Warrior Son

by Rita Herron

  Dunn wiped sweat from his neck. “I couldn’t go to jail, not when I’d already lost so much.”

  “How did you poison Joe?” Megan asked.

  The man huffed. “It wasn’t that hard. Even when he was sick, Joe insisted on his nightly scotch. I had a bottle sent to him as a gift from the Cattlemen’s club. He never tasted a thing.”

  “Dr. Cumberland kidnapped the McCullen babies and told Grace they died?” Roan asked.

  “He didn’t want to, but he messed up that day with us and I told him I’d ruin his reputation. After all, he destroyed my life.”

  Roan inched toward him. “Now the truth has come out, Dunn. We talked to your wife.”

  Pain wrenched his face. “She told me to take those babies back, but how could I? The deed was done. After all I sacrificed for her, she didn’t want them.”

  “Because they belonged to another mother,” Megan said. “She didn’t want that woman to feel the same kind of pain she felt.”

  He pressed the gun at her temple again. Roan froze, terrified the man would shoot.

  He couldn’t lose Megan.

  “You did what you could for your wife,” Roan said, hoping to assuage the man’s pride. “But killing Dr. Lail is not right and you know it. Nobody can bring your son back, but she had nothing to do with your loss. Don’t let anyone else die. If your son had lived, he wouldn’t want that.”

  An anguished sob escaped the man, but instead of releasing Megan, he dragged her backward. “I’m not going to jail,” he said bitterly. “I’ll release her once I get away.”

  Megan gave Roan a brave look, but Roan had a bad feeling that if he didn’t save Megan now, the man would shoot her before he disappeared.

  One more step and Dunn was near the rear door. Roan gave Megan a signal to drop, and she elbowed Dunn and ducked as Roan charged the man with his weapon.

  “Drop it!” Roan shouted to Dunn.

  Dunn fired. Megan screamed and rolled out of the way. Roan vaulted toward Dunn, but he fired again. This time the bullet pierced Roan’s chest.

  Roan fired a round from his own gun, and Dunn’s body bounced against the wall, blood spurting from his chest. Dunn dropped his gun to the floor, his look startled as he fell to his knees, then collapsed.

  Roan struggled to remain on his feet, but blood oozed from his wound and he staggered sideways. He managed to kick Dunn’s gun out of the bastard’s reach before he went down on his knees.

  “Roan!” Megan scrambled to help him, and he slumped against her.

  Roan still kept his gun trained on Dunn. “Where are the McCullen twins?”

  Dunn looked up at him with dazed eyes, then coughed blood. “I...couldn’t get caught...”

  Roan jammed the gun at the man’s forehead, praying he hadn’t hurt those babies. “What did you do with them?”

  “I left them at a church,” he rasped.

  “Where are they now?”

  He coughed, spitting blood. “Don’t...know.”

  “What was the name of the church?”

  Dunn gagged for a breath.

  Roan shook him. “Tell me the name of the church.”

  But Dunn’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his chest jerked with his last breath.

  Dammit. Roan reached for Megan to keep from passing out, but lost the battle.

  * * *

  MEGAN SWIPED AT tears as she eased Roan to the floor. The gunshot looked...bad.

  She called the ER for help while she grabbed some cloths, folded them up and pressed them against Roan’s wound to stem the blood flow. Terrified Roan would die, she sank to the floor and cradled his head in her lap while she waited on the medics.

  “Please don’t die on me,” she whispered. “I love you, Roan. You’re the only man I’ve ever felt this way about.”

  Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away. She had to be strong. Should call someone.

  Maddox. Brett. Ray. Roan’s half brothers.

  A helpless feeling overcame her. She would let Maddox know Roan had been shot, but she couldn’t tell them the truth about his paternity. She’d promised Roan.

  “Dr. Lail?” A voice shouted to her from the cold room, and she frowned.

  “I’ll be right back, Roan. Help is on its way.”

  She gently laid Roan’s head back on a pad, then hurried to the cold room.

