by Lisa Jackson
But Erin had moved off already, blasting through the tables, causing exclamations of surprise as she bumped diners and snagged the edge of a tablecloth.
Kat followed after her, ignoring Ruth’s, “Kat! Wait! She’ll call. Let her go.”
Kat ran after Erin onto the porch, but Erin yanked open the door to an older model Chevy sedan and threw herself inside. She started it up, and the engine coughed violently.
“Erin!” Kat called.
Without looking, Erin reversed in a U that faced her nose-out to the road. Kat memorized the license plate, as it appeared Erin was bolting. She was turning back to the door, feeling slightly defeated, when the blast of a truck’s horn shattered the air with a loud WWWOMMMMM. She looked back, and everything seemed to go into slow motion as Erin’s car leapt onto the road, directly in front of a Ford F1.
CRASH!
Shrieking metal. Erin’s car spun crazily. A scream of “OH NO” ripped from Kat’s own lips.
Then silence and steam rising from the radiator, and Kat was running to the scene, running to Erin, running …
Chapter 26
The next three hours passed in a blur. Patrons boiled out of the restaurant at the sound of the crash. Ruth was one of the first to reach Kat, who’d dialed 911 and learned that an ambulance was dispatched. The truck driver staggered down from his cab, more shaken than hurt. Kat wrenched open the driver’s door and checked Erin’s pulse. Found it steady, but she was unconscious. With Ruth’s help, she held people back until the EMTs arrived and Erin was pulled from the wreckage and placed on a gurney. The doors on the ambulance slammed, and they learned they were headed to the closest hospital, Prairie Creek.
“She didn’t want to go back,” Ruth whispered to Kat, stricken.
“She doesn’t have a choice,” Kat said.
“I know, but I feel responsible.”
“Yeah.”
Kat then called Sheriff Featherstone’s cell and told him what had happened. When he learned it was Erin Higgins, he said he would send extra officers to the hospital to protect her and that he would alert Bryce Higgins.
“Bryce knows his sister’s alive,” Kat said. “He’s been in communication with her from the moment she escaped her kidnapper.”
“All right, I’m on my way. Ricki’s with me,” Sam said.
“I’ll meet you there,” Kat said. Ricki and Sam had been dating for a while, and there was something about the way he’d said her name that resonated with Kat. What would it be like to have a partner you wanted to share your life with? Even though she was having his baby, she certainly couldn’t feel that way about Blair … could she?
The local police arrived on the heels of the EMTs and began interviewing everyone on the street, including Kat and Ruth, and it took another call to Sam to get free of the questions and be allowed to leave. Kat drove Ruth directly to the Prairie Creek Hospital, whereupon they were met by Sam, Ricki, and Ethan, whom Ruth had called on the way over. Ethan folded Ruth into his arms, and Kat found her throat tightening at the sight.
“I should have never asked her to meet us,” Ruth said for about the fifteenth time, sick with guilt.
“This isn’t your fault,” Ethan assured her, the same words Kat had uttered as they’d driven to the hospital.
And it’s not mine, either, she reminded herself. Though it sure as hell feels like it. “We gotta get this prick,” Kat said to her brother. “For Erin, for Courtney, for Rachel … and for Addie. It’s the same guy. I know it.”
“And for Ruth,” Ethan said.
“Oh yes.” Kat was grim.
Erin was taken to emergency surgery for abdominal injuries, but the hospital staff assured the sheriff that, barring complications, she would pull through. Then Sam and Ricki questioned Ruth and Kat in a private waiting room, while Ethan stood by. Kat brought them up to date on their meeting with Erin, and Ruth explained about how Erin, “Lily,” had called in on her hotline.
It was late by the time Erin was out of surgery. Ruth had called her mother, and her daughter, Penny, was staying the night with Ruth’s parents. She, Kat, and Ethan had gone to the cafeteria before it closed, and Kat had managed to keep down a cheese sandwich and a cup of vegetable soup. Her stomach seemed to be holding its own for the moment.
