“No” I said with a grim smile. “Elemental.”
“Meg, no!”
Damn it!
Without thinking, I turned in the direction of Annie’s voice. She stood in the back doorway, Brigid at her side. She held the shepherd’s leash in her left hand. Pregnant, angry, she looked like an avenging goddess. Unfortunately, she was a goddess with lousy timing.
“Look out!”
Before I could react, something hard hit me in the small of the back. I went flying before landing with a painful thud on the pavement. The force of the impact sent me sliding, grit and gravel digging into exposed skin. I tried to roll over but something heavy fell on me. My breath exploded in a painful gust as a fist connected with my ribs. A knee dug into my back. Blows landed from head to waist and the only good thing about it was I was on my stomach. But not for much longer. I needed to roll over, get out from under my attacker if I was to have any chance of protecting myself and Annie.
The sounds of sirens nearing filled the air, but a deadly growl almost drowned them out. From a distance, Brigid barked madly. But that was nothing compared to the angry growls coming from Apollo.
“Brigid, bewaken!” I called, giving the shepherd the order to guard.
“Shut up, bitch!” Reed rasped.
A foot caught me in the ribs, driving the air from my lungs. Tears of pain burned my eyes. This wasn’t the first fight I’d been in and probably wouldn’t be the last. Not the way my luck ran. But I was damned if I would let these bastards win.
“Apollo, stellen!”
Given the “bite” command, the Mal responded instantly. Reed grunted in surprise as the dog rushed him. A moment later, the man screamed in a mixture of pain and fear, as Apollo latched on. I couldn’t see where the Mal grabbed Reed and I didn’t care. All I knew for sure was it allowed me to buck and roll out from under him.
“Get the hell inside, Annie!” I ordered as I climbed to my feet, ignoring the pain in my ribs, not to mention everywhere else. As I did, two sheriff’s department SUVs came to sliding stops with a squealing of tires and smoke, blocking the exit from the parking lot. “Stay back!”
Lucas piled out of his SUV and took a step in my direction. “Meg.”
“Stay the hell back.” To make sure he did as he said, I sent wind to buffet him, reminding him what I could do. “And you.” I turned my attention back to Luíseach. “Does it make you feel powerful to beat a woman when she’s down? Is that what you did to my mother?” I closed the distance between us, one step at a time. As I did, he tried to retreat, except he couldn’t. Not with Drew and Lucas ranging behind him and the crowd that could only have come from the café and other nearby businesses circling the parking lot.
“You knew my mother died, didn’t you?” I demanded. My fists clenched at my side and the air once more crackled as energy built around me. “Tell me!” I held my hands in front of me, letting the energy focus above my open palms, dancing and alive and very, very deadly.
“Yes!” He glanced this way and that, looking for an exit.
“Look at me!” The wind picked up, buffeting the two of us. To my right, I heard Quinn calling Apollo off of Reed. The man’s complaints were silenced as she hauled him to his feet and shoved him in the direction of a newly arrived deputy who immediately cuffed him and began reading him his rights as he led him off.
I took another step forward. Less than four feet separated us now. Close enough I could get to the old man before anyone could stop me. Tempting as it was, I couldn’t. Not yet. I needed answers, not just for me but for my mother.
“Did you know I was coming here?” When he didn’t respond fast enough, I sent a small bolt of lightning at him. Just before it struck his chest, it dissipated. If he didn’t piss himself a little, I’d be surprised. “Answer me!”
“Yes,” he snarled. “I knew and I took steps to make sure you didn’t cause us trouble the way your mother did. Too bad that idiot of son of mine failed. He never could do anything right.”
“Which one?” Drew asked as he moved to stand next to me. As he did, he lightly rested a hand on my arm for a moment, letting me know he was there.
“Tell him.”
“Mathew.”
“And the stabbing?” Quinn asked, her voice deadly calm.