  “Megan! Get me out of here!”

  “Dr. Mantle!”

  “Some bastard made me call you and locked me in here,” he yelled.

  “So there was nothing odd about Cumberland’s autopsy?” Megan asked.

  “Just that he shot himself.”

  She hurried to retrieve her keys, then unlocked the door. Dr. Mantle appeared to be unharmed, but he was steaming mad. “Is that crazy man still here?”

  “He’s dead,” Megan said as she led him back to Roan. “He shot the deputy sheriff, too.”

  His shocked gaze flew to hers. “What the hell?”

  She stooped to check Roan’s pulse while she explained to her boss what they’d learned about Dr. Cumberland.

  Seconds later, footsteps pounded, and the ER team raced in. They checked Roan’s vitals, then hoisted him onto a gurney and rushed toward the elevator.

  Megan followed, her heart in her throat. Roan couldn’t die and leave her. She needed him.

  * * *

  THREE HOURS LATER and Megan thought she was going to go insane. Roan’s prognosis wasn’t good, but he was in surgery.

  What in the world was taking so long?

  She’d paid Maddox a quick visit to inform him about what had happened. He was supposed to be released, but insisted on joining her in the waiting room. Rose and Mama Mary both showed up to hold vigil, as well. So had Brett and Ray.

  “Dunn didn’t say what happened to the twins?” Maddox asked.

  Megan shook her head. “I’m sorry. He said his wife told him to take them back. He was afraid of being caught so he dropped them at a church.”

  Brett cleared his throat. “What church?”

  Megan knotted her hands together. “He died before he could tell us.”

  Ray cursed, and Megan’s heart went out to the three men. They wanted to find their missing brothers.

  Yet they had no idea that the man who’d found their parents’ killer and discovered they had twin brothers was also their blood kin.

  It wasn’t fair to Roan.

  She paced to the nurses’ station again. “Have you heard anything from the doctor about Deputy Whitefeather’s surgery?”

  The nurse’s brow furrowed. “He’s coming out to talk to you in a minute.”

  Megan thanked her and strode over to the door of the waiting room to keep watch.

  Seconds dragged into excruciating minutes. When the surgeon finally appeared, his grave expression made her stomach revolt.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m afraid he’s not doing too well. We got the bullet out, but it punctured his heart, and he was bleeding internally. He needs a transfusion, but we’re short on his blood type. He also has a rare genetic marker.”

  The doctor ran a hand over his surgical cap. “Does he have family? Someone who could possibly donate blood for a transfusion. Even then, it may be touch and go for a while.”

  Fear clawed at Megan. She’d vowed to keep quiet about Roan’s paternity, but how could she keep that promise if his life depended on his half brothers?

  There really was no other choice.

  “Let me talk to the McCullens and I’ll get back to you.”

  He nodded. “We’re asking around other hospitals to try to locate a blood match.”

  Megan thanked him, took a deep breath and hurried to talk to Maddox and his brothers.

  “How is he?” Maddox asked.

  “He lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion.” She explained about his blood type and that a family member would be the best bet.

  “Does he have family?” Brett asked.

  “He never mentioned a
ny to me,” Maddox said. “He lost his mother a few months ago.”

  Megan wet her parched lips with her tongue. “Actually, he does have some family.”

  “Who?” Ray asked.

  Brett gestured toward his phone. “I’ll call them.”

  “That’s just it,” Megan said. “It’s not that simple.”

  Mama Mary gave Megan a sympathetic look. “What is it, honey?”

  Megan sighed, prayed the McCullens wouldn’t balk at what she had to say, then began to explain.

  Maddox sat with his head down, shaking it back and forth in denial. Brett looked shell-shocked while Ray’s dark look reeked of suspicion.

  “Why didn’t he tell us?” Ray asked.

  “He didn’t know until his mother died and he found his birth certificate. She met your father long before he married your mother. Apparently when she got pregnant, she never told Joe. I guess with the cultural differences, she didn’t want to cause trouble.”

