Love and Protect

by Lori Ryan

  *

  Paul and Mark had decided it was time to cut their losses and take off. They’d technically finished the job for Alec by tracking Laura to a state park, and even finding the specific campground she was in. Had they not been so desperate to locate her after finding no record of her in hotels in the area where she had been sighted, they never would have thought to check the state park. A waitress at the restaurant told them a lot of visitors to the area camped at the state-run campground three miles down the road from the restaurant.

  Laura Kensington and Cade Bishop were holed up in a tent at campsite number forty-nine. After texting this information to Alec Hall, Mark and Paul ditched both of their phones and the rental car that Alec’s company was paying for. They picked out an old junker of a truck and hotwired it, then took off for California, intent on putting as much distance between Alec Hall and themselves as possible.

  It wasn’t hard to see the writing on the wall. Hall wouldn’t need them much longer. They’d been overly confident in taking work from a guy like him, but they knew it was time to cut and run before things went south.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Justin Kensington’s head was still thick with the effects of the coma he’d been in for days, but he was awake and functioning enough to answer the doctor’s basic questions. He was surprised to see his mother standing on the other side of the bed, grilling the doctor about his prognosis. It was shocking to see her up and functioning as if there wasn’t an ounce of alcohol in her system.

  Images swam in Justin’s head as he tried to pin down what had happened. Voices that didn’t have faces talking around him. Laura shot him? That wasn’t right. Why were they saying Laura shot him?

  “What happened?” he croaked out, but it came out sounding all fuzzy and thick.

  “You were shot, Justin. We were able to remove the bullet and the surgery went quite well, but you’ve been unconscious for several days. You’re going to be here for a while longer, but the prognosis is good. We don’t foresee any long-term ill effects,” the doctor said.

  “Laura?” Justin said, looking back and forth between his mother and the doctor as the world began to come back into focus.

  “The police are looking for her, Justin. They’ll find her soon. She won’t get away with this. She won’t get away with what she did to you or your brother,” his mother said, and he was shocked to see tears streaming down her face.

  “What are you talking about?” Justin shook his head, but shards of pain dug in, and he had to hold himself still to ward off a wave of nausea.

  “Your brother was poisoned. After Laura shot you and the police found out she had a fake identity hidden with cash, I had them exhume Patrick’s body. It wasn’t a heart attack. They found poison that they hadn’t previously tested for, given the history of heart attacks in the family.”

  The doctor interjected. “It’s not standard protocol to test for poisons when there isn’t any reason to suspect something other than a heart attack. With the history in your family, no one questioned that he might have been murdered.”

  “Not Laura,” Justin said. “It wasn’t Laura.”

  His mother opened her mouth to object, but Justin raised his voice with the little strength he had. “It wasn’t Laura. Alec Hall shot me. He was threatening Laura. Something about evidence she was hiding. Evidence Patrick had on him.”

  Images swam in Justin’s head, but the pieces were beginning to string together into memories he could make sense of. He felt the world slipping away around him again as he gave over to the darkness that called to him, but, as if from a distance, he heard his mother ask the doctor to call Sheriff Davies.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Cade woke to the palest of light beginning to warm the day. Their second night in the tent had been as perfect as the first, each taking an endless amount of time to learn one another’s bodies. He’d marveled at the way Laura looked when she came and the sweet sounds she made when she was coming back down to earth after an orgasm. Their day had been filled with the nervous energy of two people hiding, not knowing their next move, but their night together couldn’t have been more perfect.

  Even in the two nights they’d been together, he’d seen her confidence grow. He’d watched the power in her eyes when she realized his body responded to hers as much as hers did to his. Cade couldn’t wait to see Laura’s strength grow as she learned to let him love her for who she was, not who she’d always been told she needed to be.

  He stretched and opened his eyes to find the space next to him empty. Cade laughed. He didn’t think pregnant women had to pee constantly until later in the pregnancy. Laura had said that at her last appointment, her doctor said she was at a point in the pregnancy when the baby was tiny, but her uterus was tipped over and pressing right on her bladder. He believed it when he considered how often she was going to the bathroom.

