Serve and Protect (Heroes of Evers, Texas #3)

by Lori Ryan

  Ashley could see the trees begin to thin up ahead and she hoped that meant she was coming to a populated area where she might find people hiking. Or if she was in a state park as she suspected, she might find people swimming at one of the lakes in the region. It would make sense for the trees to thin out as she neared either a lake or a river or something. Wouldn’t it?

  The dizziness was beginning to be coupled with nausea and her muscles were cramping. She kept her eyes on the spot she could see ahead, where the sky opened up more. She couldn’t hear any signs of activity, but she didn’t let that deter her as she kept moving forward. What she wouldn’t give to be in Garret’s arms right now. To know he was here to care for her, to keep her safe. She felt so safe in his arms.

  She needed that right now. She needed to feel protected again. Ashley shook her head, as she began to slow her pace. She felt confused and she raised her hand to her head wound, trying to feel if the bleeding had started up again. She winced at the contact, light as it was. She stopped for a minute, just for a minute to catch her breath.

  “No,” she said out loud to the trees around her. She began moving again. Moving seemed important now. It seemed crucial that she just keep moving.

  She began to laugh then because all she could hear was Dory, the blue fish from Nemo, singing just keep swimming, just keep swimming over and over in her head. Garret would see the humor in that.

  “Wait.” She was talking to herself again. “That’s the wrong way.” She wasn’t facing the area where the trees opened up any longer. She’d gotten turned around somehow. She turned to see if she could find the right direction. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. So funny.

  She turned again, hoping to find the right direction to go. She had to keep moving. Turned again. And then the world started spinning faster than she could handle and Ashley hunched over, throwing one arm out toward a tree to try to catch onto something. If she could just find something solid to hold onto, she’d be okay. But the tree wasn’t there. Her fingers seemed to grasp at air and her stomach spun as she went down.

  30

  Cora looked around at the group of people gathered in the woods, waiting for news of Ashley. They weren’t allowed to help with the search. Not as long as there might still be a criminal out there. They wouldn’t be allowed in the woods to search unless the police decided there was no longer a threat, but they were all gathered. Waiting.

  Her parents, sister, and brothers. Justin Kensington and several of his friends flanked her on the other side. She couldn’t believe this was happening. The whole thing felt like a bad dream, only she didn’t seem to be able to wake up.

  “Hey, Cora,” Justin said from beside her. “We’ll find her. She’ll be all right.”

  She just nodded and wiped her nose with her sleeve like a child.

  “Come here,” he said and pulled her into a hug. She shoved away from him. She didn’t want his sympathy right now. She didn’t want anything other than to find her sister.

  “I’m fine,” she said, ignoring the startled look on Justin’s face. She didn’t care if he was shocked she would pull away from him. He probably expected her to fall all over him like she usually did, but she didn’t want to do that right now. She didn’t care about her stupid crush on Justin or the way she always wished he’d treat her as more than a friend. She just wanted to find Ashley and bring her home safely.

  She walked back toward her car, not wanting to be near the others any longer. She should have noticed something was wrong. For a whole day, she hadn’t noticed something was wrong. Nor said anything to anyone, even though she’d known right away that Ashley was lying to her in her texts. They theorized now that it had been Michelle Davis texting everyone with Ashley’s phone, so that no one would realize Ashley had been taken.

  But Cora should have known. She should have recognized it wasn’t Ashley. She’d even known the text was a lie, and yet she’d still believed Ashley had written it. She hadn’t called her sister on the lie. She hadn’t even thought to suspect it might not be Ashley. She’d done nothing. And because of it, Ashley could now be hurt, dead, or in the hands of anyone. For all they knew, Michelle Davis had had some crackhead helping her and he’d taken an interest in Ashley. Maybe he’d killed Michelle and dragged Ashley into the woods and he was—

  Justin caught her hand as she walked away, pulling her up by his side as they started toward the sound of shouts coming from one of the patrol car radios. The search dog was barking and Cora hoped that meant he’d found something. Justin squeezed her hand as they all stared at the source of the sound, waiting, wishing for some indication that Ashley was alive and safe. For some news.

