Losing Ladd (30 page)

“
Yes. He was here
earlier.” Concern swamped his thoughts as he revealed, “He was
looking for Jillian.”

“
Figured as much.”
Malcolm’s solemn gaze mirrored the emotion coursing through Cal.
“She’s not here.”

“
No?” Cal asked, wondering
how Malcolm knew.

He shook his head. “I saw her in a
truck with Jack after I left the hospital.”

Jack. Cal tightened his grip on his
leather case. He hoped his brother wasn’t mixed up with Jillian
other than for kicks. That Jack had nothing to do with the fire.
His brother was in enough trouble as it was. “Okay. Call me if you
need anything.”

“
Enjoy the time with your
daughter.”

“
Will do,” he said and
walked out of the office. Right after a brief pit stop at his
parent’s home. Nerves skirted through his chest. Cal planned to
make one last appeal to his mother before she helped Jack steal the
freedom of an innocent young man.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“
Felicity
Wilkins?”

She glanced up at a man standing in
the open doorway of the waiting room. Dressed in a white coat, she
presumed him to be a doctor. “Yes?”

He approached with a solemn face.
Electricity cracked through her veins. Had something happened to
Travis? Pulse thumping, she darted a glance to the Parkers. Their
eyes were glued to the man but neither said a word. Did they feel
it too?

The doctor folded his hands together
before him, a small smile creeping onto his lips. “Your mother
would like to see you.”

Felicity gripped the
wooden arms of her chair. “
What
?”

“
Your mother wants to see
you.” His smile broadened. “She’s awake.”

Felicity fired up from her seat. Was
he kidding? She shot a glance to the Parkers. Was this a
dream?

The man stood waiting.

“
Where? Where is
she?”

With a hesitant glance toward the
Parkers, he instructed, “Follow me.”

Felicity followed him down
the hallway, her legs a boneless mess of automated movement. Her
mother was awake. She was asking for her. Felicity could hardly
believe it. She stumbled into an elevator behind him, and they
ascended to a floor crowded with staff and beds and machines.
Trembling in the chilled air, Felicity covered her nose, warding
off a horrible stench. The place smelled like a mix of cleaning
sprays and vomit. One man coughed like the contents of his lungs
were about to spew free. Pasting her gaze to the doctor’s white
coat, she avoided eye contact with the patients as she passed their
beds, the space open and completely lacking in privacy.
I’m here to see my mother
.
I’m here to see my
mother
.

“
She’s here,” the doctor
stated, pausing by the foot of a bed.

Felicity slid a reluctant gaze toward
the head. Butterflies swarmed her belly. Lying immobile, her mother
was covered by thin white blankets, her light blue patient gown
loosely tied around her chest and shoulders. Felicity couldn’t
breathe. The doctor left, leaving Felicity to stare dumbly at her
mother’s pale figure. Gone was her vibrant tan, replaced by chalky
skin and a gauze-like head cover. There were no signs of her
mother’s blonde waves. In a rush, Felicity realized they must have
shaved it. She looked dead.

Her mom’s eyes fluttered
open and a small smile erupted onto her lips. Tears sprang to
Felicity’s eyes.
Mom
.

Heart beats pounded within her chest.
“Mom,” she mouthed.

Delaney’s smile remained intact, but
she didn’t speak, only curled a finger to come closer.

Felicity’s body responded before her
mind could calculate what transpired. Her mom was awake. She was
alive. She was communicating and conscious! “Mom,” Felicity uttered
again, this time with more breath, powered by a flood of relief. It
swept the angst clean, leaving only an open hopeful heart in its
place. For a moment, Felicity felt lighter, freer. “Mom, you’re
okay.”

The reply was a bare nod of her
head.

Felicity reached for her mom’s hand,
careful to avoid the tubes taped to her arm. “Hi.”

“
Hi,” she
whispered.

Could she not talk? Was her voice
gone? “How do you feel?”

“
Good.”

