Chapter 12
“Will you let me drive you to your apartment?” Beau asked as everyone broke off, moving to different areas of the room, except Travis. “It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for me.”
Ivy’s gaze didn’t meet his. Was that a bad sign?
“I’ve given my statement to the law. I should probably swing by the Austin PD while I’m home. Without any real leads, what good does it do to stay together?”
“We do have a lead. The vacant building in the downtown area.”
“It’s a wild shot in the dark, nothing more.” The resignation in her voice struck him with the force of a physical blow. Was she telling him goodbye?
“I think it’s worth investigating,” he said.
“Maybe we should leave this to the professionals. Now that law enforcement is involved, maybe it’s time we took a step back, so we don’t make the situation worse.”
Is that what she really thought? That they would just be in the way from now on?
“The best thing either one of us can do is not get caught by these bastards again,” she said on a sharp sigh.
“If they want to use us as some kind of leverage against our parents, we should damn sure deny them the opportunity. The closer we get to them, the more likely they’ll be able to grab me again—or you.
You’re not exactly in shape to fight anyone. ”
He couldn’t argue her points. The thought of doing any of this without her sat hard on his chest.
“I can’t sit back and do nothing,” he said. “Not while my mother’s life is on the line.”
Travis perked up. “She’s right, Beau. The best course of action is to do nothing.”
Could he?
No way, and he needed time to convince Ivy to go with him. If she walked out the door, he might never see her again.
“Fine,” he said with as much conviction as he could muster. “I’ll agree to stand down if you’ll let me give you a ride to Austin.” If she agreed, that would give him time to work on her and get her to see his point of view. Possibly even gain her help.
Ivy issued another sharp sigh. Not a good sign.
“I will drop you off, and you’ll never have to see me again.” He hated that this offer might be the tipping point. “It’ll give us a chance to talk and see if we can figure out a connection between our parents before we walk away and live our own separate lives.”
Ivy’s gaze shifted to Travis’s, as if she were looking for the answer as to whether this would be a good idea or not. Beau couldn’t say that he knew his brother-in-law all that well, which made it hard to tell which way Travis leaned on the subject.
Travis gave a slight nod, approving that plan.
Ivy pursed her lips, then said, “You can give me a ride.”
His relief was short-lived when she held up a hand.
“On one condition,” she said.
“Name it.”
“You stick to your word and leave the investigation alone.”
Dammit. He didn’t want to lie to her. His word meant something to him.
“Unless there’s a solid reason for my involvement,” he amended. “Agreed?”
Ivy conceded with a nod.
“Let’s go,” he said before she could change her mind again.
Travis stood up. “I’m putting in a request for Austin PD to send cruisers by your house, Ivy. Just to keep an extra eye on the situation.”
“Thank you,” she said before grabbing her things and heading toward the back door.
She stopped before grabbing the door handle and turned.
“Thank you to everyone for making me feel welcome here. You have a beautiful home, and your family is lovely. I appreciate your warmth and kindness during my visit.”
“Come back anytime,” Chloe said before cutting across the room and pulling Ivy into a hug. “I mean it. You’re welcome here anytime. No need to call first. Just show up, and we’ll set an extra plate at the dinner table for you.”
Ivy coughed as she turned her face away from the room. Heads whirled in the opposite direction of her to give her privacy as she composed herself.
When Chloe released Ivy from the hug, she almost bolted out the door.
Beau took a step forward to follow. Chloe caught him by the forearm.
“She’s a keeper, Beau,” Chloe whispered.
Since he didn’t know how to respond, he gave a slight nod.
“Don’t let her go.” With that, Chloe released his arm and walked away.
Emotion clotted in his throat as he exited the house. For the first time, he felt accepted by his siblings and like he was part of something bigger than himself.
Who did Ivy have?
“We can take one of the ranch vehicles,” he said as he fast-walked to catch up.
Movement hurt like hell. Not as much as letting her get away will, the annoying voice in the back of his mind said.
Damn voice. What did it know anyway? It wasn’t like Beau was looking for someone to spend the rest of his life with or needed to find someone to consider himself “whole.” News flash.
He was already a whole person. No one could complete him because he was already complete.
“Do you want me to drive?” Ivy asked, cutting into his thoughts.
“I can sit and steer without passing out from pain. The least I can do is let you kick back and rest.” It occurred to him that Clay and Royce knew what she looked like. Did they know him, too?
Now that they’d had access to his phone, they must at least be aware of him.
He didn’t do selfies, so there weren’t any pictures of him on the camera roll.
His non-tech skills had finally paid off, especially with how easy it was to take a picture with the built-in camera on his phone.
He’d taken a few photos of horses as requested by some clients.
That was as far as his cameraman skills went.
Since pictures of horses wouldn’t be worth anything unless they were smart enough about horse racing to put a price tag on the stock, he figured he was safe.
Not having a phone would’ve been frustrating.
He might not be a tech wizard or dependent on a device, but it sure came in handy when he needed it.
Like now, for the GPS’s sake. Why hadn’t he thought of getting a phone for himself while at the ranch?
“Hold on,” he said. “Wait here.”
He started hobbling back toward the house.
“What do you need?” Ivy asked. “It’ll be faster for me to run and get it. At this pace, we’ll be here all day.”
He faked being shot in the heart with an arrow.
Ivy laughed. The sound was musical. He wasn’t sure he would ever hear that sound again.
“I meant to grab a phone since mine is toast. I need a GPS to get back home after dropping you off. Heck, I need one to get anywhere. As much as I pride myself on not having a phone glued to my hand twenty-four-seven, they do come in handy at times.”
