by Rita Herron
A half a minute.
Dear God, please…
Finally he felt a small thump. Slow and shallow but she had a pulse.
Relief surged through him and he hugged her to him. “Kim, baby, you’re alive. Hang in there, I’ll call an ambulance.”
Slowly he eased her back down, then ripped off the end of his shirt, folded it and pressed it to her chest, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Then he reached in his pocket for his phone. But the click of a gun made him jerk his head up.
“No, you don’t,” Marty said in a steely tone.
Her eyes looked wild and crazed as she pointed the gun at Lucy’s head.
“Daddy!” Lucy cried. “Help, Daddy!”
His body stilled, and for a moment, he thought he’d die from the sheer terror of seeing Marty with that gun trained on Lucy. Then a cold numbness washed over him. He had to save Lucy and Kim, no matter what.
Even if it meant lying and indulging Marty’s fantasies.
KIM DRIFTED IN AND OUT of consciousness, the air around her smothering, the acrid scent of death pulling at her.
She was weak. Drained. Her mind spinning in and out of dark places. Then intermitent, sweet images of Lucy and Brandon coaxed her back.
Brandon’s voice whispered to her, urging her not to leave them. She’d felt his hands on her chest, her wrist, felt his arms around her, holding her, warming her, chasing away the chill of death.
And then Lucy…she was alive.
But she was crying.
Kim struggled to make her voice work, to call out to her daughter and reassure her that she would never let anyone hurt her again. That she wouldn’t leave Lucy without a mother.
Then Marty’s icy, sinister tone broke through the haze. Marty who’d shot her…
Kim wiggled her finger, clawing to get up and save herself. She had to fight to keep from disappearing into the darkness.
Marty was crazy. She wouldn’t let her win.
But suddenly she felt Brandon leaving her. She coughed, trying to call his name.
“Please, hold on, Kim. I have to save our daughter.”
His low voice penetrated her pain-addled brain, and she nodded. Or at least she hoped she did. But her limbs grew numb. She felt weightless as if she was leaving her body, drifting up into the sea of emptiness. She didn’t want him to go. Didn’t want to lose him again.
But she was dying. Holding on by a thin thread of light…watching the scene from somewhere above her body…
Her life didn’t matter if Lucy was in danger. Brandon had to save their daughter.
Then she was alone. Brandon was gone, and the voices grew distant.
But his words drifted to her through the haze of pain.
“I’m here, Marty,” Brandon said. “Just put the gun down and let’s talk.”
“Brandon,” Marty said softly. “You know all I wanted was a family with you.”
“We can have that now,” Brandon said. “Kim is not going to make it. I can see that. But you and I…we can have what we wanted all along.”
“Daddy!” Lucy cried.
“Shh, baby, trust Daddy. Everything will be fine.”
His words drove a knife through Kim’s heart. Had she imagined him holding her before? That kiss in her hair? Him telling her to hold on?
She felt herself floating again, at the same time sinking lower and lower into the well of darkness. Then she heard death calling her name....
Brandon was right. She wasn’t going to make it.
Tears burned her eyes as the weight on her chest grew heavier, and her breathing slowed.
Dear God…Brandon and Marty were going to raise Lucy together....
And she wouldn’t get to see her little girl grow up.
BRANDON FORCED A CALMING SMILE for his daughter, but Lucy’s little body shook with terror. Dammit, he wanted to pull her into his arms and protect her more than he wanted to live.
But Marty was obviously deranged, and he had to play along with her delusions until he could wrestle the gun away from her.
“Marty, sweetheart, listen to me. Please put down the gun.”
Angry desperation flared in her eyes. “You said vows to me, Brandon, not her.” She waved the gun toward the grave where Kim lay bleeding and barely breathing. Lucy tried to pulled away, but Marty’s grip on her tightened.
“Let me go,” Lucy cried.
“Not until your father admits that he loves me,” Marty said. “That we can all be a family together.”
They had never been a family. Their marriage had been more of a business arrangement than a romance, but he kept a leash on his tongue.
His lungs fought for a breath as he reached out his hand and slowly moved toward her. “You’re right, Marty,” Brandon said. “I did say vows and so did you. Now if you love me, you’ll put down the gun. You don’t want to frighten my daughter.”
