He yanked off his top shirt, tearing it in two pieces and placing one over his face. He handed Laura the other piece. “Cover your mouth and nose.”
Panic began to rise in her at the worry she saw in him.
“We have to get out of here.”
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“The tractor exhaust is venting in under the door. It can cause burns to your eyes, skin and lungs. It can restrict our breathing and then...” He didn’t say the rest, but she could fill in the blanks. If they didn’t find a way out, they’d lose consciousness and suffocate. “Can’t you shoot the door open?”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea. I don’t want to spark any of the fumes.”
“Then what do we do?” she asked as fear lit through her voice. “How do we get out of here?”
“We’ve got to get this door open.”
His eyes blurred and his grip faltered. The fumes were already affecting him. Colton glanced at Laura and saw her grab for the cabinet. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m just a little dizzy.”
“It’s from the fumes. We have to get out of here before we both pass out.” He put his full weight into the door and rammed it with his shoulder once, then again. It didn’t budge. “I need something to take that knob off.” He fumbled through the tool bench, but his mind was already getting woozy. He was having difficulty thinking and he could see Laura was already growing weak and sleepy. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to get her out of there and quick.
He grabbed a crowbar, then stumbled toward the door. He pried it beneath the doorknob. This was going to be a race to see if they could get out before the fumes overtook them or else they were both dead.
He jammed the tool, then kicked at the door with his foot. He pounded again and again. Finally the knob gave and the door swung open. Colton grabbed Laura, who was already close to passing out, scooped her up into his arms and carried her out through the shop door. He waited until he was a few feet away before he breathed in the fresh, clean air of the day. Laura’s lips were already turning blue and she was lethargic. She needed oxygen and she needed it now.
He brought her to the truck and got inside, laying her gently on the seat while he jumped in behind the wheel. He had to get her to the hospital. He roared away toward the highway, then grabbed his cell phone from the holder and dialed 9-1-1, promising to meet the ambulance halfway between his ranch and the hospital.
“Hold on, Laura,” he pleaded, then gripped the steering wheel and said a silent prayer for her safety. He couldn’t lose her now.
He saw the lights of the ambulance before he heard the sirens. He slammed the truck to a stop along the side of the road and scooped up Laura again as the ambulance stopped. One paramedic opened the back doors and snatched the oxygen tank while the other grabbed the gurney.
Colton laid Laura on the gurney. The paramedic checked her oxygen level, then pulled the oxygen mask over her face and turned it on.
“The dispatcher told us what happened. How long was she exposed to the fumes?” he asked Colton.
“I’m not sure. Ten minutes maybe. We tried to cover our noses and mouths, but we also had to get out.”
“You were exposed, as well?”
He nodded and the paramedic approached him. “I should check you out, too.”
“No, help her.”
“We are. She’s being given oxygen. Now we need to examine you.”
Laura stretched out her hand and clutched Colton’s arm. He looked down at her. “Let them check you,” she whispered in a hoarse voice.
He obliged and allowed the paramedic to place an oxygen monitor on his finger, then strap a mask over his face as he sat in the back of the ambulance.
He watched Laura on the stretcher and noted the color seemed to be returning to her face. He imagined his heart was racing so fast that he wouldn’t be surprised if the paramedic insisted he go to the hospital to get it checked out. It was finally starting to beat normally. They’d come so close this time. Too close.
And now his mind was thinking back on the incident and wondering how it had happened and why. Had someone been waiting until they passed out to grab Laura? Or had this been an actual attempt to kill them both? He didn’t for one moment believe it was an accident. That door hadn’t locked on its own and the tractor hadn’t been running when Tony had left the shop.
He didn’t want to believe Tony was involved, but he couldn’t rule it out. Bitterness pulsed through him at the thought that a friend might have betrayed him. It took him back to the ambush in Afghanistan, to the initial discovery of finding out their translator had betrayed them all.
Colton pushed away the offer to ride to the hospital in the ambulance. He pulled off the oxygen mask, his head already clearer from the oxygen, and decided he would drive to the hospital in his truck.
He followed the ambulance, phoning Blake as he drove and asking him to go by the ranch to look for any clues about what had happened. After asking if they were okay, Blake assured Colton he would take care of it, then meet up with them later.
Colton disconnected and tried to push aside the headache that wouldn’t go away. He was more determined than ever to find out who was behind this attack. And he prayed his friend wasn’t involved.
* * *
Laura was starting to feel better. The oxygen was helping and she could see from the monitor that her levels were getting back to normal. But she was worried about Colton and she was scared. Trapped in that storage room, she’d faced the idea that those might have been her last moments.
She realized now how precious life was and didn’t want to waste it. Forgiving her father for the mess he’d made of her life wouldn’t be easy. But Colton was right that holding on to her bitterness wasn’t serving a purpose. Her life wasn’t better because of it. In fact, it was worse. She was tired of being so angry and longed to set it aside to live again. But how did she even do that?
Colton had said it was a choice he’d made. Could it really be that simple? Could she really choose to forgive her father? But did forgiving her father mean that she had to trust him again? She didn’t think she could ever allow him to be a part of her life again. She had to protect herself.