As they finished their meal, Ruth said, “I’ve always thought the rape was the worst moment of my life, but it could have been far worse. He could have taken me away too. Locked me up for years. Abused me countless times.”
“But he didn’t,” Ethan said.
“That’s right,” Kat reminded fiercely. She was filled with so much anger toward this monster. She wanted to get him. Make him pay.
“Because you and Shiloh were there to help save me. You saved me, and I’m one of the lucky ones. But what about the others. Erin and Courtney … Rachel and Addie? And now Erin’s fighting for her life. She never wanted to come forward. I urged her to. I pushed her.”
“Erin wanted to help too,” Kat reminded. “She made that decision. That’s why she met us today. You know that.”
“I know. It just doesn’t feel that way,” Ruth said on a sigh, and Ethan put his arm around her and drew her close.
Kat knew they would be heading home together, and it reminded her anew of her own screwed-up situation with Blair.
Don’t compare yourself to them. You’ve made a mess of things, but you’ll get it sorted out. You will.
With an officer planted outside ICU, who would then follow Erin to her hospital room once she was moved, Kat was satisfied that she would be safe. She stifled a yawn, and Ricki and Sam, and Ruth and Ethan, coupled up and left the hospital. Kat waited until they were gone and then followed after them, phoning her father, who was on another date with Goldie and seemed to be enjoying himself. Who woulda thunk?
But when she gave him the update, he said, “We need to get together and go over the case. I’m still trying to meet Bryce. I know you said Shiloh and Beau already talked to him, but now that we know he knew about Erin, I want it to be one of us who interviews him. He kept that secret a long time.”
“You want to meet tomorrow?” Kat asked.
“Tomorrow’s Sunday.”
Her father wasn’t one to attend church, but she sensed he was thinking about spending time with Goldie. And Kat felt all in. This pregnancy was taking its toll. “Let’s talk tomorrow afternoon,” she said.
“Good enough.”
She walked along the pathway that led back to her apartment. The night was hot, and she felt sweaty and weary. But as she mounted the two steps to her door, she felt a chill between her shoulder blades, as if hard eyes were staring at her. She whipped around, but there was nothing there. Not even a breath of wind pushing the branches of the trees at the edge of the small yard. Quickly, she let herself inside and closed and locked the door, drawing the chain. She stood for a moment in the silence, then because her stomach was starting to get fluttery again, grabbed some soda crackers from her cupboard and munched them down, then stripped off her clothes, dragged on her pajamas, and fell into bed, exhausted.
*
Erin Higgins was alive and at the Prairie Creek Hospital!
His heart pounded hard and fast, painful. Erin Higgins. That bitch. That sneaking whore. It was because of her that he’d lost Rachel. He’d had to hit her hard, over and over again, with the butt of his rifle once he’d gotten her off him that night. And then he’d jumped in his truck and driven down the dirt lane, enraged at Erin. She couldn’t run away. She couldn’t! She could identify him. Rachel had ripped his mask off, and Erin might have been gone by then, but she’d seen enough of him to know. He had to catch her, fuck her, kill her …
But she hadn’t been on the lane. She’d gone into the woods, and he’d searched but never found her. By morning, he’d had to go back and bury Rachel. If for some reason Erin made it through the forest, he had to cover up.
But she didn’t make it through. Weeks went by, and there was no sign of her. He’d started to
feel less panicked. She’d probably died out there. And then he’d found Courtney …
Katrina Starr and Ruth McFerron … they’d found her. And Shiloh was asking too many questions too. Those three!
His hands fisted in fury, and he had to fight to relax them. He was at The Dog, having a beer, and everyone was abuzz at the news. Hank Eames had taken a fall and was at the hospital and overheard, though they’d been trying to keep it quiet. “They think whoever took ’er’s going to come after her,” Eames said loudly. “That Ruthie thinks we’re all guilty!”
