Rancher's Dream

by B. J Daniels

  She looked at Lena and realized Ethan must be being held as a prisoner. It was the only thing that made any sense. But how? He’d designed the house himself. He would know how to get out unless he was trapped. Or dead. Or in such bad shape... She refused to let her mind go there.

  Jet returned with a large butcher knife, the lethal-looking blade catching the light. She recoiled from it. If he would cut off his own brother’s thumb to get into his safe, she didn’t dare think about what he would do to her if she didn’t cooperate.

  “Let’s go,” he said and shoved her toward the elevator again. “Keep the gun on her. If she tries anything, shoot her. We can always cut off her thumb.”

  Drey felt like she’d been drugged again as they left in the elevator. This was all too surreal. This time, she wished it was a drug-induced dream and not a living nightmare.

  As much as she tried not to, she kept thinking about the first night she saw this house and the premonition she had. You will die in this house. If only she had run then. If only she hadn’t married Ethan. If only she could change the past. By now she and Hawk would be happily married with children—

  The thought broke her heart. She felt a sob rise up from her chest and swallowed it back. Crying wasn’t going to save her. Nothing probably could. But if she fell apart, she would have no chance.

  From the time she’d entered the SUV, Lena’d had the gun on her. Now Jet had a knife. She had no idea how she could possibly get out of this alive, but she was going to try. She thought of Hawk. Her throat constricted. She couldn’t think of what might have been this second time around. She had to think only about survival. It was her only hope.

  No opportunity to escape had presented itself thus far without endangering Flint and Hawk. Now she was trapped in the elevator with Jet and Lena on their way to see Ethan. That he really was in the house seemed impossible and yet she hadn’t known about the surveillance room or the hidden safe or that he’d had a bomb shelter built. But Jet seemed to know, she thought, as the elevator stopped on the master suite floor.

  * * *

  HAWK DROVE LIKE the crazed man he was. He should have gone with Drey. Or at least found out right away if she’d arrived at his sister’s house. But he hadn’t been worried as long as she didn’t go back to Ethan Baxter’s house.

  Both he and Drey thought that what Jet and Lena wanted was hidden in that house. Why else had they drugged her but to keep her out of their way while they searched for it? So why would they want to take her back there? If they had her?

  He knew he was jumping to all kinds of conclusions, but they’d both heard Jet and Lena plotting. He’d been so sure with Drey away from the house that she’d be safe.

  The one thought kept coming back: she wouldn’t go there alone. Which meant someone had her. Ethan? And if he was right and she was at the house...whoever took her needed her there for some reason.

  Every reason he could think of only terrified him more. He dug out his phone, realizing he should have called his brother from the house. But all he could think about was getting there. Getting to Drey.

  “Drey never made it to Lillie’s,” he said into the phone the moment Flint answered. “I’m headed for the house.” He didn’t think he needed to clarify more. They both knew.

  “Have you tried to reach her?” Flint asked.

  “She’s not picking up.”

  “You don’t think she went by there to pick up a few things, do you?”

  “Not a chance. She wouldn’t have gone there on her own.”

  “Wait for me, then,” Flint said.

  “I can’t do that. I’ll leave the gate open for you.” He disconnected, fearing that too much time had already gone by.

  * * *

  AS THE ELEVATOR door slid open, Drey said, “I know you were in this house on my wedding night.”

  He glanced over at her. “How do you know that? I erased it on the security system.”

  “You left one of your toothpicks on the floor in the sunroom downstairs,” she said and saw that he didn’t like being shown up. He thought he was much smarter than everyone else, especially his brother.

  “You and your stupid toothpicks,” Lena said under her breath.

  Jet motioned for them to go first. Lena jabbed her with the barrel of the gun and she stumbled out into her bedroom. What were they doing here? Ethan wasn’t hidden in the bedroom. It felt as if she really was back on those pills, confused, disoriented, sick to her stomach.

  Jet stepped out of the elevator, brandishing the knife. “I was here that night just as Ethan had planned. What he didn’t know was that I was onto him. I’d gotten a heads-up from a friend of mine who works at the company. Ethan planned to let me take the fall with the FBI. But I played along as if I was still in the dark. Ethan thought he was so smart.”

  “You weren’t the only one he was going to let take a fall for the mess he’d made of the company. He was going to let me go down, too,” Lena reminded him.

  Jet waved that off as of little consequence, making his girlfriend’s expression turn ugly. Drey had wondered what Lena saw in a man like Jet. Right now, she didn’t seem to see anything worth hanging on to, which made Drey only more nervous. All she needed was for these two to get into a huge fight.

  Or maybe that was exactly what she did need, she thought. Anything that would give her a chance to escape.

  “So you talked that night,” she reminded Jet as she frantically tried to put all the pieces together.

  He nodded, his gaze distant for a moment as if he was reliving it. “I could see how proud he was of his place. Ethan’s Ego. It didn’t take much encouragement for him to show me around. I wasn’t acting very impressed so I knew he’d have to break out the good stuff.”

  Jet stepped to the wall just outside the double doors to the stairs outside the master suite. “This is the good stuff.” He stopped at the back wall and touched a spot. The wood panel began to whir back into the wall behind Ethan’s bathroom.

