Saved by the Rancher

by Jennifer Ryan

  “I thought you’d see it that way.” She smiled softly for him. She’d always liked Charles.

  “You’re a very brilliant woman. I’m sorry I didn’t see that before and use it to my advantage.” He gave her a smile and a hug. “I am sorry. I should have realized . . . Well, what is there to say now, but it shouldn’t have happened. Take care of yourself and the babies you’re carrying. Perhaps you’ll keep in touch and let me know how you’re doing. Maybe you’ll need my professional opinion and expertise in the future.”

  “I’ll be in touch. You can count on it.”

  Charles left with Mr. Jamison and Mr. Richards. They were setting up a golf date, if Jenna heard them right. Jenna nodded to Sam and he left the room.

  “You’re still here, David? Security will show you out. I’ll have your desk packed up and your things forwarded to you.”

  “Do you really think I’ll just walk away from this?”

  “You don’t have a choice. It’s done. I’m going home with Jack. Cameron and I run the company now. There’s nothing you can do about it. Follow your grandfather’s example and accept defeat like a gentleman.”

  “I’ll never accept this. You’ll pay for this, and you know it. You know what I can do to you. What I will do to you.”

  “David, go before you make things worse. Jack has sat quietly and patiently, even though he wants to rip you apart. He did that for me. If you don’t go, I’m afraid he won’t be patient much longer. It also appears Cameron would like to have his conference room to himself. I think the site of you offends him. It absolutely offends me. You make me sick. I hope you rot in hell for what you’ve done. Once that paper hits the stands, you won’t be able to go anywhere without the press hounding you. Maybe then you’ll know what it feels like to be hunted everywhere you go.”

  “I hate you, you bitch. Wait until I get my hands on you. I’ll make you pay.”

  She didn’t know what possessed her to keep pushing him, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Come after me and I’ll take away everything you have left. You won’t have a dime to your name when I’m done. Don’t believe me? Well, I took the company. That should tell you what I’m capable of.

  “By the way, I spoke with your wife this morning. She wasn’t very pleased by the newspaper left on her doorstep. I believe she mentioned something about moving back to her parents’ estate. She also mentioned something about marrying a monster. I told her she had my sympathies.”

  He tried to go after her, but Cameron and Jack blocked him from her just as Sam and two security guards walked into the room. Her bodyguards took up positions around her. Jack shoved David back. “Don’t even think about it.” The tightly controlled words conveyed his pent-up rage.

  Sam grabbed David by the arm. “Let’s go.” With the security guards, he led David to the door, screaming and threatening retribution all the way down the hall to his office.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  * * *

  “THANK YOU, GUYS. That was close. I thought for sure he’d take a swing at me.” Jenna took a deep breath and tried to settle her nerves. All this stress couldn’t be good for her and the babies.

  “He won’t get anywhere near you.” Jack gave her a reassuring smile, cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I’m so proud of you. You stood up to David and took over the company. You amaze me.”

  “Thank you, honey. I couldn’t have done this without you. I wouldn’t have wanted to.” She closed the distance and brushed her lips against his. A simple touch, it calmed and centered her again.

  Sam came back and took his position by the conference room door while Jenna and Cameron gathered their papers and got ready to leave.

  “Cameron, I want to thank you for your support and all the long nights you’re about to put in. Make me a list of potential board members and we’ll go over them. Let me know what kind of upper management changes you want to make, and who you want to move over here from Ortel. I’ve prepared a press release. Take a look at it, then send it out. We’ll get started on Monday via telephone and go from there.”

  “I’ll do all that, but first I want to say congratulations. You did it. I can’t believe all those things you said about David and what he’s done to you.”

  “I have twenty-seven stitches across my ribcage to prove it. They’re not as nice as the ones Jack put in my thigh several months ago, but they’ll do.” She smiled at Jack. “Let’s go home. I’m tired. It’s been a busy day and these babies are hungry.”

  Jack gave her a huge smile. “Oh, yeah. What do they want to eat? I’ll call the pilot and have him get dinner ready for us.”

  “Not airport food. This calls for a celebration. I want cake or pie. Ooh, ice cream. Chocolate.”

  “Sounds like the babies need a sugar rush,” Jack teased. He kissed her softly and patted her belly.

  “Cameron, will you join us?” Jenna asked.

  “I’d love to. I know this great place. Best bakery in town. Lines out the door. It’s called Decadence. I think we deserve a little indulgence after such a boring board meeting,” he joked. “You’ll love it. We’ll grab a bottle of champagne from the limo and celebrate.”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  * * *

  DAVID SEETHED WHEN security escorted him out of the boardroom. This was his company, his building. These people worked for him.

  He allowed them to walk him to his office where he promptly entered and shut the door in their faces. He headed straight for his desk and unlocked the side drawer. Taking out the gun, he held it up looking at the cold metal.

  She won’t get away with this. She’s not leaving this building alive. She thinks she can get away with ruining me. I’ll see her in hell first.

  He put the gun in his suit pocket and headed back to the office doors, where security guards waited on the other side to escort him from the building.

