by Barb Han
“Your father said that to you?” Ensley could hardly believe her ears and hardly imagine the hell Oaklynn must have been living in if her father had killed her best friends and she’d had to cover.
“Yes. I shouldn’t have come with you. This will make it worse on everyone—”
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Ensley promised, reassuring the scared girl.
There were a few moments of silence passed before more sobs racked the young woman in the backseat who, in that moment, sounded so much like the same little girl.
“Can I see the picture of Cooper again?”
Ensley reached inside her bag as she fumbled with her cell. She held the photo in front of Oaklynn. Levi swerved and she grabbed the seat to balance herself, losing her grip on the picture. With no idea where it had gone and no time to waste, Ensley called the sheriff.
Justice answered on the second ring.
“Shots are being fired at us. We’re heading westbound toward town from Stock’s Farm and Oaklynn Stock is in the vehicle with us,” Ensley said, realizing she’d just thrown a lot of information at the sheriff.
“Okay. I’m on my way. Are you in Levi McGannon’s vehicle?” Rustling sounds came through the line and the sheriff’s breaths quickened. It sounded like she was sprinting toward her vehicle.
“Yes.” Adrenaline spiked and Ensley’s pulse skyrocketed. She glanced up at Levi and her heart fisted.
“We have company.” His gaze was fixed on his rearview for a few seconds and then he refocused on the road ahead. “Both ways.”
Ensley scrambled to get a better view. A truck barreled toward them from behind. In front was no better. A truck was turned sideways, blocking the two-lane road. From this distance, all she could see was the driver’s side door opened, a glint of metal, and a male figure.
“Hold on.” Levi slammed on the brakes.
Ensley braced herself with one hand planted on the seat in front of them and the other gripping the headrest behind. The cell went flying onto the floorboard. Karma rebalanced after dropping down on his belly. The fact he was calm said he was used to this and she remembered he could’ve easily been in similar situations during his time of service.
There was a field to left and scrub brush with trees to the right, so it wasn’t hard to figure out which way to turn. The ride got a whole lot bouncier as Levi swerved, exiting the road.
“Buckle up,” was all he said. Ensley quickly complied, helping Oaklynn secure her belt next.
Ensley felt around on the floorboard for the cell. When she couldn’t find it, she started calling out everything she could see. “Black truck blocking the road. Mr. Stock’s pickup behind us. Uncertain if he’s alone.”
“Daddy?” Oaklynn cried out and her concern made Ensley wonder if the man was innocent.
“Did your father murder Cooper and Greyson?” Ensley figured she might as well ask now. She had no idea if she’d get the chance again.
“No.” The word was final and not the one Ensley expected.
“Who is he covering for then? The mayor?” she pushed.
“My brother,” Oaklynn finally said. “It was Ren and Garth. They found out about our plans and showed up that night. Garth got out of hand, stalking us and scaring us to death. We ran and he split us up…”
Oaklynn was sobbing now. Dry heaves ripped through her.
“I didn’t know what to do. He was scaring us and then he caught Cooper. Cooper yelled at him and called him a bunch of names. And then Garth just…”
Oaklynn brought her hands up to her face and cried. She had a death grip on Cooper’s picture.
“My brother told him he was being a jerk and taking everything too far. They started yelling at each other and then he did it. Garth’s hand slipped or something and…there was so much blood. Greyson freaked out and Garth forced my brother to kill him so he couldn’t rat him out.”
“Where were you while this was happening?” Hearing the truth after all this time sent a mix of emotions swirling through Ensley. Her heart hurt. She physically ached. But there was something freeing about knowing what happened.
“I was standing behind a tree, too scared to say or do anything. I should’ve…” More sobs racked her. It took a minute to continue. “I should’ve said something but Garth was out of control and wasn’t listening to reason. My brother started freaking out saying Garth would get away with it and he would be the one blamed. So, I ran away.”
