He ran his hand over his face. “You know she’s likely left town, right?”
Kiesha frowned. “What do you mean, left? She wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. We’re besties.”
“You’re besties? You barely know her.”
“So? Is there a timeframe on how long it takes to be besties with someone? I’m telling you right now, the answer is no. You can know someone all your life and not ever be besties with them. Or you can meet someone straight away and be besties. Understand?”
Not really. But he pretended he did because he actually had to get some work done today.
“All right, I’ll talk to her, though. Understand?”
“Fine. You talk. Such a control-freak,” she muttered.
Ed found her number and called her.
“Hello, you’ve reached Georgina James,” her formal voice came through the phone. “I can’t come to the phone right now but please leave a message.”
“Hello Georgina, this is Ed. If you could call me back, I’d appreciate it.” He ended the call and looked over at Kiesha. “Sorry, I tried.”
“Drat, she’s totally dodging your calls.”
“She’s not dodging my calls. She’s busy. She could have gotten called back to work.”
“But she said she was here for the week.”
He frowned. “Why would she come here for a week? I thought she only came to talk to me about the case we worked on together.”
She gave him a pitying look. “Men. So dense.”
He straightened up. “What does that mean? Why do you think she came here?”
“Not telling you. That would break the bestie code. I’ve got things to do. If she calls, ask her about giving me her phone number then text it to me straight away.”
What the hell was the bestie code?
Before he could ask, Kiesha was gone. He shook his head. He should just concentrate on his work. Women were a mystery to him. Maybe he was just better off on his own.
8
He was an idiot.
What was he doing?
He had take-out on the passenger seat of his truck, getting cold. He’d finally finished his paperwork. So why, instead of heading straight home, was he now sitting in the parking lot of the local motel, staring at her room?
Kiesha had sent him no less than ten texts all day. Each one more frantic than the last. Finally, she’d started making noises about filling out a missing person’s report.
He wanted to tell her that Georgia was long gone. That’s what she did, after all. Made you think that you were special to her then she bailed.
He groaned. He wasn’t here as the guy who’d kissed her. He was here as the sheriff, doing a welfare check. Even though she was likely far away from Wishingbone.
After all, what reason would she have to hang around?
Turning off his truck, he reached back for his jacket and grabbed it. When he climbed out, he hastily donned it.
He already knew what room she was in, having driven her home last night. It had to be his imagination, but he swore he could still smell her scent in his truck.
Fuck, he should just walk away. Get back in his truck and leave.
But she had been frightened last night. She’d tried to hide it, but he’d seen it. And if she was still here and not answering the door . . .
Aw, fuck it.
Welfare check. Just doing his job. Nothing more than that.
Moving to her door, he knocked. There were no lights on. Just as he’d thought. She’d high-tailed it out of here.
Another knock. No answer.
Turning, he headed towards the motel office. Kiesha had to be mistaken about Georgina staying a week. He still didn’t understand why she’d come all the way out here just to ask him about a case when she could have called or emailed.
Made no sense.
“Hey, you looking for the lady in the room next to mine?”
He turned around as a big man stepped through the open doorway of the motel room next to Georgina’s. This had to be the guy that Kiesha was talking about. He had wide shoulders and was several inches taller than Ed, with a trimmed dark beard.
“Yeah, I am. Do you know where she is?”
“Why? She in some kind of trouble?” the other man asked.
Ed didn’t like his interest. “That’s not really any of your business. What’s your name?”
“Remy Madison.” The big man folded his arms over his chest.
“What are you doing in Wishingbone, Remy?” Ed asked.
“There’s no crime in coming to Wishingbone, is there?” Remy countered.
“Nope, there isn’t. Still like it if you answered my question.”
“Here interviewing for a job at Sanctuary Ranch.”
Okay, that surprised him. Sanctuary Ranch didn’t hire very often. Most people didn’t leave their jobs there. And there were special requirements to working there that meant that the Jensens were very picky about who they hired.
“Didn’t realize Clint was hiring.”
Remy just gave a chin nod in response. He’d need to make a call to Clint tomorrow. See what was up with this guy. He seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. Ed couldn’t see him fitting in at Sanctuary. All the men who worked there were in the lifestyle. Most were Daddy Doms, and all of them were very protective of the women who lived on the ranch.
“You seen Georgina today?” Ed asked. “She might have gone home, but she’s not answering her phone so I’m here to check on her.”
Remy looked him up and down. “So she’s not in trouble with the law?”
“Would it matter to you if she was?”
Remy leaned against the doorway. “I don’t like to see women being harassed.”
Ed narrowed his gaze. “Not in the habit of harassing people, especially women. And I’d take a dim view of anyone who did harass a woman in my town.”
“Hmm. We’ll see. The little bit sure is popular, first thing this morning she had some woman banging on her door and demanding that she come for pancakes. I went out for a bit after that. But when I got home, there was another woman in a dress and cowboy boots, which ain’t exactly gonna keep her warm in this weather. She was knocking and telling her how Loki was sorry he tried to kidnap her last night . . . you see now why I might be worried?
