by Cassie Miles
“A reservation under the name of Carlisle?”
“Be there within the hour.”
Anger burned through her. “How the hell can I be at that hotel in an hour? Check your GPS tracker. I’m at the ranch.”
“I know where you are,” he said. “In Glenwood.”
“Not anymore.” Dylan’s instinct had been right. Nate had been on their trail, but they’d outsmarted him. “We’re long gone.”
“Turn around. Go to the Mount Sopris Hotel, pick up the package and wait for further instructions.”
“Why the hell do you think I’d do as you say?”
“To save Maud.”
“You kidnapped Maud?”
Stunned, she looked to Dylan for help. In a low voice, he said, “That’s not possible. The sheriff was protecting her. Ask him for proof.”
Into the phone, she said, “I don’t believe you.”
“Proof of life.” She could hear the sneer in his voice. “That’s supposed to be the first step in a kidnapping. Dylan learned his lessons well. But Maud can’t talk right now. She’s in the trunk of my car. You remember that, don’t you? Being tied up and breathing in the exhaust fumes?”
A sob caught in her throat, but she had to be strong for Maud’s sake. It wouldn’t do any good to break down in tears, no matter how much she hated to think of her dear friend going through the same trials she had. “I want proof.”
“Maud told me a couple of things. She lived in the town where you grew up in Wyoming—Rawlins. On your sixteenth birthday, a friend of yours hit a stray dog with his car. You took the dog to Maud and you worked together to save the animal.”
She vividly recalled the incident. Saving that stray was one of the reasons Nicole decided to be a vet.
He continued, “Maud’s middle name is Primrose.”
Very few people knew that.
“When she was thirty-five,” he said, “she was in a bad car accident and ended up having a hysterectomy. Want me to start describing her scars?”
Nicole was convinced. “Let me talk to her.”
“In good time,” he said. “Do what I told you first. And if you contact anybody, if I see one deputy sheriff, Maud’s dead.”
“Why would you kill her? She never did anything to—”
He had already disconnected the call.
DYLAN PULLED OFF the highway and parked on a side street. A few minutes ago, they’d been talking about Christmas shopping. Not anymore. Nate had turned the tables, and they’d lost every advantage.
“First thing,” he said, “we’ll do everything to make sure Maud isn’t hurt.”
Nicole blinked furiously, fighting back tears. “How do we know that he hasn’t already…”
“That’s not the way he works.”
Dylan was on familiar ground—he’d already been through one kidnapping scenario with Nate. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?”
“From now on, I’ll do the talking. You don’t have to go anywhere near that crazy son of a bitch. He’s not getting his hands on you. Not again.”
“I have to respond. It has to be both of us going into the hotel. He was specific.” She rested her hand on her belly and winced, and hoped she wasn’t going to throw up again. “If I don’t do what he says, Maud will suffer.”
“He’s not after Maud. Or you.” This much, Dylan knew for sure. “Right now, I’m his target. He wants his revenge against me.”
“Do you expect me to sit back and let you walk into danger?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“We don’t have time to argue,” she said. “We have to be at the hotel in an hour.”
“Fine,” he started the engine. “We can argue while I drive.”
Circling around, he got back on the highway. His jaw was clenched tight. His mind raced. He had to find a way to keep Nicole safe. If it came to a showdown between him and Nate, that was okay. Dylan could handle himself.
“We can’t contact the police,” she said.
“Agreed.”
“And I’m coming into the hotel with you. Understand?”
In a way, he did understand. When she’d been kidnapped, he would have given his right arm to be with her. Or to trade places with her.
“Dylan? Talk to me.”
“I’ve got nothing to say.”
“You promised you wouldn’t pull the strong, silent routine! I know there’s something going on inside your head. You’ve got to let me in.” Through her anger, he heard a pleading note. “What are you thinking? Please, tell me.”
“I don’t have a plan,” he said. “All I know is that this time, I need to be smarter. To think one step ahead of Nate.”