  “But Roan has known for months and works for me,” Maddox said. “How could he keep this from us?”

  Megan crossed her arms. “He didn’t know how you would react. He was afraid you’d accuse him of wanting something from you like Bobby did.”

  Brett winced. “What does he want?”

  “Nothing,” Megan said, a trace of anger in her voice. “That’s the point. He didn’t want anything from you, but when he discovered your father—his father—was murdered, he did everything possible to find his killer.”

  A tense silence ensued. Mama Mary clapped her hands. “He’s a good man, boys. He figured out Ms. Grace was murdered and that her babies might still be alive.”

  “That’s right,” Megan said. “And he was shot and almost died searching for the answers for you.”

  Another silence, then Maddox gripped the edge of his wheelchair. “I’m going to get tested to see if my blood will work.”

  Brett nodded. “I’m right behind you.”

  Ray followed. “Me, too.”

  Mama Mary hugged each of them as they filed out to see if they could help save Roan.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Megan waited with Mama Mary and Rose while Maddox, Brett and Ray had blood drawn. Brett and Ray must have called their wives because Willow and Scarlet both showed up. Mama Mary introduced them to Megan, then took Brett’s little boy to the cafeteria for ice cream.

  The older woman was far more than a cook and housekeeper—she was a mother to them all and the glue that held the McCullens together.

  Maddox and Brett returned a few minutes later without Ray. Their faces looked strained, the night’s revelations still sinking in.

  “Ray is a match,” Maddox said.

  “Thank God.” Megan couldn’t hide her relief. Both Maddox and Brett looked at her with narrowed eyes, but their wives squeezed her arm as if they completely understood.

  The next few hours dragged by excruciatingly slowly. Ray did the transfusion, but still they waited to see how Roan would respond.

  Meanwhile, Ray made some calls and learned that Elmore Clark had nothing to do with the trouble at Horseshoe Creek. Apparently he’d left town a couple of years ago and settled in with his daughter and her children.

  Since only family was allowed, each of the men had taken a turn visiting Roan.

  But Megan wanted to be with him. She needed to touch him, to feel that he was still alive, to see his chest rising with each breath and the color returning to his complexion.

  It would return. He would be all right. She couldn’t allow herself to think otherwise.

  Mama Mary drove Brett’s little boy home, and the McCullen men insisted their wives go with her. They were possessive, protective and three cowboys who adored the women they’d married.

  Megan wanted that with Roan.

  But what would he want when he woke up?

  * * *

  ROAN REACHED FOR his mother’s outstretched hand. “I’ve missed you, son.”

  Washed out sunlight cast shadows around her angelic form, but he recognized her face. Her sweet smile. Her long, dark braid.

  Chants in his Native American language echoed from somewhere in the distance, maybe behind the moon. The shaman stood over him, his feathers swaying as he waved his arms and hands above Roan, performing one of the sacred songs that their people sang when someone passed.

  He was dead.

  His mother...the light...the music...

  Darkness swallowed him, and he was spinning and falling, clawing the emptiness for his mother’s hand, for the light, but his hand connected with air and the light faded.

  Was he headed into Hell?

  The sound of another voice cut into his confusion, soothing his fears. “Roan, you’re going to be all right.”

  He struggled to open his eyes, but his lids felt heavy and he hurt all over. Pain burned through his veins and his skin felt like it was on fire.

  He was in Hell.

  “Come back to me, Roan, please, I need you.”

  That sweet voice...if he was dead and in Hell, so was she. But that wasn’t right. Megan was too kind and honorable, too good to land in the fiery depths below the ground.

  “I’m right here, and so are Maddox and Brett and Ray. They’re outside in the waiting room.”

  Waiting room?

  He wasn’t in Hell, after all. It just felt like it.

  An image of Megan crawling on top of him, naked and so beautiful he could hardly breathe for wanting her, floated to him, wrapping him in the seductiveness of her voice.

  Her gentle hands brushed his cheek, and then her lips touched his, and he floated off, dreaming he was in Heaven.

