Rancher's Dream

by B. J Daniels

  Having seen the house, Hawk didn’t believe there was a room where the man could be hiding. It would have to be large enough for the man’s ego. Which meant, if it existed, Ethan Baxter could be very close by. It made sense, given that his car was still parked in front of the house, the last place Drey had seen him was in the house and the FBI was watching the house and hadn’t seen him come out.

  The thought gave him the creeps that Ethan was in there with Drey and had been watching them all this time. Then again, the whole place and the man who built it did. It was so sterile and cold. The house he and Drey had planned to build when they got married was an old farmhouse style with a wide front porch and lots of bedrooms for all the children they were going to have.

  He told himself that it wasn’t too late. Damned if he wouldn’t get her back. He hated to think of the lost years, but he wouldn’t let any more time go by than he had to, he told himself.

  Showered and dressed, he headed for his pickup. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of this before. Of course there would be a secret room in that house. A panic room. A man like Ethan Baxter would have one, Hawk was sure of it. But where was it? Maybe a whole secret area where a person could hide out and not be detected.

  Harvey Construction had an office uptown in one of the old bank buildings. The business specialized in more modern design and had built several of the newer buildings downtown in the past five years. So it was no surprise that the Baxter house was one of the first ones they’d taken on when they’d opened their doors.

  Damon Harvey sat behind a huge desk in a large open room. Several other employees from architects to drafters and construction workers were busy in other parts of the first-floor office.

  Hawk had met the six-four blond, blue-eyed Viking-looking Damon only once. But when he walked in the door, Damon remembered him.

  “Hawk Cahill,” the man said, rising from his desk to come around and shake his hand. “What brings you off the ranch?”

  “I was hoping you could help me,” he said. “But it is kind of a private matter.”

  “No problem.” Damon asked the others to step out for a coffee break and lock the door behind them. “So what can I do for you?” he asked as he motioned Hawk into a chair in front of his desk before taking his own.

  “Baxter house. You built it, right?”

  “We worked with Ethan Baxter on it.”

  Something in the man’s tone told Hawk that it hadn’t been easy working with Ethan. “I need to know if you put in any kind of secret room, possibly underground.”

  Damon raised an eyebrow.

  “I only ask because I’m afraid a friend of mine is in trouble. It’s a long story... I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t very important.”

  The owner leaned back in his chair as if giving it some thought. “You can’t ask Baxter?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “What about his wife?”

  “Between you and me? She is living in the house alone right now and has had some...strange, frightening things happening. I suspect there is a way for a person to come in and out of that house without being noticed.”

  Damon chewed his lip for a moment. “We did most of the work on the house, but Ethan had already brought in a crew out of California for the bunker.”

  “Bunker?”

  “Used to call them bomb shelters.”

  “How is it accessed?”

  “Now that I don’t know. Baxter saw to all of that along with the one carpenter he made sign a nondisclosure agreement about its location and operation.”

  Hawk let out a curse. “How many people know about this bomb shelter?”

  “Only the California crew who put it in and my carpenter who constructed the secret access panel, but he moved to Florida last year. Baxter didn’t want anyone else on the job to know about it. He was that way about most every part of the house. I can give you the carpenter’s name, but I doubt he’ll talk to you for fear of Baxter retaliating. I only know about it because my carpenter hated working for the man and kind of feared him. So much so much that he quit on me and left the state. He was a damned good carpenter. I was sorry as hell to see him go.”

  “Wouldn’t the plans have to be on file in the building department in order to get permits?” Hawk asked.

  But the man was already shaking his head. “It’s county. So this was outside of that.”

  “So we aren’t talking one of those old 1950s’ bomb shelters,” Hawk said. “We could be talking—”

  “A billionaire bunker.”

  “What is that?”

  “You ever meet Ethan Baxter?” the man said. “Only the best for him.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  DREY SWUNG BY the hotel to pay Bobby for his help later that afternoon. She’d spent the day trying to keep busy by running errands all over town and having a late lunch with Lillie.

  “Not sure what your interest is,” Bobby said after she slipped him a twenty, “but I overheard her and her...boyfriend...saying they would be checking out tomorrow.”

  So whatever they had planned was going down today, Drey thought. “Thanks for your help. You have my number if there is anything else you think I might be interested in.”

  “Like dinner?”

  “Probably not.”

  He grinned. “All a guy can do is try, right?”

  It was late afternoon when she finally put together somewhat of a plan. She climbed into the SUV and put in a call to the sheriff, then Hawk and asked them to meet her at their ranch.

  “Whatever Jet and Lena have planned, it’s going down tonight,” Drey said when they had all gathered. She quickly filled them in on what she’d learned from Lena—and the valet at the hotel.

  “Now that they know you’re onto them, you definitely can’t go back to that house,” Hawk said.

  “How else am I going to find out what they’re after?” Drey argued.

  “I don’t like it either.” Flint spoke up.

  “Well, if you go back there, I’m going with you,” Hawk said.

  “You know that won’t work if Jet and Lena are the ones watching the monitors.”

