Home for the Holidays

by Terry Spear

  His dad knew what Oliver was referring to. She wasn’t sure if dealing with the issue could help Oliver leave, but it might. She’d ask Jessup in private later.

  “Tell Mom I carved a bird for her garden,” Oliver finally said to his dad. “Tell my mom and dad I love them, and I want to leave the mine. I’m ready to move on. I don’t want to be trapped down here for all time,” Oliver said. “Alvin’s gone now. I don’t even have him to talk to.”

  “I’ll do that,” Meghan said, feeling bad about him missing his friend. She relayed what Oliver said to his father.

  Oliver gave his dad another ghostly hug, then vanished.

  “He’s gone.” Meghan felt drained. “He’s told us what he wants. It’s possible that if we can get Clementine to visit the mine and be with her son, he might be able to leave here for good.”

  “I’ll tell her what Oliver said, but it doesn’t mean she’ll believe me. Or you.”

  “Which is understandable. It could be enough that she comes to see him. We just don’t know. I apologize for being so blunt about Oliver wanting to speak to the two of you when I spoke to her earlier.”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered how you approached the subject. She would have been just as disturbed by it. As to Rollins, don’t mind Clementine. We’ve had worse problems with local wolves. And Rollins was one of our own.”

  They began walking out of the tunnel toward the shaft that would take them out of the mine when something caught Peter’s eye and he went to investigate.

  “I’ll head on out,” Jessup said to Meghan and Peter. “I want to talk to Clementine right away to see if we can help our son.”

  “Do you know the way back all right?” Peter asked, sounding worried.

  Jessup scoffed. “I worked down here for more than thirty years. I should think so.” Then he said to Meghan, “Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “If you run into Rollins—” Peter said.

  “He’ll wish he hadn’t tangled with me. He won’t be hurting another soul.” Jessup gave them a harsh look as if emphasizing his point, then continued on his way out of the mine.

  Peter went over to one of the mining carts sitting half off its tracks and peered in. “I thought I saw something.”

  Meghan hurried to see what he might have found and saw an orange jumpsuit. “Ohmigod, a prison jumpsuit. Rollins wasn’t released? He escaped? That’s his scent.”

  “Hell,” Peter said. “All we need is a human manhunt out this way searching for him.” He bagged the jumpsuit, and then he took her hand and headed for the exit. When the tunnel widened a bit so they could walk side by side again, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I can’t imagine what you have to go through dealing with the spirits like this. We’re still on for dinner and gingerbread baking, though, correct?”

  She slipped her arm around his waist. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I guess this puts Rollins in a worse light, if that’s possible.”

  “Yeah, it does. He could have listed Silver Town as his home of record.”

  “Just what we need.” Meghan began to think about Oliver and his mother’s refusal to visit him in the mine. “You know Clementine better than me. Do you think she’ll change her mind about seeing her son?”

  “I honestly don’t know. Maybe she’ll play along with this some if she wants to make Jessup feel better about it, even if she doesn’t believe you’re really in contact with her son. If she does go down there and Oliver’s able to visit with her, will he be able to leave?”

  “I sure hope that will do the trick. But we never know what will work. Every time we do this, it’s by trial and error.” Meghan didn’t want to tell Peter she might have opened the proverbial can of worms if she couldn’t send the ghost off to his final resting place and instead had to relay messages from him to his family forever or help his dad visit his son from time to time to keep their…spirits up.

  “You’ll do it.” Peter sounded completely confident in her abilities.

  Chapter 14

  As soon as they were topside, Peter pulled his cell out to call Darien and alert him they had an escaped prisoner in their midst. He closed Meghan’s door and then climbed into the car.

  “Hell, that’s all we need in town,” Darien said. “I’ll alert everyone that Rollins wasn’t released early from prison as we first thought.”

  Then Peter got another call, this time from Dr. Weber. “I’ve got a call from Doc.”

  “I’ll let you go then.”

