“I’ve found them, Da. The horse is here and so is the rest of the family. Are you still determined to kidnap the girl to convince the family to cooperate?”
“Absolutely, Quinn. They’ll not get away this time. You’ve done well. Bring me the girl, and you can do whatever you like with the bodyguard.”
Quinn smiled his approval. “Brilliant, Da. We should have her home by Saturday.”
“See that you do.” Seamus ended the call.
Quinn heard Seamus’s admonishment but quickly dismissed any concerns. He could easily take Stafford now that he was prepared for him, and the rest of the family didn’t frighten him at all. It would be easy to take the girl without Stafford to help her. Quinn drove down the road to park near the entrance to Whiskey Ridge, which was now choked with members of the press in cars and vans with satellite dishes reaching high into the air, broadcasting their discovery to an international audience.
Ian had just returned from his run and was with Daniel in the stable talking with one of the Gibson’s grooms when Stephen rode up on Biscuit. “How did it go, son?” Daniel was smiling and at ease until he noticed Stephen’s grave expression. “What’s wrong?”
“While I was out riding Biscuit, I saw a black SUV and a man with binoculars watching us from the road,” Stephen said. “I think it’s one of O’Reilly’s men. They’ve found us.”
“Damn it!” Daniel growled. He looked over at Ian. “Someone has betrayed our trust. Do you have any idea who might have let the press know our location?
“I have my suspicions, but I don’t know if we’ll ever know for sure who it was. Right now, it doesn’t matter,” Ian said. “What’s important now is that we tell the others we’ve been discovered as soon as possible. We need to come up with a strategy to get Biscuit out of here and back to the U.K. in time for the race before O’Reilly has time to make trouble.”
To Ian’s surprise, Daniel shook his head. “I think we should wait to make sure it is O’Reilly before we tell Megan and the Gibsons. You’re not absolutely certain it was a member of O’Reilly’s gang, and I want to make sure we don’t get everyone upset for no reason. It could simply be a curious local, or it could be the press. I’m sure the story of where Seabiscuit II is training is news.”
Ian objected to that decision. “Even if it is the press and not O’Reilly, once the news gets out that Biscuit is here, O’Reilly will be here quickly. We have to be prepared.”
Daniel reached up to stroke Biscuit’s neck.
“I really don’t want to upset the Gibsons unnecessarily.” He looked frustrated. “They just started to accept me as a member of their family, and now it’s possible I’ve brought an international crime syndicate into their back yard. Please, Ian, let’s just hold off until we’re certain. If it is O’Reilly, they’ll show themselves again. Then we’ll know.”
Daniel turned to Stephen. “Go ahead and hose Biscuit down and put him in his stall. Everything will be fine.”
Ian watched as Stephen complied with his father’s orders. Ian was not at all happy about Daniel’s decision to keep this important information from Megan and the Gibsons. Sure, he wasn’t one hundred percent certain that the man he had seen watching Stephen had been an O’Reilly thug, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling he had in his gut that told him the man wasn’t just curious. Stephen would not have reacted as he had if he didn’t feel as though the man watching him was an agent of O’Reilly.
Ian walked over to Stephen and Biscuit. The stallion seemed to sense the tension in both Stephen and Ian. He nudged Stephen with his nose as if trying to get his attention, but Stephen angrily reprimanded him. “I’m not in the mood to play with you today, Biscuit. Stop bugging me and settle down.”
Biscuit shook his head and ceased his activity. The stallion looked to Ian, who reached out and stroked his neck and spoke to him in soothing tones as he had seen his brother Michael do on numerous occasions to calm a restive horse. The stallion visibly relaxed under Ian’s gentle ministrations. Sensing that Stephen wished to be alone with his thoughts, Ian led Biscuit back to his stall and watched as Biscuit, now calm and relaxed after a challenging workout, started to eat his hay.
Now that Biscuit was settled, Ian allowed his own thoughts free rein as he processed this new development. They had always known it was possible the O’Reillys would discover their hiding place, but now that the possibility had been made real, they had work to do.
~ ~ ~
Megan stood on the spacious front porch of her grandparents’ home and scanned the rolling hills where several mares and their foals grazed contentedly. She hadn’t slept well the night before and knew that Ian frequently ran on a trail that surrounded the pastures, so she couldn’t resist the temptation to watch for him. When he ran, Ian was unselfconscious and unguarded, relaxed and focused. He was not the tense and defensive man he became whenever she was present. When she didn’t see him anywhere, she ran her fingers roughly through her hair and paced up and down the porch in frustration.
Since the night he had sent her away from his room, Ian had done a masterful job of avoiding any situation where he might be alone with her. She hoped it was because he was afraid he might falter in his determination to push her away and allow her in to his life and his heart.
Megan also knew that Ian’s nightmares had been getting less frequent. When she asked Ian about it, he said he felt the improvement was largely due to the regular therapy in Lexington, but it was also due to his time spent with Biscuit. Dad had told her that for the last couple of weeks, Ian had been stopping by Biscuit’s stall to talk to the horse after his morning run and on the days after he returned from his therapy sessions.
