The Adventurous Bride

by Molly Liholm

  “Damn right it is,” Abby announced cheerfully. “This is plan B.”

  In the distance, Adam saw two more Jeeps heading toward them from opposite directions and he smiled in grim satisfaction. Realizing that Abby had brought in reinforcements, he looked for his opportunity. Reid had to steer the vehicle with both hands as he increased the speed, so that left only Josh to dispose of. As Josh began to grasp the situation, looking around in confusion at the three Jeeps giving chase, Adam grabbed him by the hair, pulling hard at the roots. Josh yelped with pain. “That was for Meg,” Adam said coldly, and then slammed the man’s head against the roll bar. “And that was for Kelly.” The man made a peculiar sound, his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped against Abby.

  Meg grabbed the steering wheel, trying to wrest control of the Jeep away from Reid. Abby put a hammerlock around Reid’s neck and squeezed hard for all she was worth. The vehicle careened wildly off the desert road into the scrub, hitting cacti. Meg screamed as the Jeep turned on two tires, and had to let go of Reid to grasp the roll bar to avoid falling out. Adam grabbed for Meg to keep her in the speeding car, with Abby still wrapped around Reid’s neck.

  The car braked furiously and all of them were thrown forward. The Jeep stopped and Adam tried to extract himself from the pile of arms and legs, but he was too late. Reid had his gun out, and he was dragging Meg out of the Jeep. She struggled, her elbows seeking purchase somewhere on Reid’s body, her legs kicking wildly.

  Adam jumped out and ran after them. Reid saw him charging at them and pointed his gun, but Adam didn’t break his stride. He had to get to the cowboy before the man could use Meg as a hostage.

  “Adam,” Meg cried, her face white as she saw him charging toward Reid without any concern for the gun pointed straight at him.

  “Stop, dammit,” Reid shouted, aiming the revolver as Adam leaped headfirst, like a football player making a tackle. Adam heard the retort of the gun, felt heat brush by his cheek as the weight of his body pushed Reid and Meg to the ground.

  Meg screamed, and in the mess of limbs, Adam reached for her. God, had Reid shot her? he worried. He found Meg and pulled her to him. “Are you all right?” He ran his hands along her sides.

  “Oh, Adam, I’m okay.” She shook her head in wonder. “You just charged him.” Her eyes were wide in that sweet, pale face. Adam opened his mouth, then shut it. Meg was safe—that was all that mattered. He looked up to see Reid getting to his feet, checking for the other Jeeps, which were approaching rapidly.

  Reid charged back to his abandoned vehicle and jumped in. “It looks like you tricked me this time, but I’ll be back,” he threatened as he gunned the engine. “If I was you,” he said to Adam, “I’d give thanks for being alive and leave it at that. If you investigate any further you’re going to discover how deeply your sister was involved.”

  With that parting promise, he took off.

  Adam let him go, glad the woman in his arms was safe. “I couldn’t let him hurt you.” It was as close to a declaration as Adam was going to give.

  Meg busied herself twisting a button on his chambray shirt. “But he could have shot you.”

  “I’ve been shot before.”

  “You were my hero.” She flung her arms around him and kissed him. Her lips trembled under his as he took charge of the kiss, wanting to reassure himself that she was okay. She tasted so sweet, fresh and good. She was everything he could ever want. When they broke apart, she looked at him tremulously and he cupped her face between his hands. “If anything had happened to you...” He couldn’t finish, and looked away as he felt a curious kind of moisture at the corner of his eyes.

  Meg was quiet for a minute and buried her face in his chest. Finally, she pushed herself away and sat up. “Nothing did. Adam...I...we should check on Abby.”

  The older woman was having difficulty standing, so Adam gently lowered her to the ground, waiting for their rescuers to arrive. She was pale and had a bump the size of an egg on her forehead.

  “Plan B was brilliant,” he said to their rescuer, checking her erratic pulse. They needed to get her to a hospital fast. He didn’t like how her pulse was racing, how pale she looked or how she seemed to have trouble focusing.

