He slammed his hand into the man’s nose, this time connecting. He followed that punch with another to the side of the man’s head. With a faint sigh of stale breath, the man’s eyes fluttered and he slid down the floor and landed on his face.
Gray picked up his gun and picked up the knife by its steely point, hoping the handle would hold fingerprints that might identify the assailant.
He stuffed the knife in his pocket, noted the blood that soaked his shirtsleeve and then looked at Dylan. “Thanks for the help,” he whispered dryly.
“I knew you could take him.”
Gray heard rather than saw Dylan’s smile. Gray leaned down to check the unconscious man’s pulse. “He’s alive, but completely out.” Gray picked up his gun from nearby, straightened and pointed forward. “Come on. Let’s see what we find at the end of this tunnel.”
They left the unconscious man and moved forward. “We’ve got to be under one of the barns,” Dylan whispered. Gray nodded his agreement.
He couldn’t imagine why this tunnel had been created in the first place or who might have been responsible for its presence. He only prayed that somewhere in the darkness ahead Cath was alive and well.
After several more minutes of walking, they came to a wooden structure built into the tunnel. Gray’s blood pressure spiked and his heart beat so rapidly he felt light-headed as he saw the heavy steel door with the rasp and padlock.
“What the hell?” Dylan muttered, his beam focused on the padlock.
Gray tugged on the lock, finding it heavy-duty and impossible to break. He knew with every instinct he owned that Cath was just beyond that lock. What he didn’t know was if they would find her dead or alive.
“There’s no way we can break through that door,” Dylan said.
“I’ll have to shoot off the lock,” Gray replied as he pulled his gun. If he shot it sideways then the bullet would hopefully shatter the lock and travel on into the earth on the other side of the tunnel. “Get back,” he said to Dylan, hoping that by some crazy horror of fate the bullet wouldn’t ricochet around in the tunnel and wind up killing them both.
Dylan did as he was told, taking several steps backward, the beam of the light steady on the lock. Gray took his position and pointed his gun.
The explosion of the gun could possibly deafen them both in these close quarters, but Gray would risk a lifetime of deafness to get to Cath. One look at Dylan’s face let him know his friend felt the same way.
Gray pointed the gun and his hand shook with the stress that nearly consumed him. He closed his eyes, imagined Cath’s beautiful face and drew a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again his aim was sure and steady.
The blast and the flash occurred almost simultaneously, both deafening and blinding Gray for several seconds. He waited for his hearing and sight to return, then hurried toward the lock, pleased to see it shattered and hanging open. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he worked the last of the lock off and then crashed open the door.
“Cath!” He reeled toward her prone figure on the floor, his heart drowning in unshed tears of uncertainty. “Cath,” he cried again as he crashed down to his knees next to her.
He gasped in relief, tears blurring his vision as she opened her eyes. “Gray. Oh, Gray, I thought you were dead.” Tears misted her eyes, as well.
“Let’s get her out of here before somebody else shows up,” Dylan said.
Despite the searing pain in his arm, Gray leaned down and scooped Cath up in his embrace, anger mingling with unimagined relief as he saw the blood that trekked down her face from a split and swollen eyebrow. There was no question that she’d been hit and hit hard. Somehow, someway, if he found the person who’d done that he’d kill them without blinking an eye.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the front of his shirt and they started back the way they had come.
Nobody spoke as they moved silently back through the dark tomblike tunnel. It was enough for now that Gray held Cath in his arms and that her breath warmed his collarbones.
They came to the man in the tunnel and stepped over him. Dylan kept the light away from him so Cath wouldn’t get a glance at the man who must have attacked her.
In the distance, Gray could hear the sound of Harry Peters and his men, and he and Dylan picked up their pace and met the chief in the kitchen.
“I’m taking Cath to the hospital,” Gray said by way of greeting the police official. “Dylan can fill you in on everything that’s happened.”
Gray didn’t wait for a response, but carried Cath through the kitchen, out the back door and to his truck. It was only when she was buckled in to his passenger seat and he was behind the wheel that she spoke for the first time.
“I was so afraid that you were dead, and I was afraid I was going to die, too.” She began to weep and she continued to cry as he drove them to the small urgent care center in Dead.
Chapter 19
Cath was whisked away from Gray and taken into one of the examining rooms in the small urgent care center that attended to the people in the immediate area.
The doctors and nurses who worked here were accustomed to dealing with sniffles and colds, with flu and an occasional broken bone. Dr. Ralph Anderson cleaned up her face, checked the cut in her brow and took her vitals, and then asked her questions about her head wound, most of which she couldn’t answer.
No, she didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious, although she didn’t think it had been that long. No, she wasn’t aware of hitting anything else and had not received any hits or kicks to the stomach. She didn’t have any dizziness or nausea, although she did have a small lump that was tender to the touch. Still, the doctor didn’t believe she’d suffered a concussion.
Unfortunately the urgent care center didn’t have the appropriate equipment to perform an ultrasound. He suggested she rest, put some ice on her swollen eyebrow and check in with her obstetrician as soon as possible.
