“Thank you, Miranda.” She choked back a sob. “I don’t know what I would do without a friend like you.”
She hung up, then packed her things. She was thankful to have found a good friend like Miranda. Experience had taught her that men couldn’t be trusted and that seemed to be proving true for her once again. People didn’t change. The men she let into her life would always let her down.
EIGHT
Colton went out to feed the livestock. As he was coming out of the barn, he saw Miranda’s car drive away but didn’t think anything of it until he returned to the house to find Laura missing.
He called her name, but she didn’t answer and his worry meter edged up a notch. Why wasn’t she answering him? Was there a reason she couldn’t?
He pulled his gun, then moved around the house, searching and clearing each area as he went. When he reached her bedroom, she wasn’t there, but he did notice her suitcase was gone from the bench where she’d placed it. He pulled open the drawers, but her things were gone.
It was clear she hadn’t been forced to leave. That explained seeing Miranda’s car pulling away so quickly.
He put away his gun and pulled out his phone, dialing Miranda’s number. No response. He dialed Blake’s and his friend answered quickly.
“I’m trying to reach Miranda. Have you spoken to her?”
“No, not today. Why?”
“I’m pretty sure Laura just left me and I think she’s with Miranda.”
Blake sighed. “I’m afraid that’s the least of your concerns today. I just got word that Joe Knox is dead. They pulled his body out of the river an hour ago.”
“He’s dead?” Fear ripped through Colton. If Knox’s cover had been blown, as it surely had been, then Laura was still in danger from Randall. They would have to find another way out of this mess.
“It gets worse,” Blake continued. “Chuck Randall is gone. FBI agents raided his home and his business and he wasn’t at either. His whereabouts are currently unknown.”
Colton’s heart dropped. Randall was on the run. He was now truly a caged lion on the prowl. But did he still have Laura in his sights?
Aside from the fear that ate at him over Randall’s unknown location, he was also devastated that Laura had left. It didn’t matter that he told himself he could never have her or that he had no right to fall for her, the truth was that he had fallen for her. And if anything happened to her because she’d left his protection, because she’d found out about his past and run, it would ruin him.
She had to be at Miranda’s, and it made him mad that she didn’t trust him, but also that she would place herself in a situation where she wasn’t fully protected. He needed to confront her face-to-face, to remind her of the danger she was still in and to somehow convince her this was all just a big misunderstanding and that she needed to return with him. He grabbed his keys and got into his truck.
He sped across town and roared into Miranda’s driveway, then pounded on her door. She might not want to answer his calls, but he was determined he wasn’t leaving until she opened the door.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to make that demand. Miranda opened the door after his first knock.
“Where’s Laura?” he demanded.
Miranda stood firm, her chin raised stubbornly, clearly determined to stand up for her friend. “She’s here, but she’s upstairs resting.”
“I just need to speak to her, Miranda.”
“She doesn’t want to see you, Colton.”
“Her life is in danger. I need to see her.”
“It’s okay, Miranda.” He heard Laura’s voice and looked up to see her listening on the steps. She walked down. “I’ll talk to him. It’s fine.”
Miranda shrugged and stepped aside, but Colton noticed neither woman invited him inside. That was fine with him. He’d stay outside if he needed to, as long as Laura listened to what he had to say.
She stared at him, her eyes cold and her arms folded defiantly across her chest. “Whatever excuse you’ve come up with, I’ve already heard it all before.”
“Whatever you think happened isn’t true. You remember that man who approached me at the hospital? He turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. I went to River City to meet with him. I know I should have told you, but I didn’t want you going back there. He was trying to contact me to let me know that the FBI is preparing to arrest Randall. He wanted to warn me to look out for him.”
Anger burned on her cheeks and in her eyes. She was hurt. She truly believed in her heart that she’d been betrayed. But she had no clue that he would never betray her. He would do anything to keep her safe...even if it meant letting her go.
“It was all a ruse, Laura. You have to trust me. It was all just a ruse to keep you safe.”
She shook her head and rubbed her temple as if trying to hold back a headache. “I can’t do it again, Colton. I’ve already been through this back and forth before with my father. I vowed I would never let my guard down again. I don’t know if what you’re telling me is true or not and it doesn’t matter because I know now that I can’t trust you.” Her voice caught and she swallowed hard. “Every time you’re not where I think you are or you say something that seems suspicious, I’m going to be right back in that place of disbelief again. I can’t go through it. I won’t live my life that way anymore.”
He shook his head, the sting of her words digging straight into his soul. “Laura—”
“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Colton, and that’s what makes this so difficult. I want nothing more than to fall into your arms and let you whisk me back to the ranch because it’s come to feel more like a home to me than my own home. But I can’t do it. I’m sorry. I won’t do it.”
Laura shut the door in his face before he could offer another protest, leaving him dumbfounded and standing on the porch uncertain what to do. She’d said she loved him and his heart wanted to whoop for joy, but it was tempered by the finality of her last words. She loved him, but she couldn’t—she wouldn’t—be with him.