“Reed. He never could do anything subtly. That’s why he couldn’t hold onto Faith and take her in hand. If he’d only done as we told him. But no, he had to do it his way.” As if realizing he’d stumbled onto someone he could blame for everything, Luíseach straightened and some of his fear seemed to ease. “This was all his idea. We had to go along with him.”
“Why?” Lucas asked.
I glanced around, seeing how those gathered slowly but surely closed Luíseach in. When he realized it, he paled even more. Then his anger returned as did his bravado.
The fool.
“He controlled the money. He had the voice of the brothers and sisters of our congregation. He’d ruin us if we didn’t do as he said.”
“Is that the same congregation you’ve tried to use to run the Others out of town since before my mother was born?”
“They are abominations!”
“They are anything but,” Annie said and stepped closer. As she did, I ground my teeth in frustration.
“You can’t be taking her side against me.” He turned to the others, pleading his case. “You know what her mother was like. Nothing but trouble. She didn’t honor her mother or me. She brought us shame. She sullied our names. This one is no better. Worse, she wants to take what is ours.”
“What is yours?” I would have closed the distance between us had Drew not grabbed my arm. I shrugged him off but stayed where I was. “She didn’t even know about her inheritance until she was dying. You kept that from her. Shall I tell everyone how you and yours tried to influence the trustees to break the provisions of the trust and hand everything over to you? Or how you continued to pressure them for information on my mother once you realized they knew where she was?” My stomach churned and I felt sick. “Dear God, what would you have done to her had she not died when she did?”
“We deserved that money!” he screamed as I turned away from him. “It was ours. We named that little bitch after my wife’s grandmother to honor her and what did we get in return? Nothing! She wouldn’t even name us trustees. We never saw a penny of the money and it should have been ours!”
“You never saw any, but not for want of trying.” I looked back at him, full of disgust. “Take him. Get him the hell out of here.”
Exhausted, hurting, I moved toward Annie where she stood near the office’s back door. As I did, I called Apollo to me. It wasn’t over yet, but it was close enough. I trusted Drew and Lucas to tie up all the loose ends. All I wanted was to make sure Annie was all right and then to take care of my injuries. Miss Serena was going to kill me for coming home yet again bruised and battered.
I hadn’t taken two steps when Annie grabbed her stomach with one hand and reached for support with the other. Forgotten were the aches and pains wracking my body. Forgotten were the curses being flung by Luíseach as Drew and Lucas took him into custody. Everything narrowed to the look of pain and panic on Annie’s face, to Quinn racing across the parking lot in her direction, to Brigid sitting at her side, whining and nosing her belly, and to her water breaking.
“We’ve got this!” Annie yelled before Drew could say anything. “Get that bastard to the jail and pick up everyone else involved.”
“Annie?” Gone was the more than capable deputy sheriff, replaced with the scared twin brother who knew she wasn’t due for another several weeks at least.
“Drew, I promise I’ll take care of her.” I waited until he reluctantly nodded. Even as he did, I reached for my phone where it still rested on the Discovery’s hood and called their grandmother. At the same time, Miss Peggy and Janny broke away from the crowd and helped Quinn get Annie into the SUV. I slid in behind the steering wheel, watching as they loaded her into the sec
ond row of seats. Quinn climbed in after her, softly reassuring her. The moment the door closed behind them, Miss Peggy leaned in the window.
“Go. I’ll call her doctor and let Sam know.”
I nodded. “The dogs?” Not only did we have Brigid and Apollo but Quinn’s Zeus and Sasha to consider.
“I’ve got them!” Drew called.
That was all I needed. I slid the SUV into gear and sped out of the parking lot. The crowd parted for us, some calling out encouragements, as we headed down the street toward the hospital. Nothing mattered more just then than getting Annie there before she had the babies.
Chapter 30
“Come here.”
