by Elle James
“You’ve got it,” he said. “But know this, Emily Tremont.” He paused. “I’m not giving up without a fight. No. I’m not giving up. Period.”
Colin spent the rest of the drive into Bozeman ruminating over everything he and Emily had said to each other.
Though she’d said she needed time, she hadn’t completely nixed the idea of a future with him. It gave Colin enough hope to hang in there. If she wanted to wait, so be it. He’d wait. But not forever.
If she didn’t come around soon, he’d come up with a plan of attack to make her see what a good choice he was for her.
He loved her and didn’t want to live the rest of his life without her in it.
Colin parked in the visitors’ parking lot at the Bozeman hospital. He helped Emily down from his truck, took her hand and led her in through the front entrance.
Sheriff Barron met them in the lobby. When he saw them coming in, he hurried forward. “I’m sorry you two came all the way for nothing.”
“What do you mean?” Colin asked.
“I just spoke with Roy. He said he didn’t have any more information than he’d already given.”
Emily frowned. “Then why did he call us here?”
“He didn’t,” the sheriff said. “Or at least, he says he didn’t. His girlfriend said he was in physical therapy at the time I received the call.”
“But I thought you talked to him, yourself.” Colin looked past the sheriff, wondering if it would be worth going up to Roy’s room and checking with the man himself.
Sheriff Barron’s lips pressed into a tight line. “I’ve already grilled him. Either he’s a good liar and I’m a bad judge of character, or the man’s telling the truth.”
“Who else would have made that call?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t see any reason for us to linger here. I need to get back to Eagle Rock.” The sheriff looked from Emily to Colin. “What are your plans?”
“I guess we’re headed back as well,” Colin said.
“Good. I smell a setup,” the sheriff said. “We can caravan back to give Emily the protection she needs.”
They left the hospital together and split up in the parking lot. The sheriff headed for his service vehicle, Colin, with Emily, aimed for his truck.
Once inside, Emily sat back in her seat, frowning heavily. “I don’t understand. Who would call and say Roy was ready to talk?”
“I don’t know, but let’s get back to Eagle Rock. I want to know what’s going on with my brothers.”
“Right. You could join their search, if they’re still up in the mountains.” Emily’s pursed her lips. “I’m sorry. You could have been out there finding your father.”
“And someone could have tried to lure you to Bozeman, expecting you to come alone. I needed to be with you.”
“I could have come alone,” she gave him a twisted grin. “Except I don’t have a car.”
They didn’t rehash their earlier discussion, avoiding the topic all the way back to Eagle Rock.
By the time they arrived in the small town, it was past noon.
“Do you want to stop for lunch at the diner?”
Emily shook her head. “I’d rather get back out to the ranch and make sure your mother, Molly and Brenna are okay.”
He shot a glance her way. “You know you could just call them.”
She smiled. “You’re right. I just like to see with my own eyes, but you’re right, a call would work just as well.” Emily pulled her cellphone out of her purse and dialed Brenna’s cellphone number.
After five rings, it rolled over to Brenna’s voice mail.
Emil frowned down at the phone. “No answer.”
“If she’s not linked into the internet at the house, she might not be getting a signal,” Colin said. “Call the landline.”
Emily dialed his mother’s home phone.
It rang several times before his mother finally answered. “Hello.”
“Mrs. McKinnon, it’s Emily. Could I speak with Brenna?”
“I’m sorry, Emily, but she’s not here. She left about an hour ago to show a property to a client.”
Emily’s hand tightened around her cellphone. “But Sebastian went with the others.”
“Oh, she didn’t go alone,” Mrs. McKinnon said. “Molly went as her backup.”
“Okay,” Emily said, although her gut was beginning to knot.
“Are you two headed out here?” Colin’s mother asked. “I just pulled a roast out of the oven. We can cut it up for sandwiches.”
“Yes, we’re in Eagle Rock now. We’ll be out there shortly.” Emily ended the call and sat for a moment, wondering if she should be worried. She dialed Molly’s cellphone number and waited.
After the fifth ring, Molly answered. “This is Molly.” The connection was staticky, and Molly’s words were hard to hear, but she didn’t sound at all strange.
“How’s it going?” Emily asked.
“Brenna just showed the first property. We’re on our way to the second,” Molly reported. “She’s pretty good at this. Knows her stuff. She’s actually making me consider a career in real estate.”
Emily chuckled. “She loves the work. I’m sure she’d help you learn the trade, if you really want to. When do you think you’ll be back?”
“Another hour, maybe?” Molly answered. “Do you need us to pick up anything from the grocery store?”
Emily smiled into the phone. “No, thanks. I’ll see you two when you get here.” She ended the call.
“Are they all right?” Colin asked.
“Sounds like it. They’re moving on to the next property. Hopefully, they’ll be back at the ranch in an hour or so.”
He paused at a stop sign. “Do they need me to ride along?”
“Molly didn’t say anything about needing help. In fact, my sister might just recruit her to join her real estate team.”
Colin shook his head. “I can’t picture Molly doing anything but ranching. You can take the girl off the ranch, but you can’t take the ranch out of the girl. Or something like that.” He turned the truck onto the highway, heading toward Iron Horse Ranch.