  Peter worried Bill Weaver’s condition had worsened. He wanted the guy to get well and get out of their territory and Meghan’s life. “Yeah, Doc, what’s up?”

  “I just wanted to alert you that Bill left the clinic today. He apparently called one of the Wolff brothers to see if someone could drive his car to the clinic parking lot so when he got ready to leave, he could. I imagine because of the concern the Wolffs had that Bill was attacked at their lodge, they were willing to accommodate him and free up a parking space there at the same time.”

  “Hell.”

  “Yeah, I know. He should remain here for at least another day, maybe two. I called you right away when I learned of it.”

  “Thanks, Doc. You wouldn’t have any idea where he went, would you?” Peter asked, heading to the inn.

  “Your guess is as good as mine, though he’s been asking my staff how close you are to Meghan. I get the impression he thinks he can woo her back if he can see her alone without you influencing her.”

  “You know what, Doc? He had his chance. He’s not getting her back. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll either run him down and return him to the clinic or take him into custody and you can visit him in jail—for his own safety.”

  Dr. Weber chuckled. “Works for me.”

  Peter was pissed off at Bill, not because he thought Bill could change Meghan’s mind about courting him again, or that he could get himself killed because of his injury, but because if Bill went to see Meghan and Rollins knew it, Bill could put both Meghan and himself at real risk.

  Peter’s other choice of handling Bill was running him out of town, but Peter suspected Bill would still return to try to see Meghan. If Peter had been in his shoes, he would have done everything he could to get her back. Of course, Peter wouldn’t have ever pulled the crap Bill had. Peter would have backed her on what she’d done.

  Peter immediately got on his Bluetooth to alert his deputies and Darien that they had a missing patient from the clinic.

  “Serves him right for being so foolhardy if Rollins learns Bill is no longer under protection and terminates him,” CJ said.

  Peter agreed with his deputy. “While we’re trying to track down Rollins, keep an eye out for Bill, and arrest him on sight. Darien will alert the notification roster so if anyone sees Bill, they’ll let us know or, if they’re capable of it, arrest him and take him to the jail until one of us can arrive.”

  “You know Bill will be headed straight for wherever Meghan is,” CJ said.

  “Yeah, she’s with me, but I’m taking her to the inn. The problem is that wherever Bill goes could put our people in danger if Rollins aims to take him out and hits someone else.”

  “I agree. The guy’s a self-centered jerk. I’m headed over to the inn, even though I know we’ve got Jake and Trevor over there watching out for the sisters. If Bill shows up, I’ll take him into custody.”

  “All right.” They ended the call, and Peter said to Meghan, “Let any of us know if you see him if we don’t catch him first. I worry that he’ll attract Rollins’s attention.”

  “I can’t believe Bill. He’s taken a long time to figure out he wants to see me again.”

  “He probably couldn’t find another she-wolf who is as fascinating as you are. He really made a mistake in letting you go.” Peter park
ed at the inn and opened her door. He walked her to the front door of the inn and said, “See you tonight.” And he kissed her long and hard, holding her tight against him, never wanting to let her go. He finally ended their kiss and nuzzled his cheek against hers, and she smiled.

  “See you before long.”

  It wouldn’t be soon enough.

  * * *

  Meghan worked the front desk, alternating with Laurel and Ellie, the rest of the day. They were both as irritated as she was that Bill had left the clinic. She hoped he wouldn’t show up here.

  She was just finishing with a reservation, her sisters having already headed over to her house to prepare some of the ingredients that would be used in decorating the gingerbread hotel. Meghan was still manning the front desk, waiting for their night manager to arrive. They’d hired a couple of night managers for the inn so the sisters didn’t have to man it all night. Now, Meghan was glad they’d hired men. She and her sisters would have worried if they’d had a female night manager working while Rollins was still creating havoc.

  When Bryce Morrison arrived, she greeted him. “Got to run. All the guests have returned for the night. If you need anything from us, just call and we’ll be right over.”

