Chapter 13
The family mobilized. Chloe would stay with Beau.
Everyone else would head to the lake. The idea being that there was safety in numbers.
Cassie figured she could escape the family once she was at the lake.
She would take off while everyone was distracted.
Nikki’s blood was on Cassie’s hands. The thought of mother and unborn child dying because of her brought hot tears to the backs of her eyes.
She’d done enough damage to this family—a family who’d done nothing wrong except open their home to her.
A long-buried memory surfaced as she sat in the back of Travis’s SUV.
She’d been ten years old, maybe eleven, and had been placed in charge of her foster family’s seven-year-old at a birthday party.
It had been hot with kids jumping in and out of the pool.
Cassie had warned Hailey to stay away from the pool.
When Cassie had excused herself from the playroom to go to the bathroom, Hailey had been playing with dolls.
A pair of moms had sat on a nearby loveseat, one eye on the kids while they’d sipped their adult drinks from long, skinny glasses.
The house was big. And there had been a line of two people in front of her to go to the only bathroom she’d been shown. Water puddled on the tile floor as a kid with a beach towel wrapped around his shoulders dripped in front of her.
Face forward, she’d waited for her turn.
According to later police reports, no one had seen Hailey leave the playroom. No one had watched the little girl slip into the swimming pool to cool off from the heat, and no one had seen her float to the surface—until it was too late to save her.
One of the kids in the pool had bumped into her and thought she was playing dead. When she hadn’t moved, the little boy screamed.
Cassie had been washing her hands when she’d heard a cry that sounded so different from the others.
Still, Hailey was in the playroom, so Cassie hadn’t been worried.
When she’d finished up and then walked over to the playroom, it still hadn’t dawned on her that the crowd gathering outside could be doing so because of Hailey.
The playroom had emptied. She figured the moms had ushered everyone outside to figure out what was going on. It wasn’t until she’d seen Hailey…
Cassie’s eyes watered even now at the memory she’d suppressed for almost two decades.
The Browns had been called. Mrs. Brown met them at the hospital. Her red-rimmed eyes had said everything Cassie had needed to know. Hailey was gone.
What Cassie hadn’t been ready for was the blame.
You were supposed to be watching her. Why did you kill my little girl? This is your fault, Cassie. What have you done?
Those were a few of the accusations that Cassie remembered. Others, she’d blanked out.
The ride in the back of the police SUV had said she wasn’t going home again.
She’d lived with the Browns for almost two years, the longest she’d spent in one place.
She’d loved Hailey like a little sister.
And despite there being a dozen or more grown-ups at the party, not to mention the hosts, Cassie had still been the one the Browns had blamed.
“Cassie?” Hudson’s voice broke her from the reverie. The wrinkled concern marking his forehead said he was worried about her.
“I’m good.” The lie was necessary. She needed to throw him off track so he wouldn’t suspect her plan to ditch town. She would draw Jarek out in the open. She was certain now that he was the one following her.
First, she would check on Christian to make sure Jarek didn’t head there next. Once she knew the boy was all right, she would leave Texas. Forever. And not look back.
Once Jarek saw that she was nowhere near the Sturgess ranch, he would move on, too. It was the best way to keep everyone safe.
Hudson reached for her hand, but she could no longer allow him to be her strength. Rather than open her hand, she moved it onto her lap and twisted her fingers together.
Conrad sat in the passenger seat. She half-expected him to spin around and spew hate and blame at her. Much to her surprise, he didn’t.
“I thought everyone knew each other in this town,” she whispered, wondering why the body hadn’t been positively identified yet. Was there hope the body didn’t belong to Nikki?
“Lake Aberdeen is in a different county,” Hudson said, his voice low.
“Oh,” she said. A couple of hours had passed since Nikki had been taken from the Sturgess ranch—enough time to drive her out of town, kill her, and dump the body.
So much for Jarek using her as leverage.
Of course, he could try to fake still having her in his possession.
All he would need were a few photos of her alive.
He could pretend to still have her. They wouldn’t be the wiser.
But killing her made no sense. Why would he do that and risk losing his leverage?