  “Or Ethan,” he said. “I’ve been doing some investigating, as well.” He told them what he’d found out at the contractor’s office. “I think Ethan is hiding out in the bomb shelter. It’s perfect since he went to a lot of trouble so that no one knew about it. Possibly not even the FBI knows about it.”

  “What are you suggesting?” Flint asked.

  “Find the entrance to the bomb shelter and you’ll find Ethan Baxter.”

  The sheriff shook his head. “Even if he is hiding out there, he has every right. It’s his house. But that’s not why you want to bust him, is it?”

  Hawk looked at Drey. “No. If Baxter is hiding in his bomb shelter, then his wife needs to know about it. She needs to know that he’s been watching her all this time on surveillance equipment.”

  Flint raised an eyebrow. “Let’s just think about what he’s seen so far, if that is the case.”

  Drey held up a hand. “Ethan can’t be the one monitoring the surveillance system. It’s got to be Jet. We saw his laptop when we searched his room.”

  Hawk didn’t look convinced. “We need to know one way or the other.”

  “You’re talking about tearing up his house to find the entrance to his bomb shelter,” Flint said. “I repeat, so far the man hasn’t done anything illegal. But the two of you are treading damn close. Start damaging that house and you’re looking at jail time, not to mention Ethan Baxter suing you into next week.”

  “If we shut down the surveillance equipment,” Hawk was saying, “he’ll show his face.”

  “Or know that you are onto him and run,” the sheriff said.

  “Run? Not if the only way out of that bomb shelter is through that house and
we’re waiting for him,” Hawk shot back.

  “And what about Jet and Lena?” Drey asked. “At this point, they are more of a threat than Ethan.”

  “We don’t know that Ethan isn’t in cahoots with the two of them,” Hawk reminded her.

  “Both of you seem to have forgotten about the FBI,” Flint said.

  She sighed and turned to Flint. “I want to talk to the FBI. I want to help them put Ethan behind bars if that’s where he belongs.” Both Flint and Hawk looked as if they were about to argue. “We have to end this before Jet and Lena do. Maybe it was a mistake telling Lena that I found the surveillance equipment. I told her that I’d turned copies over to the sheriff and FBI.”

  “There wasn’t anything on the videos that we could have used anyway,” Hawk said.

  “But don’t you see, now that Jet knows, if he’s the one who’s been monitoring the house, he will erase all of the videos,” she said. “It will prove that he’s the one behind all this. And since so far, he hasn’t done anything illegal...”

  “What bothers me is what Jet is after,” the sheriff said. “He knows you’re onto him. So why not run? After you called, I checked. He’s still registered at the hotel—and so is Lena Franklin. Whatever he’s after in that house must be something he needs desperately.” He looked at Drey. “Desperate people can kill.”

  “It could be the money, I suppose,” she said.

  “That’s why she isn’t doing this alone,” Hawk said. “Don’t worry. I’ll wait until it’s dark and sneak into the house. Jet won’t know I’m there because when you get back to the house, Drey, I want you to pull the plug on the surveillance equipment. Jet will have to go in blind.”

  “What about the FBI?” Flint asked.

  “I guess we’ll find out if they’re watching the house,” Hawk said, making his brother cuss under his breath.

  “No,” Drey said. “Let me talk to the FBI. It’s the only way.”

  * * *

  “I KNOW DIERDRE HUNTER,” Flint was saying into the phone with the FBI agent. “She was part of our family growing up. She was dating my brother Hawk all through high school and college. I’m convinced that she knows nothing about Ethan Baxter’s business. However, since she married him and moved into that house a few days ago, someone has been trying to gaslight her. His brother, Jet—or Ethan himself, if as you believe, he’s still in that house. But Drey hasn’t seen him since their wedding night. He never came up to bed.”

  She watched the sheriff listen to whatever the agent was saying to him, only occasionally nodding or saying “Okay.”

  “Yes, she can go to my sister’s house...Yes,” Flint said, looking over at her. “I can give you my word she won’t leave town...Yes, you have her full cooperation, as well as mine and my department’s.” He disconnected and looked over at them.

  “The FBI is going to raid the house first thing in the morning. I told the agent that you would go stay with Lillie,” Flint said to Drey and then looked at his brother. “They don’t want either of you around when they make the bust.”

  “But Ethan’s not there,” Drey said. “All they are going to find is an empty house. And I can assure you, Ethan isn’t the type to hide out in some bomb shelter all this time.”

  The sheriff shrugged. “Then that’s all they’ll find. But we’ll know for sure that Ethan isn’t in there. After that, they’ll want to talk to you, Drey. I told them you would cooperate and that you would be at Lillie’s. Don’t make a liar out of me.”

  “So I can’t even go by the house to pick up a few of my things?” she asked.

  “No, and if you try to contact Ethan to warn him—”

  “You know me better than that, Flint.”

  “But you can see how any phone call could be misconstrued—”

  “Of course. I’ll go straight to Lillie’s, I won’t talk to anyone but her and Trask and TC, the baby. I promise.”

  “I know,” the sheriff said. “That’s why I stuck my neck out for you.”

