“Isn't it okay to need somebody when you're far from home? You've helped me when I needed you. Was that so wrong?”
She was pitying him. He wanted to crawl from the room on his belly. His defensiveness punched through. “You've been lying to me, mailing things from the post office. To your husband?”
“I mail my son's lessons to his teacher. I home-school him but he does correspondence courses in art.”
He felt like an ass. “Sorry.”
“He likes that you draw. Where'd you learn?”
“Walter Reed. Therapy.”
“It helps you with things.” She cleared her throat. “If you drew me a picture, what would you draw for me, John Hall?”
Leonard came down the stairs just in time. “What have you done to that heirloom of Peter's?!”
John hightailed it outside, walking fast to insure Dolly didn't follow. She'll only try to make me happy again. Out of pity. I wish everybody would quit trying to mend me. I've got my cows, my horse, my ranch. Leave me the hell alone.
~—~—~—~ ~
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* * *
Chapter 8
John drove out to the farmstead to say good-bye once and for all. He found Peter in the barn feeding the goats.
John hauled off his hat. “You were wrong. I told her everything and it made matters worse.”
“What'd she do? Feel sorry for you?”
“Why else do you think I'm sweating like a horse that's been rode hard?”
Peter handed him chunks of straw to shake it out in the alpaca's stall. John said, “Didn't expect to see you enjoying this farm life.”
“We all do the unexpected in the name of love.”
John shook straw harder. “Not me. She said she didn't love me. Just like that.”
Peter laughed. “Maybe she's telling you exactly what you want to hear.”
“She wants to go to Montana with me. That's not love. It's escape.”
“What's the harm? Give her two weeks and send her back to Chicago.”
That was just like Peter—direct, simple action. But John couldn't handle two weeks with that woman's ways. Heck, he didn't even have a bathtub at the ranch, only a shower. He saw himself with her, though, under the water jets, them both naked—
“I can't let them come out there.” He shook out the last of the straw. The alpaca nibbled on his shirt sleeve.
“Why not?”
“I need a woman who really needs me. She only needs me to help her get a divorce.”
“You're scared.”
“Damn straight.”
Peter leaned over the gate to the alpaca's stall. “After I lost my leg, I lived the high life in Phoenix, dated all kinds of women, but never felt I could get close. I'm now in my fifties. It took me twenty wasted years to finally figure out I needed a strong woman who could take care of me. It's okay to be a man who gets taken care of by a woman, Boze. That's what love is. You take turns being vulnerable. Did you even tell her about being hit over the head this morning?”
“Hell, no.” John petted the alpaca.
“You're also afraid if she comes to the ranch she'll discover you scream in your sleep, get up at all hours and walk the floor. But that's not an excuse not to love a woman. If I yell out in my sleep, Crystal bops me with a pillow and brings me tea.”
“Cripes. I don't want that.”
“Okay, then, a stiff belt of brandy.” Peter was grinning.
John scoffed at his righteousness. “So true love is showing a woman what a miserable, pitiful mess I am?”
“That, and sipping her tea no matter how bad it tastes just because she got out of bed to make it for you.”
“I can't do that.”
“Then that's that. I won't be your therapy partner anymore.”
“Just like that you quit on me?”
“Yup. You said Dolly was using you, but you're using me.”
“Bullcrap.”
“Ever ask yourself why you haven't fixed up your ranch house? You don't want women to like it. I don't know why you fear Dolly. She'll take one look at that shack and be gone forever.”
Peter left. John fumed at the alpaca. “There's nothing wrong with the house. It doesn't need a bathtub or a woman in it. And neither do I.”
Early Saturday morning when he was tossing together his bag to make his flight in Duluth, Dolly banged on his door. “Finn's missing!”
* * * *
“He's probably in the kitchen getting breakfast.”
“We ate already. Finn kept saying he had a secret but he wouldn't tell me. And he wasn't smiling.”
John's inner alarm went off. “Maybe he's playing with the puppies.”
“I checked.”
John went to find Leonard to see what he knew. A note on the refrigerator said he was grocery shopping. John knew that Leonard would never take Finn along.
John hurried back downstairs while Dolly checked hiding places on the second floor. Henri and Felicity hunted the suites on the third floor.
Dolly caught up with John. “Brendan must have come and taken him.”
“I doubt he'd be the one.” He realized his mistake. He'd insinuated the child had been abducted.
Dolly turned ashen. “Who took him?”
He was thinking Heath, but would a teenager roll out of bed this early on a Saturday to play a trick? Before he could stop Dolly, she had everybody in the Jingle Bell Inn whipped into a search party. Everybody fanned about Moonstone. Dolly searched the mansion grounds.
John was giving the inside another look when he met up with Peter carrying a pair of shoes.
“Finally found ‘em,” Peter said. “Been looking for these things for a week.”
“Have you seen Finn?”
“No. What's up?”
John remembered Finn clomping around in the kitchen in those shoes Peter held. And a huge revelation began unfolding in John's brain. “When exactly did you misplace these shoes?”
“Don't know exactly. I was doing chores around here for dad a couple of days last week. I changed out of the shoes and forgot about them.”