  Behind it was another wall. This was one had a small keypad screen in the middle of it. Jet reached back, grabbed Drey’s hand and pulled her up next to him. Taking her hand, he pressed her right thumb against the keypad. The device beeped twice and this wooden panel also slid silently away. She found herself staring at a huge steel door.

  This must be the way to the bomb shelter Hawk had found out about. Was this where Ethan had been all this time?

  “Bulletproof, soundproof, just not Jet-proof,” Jet said with a laugh. Again he pressed her thumb to the pad in the middle of the door. Something clicked, and Jet grabbed the handle and opened the door. Lights came on in the ceiling, illuminating what appeared to be a tunnel.

  Drey recoiled. She didn’t want to go in there. She couldn’t imagine that Ethan was in there. She looked into the dim darkness of a passageway that went back into the depths of the mountain behind the house, her throat constricting.

  If Ethan was in here... If he’d been here the whole time...

  “Ethan!” she screamed. “Ethan!”

  “Save your breath. Even if he could hear you, he wouldn’t come save you.” Jet gave her a pitying look. “You still don’t get it. My brother got me to Montana to fake his death. The stunt down by the dock? That was supposed to be him. Body disappears but enough blood to make the local cops believe it happened. Ethan disappears.”

  “I don’t understand,” Drey said, hating that her voice broke.

  Jet shrugged. “You would stay here and deal with the FBI, I guess. I would take my money and get on the first plane out of the country.” So Ethan really had been planning to leave her behind to face the FBI?

  “But you didn’t do it,” she said.

  “No, like I said, he tried to double-cross me,” Jet said with a curse. “Ethan was going to throw me to the wolves. When I called him on it, he admitted it. He offered me money to take the f
all for everything. He promised to get me a good lawyer and enough money to live comfortably when I got out of prison. Still think Ethan is your Prince Charming?”

  So he was guilty. That’s why the FBI had been investigating him and his company.

  “I realized he must have evidence he planned to leave behind that would make it look like I was the one involved in the fraud,” Jet was saying. “When I turned down his offer...” He let out a bitter laugh. “The bastard said if I didn’t do everything the way he had it planned, he’d take me down. What a fool. I decided why fake his death when I could kill him and get away with it—with your help.”

  “So the dock stunt was just to make it look as if I was losing my mind. You wanted me to think I was crazy so I would take the pills.” She saw the two exchange a look.

  “It’s simple, sweetie,” Lena said. “You being crazy would explain what happened to poor Ethan.” She smiled.

  “While you and Jet flew off to some island, never to be seen again,” Drey said.

  “Pretty much.” Lena chuckled. “You were perfect since I knew how you were on those antianxiety medications. By then we would be long gone,” Lena said. “The feds would be happy because they had their man. You would be convicted of his murder—if you couldn’t get off on an insanity plea.”

  Jet laughed. “My brother and this damned house... He made it so easy.” He pushed her down the passageway ahead of him as if he’d forgotten about Lena. “I used to listen to him tell me about this house until I wanted to scream. How ultramodern and high-tech it would be. Nothing like it. The best security money could buy.” His laugh echoed down the dark tunnel.

  Ahead she saw another door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  AT THE GATE, Hawk sped up his pickup and braced himself.

  The gate was stronger than it looked. The force of the collision set off his airbag, but it quickly deflated once the gate fell away and he was on the road up the mountain.

  As he took the first curve and the house came into view, he saw that all the lights were on. Was it possible Ethan had come back, called her and Drey had agreed to meet him at the house?

  No, wouldn’t she have called Flint—if not him—to let him know? Also, she had to know him well enough to know that he would check up on her tonight at Lillie’s. Also Drey wouldn’t have texted her friend. She would have called her to tell her that she’d changed her mind.

  All his instincts told him that Drey was in trouble. She wasn’t fool enough to go to the house alone even to meet her husband. At least he wanted to believe that.

  He turned out his headlights, but thought busting through the gate might have already warned those in the house that the property had been breached.

  Hawk roared up out front. He didn’t see another vehicle aside from Ethan’s sedan, but he knew someone was in that house. At home he’d grabbed a handgun and a shotgun. Now he got out, tucked the handgun into the back of his jeans and, taking the shotgun, turned toward the house.

  The night was pitch-black; low clouds had moved in, hiding even the starlight let alone any moon. He moved toward the front door. It seemed too quiet. He couldn’t see into the house because of the dark glass, but he knew anyone inside could see him.

  He tried the door. Locked. Turning the shotgun on the lock, he started to fire, but changed his mind. He had no doubt that whoever was in the house had to know he was here. Which meant they would expect him to come busting in the front door.

  He swung the shotgun strap over his shoulder and moved along the front of the house to the side. He’d climbed the balconies once before. He would be able to see inside through the balconies as he climbed. He had no idea why someone had gotten Drey back here or what floor she might be on.

  All he knew was that he had to find her and fast.

  Moving along the dark side of the house, he reached the first balcony. Once he climbed up onto it, he stood on the railing and reached for the next one. As he passed each floor, he peered in. Where was Drey? He could feel his heart pounding out each second—and time running out.

