CHAPTER 52

"Amy! Amy!"

Where was that coming from? Oddly, it sounded just like her dad. She reasoned that he must have somehow understood that his youngest daughter was also leaving him behind to be in the same place as the love of his life who had already left this earth, the one he had lost so long ago in the accident which had finally brought him home again. "Amy!"

The shadow of a larger than life cowboy hovered over her, 'Strange way to welcome someone into the afterlife, she thought.

"Amy! Don't move!"

"Dad?"

"Tell me you are OK, Amy! Are you hurting anywhere?"

"I—he-Ahmed-sh-shot me!"

The dark image dropped down closer and she felt his strong arms wrap around her, raising her up from where she lay in the grassy field. She could feel his warmth as he squeezed her back to life, "Dad? It really is you!"

It took a few seconds for the reeling cowgirl to realize that, although she could feel the effects of the fall, she hadn't left this world after all and started crying hysterically into Tim Fleming's heaving chest. "I'm bleeding!"

"It's not you who is bleeding, Honey, it's me," and coughed to try and fill his lungs with the air that had been knocked out of them from the first round which had left Ahmed's pistol. "It's OK, Amy, it's OK. I fixed this. I fixed everything."

"Dad! What happened? He shot you, instead of me?"

"He saw me coming and spun around and took a shot at me. Nicked me in the chest a little, that's all. He won't ever threaten you or anyone else again, Amy, I promise."

"Is he…, dead?"

"I had to, Amy. He would have shot you right out of the saddle if I hadn't surprised him like that. He proved that he was out of control when he fired that pistol."

"I know, it's just that…, what are we going to do? They will blame us for killing a member of a royal family from another country and…,"

"The police already knew that Ahmed was a threat, Amy."

"How could they know? I mean, I told the Mountie who investigated Ty's accident what I suspected, but I had no proof yet."

"Yeah, well, I was riding my fence line all morning, and again after lunch, keeping an eye out around here after Jack called and told me what you said to them after you got home from the hospital last night. That's why I didn't take Clint up on the invite to Ty and Charlie's wedding, as if Ty would have wanted me there in the first place," scoffing at the thought of him being at Ty's special day after all the run ins he and the young ranch hand had butted heads over for all those years. "I figured somebody had better stay home and be on the lookout for anything suspicious, if someone out of place should come around these parts again looking for trouble. I had seen that black Suburban drive by a couple of times earlier in the day and when I saw it parked on the road just over that hill I gave it a once over. I found some damage to the headlight and front bumper guard so I called the RCMP and ask for the Mountie Jack told me about, Sergeant Quesnay, and told him about it. It only took a minute until they called me back and said the plates were registered to Ahmed and that they were dispatching two of the closest officers immediately and not to try anything on my own until he got here, so, naturally, I came looking for him. Luckily, for both of us, I found him."

The complexities of their situation were not yet clear and the two of them took a moment to let their minds wrap around the fact that something major had just happened and many people would be asking a lot of questions. They each had come to grips with the fact that, although necessary, this act of finality would forever change both of their lives. Thankful that he had made it in the nick of time, Tim Fleming and his shaken daughter embraced, sharing a somber look as the sirens began to echo through the foothills.

"We'll be OK if we just tell the truth, right?" Amy needed reassurance from somebody stronger than her, remembering how easily her former employer had gotten away with such heinous crimes for years simply because of his status.

"Yes, Honey, we'll be fine," and held her tighter, a shiver running through him at the thought of how differently this day would have been remembered if another five seconds had passed before he found his little girl.


The still shaking victim was sitting beside a local rescue worker when she heard a someone screaming, "Amy!" The shriek came from out of sight, but she knew it was her panic driven older sibling desperate to find her father and little sister. She saw Lou as she cleared the top of the hill, frilly dress and loosened dark hair streaming straight behind her as she came in a dead run, none of the police officers chancing to step in between her and the one's she searched for.

Lou slid to a stop on her knees, throwing her arms around the embattled woman who was already crying at seeing such a welcome sight coming to be with her. "Lou!"