He took his cell phone from his pocket.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “We can’t contact anybody. He’ll hurt Maud.”
“I’m not calling the sheriff.” Sheriff Trainer had already proven himself to be incapable of protecting Maud. “But I’m not following Nate’s rules. We need backup. I don’t know how bad the snow is at the ranch, but I’m guessing this isn’t good timing for a chopper flight. I want to get Jesse and Burke on the road.”
“Bad idea.”
“You haven’t had a chance to see those two guys in action.” Burke knew the ins and outs of negotiating. He was smart and capable of arranging a complex rescue. Jesse had to be the best damn tracker Dylan had ever seen in action. Plus, he was a sharpshooter. “I’m calling.”
She shook her head. “If Nate sees them, he’ll hurt Maud.”
“The last time I dealt with Nate, here’s what happened. He set up two points of contact in two different directions. I went one way and met with you. Carolyn delivered the ransom.”
That arrangement had worked successfully for Nate. There seemed to be no reason for him to change his tactic. “He’ll probably do something like that again. Send us off in different directions.”
“He can’t do that again. He doesn’t have two other people to watch the second position.”
But he had plenty of money for a hired gun. And Nate was playing with dynamite now. There were plenty of ways he could rig a second location. “We need to be prepared. I trust Burke and Jesse to stay out of sight.”
He made the call, emphasizing to Burke that they needed to lay low. If Nate spotted them, there was no telling how he’d react.
“The roads are bad,” Burke said, “but we’ll be there as quickly as we can.”
Dylan stared through the windshield as he continued to drive. The exit for Glenwood Springs was only a few miles ahead. “I hope we don’t run into any problem at the hotel.”
“Park as close to the entrance as you can,” Burke advised. “Have your gun ready. Once you get inside, it doesn’t seem likely that he’d shoot you in the hotel lobby.”
Dylan agreed. “He said he left a package for me.”
“Could be instructions for what he wants you to do. Hang in there, Dylan.”
“There’s something I need for you to do,” he said.
“Anything.”
“Bring my hat.”
“You got it, cowboy.”
He exited the highway. Snow had begun to accumulate on the wreaths and evergreen boughs decorating the streetlights on the main road. The old-fashioned storefronts in Glenwood Springs looked as pretty as a Christmas card. At a stoplight, Dylan scanned the faces of the few pedestrians on the sidewalks. Nate wouldn’t stand out in a crowd. He was average height and weight, probably dressed in typical western wear.
Dylan drove past the Mount Sopris Hotel, a historic building. Made of sandstone and five stories high, the hotel had been built in the early 1900s to accommodate tourists and those who came to the hot springs for their health.
“You’re not stopping,” Nicole said.
“We’ve got a little time before Nate’s deadline.” He glanced toward her, concerned. After their brief disagreement, she’d been quiet, and that worried him. “Are you okay?”
“Been
better.” She forced a brave little smile. “Do you think he’ll try anything when we’re on the street?”
Though Dylan couldn’t comprehend most of what was going in Nate’s twisted mind, he had an answer for her. “I don’t expect to get gunned down outside the hotel. Nate wants revenge, wants to make sure I suffer for all the wrongs he blames on my family. He wants to see my face before I die.”
“Oh, hell.”
“Come on, darlin’. That’s good news. Better than winding up dead on the sidewalk.”
She shuddered. “Do me a favor, Dylan. Don’t reassure me with any more supposedly good news.”
He could tell that she was getting some of her spirit back, and he was glad to see her spunky instead of scared. “We’ve still got time. I want to take you back to the condo, where you’ll be safe. You can stay there until Burke and Jesse arrive.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“I don’t want you putting yourself in danger.”
“Well, that’s too damn bad,” she said. “Nate wanted both of us—you and me—to show up at the hotel, and I refuse to do anything that puts Maud in more danger.”
“He’s not going to hurt her. Without Maud, he loses all leverage.”