Daniel believed that the time the two of them spent together was working as therapy for them both. Biscuit seemed much calmer and more focused recently, and Megan knew Ian had visibly calmed as well. I wonder what they talk about, the two of them? I’d love to be a fly on the wall for one of their conversations. Megan instantly brightened. That was it. She would find a way to hide near Biscuit’s stall and listen in. It might help her to figure out how she could get past the barriers Ian has been putting up against her finding some way to help him. Today was one of Ian’s therapy days, so she resolved to watch for the right moment and put her plan into action.
~ ~ ~
As Ian approached the stable, Biscuit saw him and whinnied a welcome. Ian smiled. It appeared that Biscuit also enjoyed their daily sessions.
“Hello, old boy,” Ian said as he scratched the stallion on the forehead and then rubbed his neck. Biscuit was still wet from being hosed down. “Did you enjoy your workout this morning?”
Biscuit snorted sharply as if he disdained the need for daily workouts. The horse definitely had an ego, and it was frequently on display. Of course, with his win record and talent, he had reason to carry himself with pride.
Ian lowered his voice so no one nearby would hear him.
“Did you see Megan today, boy? How is she? I’m ashamed to admit that since we made love a few nights ago, I’ve been avoiding her, and I think she’s angry with me. At the very least, she’s confused, and I don’t blame her because I’m confused as well.
“It’s difficult to care for someone and know in your heart that the best thing for them is to leave them alone to find a better life. Megan deserves better—someone who is whole and easy to be with. I’m broken and might never be fixed. I certainly don’t want to be a burden to her—someone she feels she has to take care of constantly. She’s had enough of that with Stephen for the past few years.
“Yes, I have been improving, but there’s no guarantee I’ll ever be one hundred percent well again. It would kill me to think she would spend every day hoping I’ll get better and resenting me if I don’t. To be honest, boy, I’m not even sure that what Megan is feeling for me is really love. She may be mistaking pity for lov
e. If that’s true, I can never accept it. I want a woman who loves me regardless of my PTSD not because of it. I couldn’t live with myself if that’s what our life together would be like. If I . . .”
At that moment, Biscuit’s ears pricked forward and his eyes softened as he looked at something just behind Ian. Ian sighed. Without even seeing her, he knew who was there. Damn it! His razor-sharp instincts had failed him when he needed them the most.
She had heard everything he had told the stallion. He watched her struggle to hide her fury as she looked accusingly at him, grappling to find the words she clearly felt she needed to say.
Megan’s hands clenched around the handle of the pitchfork until her knuckles showed white and her eyes welled up with tears. Her voice trembled with rage.
“You stupid, stupid, man. Do you think I am so shallow that I would consider your disability more important than your courage, integrity, loyalty, and unselfishness? That I would ever resent you for being human, for having a normal reaction to an extraordinarily tragic event? That my love for you is conditional, based only on the fact that you occasionally need my comfort and support? Even worse that I treat you the same way I treat Stephen? I am insulted by the very idea, and I’m furious with you for thinking of me like that. If you will excuse me, I have other chores to do in the house. I’ll expect your apology, or I will consider our relationship, whatever you intend it to be, over.”
Megan stalked angrily out of the barn, and as Ian watched her retreat, he could hear her strangled sobs as she struggled to maintain her composure, at least until she could make it to the house.
Ian knew he had hurt Megan deeply, and regret over his unguarded confession felt like a cold, hard lump in his chest. He looked up at Biscuit, who lowered his head and nudged him in what seemed to be sympathy. “I’ve buggered this up badly, haven’t I, boy?” he said with a sigh.
“Maybe it’s for the best, though. I do believe she would be better off without me.” But Ian considered Megan’s point of view and acknowledged that in a way, she was right. Looking at his words from her perspective, it was easy to interpret them to mean he didn’t think Megan would be able to cope with his PTSD and that she didn’t have the fortitude to stand by him as he continued to battle his condition.
She was wrong, of course. He had every confidence that, if he allowed her, Megan would stand by him and support him no matter what. She was that courageous and that loyal to the people she loved. That courage was the reason he couldn’t be with her. He would never know if she was with him because she felt sorry for him or if she truly loved him. In the shape he was in, it would much likely be the former. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He decided not to follow.
~ ~ ~
Megan entered the house and immediately ran up the stairs to her bedroom, closed the door, and allowed the sobs she had been holding back free rein. How dare that man believe she would be better off without him? How could he consider himself unworthy or incapable of being in a relationship just because he was suffering from PTSD? Did he really believe she would think him a burden and would grow to resent him because he had a completely understandable reaction to witnessing the violent death of a close friend?
Megan thought back to the rest of what she had heard Ian tell Biscuit. Could he truly believe she only loved him because she thought he needed her and somehow she was mistaking sympathy for his condition with love? Yes, she had been taking care of Stephen because she loved him and because without her help, he would be lost. Were her feelings for Ian the same? Megan didn’t think so, but Ian’s comments had given her something to think about.
The worst part was it sounded as if he wanted to give up without a fight. If that was indeed true, Ian wasn’t the man Megan thought him to be, and maybe she was better off without him. That thought left her even more bereft, and her tears fell faster than before.
