In the distance, she could see two men come into the room and watch from the doorway. They crossed their arms to watch, but said nothing. She opened her mouth to call for help before remembering they were with Elijah. They wouldn’t help her.
She squirmed in a desperate attempt to get air. “I might not be pretty, but I still need to breathe,” she choked out. “And that’s not a good reason for taking me hostage.”
There was snickering in the background. Elijah glanced back before his grasp loosened. Not much, but just enough for her to catch her breath. Blossom still clung tightly to his arm while she pressed her back into the wall as much as possible to try and get some air. She felt light-headed even as she tried to keep her wits about her.
There has to be something I can do here.
“Don’t worry, we don’t really want you,” Elijah said at last. “You’re not the one we want. It’s Chester.”
Blossom stiffened, forgetting her need for air. Of course Chester was at the heart of this. But she didn’t understand what he meant. “What? What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll see soon enough,” one of the men, Henley she had learned his name to be, piped up behind Elijah.
Their leader glanced back with a sour look, which shut them up. Then Elijah turned back to her with a snarl. It made her think of a wolf with all his scars and angry gaze. “Chester hasn’t made this easy, so why should we? He’ll come to save you, and then we’ll deal with him.”
She blinked. “Save me?” Blossom shook her head. “No, he won’t.” They hadn’t heard Chester the other morning tell her how he wanted nothing to do with her. Just remembering the way he had spoken to her made her shoulders slouch. “He wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t care. All of you wasted your time.”
“Aw, did you two have a lover’s quarrel?” one of them twittered.
Blossom frowned. “No, he just said he doesn’t want to see me.”
Someone laughed at her. “What a shame. Who knew that our little Chester could be so cruel?”
Even Elijah glanced back with a grin. “It was about time he learned how to play the game. Better late than never.”
The men made several more comments that left them all laughing. But Blossom didn’t understand. Her face heated up in shame and confusion because she didn’t understand the jokes.
She was still standing there as Elijah let go of her. He dropped his arm down to his side as the other men in the room nudged each other playfully before they burst out laughing. Blossom felt like they were laughing at her, but she couldn’t be certain.
But she did grow tired of it.
“Is that all?” she asked them impatiently. “Don’t you have better things to do? I told you, Chester said he wanted nothing to do with me. That’s why I was leaving him yesterday and walking home when you all so rudely attacked me.”
It was Elijah who turned back to her first. Any sign of merriment was wiped clean off his face as he narrowed his eyes at her with a thin-lipped expression. “Nothing to do with you? Of course he wants nothing to do with you. He’s done enough to you, hasn’t he?” Then a sly look spread across his face.
Blossom gulped but she couldn’t bury herself any further into the wall. She bit her lip as she tried to think of a response to that question. “What- what do you mean?” she stammered.
“Well,” he shrugged casually, “It’s because of him you don’t have a mother. Didn’t he tell you? There’s a reason he lives in your town. A gang attacked you and your mother five years ago. Not just any gang, of course.” Elijah glanced around at the men before turning back to her with a wicked gleam in his eye. A nauseating feeling spread through Blossom’s stomach as he strolled back over to her. “That was us. Or more particularly, I suppose I could say, that was Chester.”
Blossom’s legs shook as she tried not to faint. A soft buzzing sound took over her ears as she tried to find her heartbeat. But she couldn’t hear anything. She couldn’t think about anything.
All she could recall was how Chester had mumbled about his past in a gang and how he needed to escape his horrible past. And how, after she had shared her story with her mother, he refused to see her again.
“No,” she started in disbelief. But then she fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands. The pain of the past returned with renewed heartbreak. This can’t be true.
Tears escaped between her fingers before she knew she was even crying. “No!”
There were footsteps as the men left. She heard the door lock between her sobs and then she was left alone. Blossom curled up into a ball as she cried. The emotions spilled out of her helplessly as she thought about her mother, her father, Chester, and her life. She thought of her fear and her bravery and her hope and her pain. Instead of holding it all in, Blossom finally let it out.
And then when it was done, she collapsed in a heap and slept.
Blossom dreamt of nothing for long hours before waking up in the middle of the night.
Moonlight streamed through her small window to remind her she was still on the floor. Her throat was sore and every part of her ached. There was cold, stale bread in the corner for her with a water canteen.
She had slept through most of the day. Crawling over to the other corner, she sat up to eat and drink. She washed her face and still felt numb.
There wasn’t much for her to do. The room was small and no matter what she did, the building would creak. She hated that sound. It made her nervous.
The men would move around, as well, and the building would creak all night long. It would even creak with the wind, which made her nervous. The entire structure could collapse on them at any moment. But they didn’t care for what she had to say.