  A baby.

  He had told Laura that they’d need to decide where their relationship was going before the birth so they weren’t unfair to the baby, but Cade knew where he wanted this relationship to go. He wanted to spend his life with Laura. He hadn’t ever felt like this with anyone. Not even during the time when he and Lacey had been happy together, when he’d thought he might marry her someday.

  He knew he wanted forever with Laura and her baby, and as many babies as they could have down the road. He just hoped she’d be willing to go out on a limb and give marriage another try after what happened with Patrick. He hadn’t flat out asked her about that, but he hoped he could convince her he was worth taking another shot on. They could take it slow if she needed to. He could wait.

  Red raised her head and emitted a low, almost inaudible bark from her place beside him. It was a chuffing woof more than a bark. Cade knew that sound. It was meant to warn Cade without alerting whoever was out there that she was aware of their presence. She wouldn’t have done that if it was just Laura returning to the tent.

  Cade stilled as he listened. Noises around the car. Whoever it was must have come in on foot. Cade would have heard a car approaching.

  Damn. Cade was stuck in the tent with no way to see who was prowling around the site, and Laura was off in the woods by herself. Was it an animal? It could just be some random person looking to see if there was anything easy to lift. But, it could also be one of the investigators or Alec himself. Cade wasn’t willing to sit by and take the chance that it was just something benign. Laura could walk back into the campsite any minute.

  Cade slipped his knife from beneath the stash of shoes and an extra sweatshirt he had stacked in the corner of the tent. He slowly cut the fabric on the side of the tent that faced away from the campsite until he had a large enough opening to slip through. He held the opening for Red and she crawled through to stand by his side. Cade stayed crouched low and signaled to Red to stay by his side as he moved.

  Together they circled around the back of the small tent and peered into the brightening light. Cade cursed under his breath when he saw Alec looking through the car windows. He knew Alec would turn his attention to the tent as soon as he saw they weren’t in the car.

  Cade moved away from the campsite and circled wide around it to stay out of Alec’s line of sight. No sooner had Cade gotten out of there, than Alec moved. He turned and approached the tent, looking behind him as if checking to be sure he wasn’t followed.

  Where was Laura? Should he send Red to find her?

  Cade did his own scan of the area. He saw no sign of another vehicle. No sign that Alec had the two investigators with him. Could he have come alone?

  Cade didn’t want to chance it if the investigators were waiting close by to provide backup to Alec. As he watched, Alec pointed a gun at the tent and emptied what sounded like a full magazine into the tent, spraying it with bullets. He must have used a suppressor because Cade heard low pops, not loud gunshots. Had they been closer to the main circle of campgrounds, the noise might have brought someone running. Their campground was secluded enough
, though, that no one else would have heard the sounds.

  Alec had come prepared to kill. Whatever evidence he’d demanded from Laura back at the barn, Alec had apparently given up hope of getting it out of her. Now, he simply looked as though he wanted to get rid of Laura as quickly as he could. Cade touched Red on the shoulder and turned to move off into the woods. He cut around the other side of the site and headed for the area Laura would likely have gone to use the bathroom.

  Cade heard Alec’s swearing when he realized there wasn’t anyone in the annihilated tent. Laura must have heard the noise, too. She was heading back toward the site when Cade intercepted her and pulled her off the trail into the shrub. His hand over her mouth, he whispered in her ear.

  “You hear gunfire and you head toward it? We need to have a talk, woman.”

  Laura shook his hand off her mouth and looked up at him. In a completely staid voice, she said, “You were back there.”

  “Seriously. We’re talking about this later. Do you have the gun with you?” Cade asked and held his hand out when Laura nodded. She passed him the gun and Cade turned them toward the creek. They couldn’t go back to their car. They needed to get to a public location and get help. If they followed the creek, it would take them to the ranger station at the entrance to the park. With Laura ahead of him, the two walked as quietly as possible. Red pressed against Laura’s leg the entire time.