“Our daughter,” Marty spat out. “We can raise her together, Brandon.” She ran a hand over Lucy’s curls, but Lucy cringed and leaned as far away from Marty as she could. “I always wanted a little girl, but you wouldn’t let me have one. And Boyd broke into Kim’s to get her, but you stopped that, too.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Brandon said in a low, soothing voice. “You know I was just afraid because of Joanie. But it was wrong of me to deny you.”
“Yes, it was,” Marty said, her hand wavering. “We could have had it all just like I planned.”
“Marty—”
“But no, Kim messed it up by going to that ranch,” Marty said in a seething tone. “I knew if you ever saw her in person, you’d realize Lucy was yours and you’d leave me.”
Brandon froze, ugly suspicions rearing themselves in his head. “You knew Lucy was mine? How?”
Marty pulled Lucy in front of her, stroking her shoulders as if she was trying to prove that she could be a good mother.
“I saw Kim going into the doctor’s office one day. I figured she’d try to seduce you back after you proposed to me, so I snuck into her medical files. And there it was. She got knocked up to trap you.”
That wasn’t true. If Kim had wanted to trap him, she would have told him about the baby, but she hadn’t.
“It doesn’t matter,” Brandon said. “All that matters now is that we keep our little girl safe. So put down the gun, Marty, then we can talk.”
“All I wanted was for us to have another chance, Brandon.” She glanced at Lucy. “I can be a good mommy, Lucy. I gave you my doll Mags so you wouldn’t be scared. I used to sleep with her when I was little.”
Lucy’s lip quivered as she threw the rag doll into the dirt. “I don’t wants your old doll. I want Lambie and Mommy and Spots.”
Lucy’s tirade triggered Marty into a rage. “You ungrateful little twit! Boyd would have hurt you if I’d let him.”
“You’re a meanie,” Lucy cried. “You hurted my mommy, and she’s the bestest mommy in the world....” Lucy gulped back a sob. “Just ask Daddy.”
Brandon inched closer, trying to telepathically tell Lucy to trust him. Then Marty looked up at him with tears in her eyes, and whirled the gun toward him. “I don’t want to hear about your precious Kim. She was always there, in our bed, in our house, in…your heart.”
“Marty, wait—”
“You never loved me, did you?” Marty said sharply. “You used me to get what you wanted, then you ran back to her and your bastard child!”
He didn’t give a damn what she said about him, but she would not bad-mouth his little girl. Giving Lucy a slow nod, he rushed Marty. Lucy stomped on Marty’s foot at the same time, and he knocked Marty’s arm upward. A gunshot fired into the air; Lucy screamed, then dove into the grave beside Kim.
“Stay down, Lucy,” he shouted as he and Marty fought for the gun.
Marty kicked at him and clawed at his eyes with one hand, but he swung his hand up and chopped at her wrist. She buckled in pain and released the weapon. It sailed through the air and landed at the edge of the embankm
ent.
Marty was like a wild dog, biting and kicking and screaming. She managed to wrench free and dove for the gun. He lunged for it at the same time, but she snatched it and swung it up toward him. He ducked sideways to avoid a bullet, then threw himself on her and knocked her to the ground. Using his body weight, he tried to pin her down and wrestle the gun from her hand, but she grabbed a rock and slammed it against his temple. The blow momentarily disoriented him and he fell sideways.
She took advantage of the moment and crawled away. She was heaving for a breath. “You bastard, you lied. You always lie!”
He pushed to his hands and feet, saw her backing near the edge of the drop-off to the river. Lucy’s cries echoed over the raging water.
“Stop it, Marty,” Brandon said. “You aren’t well. Let me get you help.”
“I don’t need any help,” Marty screamed, once again waving the gun. “I just want what’s mine, and you’re mine!”
She aimed the gun at Lucy again, and fury surged inside him. He charged forward with a bellow. “I’m not yours. I never was.”
He hit her so hard, she stumbled back and lost the gun. Rocks and pebbles skittered downward as her foot slipped on the edge. Marty screamed and threw her hands out, grappling for something to hold on to.
