Scrolling through the photos, he remembered how excited he was that she had captured what he wanted for the cover. When he reached the pictures of the abandoned house, the song changed again. He jumped up and raced out to the car, stomping on the gas and speeding toward the quarry. The song urged him on, telling him he needed to be at that house right now.
Ragan pretended to be asleep when Billy came into the room, muttering about killing Adam. She knew she needed to escape so she could warn him. The thought of Adam and the kids made her want to scream at Billy to let her go, but she had learned that her responses and words sometimes brought out the rage in him. She needed to avoid being the trigger if she could help it.
She imagined Skylar’s hair under her hand, the feel of his curls wrapping around her fingers. Knowing they were safe was the only thing keeping her from going crazy. She thought about the bobby pin she had found the day before in a crack in the floor, hoping she could use it to unlock the manacle from her ankle. All she needed was the opportunity to try.
After Billy wandered out of the room and closed the door, she pulled the bobby pin out of her sock and slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed as she sat up. She must be silent, and sudden movements weren’t conducive to that. The condition of her ribs had improved, so she could move fairly easily without stabs of pain shooting through her chest. She put her foot up on the bed and started working on the manacle lock with the bobby pin, listening for Billy’s footsteps that warned her of his return.
After several minutes of struggling with the clasp, Ragan paused and wiped the sweat out of her eyes. Listening to the silence, she glanced around when she heard a vehicle pull up in front of the house. A car door slammed, and in that instant, she knew it was Adam. A floorboard creaked, alerting her to Billy’s presence, but too late to hide the bobby pin before the door opened, and she stared at her abductor through wide, fear-frozen eyes when he entered.
Springing on her as soon as he saw the small piece of metal, he snatched it away after a brief struggle and threw it across the room before putting his hand over her mouth as he pulled a rag out of his pocket. After gagging her, he threw her on the bed and tied her hands behind her back, putting pressure on her cracked ribs. She screamed, but the gag muffled the sound.
“I knew he’d come for you. Now it’s time for him to find you so I can kill you in front of him. Only after he has suffered from watching you die will I kill him.”
Adam searched throughout the first floor, calling her name. Glaring at Billy, she tried to stomp her feet on the floor, but she couldn’t get loud enough without shoes.
Billy grabbed her hair and yanked her up, his eyes seeming to look right through her as Adam called her name. “Answer him, bitch. Get him up here,” Billy hissed as he pulled the gag out of her mouth.
“Adam,” she screamed. “Run, it’s a trap!” She could hear Adam stomping up the stairs, yelling her name as Billy shoved the rag back in her mouth.
He pushed her onto the bed and pulled a handgun out from behind his back. The metallic click of the hammer froze her in fear. “No, please don’t hurt him,” she tried to say around the gag, her eyes watering as she attempted to beg for his life.
Ragan closed her eyes as the doorknob turned, praying that Billy wouldn’t shoot Adam through the door.
The door creaked as it opened slowly; Adam stood in the doorway, his eyes riveted on Ragan before they shifted to her captor. “You okay, Baby?” Adam asked as he stared at Billy and the gun. “Why don’t you let her go? It’s me you want to kill, right?”
“I want to kill you for taking her away from me, but not until you have suffered as I have suffered all these years.” Billy grabbed Ragan by the arm and pulled her off the bed and onto her feet, putting the gun against her temple.
Adam swallowed hard. “Now, let’s talk about this. Just let her go and we can walk out of this room together.”
Billy’s eyes changed, becoming harder and darker. “You think I want to hear what you have to say?” he said with a sneer. “You stole her from me and now you expect me to just let her go?” He pushed the muzzle of the gun into Ragan’s temple, his grip tightening as a smile crept across his features. “You’re going to suffer as I have suffered; my love was trampled on and thrown into the street with no regard for my feelings.”
Ragan watched the blue of Adam’s eyes pulling her in, soothing her soul in a way nothing else could.
A floorboard out in the hall creaked. Someone else was in the house, down the hall. The door flew open and a cold breeze overtook the room, swirling around them as a black mass began to materialize in the center of the room between Billy and Adam. The mass slowly solidified into a human form dressed in turn of the century clothing and staring Billy down.