He’d learned as much as he could, his pulse racing, and then had headed out. He’d driven by Ruth’s place, but the bitch had been with Ethan Starr, so he went instead to Katrina’s, watching from the pines along the back fence, staring at her hard, until she suddenly turned back and stared right back in his direction.
You can’t see me, whore. But I see you.
He’d watched her lights go out, one by one, then had cruised by her door.
Feel me, bitch?
His boner was damn near painful in his jeans. Addie … he thought, wishing she would give him something. Anything.
But it didn’t matter. He would take her, but his mind would be on Shiloh, and Ruth, and Katrina Starr …
*
Kat slept hard, though she had to get up to relieve herself several times—another aspect to pregnancy she’d have to get used to, as she’d always been proud of her steel bladder. Still, it felt like she’d barely been asleep when there was a loud pounding on her door. Rolling onto her back, she groaned, staring up at the ceiling. Seizing a pillow, she pulled it over her head, covering her ears. It was way too early to rise.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Growling under her breath, she tossed off the pillow and stalked in her pajamas to her door, peering out cautiously. She made a strangled sound in her throat, then threw it wide.
Blair Kincaid stood on her small porch, in jeans, boots, and his Stetson.
And in one hand was the same kind of gold envelope that had been given to Shiloh and Ruth …
*
Blair took in Kat’s tousled hair, the satiny green pajama top and matching knee-length pants, the dark circles under her eyes, and the cautious, almost resentful, way she looked at him. It was six-thirty AM and he knew it was early, but he’d tried reaching her the night before to no avail.
Her eyes were focused on the envelope. “Where’d you get that?” she asked sharply.
He looked down at it. “It was sitting on top of your mailbox with just your name on it. I saw it as I went by.”
One hand reached for the lapels of her pajama top and held them tight. He smiled at the gesture, noticing her slim legs and small feet. Her toenails were a soft pink.
But her gaze was still glued to the envelope. She reached a hand for it, holding it so gingerly, he asked, “What is it?”
Instead of answering, she responded with, “Why are you here?”
“Well, you’ve been avoiding me, and we need to get past that. You’re pregnant. I’m the father. We gotta make some plans and—”
“Shhh.” She grabbed his arm with her free hand and yanked him inside. Her lapels parted, and the mounds of her breasts peeked over her pajama top. “Hold your voice down. This was on the top of my mailbox?”
“Yep. I take it you haven’t told your father yet.”
“It wasn’t there last night. Did you see anyone?” she asked as she shut and latched the door, drawing a chain across it.
He shook his head, mystified. “What the hell is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, Kat.”
She shook her head.
“Well, open it up,” he said. He wanted to put the issue of whatever was in the envelope to rest and get back on topic.
“I’d rather not.”
He lifted his hands in disgust. “Then let’s talk about the baby. Our baby.”
“I’m too busy to get into this now.”
“I know what you think of me,” he went on, ignoring her. “And okay, I probably deserve it. I’ve been—unreliable—and making this baby probably adds to that. But it’s time we addressed this issue. What are your plans? I mean, really Kat, what are they?”
“I don’t have any plans. I’m working on a case.”
“Give me a straight answer. This is my baby too. Are you keeping it?”
“Of course I’m keeping it!”
“That’s not what you said.”
She pulled herself up short. “I know. I didn’t mean it. I just … I don’t owe you an explanation.” She stalked toward the tiny kitchen and set the envelope on the table, then stared for a moment at the coffeemaker, before pulling out a bag of coffee grounds and a filter and filling up the carafe with water. “I’m going to make coffee,” she said unnecessarily, “and then I’m getting ready for work.”
“I heard about Erin Higgins.”
She whipped around in surprise. “How?”
“It was all over The Dog last night. Bryce had a lot to say.”
“Oh God. Bryce …” She shook her head as if clearing cobwebs.
“He seemed kind of pissed off. But it’s good that she turned up after all this time.”
“He knew she was alive.”
“He did?”
She nodded, then peered up at him quizzically. “How much do you know about Erin?”
