Chapter 18
Ivy
The plane wheels kiss the tarmac and bounce with the impact. It’s a few more minutes before they stop rolling. We’re back in Kansas. A short ride to Devil’s Bend is the only thing between us and Heart Ranch.
The ceremony rehearsal will start shortly.
Rogue squeezes my hand. “I know this isn’t what you wanted.”
The engines shut off. West should be meeting us any minute.
I make no move to get out of my seat. We’re not going back immediately. We’re waiting to see if the trap works. So far, it’s been anticlimactic. Plus, there’s my sister. She’s still out of it; except for the few times she’s cried and begged not to be taken back.
Whatever her life was when she was Lily… she had it worse than me. At least I had my dad for most of it. She had Robert Hawthorne. That thought chills me to the bone.
“I’m okay.” I undo my seatbelt and stand. “I’m going to check on Lily.”
Davis enters the cabin before I can leave.
“We’re staying put for now,” Rogue tells him. His phone starts to ring.
Maybe it will be good news.
“Organize the car but tell the driver to wait for further instruction.” He answers the call, putting it on speaker phone. “Anyone gone after Ro yet?”
“I’m starting to think we might be chasing ghosts.” Rebel sounds frustrated.
“Someone ran us off the road,” Rogue reminds him. “A ghost can’t do that. They’ll make a move. We need to be patient.”
“I’m over being patient. This wedding is going ahead. I’ve waited to call Ivy my Mrs. for long enough.” Rogue gazes at me with adoration.
I press my hand to my heart and flutter it. I feel the same way.
He smiles.
I love that smile. It makes my world lighter.
Considering everything that’s going on around us that means a lot.
We’re going to be okay as long as we stick together.
Even if we’re currently unable to see eye-to-eye on a few things.
We’ll work them out together. That’s the promise we’re making to each other this weekend.
Come what may our love is real and strong and worth an eternity.
“We have another problem,” Rebel’s tone catches my attention.
The hairs on the back of my arms rise.
“What is it?” Rogue sits up taller.
“Riot heard from Agent Lane. Dizzy’s fingerprints were on Owen’s knife.”
“That was to be expected.” I inch closer to the conversation. Rogue had filled me in about the knife. “You said West found the knife under his mattress. She was probably holding onto it for protection.”
Or because she was concerned someone else might find the knife before she could work out who killed the goat. That could be the real reason.
“That’s the thing…” Rebel inhales deeply before releasing it. “That girl doesn’t need protection from anyone. It’s the other way around. Dizzy… or Lily Hawthorne I should say… is a wanted fugitive. She has murdered multiple people. Alec is only the latest.”
I don’t like the way Rogue looks at me. Like he needs to protect me from my sister. “No.”
“Lily is dangerous.” He grabs for my wrist as I back out of his space. “We need to take that seriously. I’m going to call Agent Lane and—”
“No,” I say it louder. “You can’t. You said we could work through this.”
“I said I would do what I had to in order to protect you.” He drags me into a hug. One he doesn’t relinquish me from. “Ivy, baby. She’s dangerous. She’s not herself, she doesn’t recognize you’re her sister. And if she did kill the goat…”
“She didn’t. I know she didn’t. You know she didn’t. Think about it… why would she? What would she gain? It was Nicole. It had to be.”
“She’s always been unhinged,” he says. “That’s the truth. Nicole knew nothing about the goat.”
“And Duke didn’t know about it either,” Rebel chimes in.
“It’s Dizzy.” Rogue’s voice holds an edge. He’s already made up his mind.
“No. No. No.” I shake my head. “Where’s West. He’ll tell you it wasn’t her.”
“I’m not sure he will,” Rebel says from the device Rogue put down on the armrest. “He didn’t want to admit where he found the knife. I think he knows what she’s capable of and tries his hardest to protect her from it.”
“Because she’s not a bad person. She’s been through a lot of bad in her life.
I’m certain that being held hostage as a Hawthorne has cost her more than we’ll ever know.
Take a look at her victims. They’re probably all bad people like Alec.
” I focus on reasoning with Rebel, but I plead with Rogue.
“You know West won’t let you do this. You’ll lose a brother. ”
“I can handle that,” Rogue says.
