Corey's Catch

by Jill Sanders

  “I know. We’ll drive into town and have breakfast, then get him.” His hand moved over her shoulder.

  “Maybe we can stop by Holly’s. I ran into her the other day and told her I’d swing by sometime.” She wanted a chance to look around the bookstore, maybe pick up a few books while she was at it.

  He took her hand and placed a kiss on her fingers. “Anything you want.” He smiled and those sexy dimples flashed, waking her body up.

  “Anything?” She smiled back.

  His hands pulled her hips until he was hovering above her on the sofa as his lips covered hers.

  Chapter Eighteen

  By the next morning, Corey was pretty damn sure of one thing. He was totally and completely in love with Bella.

  He’d never felt anything like what he was feeling for her now. They had spent the night in his bed, making love until the sun was almost up, getting a few hours of sleep in between, but never letting go of one another.

  She was everything he’d ever dreamed of. Everything. He thought of the years he’d wasted. How all it had taken was one look from her to knock him on his ass.

  At this point, he couldn’t even imagine spending a night without her in his arms anymore.

  He thought of different ways to tell her how he felt as he drove them into town the next morning. Maybe he’d take her out riding today for a picnic. The horses did need some exercise. They could ride around the lake to one of his favorite spots. There he could simply tell her how he felt.

  His shoulders tensed, thinking about the words actually coming from his mouth. When he glanced over at Bella sitting next to him in the truck, she looked at him and smiled. At that moment, he knew that telling her how he felt would be one of the easiest things he’d ever do.

  They had gotten a little later start that usual, but they were still early enough to grab two muffins and some coffee at Holly’s. They sat in the back booth area by the fireplace and went over his list one more time.

  Holly’s wasn’t packed that morning, since they had missed the morning rush, but there was a group of mothers near the back with their small kids enjoying reading time.

  “There’s Savannah and Haley.” Bella nodded. “I’ll just go say hi to them.” She moved to get up.

  “Tell them hi for me.” He reached up, tugging on her arm until she leaned down for a kiss.

  “I’ll be right back,” she hummed.

  He watched her walk across the room, her hips swaying with each step. How had he ever gotten along without her?

  He grabbed one of the local papers that Holly always had lying around. Today’s headlines had been about Bella’s car. There was even a picture of the smashed thing on the front page.

  He flipped it opened and started reading the story, just to see if anyone had another angle he hadn’t thought of.

  When he was done, he glanced up to see if Bella was done with her conversation with Haley. It took him a moment to register that Bella was nowhere to be found.

  He dropped his paper and walked over to where Haley was sitting near the back of the story group. One of her sons was on her lap, fast asleep, while the other was clapping and listening to the story with the other kids.

  “Where is Bella?” he demanded.

  Haley glanced up at him with a frown. “I thought she was back with you.” She glanced around, while she held her sons.

  “No.” His eyes moved all around the coffee shop. Still, she wasn’t around.

  “Maybe she went to get a book. She was talking about wanting one to help learn how to can stuff from her garden,” Haley suggested.

  He nodded and moved towards the book rows. It took him less than three minutes to confirm that Bella was no longer in the store. He asked everyone if they had seen her, only to have them all shake their heads. He walked quickly out to the truck, but she wasn’t there either. Pulling out his phone, he dialed her number and frowned when he heard her ring faintly. Following the sound, he found her purse turned upside down, its contents scattered all over the back alley. Her cell phone was cracked and lying next to it just outside the back door of the bookstore. His heart skipped several beats before he could finally move into action.

  Bella opened her eyes and blinked a few times. It was too dark to see where she was and she couldn’t really remember what had happened. Where was she? Where was Corey?

  She tried to move, but her hands were stuck together. Her head felt really heavy as she twisted around. She was sure if there had been any light, she would be seeing swirls right about now.

  Reaching up with both hands, she touched a spot on her head that hurt the most. There was a large bump and her fingers came away slick with blood.

  She tried to think of the last thing she remembered. All she could come up with was talking to Haley at the bookstore. Closing her eyes, she played the conversation over in her mind.

  She’d asked about Haley’s boys, Conner and Cooper. Cooper had been asleep in Haley’s lap while she’d talked to her. Conner had been sitting with Maggie, Savannah’s daughter, listening to the story.

  Then, she’d turned to go back to Corey, when…

  She gasped. She’d seen a man standing in the book aisle. There had been a window behind him, so she hadn’t been able to see his face, only his silhouette. At that moment, she had known it was him.

  He’d turned and disappeared down another aisle, and she figured on just turning the corner and getting a glimpse of a face. But, then nothing…

  It wasn’t as if the bookstore had been empty. Surely someone would have seen a man carrying a woman out of the place. Where was Corey?

  She tried to move again, this time using her feet. They too were tied together with something. Lifting her fingers up to her mouth, she tried to free herself. When she realized it was duct tape holding her, she remembered watching a video on how to break free.