"Are you alright? Where's Dad? You said on the phone that he got shot?"

"Dad is in the ambulance. They just left for the hospital a couple of minutes ago."

"What happened? How badly is he hurt?"

"He will be fine, Lou, at least physically. Thankfully, the bullet glanced off one of his ribs and only grazed his arm. He probably has a cracked or broken rib and some serious bruising to go along with the tears in his skin, but other than losing some blood, he will be OK."

"And, Ahmed's…, dead?"

The guilt ridden young woman glanced some fifty meters away toward two officials hovering over the body. The feeling of responsibility for everything that had led up to this tragedy gripped her and shook her head as the tears came again, "Dad had to do it, Lou, or else I would have been the one going in that bag. He's…,"

"He's dead?" Lou knew, but couldn't wait to be told.

The shaken victim nodded in disbelief that it had come to this, "It was him after all, following me, and apparently, some of the rest of you too. He admitted to me that he ran Ty off the road when I accused him, said he had to do it to prove to me that I hadn't escaped him yet, and never would. He just came up on me while I was riding and…, Shit! Where is Spartan?" The thrown rider had been so preoccupied with her own survival and that of her father's that she hadn't considered the last time she saw her horse he was pulling up clumps of grass with his hooves as he disappeared over the hill. "He threw me off and bolted when he heard the first shot! I hadn't even thought of where he's gotten off to."

"Don't worry, Amy. He knows these hills as well as any of us. We'll find him soon, I know we will."

"I have to go find him, Lou! He was so spooked by all the gunshots there is no telling how far he got before he stopped running, if he has stopped at all."

"He will be fine. He's as smart of a horse as any I have ever seen and he will figure out soon enough that the threat is gone. He's probably stuffing himself with some of this tall grass somewhere close by as we speak."

"I hope so. I would hate to think that something could happen to him, too, over this."

"What about you?" Lou changed the focus toward the one she was most concerned about. "Why aren't you headed toward the hospital with Dad? You took a nasty fall, and with all the trauma you have had…,"

"I was only dazed a little, that's all. I had just taken it for granted when I heard that first shot that I was already dead so I just laid on the ground thinking it was all over until Dad came running up to me, yelling his head off. I don't think I ever became unconscious, just dazed. The paramedic checked me before he took Dad away and said that he couldn't see any signs of head trauma, and so long as I promised to come to the hospital when we are finished up here with the police, he would clear me for now."

"What do we need to do to finish up here?" Lou surveyed the scene, looking for whoever was in charge. "Don't move," the senior Fleming sister ordered, "I will be right back."

It only took two minutes until Lou had taken command of finishing up the formalities of the investigation. All the prudent questions had already been answered, Sergeant Quesnay giving her the OK to transport the victim to the emergency room for her second appearance in as many days, and their grandfather was on his way to look for Spartan.

"Let's get you up," Lou leaned down to assist her tousled sister, "Sure you can walk to the road from here?"

"It's just over the hill, Lou, I can make it," perturbed at having anyone think she still needed to be fussed over, but very thankful just the same.


Morning had broken well before the light woke her, but Ty had been avoiding tossing around for at least an hour trying to decide if the pain from his bruised torso warranted the risk of waking Charlie by getting out of bed to get a prescription pain reliever from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. The new Mrs. Borden seemed to be sleeping peacefully, something he dared not disturb, so he tolerated the discomfort until she finally stirred, stretching like Sammy's kitten after a long nap.

"Morning…," she mumbled, smiling wider as her arms spread into full blossom in her first awakening into a much different life, the blur of sweet dreams coming into focus and becoming real, "Don't you think you should kiss your new wife when she wakes up from the best dream she has ever had, you know, to prove that you aren't just a horny fantasy I imagined last night?"

One thing remained constant, Ty reconciled to himself, as long as Charlene McCrar…, er, Borden, was still breathing, the woman would look for the fun in life and wring every last ounce of enjoyment out of it that she could. He couldn't help but remember his own pain and wondered how she did it, seeming oblivious to a body that was as often as not an enemy to her these days. "Good morning, wifey," and cringed at the sound of it. "Somehow, that doesn't work with you, does it."

