by Lacey Silks
“So her being in one spot isn’t normal?” I asked.
“What is your gut telling you?”
“No, it’s not. Shit!”
“K, I gotta go. I’m sorry to ruin the party, but if Emma’s still in Ogden, then there’s no way she’ll make it anyway.”
“I’m coming with you.” I nearly jumped into my shoes.
“Hell, no.”
“Look, you’re going to need someone who knows his way around. And there’s no way I’ll just sit here while my girl is out there looking for a bastard I should never have told her about.”
Julian took a deep breath in before saying, “Fine. You better pray she’s all right.”
Afraid to freak him out even more, I didn’t want to tell him that I’d been praying since this morning.
Before I knew it we were on another jet, flying back to Ogden while my parents were on their way to New York. While both brothers clicked on the laptops and made phone calls, I listened, wondering whether there was anything I could do to help.
“Let’s hope this is all for nothing.” Tristan’s scarred lip twitched as he leaned back in his seat. “So, what’s gonna happen when all this settles, Eric? With you and Emma, I mean.”
“I want her to stay on my ranch.”
“She’s a city girl.”
“So I’ve heard. But I think she needs the country.”
“Or is it just you who needs her?”
“Of course I do. Listen, I’m not gonna push her to do anything she doesn’t want, but when she was here – it was the best few weeks of my life. She looked so carefree and in such high spirits, so excited to help the Sheriff when he needed a different look at running the town’s safety and forming neighborhood dispute resolution hearings. If it came down to it and she didn’t want to move, I’d sell the ranch and come to New York.”
“You’d do that for her? What would you do?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but if I sold my farm to the right investor, neither I nor Emma would ever have to work again.”
“The oil?”
“She told you about it?”
“No, we did some research as well. Your grandfather was a very smart man the way he hid his wealth to keep the hyenas off track. You’ve been doing the same and would have been successful if not for Huntz.”
“I should have never involved Emma in this.”
“You know where this place is?” Tristan pointed to a house on a map on his laptop.
“Yeah, that’s Missy’s house. She’s Huntz’s daughter, but has been staying with my parents ever since he showed up in town over a week ago. Emma said he owns that property.”
The brothers remained silent for the rest of the flight, which seemed to me like the longest trip of my life. If somebody told me that this plane was flying all the way around the world, twice, to get to Ogden, I’d believe them. Just before we landed, I called Derek.
“Hey, buddy. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to thank you for taking care of my parents’ farm for me.”
“No need to thank me yet. Your parents haven’t left.”
“What?”
“I went over to drive them and they said they were waiting for Emma, but she never showed up. They were supposed to fly back together just after noon.”
“Shit. Have you been to their house?”
“Yeah.”
“And everything is good?”
“Yes, they’re fine. A bit concerned that she didn’t call. They were gonna call you later to apologize for missing the dinner. Anything I can do?”
“I may need to borrow your truck.”
Derek had just purchased a new set of wheels I knew I could rely on. Once this hunt was over, I promised myself to do the same.
“Of course.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
I hung up and told the brothers about my conversation.
“Fuck! She’s definitely in trouble,” Julian said. “Why his truck?”
“What vehicle do you have at the airport?”
The brothers looked from one to the other and both said at the same time, “A Bentley.”
“I thought so. I noticed one in your driveway. Derek’s truck is all-terrain. Mine is getting repaired. Believe me, you want a truck to where we’re driving.”
“I don’t think you’ve seen us drive.”
“I can imagine. But there are holes in the road big enough to swallow an elephant. You need the truck.”
I lowered my head into my hands, pulling on my hair, looking back up after a few moments. “I swear if I get her out of this, I will not have her do another job like this again.”
Julian put his arm around my shoulder. “Welcome to our world. But if you do that, you’ll lose Emma the way we lost her for a while.”
I knew they were right, and I knew there was no way I could make that kind of a stipulation for my girl. Whatever we decided, it had to be mutual and not forced.
When we landed, Derek’s car was already waiting for us on the tarmac. He’d left with his brother Blake. Tristan insisted on driving the black RAM on wheels suitable for a tractor.
The sun was sinking lower. Tristan didn’t obey the town’s imposed speed limit and flew through it like a hurricane. I was afraid Derek would have some explaining to do to the sheriff, as without a doubt the complaints would pile up. As we passed Ogden and neared Huntz’s house, the smell of burning wood, plastic and rubber hit me and my gut twisted into knots.
As soon as we pulled up, I couldn’t wait. Covering my face with my arm, I jumped out of the car and rushed toward the flames, even while thinking how surviving the blaze in front of me was impossible. There was no way to enter from the front. I jumped over the fence and ran from the yard to where the back door was still untouched by the fire. The smell of gasoline permeated the air. Unsure where my adrenaline came from, I kicked it open. If Emma was inside and I was too late, I’d let myself die along her side. The brothers were right behind me, shouting something I couldn’t make out, but it didn’t matter. I had to get to Emma. My eyes stung from the smoke, and I could barely see. A muffled sound echoed over the roaring flames,
In the middle of the room, tied to a chair was Hunter, bleeding from his face, bruised and gagged. I untied his arms while Julian pulled out the cloth from his mouth.
