Authors: Paige Cameron
* * * *
Lily shut the door behind her and walked to the kitchen. She’d make a cup of tea and gather her thoughts about the weekend. When she passed the family room she stopped. What had she seen? A shiver went up her spine. She started to turn, when a handkerchief covered her mouth and nose. An arm grabbed her around the waist. She fought for freedom, kicking and twisting, but she was getting dizzy and weak.
“
No
.” She screamed the word in her head, but no sound came around the tight handkerchief. Strong arms picked her up and everything went black.
* * * *
Ty showered and checked with Dirk before leaving for the ranch house. “You’re back.”
“I wanted to see your brothers, but we had a late Sunday dinner. I’ve just arrived at my cabin. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’m going to be at the ranch house if you need me.”
“All right. Talk to you later.”
Ty snapped his cell shut and took long strides toward the house. He was anxious to have alone time with Lily. He went in the back way, expecting to find her in the kitchen. Nope. After a quick glance around the downstairs, he took the steps two at a time. She must be in her room.
She wasn’t, and the house was unusually quiet. Cold dread seeped into his veins. “No!” He screamed the word. Running now, he hurried outside. No one was in sight. She was gone, and he didn’t think she’d taken off on her own.
Quickly, he rang Dirk back. “She’s gone, Dirk. Someone has her.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“The house is empty. She had a strange call the other night. Notify the guys at the bunkhouse. Get them out looking for a stranger on horseback or in a car. I don’t know how long he’s had her.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Contact Brent as soon as they’ve landed. He’ll know what to do next. He has the right contacts. I’m taking my truck and riding down the road. Maybe I’ll see her or something out of place.”
But he was afraid the kidnapper had a head start and wasn’t the type to leave a trail for Ty to follow. Still he had to keep busy or go crazy.
Fool, if I’d stayed with her, this wouldn’t have happened. I failed, again.
He heard a noise that sent a chill through his body. Looking to the sky, he saw a helicopter rising above the trees from the opposite side of the ranch. It was flying southward. Ty didn’t have to see her to know she was going further out of his reach every second. He watched until the big bird faded out of sight, and the noise was gone. Turning his truck around, he went to the ranch house to wait until he could contact Brent. He’d better also call the local police while he waited. Whoever had her, had money and resources. What did he want? It didn’t matter. Unless they found her first, she’d probably be killed whether the person got what he wanted or not.
Chapter Eight
Lily opened her eyes to find herself in a large sedan speeding down a highway. A tall man wearing a black hood sat beside her.
Her mouth was dry, but she managed to speak. “Where am I?”
The man ignored her. In the front seat a driver and another man, both wearing hoods, also acted as though she hadn’t spoken.
“Please tell me. I don’t know what you want. And my throat is so dry. Can I have a drink?”
Cold, black eyes stared at her. “Shut up.”
“Ah come on, give her a bottle of water.” The man seated in the front passenger side spoke to the man beside her.
Her companion reached into a small cooler, opened a water bottle, and held it to her lips. Her hands were tied behind her.
Lily drank quickly, some of the liquid running down her chin.
“Slow down. You throw up on me and I’ll hit you,” the man growled, and yanked the bottle from her mouth.
Lily cuddled into the corner, making herself small. No one knew where she was. They’d never find her.
Oh, Ty, I love you, and I never got to say the words. Now I won’t get to.
The car made a left turn, throwing her against her captor. He pushed her away and fastened her seat belt, putting more pressure on her tied hands.
She looked out the window. If she wasn’t mistaken they were still in
Montana
. Snow covered the ground, and the mountains were there, but closer. A small farmhouse came into view. The car turned and headed toward it.
Her captor pulled her out as soon as the car stopped.
She stumbled against him. “Walk straight, or I’ll drag you if you fall.”
The other two came in behind them and went into another room. The tall guy, as she thought of her captor, punched numbers into a cell phone.
“We have her. When are you coming to get her? I’ll keep her until tomorrow. If you’re not here by then, I’ll kill her and dump the body. I don’t intend to get snowbound. Someone just might remember this old place and come looking.” He snapped the phone shut and glared at Lily. His dark brown eyes looked menacing. Directing her to a chair, he told her to sit. Then he tied a rope around the chair and her. Without a word, he left the room.
Lily’s heart pounded. Fear tightened her throat. Her rapid breathing was making her dizzy. She forced herself to calm down.
She knew Ty and his brothers would be looking for her. But how would they ever find this place in the middle of nowhere?
Believe. Ty will rescue me
. She repeated the words in her head over and over. In the other room she heard the men’s voices. Before long she would have to go to the bathroom. Maybe then she could try to escape, or at least check out the window and get a better picture of where they’d taken her.
* * * *
Ty called Brent as soon as he thought he’d be home. Brent answered on the second ring.
“Hi, we just got in the door.”
