by Anne Patrick
"That's okay. I'm going to run to the hardware store and get two more cans."
"Are you sure you don't want me to go?" Mallory offered.
"Nah. I'll pick us up some sandwiches for lunch while I'm in town. What do you want?"
"Turkey and Swiss with chips and pickles."
Jamie went downstairs and grabbed her purse from the kitchen and searched it to make sure she still had the paint swatches. Thankfully, she hadn't thrown them out.
Just as Jamie got in her SUV, her cellphone rang. She dug it out of her purse and saw it was Tamara calling. "Hey, I've been meaning to call you. Were you able to line up an interview with Officer Williams?" She hadn't thought to ask Cade about it Saturday.
"Last week. It made it in the entertainment section. It was the best she could do."
"That's fine. Nathan and Tommy were able to squash the story. I meant to call and tell you, but I've been pretty busy. I appreciate you doing it, though."
"No problem. Just don't forget our deal."
"I won't," Jamie promised. "Is everything going okay?"
"Pretty much. Did you get the script Tommy sent you for the new Ted Campbell movie?"
"Yeah, but I haven't finished it yet." So far Jamie liked it. It wasn't a Christian film, but there was no gratuitous violence or strong language.
"I thought you were auditioning for it this week. That's what his secretary said."
"I am. Friday." Jamie just got the email confirmation from him last night. "Is there anything else I need to know about?"
"Nope. I have to say, I'm really enjoying your vacation."
Jamie laughed. "Good, because I'm thinking of taking you up on your offer to be my roommate."
"What! Are you serious?" Tamara squealed. "Jamie, do not tease me."
"When is your lease up?"
"I think I still have four or five months. You're not kidding, are you?"
"No, I'm not. I'm flying out on Wednesday and we'll talk about it. In the meantime, check your contract and see how much it'll cost you to break the lease. I'll cover whatever it is."
"I will. Are you okay, Jamie?" Tamara's voice took on a serious tone.
"I've never been better, Tamara. I'll see you Wednesday."
As she left her drive, she thought about her talk with Gage Saturday. He had taken her news better than she had expected, which gave her hope that things were going to work out for them. With Tamara as a roommate, Jamie could still keep her home and not have to worry about getting a house sitter when she was out of town.
Jamie was nearly to the highway when a truck came up behind her. She was doing fifty on the gravel road and he rode practically right on her bumper. "What's this joker trying to do? Just pass if you're in that big a hurry."
She slowed and waved him around. The truck passed her and then swerved in front of the Tahoe and slammed on its brakes. There was no time to react. The front of Jamie's SUV crashed into the back of the flatbed truck. Pain shot through Jamie's chin and nose as the airbag deployed. Stunned, several seconds passed before Jamie gathered her senses and reached for the door handle. Through the glass, she saw a burley man walk toward her.
It was Ed Bryer.
And he had a handgun pointed right at her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Gage pulled into Greensburg and called Cade and asked to meet him at the PD. Cade arrived a few minutes after Gage. "I need to have a look at your file on Ricky Drayton."
"It isn't much." They walked into the station together. Gage told him about his visit with Lucy Jennings that morning.
"This Bryer sounds like a real piece of work. Tossing an old lady down the stairs. That's just cold-blooded."
"Oh, I'm afraid he's done much worse than that."
Gage looked over what Cade had gathered on Ricky Drayton. Angela Drayton died in a car accident three months before James Riedel's murder. That put Ed at around nineteen and Ricky at seventeen. Is that when Ed learned who his father was? Had Ed gone to James and James denied responsibility, and that's what set off Ed? Gage recalled the confrontation Jamie mentioned at her father's law firm. It was a good possibility. Ed had a beard and mustache now and he was much older, which would explain why Jamie didn't recognize him when they ran into him at the movies.
"So you're thinking Ed Bryer is James Riedel's illegitimate son?" Cade asked.
"Yeah. Mrs. Jennings confirmed Angela was married to Jack Drayton, only she didn't know who Ed's father was. I think Ed found out James was his dad after his mother was killed, and when Ed confronted James about it, and James wouldn't own up to it, Ed lost it."
