“I don’t care what your name is. The only thing I want to know is…” He couldn’t finish. What if her answer wasn’t what he wanted to hear? He pushed that question away and tried another one, stalling the inevitable. “Why did you run?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she replied in such a soft voice he thought he misunderstood her at first.
“Try me. I might understand. Haven’t I tried to understand?”
She blinked and shuddered. Fear and desire flashed across her face. “He said he’d kill you if I didn’t cooperate with them. I thought if I ran they would follow me instead of hurting you.”
“Why would you do that for me?” He could bear only one answer. “Why didn’t you want them to hurt me?” A distant look shadowed her eyes as if she were preparing to jump into oblivion again. He shook her to get an answer, not wanting her to retreat into some faraway mental world where he couldn’t follow.
“Because…”
“Because why?” He pushed her to answer, grabbing her and making her face him.
“Because I loved you,” she said, her eyes pleading with him to release her, physically and emotionally. “We were happy together. I just wanted them to go away and leave us alone. We were going to be a family.”
It was the one thing, the only thing, he wanted to hear. After a long and penetrating scrutiny, he released her. “What about now? Do you love me now?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation.
That’s all he needed to hear.
****
By the time Chris uttered her confession, her struggle had drained her. She was at his mercy. She couldn’t fight him; she didn’t want to. He was standing so close she was afraid she might fall into him and disappear. That’s what she wanted to do. Much to her surprise, he pulled her to him.
There were no more tears. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her head into his shoulder, giving herself up to the luxury of leaning on him. That’s when she realized he was trembling just as hard as she was. Was it strong emotion that shook them? Or maybe they were both frozen and spent.
“It’s going to be all right now,” he promised, whispering reassuring words into her hair.
She believed him for an instant, but then her mind latched onto a new terror. Hysteria mastered her once again. She pushed him away. “Where is he?” She scanned the area around the Jeep, afraid Cory might appear any moment, waving the gun and taunting her with his accusations. “Is he dead?” She couldn’t keep the hope out of her voice. If Cory was dead, her nightmare was over.
“No. He followed you up the trail. You didn’t see him?” She struggled to get out of his grasp. “What is it?” He tightened his hold, and she gasped in pain. His glance seemed to apologize for manhandling her.
“Don’t you understand? He thinks I’m Carol. How long will it be before he realizes I’m not? When he figures it out, we’re both dead. He won’t give up until we’re both dead!” She struggled some more.
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her again. “Stop it.”
“We’ve got to get out of here.” She struggled harder.
“Didn’t you see him? He was following you. He should be around here somewhere.”
Then she remembered the car that left the lot ahead of Steve’s arrival. Surely, Cory was in that car. She’d been too afraid to peek, staying under the blanket until the car was long gone. How long ago was that?
“I think he left in that other car. It took him forever to start it. He’s good at that, stealing cars, you know. But he’ll come back. I know he will. When he realizes—”
“You’ve run long enough. It’s time we put an end to this. We’ll go find Brian.”
“No. No, I can’t face him.” It was bad enough Steve knew about her shameful past. If he didn’t know all of it by now, he could guess the rest.
“We’ve got to. We need his help.”
“I can’t.” Even as she uttered her protest, she was aware she couldn’t argue with Steve. She owed him.
“You can. I’ll be there with you. I won’t leave you, no matter what. I love you.”
His words caught her attention. After all the trouble she’d caused him, he promised to stay with her. She couldn’t believe he still loved her. She melted into his strength, having left what remained of hers on the Purgatory trail.
He slipped an arm around her waist as he swept a stray bit of hair from her eyes. The fire in his gaze sent a bolt of heat surging through her tired, cold body. His face bent toward hers and hovered for a fraction of a second before their mouths met. His mouth was cold, but the chill soothed her stinging, chapped lips. As the kiss deepened and he found new ways to mold his lips to hers, their body heat combined and she warmed from the inside out. The tremble left her body as he pulled her further into the embrace. A sudden wave of belonging seized her, and she moaned with the pleasure of kissing the man she loved.
When he released her, he stumbled back a step and then righted himself on the side of the Jeep. “We’ll get through this together. Everything is going to be all right.”
She nodded, a huge wad of emotion blocking her ability to speak. He motioned toward the Jeep and they climbed in. As she settled into the seat next to him, he took her hand. His hand felt strong and capable, no longer cold, but warmed by the fire that erupted between them. She had to be so strong for so long, it felt good to collapse into someone else’s strength for a change. An overwhelming feeling of calm overtook her. He was right. Everything was going to be all right. She kept repeating those words to herself over and over.
He maneuvered onto the roadway with one hand—the pavement slick with rain. The Jeep slid as it entered the highway. The rain smacked the windshield with splats and plops and then a constant pounding. He stopped and pulled the top over them. Pulling back onto the road, he flipped the lights on, keeping his steady vision on the asphalt ahead of them.
“Why are you going this way? Durango is the other way.” She couldn’t keep the raw suspicion out of her voice.
“My cell phone is dead. I’m going to the construction site to use the phone.”