She thought of Colton and realized she had someone in her life she could finally believe in and he trusted God. If he could, then maybe she could, too. She closed her eyes and lifted an uncertain prayer toward Heaven.
God, show me how to forgive my father. Help my heart heal.
* * *
Colton saw the hospital doors open and Blake and Miranda rushed through. He was glad they were here. He’d been sitting and thinking for hours about the situation and he needed to bounce his thoughts off Blake.
“Where is she?” Miranda asked, concerned.
He motioned toward the door to the observation room and Miranda turned and went inside. He was glad for that, too. Laura and Miranda had hit it off and it was obvious Miranda cared for her.
“Hey, buddy, you okay?” Blake asked him.
He probably looked as bad as he felt, but Colton wasn’t about to share that information. “I’m fine,” he insisted, sitting.
“How long are you going to sit out here like this?”
“As long as they’re keeping Laura here. They’re talking about keeping her overnight for observation, but she’s insisting she’s fine and wants to leave.” He looked at his friend. “Did you go by the ranch?”
Blake nodded, then sat beside him. “I did. The storage room lock was busted and the door was standing open. The tractor wasn’t running any longer, but the shop stank of fumes. It probably ran out of gas. I opened the roll door to air it out.”
Colton straightened suddenly. “The roll door was closed?”
“Yes.”
“It was up when we carried the supplies into the shop.”
“Are you sure?” Blake asked. “Maybe this was just an accident.”
“No,” Colton insisted. “This was int
entional. That door didn’t just happen to lock. The shop doors didn’t just happen to close and the tractor didn’t just happen to turn on, venting exhaust fumes inside the room. This was no accident, Blake.”
“But I thought Randall wanted Laura alive. Why would anyone try to kill her that way?”
“I don’t know,” he retorted. “Maybe they were waiting for us to lose consciousness, then they would come inside, carry her out and hand her over to Randall.”
Blake rubbed his chin, unconvinced. “It seems far-fetched. You could have both died in there.”
Colton stood. “Tony was there. He was working on the tractor when we arrived. He said he was heading home, but he could have circled back and locked us in, then started the tractor.”
“You think Tony might be involved in this?”
Colton sighed. “I think anyone could be involved at this point, so I can’t rule out anybody. I don’t want to believe it, but Tony has only been with me for a few months and I don’t know what’s happening in his personal life. I need to talk to him.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Blake insisted, but Colton shook his head.
“No, I want to talk to him. I want to look him in the eye and see for myself if he’s being honest.” And he would know, Colton thought. He would know if Tony had tried to kill him.
But Blake was having no part of it. “I’m still the law in this town, Colton. A crime has been committed and it’s up to me to investigate it.” Colton started to protest again, but Blake gave him a sharp reminder. “This is my job, Colton. Let me do it. Your job, don’t forget, is to watch after Laura and keep her safe. That’s an important task and she needs your full attention now.”
He reluctantly agreed. Blake was right. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t confront Tony. He had to stay with Laura to make sure no one got close enough to hurt her again.
* * *
The doctor released Laura that same night and she spent the next morning stretched out on the couch with Milo either curled up beside her or asleep on the floor in front of her. She could see Colton needed rest, too, but wasn’t taking it. That worried her greatly. She hadn’t been the only one inhaling toxic fumes.
They heard a car approaching. Colton grabbed his gun and moved to the window, peeking out. He relaxed when he saw it was only Blake’s police cruiser. “It’s Blake. He went to talk to Tony last night and question him about locking us in the storage room.” He opened the door and let Blake inside.
“Well?” Colton demanded.
Laura sat up on the couch when Blake entered the house.
“Did you talk to him? What did he have to say?”
Blake looked at Laura, then back at Colton. “He was shocked when I told him what happened to you two. He seemed genuinely surprised. I also ran a background check on him and it came back clean. No trouble with the law. Not even a parking ticket. I don’t believe he was involved.”
Colton raked a hand over his face. She could see he was relieved Tony wasn’t involved, but she knew that left them back at square one.
“I have to say, he wasn’t too happy when I told him you thought he was involved.”
Colton nodded, seemingly unsurprised. No one liked being suspected. “I’ll smooth things over with him when he comes to work.”
“Did you really believe Tony was involved?” she asked him after Blake left.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I hope not, but I can’t be sure. I wish I’d been the one to go question him and I still intend to when I see him. Randall has proved that he and his money can buy off anyone. Tony was there, and for all I know, he could have a mound of debt that needs to be paid.”
“If that’s the criteria we’re using to suspect people, then Mrs. Greer has to be on your list, too. She said she has medical bills from her husband’s illness.” She was only teasing, trying to lighten the mood, but he took her statement seriously.
He nodded and sat beside her on the couch. “And she knows the alarm codes. She could have turned it off for the McGowen cousins to break in here.”
She shuddered. She hadn’t thought of that. “They still haven’t been found?”
“No. Blake and his men are looking, but they have hit a dead end so far.”
“So it could have even been them that locked us in the storage room.”
