“He was till you came along,” a man yelled.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, carrying on with a married man,” an older woman in the front shouted.
Gage might not like what she was about to say, Lily and Annie might not, either, but it was about time Madison stood up for herself.
“If any of you knew me, you’d know the last thing I’d ever do is break up a family. Gage and Sheena divorced years ago. Something y’all have chosen to ignore. And I had nothing to do with that. I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of, but y’all have. I’m in love with Gage McBride… a-and he loves me, too.” She hoped he still did after this. There were some grumbles of disbelief in the crowd, but at least half the protesters now lowered their signs.
“Lily, no,” Sheena cried, as her daughter ran to the truck.
Fred chuckled, lifting Lily onto the hood beside Madison. The little girl leaned over and yelled into the megaphone Madison had lowered to her side. “My daddy does too love Maddie, and so do I.” She wrapped her hands around the megaphone as if she had more to say, but Paul McBride pushed through the crowd with Nell and Liz trying to keep up with him, and said, “You let Grandpa have that for a minute, sweetpea.” She did as he asked. Gage’s dad looked up at Madison. “You okay, honey?”
He sounded just like his son. She gave him a watery smile and nodded. He turned to Ted and Fred. “Get Nell in the truck, boys.”
Nell glowered at the crowd, then looked up at Madison. “You don’t pay them no mind, you hear,” she said before allowing Fred and Ted to help her into the truck. Liz patted Madison’s boot. “Don’t you worry. Paul will take care of this.”
“I just wish Gage were here.”
“I know, dear. He probably went with Ethan to pick up Mr. Hartwell at the airport. Cell reception can be spotty on those roads.”
Liz was right—that made perfect sense. Feeling like she could actually breathe again, Madison returned her attention to Gage’s dad.
“Since my son is on the job, no doubt putting himself in harm’s way like he does each and every day for you people, I’m going to speak for him. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This woman is the best thing that has happened to my son in a long time. And if any of you say another word against her, you can find yourself a new doctor.” There was a loud clatter as the rest of the signs were tossed on the ground.
One of the men at the front of the crowd rubbed his jaw. “Sorry, Doc, you’re right. We were out of line. But I haven’t worked in six months, and Ms. Lane here—”
“You owe Madison the apology, not me.” Paul handed her the megaphone.
Madison looked at the man. “Believe me, I understand how scary it is to be out of work. I lost my job, too. But all I’m asking for is an opportunity to show you another way to turn things around in Christmas besides the resort. In the end, it will be up to all of you to decide.”
Rick moved in. “Don’t waste your energy, Ms. Lane. No one here wants an alternative to Hartwell, except maybe you.”
“You’re wrong, Rick. We do,” her friends said.
He sneered. “Not enough of you to make a difference. You’ll never get five hundred signatures before the deadline today.”
“Ha! That’s where you’re wrong, Dane.” Hailey elbowed her way through the crowd with Holly at her heels. She held up two clipboards. “We did it, Maddie. Five hundred signatures!”
A cheer went up from below her. Madison joined in, feeling practically giddy with their success. Paul smiled up at her and helped both her and Lily down from the truck.
“Impossible! That’s impossible,” Rick yelled, a frantic look in his eyes. He grabbed the clipboards, scanning the names as he flipped through the pages. “Gage can’t sign this. He’s a member of the town council.” Dane took a pen from inside his jacket pocket and furiously crossed out Gage’s name.
With their goal achieved and Gage’s family and her friends standing by her, Madison knew she’d made the right decision earlier. She was going to do it. She was going to move to Christmas to be with the man she loved and hang out her shingle. “No? But I can.” She took Rick’s pen from his hand and wrote her name.
Rick snatched the pen back. “You aren’t a citizen of Christmas.” He went to cross out her name.
She whipped the pen from his hand. “Yes I am, and I’ll prove it.” Everyone followed her to Nell’s truck. She took out the cell phone box and handed it to Rick. “Can’t argue with the U.S. postal service, now can you?” She smiled.
