Mr. Taken

by Danica Winters

  If it had been Frank, why hadn’t he stopped to face her? When he’d come after her in the barn, he’d made it clear that he hated her—and it was his wish that she died. Yet this person had seen her and run. He hadn’t wanted her to be able to identify him.

  Maybe Frank had learned his lesson in court last time. Maybe he hadn’t wanted her to be able to identify him. Yet the little knot in her gut told her that if Frank ever came after her again, he wouldn’t simply just try to kill her with fire. He would stand there and make sure that he watched her burn. He’d never let her live.

  She swallowed back the wave of nausea that passed over her.

  It couldn’t be Frank threatening everyone. It just couldn’t be.

  But that didn’t leave her with any more answers. They needed to figure out who was threatening them before anything else happened or someone else got hurt.

  Her thoughts moved to Sarah.

  Colter had tried to convince her again and again that Sarah wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, and he’d made a good point, but that didn’t take her off the list of suspects. The perfect way to have everyone point the fingers away from her was to start a fire in her own store. Maybe she had wanted Whitney to spot her as she left through the back door—maybe she had worn the hat and coat in order to look masculine, all in an effort to throw off the investigation.

  She had accused Whitney of starting the fire back in Kentucky in an attempt to get insurance money. Had Sarah gotten that idea because she herself was planning on doing exactly that—defrauding an insurance company?

  She wouldn’t have to worry about money anymore.

  On the other hand, there were plenty of other people out there who hated the ranch and the people who worked on it—none more so than William Poe, the county tax appraiser. Maybe he had a hand in all of this. Lately, every time something bad had happened at the ranch, it could be traced to some kind of string he had pulled—not that any of it could be proved. He was a smart man—and Wyatt had said whoever was the maker of the bombs had been smart.

  At least smart enough not to get caught.

  She climbed down from the step stool and checked her work. The garland hung in graceful arcs and the red poinsettias the florist had brought were scattered around the barn, adding drops of color in the forest of brown, green and white.

  “Do you guys need help with the tree?” she asked, making her way over to Colter and Merle.

  Colter had a guilty smile as he looked over at her, and he slipped his dad a look that made her wonder what they were talking about before she had interrupted.

  Merle handed her a box of red ornaments. “Here you go. If you want, you can put these up. I need to go check on Mother anyway. She was going to call the bartenders and make sure that everything was in order.”

  She took the box of ornaments and started to put them one by one on the spruce. The thing had to be at least twenty feet tall, as the angel’s wings were almost grazing the ceiling. Something about the tree, maybe it was the mere size of the thing, reminded her of the Capitol Christmas Tree. It certainly would have done the nation proud.

  “How’s Lassie doing?” Colter asked, motioning toward the little dog that was sitting in the open door of the barn, looking at her.

  “She’s good. Got her a bath and a brushing. Now she thinks we’re besties,” she said, walking over and giving the dog a scratch behind the ears.

  Now that the animal was clean and not in the arms of its owner, it didn’t look like a rat creature. In fact, she had grown to think it almost cute in its awkwardness. If anything, she could relate to the poor creature. It had fallen and required the world to come to its rescue, and even with its fur matted and shivering and quaking, those around it had come to care for it.

  She lifted the dog into her arms and carried it back to the tree, setting it down on the tree skirt as though it was a present. Milo came prancing in and, seeing the little dog, made his way over to lie down next to her. The pup they had likened to Lassie was no more than a fourth the size of Milo, and next to him looked like little more than a month-old puppy, but what she lacked in size she made up for in personality as she stood up and made her way between Milo’s paws and forced him to move to accommodate her.

  “It looks like he found himself a girlfriend,” Colter said, motioning to the pups.

  “That kind of thing seems to be catching,” she teased, moving closer to him and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Are you saying that you’re my girlfriend?” He gave her a look of surprise, like he couldn’t believe that she had suddenly changed her mind about their having more than just a physical relationship.

  “If you play your cards right,” she teased, even though the only thing she really wanted was to jump into his arms and relive their night of lovemaking.

  His touch had made her come alive again. It had made her want to forget everything about her past and what had happened, and it had even managed to dull the reemerging fears that had come after the fire. Though it had seemed impossible, he made her whole again.

  There was the sound of a truck rattling to a stop in front of the barn, pulling her from her thoughts. The dogs lifted their noses, taking in the scent of something she couldn’t quite make out.

  “Who do you think that is?” she asked.

  Colter shrugged. “No idea,” he said, putting the last ornament from his box on the tree and dropping the box in the nearly empty crate.

  She followed him outside. Backed up to the front of the barn was a large truck pulling a trailer. Strapped to the trailer was an industrial-sized black grill. The driver stepped out of the truck.

  “Hey, Mayor Thomas,” Colter said, but he had a look of confusion on his face. “What are you doing here?”

  “Your brother told me that you were in a bit of a bind thanks to last night’s fire. I had a grill sitting around, thought it might come to some good use around here.”