"It better not," she pouted, and slipped out a finger and thumb to twist his unsuspecting nipple.

"Ow!"

"You have already forgotten?" she asked.

"Forgotten, what?"

"Rule number 12," she mused, showing him the patented sly grin he had come to adore, "Honey, Sweetheart…, Beautiful, those will get you laid, but wifey, that's gonna be painful…, for you," enjoying a guilty giggle.

"I'll have to remember that," he conceded, "Hey…, Beautiful," and leaned in to nip her neck at one of her more vulnerable ticklish spots.

A girlish squeal and her cackling made them share a laugh, and when they had caught their breath, their eyes found each other in the soft light, drawing them together into a kiss worthy of their first time waking up as husband and wife.

"I love you, Husband," she said.

"And, I love you, too, wif…, Aohawww!"


Standing at the bathroom sink looking in the mirror and scruffing his stubble after stepping out of the shower, the new husband bent down and fumbled around in the second drawer of the cabinet hunting for a bag containing his bath and shaving supplies which had miraculously disappeared since he had put it there the day before. "Jeez, Charlie, I thought you agreed to let me have at least a corner of this drawer for my stuff," he complained.

An amused voice answered from the other room, "Did I say which corner?"

Trying not to let himself become overly annoyed, he responded, "Is it going to be like this every morning, you messing with my daily rituals?"

"I think if you'd bend over just a li-itle bit farther, you just might find your stuff in the back corner of that drawer, right side, awww-lllllll the way to the back."

Knowing he might as well let her have her fun while she enjoyed this reprieve from a grueling normality, he straightened up stepped through the door to catch her watching him in the reflection of the two dressing mirrors that doubled as closet doors in the opposite corner of her bedroom. "Hey! You've been peeking?"

"Hell ya! It ain't every day a girl gets a view like that!

Using pinched lips and a scowl to submit a quasi-formidable protest, the new spouse tried his best to call her bluff, but when she burst out laughing for the second time this morning, Ty just gave up and walked up to her, bent down, and planted a big wet kiss on her cheek, leaving half of his shaving cream transplanted all over her face.

"Prepare yourself, Sweetheart. It's on!"

They couldn't help but take the opportunity to pause and stare at each other, half dressed and looking the part of old married people getting ready for the new day for the first time on the legitimate side of the so-called rules of intimate engagement, as some would see it, both well pleased with the way things were starting off.

Just when the newlyweds were settling down and getting serious about finding something to eat for breakfast, a padding of feet moving more quickly than normal shuffled down the hallway toward their room.

"Charlene! Ty! I hear that you're up. I need to see you right away, please."

"What is it, Gram?" Charlie cracked open the door to see what was the matter.

"I need to tell you that I have some news. Lisa Stillman called me just as I was going to bed last night and told me that there has been an incident near Heartland last evening."

Ty slumped rearward onto the dresser, catching himself with his hands and bracing for the worst, "What happened? Is anyone hurt?"

Charlie stepped out into the hall, already fearful of bad news, "Where is Sammy? Is she OK? Why didn't anyone tell me if something was wrong?"

"Sammy is fine, Charlene. She spent the night with Lou and Katie at Lisa's house. Lisa had them come over to Fairfield where she has plenty of security..,"

"Security?" Charlie leapt toward her grandmother, "Gram, what the hell happened? Why was their security in question?"

Margie held up her hands to slow her increasingly agitated granddaughter down, "Sooo, when Lisa suggested that they were out of any danger and already getting ready for bed, that they didn't know anything was wrong at Heartland yet, I agreed that it would be best for everybody if we just let her stay there until this morning. I knew how tired you were and I didn't see a need to wake you and get you all worried. I can send your grandfather to go and pick Samantha up just as soon as we finish breakf…,"

"You still haven't told me what happened!" the rattled mother argued, "Forget that! I am going to go and pick her up myself!"

"Charlie, I will take you," Ty spoke up. "I need to find out what happened, if everyone is OK."

