A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Anybody ever tell you that you ask too many questions?”
Jordan shrugged. “I’m a woman, we like to talk. I know Mexico is beautiful, but is there another reason? Do you have friends or family there?”
He had reacted when she’d talked about his mother.
“Is that where your mother lives?” she asked.
An odd expression colored his face, and he walked the length of the barn, then paused and leaned back against the wall as if remembering something.
“Did you grow up there?” she asked. “Or maybe your mother took you on vacation.”
A bitter laugh that sounded far away echoed in the air. “My mama didn’t have money for vacations. She used every penny she made on cigarettes, booze and drugs.”
Another piece of the puzzle. His mother had slept around—or was a prostitute. Had she made him watch?
If so, no wonder he hated women and thought they were whores.
The fact he’d grown up without money had motivated him to work hard and become financially independent.
Suddenly Miles shouted again. “Dugan, the chopper is on its way. Is Jordan all right?”
“I’m—” Jordan opened her mouth to shout, but Dugan backhanded her. Her head whipped sideways. Timmy jumped up to defend her, but she grabbed him and held him firmly by her side.
Dugan checked his watch. “Five minutes, that’s all you have left,” he yelled. “Five minutes till I start shooting.”
Jordan gritted her teeth. She had to keep talking. Keep him thinking, distracted.
“It is your mother you’re going to see in Mexico, isn’t it?” she asked.
He stormed toward her, lifted her chin and pierced her with his maniac eyes. “Yes. Don’t you think she’ll be proud of what her baby boy has become?”
A cold chill slithered up Jordan’s spine. Now she understood. All the women he had killed—they were only substitutes for the mother who had sold her body to support her habits.
He was going to end his killing spree. But he intended to do it by finally murdering the real source of his anger and hatred—his mother.
* * *
MILES WANTED TO HEAR from Jordan. He told himself she had to be okay, that he had heard her voice just then, although he couldn’t be sure.
“Where are we on the chopper, Brody?” Miles asked.
Brody cleared his throat. “Johnny said it would be here in a few minutes. We have to keep Dugan calm.”
Miles nodded. His son’s life depended on it.
“I talked to the sheriff. I’m moving these kids to the dining hall with the others.”
“Good. We don’t want them out in the open in case something goes wrong.” And bullets started flying. “Any word from Cook? Have they spotted Ables on the ranch?”
Brody shook his head. “Hopefully that’s a good sign.”
“Maybe. But he still could be hiding out, waiting to help Dugan escape.”
“We’ll keep looking,” Brody said. “The sheriff called in a couple more deputies to comb the property. One of them is close by.” He pointed to the rocks on the hill to the north. “He’s watching from that angle in case we need him. And when Dugan heads to the chopper, we’ll catch him. Or the deputy might get a shot at him.”
Miles clenched his jaw and stepped behind the tree near the boys. “No one shoots unless I say so. We can’t do anything to endanger Timmy or Jordan.”
Brody nodded, then gestured toward the group of boys. “My truck is about two hundred feet away, hidden behind some mesquites. I’m going to drive you back to the dining hall.”
Carlos stood and faced Miles and Brody. “I want to stay here and make sure Miss Jordan and Timmy are okay.”
“Me, too,” Justin said.
The other boys all jumped up to join Carlos and Justin as if they were a team.
These kids all had troubled pasts, and the fact that they were bound together now by this event had seemed to strengthen them. Still, it was his job to protect them.
“I know you guys are worried, but you have to go with Brody.”
Carlos crossed his arms. “We’re not kids so don’t treat us that way.”
Miles laid his hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “I realize that, Carlos, and you’ve been a tremendous asset here. But it’s time for the lawmen to handle it. You can help by protecting the younger kids.”
Carlos squared his shoulders and stared into his eyes as if he wanted to argue. Miles knew he was trying to be a man, and felt for the kid. So many of these boys had seen things no kid should have seen.
Just like his son.
They’d had to grow up fast.
Miles pulled him aside for a moment while Brody talked to the others. “Please,” Miles said. “Help me out, Carlos. The other guys look up to you. You’re their leader.” He gestured toward the mound of rocks on the hill. “The deputy is waiting on that hill, the chopper is on its way, but we have no idea if things will get ugly. Dugan is armed and dangerous. We have to get these other boys out of the way in case we have to rush in and rescue Jordan and Timmy. The others will listen to you, so do your job and let me do mine.”