  “Enjoy making your gingerbread creation,” Bryce said. “I guess I’ll get to see it here tomorrow night.” He moved behind the check-in counter with his laptop. He wrote horror stories for publication, but he reminded everyone he was a starving artist so he had to keep a day or, in his case, night job. It was the perfect job for him because most nights, it was dead quiet and he could write all night long. He told them the inn provided the perfect ambience, but he wished he could see what the sisters did so the stories could practically write themselves. Though he often interviewed them for true ghost stories they’d experienced. He’d been asking Meghan when she could give him the interesting details on the miners’ ghosts, but she hadn’t had time to spare when he’d been free.

  “Have a quiet and productive night.”

  “Thanks.”

  CJ and Brett were already at Meghan’s house helping their mates with whatever they needed done in the gingerbread-making department. Trevor, Meghan’s protection, had gone outside to look around. It was such a short walk through the snow-covered gardens to her house that Meghan figured she’d see Trevor when she left the inn and didn’t need an escort. But as soon as she stepped outside, someone hiding in the bushes grabbed her and covered her mouth with his hand before she could scream.

  Her heart was racing, but she quickly smelled Bill’s scent and felt a modicum of relief. Anger too. She quickly twisted free of him and glowered at him. “You ass!”

  She was fuming that he’d practically scared her to death. She’d thought he was Rollins. “Trevor!” she yelled, intending for him to take Bill right back to the clinic and lock him in handcuffs there.

  As soon as she yelled out, Bill grabbed her, covered her mouth again, and pinned her tight against his body. “Shh, be quiet,” he whispered, trying to move her to the corridor of trees that led to the forested land. “You want to take down this bastard as much as I do. We can do it together. You and me. If we don’t have half the damn pack protecting you, he’ll come for you. And me. Then we’ll kill him.”

  The head injury must have made Bill delusional!

  Meghan struggled to free herself from Bill’s iron grip. If Bill’s physical strength was any indication, she didn’t think he was suffering much from his injury any longer—except for the delusional part.

  She stomped her boot on his, but he only tightened his hold on her. “Be still. We can do this.”

  He was crazy! They’d end up both getting themselves killed. Was he even armed? How did he think he was going to take Rollins out?

  CJ and Brett burst through the front door of her home with guns pointed at Bill. Trevor came around the corner of the inn and slugged Bill in the side of the head. Bill let out a strangled cry and fell face first into the snow. Trevor quickly rolled Bill over onto his back and crouched down to secure his wrists while Brett kept his gun trained on Bill. He was out cold.

  “Are you all right?” CJ asked Meghan, taking hold of her arm and leading her toward the house, but she stopped in her tracks, wanting to know what Trevor was going to do about Bill.

  She wasn’t in any danger now.

  “I’m all right,” she told CJ. “Better than Bill.” She was worried about him, despite what he’d pulled with her. She was afraid he’d suffered another concussion and that this time he might not recover all the way.

  “Serves him right.” Trevor got on his phone. “Doc, we’ve found your escaped patient. We were going to put him in jail, but he’d taken Meghan hostage and I knocked him out. Suffice it to say, he’s still out cold. We’ll bring him to the clinic. We’ll handcuff him to the bed and post a guard. Okay, see you soon.” Trevor made another call after that.

  “Hey, Peter, I know you’re coming here to help out with the gingerbread house, but we’ve got Bill in custody. I’ll haul him back to the clinic… Yeah. He needs Doc to look him over again. I’ll guard him there, and you can hear all about what happened when you get here. Meghan’s fine. She’s headed to the house, and Brett and CJ are already here to watch over her and her sisters.” Trevor smiled at her.

  Bill was lucky Trevor didn’t kill him for trying to take her away from here where neither of them would have had any protection. She hoped Bill would be all right, but she also hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid like this again. She could just imagine how Peter was feeling about this, as angry as she’d been with Bill.