  Greg’s Jeep pulled up next to then and he jumped out, his blond hair glinting in the sun. “Oh, Greg,” Meg cried, throwing herself into his arms, “I’m so happy to see you!”

  Greg crushed her against him and Adam tried to quell his feelings of jealousy. He should be feeling grateful the man had helped rescue them.

  “Thank God you’re all right, Meg. When Abby told me what she feared, I couldn’t believe it. Did he hurt you?”

  “Yes, but I’m all right now.”

  “You can let go of Meg and help me with Abby. She was knocked pretty badly,” Adam said.

  Greg ran over to Abby, concern all over his face. “Here, let me,” the younger man said, but Adam picked up Abby and lay her as gently as possible on the back seat of Greg’s Jeep. other two Jeeps pulled up alongside. Freddie

  The other two Jeeps pulled up alongside. Freddie jumped out of the first vehicle, followed by Ben Holden, one of Greg’s cohorts.

  “Reid is getting away,” Meg said, practically jumping up and down as she pointed at the fleeing car. “Go after him!”

  “Are you all right?” Freddie demanded, taking Meg into his arms instead.

  Adam was really beginning to dislike how all the men in Sedona felt so comfortable taking his woman into their arms. He pushed the thought away.

  “She’s right,” he said. “You—” he pointed to Greg “—take Meg and Abby back to town and call the police—Meg can tell you all about it. We’ll go after Reid. You—” he said to Ben “—circle back to the Liberty L—my hunch is he’ll turn up there. Freddie and I will give chase.” But even as Adam said the words he knew it was unlikely they would be able to catch up to the cloud of dust.

  But Adam knew Reid would head back to the ranch for his sister—the one person he valued more than himself.

  Their only real hope was in getting to Gloria before Reid did.

  “YOU LOST THEM?” Meg was so tired she was hardly able to work up any frustration when a disappointed Adam and Ben joined her and Greg at the hospital. The two men were dusty and creased, Ben’s shoulders slumped. Adam strode across the hospital room to Abby’s bed, took her hand and squeezed gently.

  “How are you doing?” he asked Meg, “What did the doctor say?”

  Abby pulled his attention back to her. “It was just a bad knock. Luckily, I’ve got a really hard head. Now tell us what happened.”

  “We gave a good chase in the desert, but by the time we knew we’d lost Reid and made it back to the Liberty L, everyone was gone. It looks like Gloria recovered consciousness and then made escape plans just in case Reid ran into trouble. As soon as Reid made it back, they left. The other men took off as well—I’m sure we could find them, but they’re of no consequence. Reid and Gloria are the only ones I really want. The dude ranch has turned into a damn ghost ranch.”

  Meg shoved the hair off her face and sighed. Her little adventure wasn’t having such a satisfying ending. The bad guys had escaped. Adam met her gaze, his eyes discouraged and worried. He wasn’t about to see her as part. of his happy ending, either. She straightened her back; no matter how bleak the situation, she’d never been a quitter. “I’m so angry. I can’t believe everything that’s happened to us—and now Reid and Gloria have managed to escape.”

  “Don’t be so upset, dear.” Still looking bruised and fragile, Abby sat up in her hospital bed, reaching for Meg’s hand. She was weak, but she refused to let anyone leave her room until she heard the latest update.

  Adam admired the woman’s pluck, but he didn’t understand how Abby had known that a rescue plan was a necessity. “What I’d like to know is how you knew something was wrong. You lied about your schedule and returned to town and hatched a plot with Greg and Freddie. You then performed an elaborate charade, ba
cktracking out of town early in the morning and returning to let Reid find you. How did you know?”

  Abby raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. “Why, from Meg’s conversation, of course. She dropped such great clues, I would have had to be an imbecile not to understand.”

  “You did catch my clues!” Meg exclaimed enthusiastically. “I just wasn’t sure. I kept thinking of Susan St. James in that McMillan and Wife episode. The one where she was kidnapped and every time the kidnappers let her talk to her husband, she dropped innocuous clues.”

  “That’s good,” Abby enthused. “I didn’t know the reference, but by calling the store mine and insisting we needed me back, I knew something was wrong.”

  Greg and Adam looked at each other blankly as the two friends smiled at each other.

