Love and Protect

by Lori Ryan

  Cade squeezed her hand. “You don’t ever have to feel ashamed of anything he made you do or feel. Of anything he did to you. Never feel ashamed of any of that, Laura. The man was a monster. But you, you’re an amazing woman to have survived that. You’re incredible.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Morning chores finished, Laura and Cade walked up the path toward the main house together just in time to see a car driving up the long dirt drive. She tensed as the car drew closer, but Cade spoke quietly before she could decide which direction she should run.

  “Go on up to the house, Laura. I’ll see who it is.”

  Cade may have meant to set her at ease, but his instruction made her more anxious. It meant he didn’t recognize the car. She had the sense the Bishops knew everyone around here, so a car Cade didn’t recognize had a ball of knots twisting in her stomach.

  May met Laura at the door and looked past her at the billowing dust surrounding the brown sedan that made its way up the drive.

  “Cade doesn’t recognize the car,” Laura said.

  “I don’t either,” May said shaking her head as she stepped aside to let Laura in. “But, that doesn’t mean it’s trouble. Could be one of our friends bought a new car.”

  Laura didn’t believe May any more than May most likely believed herself, but she smiled tightly and went along with it.

  “You’re right. It’s probably nothing. Can I help you get lunch on the table?” she asked as they walked toward the back of the house to the kitchen. It took everything Laura had not to peel back the curtains and stare out the window as Cade greeted the stranger. But, if it was trouble, there was no better place for Laura to be than in the kitchen. She could slip out the back door and into the root cellar if Cade signaled that she needed to.

  No sooner did she have the thought than Cade gave the all clear. “Laura, Mama, guess who’s here?” he called out as they heard footsteps coming through the front door. The light tone of his voice told her there wasn’t any threat. “Josh is here to visit with no set return date in sight.”

  Cade came through the kitchen door with a grin, and Dr. Joshua Samuels following along behind him. Laura’s heart flipped over and relief flooded through her, leaving her weak. She hadn’t realized how frightened she was until she knew she was safe. In that moment, she realized how complacent she’d become. Just how much she’d allowed herself to believe she could settle in and stay with the Bishops and that scared the daylights out of her.

  “Joshua!” May’s smile lit her whole face. Laura had a pang of longing when she looked at the two as they hugged. She didn’t know what caused the feeling, really; as far as she knew, May and Josh were nothing more than old friends. But, there was an ease to the way they fell into one another’s arms. Laura knew she’d never had that in her life and, suddenly, she acutely felt the lack of it.

  She wanted that someday. More than she’d ever wanted anything.

  Laura forced her eyes to pass over Cade as that last thought passed through her head. She wiped her hands down the front of her skirt, and willed them to stop shaking.

  Josh crossed to Laura and took her hands in his. “You made it.”

  His smile was genuine, though his face was filled with concern. Emotion flooded Laura but she swallowed it down. She knew she should probably embrace the feeling of being surrounded by people who cared, people who wanted her to be happy and safe. But, a minute ago, when Laura thought the Kensingtons had found her, she thought she might have to run, to leave the ranch. That was the worst thing she’d felt in a long time.

  She’d let herself fall into this fairytale wonderland over the last few weeks, but she knew she couldn’t risk getting used to the happiness and peace the ranch offered if that meant later she might lose it. She didn’t want to have to wonder if at any moment someone could come to take away any happiness she found there.

  May’s arm came around Laura’s shoulders. “She made it, and it’s been wonderful having her here.”

  Panic set in. She’d let contentment and pleasure into her life, yet she knew it was too good to be true—she’d lose it sometime. The way things were now, she couldn’t ever trust that the life she’d built here couldn’t be taken away in an instant.

  Laura steeled herself. “It’s been wonderful being here. Even if it is only for a short time. I’ll be moving on soon, though. I need to move to a bit bigger city to find a job, a place to live,” she said, ducking her head.

  She stepped out of May’s embrace and crossed to carry a dish of potato salad and a plate of sandwiches to the table. Laura ignored the surprised looks crossing the faces of the others in the room and set out a pitcher of sweet tea to go with the large spread May had made for lunch. May always set out an enormous amount of food no matter how few people were expected, so having Josh at the table wouldn’t be a burden at all.

  Laura could feel the tension in the room as she buzzed around, finding ways to busy her hands until the moment passed. Except it didn’t pass. She heard Cade murmur something to May and Josh, and was surprised when they left the room. She thought May would be the one to try to talk with her about staying longer, not Cade.

  For the first time since she’d met him, Laura flinched when Cade spoke, even though she’d known it was coming.

  His tone low, he spoke calmly, with the supportive look in his eyes she’d come to crave. “What’s going on, Laura? Why are you talking about leaving again?”

  Laura turned and faced him and let loose all the fear that welled up inside her, that ate at her, and brought self-doubt when she wanted to be strong. All the fear made her prepare to run when she wanted with all her heart to be able to stay. She turned that fear into anger and turned it on the man before her.