“I won’t take that chance.” The determined edge in her voice told him further argument was futile. “I’m coming with you.”
Reluctantly, he conceded. “Starting right now, I need you to do exactly what I say.”
“Absolutely.”
How the hell had this woman ever thought of herself as a coward? As far as he was concerned, she was too brave for her own good.
“When I park the car,” he said, “wait for me to come around to your side and open the door. Keep the gun in your purse but within easy reach. We’ll hustle inside fast. Are you with me so far?”
“Got it,” she said. “Then what?”
“We’ll go to the front desk. I’ll pick up the package. I’m going to open it right there.”
“Okay.”
“Then we go up to our room.”
She reached over and touched his arm. “I love you, Dylan.”
“I know.”
He pulled into a slot on the street in front of the hotel, parked and exited the car. There were too many places on the old-west street where a man with a rifle could hide. A shiver went down his spine as he imagined taking a bullet between the shoulder blades.
Dylan didn’t think Nate would attack now. But he didn’t know. He couldn’t know. Nate Miller was pure evil.
When he opened Nicole’s door, he shielded her with his body as he directed her into the hotel. Inside, it was quiet and warm with a faded Victorian charm that came from marble floors, potted green plants and fancy designs on the wallpaper. Two elderly women sat on a velvet sofa with claw legs. There was no one else in sight. He went directly to the long front counter of rich, polished wood.
“I’m Dylan Carlisle. You’re holding a room for me.”
“Yes, sir.” The woman at the front desk found a key and a package in a padded envelope. “The gentleman who made your reservations left this.”
“That was no gentleman,” Nicole muttered. “Did he say where we could reach him?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Have you noticed him hanging around? Maybe waiting for us?”
“I haven’t.”
Dylan stared at the envelope with his name scrawled across the front. He’d heard about letter bombs, but didn’t think Nate was clever enough to put one together. Gritting his teeth, he tore the envelope open.
Inside was a thick book with a worn, red leather cover.
Nicole touched the cover. “Maud’s journal.”
Chapter Nineteen
With the book in her hands, Nicole stood outside the door to their room on the second floor. When Dylan gestured for her to step back against the wall, she immediately obeyed. Though she’d insisted on coming to the hotel, there was no power struggle here. Following his instructions reassured her; she trusted him to keep her safe…as safe as possible.
She peered down the narrow hallway, dimly lit with wall sconces above dark wainscoting. According to local legend, Mount Sopris Hotel was haunted, but she wasn’t on the lookout for ghosts. Her ghost was real, solid and dangerous. Nate could appear at any second, stepping out from the stairwell, exiting the elevator and charging toward them. “Hurry, Dylan.”
He twisted the old-fashioned key in the lock. His gun was in his hand, ready to shoot back if Nate was waiting for them in the room. Dylan slipped inside and immediately hit the lights. “Stay with me,” he said.
Just inside the door to their room, she watched as he did a quick search of the room and adjoining bathroom. Compared to the condo with kitchenette where they’d been staying before, this bedroom was cramped and small. Apparently, Nate was too cheap to spring for a suite.
“Should I lock the door?” she asked.
He gave a quick nod. Passing the window, he pulled down the shade. His search deepened as he peered onto the upper shelf of the closet, opened all the drawers and looked under the bed. Finally, he holstered his gun. “That’ll have to do.”
“What were you looking for?”
“Nate used dynamite the last time I saw him.”
“A bomb?” She hadn’t considered that horrifying possibility. “I thought you said he’d want to kill you up close and personal.”
“I’m trying to think of everything.” His jaw tensed. “This set-up doesn’t feel right.”
She had to agree. Nate knew exactly where they were, and that knowledge gave him an edge.
She sat on the hardwood chair beside the small desk. The only other piece of furniture in the room was an armoire that held the television. She placed Maud’s journal on the desk. It seemed wrong to read it. By definition, a journal was private. “Why would Nate leave this for us?”