“Brent, she’s gone.”
“Who’s gone?”
“Lily. I dropped her off at the ranch house and went to my cabin for about an hour or so. When I got back the house was empty. She’d gotten a strange call the other day. We thought it was from the media trying to track her down, but now I’m not sure she told me the truth about the caller.”
“You don’t have any idea of where they headed?”
“I started to look for her. I saw a helicopter, in the distance, rising about the treetops and heading south. My guess is they had the copter hidden behind those hills to the left of our property about twenty miles down the road. I called the local police. They don’t know of anyone who would be in the area flying. I think that was the kidnapper carrying her away.”
“Drake and I will fly back there immediately. I’ll call Mick. He took over my business. I’ll ask him to see if he can find out any information from his contacts. We’ll find her.”
“Sheriff Grady offered to send his copter up. I’m going to ride with them. We’ll see if we can spot anything suspicious.”
“Good idea. Drake and I will be there as soon as possible,” Brent said and hung up.
Ty looked out the window at the sky. If only the snow held off to give them time to search. He punched in the numbers for the Sheriff’s office. “You want me to drive to town, or will you pick me up here?”
“Stay put,” Sheriff Grady said. “Our pilot and I will be there in thirty minutes.”
He snapped his phone shut and paced the family room floor. It was only a few days ago that they were tangled together on the rug. Her warm body cuddled against his. They had to find her.
Once she was safe he’d send her away to stay with Angie and Brent. The risk of loving and losing hurt more than being alone. His fear for Lily reminded him he never wanted to feel that deep pain of loss again.
* * * *
Lily called out. Her kidnapper, the tall man, came into the room.
“What do you want?” he growled.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” Embarrassment made her face flush with heat.
He turned and walked back out but hollered for a man named Mac. “Take her to the bathroom, but check it first. Make sure she can’t get out.”
Lily’s heart sank. They weren’t going to let down their guard. The thin man, who’d sat up front with the driver, came and released her ties.
“What about my hands?” she asked.
He stared hard at her and then shrugged. “You wouldn’t get far in this cold if you did try to escape.” He undid the rope. Then he clasped her arm in a tight grip and led her down a short hall to the bathroom. He opened the door, looked around, and pushed her in, snapping the door shut behind her.
She took her time. When she washed her hands, she left the water running. The room was small with one little window. Time had made it stick tight. She pushed on it, but it only went up a tiny bit. What could she throw outside on the white snow?
Glancing down she saw nothing to use until she stepped back and caught sight of her blue socks. Would they notice? Her jeans were long. It was worth a try. Quickly she took off one sock and edged it out around the screen, then pulled the window all the way down again.
Her hand went into her pocket to get her cell phone. Of course it was gone. The man who grabbed her must have tossed it somewhere along the way. Maybe her GPS would work, if the phone hadn’t been damaged or the cold didn’t freeze the insides. She knew she was grabbing at straws to keep her hope up. But she had to believe she’d be found.
She opened the door just as the thin man had reached for the knob. He looked suspiciously around the room before taking her back and tying her hands behind her and rewinding the rope around the chair.
“May I have a little water? I’m so dry.”
He didn’t say anything, but returned shortly with a bottle. He held it to her lips and let her take a few swallows. “Now shut up for a while.” He strode to the back of the house to join his friends.
I’ve done all I can. Now I have to pray they come this way, by some miracle, and see my sock. Small chance, but it’s all I’ve got.
* * * *
The Sheriff’s helicopter landed. Ty ran to get on. Soon they were in the air heading south.
“It’s cold and threatening snow. I suspect they had a hideout chosen not too far from here,” Sheriff Grady said. “There’s lots of empty land, but where they’d choose to hide out is the mystery.” Both he and Ty surveyed the ground as they flew over.
“I’ve heard of an isolated landing strip about twenty miles from us,” the pilot said. “I’ll swing by, and we can check it out.”
Ty prayed they’d get a break, otherwise he didn’t want to think about what might happen. He searched the barren, empty prairie as they flew along. The helicopter angled to the left and rose higher to go over a large boulder. On the other side was the landing strip.
“I’ll set her down. You two can check the area.” The bird lowered and circled then landed.
Ty and Sheriff Grady jumped out and, bending low, ran toward an old shack on the edge of the tarmac. When they opened the door, a white-haired man almost bumped into them.
“You just caught me. I was leaving.” He glanced past them to the helicopter. “I hadn’t had any business in months, and now two landings in one day.” He shook his head. “This can’t be a coincidence.”
“Who landed earlier?” Sheriff Grady asked, and showed his badge.
“Two men and a woman. The man had called yesterday and set up the landing and asked me to keep the bird in my hangar.” He nodded toward the old hangar to the right of them. “When they landed, one man carrying a woman ran toward a brown sedan waiting for them.”