  *

  Garret made it to Ashley first, scanning the pale skin and drenched clothing. She was wet with perspiration and her heart rate felt more like a bird’s than a person’s. She was in rough shape. He spotted several injuries right off the bat, but what concerned him most were the obvious signs of heat exhaustion. If left untreated, it could move to heat stroke. And he would guess she had no water in her system. One hand was wrapped in a blood-soaked shirt.

  Her eyes were open and she looked at him, but she seemed dazed and disoriented. He heard her say something about swimming, but then her eyes closed.

  He heard the radio call for an ambulance behind him. Adam was next to him, unwrapping her hand, then expertly packing gauze and wrapping the large gash on her palm as Garret tried to get her to wake up and talk to him.

  “Ashley, come on back to us, hon. Open up your eyes and talk to me again.” He could hear the way his voice was shaking. Shit, he was so far off his game, he didn’t know if he’d ever get his edge back, but he didn’t care. He just wanted Ashley back.

  Her eyes fluttered and she opened them, looking around, and this time she seemed to be gripped with panic, in wild-eyed confusion. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pinned her in place. “Don’t get up yet. You’re safe. We’ve got an ambulance on the way.”

  And then, as a path was cleared and a backboard brought up for her, he continued to talk to her, telling her everything they’d do when they got her out of there. She watched him the whole time, but he wasn’t sure she heard him. Adam started fluids and checked vitals, seemingly a machine at this, able to function despite their surroundings.

  Twelve men took turns carrying her off the hill. It turned out the area she’d been lost in was no more than a few miles from the road. She’d simply been so disoriented, she hadn’t found her way to the populated parts of the park. Adam seemed matter-of-fact when he told Garret it happened all the time. But Garret didn’t feel matter-of-fact about any of this. All he could think on the ambulance ride to the hospital was how close he’d come to losing this woman. The woman who now seemed to be such a part of his life, he didn’t know how he’d ever let her go if she didn’t want the same thing he did. A life together. A future together. Family and home and hearth and all that sappy damned stuff neither of them had had for much of their lives. He wanted it all.

  31

  The first time Ashley woke up in the hospital, Garret felt a rage he’d never known before. And sadly, the woman it was directed toward was dead. There was no one he could take his wrath out on. Ashley woke up terrified, crying out, and he could picture how lost and frightened she’d been in those woods. It was as if she was living it all over again in front of him. He watched helplessly as her mother brushed away her tears and kissed her head and shushed Ashley back to sleep.

  Just before she shut her eyes, she met his gaze and he tried to quell the anger so she wouldn’t see it. He watched her eyes flutter closed, then took up his vigil in a chair in the corner. She slept for hours and he worked on clearing his mind. Trying not to think of the injustice of what she’d been through. After surviving her childhood, it just didn’t seem right that she had to go through this now. That she had one more thing to survive. One more thing to haunt her.

  When she woke again, she asked for him instead of crying out and h
is heart kicked over in his chest.

  “Where is Garret?” Her voice was scratchy despite the water her mom had given her.

  He stood and stepped closer. “I’m here, Ash.” He moved to take Cora’s place next to Ashley and took her hand in his.

  “I look so bad that you have to stay all the way over there?” Her smile was wide and she looked beautiful to him, despite the stitches and the way her hair had been shaved on one side.

  “Never,” he said and ran a finger down the less bruised side of her face. “You’re gorgeous.”

  “Okay, but I want you to know I’m gonna milk this for all it’s worth. I want breakfast in bed, and cookies and ice cream. Oh, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.”

  Garret grinned at her. She was back. She wasn’t going to let this keep her down. God, he loved this woman. Loved her. Heart and soul, body, mind, all that crap. Loved the hell out of her. “I’ll call Johnny Depp and have him get right on all of that.”