Her voice was strained, coarse, but
she could talk. Relieved, Felicity squeezed her mom’s hand. That’s
all that mattered. Her mom knew she was here.

“
How are the
horses?”

The utterance struck like an iron pan.
Felicity didn’t want to tell her. She didn’t want to divulge all
that had happened—was still happening—because it might interfere
with her mom’s recovery. Hadn’t the doctors said as much
before?

“
They’re fine,” Felicity
said quickly. “Everyone’s good,” she lied, thinking how Travis was
on another floor, his chest split open as they tried to save his
life, Troy’s arm was bandaged, a horse had been burned, another
bruised in the stampede to escape.

Her mother’s gaze crackled with
questions.

Felicity’s pulse tripped.
Tears filled her lids. Could her mom sense the truth? That her
horses had suffered? Did she know all was not well and that her
daughter was lying? “Troy is with them,” she said, grappling for
something to fill the balloon of doubt growing before her very
eyes. “He’s been with them the whole time.” Felicity’s emotion
burst open like a dam unleashed, and she clung to the slender hand
within hers. Hot tears spilled onto her cheeks. “I love you. I’m so
glad you’re okay.
I love
you
.”

A mix of joy and sadness mingled in
her mother’s dark eyes but her smile faded. As if she
knew...

Without hearing the words, her mom
could tell things were not good.

“
I’m going to call Nick,”
Felicity said at once. “I’m going to let him know you’re awake.”
Guilt washed over her as she brushed the tears away.

He should have been here. He was the
one who’d been sitting by her bedside this entire time. It wasn’t
fair that he was gone the moment her mother came to, and she was
here.

Nick stalked Jeremiah as he hiked
through the woods, a barely controlled rage streaming through his
veins with each and every step. On his way down from the stables,
Nick caught sight of Jeremiah entering the trails. Clouds had
shrouded a setting sun, burying the landscape in hazy gray hues,
but it didn’t prevent him from spotting Jeremiah across the meadow.
He’d been walking along the edge of forest that bordered the trails
leading up to Zack’s Falls, darting into the woods at the
trailhead. Jeremiah kept his head down, wearing a dark cowboy hat
to conceal his identity, but Nick recognized the pop of color in
his shirt. It stood out like a bright green lizard on a brown tree.
Around these parts, Jeremiah Ladd was the only man with the
audacity to wear bright lime green stripes that couldn’t be hidden,
not against the dusky green tree line or beneath the black backpack
he wore on his back.

There was only one reason Jeremiah
would be slinking around the property at sunset. He was here to
cause trouble under the cover of darkness—trouble Nick was going to
prevent.

Tracking Jeremiah like a hunted prey,
he maintained his distance while managing to keep him in sight.
They moved through the older section of property, passed the
original Ladd homestead, nothing but a mound of decaying lumber and
a tumbledown of a chimney. Next they came upon the dilapidated
stables, the structure Delaney used to house her horses before they
built the new stables. Traversing with a purposeful stride,
Jeremiah made his way up the hill and behind the main hotel. It was
harder to see him now, the last of their filtered light all but
gone, but Nick wasn’t about to lose him, closing the distance as
the trees and foliage grew denser. Trails were narrow but
navigable, a wall of mountain rising to his right.

Jeremiah paused and Nick did likewise.
Squatting on his hunches in what appeared to be a patch of
clearing, Jeremiah removed his hat, tossing it aside, then slid the
pack from his back. Unzipping it, he began removing items. Nick
angled his body behind a tree, unable to make out the contents from
here, but what troubled him more was the fact that they were within
sight of the hotel. Down below, a screened porch was clearly
visible. It ran the length of the hotel’s rear side, overlooking
the creek that meandered between here and Ernie’s old cabin, now
the History Hut. The faint trickle of stream could be heard, the
occasional katydid winding up for the night’s performance. Not far
beyond their current location lay the property line, providing
Jeremiah the perfect location to do something sinister and
disappear off site without being seen.