Despite the wind whipping down the road, the first flakes starting to fall, sweat beaded on Rick’s forehead. “You haven’t won yet.” He looked her in the eyes, his voice low and rough. “And you won’t. I’ll make sure of that.” Tossing the box at her, he stalked away. A group of men tried to talk to him, but he blew them off.
“Always was a sore loser,” Nell said then smiled. “Guess I’ve got myself a roommate, Paul. You can release me from the hospital for good now.”
“We’ll see, Nell.” He leaned into Madison. “Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
“Hey, I heard that,” Nell said.
“Come on, everyone. We’ve got lots to celebrate. Hot chocolate’s on me.” Grace gestured them across the street to the bakery.
“No, my treat,” Madison said. “Without all of your help, I probably would’ve had ten signatures tops. Thank you. All of you.”
Brandi and Trent gave her a high five. Sophia, Autumn, Hailey, Holly, and Grace gave her a hug then headed for the bakery. Lily tugged on Madison’s arm. “Can Mommy come, too?” she asked, as Sheena and Annie joined them.
“Sure. Of course she can.” Even though it looked like Sheena would rather be anywhere else but there.
Madison touched Annie’s arm as she went to follow her mother and sister. “Annie, I’m sorry if what I said about your dad and me upset you. I—”
Annie cut her off with a shake of her head. “No, it’s okay. They were being really mean. I’m glad you stood up to them. I would’ve…” She trailed off, looking after her mother, then frowned. “Where’s my dad?”
“Mrs. O’Connor thinks he went to pick up Mr. Hartwell.” And Madison was trying hard to believe that.
Just then a black Escalade rolled down Main Street, pulling in behind Nell’s truck. Ethan got out, a harried expression in his eyes. Madison could sympathize. She often felt like pulling her hair out when dealing with Harrison, either that or sticking a fork in his eye. But it wasn’t Harrison who got out of the passenger side. It was a woman with curly, butterscotch-blonde hair. “Skye?” The back doors opened, and Harrison, in a mahogany mink coat, stepped out of one side, while a woman with long, chocolate-brown hair got out of the other side.
Madison frowned. “Vivi, Skye?” The women turned. Stunned, Madison jogged to the SUV. “I don’t believe it. I thought I was imagining things.” She threw herself into their open arms. “What are you two doing here?” she asked, pulling back from their group hug.
“We missed you, and Vivi’s worried—” Skye began.
Vivi cut her off. “We’ll get into that later. Right now—”
“Wait,” Madison interrupted Vivi, scanning the group of people surrounding Harrison. “Ethan, where’s Gage?”
He frowned. “I don’t know. Why?”
“Come on, you’ve got to hear this.” Vivi tugged on her hand, leading her to where Ethan and Harrison stood. “We sat behind the Snake on the flight from New York and overheard a very interesting conversation he was having with someone on the phone.”
Madison was barely listening, her worry for Gage making it hard to concentrate on anything else. She was about to interrupt Vivi when she heard what she was saying, and her mouth fell open. Harrison didn’t want the land in Christmas to build a resort. He wanted it for the gold Rick told him was there.
Madison had known all along there was more to Harrison’s obsession with Christmas. She rounded on him. “You idiot! How could you lead these peo
ple on?”
The crowd grew as word spread that Harrison had arrived. Coulter Dane came up beside Ethan. “What gold? Mine was tapped years ago.”
“You’re wrong.” Harrison crouched to open his briefcase, pulling out a thick file. “Rick gave me samples of the soil and ore. I had a reputable geologist test them. It’s a rich find, maybe one of the richest.” The idiot had the nerve to look smug.
Coulter studied the papers, then shook his head. “Easy enough to salt the soil, and I suspect the samples of ore are the ones that went missing from my safe a few months back. They were my great-grandfather’s from the first strike in the late 1900s. You’ve been had, boy.”
Angry muttering broke out through the crowd, and Harrison glanced nervously around him. “I’ve done nothing illegal. If you’re angry, blame Rick Dane. He’s the one who approached me with this deal.”
“Where’s Rick?” Ethan asked, his jaw clenched.