Throughout her time of talking and being treated by the doctor all Cath could think about was Gray, who’d looked as if he’d been to hell and back as he’d driven her here. She could only imagine the panic he must have felt when he awoke and found her gone from the petting zoo.
Outside the window dusk had fallen, which meant Gray had been searching for her for the whole afternoon. If anyone needed to be checked for a concussion it was probably him. He’d been hit far harder over the head than her reeling into a wall and hitting her head.
When she was released from the doctor she returned to the waiting room with the intention of making sure Gray was checked out, as well. To her surprise he wasn’t in the waiting room and a nurse let her know he was in an examining room getting stitches to the wound in his arm.
Distraught, Cath sank down in a chair to wait for him. She hadn’t even known he was wounded. He’d lifted her up and carried her all the way out of the tunnel, all the way through the house and had gotten her here, never indicating that he was hurt in any way.
When he finally came into the waiting room, his shirt sleeve had been cut off and he sported a long wrap of bandaging. She jumped out of her chair and ran to him, tears once again spilling down her face.
“You didn’t tell me you were hurt,” she said through the tears.
“It was nothing, just a little cut that required a few stitches.” He pulled her into his arms.
She looked up at him. “How many stitches?”
“Fourteen,” he admitted.
She gasped and the tears raced faster. “Hey,” he said softly as he swiped at her cheeks. “It’s all good. We’re both safe and sound and we left the bad guy unconscious in the tunnel so hopefully by now Chief Peters will have him in custody and have some answers for us.”
“Then we should get back to the ranch,” she said.
“And tomorrow I’ll take you to see the bean doctor just to put our minds at rest,” he replied. They stepped out into the night and got into his pickup.
“I’m sure the baby is
fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to confirm that all is well,” she replied.
He started the engine and then turned and looked at her, his eyes dark and glittering in the illumination from the dashboard lights. “Cath, I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry that I let you down.”
“Please stop. I don’t want to hear any talk like that,” she exclaimed. “You didn’t let me down. I’m here, I’m safe and I know it’s because of your unrelenting search for me.”
“It definitely helped that you dropped this.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out her necklace. The sight of it brought tears to her eyes once again as he handed it to her. “If I hadn’t seen that in the bottom of the pantry, we wouldn’t have known where to begin looking for you.”
“I dropped it hoping somebody would see it, hoping it would provide a clue, but I wasn’t sure where it landed or if I’d ever see it again.” She clutched it tightly in her hand.
“The clasp is broken. While we’re in Laramie seeing your doctor tomorrow, we’ll stop by a jeweler’s and have a stronger clasp put on it.” He pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the ranch house.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” he said, his voice sounding full and huskier than usual. “I’ve never been so afraid in my life. What happened after I was knocked out?”
She told him about the man taping her mouth and binding her in a blanket, then the ride in the wagon and after that the man carrying her through the tunnel to the small room.
She explained that there had been somebody there waiting for them and she had the distinct impression that it was a female, although the figure had been clothed all in black and had worn a mask.
By the time she’d given him that much information, they’d arrived back at the ranch where three police vehicles were parked and lights shone from every window of the mansion.
They found Peters and his two officers, Mike Harriman and Patrick Carter, with most of the staff gathered in the great room.
As they hesitated at the threshold of the room, Peters approached them, his features tortured with concern and questions. “Are you both okay?” His gaze went to Cath, who nodded.
“We’re both fine now,” she replied, grateful for Gray’s arm around her shoulder.
“Did Dylan fill you in on what happened?” Gray asked.
Peters nodded. “He told me what happened from the moment he saw you unconscious out by the petting barn until the two of you found Cath in that room at the end of the tunnel. What I need to know is which one of you put the bullet into the chest of the man down there? A man, by the way, nobody seems to be able to identify.”
Gray gasped and pulled Cath closer against him, as if to shield her from any ugliness. “Neither of us.”
“That’s what Dylan said,” Peters replied.
“I’ll take credit for beating the hell out of him and knocking him unconscious but not before he cut me with a knife.”
Gray released his hold on Cath and turned sideways. “If you’ll grab a pair of gloves and reach into my pocket, you’ll find the knife he used. I didn’t touch the handle so maybe you can pull some prints. You can take my gun, too. I only fired one shot down there and it was to blow off the lock on the door.”
“So, if nobody knows who the man is that took me, then nobody knows who the other person was who met him down there,” Cath said. “And if he’s dead there’s no way he can tell us.”
“What other person?” Peters asked.
Once again Cath explained about the figure who had met them by the hidden room. “I think it was a woman and there was something familiar about her but I can’t figure out exactly what.”
By that time Gabby and Amanda were at Cath’s side and Peters motioned Gray to follow him into the kitchen. Gabby led Cath to a chair where she collapsed, exhausted and slightly traumatized by all the events that had occurred.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Amanda asked worriedly. “Can we get you anything? Do anything for you?”
