The room tingled with expectancy and then Drake walked in. He was introduced to Lily and her family, while Meg put some food on the table for everyone to munch on, because clearly this was not going to be a short meeting.
When everyone had plates of food and a beverage of their choice Lily started speaking. “We’ll start with the pageant because that’s what started this whole adventure. My best friend since kindergarten always dreamt of being in a beauty pageant. She was very pretty and certainly had the personality for it.”
Her breath hitched for a moment and Drew dwelt on the word was pretty. Lily soldiered on. “We would play pretend pageant for days on end. Her mom got us fancy dresses and found a dime store tiara somewhere. We practiced walking in heels and strutting out swimsuits. We made sashes out of everything from towels to bed sheets.”
“When we got old enough, Olivia did join some local contests and did well, but she never won. So, she nagged her mom into getting her voice lessons and whatever else she could think of. In high school she worked hard at the gym to have a killer body, that she was certain would help her win the next pageant. She’d stopped participating in all the smaller ones and had set her sights on the biggest of them all, deciding she would compete when she turned twenty-two.”
Lily stopped speaking and she looked down at her hands. Her mother reached over and held them. Elaine continued the story. “Olivia started feeling weak and was having trouble at the gym. At first, she decided it was because she wasn’t eating enough carbs or maybe protein. She tried a few different things, and vitamins. Eventually she went to the doctor and they started running tests. They finally found it was Leukemia, of all things. She underwent aggressive treatment, but after three years she lost the battle.”
Lily looked up, her eyes both shattered and determined. “She begged me, on her death bed, to enter and win the pageant. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, at all. But, I couldn’t tell her no.”
Drew saw the women wipe their eyes with their napkins and several of the men were blinking, the rest lifted their drinks and swallowed hard.
His mother finally broke the silence. “Of course, you couldn’t. So that’s why you’re a contestant, but how did you get here?”
At that question Lily’s eyes blazed with fury. “Someone doesn’t want me to win, or even participate. I have no idea who that is or why they are so determined. But Ronald the rat in sheep’s clothing told me as much. He was paid to seduce me. To get close to me, so he could whisk me away right before the pageant and then make sure I didn’t make it back in time.”
Elaine gasped. “What?”
“Oh yes, all that ‘I love you’, ‘you’re so beautiful’, ‘I can’t live without you’, was all an act.” Someone paid him, and they even gave him the money for that ugly ring. And paid for all our dates and for him to fly back and forth to Montana from New York, or wherever the rock he climbed out from under is located.”
“That’s a lot of money.” Her father said.
She nodded. “He told me all about it as soon as we got to that cabin in the forest, here in Colorado. The minute we walked in the door; all his suave pretense dropped. He took my shoes, purse, phone, suitcase and coat and locked it in the trunk of the rental car. Then he tied me sloppily to the bed and laughed while he told me all about how he’d duped me and couldn’t wait to try it again with some other woman. At first, I was mortified, and then I got pissed.”
“That’s my girl.” Howard said, but Drew could see the banked rage in the man’s eyes.
“So, I started nagging and bitching and moaning about everything. The pageant was almost two weeks away, so I thought maybe he would get tired of me and let me go.”
Elaine whispered, “He could have killed you.”
Lily shook her head. “No, Ronald the rat, bragged about the plan he’d come up with. Said he wasn’t a killer, that his employers would have been fine with that, but he wasn’t going to become a murderer over some stupid beauty pageant.”
“Anyway, I complained that all the food he’d brought with him I couldn’t eat. I could of course, but I was trying to drive him crazy. The next morning when he told me he was going to go get me some food, so I would shut the heck up, I decided to make a run for it. He was a city boy and wouldn’t know uphill from down, but I’m not so stupid, I knew I could find my way out of the woods.”
Howard rolled his eyes. “Of course.”
She grinned at her dad. “You taught me well. After Ronald the rat left me alone, I untied the rope. He had my left hand tied to the bed.”
At that the entire room scoffed. Her left hand? The guy was dumb as a box of rocks.
Lily grinned at them. “Right? Plus, Tony here could have untied the rope, the man did not know how to tie a knot to save himself.”
Tony said, “I’m good at knots. Grandpa K teaches me.”
Cade pouted and whined, “What about me?”
“You teach me about knots too, Uncle Cade, but I like the ropin’ practice better.”
Cade preened at that and his twin brother whacked him on the back of his head. “Quiet, let the girl talk.”
“It took me less than a minute to untie the rope, but then I realized I didn’t have shoes or a coat. I searched the cabin, but there was nothing. He’d even taken the towels and blankets. But there was no way I was going to sit there meekly and wait for his return. He obviously didn’t know me at all. I grabbed some of the snacks and crap he’d brought to the cabin and headed out and down the mountain. I didn’t want to take the road because it wound around so much it would take forever. I assume that’s because it has to bypass your ranch.”
Travis affirmed that. “Yeah, the family homesteaded this land before anyone thought about making that land a National Forest.”
“Anyway, I headed downhill as fast as I could go barefoot, eventually the cold made my feet numb, but I wasn’t stopping. My feet slipped out from under me and I whacked my head on a boulder.”