Brandon reached for her, but her arms pummeled wildly, and she careened over the edge into the river below. Her scream boomeranged through the air, hollow and chilling.
He raced to the edge and looked down into the water.
One second he thought he saw her body, the next she disappeared into the raging current.
Chapter Eighteen
“Daddy!”
Lucy’s cry tore Brandon away from the river edge, and he ran to his daughter. She was hunched over Kim, her face filled with terror.
“Mommy won’t move, Daddy,” Lucy wailed.
Brandon stepped down into the grave, lifted Kim, then carried her over to a giant oak and lowered her to the grass. Lucy scrambled behind him, then slumped down and pulled Kim’s hand between her tiny ones.
He held his own breath as he checked Kim’s pulse.
Low and thready, but still beating.
Thank God.
“Stay with her, honey,” Brandon said. “Keep telling Mommy you love her while I call an ambulance.”
Lucy nodded and swiped at the tears tracking her cheeks, then pressed Kim’s hand to her chest. “Pwease wake up, Mommy. Daddy and I loves you. You gots to wake up now.”
Brandon’s heart broke. Poor Lucy had suffered so much these last few days. She could not lose her mother.
He quickly punched 911. “I need an ambulance and the sheriff. A woman has been shot.” He gave the dispatch officer the address, then called Johnny to fill him in.
Johnny cursed. “Marty escaped?”
“I doubt she survived,” Brandon said. “She was never a very strong swimmer.”
“I don’t give a damn,” Johnny said. “How’s Lucy?”
“Okay physically. But she’s scared to death that Kim won’t make it.” Brandon’s voice cracked. “So am I.”
“Hang in there with her,” Johnny said. “She’s tougher than you think, and she has a lot to live for. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Brandon ended the call and prayed Johnny was right as he went to sit with Kim and Lucy. Kim looked so pale, her face ashen in the moonlight, her hands cold and clammy. Her breath was so shallow he could barely discern it, and she’d lost a lot of blood.
Lucy looked up at him with such trust that he pulled her into his lap and hugged her, then together they whispered loving words to Kim while they waited on the ambulance.
AN HOUR LATER, Kim was in surgery when Johnny rushed in with Rachel and her six-year-old son Kenny.
Lucy ran to him and Johnny swung her up in his arms and squeezed her hard. “Hey, pumpkin. You okay?”
She nodded, but tears blurred her eyes. “But that doctor made me go with him. I don’t wike doctors.”
Johnny and Brandon exchanged a silent look of understanding, then smiled gently at Lucy. “Doctors help us get better, Lucy,” Johnny said gently.
She nuzzled her head against his chest. “I know, but I don’t wike ’em.”
“Tombs held her at the cabin, so she had a TV and toys,” Brandon said, lowering his voice. “At least Marty kept her safe.” Until the end when she’d become so deranged she’d tried to kill him and Lucy.
But he didn’t want to remind Lucy of that terrifying moment. Not that she was likely to forget it. The psychologist who had interviewed Lucy said to expect nightmares, that Lucy might need counseling.
Rachel edged up next to Johnny while Kenny watched, wide-eyed and curious. “How’s Kim?”
Brandon clenched his fists. “I don’t know yet. She’s in surgery.”
Sheriff McRae suddenly appeared, his face a mask of granite as he strode toward them. “Woodstock?”
Brandon and Johnny both pivoted, and Rachel reached for Lucy. “Come on, sweetheart, why don’t I take you and Kenny down to the vending machine to pick up some snacks.”
Lucy glanced at Brandon, and he gave her a brave smile. “Go on, sugar. I’ll be right here.”
Rachel hugged Lucy and took Kenny’s hand, and they disappeared down the hall.
Sheriff McRae cleared his throat. Brandon had briefed him when he’d arrived at the cabin, but the ambulance had already arrived, and he’d left the sheriff to investigate while he accompanied Kim.
“We processed the crime scene,” Sheriff McRae said. “Fingerprints on Marty’s gun match ones we found in the house as well. And preliminary forensics confirms that it was the same gun that killed Boyd Tombs.”
“What about that blood at the cabin?”
“It was Tombs’s. Apparently your daughter bit his arm and he lost some blood.”