Ensley knew the rest of the story. Oaklynn got lost in the woods for days before being found. What she’d been through was beyond hell. Though it didn’t excuse her from telling the truth by any means, Ensley found herself understanding the impossible situation that Oaklynn had found herself in. And mourning the innocence that she’d lost the night Cooper had lost his life.
“By the time I was found, I’d tried to block everything out and I did for a long time. Pieces of it came back to me. My brother started acting so different but everyone seemed to write his behavior off as hard times. My father figured out that I was starting to remember. Bits and pieces would come back in nightmares. He said telling anyone would just make it worse. He said they’d kill my brother if he wasn’t tortured first. I know he didn’t want to do what he did…it’s no excuse but I heard him screaming and crying after he killed Greyson. He was never right in the mind after that night.”
More sobs racked her.
“The backpack was so they could find the place again. Garth said they had to find me and make sure I didn’t see what had—”
The sound of a bullet splitting the air stopped her midsentence.
“Hold tight.” Levi swerved so hard that Ensley could’ve sworn the truck went up on two wheels.
Another bullet cracked as Levi made a beeline for the trees ahead. The woods were close and the truck behind them was gaining ground. Levi spun the wheel right. Panic slammed into Ensley when she realized they were about to be trapped.
Levi muttered the same curses she was thinking as he skidded toward the tree line and then stopped the truck.
“Karma and I can handle these guys.” He reached underneath his seat and produced a handgun. “You two head into the trees and find a place to hide. Take your cell and turn the sound off.”
There was no time to argue. Ensley needed to get Oaklynn out of there and as far away from her father as possible. She scrambled to unbuckle her seatbelt. Her hands shook from adrenaline.
“Come on,” she urged Oaklynn, who was clinging to the picture of Cooper. The fact she’d been forced to go back to what was supposed to resemble a normal life after witnessing her two best friends being murdered at the hands of Garth and her brother was unthinkable.
Ensley could barely imagine how horrific that must’ve been for Oaklynn after experiencing unimaginable trauma. Her father’s need to sweep the murders under the rug like they’d never happened, along with the mayor’s influence to bury the facts burned her from the inside out. She wanted to be there when the bastard was arrested because those fingerprints would come back and nail them both. Whoever touched the bag, and she imagined that would have been Garth, had given himself away.
Oaklynn stumbled on her way out of the truck. Ensley grabbed her arm and tugged her into a full run. She hadn’t had time to grab her cell, which left them at a disadvantage. It was late afternoon and the sun wasn’t due to descend for a few hours but she could only hope it would only take a few minutes for the sheriff to arrive and offer backup that Levi needed.
The sound of shots being fired sent fear raging through her. The thought of anything happening to Levi or Karma caused her legs to wobble. Her toe caught on scrub brush and she took a couple of forward steps to right herself.
Ensley’s thighs burned and her heart hammered her rib cage. Breathing hurt.
“I can’t keep going,” Oaklynn said through labored breaths. “I have to stop.”
Oaklynn broke her hand free and dropped to her knees. She had a death grip on Cooper’s photo, which wa
s now bent and crinkled. “I’m sorry.” She looked around in horror. “I can’t do this. I can’t keep going…”
Being in the woods seemed to bring with it a flood of memories. Oaklynn doubled over and gripped her stomach.
Ensley scanned the area to make sure they were alone before walking over and bending down. “I’m here. You’ll be okay.”
Oaklynn leaned into Ensley, buried her face and quietly sobbed. The floodgates opened and all Ensley could do was hold the trembling young woman. She stroked her hair as Oaklynn seemed to be holding on for dear life.
“I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through,” Ensley soothed. She kept vigilant watch on the area around her but it was clear that biggest threat to Oaklynn had been bottling up her feelings for so long.
They had that in common.
When the sobs slowed, Ensley helped Oaklynn to standing.