He sighed and leaned back on the couch, weariness touching his face. “It could have been. Truthfully, it could have been anyone. We should do some more target practice when you feel up to it.”
Although a gun hadn’t helped them escape the storage room, she still thought it was a good idea. “I’m a long ways away from being able to hit a target anytime I want, Colton.”
“I hope you never have to use it, but I prefer being prepared to being surprised.”
She stared at him, amazed by the warmth in his eyes and the kindness on his face. He reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face and the air seemed to thicken around them. She felt the rise of his heartbeat and the skin under his hand tingled as he tenderly stroked her cheek.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes, readying herself for his kiss. She didn’t even stop to wonder if she should allow him to kiss her. She only knew that she would.
It didn’t happen. His phone rang, interrupting their moment.
He glanced at the screen. “It’s your father,” he said. He quickly answered. “Bill, what’s going on?”
She saw his expression change to one of concern and confusion. “Bill? Can you hear me? Bill?”
Laura pulled the phone down so she could hear, too. All she heard were low, painful moans. Her stomach tightened. Something was very wrong.
“Dad? What’s happened? Are you okay?”
“Where are you, Bill?” Colton asked.
He still didn’t respond.
Panic rose inside her.
Suddenly the phone clicked off. Colton looked at her and shook his head and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was—her father was in trouble.
* * *
Laura couldn’t sit still and Colton couldn’t blame her. That call from her father had been ominous. He had no doubt that something had happened, but they also had no way of knowing where Bill was or how to reach him. Normally, Colton would have phoned an ambulance, but Bill had told them he was staying with a friend, so they didn’t even know where to send an ambulance. Colton had still called Detective Merle and asked him to send an officer to Bill’s apartment to see if he was there. That had been more than two hours ago and Laura hadn’t sat still since.
“Do you want something to drink?” He took the iced tea from the refrigerator and offered her a glass.
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
He set down the pitcher and walked over to her, stopping her pacing. He looked at her and rubbed her arms reassuringly. “Laura, you have to stop worrying. I’m sure he’s going to be okay.”
“Why hasn’t Detective Merle called back? It’s bad. I know it’s bad. We should have insisted Dad come here.”
“It wasn’t our decision, Laura. I did offer, but he’s a grown man and he makes his own choices. We couldn’t force him to come.”
She folded her arms and he saw anger settle on her face. “One more stupid decision. When does it stop, Colton? When do I get to stop paying for his mistakes? I’m a nervous wreck. It’s not fair that he can still do this to me.”
He gathered her close and gently stroked her hair when she rested her head on his shoulder. She was worried because she loved her dad, but she was right. It wasn’t fair that she had to suffer because of her father. He’d heard people suggest that distancing was the key to surviving, but he knew Laura was too kindhearted to cut her father out of her life. Even when he’d been at his worst, she wasn’t the kind of person to run away from a fight.
She jerked away from him when his phone rang. He picked it up from the counter and looked at the caller ID. “It’s Merle.” He pushed the button and plac
ed it on speaker. “Detective, thanks for calling me back. I have Laura here with me and you’re on speaker. Did you find anything?”
“I sent a uniformed officer to your father’s apartment, Laura, but he wasn’t there and there wasn’t any sign of him. However, I also checked with the local hospitals and a man matching your dad’s description was brought into the ER two hours ago.” There was a long pause. “He was severely beaten and found lying in an alleyway. He was transferred to the ICU. The victim had no identification on him, so I sent an officer to the hospital to confirm his identity through fingerprinting. Your father’s prints were on file from a previous DUI arrest. I am so sorry to tell you this...but it’s your father, Laura.”
Her chin quivered and Colton knew she was fighting to keep herself composed. Colton put his arm around her and pulled her close again. She felt small and fragile in his arms. He spoke into the phone, but he was looking and speaking to Laura as he answered Merle.
“We’re on our way.”
* * *
Laura was quiet on the drive to River City. Colton didn’t like taking her out in the open this way, but he knew she needed to be with her father. Being angry at him for the mess he’d gotten her into didn’t negate her feelings toward him. She was determined to go, so he was determined to protect her while she did.
He parked and walked with her into the hospital. He started for the information desk, but she kept going straight for the elevator. “ICU is on the fifth floor.”
He’d forgotten for a moment that this was her hospital. She worked here and knew the layout. They stepped into the elevator and he punched the button for the fifth floor. But when the doors opened, Laura didn’t move to step out.
After several moments Colton took her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered brokenly. “I don’t know if I can stand to see him like this.”
“You can do this, Laura. I’ll be right here with you.” He squeezed her hand and watched as she fortified herself for what was to come. She took a deep breath, then nodded and stepped off the elevator.
The waiting room was crowded and Colton was surprised when someone spoke Laura’s name, then several people spilled out to engulf her in hugs and kind words. She’d claimed to be alone except for her father, but he could see from this outpouring that wasn’t true. She had many people who cared for her, including a dark-haired woman dressed in scrubs who rushed to her and pulled her into a warm embrace.
Ranch Refuge Page 9