"Sounds feasible. How are you going to prove it?" Cade asked.
"Good question. You didn't get a hit on any of the prints you ran from the wrench or jack?"
"No. If it was Ed, since you say he has a record, he must've been wearing gloves. Is there any way you can link the missing money to him?"
"All the withdrawals were cash. Besides, I don't know if there's a connection there yet." He still didn't believe Rita Riedel was capable of hiring someone to kill her family, especially if that man turned out to be her husband's illegitimate son.
"Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with," Cade said.
"Thanks. I will."
Gage was almost to Jackson Ridge when he got a call from Derek. "I've checked all over town, and I can't locate Ed."
Uneasiness settled in the pit of Gage's stomach. "Have you checked the salvage yard?"
"That was the first place I checked. His wife said she hasn't seen him in a couple of days."
"Keep looking." As soon as Gage hung up, he called Jamie's cellphone. It went straight to voicemail. He then called Mallory. "Why isn't Jamie answering her cellphone?"
"Beats me. Maybe she has it turned off."
"She isn't there with you?"
"No. She ran into town for more paint."
Gage drove to the hardware store. There was no sign of Jamie's black Tahoe. Figuring he just missed her, he headed out of town toward Jamie's house. Just off the highway, Gage spotted her SUV sitting halfway in the ditch. He pulled beside it and saw the frontend damage. He turned on his emergency lights and got out to have a look. The driver's side window was shattered. Jamie was nowhere around. Peering inside, he saw a bullet hole in the passenger side glass. He didn't see any blood, so that was a good sign.
Gage reached up to his shoulder mike and radioed dispatch. Lord, please let me find her in time. Watch over her and keep her safe until I can get to her.
***
Jamie's heart continued to race and her ears still rang from the gunshot that barely missed her head. Handcuffs pinned her wrists in front of her, the metal digging into her skin. She glanced over her shoulder at Ed, who walked behind her several steps with the pistol pointed at her back. He had parked on the logging road that ran along Mr. Porter's cornfield, and they'd been on foot since.
"You're making a horrible mistake, Mr. Bryer. People will be looking for me. You won't get away with whatever you have planned." Jamie had known the moment he forced her from her SUV that Ed was the man they'd been looking for all along. She just didn't know why.
"You'll be dead and I'll be long gone by the time that happens, Jamie."
What possible reason would he have to kill her father and want her dead? "Why are you doing this?"
"With all your snooping around, I would've thought you had that figured out by now. We have the same blood running through our veins."
"What are you talking about? There is no way we are related."
"You think your dad was a saint. Well, he was far from it. He had an affair with my mother, and when she got pregnant, he abandoned her."
She stopped, turned, and glared at the man. "That's impossible. My father would never do something like that."
"Just shut up and keep walking."
Jamie did as he said, praying eventually God would provide an escape route for her. No one knew where she was, but hopefully, they would find her car s
oon and know she was in danger. She knew this road led to Emerald Mountain, and she had a hunch his destination was the cabin where Dwight had taken her. She didn't want to think about what might happen once they got there.
Jamie thought of what he said about her father. What he said to her fourteen years ago after he stabbed her. "You got Ricky Drayton to lie for you at Dwight's trial. How . . . how did you know Drayton?"
"He was my stepbrother. He'd do just about anything I asked, as along as I took care of him."
"An innocent man died in prison for you."
"Yeah, well, that's life. Dwight shouldn't have tried to save you. If he'd just minded his own business, he never would've been blamed for it."
"And Ricky, did you kill him too?"
"He was a loose end. Just like you."
"Well, your mother must've lied to you. My dad wouldn't have abandoned his own child." That was one thing Jamie was positive about.
"Oh, he made sure I was taken care of. Instead of fessing up to his sin, he just paid my mom off for the next nineteen years to keep her mouth shut."
