Chapter 4
Ivy couldn’t make herself any smaller as she hid in a ditch and covered herself with leaves and branches.
The doe-eyed kid had frozen up when he’d found her.
She’d pulled a Beau, pressing her index finger to her lips in a move that told him to be quiet.
And then she’d taken off. The whole time, she’d expected a pair of those grabby hands to clutch at her or for the young kid to scream his lungs out.
Nothing had happened.
Since she’d had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying went, she’d taken full advantage of the opportunity to bolt. The ditch near the pond had seemed like a good place to stop and hide.
Leaving the last spot behind meant Beau wouldn’t know where to find her.
For reasons she couldn’t explain and didn’t want to examine, she knew in her heart that he would come back for her.
If he could, a voice in the back of her mind pointed out.
That voice had a point. Just because she hadn’t been caught didn’t mean he hadn’t been.
In fact, he could be the one unconscious, slumped in the floorboard of the SUV with Royce or Clay sitting on him to keep him from fighting.
The image was a knife stab to the heart, so she forced it out of her thoughts.
Beau was a good size. In fact, he was bigger than Royce and Clay and far more muscled from what she’d been able to tell. Clay had that kind of good-old-boy strength that came from growing up under Friday Night Lights, a.k.a. football.
Ivy didn’t like the math. There were two of them, three if you counted the kid, and only one Beau. Plus, Beau had said he was injured. That would level the playing field a bit more in favor of Clay and Royce. On the other hand, Beau had a gun. Did they?
It dawned on her that the men must want her alive because they’d had ample time to kill her. Why bring her to the campsite, though? She’d been sure they’d been taking her to her father’s location. However, the place seemed abandoned and empty.
Did these “fixers” or whatever the hell role they were playing intend to meet up with someone here? Did someone else have her father? Were both of them being used as bait against each other?
Should she stick around to find out or figure out a way to reunite with Beau and then get out of here?
Even if she wanted to find him, she had no idea where to start.
He’d said he had a pickup stashed near the road.
Logic said he could be long gone by now.
Her heart argued against it. Was this just wishful thinking?
The man had shown up like a literal knight in shining armor. Since she’d stopped believing in magical fairy tale endings years ago, she shoved the unproductive thought aside. You made your own happy ending in this life. No fairy dust made all your problems go away. That part was up to you.
Inspired by her baby brother Eric’s struggles and her mother’s fears, Ivy dedicated her career to empowering people with disabilities to live independent, fulfilling lives.
Seeing the hope in her mother’s eyes every time Ivy video-called home during her college years had fanned the flame.
Her mother and every other mother out there with a differently abled child deserved to know their child would be okay when they died.
There were many, many problems in the world.
Ivy couldn’t fix them all, but she could do this.
She could bring some peace of mind to mothers and fathers.
She could help disabled people develop the skills they needed to thrive to the best of their ability.
And she’d been making amazing progress with Eric while still in school, practicing some of the techniques she’d learned.
Every milestone had given her mother hope—hope that no matter what else happened, her son would be okay.
After graduation, Ivy had stayed in Austin to be near her family and continue working with her brother.
Now fifteen, he’d been experiencing the highs and lows of being a teenager.
While her mother’s pain had been visible, her father had kept everything inside. No one had known his drinking had become more frequent.
Looking back, Ivy would have done things differently when it came to her father.
She’d put all her attention on finding ways to help her mother, while neglecting the man who’d never failed her.
Ivy had thought her father had his emotions under control.
She’d mistakenly believed he was the strong one in the family.
True strength, it turned out, was knowing when to ask for help and then being brave enough to do so.
It wasn’t until tragedy had struck and the aftermath that followed that she’d truly understood the depths of her father’s pain and how much he’d been covering up. I have to find you, Dad.
She had no intention of letting him down. Not this time.
Frustration nailed her that she was hiding like someone who’d done something wrong when she wanted to be out there searching for her father.
With no phone, getting out of here alive would be tricky. The campsite had been abandoned, so there wouldn’t be a working phone there.
The rustling of leaves made her heart thunder in her chest. Was someone close?
Or something? An involuntary shiver rocked her body.
This probably wasn’t the right time to remember the time she’d opened her closet door to find a scorpion inside.
Or the fact that brown recluse spiders loved to hide in dark, quiet places like the one she was presently in.
Dying from a bite might be rare and take time to be a problem, but these were perfect conditions.
She was nowhere near a hospital that she knew of.
Delayed treatment was one of the biggest causes of death.
Even if she didn’t die from a bite, the pain would be excruciating—not to mention potentially debilitating, making it next to impossible to fight off Royce or Clay should they find her.
Was she overreacting? Being silly?
Maybe.
But her skin crawled just thinking about the number of critters inside her hiding spot. Something brushed against her bare ankle. A gasp escaped on reflex before she could suppress it.
More leaves crunched. Her heart hammered so hard she feared it might crack a rib from the inside. Her breath came out in bursts.
Rather than lie still and be manhandled again, she pulled together all her resolve, preparing to fight.
Ivy pushed out a breath and then popped to her feet with a quick prayer that she could surprise whoever was nearby.
“Ivy.” Beau’s voice registered a second too late. She’d already thrown a punch.
He caught her hand.
“It’s me. Beau.”
In a state of shock, she blinked at him as he held onto her fist. Could she believe her eyes, or was he some kind of mirage? A vision she’d conjured up out of nowhere?
“You’re okay,” he said to her, affirming that he was real. His voice was so soothing she almost believed him.
Almost.
Until she caught a glimpse of what was coming at them from over his left shoulder.
