Henry frowned and wrapped his hands around his coffee cup, seeking the warmth to banish the icy chill that had taken possession of his body the moment he’d entered the empty motel room.
“If this is a kidnapping for ransom I wish to hell somebody would call me,” Henry said.
They all froze as Jimmy’s cell phone rang. Henry’s stomach clenched as Jimmy answered. He listened for a moment. “Just keep me posted,” he finally said then hung up. “That was Jake. He and Ben have questioned everyone in the block surrounding the motel and nobody has seen Melissa.”
“Why doesn’t he call?” Henry cried. “If somebody has them why in the hell haven’t they called to tell me what he wants?”
The frustration, the fear and the rage that had been building throughout the night exploded and Henry slammed his hands down on the table. “If anybody hurts them I’ll kill them. I swear, Jimmy. I’ll kill the bastard responsible for this.”
At that moment the doorbell rang. Henry leaped up from the table and hurried to the door, his heart thundering in the hope that it would be Melissa.
It wasn’t. It was Hilary.
“Henry, I heard about Melissa and the babies missing. I need to talk to you.” There was a trembling urgency in her voice.
“Hilary, this really isn’t a good time,” he said, unable to stop the crashing waves of pain that coursed through him.
She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Please, Henry, I think maybe I know who is responsible.”
He stared at her, wondering if this was some crazy ploy to get close to him. “What are you talking about?”
He was aware of Jimmy and his mother stepping into the foyer.
“Charlie was real upset when we broke up. He thought if you and I got married then you’d get him a job that paid well, a job in a fancy office somewhere. A couple of days ago he told me he had plans to get enough money to blow this town and live the easy life. When I pressed him for details he refused to say anything more.”
The words exploded out of her in a rush, along with a torrent of tears. “I might be a lot of things, Henry, but I saw the way you looked at Melissa, I saw the look in your eyes when you saw those babies and I can’t condone this. I think Charlie has done something terrible and I just had to tell you.”
Henry stared at her in confusion. Charlie? Henry’s mind buzzed. Charlie knew where she was staying. Melissa would have trusted Charlie. She would have gone with him without questions. Still, he was reluctant to believe it. “But he was here just a little while ago. He offered his help.”
“I’m just telling you what I think, Henry, and I think he has Melissa and the boys,” Hilary said.
Henry pulled his cell phone from his pocket and punched in Charlie’s phone number. His heart crawled into his throat as he heard it ring and ring. “There’s no answer,” he said as he clicked off.
“I know where Charlie lives,” Jimmy said with a frown. “There’s no way he could have Melissa and the twins stashed in that tiny little apartment of his. Somebody would hear the boys crying or would have seen him bring them all inside.”
Henry was processing everything in the span of seconds. Charlie could have easily taken the shot at him when he’d been out riding in the pasture. Charlie would have known that Henry and Melissa had gone to town and would have known about when they would be returning home. Charlie, who then tramped through the snow to obscure his own footprints, could have easily tossed the pipe bomb through the window.
Charlie. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around it. Charlie had been his right-hand man, his go-to guy for everything around the ranch.
“Charlie has a little shack, a place he goes hunting. Maybe he has them there,” Hilary said.
“Why? I trusted him. I’ve always treated him fairly,” Henry said.
“I think he hates you, Henry. He envies you your money, your life and I think he knew how much you cared about Melissa and the boys, cared enough to pay whatever ransom he might come up with.”
The slow simmering rage that had been building in Henry throughout the night once again rose to the surface. “Where’s the shack?” he asked.
Hilary wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “I hope I’m not sending you on a wild-goose chase. I don’t want anything to happen to Melissa or those precious babies.”
“Where’s the shack, Hilary?” he demanded. He suddenly felt like too much time had been wasted.
As Hilary gave them directions to the shack, Henry was already pulling on his coat. He grabbed his gun and looked at Jimmy expectantly.
“Let’s go,” Jimmy said with a nod. He looked at Hilary. “If Charlie contacts you, don’t tell him you spoke to us. Don’t say anything to warn him or I’ll see you behind bars for obstruction of justice.”
“Please be careful. I honestly don’t know what he’s capable of,” she said.
As Henry stepped out into the cold dark night he had a last glance of Hilary reaching for his mother’s hand. He hoped to hell she was telling the truth and he prayed that they wouldn’t be too late.
Melissa was cold. She didn’t know if it was because the little heater simply couldn’t warm the interior of the cabin or if it was fear that had her freezing.
Waiting. Wondering what happened next, that was what had her blood icy in her veins.
She certainly couldn’t sleep, although she was grateful that the boys slumbered soundly. Seeking internal warmth, she finally opened a can of tomato soup and emptied it into a pan, then set it on the hot plate to warm.
As she waited for it to heat she wondered if Charlie had contacted Henry, if he’d already demanded a king’s ransom for the return of the boys. He’d said he’d wait until morning, but maybe he’d gotten impatient. She just wanted this over.
She winced as she stood to stir the soup. She’d worked so long at trying to get the chain off her ankle she’d made it bleed.
