by Barb Han
“There was no way I could’ve hurt Karen. I hope the attorney general will be able to see it. I wasn’t even there when it happened,” he said.
“The attorney general won’t overlook that fact,” she reassured.
“I hope you’re right because you know what the implication is if you’re wrong,” he said.
She did know. It meant that they were about to turn over the only true evidence in the case, the only evidence that could clear Holden. “We’ll make a copy and keep the original. We’ll threaten to use the media if he doesn’t cooperate. It’ll work out.”
“I wish I had your optimism.”
Morning traffic was thickening as the sun rose.
Ella sipped the coffee that he’d bought from the mini-mart. It tasted burned in comparison to the stuff Holden made over nothing but a few fire logs, but the caffeine would do the trick. “This attorney general person, is he legitimate?”
“I believe so,” he said.
“First impressions are usually right.” Even when he had a beard covering his face and hadn’t spoken to a person in almost two years, Ella had known that there was something still good about Holden. She was intuitive enough to realize that he was holding something in, too.
His demeanor had changed like it did every time their defenses started tumbling down. It never lasted long and she could see that he was still holding on to the past. He’d never be able to move into the future—a future that she was beginning to hope that the two of them could spend getting to know each other better—if he couldn’t let go of the past.
“I guess.” He shrugged, keeping his focus on the stretch of highway in front of them. “We’ll stop off along Interstate 40 to give the impression we’re heading west. It’ll add time to our trip but it’ll be worth it. In case.”
Holden didn’t finish. The rest of that sentence involved what would happen if the attorney general didn’t believe him. And they both knew what that meant. She could eventually go home but he would have to disappear. Again.
* * *
THE CALL WITH the attorney general, Calvin Edwards, had gone better than expected. Holden had tilted the phone so that Ella could hear. He’d said he wanted her perspective. She’d had a good feeling when they ended the conversation.
An hour later, they stopped off at a mailing center.
“This will give Edwards everything he needs to go after them,” Holden said to Ella under his breath at the copy company’s business center. He placed the package inside the small mailing box and sealed it at the self-check counter. “If it makes it.”
“It will,” she urged. “Make sure to get a signature.”
“And receive confirmation where?” he asked.
She thought about it for a moment. “My email should be fine.”
“No way,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked. “It’s perfect. You don’t have one and no one involved would connect me to your father’s case.”
Holden conceded. He punched in the mix of letters and numbers as she spoke. He printed the mailing label and placed it on the small box before taking to the cashier.
“Two years is a long time.” Holden leaned down and brushed a kiss on her lips after taking a deep breath.
“The timing of this is perfect,” she said. “Everyone involved has moved on. No one is expecting evidence to show up now. It’ll come out of the blue. You stay under the radar a few more weeks, like Edwards said, and the key players will already be in jail.”
As they walked out, Holden fished his cell out of his pocket and held it flat on his palm. “Your turn.”
“Sheriff Sawmill, this is Ella Butler,” Ella said into the phone after dialing a number.
“I have good news for you, Miss Ella,” Sheriff Sawmill said. “We have Suffolk’s son in custody.”
“Why? What happened?” She tilted the phone so that Holden could hear.
“The shell casings on his father’s shotgun matched those at the crime scene. When we hauled his father in, he did the right thing and stepped forward,” he said. “Suffolk’s gun wasn’t stolen and his son took it right from inside the back door.”
Ella looked at Holden, searching for something that she wasn’t sure could exist so early in their relationship.
“It’s over, Miss Ella. We got him. Handcuffed him this morning,” he said. “It’s safe for you to come home.”
“He’s responsible for both attacks? For the rock at Devil’s Lid?” she asked. Tears brimmed at that last word because without her father she wondered if Hereford would still feel like home. What would it be now? An odd feeling settled in her chest. Nothing felt the same anymore, nor had it since her father’s death, and she doubted it ever would again. And she had to wonder how much the man standing next to her influenced that.
“We believe so,” Sawmill supplied.
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Ella said.
“I didn’t want to release a statement to the media until I delivered the message to you personally,” he said. “They’re outside now.”
It would be all over the news soon.
“I appreciate it,” she said. “Can you give me five minutes to tell my family that I’m okay?”
“You bet,” Sheriff Sawmill said.
The two exchanged goodbyes and she made a quick call to May, who promised to let the others know immediately.
“Everyone’s fine, other than my sister having the flu. It’s over. And I should feel more relieved,” Ella said to Holden.
“Do you think they have the wrong guy?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t say that exactly. I’m not sure what’s wrong.” She couldn’t pinpoint what was going on in her mind. “It’s probably just me. I’m off. This whole experience has been surreal and it’s just hard to believe that it’s all over. Everything feels different about the ranch now. The second I start to feel relief about going home I realize that my dad’s not going to be there. Suddenly, Hereford doesn’t feel as much like home as it used to.”
Holden took her in his arms and she buried her face in his strong chest. Those strong arms of his wrapped around her and she couldn’t deny that this felt like home.