Adam stood motionless, his eyes never leaving Ragan’s. His breath an eerie calm, he waited.
Billy moved the gun from Ragan’s head and dropped it on the floor before pushing her onto the bed.
Ragan curled into a ball to protect the life within her as she watched Billy back away from the entity until his back hit the wall. His face frozen in horror, he slid down it and sat with his arms wrapped around his knees. He rocked back and forth, mumbling to himself.
The entity materialized into something more human than spirit; it turned towards Adam and tipped its hat before fading away.
Adam dropped to his knees next to Ragan, avoiding the spot where the entity had stood only moments before. “Hey, Baby, did he hurt you?” he asked after he had pulled the gag off. He reached around and struggled to loosen the knot in the rope locking her hands behind her.
“Look out!” she yelled as a shot rang out, echoing through the house. Adam landed on top of her on the bed as she screamed. Closing her eyes, she wept for the life she almost had.
Chapter 36
“Wake up, Ragan. It’s over.” Adam touched her face, his hand shaking. “Come on, Baby, you’re safe now.”
She opened her eyes and looked at Adam as he hoisted her to her feet. “He shot you. Where are you hurt? We have to get you to the hospital.”
“I’m okay. I’m not shot.”
“But, I saw him fire the gun at you…” She ran her hands up and down his arms, motioning him to turn in a full circle so she could see for herself.
“See? No holes,” he said with a sad smile. Adam pulled her closer and swept her into his arms, blocking her view of the room. He carried her out the door and into the hall as Logan appeared at the top of the stairs.
“What happened? I heard a shot,” the deputy demanded.
“We’re fine.” He leaned toward Logan and whispered, “I got her out before she could see the results.” Sirens blared, getting louder as they neared the house.
Adam walked out onto the porch, glad to see an ambulance pulling in behind Logan’s cruiser. He hurried in that direction, wanting Ragan to get medical attention as soon as possible.
Logan stepped into the room and blanched at the sight of what remained of Billy lying in the middle of the floor. “What the hell happened?” His voice stammered as he walked around the cluttered space, trying to piece together the sequence of events. After snapping a few photos, he glanced out the window at the scene below; the overgrown yard appeared crowded with the growing number of officials and vehicles responding to the call.
“Billy, no,” he heard from the doorway. Mark stood, frozen, his eyes wide at the sight of half of his brother’s face splattered across the wooden surface.
Logan pulled him out of the room, “What are you doing here, Mark? How did you get up here?”
“The coroner is out of town on an emergency; I’m covering for him. Let me at least cover him up, leave my brother some dignity.”
“Your brother? Jesus, Mark, I’m sorry. I’ll have James call for someone else to handle this. Let’s go, there’s nothing you can do to help him now.” He put his hand on Mark’s shoulder, “Don’t mention this to Ragan,” he said as he motioned to the middle of the room. “Adam said she didn’t see i
t, and she’s been through enough. Why don’t you go check on her?” He hoped that Mark could keep her busy while he questioned Adam about the events.
“Yeah,” Mark replied as he shuffled down the hallway toward the stairs, with Logan close behind. When he walked down the porch steps, he could see Ragan’s blanket clad form curled in Adam’s arms.
“Are you okay, Ragan?” Mark asked as he walked up to a gurney with Adam sitting on it, and Ragan in his lap.
She reached over and patted his arm in acknowledgement. “I’m good; they want me to go to the hospital for some tests, but I just want to go home.”
“Adam, I need to ask you some questions,” Logan interrupted as he joined them. “It shouldn’t take too long. We can do an in-depth interview in a couple of days, but right now I need to know the sequence of events.”
“Do we need to do this now? I don’t want to be away from her.”
“You know I do.”
“I’ve got to go talk to Logan,” Adam placed Ragan on her feet to stand. “We’ll be just over there,” he said as he pointed to Logan’s cruiser a few feet away. “Mark, can you stay with her while I take care of this?”
“Sure, Adam,” Mark agreed grimly.
