Chapter 22
Iwoke to Lachlan snoring and a pounding headache.
The ceiling above me was white and the light overhead felt like it was boring straight into my skull. My throat had been scraped raw, and I could taste smoke at the back of my mouth, like I’d inhaled a campfire.
But all of that faded a little when I looked down.
Lachlan was asleep, head resting heavily on my lap, his upper body twisted awkwardly in a hospital chair like he’d given up fighting sleep and had folded himself wherever he’d landed.
He was still wearing his soot-stained work shirt, and his hand was wrapped loosely around mine.
His face looked tired, more drawn than usual, but still . . . God, he was beautiful.
Even like this, with messy hair and smudges of ash near his temple, he looked like safety. Like home.
I lifted my fingers gently and combed them through his hair, brushing back the strands that had fallen into his eyes. I’d done it without even thinking. His hair was soft, familiar. My chest ached.
He stirred at my touch, a small groan escaping his throat as he blinked awake, confusion clouding his expression for only a moment before his eyes found mine and widened.
“Logan.” His voice cracked around my name. He shot upright, cupping my face with both hands so fast, I almost forgot how much my head hurt. His palms were warm and rough and grounding.
“Jesus, you’re awake.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my temple, lingering for a second longer than necessary. “How do you feel? Talk to me, bonnie.”
My lips pulled into the faintest smile. “Like I tried to make out with a chimney.”
His eyes crinkled, but there was still tightness in them, like he hadn’t let go of whatever worry he’d been carrying. “Your voice, sweetheart,” he murmured, brushing his thumb over my cheek. “God, you sound wrecked.”
“It’s raw,” I admitted, trying to swallow, “and my head’s pounding. But I’m okay.” I reached up and rested my hand over his. “I’m really okay.”
He nodded like he wanted to believe me but didn’t quite trust it yet. “You scared the hell out of me.” His voice went quieter, hoarser. “When I found you, I thought . . .”
I squeezed his hand. “I’m okay, Lachlan.”
A soft knock interrupted us, and a doctor stepped into the room with a clipboard and a tired smile.
“Well, good to see you awake, Miss Roark,” she said as she checked the monitors. “You gave us quite the scare.”
“Sorry about that,” I muttered, shooting Lachlan a small smile.
The doctor chuckled. “Your vitals are looking stable, but given the smoke inhalation, we’re going to keep you for observation for at least twenty-four hours. We want to make sure your lungs don’t flare up or develop anything more serious. It’s precautionary.”
I nodded, too tired to argue. Honestly, the thought of standing sounded like climbing a mountain right now.
“Mr. MacGregor, now that she is awake, would you please let us check you out? I’m sure you’re alright, but given you went into the woods, we’d feel better if you let us examine you real quick.”
“You stayed? Lachlan, you need to be checked out too!”
“Of course I stayed,” he said, brushing his thumb over my knuckles. “You think I’d just . . . leave you alone after that? I wasn’t going anywhere until I saw your eyes open again.”
My chest fluttered, but I refused to let it distract me right now.
“Well, they’re open, now let them check on you. Go, we’ll talk when you get back.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He winked and got to his feet, and I couldn’t stop the smile from curling on my lips.
About twenty minutes later, Lachlan was back, and I wanted to talk about everything that had happened, but I was so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. He ran his fingers through my hair until I fell asleep.
Lachlan was pacing the kitchen like a caged wolf. I sat on the edge of the counter, legs swinging. I had caught Lachlan up on the ride home from the vet clinic about what had happened in the woods and I could feel the anger radiating off him.
He finally spoke. “I say we pin it on Richard.”
“I agree, but how are we going to do that? It’s not like I got him on video trying to burn the farm down,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee.
“But we do have him on video coming to the farm multiple times these past few months,” he countered. “I’m sure we could use that to our advantage, but that’s just the start. He’s got money, lawyers, that weasel charisma. We need to make sure he can’t slither out of this one.”
Lachlan leaned against the fridge, crossing his arms. “What are you thinking?” I asked, looking at him.
He grinned. “I’m thinking . . . something more permanent.”
Later that night, Richard was leaving his sleek office in town, that eyesore of a building with all the glass.