  Meg clasped Abby’s hand and then smiled at the three men. “Abby always insisted the store was as much mine as hers, so I hoped by referring to it as hers she might realize something was wrong.”

  Abby nodded. “Then when Abby used we I knew she wasn’t alone.”

  “She could have misspoken,” Adam interjected.

  Abby looked at him in surprise. “Of course not. Meg always speaks very precisely. It’s because of her former job.”

  Before Adam could ask what her former job was, Abby yawned. Instead, he filled in the two women on what had happened after they had arrived at the hospital. “The police took my report, and while they forwarded the information to the local airports, I don’t hold much hope for capturing our fugitives so easily. I’m sure Gloria would have made up false IDs for both herself and Reid.”

  “So now what?” asked Meg.

  “First, back to Abby knowing something was wrong because you used the wrong pronouns in your conversation.” He felt like he’d lost sense of the situation—which, unfortunately, was becoming usual for him. Ever since he’d arrived in Sedona and met Meg. Even worse, he was starting to like the feeling.

  Abby straightened up on the pillows, pulling on reserves of energy. “Well, once I understood Meg’s message and realized something was terribly wrong, I lied about how long it would take me to return home. I got back to Sedona late last night and contacted Freddie immediately. He told me that an Adam Smith, supposed former fiancé of Meg’s, had arrived in town, but I knew immediately who you really were. Then he told me how Meg had had an emergency phone call from her family and the two of you had returned to New York. That’s when I knew for sure you were in trouble and Reid was involved. All Freddie and Greg did was agree to wait on the road as part of an ambush if I could get us away from the ranch.”

  “You were pretty confident of yourself.” Adam was almost surprised that he wasn’t critical. Having met Abby and seen her in action, he realized an escape plan and ambush would be simple, according to her.

  Abby straightened her hospital gown about her shoulders. “It seemed pretty straightforward. I never imagined Reid would get really violent. After all, it is such a white-collar crime.”

  Meg hugged her. “Oh, Abby, you were a real heroine. You wouldn’t believe it, but last Saturday I was in the store wishing for an adventure and Adam barged in. Since then it’s been the best time of my life!” Meg glowed at the four of them. God, she was beautiful was all Adam could think.

  Ben Holden shifted awkwardly. “If there’s nothing else I can do...” He blushed when everyone remembered his presence and turned to look at him “...I’m going to leave. My girlfriend’s waiting for me.” He backed out of the room.

  Abby yawned again. “I think we know all we need to know for tonight,” Adam suggested.

  Meg stood and kissed Abby on the forehead. “You were so wonderful. I’m so sorry about The Gateway.”

  “I have insurance—good insurance, thanks to my son the lawyer. It’s the opportunity for a new beginning.”

  “Here?” Meg asked.

  “Definitely,” Abby said firmly, but her voice slurred slightly from the medication kicking in. “Sedona is my home. I hope you find your home soon.”

  Meg glanced at Adam and then met Abby’s steady gaze. “I think I’ve found it.”

  Adam didn’t query her, although he was sure that he knew what she meant. Instead he ushered Meg and Greg out of Abby’s hospital room. In the hallway, Greg stopped, looking too pretty. “Now what?” he asked.

  “Now we all get a good night’s sleep and decide what we do tomorrow,” Adam said discouragingly. “I’ve made arrangements for Michelle Stoneaway to reserve us a couple of rooms.” He wanted Meg all to himself.

  “Yeah, right, man. Cool.” Greg fidgeted, brushing a blond lock off his forehead. “Don’t suppose you want to go for a coffee and, like, talk?”

  “No,” Adam answered very firmly, tucking Meg’s hand over his arm. She leaned against him briefly and he enjoyed the experience. There was that part of him that loved being the man Meg could rely on. He was being an idiot, he told himself, but he didn’t let go of her hand.

  “Got ya.” Greg studied the two of them. “Maybe I’ll go over to Dana’s. I think Dana would listen. She’s really deep, you know.”

  “It’s after eleven,” Meg began, but Adam elbowed her in the side.