He knew what he had to do. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t at his ranch anymore. This was just another location. He wasn’t abandoning her, though. Somehow, someway, he was going to keep her safe. She might not want his protection, but she was going to get it regardless. He’d made a vow to keep her safe and he intended to do just that.
* * *
Laura was torn. She was grateful for Miranda’s help, but she was devastated and heartbroken that another person in her life had let her down. Why did everyone in her life disappoint her?
Miranda entered the living room carrying a tray with two cups of steaming coffee. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Laura. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I feel as if I betrayed Blake’s confidence by telling you, but I thought you had a right to know.”
“I appreciate you telling me,” Laura said. “And thank you for letting me stay here.”
“Of course.”
Laura sipped her coffee, noting an odd aftertaste. It tasted bitter, but she assumed that was the creamer Miranda had used.
Miranda chattered on, but Laura found her attention waning. Her eyes grew heavy and her hand unsteady. She placed her coffee cup on the table and interrupted Miranda.
“I’m suddenly feeling very tired. I think I’ll go upstairs and lie down.”
“Sure,” Miranda stated.
Laura stood. Her head was woozy and she nearly fell back, losing her balance. She didn’t understand why she was suddenly so sleepy. She walked to the stairs and tripped on the first one, falling and landing on the steps. The room seemed to spin and her gaze faltered. What was happening?
She looked up to see Miranda standing over her, her face a haze of weird angles and distortions. Laura reached out to her.
“What’s happening to me?” she managed to ask.
In her delirium, Miranda seemed to be standing over her with a smile on her face. Her gaze was intensive but not at all worried. In fact, she appeared to be...gloat
ing.
A sudden realization hit Laura. Miranda had tricked her. She had been the one to tell her things about Colton. Were they even true? She’d taken her in, given her a place to stay and given her...coffee. With dawning horror, she suddenly knew exactly what was happening to her. She had all the symptoms—unexplained drowsiness and loss of equilibrium. She’d been drugged!
She reached out her hand to find something, anything, that could help her all the while angry at herself for believing Miranda’s lies. She’d distrusted Colton. She’d hurt Colton for no reason.
“He can’t help you now,” Miranda whispered as the room began to fade.
As if from a tunnel, she heard the other woman dial numbers, then speak to someone.
“I have her,” Miranda stated. “She’s at my house and she’s been subdued.” She rattled off the address and then finished with harsh words. “Don’t forget to bring my money.”
Laura kept struggling as the last vestiges of energy seeped from her limbs. She lay on the stairs, realizing escape was futile at this point. She’d been played. Betrayed in the worst possible way. She’d trusted Miranda and the woman had taken advantage of her.
She’d once again put her faith in the wrong person.
* * *
Colton slammed the door of the truck and got out at the sheriff’s office. The place was a buzz of activity, people running around grabbing equipment. They looked on high alert. Blake was shouting orders and referring to a map on the table as a group of deputies listened intently.
“What’s going on?” Colton asked his friend when the deputies scattered.
Blake pulled on his protective vest and checked his gun. “The FBI just issued a fugitive alert for Randall. He was spotted less than thirty miles from Compton and heading this way. We’re setting up checkpoints at all areas of entry into town.” He looked at Colton and obviously saw the discouraged look on his face. “What’s wrong with you?”
“She left me,” he said and Blake nodded knowingly.
“Miranda told me. I’m sorry, Colton. Miranda really cares about Laura,” Blake assured him. “Ever since they first met, they’ve become close friends. Miranda is always asking me about Laura and how we’re going to protect her. She’ll look out for her.”
“I shouldn’t have hidden my past from her. I should have been up front about it from the start.”
“If you had, she just would have left sooner.”
“I never lied to her. Never.” He scrubbed a weary hand down his face. “I just never told her the whole truth.”
“You’re wrong, Colton. You did lie to her. You misrepresented yourself and you know you did. And don’t give me that ‘who me?’ look. The truth is that you never thought you were good enough for her. You thought your past was something that had to remain hidden.”
“Given Laura’s situation, absolutely.”
“Well, you were wrong, my friend. She needed to know the real you and the real you includes your past, thorns and all.”
Colton shook his head. “She would only have left sooner and then Randall would have gotten his hooks into her.”
“You don’t know that. For all your big talk about trust, you didn’t trust her, either.”
He narrowed his eyes and a muscle flexed in his jaw. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t trust her to believe in you. You can’t see past your own mistakes to let Laura see the real you. You’re not perfect, Colton. Frankly, you’re hardheaded and more stubborn than any person I’ve ever known. But you’ve got so many great qualities, as well.” Blake shrugged. “Fact is, you can’t truly know a person unless you know the good and the bad about them. You kept a part of yourself from Laura and that wasn’t right.”
Hard as it was to admit, he knew the sheriff had a point. He’d been wrong to keep his past from Laura. But now she knew and look how she’d reacted.
“What do I do now?”
“What you vowed to do. Protect her. I have officers blocking the roads into town and I told Miranda to make sure the doors were locked and the alarm was set. The McGowens blindsided her before, but she knows how to protect herself.” He reached out and clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Trust me, she’ll keep Laura safe.”