Lachlan had wanted me to stay home with Tony, but I didn’t want to stay at the house, and besides, I thought going and getting the bad guy together would make an excellent date night.
Our last hurrah, and honestly it was pretty fitting, considering how we’d met.
Lachlan snatched him right before he got to his car, knocked his head, and Richard groaned and struggled only for a minute or two before he was limp in Lachlan’s hold.
Something about that had me squirming my legs with how sexy his corded arm looked wrapped around someone's neck. Oh my god . . . I’m going crazy.
Lachlan tossed him in the back of the truck, tied up with rope and duct tape.
We made it back to the farm quickly. I didn’t say much at first, just held Richard’s phone up to his face. It unlocked with a little buzz.
“Thanks, Richard,” I said sweetly. He started yelling and groaning through the duct tape, but then Lachlan hit him again and he fell to the bed in a heap.
“I’m going to dig a hole. I’ll be back in half an hour. Call me if anything happens.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied, and he smiled, giving me a quick kiss on the lips before heading off toward the heavy machinery.
I started with the emails. First, I wrote to Dick’s boss, giving notice that he was quitting and slipping in a few vague clues about the fire, just enough to turn up the blame on him after all the months of stirring up trouble for Lachlan.
He’d been tracking the farm because he’d wanted the land for a strip mall, and getting Lachlan’s property would’ve paid off handsomely for him.
He’d also said some nasty things about me to his boss, assuming he’d been close to securing the deal before I’d shown up.
He’d seen Lachlan’s past-due bills and thought persistence would make him cave, and it seemed I’d ruined his plans by helping Lachlan. What an asshole.
Next, the bank.
Did you know you could transfer money to a crypto wallet if you knew what you were doing and had a little patience? Richard’s face worked just fine for authentication. Facial ID: nature’s dumbest security system. Once the transaction went through, it would be irreversible.
I drained him dry.
Then I requested account closure, citing a desire to embrace “minimalist living.” All the while, Richard was weeping at the amount of money he’d just lost as if it mattered.
As if he thought he was going to be leaving this place.
He had wanted it so badly, so he’d get it, just not in the way he’d originally thought.
Meanwhile, Lachlan was back and made sure our video evidence was time-stamped and ready, just in case the cops showed up to ask us questions. We had Richard on tape constantly nagging Lachlan to sell the farm, not only on the porch camera but on the office one and some of the event ones as well.
Harassment? Check.
Arson? Check.
Bank fraud and suspicious transactions? Technically, also his fault now.
“Congratulations,” I said, holding the phone up to Richard. “You’re officially a criminal.”
“You can’t do this,” he mumbled through the tape, sweat pouring off him.
“Oh, honey,” I said, crouching to his eye level. “We already did.”
Lachlan smirked, dark and satisfied. “Having this will ensure they won’t be sniffing around us. The cops’ll be too busy chasing after you for everything you did, trying to figure out where you went. And we’ll move on with our lives.”
Richard tried to mumble something again, but it was too hard to make out. Lachlan ripped the tape from his face.
“You fucking idiots! I’ll get you for this! I have excellent attorneys—”
“It’s funny that you think you’ll be leaving this property,” Lachlan said to him in a calm voice that even scared me a little before he grabbed his ropes and started dragging him through the back door. All the while, Richard tried to kick and succeeded at screaming.
Lachlan dragged him to the side by side and tossed him into the back, and then hopped in the driver’s seat. I joined him on the passenger side, and that same dark glint was in his eyes, the one he’d had when he’d killed Santa. Was I a shit person for not being able to remember his name? Probably.
But Lachlan’s gaze did something to my insides. I knew he was a bad man in all the best ways and it didn’t matter. Did that make me just as bad as he was? Most likely. But over the time I had spent with him, I was also starting to realize that I didn’t care.
Lachlan took off into the woods down the trail, and after about ten minutes, he pulled up to the excavator and what looked to be an eight-foot hole he had dug. Damn, he’d meant business about Dick never leaving the property.
“Sooo, how did you want to do this?” I asked, and Lachlan eyed me.
“Do what?”
“Ya know . . .” I ran a finger over my neck and Lachlan chuckled.
“I figured I’d let mother nature do its thing, bonnie.”
“Wait . . . you’re not saying?”