by Donna Grant
Jace started to speak when Karl and Marina filled the doorway. He frowned at his paramedic friends, but before he could ask them what they were doing there, they shooed Danny out and began tending to Jace.
He tried to wave away their hands, but they were too quick for him. “I’m fine. We need to look for Cooper.”
“You’re far from fine,” Marina stated in a no-nonsense tone. “There’s blood covering your face and clothes.”
Jace couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. “I found the bump.”
“Not only a bump. A laceration,” Karl told him. He grabbed Jace’s hands and held his gaze. “We need you to be still. If you want to help Cooper, you need to let us help you first.”
Jace wanted to argue with them, but he didn’t have the strength. As soon as he stopped fighting, Karl and Marina worked seamlessly. Jace closed his eyes and tried to think back to what had happened. He remembered getting the boxes and walking outside. He even remembered reaching the truck. As he’d stopped to press the boxes against the vehicle to free one hand to open the door, he’d seen a figure come up behind him in the glass. Then, everything went black.
His eyes snapped open. “I was attacked.”
Danny leaned against the doorway of the bathroom to give Marina and Karl room. “We figured as much. I also found the bullet hole in the wall. No slug or casing, however. Did you hear a shot?”
“I think he came at me first.”
“You?”
Jace blew out a breath while Marina cleaned the blood from his face. “I saw him in the window of the truck before he hit me.”
“Whatever he struck you with was meant to kill,” Marina stated. “It would’ve killed others.”
Karl chuckled. “It’s Jace’s hard head that saved him.”
“We didn’t look for anyone when we got here,” Jace said as he lifted his eyes to Danny. “We should have. We know better.”
Danny got down on his haunches and shoved his cowboy hat back on his head. “You got your bell rung pretty good. You’re going to need to take it easy.”
“That’s my best friend out there,” Jace said as he shoved Karl’s hands away.
Marina grabbed Jace’s arms and gently lowered them. “You won’t be of any help until your pain subsides. You have a concussion and a deep laceration that needs stitches to stop the bleeding.”
“Then do it,” Jace ordered angrily.
Danny sighed and straightened. “You might as well do it, Marina. He won’t go to the hospital.”
“Damn straight, I won’t,” Jace stated.
Karl flattened his lips and got everything ready to begin stitching. Marina pulled out a syringe for a localized anesthetic, but Jace shook his head. He was well accustomed to pain. Deadening it might affect his senses, and he needed to be ready for anything.
“Tell me everything,” Danny said.
Jace allowed them to roll him onto his stomach with his face turned toward Danny.
“Ready?” Karl asked.
Jace nodded and took a deep breath. He released it as Karl stuck the needle into his scalp. Instead of giving in to the pain, he focused on Danny and telling the sheriff what he knew. “There were a few vehicles in the parking lot when we drove up. Nothing looked out of place, but we didn’t search as we should have. Cooper and I were talking, and I think we both assumed the bad guys wouldn’t be interested in us.”
“They want Marlee, is my guess,” Danny said as he ran a hand over his mouth. “If they know anything, then they know about Marlee and Cooper.”
“If they killed Cooper, his body would’ve been left here.”
Danny nodded and removed his hat, turning it around by the brim in his hands. “Then why shoot him?”
“Because Cooper never would’ve left with them otherwise.”
“Would he have gone regardless?”
Jace thought about that for a moment while remaining perfectly still. His wound throbbed uncontrollably, and the feel of his scalp being stitched closed only added to the agony. “No. Cooper would’ve fought them.”
“Then they took him the only way they could. By force.”
“In order to get Marlee to come to them.”
Danny pulled out his phone as he turned away.
All Jace could think about was finding the bastard who had done this to Cooper and him. Because he would find him. And he would tear him apart.
Chapter 38
Marlee was by herself in the front room at the ranch when her phone buzzed. She had been looking for a sign of Cooper. It was ridiculous for her to worry about him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She didn’t want the others to know that she was a worrier, so she walked away from them to peek outside and look at the drive to see if she could spot Cooper’s truck.
She hurriedly reached for her phone, hoping it was Cooper. Only she saw Jace’s name pop up. Still, they were together, so that was enough. “Hey, Jace,” she said. “I’m getting a little worried, you two have been gone awhile.”
“There was a lot to do.”
The voice was deep, gravelly, the same as the voice of the man she had encountered yesterday at the house. Her stomach dropped to her feet. She started to turn and run back to the kitchen to tell the others.
“Before you do something stupid, you should listen to what I have to say,” the man stated.
Marlee hesitated. She knew men like him. He didn’t threaten unless he intended to follow through. Not to mention, he was one of those who murdered pregnant women and cut their unborn babies from them. You had to be the worst kind of human to do that.
“I’m waiting,” she finally said.
He laughed softly. “I always knew you were smart. So, here’s how this is going to go. If you want your precious Cooper back, you’re going to meet me.”
“I need to know he’s alive. And Jace, as well.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. Jace is dead. However, there’s still a chance for Cooper.”
She took in a steadying breath. “You could be lying.”