"Ty, sorry to leave you hanging like that," Clint approached from the kitchen upon hearing the escalation of panic, feeling guilty in realizing that his new step grandson would have been concerned over the people that meant so much to him as well, "Lisa said that Amy was out riding her horse on one of the trails she likes to use over there and that Ahmed fella came out of nowhere on the trail on foot and caught her off guard."

The first thought Ty had was of the pistol Amy had drawn on him when he surprised her at the campsite by the river, "Is she OK? Did he hurt her?" he asked, his imagination running wildly ahead of him.

"Yes, she is going to be OK from what we hear. She is still in the hospital this morning, though, for observation. She fell off her horse when shots were fired between her dad and the other fella. Lou said she is going to be alright, just shaken up a bit."

"Tim was there, too? What happened?" the former fiancé to the girl in question was obviously heading straight toward a panic.

"Amy's dad, Tim, saw a suspicious vehicle parked on the road yesterday afternoon while he was riding his fence line so he called the RCMP. They called him back and told him the vehicle was leased to that prince and of course Tim immediately went out in the field tracking where he had walked through the grass. It sounds like Tim showed up just in time to save her life because when he surprised the prince fella, the guy took a shot at him and grazed him in the chest. That's when Amy's horse spooked and she fell off and it ran away, but ol' Tim fired three rounds and sent the prince home to his maker, whoever that is."

"Ahmed's dead?"

"That's what Lisa told us."

'What else could go wrong?' Ty thought to himself. It seemed that lately, no sooner than they had all gotten over one disaster, another one blew up in everybody's face. Now this. "How is Tim? Did she say?"

"Yes, she did. Tim is still admitted in the hospital too. He has a broken rib and a nasty tear in his hide where the bullet ricocheted off the bone. Lucky man. Anybody else would have been a gonner, but apparently, Tim Fleming's hide is still as tough as any leather chested old bronc rider I ever saw."

"That he is," Ty said, more thankful than he normally would have been for the long-time antagonist's wellbeing.


When Ty parked the big red truck in the driveway adjacent to Lisa Stillman's majestic white house, the wheels had not stopped turning before his passenger's door flew opened and Charlie had a foot on the running board.

"Whoa! Dammit, Charlie, you aren't going to do anybody any good if you get yourself run over before we get here!" he attempted to scold the anxious mother, but knew she paid him no attention.

Looking straight ahead, Charlie hit the ground in stride and never slowed all the way up to the generously welcoming porch. Just as she made the top step, the door swung open and Sammy ran out to meet her, "Mom! What are you doing here? Do I have to go home already?"

"Sammy! Are you OK?"

The confused little girl accepted the crushing hug, "Yeah, I'm OK. What's the matter with you?"

Feeling a little embarrassed when Lisa, Lou, and Katie came through the wide-open door, Charlie buried her face into the little girl's neck and sobbed, "I'm sorry, baby, I just had to be sure."

Everyone gave the distraught mother the space she needed to assure herself that there really was no further need for concern about her child's safety. When she released her grip on Sammy and looked up, Charlie saw a porch full of people who appeared to be more worried for her than for the child, so she straightened up and faced them, "I'm sorry for making such a big deal out of this, but all I could think about was not knowing she was alright. I don't know what I would do if…,"

Lou stopped her friend short and grasped her into an understanding hug, "Don't you apologize for worrying about your daughter. I'm sorry too, that we didn't wake you last night when we decided it would be better if we brought them here. It's just that…," realizing what she had to say did not need to fall on young ears, "Margie called and told us you were headed this way and said you haven't had breakfast yet," summoning her friends, "The grill is still hot so, whaddaya say about sitting down at the table and having some nice hot pancakes with bacon and eggs while we talk? Got some of Grandpa's special blend coffee, too. Besides, Lisa wants to take the girls out to the barn and see her beautiful new race horse, so that will give us a chance to catch up on all the news."

"C'mon, ladies," Lisa picked up on Lou's lead without hesitation. "How about coming out to the barn and telling me what you think of my new race horse? He's a fast one, I tell ya'!"

