help you.”
Darcy tried to shake her head but groaned. “There’s no help left for me Turnip,” she sighed. “It’s too late for me, but you can still get them. You can bring down the men who did this. Promise.” The young woman’s blood stained hands grasped his, her nails biting painfully into his palm.
“Hey, don’t talk like that,” Blake said. “You’ll be fine, we’ll finish this together.”
A soft huff was his only response as Darcy slipped into darkness.
Chapter 14
Darcy woke slowly to a hazy white light that seemed to surround her, lifting her from the pain and shock she had suffered only hours before. She floated there, suspended, she knew not where, in a feathery glow that wiped out everything else.
Her head was muddled, as if she’d had too much to drink too fast. A cool breeze brushed Darcy’s cheek like a lover’s kiss, and she closed her eyes sinking back into the welcome bliss of unconsciousness.
***
“Blake, what in the world were you thinking bringing her here!” Reese Middleton’s voice was a hushed shout as he ran his hands through graying locks. “What if you were followed? What if the law is following you?”
“This is the only place I could come,” Blake said, his voice reasonable. “You’re the only one I could trust.”
“But the police, you could have…”
“No.” Blake’s icy word cut his uncle off. “I can’t trust them.”
Reese Middleton’s head snapped up as he glared at his nephew, his blue eyes filled with shock and a little fear. “What are you talking about?” He ran his hands through his dark hair again as his bright eyes flashed.
“Reese, Blake, come and sit,” Mae called firmly. “Blake you need to eat something.”
Blake followed his aunt down the short hallway to the table in the middle of the kitchen and dropped into a chair. He was exhausted, worried, and heart-sore. He had been over the scene at least a dozen times in his own head but would anyone believe him about what had really happened. Resting