If what they said about Nikki was true, she might have attempted to escape or fought. Not saying being killed was her fault, but his killing her could have been a reaction to contain her that went too far.
Looking at Hudson right now, when she’d caused his family so much loss and pain, wasn’t an option. So, she kept her gaze focused out the opposite window, into the dark.
The rest of the drive to Lake Aberdeen was spent listening to Travis’s radio, waiting for any updates. None came.
By the time they reached the lake, Cassie was bone tired.
She was running on empty and needed a second wind if she was going to make it through the night on the run.
The fact she had no idea where she was weighed heavily on her mind.
Additionally, she had no supplies, no food, and no weapon.
She’d memorized the area around the Sturgess ranch and where Christian lived, not this area.
Plus, her rifle was inside the truck.
Would she survive the night out here?
You’d have to keep walking. And then what?
More questions danced around with no immediate answers. Was she talking herself out of going tonight?
She could go back to the Sturgess home, gather supplies, and then leave before morning. Surely, the family would sleep in after everything that had happened today and now this—this unimaginable outcome. One she couldn’t allow herself to fathom.
How hard would it be to sneak out the back door once she had sufficient means to survive without help? It couldn’t be that difficult. The property was vast. She had no idea how many acres. The main thing she knew was that the Sturgess ranch was as close to her son as she’d been since his birth.
Travis pulled up beside another vehicle marked Sheriff and parked.
Several other vehicles were lined up, along with an ambulance.
Lights whirled, but there was no sound. Only the chirps of crickets and other insects could be heard as they exited the vehicle and then navigated down a path toward the water.
Owen had been driving behind them the entire way, along with his twin.
They kept a healthy distance, no doubt giving their brother space to breathe while letting him know they were there for him.
She could only imagine how horrific this ordeal was for Conrad, despite what it might feel like to have that kind of steady support in one’s life. For a while at the Sturgess family home, she’d experienced it. Something like this was rare and precious. It deserved protection.
As for the timing of slipping into the night, she decided to wait. The mountain lion was still out there, somewhere. Going off half-cocked without a plan or supplies invited danger and possibly death. Jarek didn’t deserve the satisfaction of her dying while trying to escape him.
The man needed to burn in hell. But first, he deserved a long prison sentence.
Conrad broke into a run several steps onto the trail. Travis was on his brother-in-law’s heels.
Once again, Hudson reached for her hand.
Cassie moved hers away and then ran, too.
Finding and then losing the person you were madly in love with had to be the worst kind of pain. Hudson knew firsthand what it was like to lose someone, and he couldn’t fathom what Conrad was going through, losing both his love and their child in one fell swoop.
Anger caused all of his muscles to tense as he watched his brother. An officer turned and held up his arms to stop Conrad, but Travis was already yelling to let Conrad through the human barricade.
Conrad ran up, then abruptly stopped. He sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
Travis turned and shouted, “It’s not Nikki. It’s not her.”
Hudson’s legs became rubber bands. He stopped and then took a knee.
“What?” Cassie asked as disbelief caused her jaw to drop open. “Did I hear that right?”
“It’s not her,” Hudson confirmed. From the corner of his eye, he saw Conrad raise, run to a tree, and then vomit.
Travis was busy talking to the other sheriff.
Hudson tried to stand on wobbly legs. It was Cassie who made it to Conrad first. She placed a hand on his back and rubbed soothingly. He couldn’t hear the exact words, but knowing her, she was offering reassurance.
The sight nearly cracked his chest in two pieces.
Relieved didn’t begin to describe how he felt, even though his heart went out to the victim and the family who’d lost a loved one.
Life would never be the same. Days would be measured in “before the death” and “after the death.” He knew all too well after losing Adina.
The fact he’d been a jerk still weighed on him, but talking about it with Cassie had eased some of the pain and guilt.
Was it selfish to want to move on when Adina couldn’t?
Was it fair that he had gotten to live and she hadn’t?
Travis walked over as Hudson stood. He put his hand on a tree for balance.
“I have no idea how you do this job, but my hat is off to you,” Hudson said to his brother-in-law.