Though Blossom wanted to think over what had happened, her heart still hurt. So she crawled onto the cot and slept until morning.
It was then, sitting in the small patch of sunlight, that Blossom started to think over what she had been told. She prayed long and hard to the Lord over what had happened. In her mind, she recounted her conversations with Chester.
She thought about how they had talked about his attempts at learning about God. How much he wished he could learn to read the Holy Bible.
It devastated her to think that Chester had killed someone, especially her own mother. That’s why he would have made her leave the other day without explaining why. He was trying to spare her the pain.
But why would he have bothered to spare her that pain? It didn’t make sense. If he was the type of man to kill someone, especially someone like her mother, Blossom reasoned, then he would have confessed to it and told her.
Which meant he couldn’t have killed her mother. She went around in circles for hours as she considered the possibilities. The pain hurt, but she wanted to understand.
She needed to understand.
One day turned into another. Soon it had been four days since she had been kidnapped and Blossom struggled with the hours of loneliness. Though she tried to invite the men to talk with her, they would ignore her. They were under strict orders not to talk unless Elijah gave them permission to do so.
In turn, it gave her plenty of time to think about what had happened. She thought of what Elijah had said.
I won’t believe that liar or anything he says.
Whether Chester saved her or not, Blossom decided at last, she couldn’t believe that Chester killed her mother.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chester’s Offer
Days were beginning to pass and Chester didn’t know what to do.
That first evening had left Mr. Everett in a state of worry so severe that Chester worried that the man would give himself a heart attack. Remembering how they had met when the man was in a weakened state, he had insisted that Blossom’s father get some rest while he stayed out to keep an eye out for her.
“She could still be with a family friend,” Chester had suggested at the time. “She knows it’s late and doesn’t want to leave in the dark. I’ll keep an eye out a
nd stay nearby in case she makes it home first thing in the morning.”
But she hadn’t made it home the next morning.
Chester and Patrick Everett, as they had soon come to a first name basis, started talking daily to search for the missing Blossom. Though her father was still skeptical about trusting him, Chester was doing all that he could to show that he cared.
He was talking to everyone in town. It was hard when folks preferred to ignore him or make snide remarks, but he still tried. Then he was making sure that Patrick still ate and that the Everett animals were still taken care of.
Chester only returned to his house once to pick up supplies which he moved into the Everett shed to hold onto so he could take better care of everything there.
Yet no matter what he did, he couldn’t find Blossom.
There weren’t any clues anywhere. It was as if she had vanished without a trace. Though he had taken that trail around the outskirts of Livingsfield time and time again, Chester couldn’t find any signs that were distinctive enough to lead him anywhere in particular.
Patrick closed school for the rest of the month as he looked around town to try and talk to the townsfolk as well. Chester tried to get the older gentleman to rest, but he could be rather stubborn.
Where could she be?
Chester paused in the grove of trees for the hundredth time. He took one small step after one small step as he wondered if he had missed something. Though he had tried praying for guidance, nothing had helped him. It was hard not to feel frustrated. A dark sensation hung heavily on his shoulders and he kept wondering if he had missed his chance to fix everything.
I shouldn’t have made her run off. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t, then she would still be here. Not wherever else she is now. She would still be safe with her father. I could have been kinder and gentler with her. If only I could have done things right.
He ruffled his hair as he tried to think. Searching the area, he looked through the sunlight and shadows for ideas. But all he kept seeing was her face as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
The last words he had said to her had been so cruel. Chester regretted them horribly. She deserved so much better than him. If he ever saw her again, then he would spend the rest of his life apologizing to her. No matter what, he just wanted to make sure that she was safe and happy. That’s what she deserved.
Dropping his hand, he shifted as his shoulder twinged. He was still wearing the sling. Every day had been so focused on searching for Blossom that he didn’t have time to spend on healing his body.
The wound didn’t bleed much and he supposed he was still healing, but the shoulder still throbbed at night.
He shifted uncomfortably before taking a step forward.
“I guess next time I shoot you, I’ll have to aim a little closer to the heart, eh?”
Chester whirled around to find Elijah leaning against a tree.
His eyes widened as he stumbled back in disbelief. His heart thudded before he jumped into action. There wasn’t time to wait. Elijah was still there. That meant he had been there all along, watching and waiting. Chester couldn’t take this game of cat and mouse any more.
His nerves were done with this. He tensed his body as he ran.
He didn’t have a gun, but he was still strong. Even with an injury, Chester felt he might be able to wrestle Elijah down. The man had never fought him before and he knew it was because Elijah didn’t like to start a fight he wasn’t positive he couldn’t win.
