Chapter 22 #2
“Maybe he’s around back.” Ted drove slowly to the rear of the building. There was nothing to see except more broken pavement and a dumpster.
He knew what it meant to let the professionals do their job. As a firefighter, Aiden didn’t want civilians racing into a blaze. No matter how brave it seemed, someone always got hurt.
Ted cursed. “I don’t see anything.”
“Let’s just wait for Callum,” said Aiden at the same instant he saw a flash of white in the tree line.
Ted dropped his foot onto the brake. The car jerked to a stop. “Did you see that?”
“I did.”
Ted shoved the gearshift into Park and opened the door. He started running toward the woods. Aiden unfastened his seat belt and ran after Ted. The trees closed in on them from all sides.
Ted slowed his run to a walk. Breathing heavy, he said, “I swear I saw something.”
To their left, a twig snapped. Aiden spun in time to see Stu Whittier walking toward them.
“Stop right there,” said Ted, his voice shaking.
“What are you doing here, Aiden?” Stu asked, still walking toward them.
Without deciding, he pulled out the gun. Aiming the barrel at Stu’s chest, he said, “You were told. Stop where you are.”
Stu stumbled and lifted his hands.
“A gun?” said Ted. “Where’d you get a gun?”
Aiden ignored the question. “Keep your hands up, Stu. We’re going to walk slowly back to Frisky’s. Callum’s going to meet us there, and then, you can have a nice chat with the sheriff.”
“Is this a joke?” asked Stu.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” He twitched the gun toward the bar.
Stu kept his hands in the air and started to walk.
Aiden kept Stu in his sights. It was harder than he expected.
He also had to watch out for fallen logs that blocked the path.
Or tangled roots that reached out of the ground.
Ted was right behind Aiden. The woods thinned.
Through a gap between two trees, he could see the back of Frisky’s.
Ted’s car, with the engine still running, was parked next to the dumpster.
Honestly, he didn’t know what happened next.
Did Ted trip first and push Aiden over? Or did Aiden trip on a limb and his stumble caused Ted to fall?
In the end, it didn’t matter. Aiden went down, landing hard on his knees.
Ted fell on top of him. The gun hit the ground.
A shot rang out. Stu sprinted toward Ted’s car.
Aiden got to his feet. He picked up the gun and started to run. But it was too late. Stu slid behind the steering wheel and punched the accelerator. The tires squealed as the car shot forward. The door slammed and a cloud of smoke rose from the asphalt.
Ted limped out of the woods.
“Dammit.” Aiden shoved the gun into the waistband of his jeans. The car was a speck on the horizon.
“I didn’t know you had a gun with you,” said Ted.
“Callum gave it to me this morning.”
“Jesus, you should have told me. Someone might’ve gotten hurt.”
Aiden hadn’t taken Ted for being anti-gun. But it didn’t matter if he was. “Stu escaped. Again,” he said, biting back his frustration. “I think that’s all that matters.”
Ted waved away his comment. “My car has GPS tracking. It won’t be hard to find him.”
Was it really going to be that easy? Aiden didn’t think so, and yet he said, “I hope that you’re right.”
Tuesday, September 13
6:39 p.m.
Lucy was back at Aiden’s apartment. Stu’s involvement in the fire at the Five Steers Ranch, along with the story of his escape, was all over the media. Ted’s stolen car had been found a hundred miles away. One of Ted’s credit cards had been maxed out to buy a used pickup truck.
The theory was that Stu was lucky to have evaded capture. He wouldn’t come back to Red Grove.
Aiden dropped onto the sofa beside her. “How are you holding up?”
She shrugged. “It’s hard to believe everything that happened today. I applied to college. Sold the ranch. Discovered who tried to kill me.”
“Is that it?” he asked, lifting her feet onto his lap.
It wasn’t. Her period still hadn’t started. Should she share her concerns with Aiden now? “Once we get the money from the sale,” she said, instead, “Grandpa Rusty wants to go to Florida. He said they have better rehab facilities.”
“He might be right.”
“I want what’s best for my grandfather,” she said. “But I’ll miss him.”
“What do you want for yourself, Lucy?”
It was a question that, until recently, she had been too afraid to ask. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Being with Aiden was more like being home than the ranch. “This is nice.”
“It’s better than nice,” he said.
She snuggled closer to his side. If she was pregnant, what would the baby look like? Would it be blonde like her? Would it have Aiden’s dimple? God, she hoped so. “What’s better than nice?”
“Lucy, I know we haven’t been together for long. But I love you.”
She turned to him and looked into his deep blue eyes. “Aiden,” she said, placing her lips on his. “I love you, too.”
If she wanted to tell him that she might be pregnant, now would be the perfect time.
“Aiden, I wanted to let you know,” she began. A pain settled low in her abdomen. She recognized the sensation. It was a menstrual cramp. Well, she hadn’t actually been late. Still, a pang of grief hit her in the chest.
“You want to let me know what?” he asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.
“I wanted to let you know that I do want children,” she said. “Just not now.”
“I’d like to have kids, too.” He gave her that smile, the one with the dimple she hoped their children would inherit.
Her phone pinged with a new message. Since the story about Stu Whittier had gotten out, Lucy had heard from all her old friends. It was nice to connect, but she really didn’t want to be interrupted at a time like this. She reached for her phone, ready to turn on the silent function.
That’s when she saw the message bubble. She sucked in a breath and sat up straight.
“It’s an email,” she said. “From the admissions department.”
Aiden moved in closer. “What does it say?”
Lucy’s hands shook. She held out her phone. “You check for me.”
Aiden placed his hand on hers. “You can do this,” he said. “Whatever they say, I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.”
She drew in a deep breath and opened her email app. Her thumb hovered about the message. She closed her eyes and pressed the screen. When she looked again, digital confetti fell. “‘Congratulations,’” she read. “‘You’ve been accepted to the University of North Dakota at Red Grove.’”
“I never doubted you for a minute,” said Aiden.
She leaned her head back on his shoulder and stared at her phone, letting the confetti continue to fall. The funny thing was, Lucy had been so caught up in the past that she never considered her future. But now, with Aiden at her side, she couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.