“Where’s Emma?” he coughed.
“Not here. Huntz took her.”
We lifted Hunter under his arms. The guy yelped in pain and I was sure he had more than one broken bone.
“Her tracking brought us here,” Julian explained.
“She dropped her phone.”
We pulled Hunter out just in time – the gas explosion inside the house rattled the ground underneath us. Sounds of an oncoming siren echoed in the distance, but if I knew our fire department, this place would be burnt down to nothing before they got here. That was a setback in our town. The medical and first-aid facilities were close to non-existent, hence my sister’s reasoning to go to San Francisco to become a nurse. This town’s infrastructure was only years ahead of the Stone Age.
“We need to organize a search team. Fuck! This will take too long!” Tristan paced back and forth beside the truck.
Where the hell could Huntz have taken her? He couldn’t have gotten far, and with the team of experts I’d heard the Cross brothers had already mobilized, Huntz would need to hide. Whoever got here within the next hour would be on the bastard’s trail in no time – but would it be fast enough? I knew too well what men like him were capable of, and vowed that if Emma even lost a hair, I’d kill the son of a bitch. There was only one place he could have gone to – a secret hideaway that had never been found by the police or anyone else.
“I know where she is,” I said, the memory of my abduction finally clear for the first time in a decade. “Follow me.”
“Sorry, buddy, you need to take a bit more of this pain,” I said to Hunter.
“I’ve been through worse. This is nothing.”
We seated him in the back of the truck, and I made a mental note to clean the blood off later on. I tightened my grip on the wheel and drove back toward the fork in the road that led out of town, towards my parents’ house, and out to the forest the other way. A forest I’d run through as a kid but never remembered where it was until now.
An oncoming car was honking at us. I stopped when Missy’s old truck pulled over beside me.
“Eric, it’s him. Your parents’ house is on fire,” Missy cried. “I tried to warn them. I really did. I’m so sorry.”
I looked down the road toward my parents’ house and towards the entrance to the woods. My heart stopped as I turned toward the Cross brothers. Julian’s and Tristan’s faces paled, because they knew I was the only key they had now to find their sister; but if I chose that road, I ran the chance of never seeing my parents again.
CHAPTER 29
Emma
I wished I stayed in bed that morning with Eric. I wished I’d never checked my phone, nor gone to Ogden without telling him, or at least kissed him one last time. When I closed my eyes, I still felt the heat of his body against mine from last night. The comfort and warmth of his skin was beyond my wildest dreams and I thanked God over and over again that he’d come back for me, that we’d still had a chance to spend the most amazing twenty-four hours of my life before I walked into a trap.
And now, I was stuck in a fucking hole, the same kind Eric had described when he was kidnapped.
I didn’t remember much past being dragged through a forest, my hands and feet bound before my body was thrown into darkness. I’d already loosened the knots and gotten out of the stupid rope, but, in pitch black, finding your bearings and keeping your mind calm and wits about you was another story. This was a psychological game the bastard was playing. I hadn’t heard him since he’d dropped me down here, so I frantically looked for the hatch in the low ceiling, scraping my fingers over rocks and adding countless splinters to their pads. They were swollen now and bleeding, but if I didn’t get out now, I’d probably be dead in a few days – if I was lucky enough to survive that long. This bastard was too smart, though. He wouldn’t come near me with a ten-foot pole unless I was tied up in chains. Somehow he knew that given the slightest chance, I could overpower him. Huntz would probably want ransom. There was no way he’d still want the Waters property. There was no way anyone would let him live there anyway. This was all about a sick need for revenge. But why?
How could I have fallen for this trap? Julian was right. Huntz was as calculating as the greatest bastard my brothers had ever dealt with – if not worse. When I knocked on Missy’s door, after being told she’d gone to get extra clothing, the last thing I’d expected was being banged on my head from behind with a fucking baseball bat. And poor Hunter was Tasered at the same time. As I fell to the floor I remembered seeing two pairs of dirty boots with baseball bats hanging by their sides. I had no strength to lift my gaze and passed out. One thing was for sure, Huntz hadn’t acted alone. He had help, whereas all my research had indicated he was on his own. I hadn’t even had a chance to pull out my gun.
Chills began to cover my body. Despite the fact that it was early summer and the days were getting hotter, there were still some cool nights, and tonight was one of them. I cursed at the polar vortex. At this rate, hypothermia could even set in. I wanted to rub my hands together to create some heat, but that would only irritate the stupid splinters in my hands. Plus, my fingers were so stiff, if I rubbed them they’d break off like iced-over branches. Without shoes, which I didn’t recall losing, I could barely feel my toes and it wouldn’t have surprised me if they were blue. There had to be a way out of here. I reached above my head and began looking for the hatch once again. What felt like hours later, my hand hit a wooden door and I fell back. This had to be it. I pushed on it gently. The latch opened, and with hope I pushed it further as the sound of chains rattled in my ears. It was just as dark outside as it was down here, so either Huntz had left or he’d turned off the lights (if there were any) and gone to sleep. I prayed it was the former.
