“What about the man who was with her, Clint?” the woman asked timidly. “Don’t you think he might come after us?”
“How is he going to find us?” Scorn dripped from the man’s voice. “That’s why we took the time to find this place. No one would dream of looking here. Even the people who own this ranch have probably forgotten all about this building.”
So Clint Lockhart was the kidnapper, Griff thought. He remembered Ryan talking about the man, and the fact that he had escaped from prison. Ryan had been right to be concerned, he thought grimly. Clint had indeed had some mischief planned.
As he listened to Clint rage about how Ryan was going to pay for all the injuries he’d inflicted on Clint, Griff realized that this was the man who was responsible for the attack on his sister Matilda. Deadly cold anger grew inside him. Mattie had escaped injury, but now Lockhart had Willa.
“Are we going to wait here until we get the ransom from Ryan?” the woman asked timidly. Griff wondered who she was. She seemed frightened of Lockhart, which only proved that she was at least a little intelligent.
“I’m going to call Ryan in a few minutes and give him his instructions. I want to listen to the high and mighty Ryan Fortune crawl to me. Then we’ll proceed with the next step.” Clint laughed, and Griff realized how mad he really was. Apparently the woman did, too, because she shrank away from him.
Clint’s laughter stopped suddenly, and his eyes flashed at the woman. “What’s the matter, Betsy? Are you losing your nerve?”
“No, Clint. I just can’t wait to start our new life together.” She moved farther away from him as she spoke.
Clint smiled, but Griff saw the calculation in his eyes. “And we’ll do just that once we tie up a few loose ends.”
Lockhart intended to kill both Willa and his accomplice—Griff could see the anticipation in his eyes. He might not even wait until he had the ransom money he was clearly expecting to get from Ryan Fortune. Watching him, listening to him, Griff knew that revenge against the Fortunes was far more important to Clint than anything else.
Griff couldn’t wait any longer. He had to surprise Lockhart now. Griff picked up a rock and threw it onto the roof of the shack, aiming for the rear of the building. Clint tensed and spun around, shouting at Betsy, “What was that?”
Clint’s back was to the door, and there wouldn’t be a better time to surprise the couple. Griff held his gun away from him, and, shoulder to the door, burst into the tiny shack.
He leaped for the older man and knocked him down, but madness gave Clint an unexpected strength, and Griff didn’t get a chance to subdue him. Clint rolled over and reached around to his back. When Griff saw the glint of metal, he kicked the other man’s hand and sent the gun flying. Clint leaped at him, clawing at his face, but Griff landed a blow to his head that sent Clint reeling. Griff hit him again, and Clint crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
He looked over at the woman, who was cowering over Willa. “Move away from her,” he barked. “And keep your hands in the air, where I can see them.”
She jumped to obey him, and Griff finally turned to Willa. He needed to secure Lockhart, but not before he made sure Willa was all right. Her eyes were open and she was staring at him, shocked.
“Are you all right?” he asked, dropping to his knees beside her. He skimmed his hands over her face and let his fingers linger. “Did they hurt you at all?”
“I’m fine, I think,” she said, but her voice was shaky. “They knocked me out with some horrible-tasting liquid on a rag, but other than that, I’m okay.”
He eased her onto her side, then struggled to untie her hands. The ropes were cruelly tight, and her hands were red and beginning to swell. “Your hands are going to hurt when I get these ropes off,” he said.
“I can deal with a little pain.” She tried to smile. “In fact, I can deal with anything, now that you’re here.”
He had just tossed aside the rope that bound her hands together when he saw Betsy bend down and pick up the gun he had kicked away from Clint. She pointed it toward him, and he threw himself on top of Willa.
The sound of the gunshot echoed in the small shack, and he waited to feel the burning pain. But there was no pain. Slowly he raised his head. Betsy stood frozen, just feet away from him, a horrified look on her face.
“He was going to kill you,” she whispered.