Maybe she should be sleeping. Maybe Charlie didn’t intend to return tonight and she should be getting what little rest she could. But even as she thought that, she knew there was no way she could sleep. She wanted to hold her boys. She wanted to squeeze them to her heart. She wanted to hear James’s belly laugh one last time, see Joey’s sweet smile. She stirred the soup as tears began to course down her cheeks once again.
Henry, her heart cried. She would never see him again. The only thing she could hope was that he would tell the boys about her, about how much she’d loved them, about what a good mom she’d wanted to be.
She froze as she heard the sound of a vehicle approach. Headlight beams flashed into the window. Sheer terror leaped into her throat. Had the deal gone down? Had Charlie come back to kill her?
The footsteps on the porch sounded loud, like gunshots, and when the door opened Charlie came inside. “Hi, honey, I’m home.” He snickered, as if finding the joke amusing.
Melissa turned away from the hot plate. “Have you contacted Henry?”
“Not yet. I told you I was going to give him a little time to worry. I just figured I needed to stop back here and check on my investment.” He leaned against the door and looked down at her ankle. “Looks like you worked hard to get out of that. Short of chewing off your foot, you aren’t going anywhere.”
Melissa had never hated anyone as much as she hated him. She’d never believed herself capable of killing anyone, but she’d kill for her children and if she got the chance, she’d kill Charlie without a blink of her eyes.
He kicked out a chair and sat at the small table and she backed up against the cabinet. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “I won’t tell that it was you. I’ll say that I don’t know who took us, that he wore a mask and I didn’t recognize him.”
She hated that she was begging for her life, but she wanted to live. She had all the reasons in the world to want to stay alive.
“Lady, I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you,” he replied.
With those w
ords Melissa knew that he had no intention of letting her live and a new wave of grief crashed through her.
She turned back to the soup at the same time the front door crashed in. She whirled back around and everything seemed to go in slow motion.
Henry stood at the door, bigger than life, his eyes wild and dangerous. At the same time Charlie jumped up and drew his gun and lifted it to point at him.
In an instant Melissa knew Henry was about to die. Without thinking, she picked up the pan of hot soup and threw it at Charlie. As it splashed across the back of his head, he yelled and his gun dropped to the floor. The twins began to cry as Henry let loose a thunderous roar and tackled Charlie to the floor.
Melissa kicked Charlie’s gun under the bed, then ran to the twins as Henry and Charlie wrestled with each other. Her heart pounded as she pulled the screaming boys into her arms and watched the life-and-death battle between the man she loved and the man who would kill her.
A sob escaped her when Henry pressed his gun barrel into Charlie’s temple, halting the fight. At that moment Jimmy burst into the room.
“I got it, Henry. Drop your gun,” he said.
Henry didn’t move. His handsome features were twisted into a mask of rage. His entire body trembled and it was obvious how badly he wanted to put a bullet through Charlie’s head.
“Henry, don’t do it,” Jimmy said and touched Henry’s shoulder. “Come on, man. Let him go. I’ll take it from here.”
Henry squeezed his eyes closed, the internal battle he was waging bringing a new fear to Melissa. She knew if he shot Charlie his life would never be the same. It might feel good at the moment but eventually it would destroy him.
“Henry.” She spoke his name softly. He opened his eyes and met her gaze. In the depths of his eyes she saw the torture he’d suffered over the past couple of hours. “Let Jimmy take him away. Please, I need your help with the boys.”
With a strangled sob, he lowered his gun and rolled off Charlie. Jimmy immediately handcuffed Charlie and hauled him to his feet.
Henry rushed over to her and knelt in front of her. He cupped her face between his palms, his gaze intense. “Did he hurt you? Oh, God, did he hurt you or the boys?”
“No, I’m okay. We’re all okay.” The boys had begun to calm.
He glanced down at the chain around her ankle and as he tensed as if to spring up again, she grabbed his arm. “It’s okay.”
Henry turned to look at Charlie and Jimmy. “Search him, Jimmy. I need a key to get this chain off her.”
A moment later he unlocked the chain and removed it from her ankle. As he gently rubbed her skin, she remembered how he’d rubbed her cold feet on the night that they had been snowbound together.
Then she was in his arms, weeping in the aftermath, and he held her tight, as if afraid to ever let her go again. Eventually he did let her go. Gordon arrived along with several other deputies who would process what was now part of a crime scene.
Jimmy left to take Charlie to jail and Melissa and Henry and the boys got into Gordon’s patrol car so he could take them home.
The car seats were shifted from Charlie’s vehicle to the back of Gordon’s car and once the boys were settled in they immediately fell back asleep. Melissa sat between them, happy yet exhausted by the turmoil and the lateness of the hour.
As they drove home Henry told Melissa about Hilary telling them that she thought Charlie might be involved. When they got back to the house Mary and Hilary stepped out on the porch to greet them.
Henry carried the twins and when Melissa reached the porch Mary pulled her into a bone-crunching hug. “Thank God,” she said. “Thank God you’re all okay.”
As Mary released her, Melissa grabbed Hilary’s hands. “Thank you,” she said to the beautiful woman. “You saved my life.”