Beau interjected, “Probably slick from the blood.”
“Most likely, after that I was feeling woozy, but I just kept on, thinking I needed a cop and to stay out of sight so no one from the pageant knew I was on the loose. Then I twisted my ankle and fell down, I might have lost consciousness, because the next thing I remember was Drew.”
She looked up at him and he picked up the narrative.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief when Drew started talking. She took a drink of her tea, still warm since it was in a mug rather than a tea cup and decided to eat while Drew talked. Now that she had her memories back, her stomach had settled right down.
She marveled that all she needed to hear was her father’s pet name for her, and all her memories had flooded back. It had overwhelmed her, but it hadn’t taken too long in the bathroom to settle. She was glad no one had followed her. Although she did like the feel of Drew’s arms around her when she felt lost.
He was such a good man, nothing like Ronald the rat. How she could have ever bought his slick lies and settled for someone like that, she couldn’t begin to fathom. She’d even dressed the part, wearing slacks and silk shirts. She would have to dress up for the pageant, but then it was back to jeans, for this girl.
As she listened to his narrative about their days together she realized he glossed over all he’d done for her. It wasn’t like she expected him to tell about every cup of tea he’d made her, but he’d single handedly cared for her every need, from the moment he found her face down on the ground until he’d carried her into this house.
When he finished with his side of the story, Lily spoke up. “Drew took care of me every minute of every day and I couldn’t have asked for a more compassionate, considerate helper. Plus, he’s a great cook.”
Drew started to look embarrassed at her praise but then laughed. “You hardly eat a thing; how would you know if I’m a good cook?”
Her mother shook her head. “Yes, well this pageant has her eating like a bird, but normally she does enjoy food.”
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A grin covered Drew’s face that pulled Lily in, and then he winked at her. “Good to know.”
Sheriff Drake, who had been silent throughout the entire recitation, cleared his throat. “All right so now on to the next steps. What is the timeline for the pageant?”
Lily’s mom took over. “The pageant is next weekend. Lily needs to be in New York on Wednesday. There are a couple of sightseeing excursions and time to let the contestants get to know each other. There are also going to be photo shoots and practice runs for the actual event, since some of it is televised, they want the girls to all know where they are going and what they are doing.”
“Makes sense. What is Ronald’s full name? I want to run him, since this is his first time, it’s likely he used his own name.”
Lily gave the Sheriff the name and address for Ronald. When Sheriff Drake was finished typing in the information he looked back up again. “So, when do you need to be back in Montana to collect your pageant clothes and stuff?”
Elaine said, “We brought it all with us, just in case.”
Her dad shrugged. “We decided rather to be safe than sorry, especially if it gives Lily-bug an extra day or two to recover from her ordeal.”
“Excellent. Since no one knows Lily is here at the Rockin’ K, I think she’ll be safest if she stays put until right before the event.”
Lily was startled by that statement. Was she in danger? Her dad immediately agreed and so did Drew, so clearly the men thought she might be. She wasn’t so sure that was the case, but what did she know about it?
Her mom said, “They told us that the contestants could bring an assistant with them or a bodyguard if they wanted to. We laughed at it when we got the notification, but I don’t see it quite as funny now.”
Everyone started discussing the implications of the notification. Had there been others, or was it standard procedure? She had no idea. Should she drop out of the pageant? That was not an option she felt comfortable with, she’d not only made a death bed promise, but she didn’t like the idea of some bad guys winning. She looked up and straight into Drew’s eyes.
What she read there was support, he had her back regardless of what she decided. That helped calm her, so she could think more clearly. She knew her parents would, too. Her older sister Rose had always thought it was a foolish idea. Her younger brother, William, teased her about it, but was supportive.
The sheriff spoke loudly, “We need to make some decisions here, folks.”
When everyone had quieted he asked her, “Do you still plan to compete?”
She raised her head and squared her shoulders. “Yes, I’m not breaking my promise. And I refuse to let these guys win.”
“I’m not surprised by that, you seem to be a very strong young woman.” He glanced at her parents and then turned to Drew.
Drew glanced at his parents and then said to the sheriff, “I’ll need to take my vacation next week.”
Sheriff Drake shook his head. “Nope, you’ll be on the clock. In New York.”
Lily gasped. “What?”
Drew shrugged like it was obvious. “I’ll be your bodyguard for the pageant.”
She caught her mother’s sigh and out of the corner of her eye thought she saw her father’s body relax also. She looked into Drew’s eyes. “I can’t complain about that. Thank you.”
Drake got their attention again. “Now that that’s settled. Can you tell me one more time exactly what Ronald said about his employers? And I’d like to record it if it’s all right with you.”
Lily nodded and carefully relayed everything she could remember. When she was done Sheriff Drake and Drew asked her some questions, so she clarified those points. Some of the questions helped spur her memories of nuances, she might not have noticed without the inquiry.
The Kipling family and her own parents had been silent and still, during the questioning. When Sheriff Drake turned off the mini recorder he’d pulled from his pocket everyone started talking at once.