“Since the girls seem fine, you wanna reconsider and do lunch at the diner?” he asked, his eyebrows cocked hopefully.
“Your mother said she just pulled a roast out of the oven and offered it up for sandwiches,” Emily reported.
Colin stepped on the accelerator. “Never mind. Mom’s roast beats anything we could get at the diner.” He made the rest of the journey in silence.
If Emily wasn’t mistaken, the man was practically salivating in anticipation of his mother’s roast.
When they arrived at the house, Mrs. McKinnon came out of the house, a frown furrowing her brow. “I just got a call from the sheriff’s office. A forest ranger relayed that your brothers are in trouble up in the mountains. Something to do with a vehicle breakdown. They need you to take your truck up there and bring the trailer and horses down.”
“I’ll go with you,” Emily said.
Colin shook his head. “Much as I’d like that, you need to stay and wait for Molly and Brenna to get back. I’ll take our foreman, Parker, with me.”
Mrs. McKinnon nodded. “He wanted to head out immediately, but I told him you were coming and that he should wait and go with you.”
Colin pulled Emily into his arms and kissed her soundly in front of his mother. When he stepped back, he gave his mother a pointed look. “Yes, I just kissed Emily. And no, nothing is settled between us.” He grinned and spun on his heels, heading back to his truck. “Don’t go anywhere,” he called out.
Emily’s heart was full to overflowing. She loved Colin so much, she couldn’t imagine another day without him in her life.
His mother slipped her arm around Emily’s waist. “You love him, don’t you?”
Emily sighed. “Is it that obvious?”
“Yup,” Mrs. McKinnon responded. “How long have you known?”
“Since he first kissed me
ten years ago…?” Emily admitted.
His mother leaned back, her brow furrowing. “Why did you marry Alex?”
“I was young and scared,” Emily said.
“Scared of what?”
“Loving someone so much that, if I lost him, I couldn’t go on living.”
Mrs. McKinnon’s eyes filled with tears. “I know how that feels.”
Emily hugged the other woman.
Colin’s mother brushed a tear from her cheek. “And now?”
“Now, I know there are no guarantees in life and death. You never know how long you have on this earth.”
“True,” Mrs. McKinnon said. “And you have to grab for all the happiness and good memories that you can.”
“And if bad things happen, you’ll have no regrets because you’ve lived and loved as hard as you could while you could.” Emily shook her head. “I told Colin I needed time to decide what I wanted to do with my life.” She smiled. “I don’t need any more time.”
“No?” Mrs. McKinnon smiled through tear-washed eyes.
“No. I want Colin in my life, for the rest of my life and his, however long that might be.” Emily stared at where the truck had disappeared down the highway and laughed. “Now that I know what I want for sure, I can’t wait to tell Colin.”
“And he won’t be back for several hours.” Mrs. McKinnon hugged her close. “I really hope this means I’m getting another daughter. As a woman who has been outnumbered by men for most of her life, I’m ready for a little more equality in the numbers.” She winked. “Let’s go have roast beef sandwiches for lunch. Molly and Brenna should be back soon.”
Chapter 15
Colin and Parker followed the dirt roads leading back into the Crazy Mountains that would get them close to the GPS coordinates the outfitter had given. As they neared the spot, Colin could see Angus’s pickup and the horse trailer parked on the edge of the road.
Angus, Duncan and Sebastian were loading the horses into the trailer when Colin came to a stop behind them.
“Hey, Colin, couldn’t stand it? You had to come see for yourself?” Sebastian asked as he tied his horse’s lead on the inside of the trailer and stepped out of the way of his brothers. “We combed the area and didn’t find anything else of value. If our father was here, it wasn’t too long ago, but we have no way of knowing where they went from here.”
Disappointment pinched Colin’s stomach.
“We did see where there had been a tent pitched and staked to the ground,” Duncan said. “What’s this I hear about you and Emily rocking the bedsprings last night?”
Colin glared at Sebastian and deflected the conversation into another direction “Why are you loading the horses before we hitch the trailer to my truck?”
Angus emerged from the trailer after tying his horse inside. He closed the gate and hooked his thumbs through his beltloops. “What do you mean? Why would we need to hitch the trailer to your truck?”
“Mom got word your truck was broken down, and we needed to take a truck here to haul you and the horses back to the ranch.” Colin frowned. “You didn’t sent word through a forest ranger?”
Angus shook his head. “My truck is working fine.”
Colin’s heart sank to his knees. He spun and ran back to his truck.
“What’s wrong?” Angus called out.
“I’m not sure, but I think we were set up.” He yanked open the door to his truck and stepped up on the running board. “I might need you back to the ranch as soon as possible.”
“You really think someone was playing you?” Sebastian asked.
“Why else would they send me on a wild goose chase unless they wanted to get to Emily without us interfering. ’Bastian, if you get any kind of cellphone signal, call the ranch and warn them. I’ll try the closer I get to town.” He dove into the truck, cranked the engine and made a U-turn in the middle of the deserted road.