  “What am I doing? You want to know what I’m doing? I’m not getting my hopes up, that’s what I’m doing, Cade. I’m being realistic instead of living in some fantasy where I get to stay on a ranch where I feel safe, with people who care about me. With plenty of food and no one that wants to hit me.” Laura’s fists balled at her sides, her nails digging into flesh as she struggled to contain her emotions. But that battle was long ago lost. The emotions whipping through her took her last bit of control. “Where I don’t have to worry about money or how to take care of my baby. Where I have love and support and…”

  She shook her head as her eyes and nose burned with the tears that were going to come no matter how hard she tried to fend them off.

  “I can’t do it, Cade. I won’t hope for this. I won’t let myself think I can have this, because it’s going to hurt like hell when I lose it.” Laura wrapped her arms around herself and ignored the tears she knew fell on her cheeks.

  Cade just watched and waited though she was in the middle of a meltdown, in the middle of making a fool of herself. She hated losing it in front of him. Laura swiped angrily at the tears and turned toward the counter, searching for a distraction.

  There must be some other chore she could do, something to focus on other than the man behind her who had never had to wonder when the earth would fall out from under his feet.

  Cade wouldn’t let her turn away though. He came around beside her and slowly reached a hand out to touch her with just one finger under her chin, gently pulling her eyes back to his.

  “You don’t have to leave, Laura. Ever. I promise you. You’ll never have to leave here.”

  Cade wanted to reach out and hold Laura, to pull her in tight and wrap her up and protect her from all of her fears, from all of her memories, and all the things that chased her and wouldn’t let her go. He wanted more than that. He wanted to kiss away those fears, to make love to her and make her forget—to erase all the hurt and pain she’d suffered.

  But he knew, watching her now, she wasn’t ready for any of that. She’d run like hell if he tried that. Even now, he saw a flash of anger in her eyes. The tears were gone.

  “You’re not the one who’d lose if that isn’t true, Cade. What happens when they find me here and they try t
o take my baby? What if they win? Do you think a court isn’t going to at least consider whether the baby wouldn’t be better off with the Kensingtons instead of me? Patrick’s family can give this baby everything. What do I have to offer? I don’t even have a home of my own or a steady job. What will I do when the court says Martha Kensington will be a better mother to this baby than I will?”

  Cade watched Laura try to collect herself, but it didn’t seem to work. He had to curl his hands into fists by his sides to keep from reaching out for her. He couldn’t deny that what she said had some merit, though he wanted to.

  “You’ve had the comfort of knowing your whole life that you were loved and supported, and that you’ll have that love and support no matter what. Well, I’ve never had that, and I’m not going to reach for it now. I don’t want that. I can’t want that,” she said, raising her voice.

  Cade didn’t have time to answer. Laura walked out the back door and strode through the tall grass that led to Mama’s wildflower garden.

  Damn. He should have seen that coming. He should have been able to see that she’d been walking around pretending everything was okay, but she had never really let down her guard. She never really let herself be completely comfortable. She shouldn’t have had to tell him that—he should have seen that himself.

  Cade put his hand on the knob to follow her, but Josh’s voice came from behind him.

  “Let her be for now, Cade. She needs to figure out on her own that all of this isn’t going away. And besides, she may be more right than you want to think,” Josh said, looking back at May.

  “What is that supposed to mean? Nobody’s making her leave.” Cade said and wheeled around, turning on Josh with a lot more intensity than he intended.

  “You might not make her leave, but that doesn’t mean she won’t have to run again. The Kensingtons are pushing hard to find her and the baby. They’ve had private detectives asking around at the hospital several times. I’ve been questioned three times by the PIs and once by the cops. The police took the security tapes from the day Laura left to try to see who she left with. I knew they might so I picked her up around the corner. All they saw was Laura walking away voluntarily and safely from the hospital, so the police aren’t too keyed up about her disappearance…but the Kensingtons are. They’re doing all they can to paint her as a mentally unstable woman who shouldn’t be left to her own devices. I think they have very little use for Laura. Once they have that baby, I have a feeling they’ll do all they can to get Laura out of the picture. Either fight for custody or have her committed to a mental institution—if they continue to push this mental-health angle. They’re painting a really nasty picture for anyone who’s willing to listen,” Josh said.

  “Do you think they suspect you were involved, Josh?” May asked.

  Josh shook his head. “I don’t think they did, but now that I’ve left they might. The staff will all tell them I take large chunks of time off each summer and it’s not unusual for me to go away when I do, so they’ll hopefully just chalk this up to a normal trip, or to me getting ready to retire. I was careful not to use any of my credit cards getting out here, and I actually took a few side trips along the way so they shouldn’t be able to track me here.”

  “All right, sit and eat. You must be hungry by now. Laura will come back when she’s ready,” May said and moved to sit down at the table.

  Cade looked at the table, but suddenly wasn’t very hungry. He’d all but forgotten that Laura was on the run in the last week, and the brutal reminder didn’t help his appetite.

  “I’m not hungry, Mama. I’ve got some work to do out in the barn. I’ll see you guys for dinner later,” he said and left before his mother or Joshua could reply.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alec looked over at the doorway to Patrick’s office as Justin entered. “Hey, I didn’t expect you here. Something you need?” Alec asked, not letting his annoyance show.