  Her laugh was real and genuine and deep, just the way he hoped it would be.

  And so he took a gamble. The gamble of a lifetime. “How about diamonds? Can we throw diamonds on that list? Maybe in the form of a ring?”

  Her eyes went big and round and he held his breath. And then she faked a scowl. “Really? That’s the best you can do? You get that I write romance novels for a living, right? I need more than, ‘hey, you want a diamond with your ice cream?’ You get that, right?”

  Cora piped up behind him. “I can help him. We’ll work on flowers, wine, the ring, the whole nine yards.”

  “Maybe a few candles,” her mom added.

  Garret nodded. “I can do candles.”

  “Let me know when you get it together, and I’ll think about it.” Ashley’s cheeky response was all he needed to know she’d be okay. She was going to get past this. She was going to be his.

  Epilogue

  Ashley laughed as Garret swung her in a circle. What they were doing couldn’t really be called dancing. They were abysmally bad at it, but they had fun and she was in his arms, and that’s really all that mattered. He dipped her at the end of the song and placed an exaggerated smacking kiss to her lips. This was her hero. Her romance novel happy ending. And she wouldn’t have him any other way.

  “Come on,” he said as he pulled her from the makeshift dance floor Cade and Shane Bishop had set up at the Bishop ranch. It was Laura Bishop’s birthday and it seemed like the whole town had come out for the barbeque. “Let’s get you more of that cake.”

  A man after her own heart, she thought as he tugged her over to the dessert table again. This was their second trip through. But let’s face it, who could resist apple pie and cake?

  “Hey, Ashley, Garret,” said John Davies, approaching the two with a nod as they walked with laden plates to one of the picnic tables. “Got a minute, Garret?”

  “Sure,” Garret said with a smile. “Sit with us?”

  “You bet.”

  Ashley dug into the chocolate cake she’d taken just a sliver of as she waited to hear what John had to say.

  “I wanted to let you know Evers is going to be funding its own police force soon. The population has grown to the point where it no longer makes sense to have the sheriff’s office as a satellite here. The town needs its own force. Its own chief of police and probably two to three deputies.”

  “That’s great, John. Are you planning to throw your hat in there for chief?” Garret asked. Garret was on leave from the Branson Falls department. When his captain had discovered his relationship with Alice and it had come out that he also was having a relationship with Ashley, he’d been suspended without pay, pending a hearing. Garret had just been happy he’d been able to cover for Doug and convince his superiors Doug hadn’t known about any of it.

  “No, but I’m hoping you will. Actually, the whole town council is hoping you will. Your name is at the top of our list. Is it something you’d consider?”

  Garret looked at Ashley and she wondered if he would want that. Small-town police chief instead of detective in a larger city? What she really wondered was whether he’d want to be near her, close by so they could spend more time together with a lot less travel. Maybe live together. She found herself holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

  “You realize I was suspended for weeks, right? I mean, you guys get that? I might be back at work, but I’m not exactly the most highly recommended officer in the state right now.”

  “We know.” John nodded. “Your record prior to this case speaks for itself. We want you.”

  “Can I let you know in a few days?” Garret asked John, and Ashley felt her stomach drop. Maybe he didn’t want to be closer to her. Or maybe he did but he didn’t want to move here. Maybe he wanted her to move to Branson Falls with him.

  Her writing career was portable, but she loved her job at the library and her whole family was here. Would she be able to move? To be happy in Branson Falls? Garret squeezed her hand and she realized John had said his goodbyes and walked away.

  “You all right, hon?” Garret asked, and as she looked at him, she knew she’d move anywhere for him. She’d hate it. But she’d do it if it meant being with him. He was her happily ever after. He was her everything.

  She nodded and took a bite of the apple pie that was squished onto her plate alongside the cake and cookies. “I’m great.” And she was.