"Yay!" the young girls excitedly agreed as they each grabbed one of her legs and gave her a big squeeze, and then she gathered up her new helper's hands to walk through her flower garden and on to the gleaming white and green trimmed barn where she kept her latest pride and joy.

Lou snatched a fresh pot of coffee off the burner and poured three cups full, then sat it back on the holder in the center of the table as she found a seat opposite of Ty beside the distraught mother. "Charlie, I really do understand how you must feel, but Margie told us how exhausted you were and that you had gone to sleep already. We all assured her that Sammy would be safe here and the threat to any of us was over. Lisa called in two more extra guards from her security company, just to be sure. None of us would have taken a chance if it wasn't."

"I know, Lou. I just freaked. I can't take any chances with her, you know? She is the most precious thing in my life."

"Believe me, I understand," Lou reached out and clutched her friend's hands inside her own. "A mother needs to know her baby is safe."

"I know that she was, Lou. I'm sorry that I reacted so harshly."

"Again, you don't have anything to apologize for. I understand, completely."

Charlie eased back into the chair and thought for a few seconds, "It looks like the girls are settled in here. Ty, why don't you take me back home after we have some of Lou's awesome smelling breakfast and you and Lou go on to the hospital to check on Amy and her dad? I'm feeling a little…, tired, so if it isn't too much trouble, Lou, maybe the girls could stay here with Lisa until you are finished at the hospital and Ty can bring Sammy home then? If Katie wants to come along, they would keep each other occupied for another night while you get things sorted out at home."

"Lisa would love to have the girls stay as long as they want. Lemme tell ya, she has been enjoying having them this morning, a lot, and it will make her day to have them stay a little longer. I will make a call and tell her what's going on, then, while you guys finish breakfast, I'll get my stuff together and take you up on the offer to hitch a ride to the hospital."

When the trio had arrived at 8S Ranch, Charlie got out of the passenger's seat and popped the rear door open for Lou, "You're it, for shotgun, that is."

Lou hopped off the tall running board and accepted the hug awaiting her. "You get some rest, hear me? Everything is being handled with the girls and I'll take care of your wonderful husband for you. There's nothing to worry about now."

"You've done a pretty good job with him all those years up until now, so I know he is in good hands," Charlie quipped, easing up and feeling more relaxed. "He is sort of wonderful, isn't he?" she whispered, wrinkling her nose, a thankful smile inching across her lips. "Be sure and call once you know more from the hospital. I know Gram and Grandpa will want to know how Amy and Tim are doing as much as I do."

"Of course, Charlie. Talk to you later, OK?" Lou assured her overly stressed friend, and hugged her again.


The drive into Calgary was not quiet for long. Lou wasted no time in catching up with Ty about his own recovery and wanting to know as much as he would offer of how he was feeling about everything in general, Charlie's condition, both physically and mentally, their progress concerning Ty filing for legal joint custody of his new step daughter, and of course, Ahmed.

"I guess we all underestimated how crazy he really was," Ty started. "I never did like him, to be honest. It was hard for me to tell if it was just because my first impression of him was that he was a flaming asshole or if it was because I was a little jealous when Amy started working with him. I always had the feeling he was trying to wedge me and Amy apart. Looks like I may not have been so wrong, after all."

"If it's any consolation to you, I warned her abo…," cutting herself off and instantly regretting letting go of more insight that she intended.

"You warned her about, what, that Ahmed was making a move?"

"Look, Ty, you know how I am. I was bitchy-suspicious because of all the expensive gifts, the big paychecks, the tempting her with a chance to work with all the fancy horses, and offers of taking her to exotic places…., We argued about it, when I told her what I thought, and I probably just made things worse. If I did, I am so, so, sorry, Ty. She may have gone on that damned tour just to spite me as much as anything else."

"Well, Amy and I weren't in a good place, either, at the time. I think that deal with Charger really killed her trust in me. It was stupid of me to do it, I know it now, and I let Caleb talk me into it because I was so jealous of all the things Ahmed was giving to her when I couldn't even afford to pay attention to her like I should have been. It was just a perfect storm, I guess. He came back here just when we were in a bad place with each other and knew how to maximize the damage."