“As proof that he has Maud.”
“But it’s not.” She’d seen the red leather spine many times. The fading gilt letters spelling out My Journal had attracted her attention. “Maud kept the journal on the bookshelf at her office. Nate could have grabbed it when he ransacked the place.”
“Take a look inside. There might be clues.”
Feeling like a snoop, she opened the worn binding. The first entry—scribbled with rushed penmanship—was dated fifteen years ago. At that time, Maud had been in her early thirties. It read: “A fine place to set up my first veterinary practice. I’m going to like Rawlins, Wyoming.”
Though Nicole didn’t recall the date, she remembered when Maud had started introducing herself around town. Everybody liked the tall, skinny woman who dressed in bright colors, and they were glad to have a vet who took care of dogs and cats, as well as large animals.
The entries in the journal were sporadic and brief, following no particular pattern. Nicole easily imagined her friend sitting down when she had a chance and jotting down a sentence off the top of her head. The colors of ink varied, typical of Maud. There were remarks about her canine or feline patients that made Nicole smile.
On the third page was a slightly longer entry: “I spoke to Nicole for the first time today. Doesn’t like to be called Nickie. A beautiful, intelligent girl. Blond like me. I thought she’d be taller.”
“Taller than what?” Nicole mumbled. She scanned through a couple of pages, looking for her name. After that first entry, Maud referred to her as N.
One entry stood out. Written in purple ink, it said, “Tomorrow is N’s birthday. She’ll be fourteen. Should I tell her? She seems so happy with her mother and father. Good people. I don’t have the right to disrupt her life.”
Nicole looked up from the pages. When Dylan caught her gaze, he immediately came toward her and leaned down, looking into the pages of the journal. “What’s wrong?”
“Maud was keeping some kind of secret from me. It was a long time ago, back when she first moved to Rawlins.”
“Something important?”
“I don’t kno
w.” But she felt apprehensive, as if standing at the edge of a precipice, knowing that if she took that last fatal step she could never turn back. “I’m not sure that I want to know.”
“How bad could it be?” he asked.
“I’ve known Maud since I was…” She glanced at the pages. “Since I was fourteen. And I know her to be a kind, decent person. I’ve always thought of her as my mentor.”
“And the secret?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing bad.”
She was closer to Maud than just about anybody else. When Nicole went off to college, Maud had moved to Delta and expanded her practice. She’d given Nicole her first job when she graduated. It was hard to believe that she’d been keeping a secret for all these years.
Nate had mentioned the incident with the stray on Nicole’s sixteenth birthday. She flipped through the pages of the journal until she found the date. With Dylan looking over her shoulder, she read the entry: “I’m so proud of N. She handled herself like a champ in surgery. Said she wanted to be a vet. Like me! She’s everything I dreamed of. My beautiful daughter.”
Daughter. Maud’s scratchy handwriting faded as Nicole’s eyes filled with tears. Maud is my birth mother.
The news hit her like a stampede. She jumped to her feet. The inside of her head whirled like a tornado. Like most kids who were adopted, she’d wondered about her birth parents. But only occasionally. Nicole loved and respected the parents who’d raised her; she’d never felt the need to search for the woman who gave birth to her. Because she was nearby all the time. From age fourteen until now, Maud had been watching over her.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Don’t know.”
“She was really young when she got pregnant. Maud’s forty-six. And I’m twenty-nine.” She did the math. “She was sixteen when she had me. And put me up for adoption.”
“And you were placed in a good home,” Dylan said. “I’ve never heard you say anything bad about your mom or dad.”
“It wasn’t perfect. We had our ups and downs, but they always supported me, encouraged me. They taught me the importance of family.” The reality struck her. “I have a family again. I have a mother.”
Even better, she had a mother who loved her. Maud was someone she could trust, someone she respected. She remembered the joy in Maud’s expression when Nicole had announced that she was trying to have a baby. How would she feel when she knew she was going to be a grandmother?