After a few minutes, she heard footfalls come up the stairs, then move away from her room toward Ian’s room across the hall. Her assumption that the person walking by her room was Ian was confirmed when the person walking stepped inside Ian’s room and closed the door. It appeared Ian wasn’t going to apologize.
Chapter 21
“Megan dear,” Sarah called up from downstairs. “Please come down and see this. If Ian is in his room, please get him. He should come down as well.”
Megan fought back a groan. She had to look a mess, and Ian would be seeing her and know exactly how much his accusations had hurt her. She hated being so vulnerable. What could be so important that it couldn’t wait until they gathered for lunch in just about an hour or so?
Megan left her room just as Ian was leaving his. She bowed her head, hoping he wouldn’t see the worst of the damage her crying had wrought, and moved toward the stairs. He followed right behind her. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sarah led them immediately to one of the windows at the front of the house. “Look.” She gestured to the street outside the farm. “There are reporters everywhere.”
Megan’s heart sank. Grandma was right. Several news vans, complete with satellite dishes, as well as several cars carrying curious locals and horse racing fans were parked all along the two-lane road outside the farm. Photographers with telephoto lenses on their cameras were targeting the main house and the barn where Biscuit was stabled. Many of the bystanders were using their cell phones to take pictures of the farm. Thankfully, Biscuit was away from the activity and safely ensconced in his stall, protected from the growing crowd.
~ ~ ~
Damn! Ian cursed to himself. There was no way he could hide his suspicions about the O’Reillys from Megan and the Gibsons now. What did Daniel expect him to do? Just as he completed that thought, Ian noticed a black SUV parked across the street from all the photographers. A man with binoculars was seated in the passenger seat looking toward the house.
“Ian, do you see what I see?” Megan asked.
“If you mean the black SUV, yes, I see it,” Ian replied.
Just then Daniel approached from the family parlor, and realized what the group had been looking at. “Stephen saw the same SUV and driver watching him riding Biscuit earlier today. I thought at first it might be the press, but these men don’t have cameras—all they have is binoculars.” He looked at Sarah. “I had hoped we would be able to outsmart the O’Reillys, but we’ve been betrayed. It looks like they’ve found us. I’m sorry, Sarah.”
Stephen entered the room. “Let me go talk to them, Dad. Maybe if I had gone to the Rusty Nail Pub instead of Megan, they might have decided to leave us alone.” He moved toward the front door, determined to confront the men in the black SUV they all believed to be O’Reilly’s men.
Megan stepped forward. “No, Stephen. Stop! Please believe me, there’s nothing you can do to change those men’s minds. They’re determined to force us to bend to their will. Please stay as far away from them as possible.”
Ian chimed in. “Megan’s right, Stephen. There’s nothing you can tell them that will change their plans. You need to stay here to be safe.”
“I agree with Megan and Ian,” Daniel added. “Please stay here and leave those men alone. We’ll find a way to spoil their plans, but it won’t be by fighting them face-to-face here. We’ll have to use our wits to outsmart them. That’s why Ian is here. He’s going to help us.”
“If you say so,” Stephen said reluctantly.
“Believe me, Stephen,” Megan said, “I found out firsthand how dangerous these men are. As much as I am glad I went in your place to the Rusty Nail, I am also glad Ian was there to protect me. Without him, I might not have returned to you and Dad.”
Stephen looked at Ian with a new respect, and Ian flashed a grateful look at Megan for setting Stephen straight about Ian’s involvement in the incident at the pub. He was also encouraged she had admitted she had stepped in to save Stephen purely out of instinctive prot
ectiveness without considering the risk she was taking.
Megan caught Ian’s gaze and quickly looked away. Was her behavior in taking Stephen’s place at the pub what Ian meant about transferring her protectiveness for Stephen to Ian? Was she trying in her own way to ensure Ian always would need her by trying to make him dependent upon her? She had much to think about. First, they needed to address this new threat.
Megan cast a worried look at Ian. So as not to upset her grandparents, she whispered, “What are we going to do? It’s Wednesday, and our flight back to the U.K. leaves Friday.”
Sarah looked at Walter, who nodded his approval. They didn’t appear angry or flustered in the least. “Not to worry, children. Walter and I have confidence that if we ask, our neighbors would be happy to help us deal with these criminals.” She looked at Walter, who cast the group a confident smile. “Let us handle this.”
Ian paused a moment to think. He definitely was not thrilled at the prospect of a group of inexperienced civilians taking on an international crime family. But he was a stranger in this country and didn’t have the resources at his disposal he would have in the U.K. Wait a minute. I do know someone who might be able to help.
“Before you make too many plans, I have an idea. Let me make a few phone calls.”
Ian looked to Daniel. “First, I have a question I need to ask you. If I can find a first-rate security company to guard your family and Biscuit twenty-four/seven until the St Leger Stakes race, would you be willing to pay for it?”
Daniel didn’t hesitate. “Of course. If you recommend them, I’ll certainly pay their price.”
“That’s all I need to know. Thanks.”
Racing Toward Love (Horses Heal Hearts Book 2) Page 15