Adam helped Ragan lie down on the gurney and brushed the hair off her face before kissing her forehead. “I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’ll try to make this quick so I can get you home to Skylar and Jenna.”
Mark sat on the gurney next to her. “I’m sorry this happened to you, Ragan. I knew Billy was sick, but I never guessed it was this serious. I thought he was down in Indianapolis, as a matter of fact.”
She squeezed his hand, “It’s not your fault.”
He noticed the bruising on her ankle, Gentle and soothing, his fingers probed the area.
“It’s just a bruise. Most of the time, he treated me very well, except for the manacle and the chamber pot.” She shivered, the cold temperature of the house seemed to have seeped into her bones.
Mark adjusted her blanket, wrapping it more snugly around her, “You might be going into shock.” He checked her vitals and felt somewhat reassured when they were all normal.
Ragan pulled him into a hug, “Thank you, Mark. You’re such a good friend.”
Deciding it would be the most discrete location, Logan opened the cruiser’s passenger door and motioned Adam to sit there. “What the hell happened up there?”
“When I got here, I searched the first floor. Then I heard Ragan’s voice, so I ran upstairs and into the room where she was bound and gagged. The kidnapper was with her and had a gun to her head.” He cleared his throat, unable to go on.
“Hey, no reason to fall apart now, Ragan’s safe and she seems to be okay.” Logan motioned to one of the EMTs for a bottle of water. Once Adam had a few swigs, Logan signaled for him to continue
“Shit. I keep seeing her with the gun pressed up against her head and it makes me sick to my stomach.”
“Just breathe, Cuz. She’s safe.” He waited a few minutes for Adam to pull himself together. “So, what happened next?”
Adam wiped his mouth, “I think I saw a ghost,” he looked anxiously at the deputy, gauging his reaction. “When Logan appeared to accept the explanation, he continued. “The door flew open and something, not human, manifested in the middle of the room. Ragan’s kidnapper seemed to recognize it. He dropped the gun and backed up and slid down the wall, his eyes looking crazy.” Adam’s hands shook as he spoke, “The ghost, or whatever it was, tipped its hat to me and disappeared. A feeling of calm washed over me. Whatever it was would protect us. I rushed to Ragan’s side and started to untie the ropes. My back was to the spirit or whatever he was, and I didn’t see what happened next.”
“You were saved by a ghost?” Logan asked as he scribbled in his notebook.
“Yeah, I guess that’s what it was.” He took another drink from the bottle of water before pushing on, “Ragan screamed and I looked up and saw the guy fire the gun at me. I still don’t know how he missed me. I fell forward onto Ragan, trying to shield her. When I realized I hadn’t been shot, I turned…” Adam paused and frowned at Logan. “You’re not gonna believe this, but I swear it’s the truth.” Logan nodded his encouragement. “The bullet was hanging in midair and I watched it turn and hit the guy in the eye.”
“The bullet turned around and hit him?”
“Yeah. The air shimmered with this weird light effect, almost as if the bullet hit an invisible wall.” He glanced over at Ragan and saw her hugging Mark. A flash of jealousy caused him to clench his hands.
“Easy, Adam. She loves you, Mark’s just an old friend. He’s feeling guilty about all of this…”
“What does he have to feel guilty about? The stalker was after me, not him.”
Logan frowned, worried about how Adam was going to handle the rest of the facts. “The kidnapper was Mark’s brother, Billy.”
One of the EMTs approached Logan. “Deputy? We’re ready to take her to the hospital now.”
Adam stood, indicating to Logan that he was done giving his statement. “I’m riding with her. You ready to go, Ragan?” he called as he marched towards her.
At Ragan’s nod, the EMTs strapped her onto the gurney and acknowledged to Adam that he could climb into the back of the ambulance.
A single tear slid down his face. “I thought I had lost you for good this time.”
Chapter 37
When they reached the hospital emergency room, the staff bypassed normal procedures for the crowded ER. A crowd of reporters waited for the ambulance to arrive, and Ragan was whisked away to a private room upstairs.