  Peter would be ready to kill him.

  Chapter 15

  From the dark tone of Trevor’s voice, Peter knew Bill had manhandled Meghan, and he wanted to kill the bastard. He couldn’t believe no one had caught Bill before he reached her and tried to take her hostage. But he was glad Bill was in custody now. The guy didn’t have a lick of damn sense.

  When Peter arrived at Meghan’s house, the aroma of Irish beef stew and gingerbread captured his attention and reminded him why he was here—to enjoy the Christmas festivities with Meghan and her family. CJ had opened the door for him, gun in hand. “Hey, glad it’s just you.”

  “Yeah, thanks, CJ.” Before Peter could ask him how Meghan was doing, she was heading out of the kitchen to greet him, all smiles.

  He hoped he wouldn’t get any calls while he was helping with the gingerbread house because he really felt the need to be with her right now, despite that she was surrounded by family and would be safe enough. He had brought a poinsettia for Meghan and the ingredients for frosty winter cocktails of coconut cream, vanilla vodka, and crème de cacao, and he hoped that would make her feel better after what she’d been through.

  CJ shut and locked the door, then left the two of them alone in the living room, the others conversing and laughing in the kitchen. “Jingle Bells” was playing in the background, “making spirits bright…”

  Meghan gave Peter a long hug and a lingering kiss. She was trembling a little, and that made him angry about Bill all over again. Before he could say anything, she said, “The poinsettia is beautiful, Peter, and the ingredients for the drinks look yummy. Thanks so much.” She took the poinsettia and set it on the dining room table, and he placed the drink ingredients in the kitchen.

  Everyone said hi as they continued to work on gingerbread-house tasks. Peter nodded, not able to get into the Christmas spirit just yet.

  He moved Meghan back to the living room out of sight of everyone. He was hurrying to shrug out of his coat, and he felt the sudden urge to help remove her clothes and the rest of his and take her straight up to her bedroom and her canopied bed. He wanted to close her bed curtains, shut out the rest of the world, and make love to her.

  She dropped his coat on the back of a chair, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. Dressed in a soft green sweater, blue j
eans, and boots, she pressed her body against him in a way that said she was just as needy as he was. Their lips melded, pressing gently, harder, her lips parted, encouraging him to take his fill of her. He was randy with need, his cock stirring, their pheromones taking over, insisting they do something more about the way they felt toward each other in a carnal sense.

  Hearing the laughter in the kitchen again, he sighed and kissed Meghan’s forehead. “I should have been here to protect you, damn it.” Even though it wasn’t the same as the time he’d lost Lena, that old hurt returned.

  “I’m all right, really, Peter.” She smiled and held him tight.

  “Okay, so what happened?” Peter didn’t want to hear it secondhand from anyone else. He would know if she was trying to minimize what Bill had done to her when he heard it from her own lips. Even now, Peter couldn’t let her go. He reveled in all her warmth and sweetness, the scent of her, a mixture of cinnamon and spice.

  Meghan explained what Bill had done, and Peter was trying not to get any angrier than he already was. He couldn’t believe the guy was such an idiot or would even think of putting her life in peril like that when supposedly he cared about her and wanted to get back together with her. Bill sure had a screwy way of doing it. Total moron.

  Peter stroked Meghan’s cheek and kissed her again. He could never lose her.

  She finally pulled her lips away from his, but she wasn’t putting any distance between them otherwise. “Peter, really, I’m all right. Come on. Let’s go make the gingerbread creation. We’ll have fun, just like we planned. I can’t wait to try some of that drink concoction you brought.”

  Peter knew he had to let go of the anger he was feeling toward Bill or it could ruin things between him and Meghan. What would she think of him if he harbored angry feelings toward Bill or over any other situation he might be faced with? Peter wanted her to see that he could let go of the emotion. At least for a while. He certainly would have words with Bill when he had a chance to see him at the clinic.