  “So you’re going to be part of the raid?” Hawk asked.

  Flint nodded. “Just as backup.”

  “Does this mean it will all be over?” Drey asked.

  “If Ethan is anywhere in the house or on the property, he will be arrested, if that’s what you mean,” the sheriff said.

  “And if not?” Hawk asked.

  “A warrant has been issued for his arrest so I would imagine they will continue to look for him.”

  Drey groaned. “And if they don’t find him?”

  “They might find evidence or a lead where he might be,” Flint said. “Maybe they will get lucky and tie this all up quickly.”

  That didn’t sound very hopeful, she thought. “What about Jet and Lena?”

  The sheriff shook his head. “If they do come to the house for whatever reason, at least you won’t be there.”

  “But what if they find whatever they’re after?” she asked.

  “We don’t know what their game is,” Flint said. “But it’s nothing for you to worry about. With luck, they’ll get caught up in the raid tomorrow and we’ll finally get some answers.”

  Drey nodded and looked at the time. “I should call Lillie and let her know I’m on my way.”

  “I checked with her earlier,” Flint said. “She’s expecting you.”

  Drey saw the two brothers exchange a look. It appeared the sheriff was doing his best to keep her and Hawk away from each other until this was over. She could have told him it wasn’t necessary—at least until... Until what? If the FBI was right and Ethan was in that house...

  Then there really wouldn’t be anything to say to him, would there? He would have deceived her. He and his brother would have put her through hell for whatever purpose. And she might never know why. But at least it would be over for her and the marriage.

  And if he wasn’t in the house? How much longer could she live in limbo? How much longer could she go without admitting that the marriage was a mistake and doing something about it?

  She felt emotionally drained and realized she couldn’t make any decisions tonight. After tomorrow, she would know something. Until then... She couldn’t wait to get to Lillie’s. Seeing her friend always picked her up. And seeing their beautiful little son both helped and hurt.

  She looked to Hawk, feeling the need to say something.

  “I’ll come by Lillie’s first thing in the morning if it’s all right,” he said before she could speak. “I know I don’t want to be alone and who knows how long before we hear something.” Obviously he’d also felt the need to say something to her.

  “That sounds good.”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I can what happens tomorrow. I know one of the agents will be talking to Drey no matter how it goes down,” Flint said.

  “If they don’t find Ethan, then we’ll get you a good lawyer,” Hawk said.

  “I don’t have money for a lawyer.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Flint said before Hawk could. “We won’t let you get railroaded by all this.”

  She smiled at him. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.” Turning to Hawk, she said, “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  * * *

  IT WAS DARK by the time she walked to the SUV parked in the ranch yard. Over by the barn, a farm light cast a golden circle of light. Still, she felt jumpy. Was this really going to end? Tomorrow, if they found Ethan...

  Her cell phone rang, making her jump. As she opened the SUV’s door, she checked it. Lillie. Smiling, she took the call as she climbed in.

  “I’m just leaving the ranch now.”

  “I was just checking,” Lillie said. “I have your room all made up.”

  She climbed behind the wheel. “I hope you didn’t go to any trouble.”

  “You mean like finding some rom-com movies
for us to watch along with a big bowl of popcorn?” Lillie asked with a laugh.

  “I’m on my way.” She disconnected and reached for the key in the ignition. It wasn’t there!

  The realization hit her at the same moment she felt the barrel end of the gun press against the side of her neck. Her gaze shot up to the rearview mirror as Lena’s face appeared in it from her hiding place in the back.

  “Don’t do anything stupid or I will kill you,” Lena said.

  “The sheriff and his brother are right inside the house,” Drey said, thinking all she had to do was lay on the horn or—

  “Jet is also in the house. One wrong move from you and he kills them both. Trust me, he has nothing to lose and neither do I.” She jabbed the barrel of the pistol harder into Drey’s neck. “Now, here is what we are going to do. I’m going to give you the key. You are going to start the car and drive away. Once Jet hears us leave, he will meet us up the road without harming either the sheriff or your old boyfriend, Hawk.”

  She knew about Hawk? Her shock must have shown in her face because Lena said, “You think I don’t remember you talking about him ad nauseam back in college?” Lena laughed. “Seriously, he is everything you said he was from what I can see. So if you don’t want to get him killed...” She held out the keys.

  Drey took them carefully. Her fingers trembled, though, as she slipped the key into the ignition. Her mind was racing. She wanted desperately to slam on the horn or drive the SUV into the side of the barn. The last thing she wanted to do was leave with this woman, let alone pick up Jet down the road.

  “Why don’t you tell me what is really going on?” she asked as the SUV engine turned over and she cranked the wheel to drive out of the ranch yard.

  “We’re going back to the house. Hand me your phone. Your friend is going to have to eat that popcorn alone.”

  Drey saw no choice. She handed her phone back as she drove slowly down the ranch road. If Lena was telling the truth, then Jet was still in the house, still capable of hurting two people she loved. She watched the road ahead, but also Lena as she texted Lillie, then pocketed the phone.