Tears shone in Hilary’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he did this. I always knew Charlie had a mean streak, but I never knew he was capable of something like this.” She pulled her hands from Melissa’s. “I’m going home now. I’m sure you all need some time alone.”
An hour later the twins were asleep in their beds upstairs and Jimmy arrived to take a statement from Melissa.
It was near dawn when Jimmy left and Mary led Melissa to one of the spare bedrooms. As they passed the boys’ room she saw Henry sitting in a chair just inside the door, as if guarding the king’s treasure. Daddy on duty, she thought, and knew he’d probably be in that chair until dawn.
Minutes later as she lay in bed, even though she was exhausted she couldn’t shut off her mind. Not only did her brain whirl with all the events and emotions of the night, but thoughts of Henry also filled her head and her heart.
She needed to get home. She couldn’t stay here any longer. She’d allowed him into her heart in a way no other man had ever been. Each and every moment she spent with him only deepened her love for him.
It was time to go.
Chapter 14
Henry felt sick.
She was leaving. They were leaving. Even though he’d known this time would come, he wasn’t ready to tell them goodbye, even if it was just a temporary goodbye.
It was midafternoon and the sun shone through the window as she finished the last of her packing. “I hate to see you go,” he said.
“I know, but it’s not like this is a final goodbye.” She shut her suitcase and smiled at him, but her smile looked forced. The sunshine found her hair and sparkled in it and a press of emotion rose up in Henry’s chest. He swallowed against it, unsure why this was so difficult.
She pulled her suitcase off the bed and set it on the floor. “I need some time at home, Henry.” Her eyes weren’t as bright as they usually were. “I need some time to process everything that’s happened.”
He nodded. “I know. At least we know now that there’s no more danger here. The next time you come back things will be completely different. You’ll have no reason to be afraid.”
She gazed at him with an enigmatic expression on her face. “I’m just glad it’s all over for you…for us.”
“I’m sorry, Melissa. I’m so sorry that you and the boys were put in any danger.”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known about Charlie. You have nothing to be sorry for.” She glanced at her watch. “And now, I really need to get on the road.”
He nodded and reluctantly picked up her suitcase. Together they went down the stairs, where Mary and the twins were in the living room.
“You’ll come back, won’t you?” Mary asked worriedly.
“Of course,” Melissa replied. “And anytime you want you’re welcome to come to Amarillo for a visit.”
Mary smiled. “I might just surprise you.”
“I’d love a visit from you,” Melissa replied. She leaned down and picked up James from the blanket on the floor where they had been lying.
“I’ll get Joey,” Mary said. As she picked up the smiling little boy tears filled her eyes. She looked at Melissa and gave her a teary smile. “I don’t know what’s worse, saying goodbye to these precious boys or saying goodbye to you.”
“I packed up some of the Christmas presents in the trunk,” Henry said as they all left the house and walked to Melissa’s car, and Mary put Joey in his car seat. “If you need or want anything else, just give me a call.”
“We’ll be fine,” Melissa said, then leaned into the backseat to buckle James into his seat. When she straightened, her gaze held Henry’s for a long moment.
In the blue depths of her eyes Henry saw words unspoken and a shine of emotion that momentarily stole his breath away. It was there only a moment, then gone.
“Thank you. Thank you both for your generosity,” she said. Once again her gaze met Henry’s and he thought she was going to say something more, but instead she slid into the driver’s seat and waved goodbye.
As he watched her car disappear down the driveway, he was struck with the fiercest wave of lon
eliness he’d ever felt.
“You’re a fool, Henry James Randolf,” his mother exclaimed and started back into the house.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything,” he said.
“That’s right. And that’s why you’re a fool.” She went into the front door and slammed it behind her.
Henry swiped a hand through his hair and sighed. Women. He’d never understand them. His mother was probably upset with him because he hadn’t managed to talk Melissa into moving into the carriage house. But after the trauma she’d suffered the night before, he hadn’t wanted to pressure her anymore about it.
There might be a time in the future to bring up the subject again. In the meantime he had some things to take care of that would hopefully take his mind off the empty ache inside his chest.
For the next three days Henry stayed as busy as he could. Everyone in town was stunned to hear what Charlie had done and Henry was shocked and warmed by the amount of support he received from friends and neighbors.
He also made a difficult apology to Tom Burke, who surprised him by saying he was resigning his position as city manager and he and his wife were moving to Florida.
It was each evening after his mother had gone to bed and he sat in his chair with a glass of scotch when thoughts of Melissa and the boys filled his head.
It was amazing how much they had imbued the house with warmth, with joy. He missed seeing her smile and hearing that musical laugh of hers as she teased him. He missed talking to her, just sharing moments of time that could never be recaptured again.
She was a wonderful woman and someday she’d make some man a wonderful wife. He couldn’t help it that he wasn’t the man to fill that role in her life.
He would be the best father that he could be, but that’s all he had to offer her. He hadn’t pretended to be anything else but what he was—a confirmed bachelor.
The time with Henry at his house had taken on the quality of a wonderful dream as Melissa threw herself back into her real life. The boys settled back into their normal routine as if they’d never been away from home and Melissa tried to do the same.
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