“Just that she’s been missing, and she had an accident yesterday, and that’s when it was discovered who she was.”
“She came forward to Ruth and me in Wheeler City yesterday. I was there when she drove in front of the truck.”
“Jesus …”
“Luckily, it seems like she’s going to be okay.” She turned her attention back to the coffeemaker. “She was kidnapped and held against her will. Like Courtney Pearson.”
“That’s for certain?”
“That they were both kidnapped, yes.”
He slowly shook his head. “And this is the case you’re on? You shouldn’t even be working.”
“Oh, don’t go there. You sound like my father.”
“Then at least let me help you,” he said to the back of her head.
“No.”
“Why not? Because I was a screwup? Those days are over. Hunter didn’t think it would work out with me at the ranch, and I’ve been making damn certain to prove him wrong. I want to help you. I want to see you. What the hell do I have to do to get you to turn around and look at me?”
Kat was staring at the brown liquid dripping into the glass carafe with a concentration worthy of a surgeon. Slowly, she slid her dark gaze his way. Her body was as stiff as a board, and her expression was forcibly neutral. “I don’t care that you were a screwup.”
Blair’s brows lifted. It was, in its way, the most encouraging thing she’d said to him.
“But I don’t need a keeper, or someone telling me what to do.”
“That’s not what I’m about.”
“This baby is mine … and yours … ,” she admitted reluctantly. “But I’ve got to figure this out my own way. I’ve got to tell people, and … think about the future … and make plans.”
“So do I. Maybe make some plans together?” His gaze drifted down her lovely back and hips, and it was all he could do to keep from stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her. Instead, he stayed put and said, “I’ve done a lot of things ass-backward, so let’s make it one more. How about a date? Get to know each other. Stuff like that.”
“It’s too late for that.”
She slowly turned around, her fingers clasped around the edge of the counter. Blair looked at her, and she looked right back at him. Seconds ticked by. The huff and gurgle of the coffeemaker punctuated the silence. He reached forward and pulled an errant curl of her dark hair toward him, pressing it between his thumb and finger, his gaze focused on the trapped silky strands. Then he lifted his eyes to hers. “I want to kiss you.”
She stared at him. Was he imagining it, or had some
thing flared in her eyes, a fire to match his own? She inhaled shakily and said, “Okay.”
He dropped the strand of fine hair and moved his palm to the slope of her jaw. Her skin was satin. He ran his thumb pad over her lips, which she pressed together in a moment of restraint.
“Actually, I should—”
“No,” he cut her off. “Don’t think so much.” He kissed her lightly, and his hand slid downward over the green satin to cup her breast. He could feel the nipple through the smooth fabric.
She pulled back from the kiss. “No …”
“No?”
She laughed faintly. “This is how I got into trouble.”
“How we got into trouble,” he amended.
“How we got into trouble,” she agreed.
He looked down at her. He hadn’t imagined it. Her eyes shimmered with desire.
He leaned in for another kiss, and she lifted her mouth to meet his. And it wasn’t long before they were grappling for each other, struggling out of their clothes, dropping to the floor, her legs wrapped around his hips. She was as eager as he was, and with desire pounding in his head, Blair made love to her like it was his last moment on earth.
*
Brring …
The cell phone brought Kat out of her sex-induced stupor like an electric shock. They’d moved to the bedroom and made love a second time, and now Blair was stretched out beside her, his finger drawing desultory circles on her abdomen, his head propped on his other hand, his eyes heavy-lidded, watching her, that insouciant smile pasted to his lips.
She shot off the bed and ran to the kitchen, buck naked. Her cell was in her purse on the counter. The gold envelope lay on the table. She dragged her eyes away from it and pulled her phone out.
It was her father.
She didn’t take the call. Just carried her phone back to the bedroom, where Blair lay stretched atop her covers, also naked. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and the phone finally stopped ringing.
“You didn’t answer.” He gathered her into his arms, and she told herself to resist, but she went down to him like wax.
“I can’t talk to him naked.”