“Will you come back with me?” She blinked away tears and looked up at him.
“I should check on Rose,” he said before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“We could send for her. She hasn’t been away in a while and she might enjoy being on the ranch for a few days.” Ella wasn’t sure if she’d convinced him but Rose was always welcome at Hereford.
Holden stood there for a long moment. Ella pressed up to her tiptoes and placed her hands on his shoulders. She looked into his eyes before kissing him. There was no hesitation in his reaction, his lips pressed to her and his tongue tasting her.
Ella pulled back first and looked into his intense blue eyes. “Can you give me a few more days?”
His face broke into a smile as he trailed his finger along her cheek. “You can be convincing when you set your mind to something, can’t you?”
“Only when it’s the right thing to do,” she countered, matching his smile. “Does that mean you’ll stay?”
“Yes.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rewarded him with another kiss. Happiness lifted the weight from her shoulders. They were going home. Even if Hereford was a temporary stop for Holden.
Chapter Seventeen
Being back in Cattle Barge reminded Ella of what a media circus the town had become. A hot shower, May’s cooking and Holden nearby would go a long way toward making her feel like she could deal with it all again.
Of course, she would feel better if she could access the memory buzzing around in the back of her thoughts. Trying to force it threatened to split her head open. “Remind me to take a couple of ibuprofen the minute we get to Hereford.”
Even with the pain, her
excitement was building.
“We have some.” Holden kept one hand firmly on the wheel and the other reached around and retrieved the duffel.
“I forgot all about these,” she said. They’d been on the road twelve hours steady aside from a pair of bathroom breaks since leaving the motel. Ten was pretty much her limit. Even in the comfortable SUV, the ride dragged on and it was probably because she missed being home so much.
“Are you hungry?” Holden asked.
“I can make it. Another forty minutes and we’re there.” She was already thinking about May’s cooking, the kitchen. The place was an old-world farmhouse with the oversize single sink, and had white cabinets and granite countertops. There was a hand-carved wooden table in the kitchen that stretched almost end to end. One side was used for food prep and the rest of the table was used for eating. She couldn’t wait to show Holden around the main house.
To avoid traffic, she’d directed Holden to a back road. There was no way she wanted to face the media. Not now. All she wanted to do was get home and call her brothers. She wanted to check on her younger sister, Cadence, to see if she was recovering from the flu she’d caught as everything was going down about their father. Cadence rarely ever got sick and stress had most likely weakened her immune system.
“Feeling better?” Holden asked a few minutes later.
“They’re starting to kick in.” Thank the stars for pain relievers.
“Are you worried about being home again?”
“Not as much as I thought I would be,” she admitted, and it had everything to do with the man sitting next to her. The feeling of missing her dad wasn’t going away anytime soon, but she felt ready to face the fact that he was gone, and that was a huge step for her.
Ella leaned her head back. A comfortable silence sat between them as Holden navigated the country road and she waited for the last of her headache to ease. She checked the time. They were ten minutes from home now and Ella’s excitement only increased now that she was so close to Hereford.
Out of nowhere, the sound of a bullet split the air and the SUV spun a hard right. Ella gasped as the vehicle rammed into a tree. Airbags deployed. The next thing she knew she heard a door open and saw Holden being dragged out of the driver’s seat.
It took a second to register that he wasn’t fighting back. Was he conscious?
Ella tried to work her seat belt but it wouldn’t budge and her fingers were so shaky. Panic seized her lungs as she tried to climb out anyway. How had the man gotten Holden out so quickly? She craned her neck to the left and then to the right but couldn’t find him. “Holden.”
The fact that there was no response chilled her to the bone.
“Holden,” she shouted, louder this time.
A hand wrapped around her mouth. She tried to bite the fingers. Failed.
“You just won’t die,” the masculine voice said. And she absolutely knew that this man was there for her. Because that memory she’d been trying to reach came crashing down around her at the sound of his voice. He’d shouted for her to stop when she’d taken off running. He was the man who was trying to kill her, Troy Alderant. He was the developer who’d tried to buy Suffolk’s land.
Old Man Suffolk’s son was in jail. He’d confessed. Why would an innocent man confess to a crime he didn’t commit? All the details of the conversation she’d had with the sheriff jammed in her brain. Nothing made sense. Except from somewhere deep down she knew this was the man Sheriff Sawmill should be looking for.
She was jerked out of the passenger seat and then thrown onto the unforgiving dirt. Her hands were rammed behind her back and tied. She struggled, kicking and screaming.
But Alderant was strong. Too strong.
“Holden,” she shouted out of panic and desperation.
She rolled over in time to see a leering face coming toward her. “Why are you doing this?”
“You and your little pet projects. You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?” he mumbled. “You don’t have my vision for Cattle Barge and that’s your problem. Donating more land for animals instead of taking advantage of the lake as a destination is beyond me.”