“I could be, but do I seem the type? You know I’m not. Stella has kept me from slicing your throat for years. I could’ve killed you a hundred times over. Well, now that you found Stella, all bets are off. You’ve got a chance here. You can come to me, and I can take your life. Or you can go to your friends and tell them everything. If you do that, I will kill Cooper and disappear. But I’ll still come for you. You’ve done enough damage to our world.”
His words were so ludicrous that Marlee had to bite back a laugh. She considered his words. “The men here are trained military men.”
“So am I, sweetheart. How do you think I got the drop on Jace and Cooper?”
Damn. What was she going to do? But she knew. She was going to do the only thing she could. “Where do we meet?”
He laughed, the sound grating on her nerves. “I knew you’d see reason. Head west for thirty miles.”
“That’s it? That’s all I get?”
“You think I’m going to tell you everything now? Give me some credit. Call Jace’s phone when you’ve done that, and I’ll give you the next coordinates. And let me be clear, Marlee. I know you’re at the East Ranch. I know the others are there, that the sheriff is at work, and so is the police chief. If you tell any of them or call them while you’re on the road to help you, Cooper dies. Do you understand?”
“Perfectly,” she answered.
“Then I suggest you get moving because you have less than twenty minutes to reach the destination.”
The phone went dead. Marlee’s heart beat so fast, she thought it might burst from her chest. She wanted so badly to tell the others, but she didn’t want to chance it. If the man knew her location, he could have bugged her phone, which meant he would know if she told anyone. Besides, there wasn’t time for her to speak to those at the ranch since he hadn’t given her much time to drive thirty miles.
She snuck around the kitchen and waited until everyone was occupied before she grabbed the keys to Abb
y’s Suburban and slipped out the door without even grabbing her coat. The rain soaked her as she ran to the garage. She moved quickly, shoving her wet hair out of her eyes as she looked around for anyone who might try and stop her.
It wasn’t until she pulled away from the driveway and got onto the road that she breathed a sigh of relief. The others at the ranch would discover her gone soon enough. Until then, she was going to concentrate on the instructions she’d been given.
* * *
Stella paced the house as the hours slowly ticked by. Chuck had left sometime in the night without a word. It was unusual, but she couldn’t help but be worried. No sirens could be heard coming her way, so she had to assume she was safe.
For the moment.
The meeting the night before hadn’t happened because the couple’s plane got delayed due to weather. She should’ve been long gone from this area. Instead, she was back at the house, waiting for the meeting to happen tonight. And she wasn’t happy. Remaining in Clearview felt as if she were giving the authorities time to catch her.
“Dammit, Chuck. Where are you?” she asked aloud.
* * *
Cooper woke on his side to find himself in a darkened building. His right shoulder throbbed relentlessly as blood dripped down his arm. He pushed himself up into a seated position, gritting his teeth at the pain. He needed to stop the bleeding. By the puddle of blood pooled on the floor, he had lost a significant amount.
He reached for the knife he always carried in his pocket, but it was gone. So was the one in his boot. A quick check confirmed that his phone was also missing. Cooper removed his jacket as well as the button-down beneath to reveal a white thermal shirt. Sweat beaded on his skin and dripped into his eyes as the pain consumed him.
With no other choice, he tried to use his one good hand and his teeth to rip his shirt. It took several attempts before he got the fabric to do as he wanted. The moment he had the tiniest of tears in the material, he tore off the bottom part all the way around. He worked fast to then wrap it around the wound and tie it tightly. He rested for only a moment before he put his shirt and jacket back on. Then he climbed to his feet.
By the looks of things, he was in an old structure. Probably one of the many buildings downtown that the city council was trying to bring in money to revitalize. He walked until he found a door, only to discover that it was chained from the outside. The three other doors he found were also locked.
The bastard who had shot him had wanted Marlee. There was no way for Cooper to tell any of his friends that he was alive and fine. Which was exactly what the man wanted.
“Be smart, Marlee,” he whispered like a prayer.
His thoughts turned to Jace. He had no idea if his friend was alive or not, and that was like a knife to the chest. With Jace and Marlee in danger, Cooper needed to do something. He couldn’t sit back and allow anything to happen to them. They were too important to him.
He grabbed the door he stood before and yanked on it again and again, hoping the chains would give way. “Come on, guys! Find me! You can find me!”
Cooper pressed his heated forehead against the cold metal of the door. “Y’all have to find me,” he whispered.
Chapter 39
Clayton slowly lowered his phone to the island after the call with Danny and looked around at the faces staring at him intently. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Not again. Not after what they had gone through with Danny. But no matter how much he wanted to deny it, Clayton couldn’t. The truth was there before them.
A knock sounded on the back door, right before Ryan opened it and stepped inside. His face was as hard as granite when his brown eyes met Clayton’s.
“Someone say something,” Caleb stated, looking between the two.
Abby walked to Clayton and put her hand on his back. “Honey? What is it?”
“Where’s Marlee?” Ryan asked with a frown.
Clayton’s gaze scanned the area, looking for Marlee’s auburn curls. “She was just here.”