“I’ll get a cold cloth for your eye.” Gabby’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Cath, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
As she left to get a cold cloth, Amanda leaned down to give Cath a hug. Cath’s love for her sisters and her love for Gray filled her to the brim. In the time she’d spent in that tiny room, not knowing what the future held, not knowing if she had a future, all she’d been able to think about was her family, her baby and Gray.
Gabby returned with a cold damp washcloth and gently placed it on Cath’s eyebrow. Cath caught her sister’s hand and squeezed it. “I just want you to know how much I love you, Gabby and Amanda. I was so afraid I’d never have the chance to tell you again.”
Mathilda walked over to Cath and lightly touched her on the shoulder, her features twisted in agony. “I feel so horrible. I’m responsible for all this. The police chief feels certain that this was an inside job and that means whoever did this to you was hired by me. Despite my love for this family, I’m terrified that I’ve made a deadly mistake in hiring somebody. I can’t tell the good people from the bad.”
She spoke quickly, her hands once again wringing as she gazed at the three sisters. “I need to leave here and let you hire somebody who does a better job than I have.”
“Mathilda, don’t talk crazy,” Amanda said.
“We need you here,” Gabby added.
Cath reached out and took the older woman’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “Mathilda, this isn’t your fault. You can’t take the blame for any of this. Sometimes evil hides so well nobody can see it until it explodes. You’ve been a valuable member of this household for years, and I won’t stand for any talk of you leaving us now.” She released Mathilda’s hand, as if the subject was closed.
Mathilda wiped the tears from her eyes. “I can’t imagine not being here with the family, but if it’s best that I leave, then I’ll go.”
“And we can’t imagine this house, this family functioning without you,” Gabby replied. “Now, no more nonsense talk about you leaving us.”
Mathilda nodded gratefully and moved to the opposite side of the room where most of the maids who worked directly under her supervision were gathered together.
Apparently the kitchen staff was gathered in the kitchen or in the employee’s dining room, for none of them was present in the great room.
What she wanted more than anything was to tell Gray how much she loved him, to tell him that she was tired of pretending she would be ready to let him go when this was all over. She wanted him forever. She just wasn’t sure that he wanted her forever, too.
* * *
The kitchen staff was in the employee dining room as Gray followed Harry Peters into kitchen. The door to the pantry stood open and the shelving unit remained aside to display the entry to the tunnel.
“If you or Dylan didn’t kill the man down there, then who did?” Peters asked—a rhetorical question since it was already established that Gray didn’t know the answer.
“Somebody had to have gone down there after we carried Cath upstairs or they shot him while we were in the room with Cath and used a silencer. I honestly can’t tell you if he was dead or alive when we left the tunnel. I just assumed he was still alive but unconscious.”
“And neither you nor Dylan recognized him?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” Gray replied.
“As far as we can tell this is the only way in or out of the tunnel. I’ve got some men checking in the barn where we believe this leads. They’ll see if there’s a trapdoor in the floor or some other way to enter that room other than through the tunnel.”
Gray sighed in frustration. “So, the answers lie with a dead man in a tunnel.”
“Not necessarily,” Peters replied and gazed through the doorway that led to the employee’s dining room. “I’ve questioned all the kitchen staff. Of course nobody admitted to knowing anything about the tunnel. But Agnes told me that at the time all of this was going down she was in the storage shed just
outside. She said that one of the maids, Misty Mayhew, saw her out there and that the two had a brief conversation, but when I questioned Misty she denied that happened.”
Gray frowned. “This kitchen has been Agnes’s domain for years. She’s always been very territorial about it. She’s probably in and out of this pantry a hundred times a day. It’s hard to believe she didn’t know about the pantry shelves hiding a secret tunnel.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Peters replied. “Maybe a couple of nights in lockup will get some real information out of her.”
While Gray found it hard to believe that the short, red-haired, ill-tempered woman could have anything to do with what had been happening around the ranch and specifically with Cath’s kidnapping, he also couldn’t discount the fact that she was the most logical person to have known about the tunnel’s existence.
“Fine by me,” Gray replied. “I’m all for anything that might get us some answers as to who the bad guys are around here.”
Peters nodded and stepped into the employee dining room and motioned for Agnes to come into the kitchen. Peters pulled his cuffs from his belt. “Agnes Barlow, you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit kidnapping.”
Agnes’s green eyes nearly bulged out of her plump face. “No, you’re making a mistake here.” Her gaze darted around the kitchen, as if seeking a rolling pin or an iron skillet she could use to pop Chief Peters over the top of his head. But he twirled her around and cuffed her wrists behind her back as he gave her the Miranda rights.
“I’m going to take her down to the station,” Peters said to Gray. “My men will stay and continue to process both the scene in the petting barn and the tunnel and secret room. I’ve got the coroner coming to take out the body. I’m sure there will be more questions for you and Catherine and Dylan in the morning.”
Gray nodded, grateful that he wasn’t being asked to hand over his gun...at least not yet. Just because they’d found Cath and a man was dead, there were still no answers as to who might be the mastermind. Until this question was answered, the danger to Cath was still very much alive.
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