  She’d left behind the fear that had plagued her after the kidnapping. She had been back to see her counselor and had talked through what she was feeling instead of bottling it up. She’d taken some anti-anxiety medication at first, but after two months, the tricks her counselor had taught her for calming herself had been enough to wean off the meds. And it didn’t hurt that Garret was with her whenever he could be. By her side, making her feel safe and secure.

  The caseworkers had located extended family for Evie Davis—a cousin of her mother’s—who was not only willing to take her in, but happy to have her. She’d relocated to Vermont to live with the cousin. They weren’t legally able to get updates from social services, but Garret had gotten an update from a friend on the sly. Evie was doing well, and that’s all Ashley could hope for.

  Bill Franks was still in prison. The state had decided to try him for aggravated manslaughter for the death of her baby. She would need to testify eventually, but for now, she decided against thinking about him. He wasn’t worth it.

  Garret leaned in and kissed the spot behind her ear that made her eyes cross and her breath come in pants. She turned her head into his chest to muffle the moan that slipped from her lips. She could never hide her response from him, but she thought maybe it was a good idea to hide it from the rest of the party-goers.

  “Ready to head home?” His question came in the gravel-roughened tone that told her what he had in mind for when they arrived there, and she nodded against his chest.

  “Let me get rid of these,” he said, taking their plates and walking to one of the garbage bags hanging from a stick wedged in the ground. She didn’t even care that he’d taken her desserts from her. Not when she knew what he had planned for her at home.

  *

  Garret stuck his key in the front door of Ashley’s house and tugged her inside behind him. The outside light had come on when they pulled in the drive and he’d left the hallway light on, but other than that, the house was dark. He pressed her against the closed door, kissing her long and deep. She responded just as he liked, with her whole body. She melted into him, pressing all those curves into just the right places. He ground his hips into her. He needed to get her to the bedroom, but she’d been teasing him the whole way home, her hands tormenting his tortured erection through his pants as he drove.

  It was a miracle he hadn’t driven off the road. Those sinful hands threaded through his hair and she pulled slightly, drawing a growl from him. But it was the best kind of growl. The one that said he’d be taking her on the couch or the floor, because making it to her bedroom wasn’t an option.

&nbs
p; And then she bit his lower lip, and it was over. He stripped her down and undid the belt and fly of his pants. He should probably be ashamed that he didn’t get his pants all the way off, but as he buried his head in her chest, devouring her nipples one at a time, his cock found her wet heat and sank into her. He didn’t know when he had lifted her and he hadn’t realized she’d wrapped her legs around his waist until he found himself buried within her, her back pressed against the door.

  She nipped his ear with that wayward mouth of hers that never wanted to behave and he was lost, plunging again and again. Her direction—harder, deeper, more—drove him into her and when she shouted his name and her muscles clenched around him, he was done. He came hard, holding himself deep within her body as the waves washed through him.

  “Christ, Ashley. What you do to me.”

  She laughed. Laughed as if reveling in the power she had over him. He only hoped she didn’t crush his heart with that power. He pulled back and kissed her, gently this time. Soft and long while they were still connected together in the most intimate of ways.

  “I was supposed to get you to the bedroom.”

  “Why is that?” she asked. “I like the wall.” She wiggled her hips on him as she said it and he felt himself begin to come to life again. He didn’t know how that was possible, but hell if he’d complain.

  Focus. “I have a surprise in the bedroom.” He groaned when she licked at his neck.

  “I thought you just gave me my surprise,” she whispered, the vixen fully engaged tonight. God, he loved her when she was like this. Hell, he loved her any way she wanted to be.

  He lifted her off of him, ignoring the pout she gave him, and pulled his shirt over his head. He placed it on her, then kissed her. “Wait right here. I’ll be right back.”

  He shucked his pants and boxers since their current position around his thighs wasn’t conducive to walking, and headed for the bedroom. He had prepped everything ahead of time before picking her up at the library that afternoon. It took only minutes to light the candles and return to her.