She was shocked at what they had discovered from her words. Clearly, she wasn’t cut out to be a police officer or detective. She hadn’t come to any of the conclusions or opinions they all had.
Chapter 10
Drew was glad that Lily was happy to take his help as her bodyguard. It sounded to him by the way she’d talked that this wasn’t a lone individual, that that dipshit Ronald had gotten involved with. Something bigger was at stake and he wasn’t about to leave Lily unprotected.
The question that was still stirring in his brain was why Lily? Had some of the other contestants been threatened too? He would be amazed if she was the only one, but whoever this was, couldn’t get rid of all the other contestants, that would be a little too obvious. So why Lily?
The second question was just as hard to answer and that was why. Why? Was there some huge award? Was one of the other contestants desperate to win? Why? It just didn’t make sense.
As everyone at the table talked about these same questions, Lily was starting to droop. He went over to her chair. “It would be fine if you took a rest, you’re still healing, and you’ve had a big day.”
“I should stay, but a nap sounds wonderful.”
He scooped her up into his arms and the room quieted. “Lily needs to rest for a bit, she’s still recovering, and it’s been a busy morning.” Then he walked out of the room and carried Lily up the stairs, to the room his mom had gotten ready for her.
“Just your stuff from the cabin is in the room. It’s got a bathroom that attaches to the bedroom your parents will be in, so the three of you will be nice and cozy. I imagine the summit going on downstairs will go on for a bit longer, which gives you some alone time.”
She’d rested her head on his chest. “Thanks, I was trying to stay alert, but I’m exhausted.”
“You’ll feel better after you take a nap. We’ve got plenty of time to sort everything else out.”
He took her in and set her down on the bed and helped get her shoes off.
Before she laid down Lily said, “Thanks for going with me to the pageant. I will feel safer with you there.”
He stood and kissed her on top of her head. “It will be my pleasure to be by your side. Now rest.”
As he walked to the door he pulled the shades down on the windows and noticed she was already nearly asleep when he pulled the door closed.
The room quieted when he walked back into the kitchen.
“Lily told me she didn’t sleep well last night, so I wasn’t surprised to see her flagging. A nap will revive her.”
Lily’s mom had tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much for finding and taking such good care of our girl. Tell us what she was really like when you found her. You both glossed over that, we need to know.” She looked at her husband and he nodded.
He looked at Beau and Alyssa, but they just waved him on. “All right. When I first saw her she’d fallen, from the sprained ankle.”
Drew went on to explain the best he could her condition and what all she’d said when he’d found her. When he finished Alyssa continued with her examination, with Beau interjecting as needed. Alyssa finished by saying, “All in all she wasn’t that bad off. If she’d stayed on that cold ground any longer than she did, that might not have been the case. But her flight had kept her warm enough until then.”
Elaine thanked them both for explaining, then looked around the table. “Would you all mind if we brought in our things and settled in? I could use a nap myself. We didn’t sleep much either.”
His mother said, “By all means.”
The twins lept to their feet. “Let us help you with that.”
Drake motioned to Drew and he followed his boss into the office. “Let’s talk strategy for keeping Lily safe.”
“Fine with me. What do you think about all of it?”
Drake huffed out a breath. “It all seems preposterous to me. But we can’t just ignore Lily’s testimony, something is going on. What that something is, I have no idea. But it doesn’t
sound like an individual. Ronald kept mentioning bosses, plural not singular.”
“Yeah, I noticed that too. Do you suppose Lily was singled out, or do you think more than one contestant was targeted?”
Drake folded his arms. “No idea, just Lily seems odd, what good would that do with all the others? I guess you’ll find out when everyone shows up. If there are other missing contestants, you might need to bring in other authorities or the pageant organizers.”
Drew would have to figure out the inner workings of the pageant to know who to approach, and also to know who might be missing. “Hopefully the organizers aren’t the ones behind it.”
“Right. I’m sure you can discover a lot on the internet about other contestants.”
He had seen quite a bit of information about the pageant and the women on the different social media sites as well as some newscasts. Maybe he could have Emma or one of his future sister-in-laws’ help him gather that info. “You don’t really need to keep me on the clock. I can take vacation.”
“No, you’ll need that vacation for all the weddings coming up. She was found in our district, so she’s one of ours now. It will just be your normal hours, no overtime, although I think you’ll be on duty the whole time.”
Drew shrugged. “You got that right. Any idea what I need to do to carry a weapon on a plane?”
“Nope, guess that’s your first order of business. I’m going to head out. Don’t let your heart rule your head.”
Drew looked at his boss. “What did you say?”
“You’ve clearly grown fond of her and she’s certainly a sweet young woman, but you’ll need to keep your head clear to protect her. Leave the romance until after the pageant.”
What the hell? He didn’t have romance in mind. Sure, he liked Lily and admired her and there was some sort of chemistry between them. But certainly not what Drake was inferring. “Who said anything about romance?”
“Nothing needed to be said. Just keep your head on your shoulders. That’s all I’m saying, women, especially beautiful women, can be distracting.”
Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire Page 8