  Lifting her arms high, she slammed them down quickly on her legs as hard as she could. Feeling the tape budge and break a little, she did it a few more times. It took three tries before her wrists were freed. She couldn’t sit up, since she was in a small space. She reached down to release her legs from the tape and realized she was in the trunk of a car. A big car.

  After getting her legs loose, she felt around for an escape release only to come up empty. It was too dark to see anything, so she felt around for any tools or items she could use as a defense.

  Her bag and cell phone weren’t with her. There was nothing in the trunk. Nothing. Not even a spare tire. Then she felt the false floor give under her and realized the spare tire and jack might still be under it.

  It took some moving around, but finally she pulled the support up and smiled when her hands wrapped around a tire iron. At least she had something.

  She calmed herself back down, resting back to the farthest spot in the trunk to wait. As she did so, the back seat moved just a little.

  Turning her body around, she pushed and felt it move again. She wedged herself against the back of the trunk and used her legs to kick the back seats until light streamed in. She kept kicking, sweat dripped into her eyes, her fingers were slick as she held onto the tire iron, just in case.

  Finally, after what seemed like an hour of kicking, the seats moved enough that she could wedge herself out. When she did, she was shocked to see the state of the car she was in. There were no windows, and the interior was completely ripped up.

  Pulling herself out farther, she finally rushed from the back seat and stood just outside of the demolished car. Glancing around, there were piles of cars surrounding her.

  She didn’t know which way to run. She didn’t even know that Fairplay had a junkyard this big. She started walking slowly, trying to think as she went.

  Why would someone have done this? What could they have gained? For some reason, her aunt’s letter in her purse came to mind.

  The numbers. But she had moved her aunt’s money to her checking account and Mr. Coulter had assured her…

  Something made her stop
moving. Things clicked all of a sudden into place. The two voice mails from the man about stocks, the numbers in her aunt’s letter. Then she remembered something Grant had said about investment accounts. She wished she would have paid better attention to the man’s messages.

  If her aunt had opened a bank account a few years back, which was totally out of character, maybe she had also opened an investment account or started messing around with stocks.

  First things first—she needed to get out of the junkyard safely. She didn’t know if the man who had done this to her was still around somewhere or if he was gone. Her only thoughts were to get back to Corey. She had so much to say to him. So much she’d been too afraid of before.

  Finally, she found the edge of the yard and frowned at the very tall fence that circled it. She stood along the fence and looked down either way, unable to see where the entrance of the yard was. Deciding to head right, it took her almost ten minutes in the scorching sun to find the locked gate.

  The chain that wrapped around the entrance was tight enough that she couldn’t squeeze between. She looked for anything to help her climb the fence and decided it would be best to remove her shoes, toss them over, and just start climbing.

  She ripped her skirt on the barbed wire at the top but was thankful she didn’t hurt herself.

  When her feet hit the dirt on the other side, she took a few cleansing breaths and pulled back on her shoes. She didn’t know how far out of town she was, but somehow knew she had a long walk ahead of her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Corey slammed down his fist on the desk and watched as a jar of pens and pencils tipped over. One by one, they all rolled off the desk and onto the floor.

  “I’ll let that slide, son,” Sheriff Miller warned. “But one more outburst like that and I’ll have to put you in a holding cell until you calm down.”

  “Sheriff,” Wes said, shaking his head. “How about I take Corey out with me and drive around? Then I can drop him off at his place until we find something else out.”

  “I’m not going to sit—”

  “You’ll do and go where we say. At least until we know something. We don’t need you running around town like a chicken with its head cut off.” Sheriff Miller crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair.

  “You’re just sitting here!” Corey growled.

  “I’m sitting here because you’re yelling at me. I could be on the phone organizing the search, but I’m having to deal with a violent and very disrespectful young man.”

  Corey took a couple deep breaths. The sheriff was right. He was only hindering the search for Bella.

  “Fine, I’m with you,” he said to Wes and started to walk out of the office. “Keep me updated.” He turned back to the sheriff and waited until the older man nodded.

  They drove through town slowly, checking almost every street. They ran into other people, who were all out searching for Bella as well. So far there were no updates. No sightings. Nothing. She’d just disappeared without a trace.

  The sheriff called Wes over the radio and told them that he’d contacted Bella’s parents and they were on the next flight and should be in town early next morning.

  Then, just before dark, Wes started to drive him back home. They were less than a mile outside of town, when he spotted someone walking on the side of the highway. The figure was limping and was heading into town.

  “Stop!” he screamed and reached for the door handle. He jumped from the moving car as it slowed down. He ran towards the dark figure and had Bella in his arms, holding her tight as she cried.

  Corey could hear Wes calling the sheriff behind him. He knew the evening would be full of questions. He pulled back, looking down at her and wanted to tell her how he felt, no more delays, but then he saw the dried blood dripping down her face.

  “She’s hurt,” he called back to Wes as he scooped Bella into his arms.

  “Corey, I’m okay,” she started to say.

  “Shush.” He smiled down at her. “This time, no argument. You’re going to the clinic.”

  “I just need some water,” she said as he sat back down in the car with her on his lap.”