Once she had settled in, Adam reached for his phone. “I need to call your family. They’ve been going crazy.”
“Where’s Skylar and Jenna? I want to talk to them first.”
He dialed the call for her, smiling when he heard his daughter answer. “Jenna, we found Ragan,” he informed her, and she screamed so loud he had to hold the phone away from his ear. When she had subsided yelling to Ragan’s mom, he said calmly, “Jenna, put Sky on the phone. Ragan needs to hear his voice.”
A moment later, Skylar said, “Hi, Mama. Come home?”
“Yes, Sky boy, mama is coming home soon. I love you.”
“Ragan, is it really you?” her mom asked once she had commandeered the line, “I’ve got to call your dad. He’s down at the sheriff’s office. Oh, he probably already knows. I need to call Robbie…”
Ragan laughed at her mother acting so flustered; she was usually the calm one. “You can meet us at the hospital if you want.”
“Hospital? Are you okay?”
“Yes, Mom, I’m okay. They just want to run some tests and make sure the baby is okay.” That’s when she remembered she hadn’t told anyone about the baby except for Mark and Adam.
“The baby? Is it Adam’s? Or is it Mark’s?”
“Geez, Mom. It’s Adam’s.”
“I guess that doesn’t matter. Are you happy?”
“Yeah, Mom, very happy.” She smiled up at Adam.
Adam grabbed the phone and gave her the room number before ending the call. He paced the length of the room, waiting for news. When a doctor entered, he startled him. “Is the baby okay, doc?”
“Yes, everything looks fine. I want you to take it easy for a few days.”
“No worries there, doc. I’ll take her away for a while and let all this die down.” Taking Ragan’s hand, he asked, “How about a trip to someplace warm and sunny, where the kids can play in the sand without us worrying about the paparazzi?” He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his contacts, knowing just who he needed to call.
Ragan’s eyes lit up when the door opened and her mom entered with Skylar in her arms and Jenna beside her. “Mama,” he cried as he shimmied down the front of his grandma, trying to get to her.
With tears in her eyes, she set Sky down on the bed next to Ragan, “Sorry for the interruption, doctor, but this little guy needed to see his mama.�
��
“I was done anyway. I’ll get your discharge paperwork signed so you can get out of here. Remember what I said, Ragan, take it easy.”
“I will. Thanks.”
Peggy motioned Logan to the far side of the room. “There’s a mob of reporters in front of the hospital. Is there any way we can get them out of here without going through them?”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Newlin, I’ll take care of it. I worked security for Adam for a couple of years, so I know how to handle the paparazzi.”
Adam grinned at Ragan as he slid his phone back in his pocket. “I just got off the phone with Fletch Carmichael. He’s letting us use his beachfront house in Key West and offered to fly us down there in his private jet.”
“That sounds perfect. Do you think anyone will find us there?” Ragan asked with a frown, worried about the reporters waiting downstairs. All she wanted was some peace and quiet with Adam and the children.
“Colt and Will can come with us to make sure no one gets close.” He pulled out his phone again and started dialing, “I’ll get everything set and we can leave tomorrow morning.”
The door swung open and Cassie stepped into the hospital room and grinned at Adam. She was escorting the hospital chaplain, who followed her. “I’ve got it, Adam,” she whispered as she walked over to hug Ragan. Pulling a box out of her pocket, she handed it to him behind her back and out of Ragan’s line of sight.
Robbie and Ragan’s dad joined them, filling the small room to standing room only. After everyone had settled down, Adam cleared his throat and started to talk. “This last week was terrible and I am thankful to have Ragan back safe and sound. Ragan, we’ve wasted so much time already and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you.” He bent down on one knee, “I know this isn’t the most romantic of settings, but I don’t want to wait any longer. I love you, Ragan Newlin. Will you marry me? Right here, right now?”
Through tears of joy, she nodded, “I want nothing more than to grow old with you, Adam. Yes, of course, I’ll marry you right here, right now. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” That’s when she noticed the hospital gown she was wearing. “Hope you don’t mind my wardrobe choice.”
Ragan's Song (Fairfield Corners #2) Page 14