Ed grimaced. “Yeah.”
“Hour after that, another woman starts calling through her door, telling her to stop hiding and put on her big girl panties and come confront Loki for scaring her.”
Fuck. He was starting to understand how that might all sound bad.
“Now, the sheriff of this fine town turns up, demanding to know where she is.”
“She’s likely gone home,” Ed muttered, almost to himself.
“Not unless she was planning on running home,” Remy told him. “Was about to go searching for her. She took off running about an hour and a half ago.”
“Running? In this weather? It’s dark. Why didn’t you stop her?”
Remy raised his eyebrows. “Not in the habit of telling women I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, if you’re going to work on Sanctuary Ranch, you best get used to the way the ranch and this town operate. We take care of women around here.”
Red filled Remy’s face. “Really? Does this Loki know that? Seeing as he goes around kidnapping women.”
“He doesn’t kidnap . . . fuck, whatever. I don’t have time to explain what happened. You see which direction she took?”
“Yeah, that way.” Remy pointed off to his right. “I’ll grab my jacket and take my truck, help you look.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll alert my deputies to keep an eye out and go searching for her.”
Remy shrugged. “Got nothing better to do. Besides, I’m worried about her too.”
Fuck. Where was she? He’d been searching for fifteen minutes without spotting her. What would possess her to go running at this time? Not only was it dark, but there was a cold front coming in. Spits
of rain landed on his windscreen as he drove slowly down the streets. He’d swapped phone numbers with Remy, so they could check in if either of them found her. He’d also put an alert out to his deputies on duty tonight.
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Arnie, the motel manager, was also keeping an eye out in case she arrived back at her room. Fuck, why hadn’t he come to check on her earlier?
Because your feelings were hurt. He’d let his personal feelings interfere with his professional responsibilities. Kiesha had been worried about her. And he should know that Kiesha had good instincts. For all her pranks and bratty behavior, she was smart and insightful. And he’d just brushed off her concerns. He’d been so certain that Georgina would have taken off.
And now she was out here, somewhere.
He’d tried her phone several times, but it went straight to voicemail.
When he found her he was going to . . . what?
What do you think you can do? Lecture her? Scold her? Spank her?
Damn, it was so tempting. She deserved a spanking. Maybe it would help break through those shields she kept up. Last night, he’d seen cracks in them. Just like the night he’d kissed her.
He headed down one of the roads leading out of town. Surely, she couldn’t have gone this far? And at night? There weren't any footpaths or street lighting. Just a gravel road and endless paddocks. No, he should turn around. She would have been smart and stuck to the town roads. After all, she didn’t know her way around that well.
Just five more minutes then he’d turn around.
What had she been thinking?
Well, it was more like that she hadn’t wanted to think anymore. She’d wanted to chase her thoughts away, and there was only one way she knew of doing that. And that was to run until the point of exhaustion. Until her body burned, her lungs heaved, and she was so absolutely depleted that her brain couldn’t think.
Normally, she ran the same track through the park so she could just close off her mind and run. When she’d taken off from the motel, she hadn’t paid much attention to where she was going. And now . . . she was in the middle of freaking nowhere. It was dark. And cold.
A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. Shoot. She wasn’t scared of thunder, but she didn’t want to be caught in a rainstorm.
She stumbled, her legs nearly collapsing beneath her. How long had she been running for? She was coated in sweat and her heart was racing. It skipped a beat, making her feel nauseous. She hated when it did that. She placed a hand on her chest.
Turning around, she spotted the lights of Wishingbone in the distance. She set off again, her body protesting loudly. Her legs were noodles, she stumbled again and fell, scraping her hands and knees on the gravel.
Ouch. Ouch.
Tears threatened but she forced them down. A James didn’t cry over a few scratches. Actually, she didn’t think a James was allowed to cry at all. Her mother had told her off for crying at her father’s funeral.
She’d been twelve.
Not the time to think about that, Georgina.
Somehow, she got back up. She took another stumbling step. A few more. She managed to pick up the pace a bit. Then a wave of dizziness hit her. At the same time, a flash of light assaulted her eyes, making her flinch and cry out. Darkness flooded her vision.
Then she knew no more.
Fuck!
Ed barely got his truck into park before he was jumping out and racing over to where he’d seen her fall.
What the fuck had happened? Had she twisted her foot? Injured herself?
“Georgie! Georgie, are you all right?”
She didn’t move. She was so still, slumped on her stomach on the ground. He slammed onto his knees, ignoring the pain as he reached over and felt for her pulse. There it was. Thank God!
It was a bit erratic and too fast for his liking. He leaned down, his face close to her mouth to check her breathing. Okay. So what happened? Had she fainted? Possibly. She’d been out running for a long time.
“Georgina, can you hear me? Come on, honey, wake up for me.”
He heard a groan and gently ran his hands over her body, searching for injury. A cold wind whipped around him. Fuck, she was dressed just in some lycra and a windbreaker. It wasn’t enough for this weather, especially with sweat drying on her skin.