“He peeled out of here about fifteen minutes ago,” Fred said.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Ethan.” Madison’s voice cracked with panic. “I haven’t heard from or seen Gage since yesterday.”
Ethan put a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. Paul?”
“No, same as Madison. Sheena.” Paul waved her over.
Harrison slammed his briefcase closed and whipped out his phone, walking a safe distance from the crowd. He was furious, but kept his voice low so as not to be overheard. Madison figured his BFF was getting an earful. She didn’t care. All she cared about was finding Gage.
“Sheena, when was the last time you saw Gage?” Paul asked.
The snow was falling harder now, and Sheena brushed the flakes from her hair before answering, “Shouldn’t you ask Ms. Lane? I’m sure—”
“This is serious, Sheena. We’re worried something has happened to Gage.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, I-I’m sorry. He, uh, he came home around eight last night to put Lily to bed and say good night to Annie. He left about an hour later to go back to work. He said he’d be home late. I thought he was with Ms. Lane.”
Madison’s knees buckled. It wasn’t her imagination—something had happened to him. Vivi and Skye each put an arm around her waist.
Madison’s cell rang. She fumbled the phone as she pulled it from her pocket. “It’s Gage.” She sagged against her friends. Relieved laughter greeted her announcement. “Where are—” She began.
“Where no one will find him, Ms. Lane,” Rick cut her off. “So you better do as I say if you want to see him again.”
Her gaze shot to Ethan and Paul. Ethan searched her face and held up a hand. “Quiet, everyone. Quiet,” he said to the others. Speaker, he mouthed to Madison.
“Tonight, at midnight, you’re going to be outside the church with two hundred and fifty grand in unmarked bills. No one else but you, Ms. Lane. Do you understand me?”
She focused on Ethan. She couldn’t look at Nell, whom Fred and Ted supported, or Paul, whom Liz had wrapped her arms around. But most of all, she couldn’t look at Lily and Annie, who stood beside their mother with tears streaming down their faces. “Yes… yes, I do, but that’s a lot of money and it might take some time.”
“Midnight tonight’s all you got. And if anyone comes looking for us before then, he’s dead.”
“N-no one will. I’ll get your money.” Madison bit her lip, fighting back tears. “Why are you doing this?”
“Your boyfriend started putting things together. He was nosing around the Chronicle last night. The blood on the floor is his. He’s alive… for now. You’ve got till midnight.” The line went dead.
Closing her eyes, she tried to keep it together. Gage was alive. He needed her to stay strong, and so did Annie and Lily. Sheena was crying uncontrollably, upsetting them further.
Madison went to crouch in front of them. “Annie, Lily, you know how much your daddy loves you, don’t you?” They nodded, sobs catching in their throats. She swallowed hard to hold back her own. “And you know how strong he is, how smart he is, and that he’s doing everything he can to get back to you, right? Good,” she said when they nodded. “You hang on to that. And we’re going to do everything we can to help him.” She wiped away their tears.
Annie took her sister’s hand and nodded.
Madison had to do something. It was the only way she knew how to cope with her fear. She had to believe Rick wouldn’t hurt Gage. He wanted the money, and they’d get it for him.
As she stood up, she saw Harrison’s panicked gaze shift from her to his phone and knew exactly what he’d done. Beyond furious, she strode toward him. “It was you. You called Rick, didn’t you? You told him you knew it was a scam. That we all knew.”
“So what if I did? It’s not my fault—”
She hauled off and punched him in the nose. He landed on his butt, blood splattering over the snow and his ridiculous coat. “Do something,” he yelled at Jill, who’d come to stand beside her. “She assaulted me.”
Jill lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t see anything.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Any of you see anything?”
“Nope, didn’t see a thing,” several people said.
“Ray, take Mr. Hartwell to the station and question him as to his involvement in Sherriff McBride’s kidnapping,” Ethan said.
Madison shook off the pain in her hand. “Coulter, you know your nephew. Is there any place you can think of that he might be holding Gage?”
He glanced at Nell, then nodded. “I have a couple of places in mind. If I had a better idea which way he was headed, I could narrow it down some, save time.”