Drew took my hand and led me into the hallway, away from those gathered in the waiting room. In the six hours since we’d brought Annie to the hospital, there had been a steady stream of people coming to check on her. So far, there’d been no news. Sam and Robbie had gone back to her room as soon as they arrived. Her mother and grandmother, along with Sam’s parents, waited with everyone else. Her mother complained to start about not being able to go back but Mary Kate put an end to that. Now they, along with everyone else, waited, hoping and praying Annie and the babies were all right.
Except they didn’t know she carried twins. Boy, would they be surprised, especially Drew. Of course, he might kill me for not letting him in on his sister’s secret.
Once away from the others, Drew backed me against the wall and looked at me. Worry and something else darkened his expression. His hand gently traced the bruise along my jaw before touching the cut at my forehead. Instead of wincing at the sight of the damage I’d taken in the fight – if you could really call it that – he leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips against my swollen cheek.
Then he carefully lifted the hem of my shirt to reveal my injured ribs. Now he did wince and anger flashed in his blue eyes. I hissed softly as he cupped my bruised ribs with his hand. As I did, pain flared. Damn Luíseach! He was nothing but a coward, kicking me when Reed had me down and unable to protect myself.
“What did the doctor say?” he asked softly as he lowered my shirt.
“To be careful and let him know if I needed anything for the pain.” Not that there was much more he could do about the ribs. They weren’t broken, luckily, but they were badly bruised. As for the rest of it, I had cuts and bruises and more than a few scrapes.
“What else?” He placed a hand against the wall on either side of my head, basically fencing me in. Not that I minded. It was nice to have someone worried about me. “Possible concussion. I didn’t lose consciousness when I hit the pavement, but I gave myself a pretty good knock.”
He sighed and rested his forehead against mine. Then he gently kissed me. A moment later, his arms went around me and drew me close. Relaxing in the warmth of his embrace, I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him, ignoring the pain from my injured ribs.
“You’re not going to have to worry about them, any of them, ever again, love.” He tilted my head until I looked up at him. “Between what Reed told us and what the old man said, it’s obvious they all had a hand in either what happened to you since you got to town or in trying to defraud the trust. We’ve picked them up and they are being booked into jail on a variety of charges. The DA is pissed Annie got caught in the middle – and not at you, so don’t go there – so he’s looking for anything and everything he can charge them with. If that’s not enough, Quinn’s asked the Feds to take a look at them as well.”
“I can’t say I’m sorry.” Nor would I ever be, not after all they’d done to Mom.
“Neither am I.” He paused a moment. When he continued, there was a hesitance mixed with hope about him I’d never seen before. “Are you really going to stay now that this is all over?”
I didn’t have to think about it. Not when I saw the love – and I could admit that’s what it was now – in his eyes. Not when just the thought of all those waiting to find out how Annie and the babies were reminded me they’d been there for me as well. I smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to his jaw.
“This is my home now, Drew.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up in a cocky grin. Then he ducked his head and kissed me again. My hands went behind his neck and held his head down. I might hurt like hell, and I might have a lot of stuff to come to terms with, but I was right where I wanted to be.
“Drew, Meg.”
We broke apart at the sound of Quinn’s voice. Before we could ask, she motioned us back into the waiting room. As we entered, Sam and a very excited looking Robbie appeared in the far doorway. Sam looked relieved, happy, proud and bemused all at once. With Robbie all but bouncing next to him, he moved to stand in the middle of the waiting room.
“They’re fine,” he said, smiling broadly.
“Really?” his mother asked as she reached for Mary Kate’s hand on one side and the judge’s on the other.
“We’ve got a baby girl, Mom.” The look on Sam’s face was one only a father knowing he now had a little girl to spoil and love could have. His mother sniffled and then threw her arms around him. “And we’ve got a baby boy.”
He grinned like a kid on Christmas morning as the waiting room erupted with exclamations of surprise. Robbie stood next to him, his expression a match for his father’s. It took a few moments, but the room finally quieted and all eyes returned to Sam and Robbie as we waited for the last piece of information we needed to know.
“And Annie?” Mark Kate asked.