  The last thing he wanted to do was deal with Justin Kensington. There’d been no sign of Laura Kensington so far, and his search of all of the places he thought Patrick would have hidden the evidence he claimed he had was turning up nothing. He was tempted to believe Patrick had been bluffing, but he knew the man better than that. And, the risk was too great. He couldn’t chance that information coming out.

  Justin looked at him a bit strangely. “Yeah, I just thought I’d come clean out Patrick’s office. Get his personal things, you know. I’m trying to take care of as many details as I can before I leave,” Justin said.

  Alec had Patrick’s files stacked haphazardly on the desk. He looked down at them and back to the empty filing cabinet he’d been searching. “Yeah, I’m just getting these files out of here so my secretary can go through them and see what needs to be done with them. I’ll get these out of your way so you can collect his personal things.”

  Alec began gathering the files. “Unless you’d rather I have my secretary collect his things and deliver them to your mom. You don’t need to go through all of this now, Justin. We can take care of it.”

  Alec kept collecting files, striving for impassive indifference on his face as if he couldn’t care less if Justin took Patrick’s personal effects today or left them to be delivered later. But he’d be damned if he’d let Justin walk out of here with anything. Not until he was sure there was nothing that could incriminate him.

  Before Justin could answer, Alec’s day got a whole lot worse. His secretary announced Mark and Paul’s arrival. He’d been expecting them for an update on the case and with Justin here, there was no way he could avoid letting Justin sit in on the update. If the private detectives were smart enough, they’d report that they’d found nothing and then give him an actual update later, but he doubted they’d pick up on that, or that they were smart enough.

  And he was right. The two men walked in with a file folder in hand, and announced that they had news before they even saw that Justin was in the room with him.

  No choice now.

  “Great. Guys, you remember Patrick’s brother, Justin,” Alec said.

  Both men nodded. “Good to see you again,” said Mark, before opening the file and handing a sheet to Alec.

  “We were able to get hold of Laura’s phone and email info. She didn’t send or receive very many emails from the account on her smartphone, but there was one email address she sent things to fairly frequently. She deleted the emails as soon as they were sent but the record of the address is still there,” Mark said.

  “What was the email address?” Justin asked.

  Alec backed up and put his hand to his lower back. The familiar feel of the .22-caliber handgun he kept under his suit jacket there helped steady him. He couldn’t actually shoot anyone in the office with his secretary and half a dozen other staff right outside the door, but if the detectives were about to reveal something that could get him in trouble, he would at least be able to get out of here without anyone stopping him. Alec’s heart raced as he waited to see how this would play out.

  “She was emailing proofhesabastard@­gmail.com,” Paul said.

  Alec tightened his hand around the grip of his gun. He was backed into the corner of the office with Justin, Mark, and Paul all standing between him and the door. Fuck.

  “We hacked into the account and realized Laura was emailing herself,” Mark said.

  What the hell? Was Laura the one who had the evidence the whole time? Maybe she told Patrick, not the other way around? He hadn’t thought she was very smart, but maybe he’d underestimated her all this time. To be honest, he hadn’t really paid much attention.

  “Justin, we were planning to come see you after we talked to Alec. This, uh, this isn’t going to be easy for you to see,” Mark warned. The PI had an almost apologetic tone to his voice, and Alec realized it didn’t sound as though the detectives had found anything that incriminated Alec in her account at all. In fact, their entire focus was on Justin right now.

  “What are you talking about? What is it?” J
ustin asked.

  “We didn’t print anything. We thought it would be better not to create any more of a trail than already exists. We need to log on to show you,” Mark said as he gestured to the computer sitting on Patrick’s desk.

  Alec eased his hand off his gun and let his suit jacket fall back over it. He had already checked Patrick’s computer. There wasn’t any big file sitting on the desktop labeled in a way that screamed about Alec’s guilt. “Yeah, go ahead. It’s on.” He waved a hand at the desk and moved between the men and the door as the others gathered around the computer.

  A few seconds later, he watched Justin turn white and utter a curse he didn’t think anyone of the Kensington caliber would know, much less say.

  “Did you know about this, Alec? Did you know he was beating the—” Justin swallowed and looked at Alec. “Oh, God, did you know?” Justin asked, and Alec had to admit, the man looked truly stricken.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Alec moved around the desk to look over Justin’s shoulder and saw picture after picture of Laura Kensington, bruised and battered.

  Alec looked across the desk to the two investigators. “Anything else to report?” They shook their heads. “You don’t have a record of any of this? You didn’t print or download it?” he asked.

  “No, sir. Nothing.”

  “That’ll be all for now. I’ll call you to check in later,” Alec said, dismissing the two men as Justin scrolled through more of the photos. When the door shut behind Mark and Paul, Alec spoke again.

  “Justin, we need to get rid of this. We can’t let this get out. It would destroy your mother, your brother’s reputation,” Alec said. He didn’t want to take a chance that there was anything else buried in those emails that Justin might stumble on. “Don’t torture yourself looking at those, Justin. We need to get rid of them and then keep looking for Laura. She must be terrified if this is why she’s running.”