“Okay,” she said, then walked to a bench in the town square. Vivi and Skye helped her onto it. She stood and lifted the megaphone to her lips. “If anyone saw Rick leaving Christmas between nine last night and when he left here at noon today, go on over to the bakery and give Fred and Ted your information.” She glanced at the two older men. They nodded and headed across the street with Grace. “Everyone else, call your friends and family and ask them the same question. If you find anything out, let Ted and Fred know. They’ll pass on the information to Jill.”
Jill, talking on her phone, stopped pacing to nod.
“All right, folks, I know some of you are up against it financially, and the news that there was never going to be a resort was tough for you to hear. But I want you to know I have big plans for this town, and one way or another, we’re going to turn it around. But right now, we have to come together, dig into our wallets, and bring Gage home.” Madison would give every cent she had to bring him home safe. She’d transferred a hundred thousand dollars to the bank in Christmas a week ago to show the bank manager how much faith she had in her business plan for Grace’s Sugar Plum Bakery. But she didn’t know what he kept in the vault.
“We need to come up with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars by midnight tonight.”
Vivi nudged her. “He said a quarter of a million.”
“I know. I’m putting up a hundred thousand.”
Vivi gave her a long look, then slowly nodded.
“If you’re able to contribute, the ladies will keep track of whatever you put in.” She gestured to Vivi, Skye, and her friends from Christmas, who helped her down from the bench.
Jill ran over. “Okay, we’ve located Gage’s phone. It was out on Old Mill Road. Rick must’ve known it had GPS and tossed it after he called you.”
“Does that help, Coulter?” Madison asked.
“Yep, narrows it down.” He looked at the sky. “Storm’s heading in. I’ll have to take the dogs.”
“I’m coming with you, Coulter,” Ethan said.
“Shouldn’t we call in—” Jill began.
“No.” Ethan shook his head. “We don’t want to spook Rick.” He turned to Madison and put his hands on her shoulders. “My best friend is one hell’ve a lucky guy, and believe me, he knows it.”
“Bring him home safe, Ethan.”
“We will.
”
She had to believe that or she’d fall to pieces.
Chapter Twenty-six
Hands cuffed behind his back, Gage lay on the narrow cot trying to tighten his grip on the key slipping from his frozen fingers. He’d been half out of it from the hit he took to his head, lying facedown on the floor, when he realized Rick was going to cuff him. Gage had managed to get one of the keys off his belt before he did, sliding it into the back pocket of his jeans. If he’d known then how long it’d take to get the key out, he would’ve put it in his mouth.
Gage still had a hard time believing what Rick had done. It just went to prove that people would do anything if they were desperate enough. And if Gage had realized just how far Rick would go, he would’ve alerted his deputies to his suspicions—like the missing ore from Coulter’s safe and the similarities between the Hartwell deal and a scam Rick had written an article about a year ago. But it was only once he began focusing on Rick and his relationship with Harrison Hartwell that Gage had started to put the pieces together, and he hadn’t wanted to lose the element of surprise.
He lost his grip on the key and cursed. The bedsprings squeaked as he shifted. He bumped his head against the rough timber, sending a shower of cold white flakes onto his face. He lifted his eyes to the walls now coated in a thick frost. The fire in the woodstove had died an hour after Rick left.
Gage didn’t have a choice. He had to get some heat in the place or risk succumbing to hypothermia. The smoke from the woodstove would alert Rick to the fact Gage had managed, using the sharp edge of the metal frame, to saw through the rope binding his feet, but hopefully he wouldn’t turn tail and run. Then again, with Gage’s gun in his pocket, Rick would be cocky enough to think he could handle him. That would be his downfall.
Because nothing was going to stop Gage from taking Rick out before he moved on to Plan B. Gage was betting Rick’s Plan A—the one where Madison didn’t get her five hundred signatures and Rick got his payoff from Hartwell and hit the road—would fail.
But if Rick got a chance to put his Plan B into action, Gage was worried just how far he’d go to get rid of Madison before the vote tomorrow.
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