  He opened the door and turned toward the boardroom. “I just need a word with Mrs. Merrick before I go.” He increased his pace. He both hated and secretly loved calling her Mrs. Merrick. She belonged to him. And he’d show her she couldn’t betray him again and get away with it.

  She stood talking with Cameron just through the open doorway. Other men stood around, including that stupid rancher, but he only had eyes for her.

  His vision tunneled in on only her. His heart raced, his mind raged with all the anger and contempt he felt for her, for everything she’d done. He took the gun from his pocket, raised his arm toward her, and fired.

  Chapter Sixty

  * * *

  THE EXCITEMENT IN the boardroom was only overshadowed by the anticipation. They didn’t have long to wait. Sam yelled for everyone to get down. Jack pushed her from behind and shoved her to the floor, covering her with his body. Shots rang out. Someone cried out in pain. Jack cursed, snapping her out of her haze. She tried to look up, but Jack kept her head down. Two more shots rang out before everything went eerily quiet.

  “Jenna, are you okay?” Sam called to her from the doorway.

  “Fine,” she answered automatically, unsure about anything at the moment.

  “Everyone else okay?” Sam asked.

  All the men indicated they were fine, but she didn’t hear Jack among them. Jack eased his weight off her and slid aside. Cameron helped her to her feet and the two bodyguards flanking her made room for her to pass. Jack leaned against the wall, blood running down his left arm, a gun in his right. She flung herself against his chest and held on to him, unable to look through the doorway where the first shots originated.

  Sam was excellent at his job. In his background check on David, he’d discovered David’s gun permit. Using some of his less-than-reputable contacts from the FBI, they’d had someone break into David’s house and office to locate the weapon. David actually owned quite a few guns, only one registered, which he kept in his office, locked in his desk drawer. They assumed David would be in a rage before he left the boardroom, and his rage would make him pick up the g
un and come after Jenna. Provoking him was risky, but it was also the only way to end David’s terrorism.

  Knowing David would be volatile, she and Sam had sat in the office at the ranch planning what they’d do to prevent the inevitable. They figured David would probably try to get to her before she got back on the plane. She never thought David would come after her before she’d even left the boardroom.

  “What the hell were you thinking? You weren’t supposed to have a gun. I’m going to kill Sam,” she said and grabbed his lapels and shook him.

  “Later, give me a kiss.”

  She pressed her lips to his. Warm, alive, she thanked God he was alive. She helped him off with his suit jacket, revealing the deep furrow on the outside of his arm.

  “Looks like this time you get the stitches. Maybe if you need a pokey shot, Lily will give you a lollipop.” She gave him her most sugary sweet smile, even though they both knew she wasn’t happy about the situation. A tear slid down her cheek. “I could have lost you.”

  “Now you know exactly how I felt when he took you.”

  The relief overcame her fear. She pressed her forehead to his and took a moment to savor the closeness and the fact that they were both alive.

  She took a calming breath before addressing Sam. “Is David dead?”

  “Yes, just outside the door. Jack got him.”

  “I told you I’d kill that bastard.”

  “I never wanted you to have to live with this.”

  Jack shrugged it away, but she saw the conviction in his eyes.

  Sam was a trained FBI agent. She thought he’d handle this better than Jack. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

  “I’m only sorry I didn’t kill the fucker before he grabbed you at the ranch and hurt you.”

  “Jack . . .”

  “This is the only way. You knew it, even though you tiptoed around it with Sam. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

  Jenna pressed her forehead to Jack’s, understanding everything he said and didn’t say. Jack promised to keep her safe. The only way to do that was to take David out once and for all. With his military background, Jack knew any other tactic would only result in a longer campaign of terror. “You did this for me.”

  “I told you before, I’m selfish. I want you all to myself.” All joking aside, he said, “I want you to be happy. Above all else, I want you safe. I love you.”

  “The police are on the way,” Sam interrupted. “We’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Cameron, you okay?”

  “Fine. Thanks for giving me a heads up, by the way.”

  “Sorry. We weren’t sure he’d actually try to kill her. Well, we suspected it, but didn’t think it would happen while she was still in the building. Looks like his rage got the better of him, and he wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “Yeah, looks like it.” Cameron grabbed the lapels of his jacket and adjusted it over his shoulders nervously.

  Unsteady on her legs, Jenna walked out the doorway, everyone watching her. She stood looking down at the man who had hunted and terrorized her. It was over, truly over. Relief washed over her spirit, the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. She looked upon David’s lifeless body. He appeared peaceful. He must have been shot in the chest and fallen forward. She couldn’t see any blood and his eyes were closed. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body, but for a second she wished he’d suffered a fraction of the pain she’d suffered at his hands.

  She turned her back on him for the last time and went back to Jack.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  * * *

  THE POLICE ARRIVED and they spent hours in the conference room answering questions about why David tried to kill her. Every detail of the last two years was discussed along with her reasons for coming to the board meeting today with several bodyguards and an FBI agent in tow.

  “So he came back to kill you after you showed him today’s newspaper?” the lieutenant asked again.

  “Actually, Lieutenant, the newspaper is a fake,” Sam supplied.