Chester froze as Elijah pulled out his gun.
“Don’t even think about it,” Elijah demanded. “We have some talking to do. Let’s go.”
His chest heaved as he stared at Elijah in confusion. “Talking? What makes you think I want to talk? It’s been five years, Elijah. I’m not interested. I’ve said everything I wanted to, all right?” Chester inhaled deeply as he straightened up. “No. I’m done. You know I don’t want anything to do with you. I’m done. Done, you hear?”
Elijah raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you understood me. I never said you have a choice.”
“I walked away once,” Chester gritted his teeth, frustrated he had to put up with Elijah in the middle of this while searching for Blossom. “I could do it again. But I have more important matters to attend to now, all right? So you should just go.”
The pistol in Elijah’s hand was put away. But he didn’t move otherwise. “Fine. But it’s a shame, because Blossom was looking forward to seeing you again.”
Chester stiffened. “What did you just say?”
Elijah tutted innocently. “Oh, did I forget my threat? Right. I meant to say, ‘You’re coming with me now, or Blossom is going to get hurt.’ That’s better.” He offered a sharp smirk. “Now, Chester, what do you have to say to that?”
His mouth dried up as he tried to understand what had just been said. Chester’s mind scrambled. Am I imagining this? Is that where Blossom has been all this time? Kidnapped? A sickening feeling made its way throughout his body.
Chester blinked, wavering as he tried to think about what had just been said. “I... You?” he asked hoarsely. “You took her? How dare you!”
“Me?” Elijah barked a short laugh. “No, how dare you! You know no one leaves. I told you that you would pay! Now are you coming or not, Chester?”
He didn’t have a choice. It took him a minute to constrain his emotions. Chester’s chest heaved for several moments before he felt comfortable enough to take a deep breath and then nodded. “Fine,” he rasped. “I’m coming. Take me wherever you want to go. Let’s go.”
He stepped closer to Elijah. “About time,” the other man scoffed. “I’ve been waiting days for you to figure out where we got off to. Figured I would just come out and bring you to us.” The two of them started off down the road. They followed it for several yards before veering into town.
Elijah led them through random streets in town with their heads ducked. It tempted Chester to grab someone’s gun or knife as a weapon. But he couldn’t do that. If he did, then he would never find out where Elijah was keeping Blossom. He didn’t know what else to do but follow and obey.
Even as they talked, Elijah found additional ways to mock him along the path.
“Watch your step,” he would say. “I know how often you stumble over nothing.”
Elijah chuckled as they walked past the school house. “We considered having you tied up like we did for Blossom. But we realized that it would take forever to get you up here in this direction, so we decided not to. You’re still crippled enough as it is.”
Then he added, “We really thought you would be smarter than this. But even Blossom had no faith in you. And speaking of your special girl, she won’t be happy to see you. It turns out, women aren’t happy when they discover that their lovers are the ones who murdered their mothers.”
Chester had stayed quiet over all that Elijah had mocked him over for the entire walk. It had been long and tedious, especially with someone as cruel and annoying as Elijah. He had been able to deal with everything. But this last mention was out of line and false. Enraged, he stopped short and glared at Elijah.
“What did you just say?” he demanded harshly. “You told her what?”
“You did it, didn’t you?” Elijah asked innocently with a smirk. “It’s so disappointing. Women just don’t like it when they lose their mothers. I’m afraid it won’t be the reunion you were expecting. But what could we do? We had to keep her entertained somehow for this long.”
Chester could have strangled Elijah right then and there. He wanted to do that more than anything.
But he forced himself not to. Instead, he took a deep breath and inhaled deeply. He tried to swallow the rage as he tried to take a deep breath. Stay calm, he told himself. Elijah was just trying to get a rise out of him. That’s what he was always trying to do. He had almost forgotten.
Clenching his hands into fists, he took a deep breath. He shook his head and looking up, found an old abandoned buildi
ng before them.
They were close to her. Blossom was nearby, he could feel her. Chester ignored Elijah’s mockery and started looking around. He paid close attention to the old, ramshackle building.
It looked like it was falling apart from the inside out. That worried him if she was trapped inside.
He was led in through the back, along a wall and a large hole in the ground because the stable looking front was boarded up too tight to get in that way.
The entire building creaked. The first time, it made him flinch. Elijah didn’t seem to care. But it set Chester on edge and made him uncomfortable. Once or twice was understandable. But this happened with nearly every step. The place was just waiting to fall down. He didn’t like that Blossom was kept in a place like this.
A Deal with the Cowboy’s Tangled Heart: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 23