“Caring can be a double-edged sword.” Travis put his hand on Hudson’s shoulder. “But it’s the only thing that makes the job worth the sacrifices.”
Hudson nodded. He bit his tongue before asking if Chloe was pregnant.
Travis couldn’t give her children. The look must have been longing.
It was no secret his brother-in-law wished they could add to the family.
The man loved Grayson with his whole heart, and he wanted to be able to give Chloe the big family she wanted.
The thought of marriage and family had always felt like a noose around Hudson’s neck after losing his first love.
Until now. Until Cassie. Being around her made him not only think that becoming a husband and father might not be the worst thing in the world, but it also made him reconsider his desire for those things.
Could he see himself as a husband and father without guilt smothering him?
Did Cassie want any of those things? She’d been in and out of foster care as a child. She’d been in an abusive relationship. Could she allow herself to open up and trust anyone? There wasn’t one person in her background that he knew about who had proven trustworthy.
His own actions might come back to haunt him. He’d let jealousy take the wheel. Did that prove she couldn’t trust him, too?
The thought struck with the force of a physical blow.
Owen and Archer joined them. “We let Chloe know so she could update the others.”
“Thank you,” Travis said. “I was just about to do the same thing.”
“We got it covered.”
Both brothers offered bear hugs.
“We’re heading back now,” they said.
“Okay.”
“Drive careful,” Hudson said, realizing once again how fragile life could be and how quickly it could be taken away.
“We were wondering if you three want a ride, in case Travis needs to stick around,” Archer said.
Hudson looked to his brother-in-law.
“I’m free to go,” Travis said. “I’m just waiting on Conrad to catch his breath.”
Owen nodded. “Knowing Nikki is still out there has to be doing a number on him mentally.”
“The two of them have been through hell and back,” Travis said. “But then, so have the rest of us.”
Heads nodded. Everyone had recently been in a dangerous situation.
Danger seemed to follow the Sturgess family.
Being back at the ranch had brought up mixed feelings for everyone.
They’d all made individual vows not to return or take their rightful place early on in life.
Turning the racehorse operation into a rescue like they’d done would make Beaumont turn in his grave.
It was the only way any of them could see themselves sticking around.
They had to run the place on their own terms, which meant pretty much the opposite of what Beaumont had set it up to be.
He’d been all about money and getting rid of anything that hadn’t worked the way he’d wanted it to.
His sons and daughter, and their descendants, existed to take care of the horses to preserve his legacy and continue to build the family’s wealth.
Horses were easy to love, uncomplicated. Humans were a whole different story. Beaumont had built a multi-million-dollar operation that would benefit their family for generations to come. However, his children would see to it that the money was put to better use.
Speaking of which, he checked his cell to see if the private detective he’d hired had any new information. With the internet and a hacker’s ability to find information on a moment’s notice, news could come soon about Cassie’s son.
At least, he could give her that peace of mind before she walked out and disappeared on him.
A niggling feeling back in the SUV told him she was considering doing just that.
She’d gone quiet, refused to hold his hand.
The knot in his chest tightened at the thought of losing her.
The tension in the pit of his stomach turned to acid, burning the back of his throat as he breathed. Once gone, she wouldn’t come back.
“We’ll find her,” Travis said to Conrad as he walked up alongside Cassie. “I’m going to do everything I can to bring her home safe and sound.”
“Owen and Archer offered to bring us back to the ranch,” Hudson said to Conrad. “We should maybe take them up on it so Travis can do his thing without needing to head back to the ranch.”
“Okay,” Conrad said. Even in the dark, his face was white as a ghost’s. He needed family around to lean on.
“Let’s go,” Archer said.
“Find her,” Conrad said to Travis. “And bring her back to me.”
Travis nodded. He seemed smart enough not to verbalize a promise he might not be able to keep.
As the five of them walked toward the dual-cab truck that Archer drove, Hudson saw Cassie touch Conrad’s arm. She leaned in and said, “I’m so sorry about everything.”
Then, in a whisper, he could have sworn he heard her say, “I’ll make this right.”