John's brain twisted with worry. “Where's Crystal?”
“Out in the car. We're on our way to a doctor's appointment.”
“Nobody's at the farm?”
“No, why?”
John headed for the stairs.
“What's going on?” Peter yelled after him.
“I just might know who torched the cabin.”
“I thought we knew?”
John didn't have time to explain, not if he were going to save Finn. As he got into his car he called 911. He was out of town and thirty over the speed limit in no time.
~—~—~—~ ~
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* * *
Chapter 9
At the farm he found no car, but then an arsonist and kidnapper wouldn't park in plain sight.
He edged inside the barn. Animal smells—and a whiff of gasoline—assaulted him. John expected it. He patted his arm holster beneath the down vest he wore but didn't pull it out yet. He didn't want a shootout. Not with Finn in the middle.
He eased past the reindeer's stall. Nobody hidden there.
There was nobody with the goats.
But in the alpaca's stall, he smiled. “Come out, Leonard, or you'll get your shoes dirty.”
The tall man in a bulky winter coat with fur around the hood emerged over from the dark corner. “I'm looking for Peter and Crystal.”
“Where's Finn, you bastard?” Leonard looked like a black bear. Finn had been accurate.
Leonard came out of the pen. John didn't see a weapon.
To stall Leonard, John sat down on a straw bale, hoping to draw him into a chat. “You forgot to put on Peter's shoes this time.”
Leonard's gaze turned black.
John shook his head. “You're obsessed with Peter. It finally added up with me. You wanted Peter back home. For good.”
“I have n
o notion of what you're insinuating.” The dour man pulled back his shoulders.
“You were mighty upset about Peter leaving the mansion with his bride. And with that energetic Felicity taking over things you won't be needed at all.”
Leonard's silence said everything to John.
“You told me you had no family. I know what that feels like, Leonard. It hurts. Peter needed you after he lost his leg in the Gulf War. He needed you all over again when he returned to Moonstone. Then that darn Crystal lured him out here to live.”
The tall man took a step back.
“So you disguised yourself in Peter's clothes and shoes and caused a fire to force them to live again in the mansion. You certainly didn't want Peter hurt, but you were happy again, needed. You could make all the fancy omelets you wanted for him. All was well again. Except that Finn saw you torch the cabin. You panicked when he tried on those shoes.”
“I have no recollection of any of this.”
“You acted like a bear to scare Finn, but to your horror, he and his mother moved into the mansion in Peter's place. The tread matches a photo I have, by the way. Now you plan to burn down the barn so that Peter will come home for good. But where's Finn? Give me Finn.”
John struggled off the straw bale, but Leonard grabbed a barn shovel and whacked John hard in the face. John tumbled backward with blood exploding from his smashed nose.
By the time John righted himself, Leonard had lit a fire in the gas-soaked straw by the corral door. The straw whooshed into flames. Leonard picked up Finn and ran through the fire.
“Finn!”
The flames erupting with the fresh air made it impossible to follow Leonard.
“You son of a bitch, put the boy down!”
Woozy, with blood dripping down his chin and his head roaring like a jet engine, John fought the smoke to open the pens. “Get! Go on!”
The reindeer, goats, and alpaca sprang out the opposite doors as the deputy sheriff and half of Moonstone arrived with Dolly.
“Where's my son?” Dolly flew into his arms, screaming, “Where's Finn!”
“I'll get him.” He yelled above the hubbub, “Upstairs! Get the chickens!”
He spotted Heath and his friends on their cycles. “Take the fire lane just down the road. Don't let him drive away.”
The boys roared off.
John snatched Dolly's hand to drag her with him into the slushy field while the others fought the fire. “Leonard has Finn.”
“Leonard?!”
John stumbled in the stubble and sloppy, melting snow. “There he is.”
Leonard's long legs had loped to the end of the field already. He was climbing the hill.
John charged forward and fell down, cursing his prosthesis. He handed Dolly his pistol. “Go after him.”
“I've never used a gun.”
“You said you shot your husband in the foot.”
“It was a lie to scare you. The rifle was never loaded either.”
“You were out here with bears!” John grabbed the pistol and did his best hop-run with pain numbing his upper leg.
Leonard disappeared into the woods.
I'll never see Finn again.
John pushed himself to the crest of the hill. Dolly huffed behind him. They pushed and pulled each other through the woods and to the precipice over the valley. Leonard was yards below them, picking his way down the steep grade.
Dolly called out, “Finn! I'm here!”
John saw a chance to stop Leonard. He handed off his pistol to Dolly. “It's loaded. Be careful.”
He took off, slip-sliding in the snowmelt.
When within yards of the tall man, John flung himself at the ground and into a violent roll. Rocks jabbed at his body. Stinging pain lanced a rib. Rolling blindly, faster and faster, he finally caught the man's ankles. Leonard went down, with Finn spurting out onto the wet, brown grass. He was tied and gagged.
John threw a punch at Leonard, but only hit his long legs.
Leonard scrambled up. So did John. They tussled until the icy creek splashed around them and Leonard sank fast into a deep hole. “I can't swim!”