  Wes handed her a bottled water, and Corey watched as she opened it and drank it all down.

  “I’ve been walking for hours,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder as Wes flipped the car around and started heading back into town.

  “What happened?” he asked, brushing her hair away from her face. She was covered in sweat, and her clothes were dirty and sticking to her.

  “I… I’m not sure. I woke up in the junkyard in the trunk of a car.”

  “Junkyard?” Wes asked. When she nodded, he reached for his radio and asked for someone to swing by the junkyard and look around.

  “Corey, did you find my purse?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Your cell phone screen is busted.”

  “Was my aunt’s letter still there?”

  He shrugged. “The sheriff has it all.”

  “I’ll ask,” Wes said, and then they sat and listened as he talked to the sheriff.

  “It was in a white envelope with my name on it,” she supplied.

  When the sheriff confirmed that it was gone, she rested her head back.

  “Bella?” Corey pulled her chin up. “What’s going on?”

  “I think this has all been about those numbers.”

  He waited, but Wes had pulled into the emergency spot at the clinic. “Bella, if you know something, you’d better tell us quickly. Do you know who took you?” Wes asked.

  “No, I didn’t see his face, but I think he works at the bank or has something to do there. I think my aunt had a stock brokerage account. I received a couple calls from a man about it but thought it was just a sales call.”

  “Chris,” Corey growled. “Get someone over to Ronny’s place and have Chris checked out.”

  “On it,” Wes said, picking up the radio again.

  “Chris?” Bella shook her head slightly. Then groaned and grabbed her head.

  “Ronny’s son. He works for a stock brokerage company in Houston,” Corey said, lifting Bella from the car and placing her into a wheelchair that was waiting for her. Corey followed Bella into the clinic and once more was told to wait, but this time he followed her back, not wanting to let her out of his sight.

  “I didn’t know Ronny had a son,” she said as she moved up to a bed so they could x-ray her.

  “He has two. One moved away to New York. Chris is twenty-two. He was at Mama’s when we met Ronny.”

  Bella nodded slightly. “I guess I didn’t really pay attention to him.”

  “No one really does. The guy’s been living off his old man for years.”

  “We need to take her back for some pictures. You can wait here.” The nurse gave him a look that told him he wouldn’t get away with following her back to the X-ray room.

  “I’ll be here when you come back.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her dirty cheek.

  “Corey.” She stopped the nurse from wheeling her out. “I know this isn’t the time or the place, but… I love you.” He watched a tear slide down her dirty face. “I just had to tell you. I didn’t want to delay…”

  He leaned down and placed his lips over hers as he pulled her closer. “I love you too. I was going to tell you in a special way.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have waited.”

  “No.” She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “No more waiting.” She pulled away as the nurse started taking Bella out of the room.

  “I’ll bring her right back to you.” The nurse smiled over at him as she wheeled Bella out.

  “I don’t know how you made it that far with a concussion.” The doctor was looking at her over her chart. “We will be keeping you overnight for the head, and since you’re very dehydrated, we’d like to keep a close eye on you.”

  Bella nodded. Her head was still throbbing, but with her hand safely tucked in Corey’s,
the pain was dulling. It might have had a lot to do with the pills they had given her, but she liked to think it was all due to him telling her that he loved her.

  When the doctor finally left the room, they had just a moment alone before there was another light knock and the door opened to Sheriff Miller and Wes.

  “Well?” Corey stood up, still holding her hand in his.

  “Chris was at home when we showed up. He seemed irritated we were bothering him, but finally he allowed us in. When we asked if we could look around, he became agitated. Then we started asking him questions about where he was earlier today and he flipped out.”

  “That’s when we spotted your aunt’s letter on his desk,” Wes broke in.

  “After taking him to the station, he confessed to the break-ins and threatening you,” the sheriff added.

  “Why?” Bella asked as Corey sat down again.

  “It seems that a few years back, he convinced your aunt to open a brokerage account with him. She started investing some of the cash she’d left lying around. We found all the brokerage account statements in Chris’s room. We’ll get them to you when we can. Apparently, a few years back, your aunt invested in some stocks that Corey had told her about. Before she died, she had sold all the stocks for a pretty hefty sum by contacting the brokerage company herself.”

  “To the tune of a few million,” Wes broke in.

  Bella gasped and looked over to Corey, who just looked back at her with a slight frown on his lips.

  “Anyway, when she died, Chris found out and figured he was due his share,” the sheriff finished.

  “He also said that he thought his dad should have been the one to get your aunt’s place,” Wes said, shaking his head. “The guy is acting like a spoiled—”

  “Wes,” the sheriff warned.

  “Sorry, well, he is. Look at all the mess he caused.” He nodded towards Bella.

  The sheriff sighed and nodded once. “So, we’ve got him sitting in a cell. His dad is down there, seeing to him. Ronny’s a good guy.” The sheriff added. “We’re confident he knew nothing about all this. He never once thought he was due anything from your aunt. I believe he genuinely loved Betty.”