  They hadn’t made it far when Cade heard a twig snap behind him and turned to look. Alec launched himself at Cade’s legs, taking him down in a full-on tackle at the same time Red hurled herself at Alec. Hall’s gun was in his hand, but he must have blown all of his bullets on the empty tent because now he hit Cade in the temple with the gun. Red was on Hall’s back, but Cade heard a yelp as Alec turned and struck her with the gun, a blow hard enough to send her sprawling behind them.

  Cade’s head reeled as he took hit after hit. He kicked out with his legs, throwing Alec off balance. When he threw a punch that connected with Alec’s jaw, Alec eased his hold for a split second and Cade rolled away.

  He was stronger than Alec and bigger, but Alec had gotten a few good blows in and Cade’s head was foggy and slow. He managed to yell to Laura to run, but she didn’t move. Cade reached behind him for the gun at his waistband, but it wasn’t there. He looked for it on the ground, but didn’t have time to see much. Alec was coming at him again.

  Cade spit out a curse as Alec crashed into him. He struggled to clear the murkiness in his head as he landed blows to Alec’s head and shoulders. He struck out again and again, then kicked and rolled to pin Alec beneath him. Alec took advantage of the momentum and twisted into another roll, taking them both into the creek.

  The water was shallow, but the icy cold must have knocked the wind out of Alec. Red was back then, and Cade saw her grab at one of Alec’s legs, but Alec seemed oblivious to the pain of her jaw clamping down on him. Cade felt sickening sharp pain as his ribs cracked when Alec focused his fists on his torso.

  Cade tried to see around the blood running into his eyes from the cuts on his forehead and temple. Laura was standing above them, white knuckled, the gun gripped in both hands.

  “Laura, shoot!”

  “I can’t! I can’t shoot without hitting you,” she cried.

  He heard the terror in her voice.

  Cade was losing consciousness as Alec continued to pummel him. With all he had left in him, he threw Alec off and twisted out of the way. “Now, Laura!”

  Alec lifted a rock, ready to go after Cade with it, but a shot rang out and Alec fell. Laura had hit him square in the stomach from no more than six feet away. The kick of the gunshot sent her flying back into the creek bed. Alec fell into the creek, his blood darkening the once-clear water, a look of shocked disbelief stealing over his features.

  Red and Laura ran back into the stream and hauled Cade from the water. Red stood guard while Laura ran her hands gently over his battered face.

  “Please be okay, please. Oh God, Cade, please.” Her hands and voice shook violently as she spoke and Cade tried to answer her, but his head wouldn’t stop pounding. Neither of them had a phone—they’d ditched them when they were running to ensure no one could track them. But, now Cade didn’t know if he could walk out of these woods. And he wouldn’t send Laura over to Alec’s body to look for a phone in case Alec was still alive and conscious. He couldn’t risk Laura’s safety any more than he already had.

  Cade put his hand on her stomach. “Baby okay?”

  “Yes,” she sobbed, nodding her head. “But you, Cade; I thought he was going to kill you.”

  “Not that easy,” Cade grunted and rolled onto his side, then shoved up onto his knees. “Wait here,” he implored, hoping she’d stay back.

  Cade half crawled, half dragged himself to Alec. He laid his fingers on Alec’s neck, but there wasn’t a pulse and the red hue of the water running downstream told Cade the man had bled out quickly. Cade dug through Alec’s pockets and found a phone in his chest pocket, but it was too wet to use.

  He pulled himself back to Laura, who helped drag him up onto the bank of the river and sat cradling him in her arms.

  “Someone will have heard the gunshots,” he said and Laura finished his thought.

  “A ranger will come to investigate. They’ll get us out of here,” she said and wiped some of the blood from his face. As Laura held him, Cade gave in to the blackness that washed over him, taking him under completely. Laura was safe.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Laura sat by Cade’s side in the hospital watching him sleep. The nightmare was finally over. She couldn’t believe Alec Hall had poisoned Patrick and shot Justin. She hadn’t really liked the man, but if anyone had told her he was a murderer, she probably would have laughed.