  “Wyatt called you?” Colter asked.

  The mayor nodded. “He’s a good man, as are you. It’s the least I can do after all the years you and your brother have devoted to the town. Without men like you, and a ranch like this, it would be hard to keep our town afloat.”

  She couldn’t help wondering if the mayor was using this chance to do goodwill in order to make a run for reelection, but his motivations didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was here, doing the right thing when they really could use the help.

  “Thank you, Mayor,” she said, shaking the man’s hand in appreciation.

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have anything to go on it,” Colter said, motioning up toward the grill.

  The mayor turned toward the road. A line of cars made their way toward them over the cattle guard and parked in the gravel lot.

  She recognized several of the men: the owner of the local bar called the Dog House, the grocery store owner and even the town’s main butcher. There were also several people she didn’t know. One by one, the men and women made their way to the barn, all carrying boxes full of meats and cheeses, fruits, nuts and premade little quiches. There was even one box full of chocolates.

  With all the activity, Merle and Eloise had come outside. Eloise was standing on her front porch, covering her mouth in shock.

  “Oh, my goodness...” Eloise said, her eyes brimming with tears as she walked over to them. “What did you all do?”

  The boxes of food kept coming until the tack room of the barn was nearly full.

  Mayor Thomas smiled. “Mrs. Fitzgerald, your boy told us what you all were facing. We want you to know how much you and this ranch means to this town. Over the years, you and your family have given so much to this community. It’s time that we return the favor.”

  “Oh, my... You all... You all didn’t have to go to all this trouble. We...” Eloise said, emotions making her voice crac
k as she fumbled to find the right words.

  “We wanted to,” Mayor Thomas said. “More, we are going to make this the best Yule Night celebration that Dunrovin Ranch has ever seen.”

  A tear slipped down Eloise’s cheek and a lump lodged in Whitney’s throat as she watched the beautiful scene unfold in front of her. It was moments like these that gave her hope there were people out there who wanted to do the right thing—especially when those who wished them ill were looming just over the horizon.

  Even with all the love in the air and the joy that filled her heart, there was something inside her that told her not was all as it seemed. Something didn’t fit. Maybe it was her history, maybe it was her somewhat cynical ways, but Whitney couldn’t let the little niggle of concern stop from pulling at her.

  Maybe it was just that once everything started to go right in her life, the world had a way of crashing around her. This one time, she held the hope the world would wait—and for once people would continue to prove to be mostly good and her dreams of a bright future could continue to persevere.

  Chapter Twenty

  Fifteen minutes before the party was scheduled to begin, the parking lot of the ranch was full. The officers who had volunteered to help keep an eye out for anything that could compromise the party had been forced outside to direct traffic to park along the roads and anywhere they could safely get a car in and out of the snow. Wyatt and Gwen stood near the doors with a few of the off-duty officers, talking.

  His mother and one of the ranch hands were standing by the front door of the barn and taking donations and money as guests started to make their way in. The country Christmas music echoed out of the barn as it mixed with the cacophony of voices coming from within. Everything was perfect, all the way down to the Christmas lights they had strung around the loft door and the peak of the barn. The blanket of snow made the multicolored lights a natural kaleidoscope, and the effect cast the place in a glow that reminded him of a Hallmark card.

  The guests were all talking about how beautiful the decorations were as they waited in line to get in the doors.

  The scent of cooking meats wafted toward him from near the front doors, making his mouth water.

  Everything about tonight would go great. It just had to. Something this perfect couldn’t go wrong.

  His mother waved him over to the line. “I just got a phone call,” she said, excitement filling every syllable. “Your brother Rainier... They granted him parole. He’ll be home next week.”

  He hadn’t seen his brother since he had gone to prison. Though his mother was excited, he couldn’t decide how he felt—Rainier had sworn up and down he had been unjustly sentenced, but there had been no denying he had assaulted the man. Maybe it was time Colter let bygones be bygones—just so long as when Rainier got home he could prove to them all he really had turned over a new leaf and was going to make choices not only good for him, but good for the family, as well.

  Things were finally starting to go right; he would hate it if his brother’s return also made his old troubles return.

  “That’s great, Mom,” he said, giving her a hug.

  His mother gripped him tight, squeezing him as she had done when he was a child, but she no longer seemed to have the strength she’d been full of back then. It was as if, over the last month or so, she had grown older.

  “And he’ll be home just in time for Christmas. We’ll have the whole family here. Waylon, Wyatt, you...” She fanned her face as though she were trying to hold back tears. “This is proving to be the best year. After everything that has happened, it’s a miracle.”

  He glanced over at Whitney. She was smiling, but he could see a darkness in her eyes. He couldn’t blame her for not trusting the world around them. She had been through hell and back. If he got a chance tonight, he would make it his personal goal to make her truly light up again—no matter what it took.