Unless someone was
watching him while he did it. Anger burned in Nick’s heart. He
could kill Jeremiah with his bare hands. Right here, right now, he
could twist the man’s neck and listen to it crack like a twig
without a shred of remorse. As he watched and waited with nothing
but the sound of his own breath, it became increasingly clear with
each passing minute that Jeremiah was here with criminal intent.
The only bright spot in the pursuit had been Felicity’s
text.
Mom is awake
. There was no mention of Travis, only that Delaney was
awake. Nick had responded, informing Felicity to hang in there,
he’d get back as soon as he could.

First, he needed to tie up loose ends
here.

Assembling something in his hands,
Jeremiah glanced around the forest, scanning the area for signs of
detection. Nick kept a low profile, concealing himself behind the
wide tree trunk. He couldn’t have planned his attire better if he’d
tried. Hunter green, his shirt provided excellent camouflage,
especially at this hour of the day. Forty, maybe fifty feet away,
he could see Jeremiah without revealing his position. Perfect for
surveillance. Judging the scope of space between them, the narrow
but relatively clear path, Nick figured he could close the distance
in seconds.

Jeremiah stood. Nick’s pulse bolted.
He held his breath as he watched Jeremiah inch closer toward the
hotel. Creeping toward him, Nick would have liked to snap a photo
of what Jeremiah was doing as evidence but feared the flash would
give him away. Wasn’t worth it. He’d grab the evidence when he
grabbed the man. A flare of light snagged Nick’s attention and his
heart caught. Jeremiah was lighting something! He wound his arm
back and Nick charged.

“
Jeremiah!” he
yelled.

Whipping his head toward Nick,
Jeremiah froze. Nick sprinted down the trail. Branches lashed at
his face but he ignored them, drilling his focus into his target,
the glow of flame within his hands. Jeremiah turned and chucked the
bottle toward the hotel.

The bottle smashed against a tree.
Flame fell to the ground. Jeremiah took off, running straight. Nick
took off after him, cursing as his boot snagged a root. He tripped.
“Jeremiah!” Nick shouted, pushing up from the tangle of roots and
rocks.

Flames were crawling up and around the
dead branches and leaves. Jeremiah was getting away. “You’re
finished!” Nick yelled, lunging down the hillside, more a skid over
mountain brush and debris than run. He couldn’t ignore a fire but
he couldn’t let Jeremiah escape.

Jeremiah stumbled, but regaining
balance, hurled himself over a fallen tree, hitting the ground
running. Nick’s cell phone rang. Delaney’s face flashed before him.
Could it be trouble with her recovery? Word on Travis?

Heart hammering the breath from his
lungs, rage lit into him. Jeremiah was going to suffer for what
he’d done. He was going to rue the day he ever returned.

“
Fire!”

Somewhere in the background Nick heard
the warning cry but he was fueled by vengeance. He drove forward,
fighting branches, rocks and bushes. Several yards ahead of him,
Jeremiah was held up by a massive clump of trees. Nick took a
nosedive. Jeremiah tried to dodge him but making solid contact,
their bodies hit the ground in motion, branches cracking beneath
them as they tumbled. Jeremiah cried out as they hit a stump, the
impact breaking their momentum. The blunt force nearly knocked the
wind from him.

“
Fire!”

Nick wrenched an arm around Jeremiah’s
neck and raised a fist, burying it in his jaw. He shot Travis. His
men robbed the hotel. He probably helped Jillian set the stables
ablaze. Sinking another fist, Nick drove Jeremiah’s head into the
ground as he struggled beneath him.

Shouts pierced the forest like spears
but he ignored them, wrapping his hands around Jeremiah’s neck.
Nick could feel his pulse within the heat of his palms and knew he
could squeeze it cold. Fury surged. Sweat trickled into Nick’s
eyes. Hatred burned. With steely precision, he knew he could
squeeze him dead. Building, swelling, the desire seemed to take
over.

“
Help! There’s a
fire!”

A distant male voice. People shouting
from the hotel. A reminder of time and place. Eyes locked in sync,
they were two men, one vendetta. The edge belonged to
Nick.