Chapter Twenty-Nine
Albright Ranch
The second Neil left, Paul knew that this wouldn’t be a normal day.
By the time the men walked in, he had barely managed to scrape a half-decent breakfast together, and they all caught on to the changed atmosphere in the house.
There was obvious discontentment among the men, and some made their frustration known until Paul was able to explain to all of them that Poppy and Sophie had left.
Every man stopped what they were doing, and the silence that fell over the room was deafening. Most faces showed disbelief or shock. Others seemed sad.
Barley looked up from his bowl of porridge, and his expression was one of absolute certainty when he shook his head.
“Poppy didn’t leave!” he said confidently. “There’s no way she would leave us like that. She loves it here! So does Sophie. She would never leave me like that!”
Paul realized how attached his son had gotten to the girls. He had always thought Poppy had taken on a bit of a motherly role toward Barley, and hearing him talk like that confirmed it. His heart broke for him. He didn’t want Barley’s feelings to get hurt, and he could only hope that he was right.
As it turned out, most men agreed with him.
Unfortunately, none of them knew about what had happened with Neil and Lucy.
Paul had thought the same thing until he found out from Neil what had happened in the days leading up to this.
He didn’t want to provide that information because it was a private matter between Neil, Poppy, and Lucy, but it didn’t matter anyway.
At least half of the men didn’t believe that Poppy would leave the ranch of her own accord and immediately dismissed that notion outright. The other half was instantly convinced that the girls had been kidnapped, and soon that was all everybody talked about.
Not surprisingly, there was a bit of an uproar at the breakfast table, and tension rose high when the younger men were ready to start a search party, while the older ones tried to come up with some kind of logical strategy on how to find them and get them back here safely.
Being the foreman, Paul was supposed to get the workforce going, but he was unsettled, too, and he couldn’t shake the suspicious feeling in his gut that Barley may be right.
When the door suddenly flung open, and Neil stormed into the house—looking a little worse for wear—Paul knew for certain that today would not be a normal working day.
The men jumped up from their chairs, seemingly ready for war when they saw Neil breathless and sweaty but clearly determined.
“Everybody!” Neil yelled. “Get ready to ride out! Take as many weapons as you can...”
“Hold on!” Paul held up his hands. “What happened? Where were you? Did you find out where they are?”
“I was at Vale’s house,” Neil exclaimed angrily, combing his long fingers through his curls. “He threw me out. But from what I’ve witnessed, my gut feeling tells me that he’s got Poppy and Sophie.”
“Your gut feeling?” one of the men asked hesitantly. Neil nodded confidently.
“I can’t explain it. But I am certain my wife is there somewhere,” he said. “If she isn’t there, then Finn or Lucy know where she might be. I’ve never been more sure! They’re the best lead I’ve got. I want to go back there and stake them out. Who’s with me?”
“I am!” Barley yelled as he jumped up, his fist high in the air.
Not a single soul stayed quiet.
Chaos erupted. Everybody deserted their place at the table and left to get ready.
Paul didn’t get a chance to say another word, but he didn’t feel it was necessary.
In that moment, all of them were united in that they needed to be by Neil’s side to support him, and Paul would be the first to admit that he couldn’t wait to start searching for Poppy and Sophie.
***
The small army was ready to ride out in less than ten minutes.
Everybody was keen to help in the search, but Neil and Paul had to discuss a plan first. They couldn’t just show up like an uncoordinated horde and ambush Finn’s estate. They only had an hour, and then they had to rein in all their men and delegate the different assignments to each one of them.
Since Neil didn’t really have any kind of proof for his suspicion, he and Paul quickly decided to position their men in as many different locations near the house and around the estate to watch for anything out of the norm.
None of them had an idea what they were looking for, but all of the men seemed confident that they would see it if it presented itself. Neil and Paul delegated them in groups of two to three men so one of them would be able to ride back to them to let them know what they had found out.
If Finn really did have Poppy there, it was possible that one of the men may spot her or Sophie somewhere around the house.
There was also the possibility that he had moved her to somewhere else because he didn’t want to be implicated with holding someone else’s wife hostage.
And Lucy was still a main suspect in all of this, so chances were high that she would either leave to go to Poppy or do something else that may reveal where they kept them.
Either way, Neil seemed confident in his belief that Poppy was right there in that house, and Paul would support him in whatever plan he devised.
By the time they had decided where every single man was supposed to go, noon had come and gone, and the stormy gray clouds that had rolled in from the northeast earlier had long covered the sun and most of the sky.
All of this worked to their advantage, as it darkened the landscape surrounding the estate, providing perfect cover for the men to get into their positions, and the increasingly whipping wind overpowered most of the noises they’d make.
Most had to abandon their horses further away.
Some were able to sneak closer through the thick woods around the back of the house, while others would go check out the stables and outbuildings.
Neil and Paul stayed together and decided to scope out the house itself. It was a risky move, but desperation and determination were powerful drivers for a husband looking for his wife.
There were several instances when Neil and Paul both almost got caught—once by a yard worker cutting flower bushes and a second time by a maid who had gone outside to pull in some laundry before the storm.
Neil had pressed himself inside a hedge right next to the house, and Paul hid in the shadow of a basement doorway.
Both had to stand still for several minutes before the air was clear again.