He turned around and saw that Betsy had shot Clint Lockhart. Griff scrambled to check his pulse. The man was dead, but he still held a gun.
“He always carried an extra gun,” Betsy said, her voice sounding stunned. “He woke up and pulled it out. He was aiming it at you. I had to shoot him.”
“You did the right thing, Betsy.” Griff tried to make his voice gentle. “You saved both Willa and me. And probably yourself.”
At that the woman turned to him. There was confusion on her face. “I don’t know what went wrong. I never wanted to hurt Clint. We were so happy together. I loved him.”
“Clint wanted to hurt Willa,” Griff said, untying Willa’s feet. “Why did he want to do that?”
“He hated Ryan Fortune.” She twisted her hands together. “He blamed the Fortunes for taking his family’s ranch—said that Ryan’s dad stole it from the Lockharts. And he said that Ryan framed him and railroaded him to prison for murdering Sophia.”
“None of that is true,” Griff said. His arm circled Willa, but he watched Betsy. He had to make sure she wasn’t a threat. “Put the gun down, Betsy. No one else is going to get hurt.”
She immediately set the gun on the floor, and he reached over and picked it up. “We need to call the police,” he said, covering Clint’s body with his coat.
Betsy collapsed onto the floor, her hands covering her face. Griff drew Willa closer as he watched the older woman crying and rocking on the floor.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked Willa softly.
Willa rubbed her ankles. “I’m a little sore, but I’ll recover.” She glanced over at Clint’s body. “This was all about revenge?”
“It sounds that way.” He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. “It’s over now, sweetheart. You’re safe.” And it wouldn’t have happened at all if he’d been doing his job, he thought grimly. He was asleep in the bed they had shared when these two had taken Willa.
He had failed her.
Willa burrowed closer. She was in Griff’s arms, which was the only place she wanted to be. “I knew you would find me.”
“I followed the car for a long time. They wouldn’t have gotten away with you.”
“I know that.” She looked up at him, knowing that her love for him glowed in her eyes. “I knew you’d rescue me.”
His face hardened. His arms tightened around her, then he set her away from him. “I need to call the police. It’s going to take some time to get this straightened out.”
Before she could answer, he picked up Clint’s cell phone from the floor. He spoke quickly and tersely, then turned the phone off. “The police will be here in about ten minutes,” he said.
Then Griff redialed, and she realized he was calling his uncle. He told Ryan what had happened, and that Clint was dead. He listened for a long time, then he said, “I’ll bring her home right away.”
When he hung up the phone, his face was expressionless. “I’m going to take you back to the Double Crown Ranch. Ryan said he wants to make sure you’re all right.”
“You told him I was fine.”
“I guess he wants to see for himself.”
Griff turned away, and she heard the faint wail of police sirens. In a few moments, the tiny shack would be filled with people, and she wouldn’t have a chance to talk to Griff for a long time. “Griff,” she said, urgency in her voice, “promise me you’ll come back to the ranch with me.”
“I already promised Ryan that I would bring you home.”
“I want you to promise that you’ll stay there with me.”
He scowled. “I’m not going to d
ump you there and keep going, if that’s what you think. I’ll have to talk to Ryan.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Promise me you won’t leave until we have a chance to talk.”
“Sure I’ll talk to you. But there’s nothing to talk about.”
Her heart sank, but she reached out and touched his arm. “I think we have lots to talk about.”
“We both have jobs waiting for us, Willa. We both knew this wasn’t going to last forever. You’re safe now, and you can get back to your life.”
What if I don’t want to get back to my life? Before she could ask him that question, the door burst open and police officers streamed in. One of them began asking questions, and Griff told them exactly what had happened. Another put a pair of handcuffs on Betsy.
Willa leaned against the wall of the shack and watched, suddenly weary. Her brain was still fuzzy from the drug she had been given, her hands and feet ached, and Griff was going to be difficult. She sank to the floor. She wasn’t sure she could deal with anything right now. When one of the police officers appeared in front of her, she gave him her statement, then felt her eyes growing heavy.