It was tempting to let him drown. But John hauled him to firm ground, kicking him for good measure. “You twisted bastard.”
Leonard spat out creek water. “I was only trying to scare him into not telling on me.”
“Tell your lies to the cop. She's bringing a charm bracelet to match your personality.”
Lily Schuster and several townspeople hurried down the steep hill.
John's heart pounded as he limped over to Dolly and Finn. He picked up Finn and hugged him. John's mind heard the bomb, saw the fire, the blood, and yet, through it all out walked this boy. He gathered Dolly under an arm. They held each other tightly.
Finn was shivering uncontrollably, but said, “Are my chickenth okay?”
“Wrigley's fine. They're all fine. Are you all right?”
The little boy's face crumpled into the tears John wanted to shed himself. Finn tucked his head into John's neck, crying hard. John patted him on the back as he'd seen Dolly do with the baby. “It's okay. You were brave. I'm proud of ya. Very proud.”
Dolly took Finn back into her arms. “Baby, it's okay now. John Hall found the big bad man and it's all over. We'll go home now.”
But John went light-headed and fainted dead away.
~—~—~—~ ~
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* * *
Chapter 10
“John Hall?” He woke in the hospital to a hovering Dolly. She had kissed his broken nose! Her eyes were the color of spring violets, dangerous with emotion, but she settled primly into a chair next to the bed. “Why didn't you tell me you'd been hit before? They gave you twenty stitches.”
“How's Finn?”
“The doctor said he's handling the episode okay.”
“You're lying.”
“Yeah. The doctor said he'll have nightmares.”
John flinched. “Tell him I have them, too.”
“He's eager to see Wrigley.”
John smiled. “I'd give anything to see my horse right now.”
“Hmm. I've never come in second behind a horse.”
“I didn't mean it that way.”
She reached out to hold his hand. “I'm going home to Chicago.” She got up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, John Hall.”
“For what?” Just like that? She's leaving? Her deep, violet emotions are for her husband?
“Thanks for showing me that doing what's right is the honorable thing. I had no business running from my troubles. I lied about camping, too. We only tried it for a week. We stayed in motels mostly, cheap places with wild animal heads on the walls, places my husband wouldn't think to find us.”
She stood over him, her face flushed. “You were right about me. You didn't trust me to take care of my son properly—”
“Hey, now—”
“You came clean with me about all the stuff troubling you. I need to do that, too, with my husband. Thanks, John Hall, for teaching me a good life lesson.”
For the first time in his life, he hated being right. Instead of a Special Ops he felt like a Special Dope.
* * * *
It took two days to clear up the details and for John to get an okay to fly with his mild concussion.
On Tuesday afternoon, John and Peter shared a brandy in front of the fire. A pall had set over the mansion because of the betrayal and loss of Leonard after so many years.
A subdued Peter said, “You can't let her go back.”
“Dolly? You're providing her your private plane.”
“Because her car won't run. Know anything about that?”
John chuckled. “Not this time. Her going back is for the best. Finn needs to see his dad.” The jerk's probably not even around. “How's Crystal doing?”
“Feeling sorry for me. Neither of us saw this coming.”
“We don't always see what's coming at us.” His b
ones ached with melancholy. “I wonder how long I'll think about that boy.”
“Finn?”
“That other boy.”
“Forever,” Peter said. “That's the price of being a hero. You want to save them all, but even heroes can't save everybody in war. That's why we have to focus on those closest to us now.”
John pushed himself up. “Time I head for Duluth to catch my flight.”
They shook hands. Peter said, “Thanks, Boze. Sorry you got hurt.”
“I'll heal fast. I'm not old like you.”
They shared a laugh, which made John's rib hurt all the more.
* * * *
John hugged Dolly and Finn in the foyer. He tousled Finn's hair. When Dolly and Finn got into Peter's car and left, John felt as if he'd been horse-kicked again. He chided himself for his foolishness. Time to move on.
He was heading out the door when the bubbly, pregnant gamine, Felicity, rushed up to him shaking something made with red feathers. “Isn't this cute?”
“What is it?”
“A dream-catcher. Finn made it from his chicken's feathers.”
“Somewhere there's a naked chicken.”
“Can you hang this for me? You're tall. Come to the baby's room for a second.”
The room was beautiful in a way that reminded him of Dolly cuddling that baby. After hanging the feathers on a curtain rod, he hurried downstairs and outside, but Felicity followed.
“Thanks. Hope you come back after the baby's born.”
He sensed she was trying to tell him something more. “You took quite a risk marrying that old codger.”
“No risk at all with Henri. I almost married the Big Man upstairs and he's as old as eternity.”
That caught him off-guard. “Oh that's right. You studied to be a nun.”
“Henri needed me. I needed a purpose. God thought it was a great idea for the team to expand. Now I have both God and Henri. I'm blessed.”
This mansion was going to change for the better because of Felicity and that new baby. He wished her well.
He was about two miles outside of Moonstone when he realized he was humming.
Humming. Just like Finn and Dolly. They hummed when good things happened. So why was he humming now? He didn't feel good. Or did he? He lifted a hand off the steering wheel. No tremors. No sweating. I saved Finn. A good thing.
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