“She’s just fine. All three of them are.” Sam looked around and smiled when he saw Drew and me. “Before the rest of you get to see Annie and the twins, she’d like to see Quinn and Meg.”
“But—” Annie’s mother started to protest.
“Grandma Catherine,” Robbie said as he reached for her hand. “Mom really wants to see you, but she said this was important. I have pictures of her and the babies if you want to see.” He looked up at Sam who handed him his phone and I had no doubt who had taken the pictures or that the two of them had discussed how to keep Catherine distracted for a few minutes more.
I didn’t dare look at Quinn, much less Drew, for fear I’d start laughing and not be able to stop. Robbie obviously had Annie’s mother figured out and knew exactly how to handle her. Catherine didn’t protest. Instead, she bent her head to look at the pictures and started asking how he felt about having a new baby brother and sister. I smiled and then looked up at Sam as he moved to stand before me.
“Thank you,” he said softly before leading Quinn and me through the doors back to Annie’s room.
It didn’t surprise me that Drew followed. I reached back, smiling when his hand took mine. “Once we’ve seen Annie, can we get out of here?” I asked softly.
Before he had a chance to answer, we were at Annie’s room. Sam opened the door and stepped aside so Quinn and I could enter. Across the room, Annie lay in bed. She looked tired but happier than I’d ever seen her. She held her daughter in her arms. Red fuzz peeked out from beneath the pink knit cap as she suckled at her mother’s breast. As bassinette sat next to the bed and I saw a swaddled baby with a blue cap, a tiny thumb trailing from the corner of his mouth.
“Come closer.” Annie glanced down at her nursing daughter, a soft smile touching her lips.
We tiptoed closer. As we did, Sam crossed to the bassinette. Watching him gently lift his new son in his arms left me longing for a child of my own, something else that was new. Damn, Mossy Creek was changing me – not that I minded at all. At least not too much.
“They’re beautiful,” Quinn said as we ranged around the bed.
“They really are,” I agreed.
“What are their names?” Drew asked.
Sam carefully shifted their son into the crook of his left arm. Then he rested his right hand on Annie’s shoulder. For a moment, they looked from one baby to the other. Then they turned their attention to the rest of us.
“Drew, Quinn, Meg, meet Margaret Quinn Buchana
n. We’re going to call her Maggie.”
Tears stung my eyes as I heard Quinn gasp. “Annie, no.” I shook my head. Touched as I was, surely there were others more deserving, others she’d known longer.
“Yes.” She carefully shifted little Maggie in her arms and then reached for my hand. “It would mean a great deal to both of us if you’d let us do this, Meg.” Then she grinned and looked at Quinn. “You, too, of course.”
“Of course,” Quinn said dryly before smiling. “And don’t worry about her.” She nudged me with her hip. “She’ll work her head around it soon enough.”
“Sam?” I watched him across the bed, cradling their son as if he was the most precious thing in the world.
“Meg, it was my suggestion.” I don’t think my jaw hit the floor, but it was a close thing. “You’ve been a good friend to Annie and you’ve done everything you could to keep her safe – even when she wouldn’t cooperate. It would mean a great deal to me if you’d let us name our daughter after you.”
What could I say?
“It would be my honor.”
“Good!” Annie grinned in relief.
“And your son?” Quinn asked.
“Andrew Lucas Buchanan, Luke for short.”
Drew stood behind me, so near I could feel the heat of his body and the beating of his heart through our clothes. His arms went around me, holding me close. As he did, he rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Twin.” His voice choked and I closed my hands over his.
“At least they won’t be called Raggedy Ann and Andy,” she teased. Then she looked at the two of us and something in her expression had me narrowing my eyes suspiciously. “Now, twin, when are you finally going to make Meg a member of the family?”
“What?” I squeaked.
I actually squeaked.
Behind me, Drew chuckled softly. If possible, he held me even closer. His lips brushed the side of my neck before he answered. “I think that’s something the two of us need to talk about – privately.”
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