“We need to find her. Now.”
Brice held up his hands and faced Ryan. “Why? What is it you and Clayton know but won’t tell us?”
“Everyone fan out and look for Marlee,” Abby ordered in her best mom-voice.
Clayton saw both Brice and Caleb hesitate before they turned and began calling for Marlee. Clayton’s gut churned. They had been lucky so many times before. Had their luck run out? Was this the time their ever-growing family couldn’t pull out a miracle at the last minute?
“She’s gone,” Caleb said as he came from outside. “Marlee must have taken the Suburban.”
It didn’t take long for everyone to reconvene back in the kitchen. Their family and friends had stood in this very spot so many times. They had shared good news, bad news, sad news. They’d celebrated, mourned, and rejoiced. There had been more happy times than bad, at least. That was life. Clayton understood that. But this … this was too much.
Brice slammed his hand down on the island. “Dammit, Clayton. You or Ryan better start talking.”
Clayton glanced at his wife to find Abby’s blue eyes full of tears, because she knew him better than anyone. And she felt his pain. He nodded and cleared his throat. “That was Danny. He was at the motel because Jace called him. From what Danny has been able to piece together—”
“Piece together?” Caleb asked, his brow furrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”
Ryan put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder and calmly said, “Let Clayton finish.”
Clayton gave Ryan a nod of appreciation. “Jace went out to load up some boxes from Marlee’s room when he saw someone’s reflection in the truck window. He woke later on the ground. He’d been struck from behind.”
“Oh, God,” Abby whispered and reached for Clayton’s hand.
He held on to her tightly and met his brother-in-law’s gaze. “Jace managed to make it back inside the room, but Cooper wasn’t there. He used the motel phone to call Danny. Danny told me the hit Jace took was meant to kill.”
“Fuck me,” Brice murmured.
Caleb put his hands on the island and dropped his chin to his chest as he squeezed his eyes closed. “Is Jace all right?”
“Marina and Karl are with him now, stitching the wound,” Ryan told them. “They’re trying to get him to a hospital, but he won’t go. He’s alive, but the hit was brutal. Jace’s memory of everything is piecemeal.”
Caleb lifted his head and said, “Which means, no one knows who hit Jace.”
“And Cooper?” Abby asked.
Clayton shook his head. “Nowhere to be found. There was a bullet hole in the wall of the motel room, but no shell or casing.”
“Whoever did this wanted us to know they shot Cooper,” Brice said.
Ryan crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s right.”
“Was there blood anywhere?” Caleb asked.
Ryan snorted. “It was everywhere. We’re not sure how much of it is Jace’s since he was bleeding profusely, or if it’s Cooper’s or whoever attacked them. Unfortunately, learning those details is going to take time.”
“Time we don’t have,” Abby whispered.
Clayton pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Whoever took Cooper must have called Marlee. That’s the only reason I can think of for her to leave without telling us.”
“Unless they threatened Cooper,” Caleb said. “If Audrey were threatened, that would get me to do anything.”
Abby nodded. “He’s right.”
“Someone call her,” Ryan suggested.
Clayton had been so wrapped up in everything that calling Marlee hadn’t even crossed his mind. Before he could reach for his phone, Brice was already dialing the number.
“It’s ringing,” Brice told them. After a few minutes, he lowered the phone to the island. “It went to voicemail.”
Abby turned to find her phone. “Then we all call her.”
One by one, they placed calls to Marlee, but she didn�
�t answer.
“I think it’s time we tracked her,” Ryan announced. He then made a call to the police station.
Caleb looked at Clayton. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” Abby replied. “We let Danny and Ryan do what they do best, and we wait for when we can help.”
Brice sank heavily onto one of the stools. “What are the odds that this will end happily for us?”
“I don’t want to think about that,” Caleb answered.
Brice swung his head to his brother. “Well, I have to.”
“We do what we do best,” Clayton told them. “We be there for each other and our friends who are going to need us. Speaking of, has anyone called Betty?”
Ryan hung up the phone. “Danny had a sheriff’s deputy bring her to Jace. They’re hoping she can talk some sense into him because he wants to be brought here.”
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Abby said.
Clayton looked at her. “Jace needs to be in a hospital.”
“I agree with Abby,” Caleb said. “Jace was attacked. We have no idea if anyone else will be, as well. This ranch has always been our go-to when we need to regroup or gather.”
Clayton pulled Abby against his side and kissed the top of her head. “You’re both right. Call everyone. Get them here.”
“Clayton, the kids,” Abby said.
Ryan held up a hand. “I’ll get them here immediately. Same with Naomi and Nate.”
Brice let out a loud sigh. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
Clayton was used to everyone looking to him for guidance, but this time, he wasn’t sure he knew what to do—much less say. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were going to lose Marlee or Cooper. Maybe even both of them.
* * *
Each time her phone rang, Marlee fought not to reach for it and talk to them. She couldn’t be sure if someone had put a tracker on her phone, and she didn’t have time to look through it and find out. So, she decided to be cautious and assume that the asshole who had taken Cooper wasn’t lying.