It made sense to her. He could call Brian from there. They could lock themselves in and wait for help. “I’m sorry. I threw your phone onto the parking lot.”
“You did? You have a temper, don’t you?”
“I thought you knew that,” she muttered.
He released her and plunged his right hand into his pants pocket, pulling something out of the depths. The rings. She gasped as she recognized them. “They’ve been in my pocket ever since I buried Carol,” he shouted over the deluge. His brief explanation said it all. Like Cinderella’s slipper, he had kept them, hoping to find the woman whose hand they fit. She remembered him stuffing his hands in his pockets when she showed him the other set of rings—the ones that weren’t his and certainly weren’t hers.
If he had shown her the rings sooner, would she have recognized them?
“Put them on.”
She stared at him for the briefest moment before she complied. They fit snugly onto her ring finger, a perfect fit.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
There was no traffic on the highway. The Jeep raced along the road toward the lift site, its lights piercing the downpour with an eerie glow.
“What happened to…” He stopped, pain etched on every part of his face. Chris understood what he was asking. They had separately grieved the loss of their child.
She drew in one sharp breath and placed her hand on her stomach. “In the wreck…I miscarried.” Surprised she had any more tears left, she rubbed the sleeve of his heavy work shirt across her eyes and then stared at it intently for a moment. He had worn the shirt when she showed him Carol’s rings. Everything had come full circle. The thought bothered her.
Her mind went back to the day she raced down this same road in the rain. Where was she going? The memory finally came back, clear and sharp. She was heading for Washington State—as far away from Virginia and Tex
as as she could get.
“Carol left the money in the sloop.” She wasn’t sure what prompted her to tell Steve just at that moment.
“I wasn’t concerned about the money.” She flinched at the vehemence in his voice. He seemed to apologize for his tone with a squeeze of her hand. “Why did you use your sister’s name in Virginia?”
“She met you first. It’s a long story.”
“Later,” he reassured her with another squeeze of his hand.
“Can you forgive me?”
“For what? Was any of this your idea?”
“No.” The thought shocked her. She was stuck with them whether she helped them plan their criminal activities or not.
“Then what’s to forgive?”
“I could have told you the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” He reached up and touched her cheek along the scar line.
It was a mistake. His eyes strayed from the road for a split second, but it was just long enough. When she returned her focus back to the road, a man stood in the middle of the highway just at a serious curve in the road. The pedestrian appeared to be flagging them down, but it was much too late to stop. Steve slammed on the brakes. Tires skidded on wet pavement. The Jeep slipped from side to side, catching the man in its grill as they veered off the road. She shrieked in horror as the Jeep rammed into a dead tree and she collided with the air bag. Lifting her head, she saw Cory smashed against the cracked windshield, blood seeping from cuts and abrasions on his face.
She screamed as she never had in her life.
It seemed the whole world slowed and spun. She turned toward Steve, only to find his air bag had not deployed, his face smashed against the mangled steering wheel, his eyes ominously closed. Blood oozed from a cut on his forehead. Another ear-shattering scream escaped her cracked and swollen lips. The nightmare wouldn’t quit, one horrifying picture after another.
She scrambled out of the Jeep, her hand in front of her to ward off the image of her husband’s still and possibly lifeless body. As she fell backward and struggled to roll over, she caught one more glimpse of Cory’s mangled form pinned between the Jeep and the tree. Kneeling in what was left of the previous night’s snow, she retched great, dry heaves. Then, she glanced up to find the small marker she had placed at the site to memorialize the death of her unborn child. Had they crashed in the exact same spot?
This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t real. She was dreaming again.
She pushed herself to her feet, clutching at anything for support. Just as she righted herself, the Jeep pushed the tree and Cory over the edge of the cliff. It clattered and screamed as it careened unhampered into the rushing, swollen creek below.
She could hear someone screaming, but it didn’t occur to her the screams were hers. The only thing that came to mind during that horrible moment was Steve was still in the Jeep. Steve, who had never given up looking for her. Steve, who had never stopped loving her. Steve, who was willing to love her still. She rejected the thought she had loved and lost again. It wasn’t happening. Closing her eyes to block out the pain, she turned onto the dark road into mental oblivion.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
When Chris opened her eyes, she saw the antiseptic trappings of an examination room. Lying motionless, she stared ahead of her, absorbing all the sights, smells, and sounds of her surroundings. The intermittent beep and hiss of hospital equipment. The smell of disinfectant and blood. The functional tiles of the hospital ceiling.
The sensations were familiar. Her body ached all over. She hadn’t hurt this bad since her accident five years ago. But it was different this time. This time there was no baby to lose and this time she remembered. Those final few minutes with Steve flashed across her tired psyche. She recalled in vivid detail the sight of Cory’s contorted face smashed against the windshield. Everything that happened the past few days rushed her.
She tried to focus on the present and pull her mind away from the horror, not yet ready to give in to her grief. Tubing ran from an IV bottle to the back of her hand. Steve’s rings were still on her finger. She remembered enough about hospitals to be surprised. She wished her uncomfortable hospital bed would absorb her so she wouldn’t have to face life without him. Oblivion was preferable to a lifetime of regret. She wanted to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth.