Colton knew Blake was right, but every instinct demanded that he burst into that house and carry Laura back to the safety of the ranch, where he could keep his own two eyes on her. However, for once, he was going to listen to reason.
* * *
Laura heard sounds as consciousness seeped back into her. Before she opened her eyes, she realized she couldn’t move. Something was preventing her from moving her hands. She opened her eyes and saw that she was tied to a kitchen chair. Her hands and feet were bound with duct tape.
Her head was heavy. She knew it was from the drugs. Whatever Miranda had given her, she wondered if she’d given her too much.
Miranda was sitting at the kitchenette nonchalantly flipping through a fashion magazine and drinking from a can of cola. She looked up and saw Laura was waking. She sighed. “It’s about time you woke up. For a while there I thought I might have given you too much.”
“You drugged me,” Laura accused.
Miranda’s tone had a hint of annoyance as if she was bored with Laura stating the obvious. “Yes, I know. I’m the one who did it.”
“What did you give me?”
“Neurontin. Blake takes it for his back. I figured he wouldn’t miss a few pills.”
Her mind was a jumbled mess, but she wondered if Blake was in on this with Miranda.
“Why are you doing this?” Laura asked. She vaguely remembered Miranda on the phone before she’d passed out, talking with someone, telling them she had Laura and demanding money.
“It’s all about the money, Laura. I need it so I can get out of his backward, good-for-nothing town.”
“But you and Blake—”
“I thought I was going to marry a soldier and travel the world. But then the ambush happened and Blake came running back to this little hick town. And he expects me to live here with him for good. Can you imagine that?” She scoffed. “Me? Stay here? The only thing that’s been keeping me here is I haven’t had the money to leave. Now, thanks to you, I can finally escape this place.”
Her laughter was full of coarse bitterness that made Laura’s heart break for Blake. He had no idea the contempt Miranda held for him.
“Thanks to me?” She thought she knew Miranda’s plan, was horrified at what she was sure she knew was right. “What...what did you do, Miranda? Who did you call earlier?”
“Why, Chuck Randall, of course. He promised me a boatload of money to get you away from Colton.”
“You were behind it all, weren’t you? You turned off the alarm. You hired those men to come after me. It was all you, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. I realized quickly who you were. Mr. Sheedy—I believe you met him at the store the first day we met—is a client at my employer’s law office. I ran into him at the store that day and he told me all about the reward that was being offered. I confess I was curious at first. Then I saw how much the reward was. So I made plans with the McGowen cousins—also clients, as you know—to split the reward, but they messed everything up. Incompetents,” she hissed in disgust. “Finally I struck a deal with Randall. Assured him I could get you away from Colton. And so I did.”
Laura heard the sound of a car approaching the house. Miranda stood and glanced out the window, then smiled. “He’s here. I’m about to be stinking rich.”
Fear shot through her. “Miranda, you have no idea what Randall is capable of. Don’t you even care what he’s going to do to me? He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us both!”
Miranda leaned down, smiled, then tore a strip of duct tape and fastened it over Laura’s mouth. “Do you want to know what your problem is, sweetie? You’re a victim. You allow people to walk all over you. I make things happen. That’s the difference between you and me.”
Laura cou
ldn’t believe the coldness in Miranda’s eyes. She’d thought she knew her, but now she realized she’d never known the true woman. Miranda couldn’t care less what Randall might do to Laura. All she cared about was herself. Miranda was the true definition of selfishness.
A banging on the door caused them both to look up.
Laura’s heart raced as fear rippled through her. Randall was going to have her. He would force her to marry him and then in all likelihood she would be killed. Perhaps tortured first or kept prisoner, but eventually killed once Randall tired of her and convinced himself he could indeed have whatever or whoever he wanted.
Miranda rushed to the door and pulled it open. Laura tensed as Randall stepped inside. He spotted her in the chair and a sly grin formed on his face that sent shivers through her. She struggled to free her arms and legs, pulling against the tape.
“Welcome,” Miranda said. “Did you have any trouble getting here?”
“No, not much. The police were setting up roadblocks, but I managed to sneak through before they were completely established. Also, I had to take care of the officer parked across the street standing watch.”
He was talking about killing a police officer as if he’d just knocked down her mailbox instead of murdering someone. The man truly was a maniac. Laura’s mind went to Colton and she realized she would never see him again. The last words she’d said to him had been angry and bitter. She’d called him untrustworthy, but he wasn’t. She’d been tricked and now she might never see him again to tell him how wrong she’d been about him.
Fear lashed through her and Laura longed for the ability to scream as Randall knelt beside her. He reached out and stroked her arm. His touch felt vile and made her physically ill. She looked away from him to Miranda, who was still gloating over her brilliant plan.
“You did it,” Randall said and Miranda smiled.
“I told you I could get her away from Colton. It was easy.”
Randall stood and looked down at her. “Yes, you did. You did good. You accomplished what my own people weren’t able to accomplish.”
Her face turned hard. “Now, about our arrangement. I want my money.”
Ranch Refuge Page 14