What was he talking about? He’d been around the past year or so, trying to get involved in local politics. Was he trying to develop the land for something? He must’ve had his eye on Suffolk’s land and the surrounding area.
And she’d accidently gotten in his way.
“We were coming to terms until you ruined it,” Alderant said, dragging her by her feet behind the SUV.
If he’d put his plans out in the public too early, residents would’ve denied it. People had been trying to develop the lake for as long as Ella could remember. Proposals were always being shot down in town hall meetings. This guy must’ve figured if he bought up enough of the land, he’d have more voting rights. Once he hit the tipping point he could make his plans known and no one would be able to block him.
Ella gasped. Could he be responsible for her father’s murder? “Why’d you kill my father? Did he find out about your plans?”
A strangled noise tore from his throat. “I didn’t. Your father’s death was the best thing that ever happened to me. He was always in Suffolk’s ear and the old man wouldn’t have sold his land without Butler’s approval. I wish I’d thought of killing him. I seized the moment, figuring if I got rid of you I’d be set. Your siblings don’t share your passion for animals. No one would’ve been left to block me. I’d followed you for days when you took that walk on Devil’s Lid. I saw my chance to make this go away, to make you go away and to keep my name out of it. Everyone would assume your father’s killer had set his sights on you.”
Ella kicked harder as she realized the other end of the line that tied her hands together was being secured around the back of the SUV.
“But there was a confession,” she said.
“To keep his old man out of jail, I presume.” The icy voice sent chills down her spine. “You can fight all you want. This time, you die.”
A figure launched toward Alderant. Holden?
The two went down in a tangle of fists.
“Grab the phone, call 9-1-1 and get out of here,” Holden shouted to Ella.
She used the SUV as balance to get to her feet. Her hands were still tied together behind her back and she needed something to cut the tie. Her pulse raced as she moved toward the open door of the SUV and raked the corner between her hands. Her wrists hurt like hell but adrenaline dulled the pain.
It felt like it took forever to break free from her bindings. She immediately located the cell and called 9-1-1, as instructed, keeping one eye on the fight going on a few yards away from her. The two were on their feet now as she relayed details of their location to the dispatcher.
Holden slammed his fist into Alderant’s face. His head snapped backward. The two struggled for something. A weapon? And she watched in horror as a metal blade was driven into Holden.
Ella screamed and Alderant glanced toward her, giving Holden the second he needed to regain the upper hand. Holden took the knife, tossed it far away and landed a punch so hard Alderant fell backward.
In a beat, Holden was straddled over Alderant, pounding him until he went still. And then Holden dropped, too.
“Holden.” Panicked, Ella ran to him as he lay splayed out on his back. He looked like a doll someone had tossed onto the floor in a hurry and then left behind. His legs were bent and twisted at odd angles. There was blood everywhere, soaking his shirt and jeans. She couldn’t even allow herself to think that anything had happened to him as she dropped down beside him. Her lungs felt like they would collapse and her throat closed up. Her chest seized as she saw him there, helpless. He’d taken that knife for her.
Ella folded forward next to his ear. His eyes were closed and he didn’t move. Was he breathing? Panic squeezed her chest, making it almost impossible to take in
air as she heard the faint sounds of sirens in the night air.
“Breathe,” she said in his ear, fighting against the wall of emotions threatening to break down and come crashing around her. She searched for a pulse on his wrist, any sign to tell her that he was still alive.
And then his eyes blinked open. Those gorgeous blue eyes of his. Tears streaked her cheeks.
“I love you,” she whispered into his ear. “Stay with me. Please.”
His eyes closed as the cavalry arrived.
“Help us, please,” she said to the first officer on the scene. “That man caused us to wreck and stabbed my boyfriend.”
Alderant was still knocked out cold as he was cuffed. He was going to jail for the rest of his life.
At least for Ella, justice would be served. As for her father, she was resolved to help the sheriff find the person responsible.
* * *
THE RIDE TO the hospital in the sheriff’s SUV seemed to take forever. Once there, the coffee tasted watered-down but she was grateful for the caffeine boost after she’d downed several cups. There never was much else to do in a hospital while waiting on a loved one than drink cup after cup. She’d paced the halls the entire night even though the doctor had visited with her hours ago and said that Holden would be okay. She’d asked to see him but the doctor asked her to wait until Holden woke. That was four hours ago.
“Ma’am?” a female voice said, startling Ella out of her thoughts.
“Yes.”
“You can go in now,” the nurse wearing the name tag Roberta said.
“Thank you.” Ella didn’t waste time turning down the hall and rushing past the nurses’ station. She already knew Holden was in room 132. She pushed open the door, scared of what condition she might find him in.
“Finally, the view is worth looking at in here,” he said with a smile that reminded her of the fact he was on pretty good pain medication.
“Holden.” She rushed to his side and took his hand. “How do you feel?”
“Better now.”
She eased onto the side of the bed, afraid she’d hurt him if she moved too fast.