More than willing to let go of reality, she wanted to retreat into her mental abyss, but her mind wouldn’t allow it, so she remained in this state of suspended animation.
After a while, she recognized the sound of regular raspy breathing punctuated by the telltale popping of bronchitis. The unmistakable heat of someone’s presence warmed her arm. She convinced her head to move, searching for the source.
A man’s head lay on the coverlet next to her free hand—a bandage wrapped around his forehead. His hand lay next to hers. She couldn’t quite reach him—her arm refusing to budge more than a fraction of an inch toward his. Then she recognized the wedding band he wore, and her heart stopped.
It took a while for the significance to penetrate the layers of fog that clouded her mind. Surely, her abused psyche was playing tricks on her. She saw the Jeep plunge over the side of the cliff with Steve inside it. He couldn’t be alive. This was another nightmare—a horrible, horrible nightmare. She would wake up any second, and the truth would crush her. She closed her eyes, too tired to keep them open.
A door squeaked open and someone entered the room. What if Cory wasn’t dead? Besides, this was only a dream…a very bad dream. It would turn ugly soon. Steve would disappear and—
“Mr. West?” The man didn’t stir. “Mr. West?”
“Huh?”
“Has she roused?” Dr. Evans’ voice boomed in the small room.
The man lifted his head from the bed. She felt the loss of his warmth as soon as he moved. She tried to shift her hand toward him, but it was hard to move. “Not that I’m aware of.” The voice belonged to Steve. “She’s mumbled a little in her sleep.”
“Her mind may be fighting the urge to wake up.”
“When she does, will she be all right?”
“I don’t know. She’s been through quite an ordeal.” The doctor sounded uncertain.
“Will she remember anything?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“I remember.” She stirred and raised her free hand to her chapped lips. It hurt to move them, but she needed to talk. Her eyelids fluttered open. She had a million questions, but she couldn’t utter them. Her throat burned like fire. She craved water.
Steve leaned over her, staring into her eyes. “I’m so glad you’ve come back to us. We were worried.” His voice was full of renewed hope. It was contagious. She smiled weakly and her chapped lips cracked even more. He grinned and squeezed her free hand. “It’s going to be all right now. I promise,” he assured her as he pushed the hair from her eyes.
“What’s your name?” The doctor interrupted their tender moment. She resented that.
“Crystal Stone…West. I guess.” She turned to Steve for confirmation. He nodded his head.
“Who’s this guy?” Evans asked.
“My husband.” Chris was sure of her answer. She wanted Steve to be her husband. She wanted him to want that. He didn’t refute her response. That was a good sign, wasn’t it?
“Good. Now, who am I?”
“Uh…” The doctor seemed concerned. “Just kidding, Dr. Evans.”
The doctor grunted at her. “Sassy as ever. She’ll get well soon.”
She refused to turn her attention toward Evans. She only wanted to gaze at Steve.
“A very warped sense of humor,” he reminded her of his opinion.
She smiled at him. “I’m so glad you’re alive. The last time I saw you…” She stopped to cough and started again. “I thought you were dead.” Tears filled her eyes. She reached up and touched the bandage on his head. “That had to hurt.”
“You’re worried about me?” he asked with a small laugh. �
�I’m all right.” He smoothed the pillow next to her head. “Now, I want you to rest. The sooner you get out of here, the sooner we can go home.”
“Home? Can I go home?”
“Of course you can.” He caressed her scarred cheek. “I’m not leaving you behind.” He squeezed her hand and then planted a soft kiss on her chapped lips. “Go to sleep now,” he ordered. “You need to rest.”
“You look like you could use some rest, too.” She wasn’t ready for the moment to end. It was too sweet.
“You’re right. But don’t worry. I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll be right here until Dr. Evans says you can leave. Deal?”
“Deal,” she agreed.
“Brian is coming by sometime this evening. Will you talk to him?”
“Yeah. It’s time this was over.” But she didn’t want to talk about Brian. She only wanted Steve.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chris glanced up when Brian peeked into her hospital room. She offered him a tentative smile as he entered. Steve rose from his seat and offered Brian his hand. The two men studied each other a moment as they shook, as if unspoken understanding passing between them. Brian turned his attention back to Chris. “Where’d you get that from?” he said, motioning toward the almost empty pizza box.
She answered with her mouth full. Steve clarified her answer. “Dr. Evans sent it up to her.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Betther.” Her answer was no more intelligible than her previous attempt to communicate. Steve answered for her again. “She slept a long time this afternoon.” He grabbed her free hand.
Brian cleared his throat. “I’ve been able to piece a lot of things together, but I have a few questions. Can you talk?”
The moment became uncomfortable as it stretched into silence—Chris and Brian locking eyes. The situation had stretched their friendship to the limit. Would Brian’s questioning break the tenuous bond that remained? He sucked in a breath and began his interrogation. “Whose idea was the kidnapping plot?”
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