  “What do you mean it’s fake? It’s supposed to come out today.” Jenna didn’t understand why Sam hadn’t set up the paper to be printed and distributed as they’d planned.

  “We knew David would try something, so I asked the paper to print this newspaper with the story on Jenna, but they won’t distribute it.

  “It isn’t necessary to expose you like this, Jenna. You’ve accomplished what you wanted, and there’s no reason to publicize the abuse you’ve suffered. Since you own the paper, I threatened you’d shut the place down if they didn’t keep this a secret.”

  She went into his arms and held him close. She hadn’t considered they could accomplish this without the paper going out. “Thank you, Sam.”

  “I see, so what Mr. Shaw said about you having a copy sent to David’s wife was incorrect?” the lieutenant asked.

  “I made David believe a copy was left for his wife this morning. I lied. I’ve never spoken to her, nor did I have a paper delivered to her.” Jenna had just been egging David on, hoping he’d make a mistake they could use against him. She never actually believed he’d end up dead.

  “So you provoked David?”

  “Yes. He pushed me. I pushed him back, knowing his penchant for violence. I warned him several days ago after he almost killed me to leave me alone, or I’d take everything that mattered from him. Today I made good on that threat by taking over Merrick International and firing him.”

  “So you’re saying this is simply a case of employee rage. You were using the bodyguards and an FBI agent as self-defense.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “There’s a lot more to the story. You planned for this eventuality when Mr. Merrick would snap and go after you, Mrs. Merrick.”

  Jenna didn’t say anything. Taking a page from Cameron’s book and remaining silent, she waited the lieutenant out. The less she said, the better the chance she didn’t incriminate herself.

  “There simply isn’t any evidence Sam or Jack Turner shot the man in cold blood. Mr. Merrick fired his gun several times into the boardroom, where you were standing. The pictures in the fake paper confirm David Merrick was a deadly threat.”

  Relieved the lieutenant saw things her way, she decided to get out of there before he changed his mind and took her in for more questioning. “If you’ll excuse me, we’re flying home. If you have further questions, you can contact my lawyer.”

  “You’re free to go, but I’ll be in touch until the case is officially closed.”

  Jenna nodded her agreement, walked past David’s grieving family, and left Sam to handle any further details with the police.

  JACK HADN’T NEEDED stitches, which annoyed Jenna just a little. She was always the one getting stuck with needles. Actually, she was relieved Sam and Jack were both okay. They boarded the plane, and after taking off they removed their bulletproof vests and settled on the couch for a much-needed rest. Jenna brought each of them a beer. She sat next to Jack and turned toward Sam and punched him as hard as she could in the arm.

  “Ow! What’s that for?”

  “Giving Jack a gun. What the hell were you thinking? He could have been killed. You got your brother shot.”

  “I didn’t shoot him. I gave him the gun so he could protect you and himself. He knew we were plotting behind his back. What’d you expect me to do?”

  “Honey, it’s not Sam’s fault. If he hadn’t given me the gun, I’d have brought one from the ranch. I wasn’t going to let David hurt you ever again.”

  “Instead, he shot you. You could have been killed. You’re lucky he has terrible aim.”

  Jack squeezed her to his side, kissed the side of her head and held her close. “Honey, calm down. It’s not good for the babies. It’s over now, and we don’t have to worry about him anymore. Sam will handle the police until they close their investigation. It shouldn’t take long. Then this whole mess will be behind us.”

  He was right, and she was
having a delayed reaction to the stressful and traumatic events. Snapping at him allowed her to let off steam and Jack understood. It was finally over.

  “We never got to have cake at Decadence. Now, that’s a great name for a bakery. I think next time we visit the city, we should definitely go there.”

  “Whatever you want, honey.” Jack kissed her head and held her close. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, finally able to sleep, free of the suspense of wondering if David was out there, somewhere, hunting her.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  * * *

  Six months later . . .

  UNABLE TO SLEEP, Trixie, full-grown, engulfed the space at her feet, making Jenna uncomfortable. Jack lay at her back with his hand on her thigh and his breath soft in her hair at the back of her neck. Sally, completely healed and vibrant as ever, lay down the length of his legs. The two babies, that had been putting up a fuss for hours now, swelled her belly to capacity. A piercing pain in her lower back wouldn’t go away. Nervous and excited, she got out of bed to stretch and walk, hoping to calm the babies and ease the nagging pain.

  She managed to get out of bed without waking Jack. He was used to her getting up several times a night to pee. Neither of the dogs stirred more than enough to cozy up to Jack. She knew exactly how they felt. Who wouldn’t want to be snuggled up against all that strength and warmth.

  She headed to the bathroom to take care of her overtaxed bladder, and then went to the closet to dress. She settled on a loose-fitting turquoise dress and slid her feet into a pair of black flats. She went to the bed, leaned over, and shook Jack’s shoulder to wake him.

  “Jack, honey, wake up. It’s time to go.”

  Jack didn’t budge. She shook him harder, pressed a hand to the small of her back, and breathed shallowly through the pain as her abdomen contracted. “Jack. Wake up. It’s time to go.”