She became aware of motion and a low, steady hum. Opening her eyes, she saw they were in Griff’s truck, and they were driving down the highway. “Where are we going?” she asked, her voice still sleepy.
“We’re going back to the Double Crown.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “In the middle of the night? Why didn’t we wait until tomorrow?”
“I figured you wanted all of this behind you as quickly as possible. And taking you back to your godfather’s ranch was the best way of accomplishing that. Someone will go back to the cabin and fetch our things.”
“I’d hoped to have one more night in the cabin,” she said softly.
There was a tense silence. “That wouldn’t have been a good idea,” he finally said.
“Why not?”
“You know why not, Willa.” His voice was harsh. “What good would that do? We both know how this is going to end.”
Her heart ached, but she refused to give in to the despair that threatened to engulf her. “I don’t know how this is going to end, although I know how I’d like it to end.”
“We were living in a dream world,” he said roughly.
“It seemed very real to me.” She couldn’t bear to look at him. She was afraid she would see the hard, remote stranger he had been when they first met.
“We both know what’s real, Willa.”
She closed her eyes. She knew what they had was real. She just wasn’t sure how to convince Griff. And she knew she couldn’t do it now, in a car in the middle of the night. “Remember, you promised not to leave before we had a chance to talk.”
“We’re talking now.”
“You’re a man of your word, Griff. I’ll talk to you at the ranch tomorrow.”
She was still so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open. Leaning back against the seat of the truck, she slipped into sleep. But it was a restless one, broken by disturbing dreams.
By the time Griff touched her shoulder and told her they were back at the ranch, fatigue weighted her arms and legs, and she wasn’t sure she could climb out of the truck.
Ryan and his wife Lily, as well as Griff’s brothers Reed and Brody and his sister Matilda, were waiting to greet them. Griff looked at her face and swept her out of the car. “Willa needs to sleep,” he told them tersely. “Show me her room, and then we can talk.”
She clung to Griff as he carried her through the house. She kept her eyes closed and concentrated on the sensation of being in his arms again. Too quickly, he set her down on a bed and stepped away.
“Go to sleep,” he said, then his voice gentled. “There’ll be plenty of time to talk when you wake up.”
“You’ll still be here, won’t you?” she said, opening her eyes. She could see the hesitation in his face. “Promise me that you will, or I won’t go to sleep.”
Finally he said, “I’ll still be here.”
“I’ll talk to you later then.”
He turned and left, and Willa felt empty and alone. She yearned to feel his kiss again, ached for him to touch her. But he had walked out of the room without looking back.
She couldn’t think about it right now. Her mind felt vague, and she suspected it was a side effect of the drug Clint and Betsy had used to knock her out. She needed to sleep. So she crawled beneath the sheets and closed her eyes.
Griff would be here when she woke up. He had promised that he would be.
And Griff always kept his promises.
Griff spent a long time talking to Ryan, glossing over what had happened between him and Willa at the cabin, but telling him all the details about Clint and Betsy. He accepted full responsibility for Willa’s abduction, but Ryan brushed it off. “You got her back, and she wasn’t hurt. That’s all that matters.”
It wasn’t all that mattered, Griff thought. He had let Willa down, and Ryan, too.
“Betsy is in the custody of the El Paso police,” he said stiffly. “She confessed to everything, including the fact that she was the one who’d shot at Mattie. She probably won’t be charged with a crime in connection with Clint’s death, because she saved my life and probably Willa’s, not to mention her own. But I suspect she’ll be charged with attempted murder for shooting at Matilda. The police told me she’d probably undergo extensive psychiatric testing.”
Ryan shook his head. “Clint has hated all Fortunes since my father bought the Lockhart ranch from Clint’s father. I had no idea he’d go this far, though.”
“Has anyone told Mary Ellen and Jace that their brother is dead?” Griff asked.