Rain started bucketing down. Perfect.
He had to get her out of this downpour. He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her, hoping it gave her some protection from the rain. Then he picked her up, bridal style, and stood.
Fuck. She was way too light. He thought she’d lost weight, but now he was starting to grow concerned. She felt lighter than a feather.
“W-what’s going on? W-what’s happening? Put me d-down! No!”
Her scream of fear had him tensing. She started fighting him. Fuck, she was going to hurt herself.
“Georgina, it’s me. It’s Ed. The sheriff.”
“No, no, no, don’t hurt me!”
His heart stopped at her cries. Who the fuck had hurt her? Whoever it was, he was going to kill them. Murder them. Rip them limb from limb.
Nobody touched her.
Opening the door, he set her down on the seat. Immediately, she tried to lunge out and he caught her around the waist.
“Georgina, come back to me. You’re here with me. Ed. In Wishingbone. Nobody is going to hurt you.” He was practically pleading with her and it was making no difference. She pummeled at him with her fists. But she was so physically weak, her hits weren’t much stronger than a babe. That scared him.
He had to get her calmed down and to the hospital.
But reasoning with her wasn’t working. Shit. He was out of other things to try. He placed his hands on either side of her face.
“Georgie, listen to me,” he said in his deepest Dom voice. To his shock, she froze. Okay, then. “Georgie-girl, I need you to calm down. Understand me?”
She whimpered. “He’ll hurt me.”
“Nobody is going to hurt you. Nobody will ever hurt you again while Da . . . I mean, while I’m here.”
Fuck what was he doing? He’d nearly referred to himself as Daddy.
But she was calming down.
“He’s coming for me.”
“Nobody is coming for you,” he reassured her. He’d fucking murder anyone who touched her.
“I don’t want to be hurt.”
Fuck. She was killing him. “Nobody will hurt you. I’m going to take care of you, understand, baby?”
She sniffled. “O-okay.”
“Good girl, you just sit back and relax.” He was worried that she wasn’t shivering. That wasn’t a good sign. He had to get her warm.
She’d slumped over, unconscious again. Fuck. He quickly belted her in then ran to the back of his truck and grabbed a blanket. Opening the door again, he tucked it around her. She hadn’t moved.
Fuck. Fuck.
Racing around to the driver’s side, he got in and cranked the heat up high. Turning the truck, he raced towards the hospital. He radioed in to Wendy and left a voicemail message for Remy.
Then he swung into the emergency bay of the hospital. Climbing out, his heart was beating too fast as he jumped out and ran around to grab her.
Please, please let her be all right.
9
“Is she all right? What happened?”
Ed turned towards Remy, who’d just rushed into the waiting room. As soon as he’d walked in the door with an unconscious Georgina in his arms, a nurse had rushed out at him. She’d been wheeled away on a bed, the nurse giving out orders. And he’d been left standing there, feeling helpless.
He hated feeling helpless. It was something he’d tried to eradicate from his life. The feeling of not having control. But he didn’t have control over this. He had to rely on others.
Fuck.
He’d been shown to this waiting room about ten minutes ago, and now all he’d been doing was pacing and worrying.
“I
don’t know,” he barked at Remy. “I found her on the side of the road, she’d collapsed.”
What if he hadn’t driven up just at that moment? Someone could have run her over. Anything could have happened to her.
Didn’t she know how dangerous it was to run at night, on her own? In a strange place?
If she were his . . .
Easy. You can’t do anything about any of that.
Well, he could make sure it didn’t happen again.
How? By giving her a scolding? Yeah, that’s going to work. If she’s not yours, she’s not going to listen to a word you say.
He ran a hand over his face tiredly. He was worn out, hungry, and stressed. None of his thoughts were helping anyone. Least of all Georgina.
“Collapsed? She collapsed?” another voice asked.
Ed glanced around Remy with a frown. “Kiesha? What are you doing here?”
He figured he’d wait until he found out what was going on with Georgina before calling her. Plus, it was getting late. There hadn’t been any point in Kiesha worrying and losing sleep either.
She stepped around Remy, giving him an assessing look. “Wendy called me. She said you brought Georgina in and that she was unconscious.” She slammed her hands on her hips. “What I want to know, is why you didn’t call me? What’s wrong? What happened to her?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I went to the motel earlier to see if she was still there. Remy said he saw her go for a run. She hadn’t returned, it was dark, and the cold front was going to hit soon. So I went looking for her. Found her out on the Old Road. She collapsed. Brought her in here.”
“Oh God. Why would she go running by herself at night?” Kiesha said worriedly. She ran her fingers through her hair. “I knew something was wrong. I should have broken down her door and forced her to talk to me.”
She looked so distraught. He hated seeing her upset. He held out his arms and she raced into them.
“This isn’t your fault, honey.” He kissed the top of her head, hugging her tight. Damn, she was nearly as drenched as he was.
Sheriff Daddy (Montana Daddies Book 10) Page 7