He raced along the dirt roads. At several sharp corners, he didn’t slow enough and the truck bed, as empty and light as it was, swung sideways for several yards before regaining traction and straightening. Forced to slow on the treacherous roads, he worked his way down the mountain, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.
He knew someone was in trouble. Whether it was Emily, Brenna, Molly or his mother, he wasn’t sure, but his gut said it was someone he loved.
He wouldn’t stop until he got to them and ripped apart anyone who dared to hurt them.
All the way out of the mountains, he kept checking his cellphone for service. When he emerged from the foothills, he glanced down at his cellphone. Finally, he had a signal. Not much of one, but maybe enough to call home.
He hit the number for his mother’s house and waited. The bars indicating signal strength blinked off.
Colin cursed and slammed his palm against the steering wheel.
He couldn’t get home fast enough.
As soon as he was within range of a cellphone tower, he placed a call.
“Hank here,” Hank Patterson answered.
“I need you to locate Emily’s GPS tracker. ASAP. I’m on my way into Eagle Rock from the direction of the Crazy Mountains. I think she’s in trouble.”
After eating roast beef sandwiches with Mrs. McKinnon, Emily helped clean up the kitchen.
“Since everyone else is out and about, I’ll take care of the animals,” Emily offered.
“Oh, sweetie, that’s not necessary,” the older woman said. “I can do it.”
The phone rang.
Mrs. McKinnon held up a finger. “I’ll take that. It might be important.”
“I’ll be out in the barn,” Emily said. “It’s my happy place.” She smiled and headed out of the house.
In the barn, she checked that the animals had fresh water, emptying and filling some of the buckets and troughs.
Her cellphone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump. She hadn’t realized just how tense she was.
Pulling out her phone, she glanced at the screen.
Unknown Caller.
Afraid it might be from someone reporting about her husband’s killer, Emily answered.
“If you want to see your sister and the McKinnon girl alive, come to the junction of Highway 97 and Fire Tower Road in fifteen minutes. Come alone, or you’ll never see your sister again.”
“Wait—” she cried.
The call ended abruptly.
Emily stared at the device, her heart hammering so hard it hurt.
What should she do? The men were out of range of any communications devices. Only Mrs. McKinnon remained with Emily.
Come alone.
Emily didn’t have a car. She had less than fifteen minutes to get to location. The intersection wasn’t far from the gate to the Iron Horse Ranch. The drive in was long enough, she might not make it there on foot in the allotted time.
Emily glanced around the barn. Two four-wheelers were parked at the rear. She could take one of them. But if she started an engine, she’d alert Mrs. McKinnon. She might come to see what was going on and try to stop her, or worse…follow her.
Emily opted to ride a horse.
She led a dark mare out of her stall and quickly saddled her. She slipped a bridle over her head and led her out into the barnyard.
Quickly, to avoid being seen by Mrs. McKinnon, she led the horse through the front pasture gate.
Placing her foot in the stirrup, she swung up into the saddle and nudged the horse into a gallop, heading for the front of the Iron Horse Ranch.
As she neared the fence, the horse slowed to a bone-jarring trot, dancing nervously to the right.
Emily kept her hands tight on the reins, guiding the horse along the fence line toward the road junction indicated for the rendezvous. When she was within several yards of the location, she dismounted, looped the reins over the animal’s neck, turned it around and swatted her backside.
The mare took off for the barn.
Emily trod softly through the grass
, glancing down at her watch. She fingered the necklace she’d thought to wear that morning and prayed whoever had Molly and Brenna wouldn’t make her remove it. She tucked it beneath her shirt and hurried forward with only two minutes to spare.
She crossed over the fence, careful not to get hung on the barbed wire. Emily’s heart raced. She could see the road junction through a gap in the trees.
Moving shadow to shadow, she slipped through the woods until she was within twenty yards of her destination.
She drew in a breath and let it out, hoping to steady her nerves.
“I’m here,” she called out.
“Emily,” Brenna called out. “Be careful, he’s got a gun.”
“A gun that’s aimed at your sister’s head,” the man called out.
“Don’t shoot,” Emily said. She raised her hands and stepped out into the open, her feet braced for flight, should she get a break.
“Come closer,” the voice said.
“Show me the women,” Emily demanded.
Brenna and Molly were shoved out of the shadows and into the path. Their hands were zip-tied behind their backs, and they had streaks lining their faces where tears had made mud of the dust on their cheeks.
Emily swallowed a sob.
“I’ll make a trade with you,” Emily said. “Release the two women, and you take me as your hostage.”
“Why makes you think you’re not already my hostage?” the man asked.
She leaned to the left and right, but she couldn’t see him. He had to be hiding in the shadows.
“Let them go, and I’ll go with you willingly,” Emily called out.
“Don’t do it, Emily,” Brenna cried. “I’ll figure a way out of this.”
“You have until the count of three to come forward, or I start shooting them,” the man’s voice called out.”
“I’m coming,” Emily said. If he took all three of them hostage, they had a better chance of overcoming him. And armed with the GPS tracking device, she stood a good chance of Colin and his friend Hank finding them.
“If it’s information you want, I won’t tell you anything if you hurt either one of them,” Emily said as she emerged into the open.