“What is it?” Beau couldn’t imagine that this day could get worse. Ivy’s expression after her gaze darted over his shoulder proved him wrong.
She opened her mouth to speak. No words came out.
Beau cranked his neck around to find a black bear heading in their direction. What fresh hell is this?
“Don’t panic,” he said.
“Too late.” At least she’d found her voice.
“Stand next to me and do what I do.” He turned his body around to face the bear. Then, he waved his hands in the air and shouted, “Go away!”
Ivy stepped beside him and copied his movements.
The black bear stopped in its tracks. Was it thinking twice about attacking? One thing he’d learned from the mountain lion back in Saddle Junction was that running only turned you into prey. A predator would follow, stalk.
“Keep at it,” he said to Ivy as he added a stomping noise.
The bear turned and disappeared into the thicket.
“Thank the stars for small miracles,” Ivy said, exhaling.
“We need to go.” They’d just given away their location by making all that racket. “Fast.”
“Right.” Ivy’s gaze landed on his shoulder. “You’re bleeding. Are you sure you can run?”
“No choice.” There was no way he intended to stick around and give Royce and Clay a crack at them. A quick glance revealed blood blooming on his sleeve. Nothing could be done about it right now. He’d deal with it once they reached safety.
Beau took her hand, linked their fingers, and then took off running. His shoulder was wet with blood. He’d most likely aggravated the injury; it was still too fresh for all this running around.
Hours had passed without a meal and it was getting dark.
Lack of food was most likely causing the exhaustion he started to feel in his bones.
A haze settled over his brain, too. A power bar and a bottle of water would keep him going until he could get back to the ranch.
With no laptop in the pickup, he needed to get home so he could track his phone.
Home. It dawned on Beau that he now thought of Rescue Ridge Ranch as home.
Chloe had packed an emergency food kit for him to take with him when he’d decided to take off to look for his mother. His injury and lack of information on where to begin his search had held him back a day.
Having a big family was new to Beau. Hell, having anyone besides his mother to call family was beyond strange. He’d made mistakes with his siblings. The relationships were new, still taking shape. Trust was a thin thread that could snap with the slightest trigger.
He’d never wanted to be part of the Sturgess clan. Never dreamed he could see them as anything close to family. Yet here he was missing them.
Did that make him weak?
He planted his foot. His knee buckled, causing him to faceplant. He issued a grunt. They were already making too much noise. And now this? They might as well draw a map to their location and hand it over to the enemy.
“Are you okay?” Ivy dropped down beside him.
“I’m good,” he lied. His head was spinning, and he thought he might throw up. Glancing over at his injury might not have been his smartest move. Knowing how much blood he was losing didn’t make him feel less lightheaded. Any hope that his weakness was food-related died on the vine.
“You’re not good, Beau.”
“We have to keep moving.” He tried to stand, but ended up on his backside again.
A look of panic crossed Ivy’s features. It was quickly followed by determination. If her expression had been the first line in a book, it would’ve read: There’s no chance we’re giving up.
“Let me help you.” She hooked her arm underneath his good shoulder and helped him to his feet. “We can take it slow.”
“We have to move.” Who knew how close Royce and Clay were?
“Only two of them want to find us. The driver is practically a child. When we ran into each other, he looked as startled as I probably did. I took off, and he didn’t yell or follow. I get the impression the kid doesn’t want anything to do with this.”
Responding with words would take up precious energy, so he didn’t.
“Stay with me, Beau. If you pass out, I have no idea which way to go.”
“Walk a straight line.” He fished out his keys and handed them over. “Leave me here and take the pickup to the nearest sheriff’s office.”
“I can’t do that to you.” She positioned her shoulder underneath his, then wrapped her arm around his waist. “Besides, I won’t need to. You’re going to make it to the pickup, so you can put those keys back in your pocket.”
He had to hand it to her; she was determined. She was also delusional, but this didn’t seem like the best time to point it out. Plus, he hoped she was right. Being left behind sounded about as good as intentionally lying on top of a fire ant mound.
“We got this together,” she reassured.
He stumbled, almost bringing her down with him.
“It’s okay,” she said a little too fast. He heard a hint of shakiness in her voice. She hid her fear well.
With her help, he regained his balance. The earth spun faster, and the mental fog thickened, settling around his brain. He wanted a bed. And maybe a glass of water. His throat was drier than Texas soil in the heat of summer.
“We’re getting closer,” Ivy said in a whisper. “Keep going.”
They weren’t exactly being quiet as they tromped through the underbrush. At this rate, they might as well announce their path with a bullhorn.
Did this mean the bastards had left the area? Given up on finding her? Were they assuming she would die or go back to the campsite?
The campsite.
It made sense. They’d driven her here in an SUV. She had no phone or transportation. The campsite itself had been abandoned, so it had no working phone. But the teepees could still provide shelter, even in their neglected state.
If Royce and Clay had headed back to the campsite to wait for her, it could explain why they hadn’t found her yet. He was certain it wouldn’t be for lack of trying.
The men might be more comfortable snatching someone off the street in a city than testing their mettle against Mother Nature. Case in point, the bear they’d come across. It dawned on him that the black bear was also out there somewhere. Could it be stalking them now?
Beau would have thought that was impossible before the mountain lion attacks back home. Attacks might be rare, but nature was unpredictable. A hungry predator could do a lot of damage.
“Is that the pickup?” The excitement in Ivy’s voice gave him a boost of hope.
“Yes, it is.”
She glanced around as he fumbled for the key in his pocket. He managed to get it out and unlock the truck.
“I need water.” He managed to get the words out despite the difficulty.
Ten steps more, and they would be safe.
Beau’s knees buckled again. Then everything went dark.