Jamie remembered the bank statements. It never occurred to her to look further back. Is that how her mother found out about the affair? Is that when she started drinking? It was all starting to make sense now.
"After my mother died, I tried to get the same deal, but he refused. Said he didn't care anymore if the truth came out. What the fool doesn't know is that I got my payout anyway."
"You blackmailed my mother?"
"I guess you could call it that. She paid me not to kill you."
Oh no. So that's where all the money went. She didn't abandon me, she sent me away to protect me. "You're a despicable animal."
A sinister laugh sent chills throughout her body. He was evil in every sense of the word. Jamie was tempted to lash out at him but knew if she did he would have no qualms about shooting her. She had to be patient and wait for the right opportunity to escape.
***
Gage ran as fast as he could through the woods. Branches tore into his exposed skin, but he didn't care. There was only one thing on his mind. Jamie. He prayed the shortcut onto the mountain would get him to the cabin in time to save her. His instinct had to be right, and that was where Ed was taking her. Gage had backup on the way, but he wasn't about to wait for them.
He couldn't lose Jamie. Especially not like this.
A spring-fed creek lay ahead. Gage leaped over it and kept running. His legs felt like rubber; his arms, hands, and face burned from the numerous cuts, and his heart raced so fast it seemed like it could come out of his chest any moment. He slowed briefly to check his GPS location and then veered to the right. Up ahead he saw what was once a trail. He stopped and listened, heard voices in the distance. Gage continued on the path several more yards to a clearing.
This was it.
The overgrown weeds and brush had recently been cleared from the front of the cabin, leaving gouges and drag marks in the dirt. Gage hid behind a Spruce and waited.
"Ed, I'm sorry my father treated you the way he did. Maybe you're right. I didn't know him as well as I thought I did. I haven't done anything to you, though."
"If you'd left when I told you to, neither of us would be here now."
Gage stepped out, his gun drawn. "It's not too late to do the right thing, Ed."
Ed Bryer spun around, facing Gage, but continued to point his .45 at Jamie. "I didn't give you enough credit, Hansen. Judging from the way you look right now, you must've taken the shortcut."
Gage inched forward. "Let her go, Ed. She's done nothing to you."
"One more step and she's dead. Now drop your gun."
"All right. I'm putting it down." Gage lowered his weapon to the ground.
"You shouldn't have come here, Hansen." Ed looked at Jamie then Gage. "Two things are going to happen here. I'm going to put a bullet in her head, and then shoot myself or you do it for me. Either way, we both die. The lineage of James Riedel ends today."
Ed's prediction would come true if Gage didn't do something fast. He looked at Jamie and then to the ground beside her, to the hoe lying in the dirt. He faced Ed again. "Guess that means you're gonna have to shoot me first."
"Gladly." Ed swung the gun around. Jamie grabbed the hoe and sank the blade into Ed's back as he fired.
The bullet struck Gage in his left shoulder and spun him around, dropping him to one knee. The searing pain almost caused Gage to black out. He couldn't feel his left arm.
Ed stumbled, trying desperately to reach the hoe stuck in his back. Jamie rushed forward and snatched up Gage's 9mm just as Ed raised his .45 pointed right at her.
"Look out!" Gage warned.
Jamie swung around. Fired off two rounds, each hitting their target. Ed fell backwards onto the ground. Gage hugged his left arm to his side and clambered to Ed. Gage grabbed the .45 still in Ed's grasp and tossed it aside before checking for a pulse.
"Is he dead?" Jamie asked.
"He's still breathing." Ed had two chest wounds, though. He'd be awfully lucky if he lived. Gage took his cellphone from his pocket. The hand on his wounded arm barely worked, but he managed to call dispatch, requesting two ambulances. He glanced up at Jamie. She still held the gun in her bound hands and she had grown pale. "You didn't have a choice, Jamie."
"I know. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Thankfully, he isn't as good a shot as you."