There’s only one thing he can’t handle. I extricate myself from his arms. “You’ll lose me. Find another way because I don’t think we could come back from you turning my sister in.”
I march into the bedroom to check on Lily.
The bed is empty.
I scan the room and move to the ensuite, which is also unoccupied.
“Lily?” I move around the bed to where I found her earlier crumpled on the floor, but she’s not in the room at all. When did she wake? Was she listening to our conversation when Rogue said he would call Agent Lane?
I rush out of the room into the main cabin. Rogue and Rebel are discussing how to handle Dizzy without an FBI presence.
I keep going. Checking the galley and the crew section.
Davis jumps to attention when he sees me. “Everything okay, Miss Love?”
“Have you seen my sister?” I march up to the cockpit but there’s no sign of her.
“I haven’t,” he says. “Where have you looked so far?”
“Everywhere but the hold.” I can’t breathe. Losing Lily… I should have been in the room with her. I should have taken better care.
“I’ll go check it,” he says.
“What’s going on?” Rogue asks coming up behind me as Davis rushes out.
“I can’t find her. West said not to take our eyes off her. What if she overheard you? What if she’s running… thinking she can’t trust me? You should never have said that you were going to talk to the agent about her.”
“We’ll find her.” He tugs me against his shoulder and cradles the back of my head with his hand. “I promise, baby.”
I draw away. “I should call West. He needs to know.”
He’s never going to forgive me. Or Rogue.
The call connects.
“I lost her,” I blurt. “I lost Lily. I can’t find her.”
“Come outside,” he orders.
Automatically, I do as he said. Going to the door and walking out once a crew member has opened it for me.
West waits for us on the tarmac next to one of the Range Rovers.
Davis is beside him, and between them is Lily.
She’s still floppy from the sedative, her head lolls on West’s shoulder and he keeps her upright with an arm around her middle.
“They’re the ones that kidnapped me,” she tells him.
“They’re my friends,” West says.
His pointed glance says we shouldn’t argue. I decide to follow his lead.
“They want to turn me into the FBI.” Her watery gaze turns into tears that run down her cheeks. “I can’t go back.”
“It’s okay, sunshine. You’re not going back.
You’re going to stay lost forever. I promise.
Now let’s get in the car so we can get you somewhere safe, and I can help you get better.
” He opens the car door for her and helps her in before closing it.
When he turns around his expression gives me the chills. “You were going to turn her in?”
“No,” I say. “Never.”
“She’s dangerous,” Rogue says. “She killed the goat, didn’t she?”
West settles a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
He drives his fist into his gut, which makes Rogue bow in pain, before he says, “The only reason I chose your gut is because Dizzy would be upset with me marking up your face for your wedding photos when I get her back. If you ever consider turning her in again, understand I will end you.”
“He won’t, West. We’re not going to do that.” Christ. Our family Christmases will be fun with in-laws like ours. I put myself between the two men. “Can you actually get Dizzy back?”
“Before the ceremony? It’s unlikely. Even if I could get Lily to return her, the emotional fall out… it’s tricky. It usually takes weeks if not longer for her to get back to herself.”
“She won’t be capable of being a part of the wedding, at least not in the way she planned to.” She’ll be upset about that later. She’s been telling me for weeks how excited she was to be involved.
“No.” He almost seems apologetic.
“Is there anything I can do to help her?” Looking after her is the most important part now.
“I’ll handle her.” He climbs in the car and shuts me out.
Rogue places an arm around me, one hand still on his abdomen where he took the punch. “You’re going to forgive me, right?”
“You didn’t call him, so yes, I can forgive you.” But I hate that this is a conversation we’re having to have. “You know she didn’t kill the goat, don’t you? I can promise you that she didn’t.”
“I want to believe in her the way you do,” he says. “I just can’t. Especially when we’ve eliminated the most likely suspects.”
“We have to be missing something. Because it isn’t her,” I insist. She’s the kind of killer who takes out people who deserve it. The goat doesn’t make sense.
“We should get back on board.” He leads me toward the plane stairs. “Our ceremony rehearsal is starting shortly. Rebel and Summer are standing in for us. There’s no way we want to miss that.”