"She thinks you will never be able to forgive her, you know. I think that is the biggest thing she must get past now, even more so than recovering from the surgeries. You need to know that she feels like she is at fault for all of this, even with what happened yesterday afternoon and your crash the day before. She blames herself for Ahmed's actions and bringing him here to threaten not only her, but all of the people she cares about, all the way to the end."

"There is no way she could have known how screwed in the head he was, nor could any of the rest of us. None of us has ever had to deal with anyone who had billions of dollars and the power of a country's influence to throw around at will. You just expect people like that to be different, because, well, they are!

"It would be nice if you would tell her that one of these days, soon. This whole thing has practically destroyed her self-confidence again. As if facing what happened between you two isn't enough, now she blames herself for almost getting Dad killed, and you being in that accident, and for putting all the rest of us at risk. She has taken this really hard, Ty, and honestly, I think you are the only one who can help her to move on with whatever she decides to do with her life from here on. Yours is the opinion that matters most, even more so than Grandpa's and mine. It always has been, since about the first two months after you got here," Lou twisted a reflective smile, aiming to leave the message intact but allow her 'adopted brother' the time to work out a course of action on his own.


The parking lot at the hospital was almost full and it took a few extra trips up and down the rows of vehicles to find a slot big enough to pull the big red truck into. "Damn this place!" Ty muttered.

Lou heard the comment, "It is hard to get a good feeling about this place, isn't it? Seems like the only time we are here is when something bad has happened."

Ty knew the people inside were only there to help, and it was a damn good thing for all of them that they were, but it was still the kind of place you only came to if something terrible had happened. He hated everything about the place, the smell, the noise, the worrying, the waiting. All of it. This had been his destination far too frequently lately to be able to appreciate it for anything else.

After checking in with the receptionist at the front desk, Ty and Lou made a bee line for room 305. As they walked together and found the elevator, Ty thought he had said to himself, "Her head! It can't be good for her if she injured her head again when she fell."

Lou surprised him when she responded, "The doctor seems to think she avoided a concussion, this time. Good thing. I don't want to think about what another head injury would mean for her."

The elevator emptied in front of them in a perceivable rush as people seemed to be as anxious to get out of the place as they were. The ride up was quick and when the door opened they could see Jack pacing toward them in the hallway outside the waiting room.

"Ty? I'm surprised to see you here today," his life mentor said as he extended his hand for a shake, "Well, not that surprised."

"Hey, Jack. Have you gotten to talk to her yet?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago. Her doctor told us that he wanted to take another scan to make sure we don't have a repeat of last time when we thought the worst had passed and damn near let it kill her when it came back to bite us in the ass."

"You want to be sure," Ty agreed. "Absolutely the right move to check closer."

Jack pointed over Ty's shoulder and said, "Speakin' of, here she comes now."

Ty turned to see the gurney humming down the center of the hallway with a nurse on either end guiding it. The two men stepped aside to allow them passage through the door where Lou was already waiting, and as it passed Amy looked shocked to see the man she least expected to find waiting at her room, "Ty?"

They continued through the door and closed it behind them, offering the patient privacy while they transferred her to the room's bed. After a few minutes the door swung open and the nurses pushed the empty gurney out into the hallway, "She's ready now," one of them said, and the two entered, Ty lagging hesitantly behind.

"Hey," he offered the most casual greeting he knew, taking the remaining steps to stand next to her bed. "I don't see any new holes in your head," attempting to break the mood with his tried and true tactic of relieving the tension he knew she must be feeling.

Amy took a couple of seconds to decide she could not pretend that his being here for her did not have a profound impact on how she felt about, well, everything, and held out her arms, squeezing his waist when he bent down to meet her embrace tightly enough to make him flinch.

"Oh! Ty! I'm so sorry! I forgot all about your accident!"

"It's OK, Amy. I'm fine, honest."

"Yeah, right," taking a few more searching seconds to look him over, "old married man!"

"That's me. And if we can't slow down this meeting in the hospital thing we have going on these days, I'm going to get a lot older way sooner than I should."

To be continued