  The police in Connecticut had retrieved the USB drive from the house. It detailed years of embezzlement from Kensington-Hall Developers by Alec and also had some evidence of pay offs and bribes. Apparently, when Patrick confronted Alec, the other man decided to take advantage of the history of early heart attacks in the Kensington family.

  There wasn’t any sign of the private investigators that had come after Laura with Alec at the ranch. Honestly, Laura didn’t care where they were. As long as they didn’t come back, she just wanted to forget all of this.

  Shane, Josh, and May had arrived in Kansas to be with her and Cade until he was well enough to travel home. He’d suffered a concussion and several cracked ribs, on top of bruises and contusions that Laura hoped didn’t hurt as badly as they looked like they did.

  Cade’s eyes opened slowly, and he turned his head to look at her. Relief swept through Laura, making her weak. She’d never been as scared as she was when she’d seen Alec and Cade fighting. When it looked as if Alec was going to kill Cade, she couldn’t bear the thought of life without him. At that moment, Laura believed she was about to lose everything she’d found, all over again. Everything she’d dared to hope for. And because of her, Cade had nearly been murdered….

  “You okay?” he asked and winced as he tried to raise a hand to her face.

  “Try not to move. You have cracked ribs. That’s very painful,” Laura said and sniffed, trying not to let tears come. She was well aware of the pain of cracked ribs. It wasn’t pleasant.

  “You’re okay? The baby?” Cade’s eyes flashed to her stomach.

  “The baby’s okay. I’m okay. May and Doc are down in the cafeteria getting a cup of coffee and Shane is outside sitting with Red.” She took his hand in hers and held tight. His right hand was too swollen to hold. He would be getting a cast on that in the next few hours. “They’ve been taking turns sitting with her since she can’t come inside, and I didn’t think it was safe to leave her out in the car alone.” It had killed Laura to sit outside with Red before Cade’s family had arrived, but she knew he’d want Red to be safe and not feel frightened. The poor dog was traumatized enough by the whole episode. Being left alone in the parking lot would have overwhelmed her.<
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  Cade smiled and closed his eyes, his breath returning to the steady quiet of sleep once again. Minutes later, though, he woke again.

  “Is now a good time to talk about that honeymoon? Will you take pity on me while I’m injured and agree to marry me?”

  “No, I won’t.” Laura laughed. “But I’ll let you take me on a date when we get home.”

  Cade nodded and closed his eyes again. She could tell he was fighting the effects of the drugs the doctors had given him. He pushed open his eyes once again and looked at her.

  “I love, you, Laura. I couldn’t have made it if Alec got to you.”

  Tears ran down Laura’s face as she nodded. “He didn’t get to me. I’ll be right here when you get up, I promise,” Laura said, thinking about the possibilities of that. Of staying with Cade forever. Laura knew in her heart that was what she wanted, and she had finally found the courage to accept what she wanted for herself, to embrace it and let herself hope and dream and believe in love.

  Cade looked into her eyes. “I love you Laura. I want you in my life forever.”

  “Well, you do live a charmed life. I imagine your dream will come true.” Laura leaned down and kissed Cade gently, careful not to hurt his swollen jaw. “I love you, Cade Bishop. I’ll love you forever.”

  Epilogue

  Laura looked down at the perfect tiny nose and rosebud lips of Jamie May Bishop. Her baby had been born two weeks before her due date, and only fourteen hours after Laura Kensington had become Laura Bishop in a ceremony attended by nearly every resident of Evers, Texas.

  “She’s incredible,” she said and looked up into Cade’s eyes with tears in her own.

  Cade looked down at Laura, and then back to the baby neither of them seemed to be able to keep their eyes off of for long. “Just like her mama. Absolutely incredible.” The awe in his voice was clear.