“I can’t be here.” Her body visibly shook. “The woods…it’s too much…”
“Stick with me and we’ll be okay.” It was a promise Ensley had no idea if she could keep.
17
Levi cursed as a Jeep pulled up twenty yards away. Two men hopped out of the passenger side. They were too far away to recognize, and both wore hoodies despite the moderate temperatures.
Another shot fired but it was too far to the left to strike the pickup. The gunfire was close enough to keep him inside his vehicle.
The truck that Mr. Stock had followed him in sat idle, making sure Levi stayed parked. He cursed as he watched the hooded guys disappear into the thicket without any way to warn Ensley of the danger heading her way.
Then again, he had no idea which way she’d gone. Frustration got the best of him and he smacked his flat palm against the steering wheel.
The Jeep retreated and the sound of sirens came too late. Mr. Stock seemed to know when to stay put. Rather than put up a fight, he stepped out of his vehicle, set the shotgun down on the hood of his truck and then backed away in measured steps.
By the time Sheriff Justice roared up to the scene, Mr. Stock stood twenty feet from his truck with his hands high in the air. There was an expression on his face…resignation? Reckoning?
Levi stepped out of his truck with Karma at his side to meet the sheriff, who had parked near Mr. Stock.
“Keep your hands in the air where I can see them.” Sheriff Justice came full-on officer of the law mode, weapon ready and aimed at her target. “Step over to my vehicle.”
Mr. Stock obliged.
As soon as he reached her vehicle, she was behind him, forcing his torso over the front of her vehicle. “Hands behind your back,” she commanded in that tone reserved for law enforcement officers.
“She’s in the woods and she’s in trouble. There are two men in hoodies…I gotta go find them.” Before the sheriff could argue, Levi bolted in the direction where Ensley had taken Oaklynn.
All this time the killer had been living in Cattle Cove. Two of them, in fact. Levi didn’t know how much the sheriff had heard from earlier. He fished his cell out of his pocket and tried to call Ensley.
He’d been too focused on the driver of the truck shooting in their direction to notice if Ensley had located her cell phone. Somehow, he doubted it. In the rush of getting Oaklynn out of the truck, there’d been no time.
All he could think was how he needed to find Ensley with every bone in his body. He had to get to her and Oaklynn before the other men. Ensley could not die at the hands of men who he believed with increasing certainty were Garth and Ren. The men who’d killed her brother. It was the only thing that made sense. Keeping the killings in the family, the two men returned to finish the job that they hadn’t been able to do because Oaklynn had gotten away.
Anger heated the blood in his veins.
There was no trail or signs of Ensley and Oaklynn. Shouting at them would only give away his location and theirs if they responded.
Branches slapped at Levi’s face as he and Karma raced deeper into the woods. Rain threatened and the sky had darkened in the last few minutes.
Ensley deserved so much better than this. She didn’t deserve to lose the brother she so clearly loved. She didn’t deserve to spend the past decade praying for justice. She sure as hell didn’t deserve to be out here, stalked by murderers. Levi knew in his heart those men had every intention of finishing the job they’d started years ago.
Ren was an unknown, but Garth wasn’t. He was cold-blooded. There’d been rumors of him being cruel to kids who were younger than him. Oaklynn’s brother might have gotten involved with the wrong person at the wrong time, made a horrific mistake and now the whole family was trying to live with it.
That was one thing about crime that Levi had never understood. Did a criminal ever truly think he or she got away with it? Even if justice was delayed or the person didn’t end up in prison, taking a life changed a person. Levi knew firsthand from his time in the military. Did anyone ever really think life could’ve gone back to ‘normal’ after Greyson and Cooper’s murders?
Levi was very aware of the race he was in against the hooded men. He was at a loss since he didn’t know this area. Put him on his property and despite his family owning thousands of acres he knew if not every inch then every fence.
There was no use looking back to see if the sheriff had followed. He’d broken through the tree line at a dizzying pace. The only sounds were that of his and Karma’s footsteps as they barreled through trees and hopped scrub brush.