Paul couldn’t remember the last time he had sneaked around a place like that. His heart was pumping, and he was eager to go, and when he looked at his friend, he saw the same urgency in Neil.
They tried every basement door and low window, peeking into rooms and hallways, all the while making sure nobody saw them. But Finn’s estate turned out to be quite secure since all of the entry points seemed to be locked. Frustration began to take hold.
“We need to get inside somehow,” Neil whispered when they found yet another entryway locked. He seemed desperate. That’s when people became reckless and started to make mistakes, so Paul wanted to keep his friend calm.
“Maybe we should just wait until everybody’s gone to bed and enter through the back of the kitchen,” he suggested. “That way, nobody will see us.”
Neil contemplated it for a moment, but Paul knew how impatient he could be.
“If she’s here, then she’ll still be here when we break into the house later,” Paul added. “And if they’ll take her somewhere else in the meantime, we’ll be able to see it and follow her. It makes sense.”
Paul could see the inner turmoil Neil was struggling with. It was written all over his face. He hadn’t stopped scowling since they had left.
“Maybe I should confront Finn and Lucy again,” Neil contemplated. Paul shook his head.
“Don’t be foolish!” Paul scolded him. “What do you think that’s going to accomplish? We’ll just get kicked out again, and it’ll blow the advantage we have right now. They don’t know we’re here. Don’t forget what’s at stake here! Think logically, Neil! Not just with your heart.”
Neil visibly paused.
“This is no longer just a feud between you and Finn,” Paul continued, sternly now.
“If Finn actually kidnapped Poppy and Sophie, he can go to prison for that. This is a heinous crime, and if he committed it, he’ll go down in flames.
But we need proof! We can’t just assume things and make a claim without solid evidence. ”
Neil slowly nodded and swallowed hard.
“You’re right,” he said. His hands were noticeably shaking. Paul’s heart went out to him. In all the years he had known him, he had never seen his friend so shaken.
“I’m in love with her,” Neil admitted quietly. His voice almost broke when he said it. “I love Poppy so much. I need her. I can’t lose her. And I love Sophie as if she were my own daughter. Both make me want to be a better man.” When Neil looked up again, Paul could see the sincerity in his eyes.
“Then let’s focus on getting them back—safely,” he said gently. “If God is willing, He’ll show us the way. He’ll show us the solution. Have faith, my friend,” Paul added, although he probably shouldn’t push this subject. Surprisingly, Neil nodded with a deep sigh.
“I doubt He still listens to me,” he said so quietly Paul almost didn’t hear him. He put his hand on Neil’s shoulder and squeezed it.
“He never stopped listening to you, Neil,” he whispered. “He was just waiting for you to speak louder.” They shared a silent moment, two men being men, each one in their own thoughts.
“She has to come back,” Paul finally said, because he wanted to lighten the mood. “I wouldn’t want to miss those delicious pancakes of hers.”
Neil smiled a faint smile and shook his head.
They continued their search for any possible entry point.
Suddenly, a creak upstairs caused them to hide, and they just about managed to disappear in the shadow of a narrow overhang covering another basement door. It was overgrown with vines and clearly hadn’t been used in a while.
They heard daintily clacking footsteps on the balcony above them.
Paul couldn’t believe it, and Neil’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when Lucy’s voice trickled down to them as clear as a bell.
“You know, Finn, I sometimes wonder what you see in that woman,” she said jealously. She seemed to be chewing something.
“She’s a business opportunity,” Finn replied with a grunt.
His voice was slightly muffled from inside the room, but it was still audible enough that they could hear him perfectly.
Finn sounded much less haughty and smug than Paul remembered him.
“She’ll make me some money, even though she’s no longer a virgin.
I could have sold her for triple the amount, then. ”
Lucy chuckled. “I had no idea you were in the business of selling women,” she said dryly. “I thought you only ever got excited about horses.”
“As I said,” Finn grunted. “It’s not a business—it’s an opportunity.
I don’t even care about the money. This has everything to do with taking down Albright and his puny little ranch.
” Paul shot Neil a quick glance. “I want to destroy him and his overinflated reputation. I am the baron, and one day, all of this will belong to me.”
“I don’t think he’ll sell you his father’s ranch,” Lucy said matter-of-factly.
“He will. I have my methods,” Finn said, and his smug tone returned.
“Like what? How?” Lucy pried, but Finn didn’t reply for so long, Paul thought that he was never going to.
“That mute little brat,” Finn said. He seemed to be standing closer to the open door now. Paul could almost hear him breathing.
Paul had to slam his arm against Neil’s chest. He looked as if he wanted to storm off to strangle Finn right there and then. Neil was clearly seething, but Paul shook his head imploringly, silently mouthing the word no to him.
“Once his wife is sold off, I was promised she’d disappear forever,” Finn continued with a menacing undertone. “Then the girl can be used whichever way I please. She would be a good pawn to force Albright to his knees. He’ll sell.”
Neil bared his teeth when he heard that, and Paul wasn’t far behind him, but they had to remain quiet, so he kept pressing his arm against his friend’s chest.
“If he cares about her enough,” Lucy scoffed loudly. “How long will you keep them here?” she asked then, chewing again.
“Oh, I won’t,” Finn replied nonchalantly. “They’re leaving tonight.”