  “If Dana is alone.” From the startled look on Greg’s face, Adam realized the seed he’d planted had taken root. “After all, she’s really pretty and smart. A nice combination. I noticed that the first time I met her. If I wasn’t trying to win Meg back I might have gone after Dana myself.”

  “Yeah, she is pretty, isn’t she? And nice. Hey, do you think Dana is dating someone?”

  “Freddie has told me many times how much he admires Dana,” Meg purred.

  Greg frowned. “She was helping him with his computer system. Dana is really good with that kind of stuff.”

  “Oh, no, Freddie set up his own computer system. It’s one of his hobbies. He and Dana could discuss artificial intelligence, but Freddie distinctly told me it wasn’t Dana’s mind that he was interested in.”

  “Right man, I get it.” Greg pondered for a moment and Adam hoped they’d made Greg look at Dana in a new light. Greg sauntered off. Dana was about to be one very surprised, but happy, young woman tonight.

  “Do you think Dana and Greg could have something together?” Meg sounded doubtful.

  “In Sedona, anything is possible.” Adam looked down at her, framing her face between his hands, and kissed her. “If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that anything is possible in Sedona.”

  14

  “NEW YORK,” Meg announced the next morning, when she joined him at the hotel’s coffee shop. “We should go to New York.”

  Adam raised his head from his copy of the New York Times and looked questioningly at Meg. She managed to surprise him over and over again. He realized he’d had her pegged wrong from the beginning. What was important, however, was that she was alive. And beautiful, with sunlight streaming in from the window framing her golden brown hair, enthusiasm and curiosity on her face. He could watch her face all day.

  Instead he looked back down at the editorials, but he couldn’t focus. Last night, they hadn’t discussed anything about the future. He’d been too busy loving her to give a thought about what would happen next.

  Adam couldn’t forgive himself for having pulled Meg into danger, or forget how scared he’d been that she might be hurt or killed. Damn. He’d managed to keep checked his emotions for her—desire, frustration and admiration—until they’d registered into the hotel for the evening.

  As he’d signed them into one room, Meg had looked questioningly at him but hadn’t said a word. He’d expected her to make some crack about sharing a bed—he half expected her to declare that if they slept together three times they’d get married—when she didn’t, he knew she’d been affected by their ordeal as well.

  He let Meg into the room and closed the door behind them, staring at the wood paneling, wondering exactly what he should do. He turned back to face Meg who stood uncertainly next to the bed, biting her lip. He knew exact
ly what he wanted to do and in three strides was beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

  She buried her face against his shoulder. “I was so scared. I thought they might kill you or Abby or me or...”

  “It’s okay now,” he whispered against her hair and framed her face between his two big hands, tipping her head back a little so he could kiss her forehead. Only that wasn’t nearly enough, so he kissed closed both her eyes and trailed his lips down to one corner of her mouth.

  That had been all the talking they’d done as they both seemed to want to lose themselves in each other. To forget about the past and the future. To hold and love each other through the night.

  The first time had been fast. He hadn’t even gotten all of Meg’s clothes off before he was in her, making her cry out and dig her fingernails into his back.

  After he’d found his senses once again, he’d taken his time. Kissing and loving every beautiful inch of her, letting her know by his actions how he felt. Meg had been so responsive and attuned to him. Making love to any other woman had never been like it was with Meg.

  Afterward Meg had wrapped her body around him and kissed him so sweetly he thought his heart might break. Sweetly. Like she’d been saying goodbye. He looked at her sharply. Is that what she’d been telling him last night? That she, too, realized they had no future together?

  The idea hit Adam like a punch in the gut, hurting him more than any of his previous injuries. No, this wasn’t the time to worry about his feelings for Meg. He’d get them under control soon enough.

  Instead, he pulled himself back to what Meg had said. “Why New York?”

  “Isn’t that where your sister lives?”

  “In Queens with my mother.” He was beginning to follow Meg’s logic, and he didn’t like the way she was thinking. “Why?”

  “Because I think Reid plans to use her against you.”

  A chill shivered through his body. “Why would he do that?”

  “Because he knows you. Kelly told him how persistent you are whenever you’re on a story.”