Ryan nodded. “I called them both as soon as you told me what had happened. I called all of my children, too. After all, Clint was their uncle.” The older man ran his fingers through his hair, and his face sagged. Suddenly he looked far older than his years. “I never meant for things to go this far. I didn’t want Clint to die, even after all he’s done. I suspected he was behind the attempt to abduct Willa, but I guess I was hoping he wouldn’t go that far. Again.”
“It’s not your fault,” Griff said gently, seeing his uncle’s distress. “Clint was mad. I saw it in his face, heard it in his voice. You couldn’t have done anything to stop him.”
Ryan leaned forward. “Thank God you were here, Griff. I never had a moment’s regret or worry about putting Willa’s safety in your hands. I always trust my instincts, and I knew you’d take care of her.”
He’d taken care of Willa, all right. He felt his face harden. He’d forgotten his responsibilities and slept with her, and, as a result, she’d been abducted from right under his nose.
“I’m going for a walk,” he said abruptly. “I have to clear my head.”
“You’ve been up all night,” Ryan said. “Don’t you want to sleep?”
“I’ll sleep later.” It would do no good to try to sleep now. He would only lie awake and think about how he had failed Willa.
“Thanks again, Griff.”
Ryan’s words burned in his ears as he headed out of the house. “Hey, bro, where are you going?”
He heard Brody’s voice behind him, but didn’t slow down. “I’m going for a walk,” he said without looking back. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Oh, oh,” he heard Brody say to Reed. “Griff is going walkabout again. What’s happened now?”
Reed’s answer faded in the distance behind him, and Griff just kept walking. If he walked far enough, and long enough, he might be able to erase the guilt that was eating away at him.
Willa woke up late in the day, feeling surprisingly refreshed. Daylight was fading as she swung her legs out of bed, and she realized she was ravenously hungry. Throwing on some clothes, she opened the bedroom door and saw Matilda sitting in a chair, reading a magazine.
Mattie jumped to her feet when she saw Willa. “We thought you were going to sleep around the clock,” she said.
> “I almost did,” Willa admitted. “But my stomach woke me up.”
Ryan’s wife Lily appeared in the hall, and she smiled when she saw that Willa was awake. “I’ll bet you’re hungry,” she said.
“I’m starving.”
“Come to the kitchen and I’ll fix you something to eat.”
By the time they reached the kitchen, they had been joined by Matilda’s new sisters-in-law, Mallory and Jillian. The four women insisted that she sit down, then brought her food and hot coffee.
After she had finished eating, Lily leaned forward. “You know we’re all impatient to hear what happened,” she said. A shadow passed over her face. “We know Clint is dead. Griff told us that much. But he didn’t tell us anything else. Ryan’s been on the phone all day, and your Griff’s not very communicative, is he?”
“My brother is a clam,” Matilda said bluntly. “But we know you’ll spill the details.”
Her Griff. The words gave Willa a warm glow, but she knew that Griff was by no means hers. He was going to be stubborn about what had happened between them. She knew him well enough to see that.
“Griff was wonderful,” she began slowly. She looked down at her plate, but felt the knowing look that passed among Jillian, Mallory and Matilda. “Ryan sent him to College Station to check on the security at my apartment, and he arrived just in time to thwart Clint and Betsy when they tried to kidnap me.”
Shocked exclamations filled the room, and Matilda covered Willa’s hand with hers. “How awful,” she said, her eyes dark with concern.
Willa gave them a shaky smile. “I guess it was, but it all happened too fast for me to be scared. Griff chased them off, then whisked me to the cabin near El Paso. We’re still not sure how Clint and Betsy found us.”
“I can tell you that,” Lily said. “Ryan told me that Betsy confessed that she’d overheard a conversation between Griff and Ryan. When she told Clint about it, that was all he needed to hear. Clint knew all about the cabin near El Paso.”
Willa stared at Lily, memories clicking into place. “Betsy worked here on the ranch,” she said slowly. “I knew she looked familiar. She must have been wearing a wig when she came to the door.”
To Love and Protect Her Page 16