54. Chapter 54 - Cade
Sweat runs down my back and makes my shirt stick in the sweltering June heat. It’s just as much work searching the vendor tents as it is trying to avoid running into any of my family.
All while circling back to the stands over and over to check on Rosalyn.
Wade meets up with me again behind a row of white arts and crafts tents, pulling off his hat to run his forearm across his head.
We’re all fucking hot.
“The ceremony is any minute. If it’s gonna happen, it makes the most sense during the vows.” His lips are thin as he looks past me. “No one has seen anything yet.”
“What about either of the Baileys? If they show up, that’d be a sign.” My fingers twitch in the desperate need to close them around Eli’s throat.
But Wade’s expression is grim. “Not yet. Come on, I got a spot we can watch the wedding…if you wanted?” He raises his brows with the question.
“I’d like that.” I swallow around the sudden lump in my throat.
“Just keep your head down,” Wade sighs. “They’re still hot to trot that it’s you behind all this shit. I don’t know why you’re letting that run…”
“Because if they knew it was Eli and John, it could bring down even more danger on all of them.” My jaw clenches. “And you know it.”
He lets out a long exhale. “Yea, I do. Fuck, Cade.” His meaty palm slaps my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Wanting to be a part of my family is a constant sting. Yet here I am on the sidelines, spying from the shadows like some kind of fucking creep because of a course of actions put in place over a decade ago I had no fault in.
Eli took this from me.
I dip the brim of my hat as Sophia rides past. Her smile and focus isn’t on me, but the man behind her on his horse swinging a rope in a feigned chase.
The absolute joy in her eyes makes my heart swell and ache over the time I’ve missed. I was there to pick her up the first time she fell out of a saddle. Her cheeks were stained with dirt and tears. It took some coaxing but she got back on.
Those kids were my little riding buddies. Her and Sawyer would double up on that old buckskin mare and we’d run the pastures for hours.
Maybe one day I’ll get to rekindle this relationship.
I can just barely see Rosalyn from here. She’s riveted to the arena where Dixon stands middle stage.
My damn brother I can’t even talk to.
They’re here in fear of me.
“Soon,” I mutter as the ceremony finishes. “I’m gonna fix all this shit.”
“Damn right.” Wade nods. “I’m gonna make a sweep around before it gets dark. Can’t believe nothing happened.” Shaking his head, he strides away. His hat floats higher than most of the people in the crowd, making it easy to follow his path.
My gaze drifts past him along the edge of the barricade.
Then I see a man in a white Stetson, pointing back up into the stands.
Fuck. It’s John.
Grabbing my phone, I dial Wade’s number while trying to push through the masses in his direction.
Come on. Pick up.
When his voicemail kicks on, I shove it in my pocket, beelining for the place I saw him last. By the time I circle the arena, John’s gone.
What the hell was he pointing to?
Looking in the general direction I remember his hand, I nearly drop as ice grips me.
It’s a punch to the gut when I see the area where Rosalyn has been perched.
Empty.
I have to get there. Now.
Running through people, crashing between couples, pushing around bunches, it still takes me too fucking long to get there.
Panic has me panting when I reach the base of the seats.
She’s gone.
Using the rail, I duck under the bleachers themselves, short cutting around the shadowy supports to try and veer towards the exit.
But where the hell is Rosalyn?
Pulling out my cell again, I try to call her.
Voice mail? God damn it! “Rosalyn! Call me!” I leave a frantic message, then start to dial Wade when I catch a glimpse of a shiny big flatbed truck, decked out with balloons and window paint with ‘Just Married’ blazing down each side.
And the man who’s squatting behind it over a barrel tied to the tow hitch, a gray baseball cap unable to hide the blaze of nearly white-blond hair.
When the bill raises, I see the face of evil.
Eli.
With a grin, he waves with something small and black in his hand.
A remote.
The barrel.
He stands and points his finger at me like a gun, firing off his thumb before turning on his heel to saunter away.
No. Not today.
Running faster than I have in over a decade, I race past the barrels tied to the truck and tackle him from behind.
The small plastic device skitters across the gravel as Eli lands with a grunt.
When he catches me across the bridge of the nose with his elbow, it makes stars pop in my eyes while he wiggles out from under me.
“You’re gonna kill us both you stupid mother fucker,” he grunts. “You’re the one who needs to pay.”
“For what you did?” Reaching out, I grab at his pant leg but he turns, kicking at me, just as he grabs the remote.
“I’ll take us both out and you’ll never see Sal again.” He leers from the ground.
Rosalyn.
“Where is she?” I growl, my fist poised in the air.
“Safe from you. Let me go or she dies.” His gritted words make me freeze.
I know he’s lying. Yet I can’t risk her life.
I’ll always choose her.
He scrambles up, glancing behind me. “Or we can stay here and I take your family with me.” His grin is eerily calm as he nods towards the bleachers.
With a fast look over my shoulder, I can just see Sophia and her new husband moving closer through the shadows.
By the time I turn back to Eli, he’s gone.
I want to scream out in rage.
My body tries to revolt as I push myself up from the dirt and stumble towards my niece.
“Sophia!” I cry out, reaching for her. She needs to get away.
“Hey, don’t.” She jerks her elbow away.
“What the fuck?” Oliver jumps past her to get between us, his mouth dropping open as he stares into my face.
“Cade!” she exhales, backing away.
But her long train wraps around her legs, tripping her.
“Sophia, get in the truck!” he yells, raising his fists.
They can’t. “Don’t you dare—” I try to reach for her again.
“Like hell.” Oliver’s fist connects with my jaw and another blaze of pain has me backing away.
Fuck. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Sophia scrambles up, her limp slowing her as she tries to rush.
I can’t let her get near the truck. Making a fast side-step, I manage to just catch the edge of her dress. I hate that she falls but I can barely see past my swelling cheek. “Stay away from the—”
“Motherfucker.” He hits me again, sending me backwards.
Damn it.
As I hit the gravel, I see her. The red shirt I made her wear, running in slow motion in my direction.
My Rosalyn.
No!
It takes every ounce of strength I have to push myself up.
Dragging my leg, I limp in a disjointed gallop towards her.
Wrapping her in my arms, I tackle her to the ground behind a concrete divider, just as the shock wave of heat and deafening sound erupts around us.
As gravel and fire billow above us, I bury her beneath me, covering her body with mine.
My ears ring in a way I only remember happening once before.
The accident.
“Ros,” I cough against the wall of dust encapsulating us.
She is my priority. Always.
“Ros, are you okay?” Raising my head, I blink past the dirt stinging my eyes.
She squeezes her own shut but nods. “They’re here.”
“I know, baby. I was trying to find you.” Blood rushes through my ears at the violent panic of not knowing where she was. “I love you so fucking much.”
“He’s going to find me,” she stammers. “Please. We have to get out of here.”
The screams behind me start to overtake the ringing. Part of me wants to check on Sophia.
Ros will always be first. If Eli and John are both here, who knows what their next step is?
Fuck, everything hurts as I stand and help her up.
But I don’t think I broke anything. “Am I bleeding?” I lift my brows and do a quick turn.
“Only your nose and lip.” Her ginger touch wisps over my swollen face.
“Can’t make this ol’ mug worse,” I mutter wryly. “Let’s go, baby.”