“Look at you, admitting that you’re wrong about something,” she teased.
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. They were heavy with worry and fear.
He understood all too well. The roller coaster he’d just been on since he’d seen the picture of his mother had been awful.
He wouldn’t wish it on anyone. What kind of assholes toyed with someone like that?
The kind who are trying to provoke you. That’s what kind.
Ivy was right, and so was Travis. As much as Beau wanted to track down the bastards responsible and ensure justice was served, he had no intention of being obvious about it. This situation would take finesse.
“What did your sister say to you before?” Ivy asked, stopping at the back door.
“To be careful,” he said. It wasn’t a lie, since Chloe had warned him. Ivy didn’t need to know the specifics. “Stay here for a sec.”
He stepped inside the kitchen and asked for a phone.
Chloe disappeared and then returned with one a couple of minutes later. “Don’t know why I didn’t ask about this before.”
“It’s been a long day.”
She nodded as she dropped her hand to cradle her stomach.
He leaned in and whispered, “You’re an amazing mother. This little one is the luckiest kid alongside Grayson.”
Her son had taken to Beau in a heartbeat.
“And I need to take my nephew out for ice cream once this is all over so he doesn’t think he’s being replaced.”
Chloe’s smile could have lit up a whole block in a power outage. “Grayson will be thrilled. We’ll be waiting for you to come back safe.”
Did she know he planned to figure out how to save his mother with or without Ivy?
The look in Chloe’s eyes gave him the answer…yes.
“I don’t want to keep Ivy waiting,” he said. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
When he stepped outside, Ivy was gone.
Ivy heard a noise coming from somewhere in front of the truck’s hood. She panicked. The doors were locked.
Twigs snapped.
Something or someone was heading right toward her. Could she put some distance between herself and the truck or run back to the house without being seen or shot? Or was there some kind of predator out there, tracking her movements?
Shit.
Would yelling for help make it worse? Could she crawl up in a ball in the truck bed and avoid a confrontation altogether?
Slowly, she exhaled. If this was an animal, couldn’t predators smell fear? If so, she was doomed. Fear dripped down her forehead in the form of beads of sweat.
The sounds came closer. It was dark outside, and her eyes hadn’t adjusted. Her best chance of survival was inside the house.
“Help me!” she shouted. “Somebody help!”
She’d just given away her location, so she prayed someone inside the house could hear her and would come to help before whatever was stalking her caught up.
The sound of heavy footfall and labored breathing came up from behind.
“Where are you, Ivy?” Beau called out. Other voices followed, and before she knew it, she was surrounded by the Sturgess family. Her heart squeezed at the show of support. The voice in her head was quick to warn her. Don’t get used to it.
“What’s going on?” Chloe asked.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” Beau warned his sister.
Travis moved to her side. “I’ve got her covered, Beau.”
Witnessing how protective they were of each other tightened the band around her chest and caused tears to well in her eyes. She blinked them back as a cavern opened in her soul.
Ivy missed having a family. She missed having someone in her corner. She missed having someone else have her back. Being alone in the world felt like an all-consuming vat.
“It’s her,” Hudson said, leaning to the right, his gaze focused on an animal circling them. “I’ll call Marcus.”
“The mountain lion?” Kade asked.
An involuntary shiver rocked Ivy’s body at the thought that she had been stalked by a mountain lion only moments ago.
The reality that she could have been its next meal wasn’t something she wanted to consider.
It reminded her how unpredictable life was and how important it was not to put off living or doing whatever was really important to her.
You never knew when this life would end.
Instead of that being a sad thought, as it had been so many times in the past, it served as a reminder to go for the things she wanted.
When this ordeal was over, she intended to tell Beau about her growing feelings.
He could do what he wanted with the information.
Waiting and putting things off was no longer an option.
The minute they found their parents, she intended to have a conversation with him.
“You call Marcus, and I’ll grab the tranquilizer gun he left for me to use if she turned up again,” Kade said before jogging toward the house.
“Marcus?” Ivy whispered as everyone made a circle around her and Chloe.
“He’s with the wildlife department,” Beau said. “He’s been tracking this animal for weeks.”
“Is it dangerous to humans?” she asked. As far as she remembered, mountain lions typically left people alone.
“This one is,” Beau said. “You’re right, though. It’s rare for a mountain lion to hunt humans, which is why we need to capture this one and move it to a sanctuary before it kills someone or gets itself shot.”
Her pulse kicked up a few notches while listening to Beau talk. How awful would it be to be eaten alive by a mountain lion?
Kade returned with something in his hands that looked like a mini-machine gun. The tranquilizer dart gun was something out of a nature show.
Ivy realized they were on a ranch. Why didn’t it occur to her that there would be wild animals out here—predators like bears, coyotes, and even mountain lions?
She knew how dangerous wild boars and scorpions could be.
She hadn’t really thought about how truly wild it was in Texas outside of city limits.
She needed to carry a stun gun at the very least in order to protect herself.
The blissful image of the horse ranch, breezes blowing across the meadow, was now replaced with the harsh reality of predators lurking in the bushes.
The worst part about the thought of dying was leaving her father alone.
He wouldn’t be able to handle life on his own.
Would he descend into the dark abyss once again, never to return?
The thought was quickly followed by a sense of loss deeper than anything she’d imagined; loss because she would never see Beau again.
“We should get most of us inside,” Owen said as Kade took aim at something moving behind the barn.
He fired the dart. Then cursed.
Ivy shivered. He must have missed.