Jamie engaged the safety and slid the gun into his holster, then helped him to stand. "You look terrible. Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm going to be fine." He removed his keys from his pocket, and using his handcuff key, he removed the restraints from Jamie's wrists, then wrapped his good arm around her and held her tight. He didn't care about the pain. Only that she was all right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jamie couldn't take her eyes off Gage as he slept soundly in his hospital bed. Thankfully, the bullet had only hit muscle. There was still a chance of infection, and he had at least three months of physical therapy ahead of him, but the doctors said he should regain full mobility in his shoulder. Another prayer answered.
Ed Bryer, unfortunately, died on the operating table. Jamie wasn't quite sure how she felt about his death. If she had the choice of going back to that moment, when she pulled the trigger, she wouldn't change anything. There was nothing she could've done differently. Ed had taken her back to that cabin to kill her. He shot Gage. He killed her dad and Ricky. Blackmailed her mother. And, according to Cade, pushed Lucy Jennings down her stairs.
She had a more difficult time accepting what her father had done, and the lengths to which her mother went to protect Jamie. Instead of turning to God, or even getting a divorce, Rita Riedel had chosen to bury her sorrow in alcohol. And when her husband was murdered for his infidelity, she paid the killer his ransom and sent Jamie away to protect her. Jamie didn't know why her mother didn't just go to the police and tell them everything. Whether it was out of shame or fear, Jamie would never know. None of that really mattered now. Jamie knew with God's grace, she would be able to forgive them both and move on with her life.
"Hey, gorgeous," Gage spoke in a raspy voice. "Why aren't you in L.A?"
"I postponed my meeting. I'm flying out in two of weeks."
"You didn't need to do that, Jamie. I'm fine. I'll be out of here in a day or two."
"I know." She reached over and held his hand, careful of the IV. "I just didn't want to leave you."
"What about your audition?"
"Tommy rescheduled it. He flew in this morning and is staying at the house."
"Have you talked to Derek? Did everything go okay with your statement?"
"Yes. I also talked to a state trooper and the district attorney. And Tommy gave my statement to the press. There are a couple of news station vans camped out in front of my place, and more in front of the hospital."
"I was afraid the media would be all over this."
She smiled. "I wasn't going to give a statement, but
Tommy thought we'd better get out in front of it. It's not every day a movie star shoots and kills their abductor."
"Like I said, you didn't have a choice."
"I understand that, but not everyone will. It's just something I'm going to have to live with. I can't help what people think. We know what happened, and so does God."
"So have you decided what you're going to do with the house yet?"
Jamie had a hunch he already knew, but she still had a couple of surprises in store for him. "I've decided not to sell."
"Oh yeah?"
"If I'm going to make Jackson Ridge my permanent home, I've gotta have a place to live."
"Are you serious?"
"That's just what Tommy said. He really blew his cork when I told him I bought a theater here."
"You didn't. Really?"
"Nothing is final on paper yet, but Mr. Williams did accept my offer." Jamie grinned. She never knew she could be this happy. "I'm going to need a handyman to fix up the place, though. You know, get rid of those sticky floors and such. Can you think of anyone who might be interested in helping a gal out?"
"I might be interested, once I heal up . . . and if the price is right."
Jamie rose from her chair and gave him a long leisurely kiss. "How's that for a down payment?"
"Lady, you've got yourself a handyman." He laughed. "What about your home in Malibu?"
"I'm keeping it. My friend, Tamara, will be moving in next month and she'll keep an eye on the place. It'll be our vacation home. You're going to love it. Views of the ocean from every room."
"Excuse me—ours? I don't believe I've proposed yet."
"Call me hopeful. I have about eight weeks to convince you I'm the perfect woman for you."
"Babe, I knew that a long time ago."
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne Patrick is the author of more than a dozen novels of Romance, Mayhem & Faith, including the award-winning and best-selling Wounded Heroes Series, Fire and Ash, and A Familiar Evil. When she's not working on her next novel she enjoys spending time with family and friends, and traveling to foreign countries to experience new cultures and adventures. She makes her home in Kansas. To learn more about Anne, please visit her website: http://www.annepatrickbooks.com. She loves to hear from her readers!