  * * *

  “ETHAN THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING,” Jet was saying as they neared the door. “A bomb shelter/panic room with climate control.” He pulled Drey up beside him and pressed her thumb to the screen, and the door began to move.

  Drey was suddenly terrified to see what was waiting for them on the other side. As the door began to open, a gust of icy cold air rushed out. That and a smell made her gag. Nothing could prepare her for what she saw.

  The bunker was decorated much like the house with all the usual amenities. Except for outside windows, it appeared to be a completely separate house with all the luxury Ethan could afford. A billionaire bunker.

  She instantly saw how easy it would have been for Ethan to hide out here after faking his death until it was safe for him to leave.

  Unfortunately, she saw at once that he wouldn’t be leaving. Ethan sat in a recliner, his arms resting on each side. He looked so normal—except for his missing thumb and the dark stain on the chair under it—that for just a moment she thought he was alive.

  But as Lena jabbed her in the back with the gun and she was prodded closer, she saw that his face was covered with a thin coat of ice—and so were his blank, dead blue eyes. She let out a cry as she was shoved closer to him and saw the bullet hole at heart level along with more dried blood.

  As Jet stepped to Ethan and began to saw away at his brother’s other thumb, she turned away and threw up on the marble floor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  HAWK SAW LIGHTS on the road below and knew it was probably Flint headed this way. He stopped on one of the balconies and pulled out his phone. Hitting the sheriff’s number, he waited as it rang once, then twice.

  “Hawk, where are you?”

  “The front door was locked. The whole place is shut up tighter than a drum. I’m climbing the balconies. I need you to give me a few minutes until I find out whether or not Drey is in this house and what is going on. Can you do that?”

  “I’m just turning off onto the road up to the house. Nice what you did to the gate. You realize if you’re wrong—”

  “I’ll buy Ethan a new gate. An even better one.” But he knew he wasn’t wrong. Not about any of it. Especially about Drey being in trouble. He felt it gut deep. “Give me fifteen minutes. If you don’t hear from me by then—”

  “Ten minutes and I don’t even like that. Let me know the minute you see Drey.”

  “I will.” He pocketed his phone and began to climb again.

  But at each level he saw no one. No sign that anyone had been there. Was it possible she wasn’t here? So why were the lights on? He knew Ethan could have set them so they came on at a certain time each night. He realized he should have checked the underground garage. If there wasn’t an extra car there...

  He considered breaking in like he had the night he’d heard Drey scream, but if he was wrong and she wasn’t here...

  Dropping down to the kitchen-level balcony, he realized he was losing what could be critical time if Drey was in there somewhere.

  Hell with it, he thought and pulled the strap off his shoulder, he turned the shotgun butt end first and broke the window. Stepping through, he waited for someone to come running. For an alarm to go off.

  Nothing happened. He ran down the stairs to the basement garage, telling himself that the FBI weren’t going to be happy about this. If Ethan had been here, maybe he’d gotten Drey and taken off for Mexico or some other part of the world.

  * * *

  DREY FELT DAZED as she was pushed back down the tunnel and into the main house. She couldn’t get the image of Ethan off her mind. Had he been dead when Jet had turned up the climate control to near freezing? Was he killed on their wedding night?

  The horror of realizing he’d been so close all this time... She shuddered as they reache
d the floor where the safe had been hidden in the wall.

  “Stay here,” Jet ordered as he headed for one of the guest-room bathrooms. “Shoot her if she even looks like she wants to run,” he said to Lena. He left the door open and a moment later Drey heard the sound of water running.

  “Running hot water on it isn’t going to work,” Lena called to him. “I told you not to kill him. If you’d made a copy of his print when I told you to—”

  Jet cursed and yelled back for her to shut up. “You better hope this works. Otherwise we are both going down for this.”

  He came out of the bathroom, holding Ethan’s thumb in a towel. Stepping to the safe, he pressed the thumb against the screen. Drey could feel the two of them holding their breaths.

  The light flashed and Jet let out an exuberant yell. “Get her over here.”

  Lena shoved her to him. Again he grabbed her hand and, twisting her thumb painfully, pressed it to the screen.

  Something inside the safe clicked. Jet shot Lena a look, then reached for the handle, shoving Drey aside.

  The handle dropped down and the door opened. Jet let out another jubilant yell and Lena seemed to relax. Still, though, she kept the handgun steady, making it clear she hadn’t forgotten about Drey.

  “Is it in there? You know he could have been lying to you,” Lena said.

  Jet shot her an impatient look. “I knew my brother probably better than you did. I don’t need you telling me what he was like, all right?”

  Jet pulled a series of files from the safe, opened them and thumbed through them before turning to her and smiling. “It’s all here. Hand me your bag,” he ordered.

  Lena pulled it off her shoulder and handed it to him. Jet began to fill it first with the files, then with the stacks of money piled to one side of the safe.

  Drey watched, telling herself that they’d gotten what they wanted—which meant they didn’t need her anymore. Not that she thought they could let her go. She knew too much, and there was Ethan... Just the thought of him made her want to throw up again.