  Some time later, hours or days, he had no idea, pain wrenched him from his peaceful sleep. He stirred with a moan and reached for the image of Megan naked and loving him. It was the only comfort he’d known.

  But when he opened his eyes, Maddox stood beside his bed, looking serious and worried and...angry.

  Roan blinked, squinting through the fog of drugs and the haze of his muddled mind, then saw Brett and Ray beside him. Arms crossed. Frowning faces. Suspicious eyes.

  They didn’t have to say a word. Somehow they knew the truth about who he was.

  A sense of betrayal cut through him like a knife. The only person who could have told them was Megan.

  And she’d promised to keep his secret.

  But she had lied.

  * * *

  MEGAN THANKED THE nurse for updating her on Roan’s condition. She’d also been kind enough to sneak Megan in for a visit during the long, dark hours of the night. Only after she’d seen that Roan was indeed breathing did Megan allow herself to doze in the waiting room.

  Morning coffee in hand, she stepped to the edge of the room and saw the three McCullen men standing by his bed.

  “You should have told me,” Maddox said. “I would have understood.”

  Roan wheezed a breath. He still looked pale, and wires and tubes were strung from him to machines that beeped and got on her nerves, but at least he was alive. “You had enough trouble on your plate,” he said gruffly. “Besides, I don’t want or expect anything from you. You owe me nothing.”

  He said it with such conviction that Megan’s heart ached for him. Roan had gotten the raw end of the deal, but unlike Bobby, who’d allowed his bitterness and self-pity to turn him into a vindictive person, Roan had thrived and made a man of himself.

  “You found the man who killed our father,” Brett said, his voice thick with emotions.

  “And our mother.” Ray pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t know what that means to us.”

  Maddox cleared his throat. “We would have never known the truth,” he said. “Or that we have two more brothers.”

  “That is, if they’re still alive,” Brett muttered.

  “Dunn said he left them at a church,” Roan said. “That’s a place to start.”

  The three McCullens nodded, then one by one shook Roan’s hand. Megan blinked back tears at t
he scene.

  Maybe Roan had been wrong about them accepting him. For his sake, she hoped so.

  “We should let you get some rest,” Maddox said.

  The other two agreed, and they assured Roan they’d be back.

  “Thanks for the transfusion,” Roan said to Ray. “You saved my life.”

  Ray gripped Roan’s hand. “That’s what brothers do.” He angled his head toward the door. “You can thank Megan, too. I think she wants to see you.”

  The three men left together, and Megan crossed the room, but the smile faded from Roan’s face. Instead a bitter scowl darkened his eyes.

  “You made a promise and you broke it.”

  The coldness in his tone cut Megan to the bone. “I’m sorry, but you were dying, Roan. I had to do something.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I trusted you and you betrayed me.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Leave me alone.”

  Megan reached for his hand to tell him how much she loved him, but he closed his eyes and turned away from her, shutting her out as if he was cutting her out of his life.

  * * *

  ROAN DIDN’T KNOW what to say to the McCullens. He’d been alone so long that he was far more comfortable by himself than having other people in his life.

  And Megan...

  She’d only been gone a few hours now and he missed her. His dreams after she’d left had been mixed with visions of them making love and with her walking down the aisle with another man.

  Then there were horrible nightmares about Megan being murdered, of finding her in one of the drawers at the morgue.

  Of losing her forever.

  He’d woken in a cold sweat with tears streaming down his face.

  He couldn’t survive loving Megan and having something bad happen to her.

  Besides, he had nothing to offer her.

  It was better to break it off before anyone got hurt.

  * * *

  HURT SWELLED INSIDE MEGAN.

  It had been three days since Roan’s surgery. He was improving, and the doctors expected him to make a full recovery. The McCullen men and Mama Mary had visited him daily. Mama Mary seemed to have had already adopted him as another son and had snuck him homemade soup and some of her huckleberry pie.

  Megan’s heart twisted. She was glad the family had accepted him.