Karma had taken the lead. There was no other option in Levi’s mind than to find Ensley. Levi followed Karma. He seemed to know where he wanted to go, and Levi had no clue.
The thought of not finding her, of not getting to the woman he loved in time. Loved?
Being with Ensley made him see everything he’d been missing in every relationship his entire life. He’d had no idea what he’d been looking for until he found it in her. He loved his family’s ranch and the land was part of his soul. But once he found Ensley, if she’d have him, he wanted to build a life together. A life without her no longer made sense. Make no mistake about it, Ensley was home.
Life without her would be living empty, an empty shell. He’d never been clear about what he’d want to do and that meant be with her no matter what else. If he had to move, that’s exactly what he’d do. He didn’t take his responsibilities at home lightly, but that was just logistics. He’d figure out a way to be together if she wanted the same.
As much as Levi trusted Karma with his life, he was almost certain the dog was lost and walking them in circles. He was almost certain that they’d run past that same hill with that same rock formation at least three times. Then again, his mind was in so much turmoil that he couldn’t really be certain of anything.
If it was only Ensley and Oaklynn out here alone, he could call out to them. He cursed under his breath. And then his cell buzzed.
He fished it out of his pocket and scanned the area. He checked the screen and saw that the sheriff was calling. He put the phone to his ear and, as quietly as possible, answered.
“What’s your location?” the sheriff’s voice came through the line.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I heard everything through the cell phone. I heard Oaklynn’s statement.” The sheriff’s voice was low and he could hear her stepping through the trees.
“Where are you?” It was good that she’d heard. That way, Oaklynn wouldn’t be put through the trauma of having to repeat herself. The kid had been through enough. “Two guys were dropped off in a Jeep. It’s why I took off. The Jeep was white.”
“Mrs. Whitfield owns a white Jeep.”
“I figured as much. They’re involved up to their eyeballs,” he stated.
“The Beckwiths and the Whitfields go way back.”
“I have to find her.” He was saying it more for himself than the sheriff’s benefit.
“I know. We will.” The unspoken words sitting between them were…would they find them in time?
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“Call me if you have a question. I need to get off the phone.” He needed all his attention on what was going on around him.
“Roger that. Same with you. You see something, you don’t go in. You call me first.” That was the first time Levi realized the real reason she’d called. She didn’t want him running in hot to a potential crime scene and destroying evidence.
And there was no way he was making that promise because he knew right then and there he wouldn’t keep it. If he had a chance to jump in and save Ensley or Oaklynn, he wouldn’t hesitate. One of the main advantages of being a rancher and not a lawman was that he didn’t have to follow protocol.
Granted, he wouldn’t purposely destroy evidence. But if there was an injured person, he wouldn’t hesitate to get to them. To Ensley. Evidence be damned.
Levi ended the call and tucked his cell into his pocket. Nose to the ground, Karma seemed to be tracking something. People weren’t exactly his specialty and he could be leading them in the wrong direction.
Karma stopped at a creek bed. The storm was moving in and it was getting darker by the minute.
Ensley peeled her fingers out of Oaklynn’s hand. She had to shake hers to bring the blood back. She rejoined their hands and quietly led Oaklynn down the creek bank. They’d been following it along for a while now.
Without a watch or a cell phone, Ensley had no idea how long they’d been out there or how to find her way out. The weather had turned and the winds kicked up.
Her second fear was the two of them being stranded overnight in the woods. As it was, Oaklynn was barely keeping a grip on her emotions.
Levi would be looking for them, if he was okay. He could have been shot…no…she couldn’t allow her mind to go there. Her heart fisted thinking anything could have happened to Levi. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment along the way when she’d fallen for him but she had.
Even though trying to figure out any kind of future with them was complicated, she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. He was the ‘thing’ missing from every past relationship. He was home.