I squeezed my wrist through the small opening and grasped the chain and its lock, pulling it inside the hole. Fumbling with the metal I skimmed my fingers over the lock, wishing I had a Swiss army knife with me, or even a bobby pin.
I sat back down against the wall, fumbling with my new necklace. When my fingers touched the horseshoe, I knew that today was the day it would bring me luck. I removed it from my neck and, pressing one end of the charm into the lock, I started picking it. Seconds later I smiled at the sound of a click.
I slowly removed the chains and opened the hatch, climbing out. The room was dark and smelled of wet leaves and moss. Moonlight illuminated the worn wooden boards from a broken window. I picked a piece of glass up off the floor and removed my plaid shirt to wrap around its end, warily making my way around the room until I reached the front. The tank top would have to be enough to keep me warm. I twisted the handle and it swiveled, unlocking the door. The click was so loud in my ears I was afraid that if Huntz was still around, he’d hear it.
The sound of breaking wood not too far from the cabin startled me. I shuffled my bare feet along the forest ground to the side of the building, pressing my back against its wall. I’d been lucky enough to get out; I couldn’t give up now.
“Emma? Emma are you here?” A whisper of hope neared.
It couldn’t be, could it?
“Eric?” I replied, peaking around the corner. When I saw his face, illuminated by the full moon, I thought I was dreaming.
He hurried toward me, almost tripping over a stray branch. With the natural light our only guide, I was surprised how Eric had found me at all.
“You came for me?” I threw my arms around his neck.
“Of course, baby. I’m so sorry he did this to you.” He held me tight against his body, and if I didn’t let go I’d break down right here in his arms. But I couldn’t do that. Deep inside, my instinct told me we weren’t in the clear yet.
“Julian and Tristan are in Ogden. We gotta go.”
“Hunter! He was with me when we got to Missy’s house.”
“We’ve got him. Your brothers are with him.”
“What’s wrong? Has something happened to Hunter?” Grace would never forgive me if something had. And I couldn’t live with myself either. There must have been a good reason why my brothers didn’t come out to the woods with Eric.
“My parents’ house is burning. I think Huntz set it on fire.”
Yet Eric still came to get me. He chose me over his family. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to them.
“We need to get out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Huntz’s deep voice bellowed. I whipped my body around, taking a defensive stance. He held a machete in his right hand, and his legs spread slightly apart, ready to pounce. “Well, well. I didn’t think you’d remember this place, Eric.”
“What the hell do you want from us?” Eric barked. “Haven’t you done enough? You’re not going to get the farm – you never will.”
He let out a laugh from deep within his belly. Its roar echoed through the woods.
“That’s what you think, stupid boy. Besides, it’s not about the farm anymore. I want revenge. Donna should have never married your father. She should have chosen me. The farm and the inheritance would go to me. Instead, she betrayed me.”
Donna? Was he talking about Eric’s mother, Joanne? Was Huntz Jonathan, the boyfriend who raped her over and over again, whose child she ended up losing? He was supposed to bring the families together?
“My mother has always been with my father. A faithful wife and a loving mother.”
“Donna Jo was to be mine. Your father stole her.”
I recalled the story Joanne told me and compared it to Missy’s – the one she’d heard from her father as a child when he’d told her about how her mother had abandoned her. Was Missy their love child? Was she Eric’s half-sister,
and he didn’t know it?
“Joanne had your child,” I whispered. “You told her the baby died. You lied to her.”
“I saw her kissing him. She had my child in her, and she kissed him.”
It was true. Huntz didn’t confirm it, but he didn’t deny it either.
“She never loved you. You fucking raped her, stole her baby, and told her that the infant died.”
He laughed. “Ethan stole Donna Joe from me, I wouldn’t let them have Missy. I switched the infant with one from a morgue. The stupid hospital didn’t even notice they’d lost a body.”
“What?” Eric said.
“Missy’s your half-sister, Eric,” I whispered. “I’ll explain later. It was never about the land. It was always about revenge on your father.”
“It doesn’t matter now. You’re right I don’t care about the fucking land. It wasn’t for me anyways, but I do care about your father suffering, burning to death the way he left me for dead at that dance to save Donna Jo. I’ve carried the scars with me my entire life.” He lifted his right sleeve along with the machete to show the shriveled skin on his arm: white and hairless ripples of scarred flesh. White light reflected on the blade, bringing my attention back to the flex in Huntz’s bicep.
I spread my feet apart in a stern stance before stepping in front of Eric. This man had done enough to this family, and I would not let him hurt them anymore.
“What are you doing?” Eric whispered.
“Trust me,” I replied.
“You be a good girl and step aside. I’ll chop him up and then we can have some fun.”
“Not before I cut your dick off, you asshole!”
“Emma…”
“Trust me…”
Huntz rushed at us both, his machete high in the air. I pushed Eric down to the ground before ducking under Huntz’s swing and jutting the piece of glass I held in my hand right under his arm, into an artery. Blood squirted out and Huntz yelped in pain, covering his underarm with his other hand.
“You bitch.” He pulled the piece of glass out of his flesh and threw it to the ground. “I’m going to tie you up and fucking make you want to die before I gut you.”