  He gave her his best sexy smile, a smile that he hoped would tell her exactly what he had on his mind. As she looked over at him, her cheeks reddened and she looked away to one of the guests standing at their table.

  The wind rustled the edge of her dress as she bent over to hand the guest a drink ticket, exposing her black panty hose high on her thigh.

  Yes, he’d definitely have to see those later.

  * * *

  COLTER WAS IN rare form tonight and Whitney watched as he made his way into the barn with a man whom he had introduced to her as an old friend from his high school days. It wouldn’t have surprised her if he knew almost every one of the hundreds of people who filled the barn and now had started to spill out into the yard and collect under the heat lamps they had set up.

  It seemed surreal that just that morning there had been talks about canceling the party. So many people were here, expressing their hopes and good wishes for the ranch and all who worked, lived and played there. One of the guests had even talked to Eloise about running the story on the nightly news.

  Hopefully something like this, something that showed the community’s true soul, would go viral.

  Eloise nodded toward her. “Would you mind going and getting my camera? It’s in my office. I would love to get some more pictures for our website. I want to make sure to publicly thank everyone who came tonight.”

  She made her way across the yard, passing by the husband and wife who had left her with Lassie. She smiled at them, but they pretended not to notice her, as though she wasn’t worthy of being recognized as human just because she was a simple staff member.

  The idea of having to give the dog back to them made her want to go get the poor little thing and dognap it until they were gone and the animal was safe. Yet, no matter how much she wanted to keep the animal, it wasn’t hers.

  Wasn’t hers to keep... The thought turned her mind toward Colter. She had teased him about their relationship and what it could be and what she longed for it to be, but just like the pup, some things just couldn’t be. Some things just weren’t meant to be hers.

  She walked through the quiet house, feeling strange that the place could be so full of silence when the barn, not even a few hundred yards away, was so full of noise. It was almost lonely. After grabbing the camera from the shelf in Eloise’s office and being careful to avoid looking at anything on her desk, Whitney walked to the kitchen to get a quick drink of water before going back to the party.

  It was nice to just be alone for a moment and to let her mind wander as she thought of all the things that had happened over the past few days. It shouldn’t have surprised her how much a life could change in a matter of hours, yet it did. Perhaps what surprised her this time was how something so positive could all come from someone’s evil deeds. It was almost as if the universe was finally trying to make up for some of what she had been through.

  She took a sip of water, setting the glass beside the kitchen sink. There was a ripple of orange and a sparkle of red on the condensation on the kitchen window, catching her eye.

  Outside, the toolshed had fingers of flames running up its siding, searing the wood. She grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the kitchen sink and rushed outside. As she looked down to pull the pin, she realized that she was still holding the camera and she dropped it in the snow.

  She pulled the pin on the extinguisher as she drew close to the fire. Looking up, she stared at the orange tips of the flames. How did she always find herself near the inferno when all she wanted to do was find peace?

  “Stop. Right. There,” a man said from somewhere behind her.

  She turned. Standing in the shimmering light was a man. His dark hair was greasy and matted against one side of his head and in his hand was a wooden baseball bat.

  “Daryl? What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to stop the fear that was curdling the blood in her veins. Though the man looked slightly mad, he couldn’t have come here with the inte
ntion of doing her any harm. She barely knew him. “Did Merle hire you for the party?” She tried to sound nonchalant.

  The man laughed, the sound maniacal and edged with danger. “You stupid woman.”

  “Daryl...” she said. Edging away from him, she lifted the fire extinguisher and pointed it toward him. “What are you doing?”

  He smiled at her and in the fire’s light his smoke-stained teeth looked nearly brown. With the reflection of the flames in his eyes, he was almost the picture of what she had always imagined the Devil looked like.

  “What are you gonna do with that thing?” he asked, pointing toward the extinguisher in her hands. “You gonna try to spray me to death?”

  She raised it higher like a club. “If you take one more step toward me, I’ll show you exactly what I’m going to do.”

  He laughed again, tilting his head back with mirth. “It’s too bad that things have to play out this way. But one by one, I’m going to make sure that everyone in this place gets what’s coming to them.”

  “Are you the one who left the note?”

  His teeth glittered and a bit of spittle had worked its way out of the corner of his mouth. “If you were smart, you would have listened to my warning. You would have run. So if anyone is really at fault here, it’s you. You are so arrogant. Just like the rest of them. It’s no wonder you love Colter. He’s just like you.”

  “But Wyatt said you helped him... Everyone here likes you. You’re friends with Merle. Why would you want to do any of these people harm?”

  He rushed at her, swinging the bat. The wooden bat connected with the metal tank in her hands as she held it up to block his swing. It made a loud twang as it connected. She hoped that someone in the parking lot or in the yard had heard the sound. Maybe they would see the smoke that had started to rise from the toolshed.

  “Help!” she screamed.

  She thrust the extinguisher at the man, but he simply jumped out of the way with a laugh. Something fell out of his back pocket and landed in the snow at his feet.