Brandon gave a small smile. “Good for Lucy.”
“So what was Marty’s story again?”
Brandon sighed and scrubbed a hand over his chin. “She claimed that Boyd shot Kim and that she tried to save her, that she shot Boyd in self-defense.”
“There was a shotgun inside with Tombs’s prints on it, but we didn’t find a gun on Tombs at the gravesite,” the sheriff said.
“So she was lying as I suspected,” Brandon said. “Marty was behind the whole scheme. She suspected Lucy was mine years ago, and snuck into medical records to confirm it.”
Surprise registered on Johnny’s face. “But as long as you stayed with Marty, she didn’t tell you or didn’t do anything.”
Brandon nodded. “When I asked for a divorce, she was afraid I’d go back to Kim. And then when we both wound up at the Bucking Bronc Lodge—”
“She knew you’d figure out the truth,” Johnny finished. “And the ransom request was just a ruse to make it look like a kidnapping for money.”
Brandon turned to the sheriff. “Did you find her body?”
“No.” The sheriff tugged at his belt. “We searched all along the riverbank, but nothing. No footprints or signs she’d climbed out of the water. We called in some dogs, so I’ll let you know.”
“What about the ransom money?” Johnny asked.
“We recovered all of it. Your ex had hidden it at the cabin.”
A mixture of sadness and anger filled Brandon. He had never loved Marty, but he had cared about her. He still couldn’t believe she had become so unhinged.
“I’ll let you know if we find her body,” the sheriff said.
“Have you contacted Marty’s father?” Brandon asked.
The sheriff frowned. “Yeah. He’s not taking it too well. He claims Tombs must have planned the kidnapping, and believes Marty was the hero.”
Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “She held a gun to my daughter’s head,” he said. “She was obsessive, and…crazy. She thought we’d just leave Kim there, and she and I would raise Lucy together. She was no hero.”
“She obviously needed psychiatric help,” Johnny muttered.
The sh
eriff nodded. “Well, it looks like it’s too late now.”
He just hoped it wasn’t too late for Kim.
Voices nearby made Brandon look up, and a female doctor approached. “Are you Kim Long’s family?”
Brandon and Johnny both waved her over.
“I’m Dr. Mervon,” she said, then shook each of their hands. “Miss Long made it through surgery all right. Although the bullet came within inches of her heart, it missed the major arteries.” Dr. Mervon paused. “The next twenty-four hours will tell. After that, she’s going to need lots of rest and TLC.”
Brandon heaved a sigh, and Johnny practically swayed with relief.
“She’ll have that,” Brandon said.
Johnny nodded. “Count on it.”
The next two hours dragged by while they waited on Kim to come out of recovery. When she was finally moved to a room, they were able to see her.
“Take Lucy first,” Johnny said. “She needs to know that her mom is going to survive.”
Brandon nodded and lifted Lucy in his arms. “Come on, sugar. Let’s go see your mommy.” He stroked Lucy’s hair from her forehead. “Just remember Mommy was hurt so she’ll be sleeping, and she has tubes in her, but those tubes are giving her medicine and air to make her feel better. So don’t be scared, all right?”
Lucy lifted her chin in a brave gesture, and his heart swelled. Still she clung to him as he carried her inside. Kim looked starkly pale beneath the hospital lights, the tubes and monitors beeping.
“Mommy?” Lucy whispered.
He eased Lucy down beside Kim on the bed, warning her to be careful not to pull out Kim’s IV.
Lucy curled up next to Kim and laid a hand on her mother’s cheek. “I loves you, Mommy. Hurry up and gets better so we can go home with Daddy and ride Spots and have more picnics.”
The doctor had stressed that they couldn’t stay long, so he told Lucy to kiss her mother good-night, then carried her back to Rachel and Kenny. He grabbed a cup of coffee while Johnny visited Kim.
When Johnny emerged, he looked worried, but marginally better. “If you want to take Lucy home, I’ll stay here.”
“No way.” Brandon gestured to his little girl, who was yawning as she cuddled next to Rachel. “Why don’t you drive them back to the ranch for the night? I want to be with Kim.” His voice broke. “I have to.”