Holiday Hideout (11 page)

“Because she was a victim in her own home. She didn’t feel safe. She was trying to survive even as she tried to figure out what to do.” Abby knew it as well as she knew her own name.

“Yeah, I guess. But none of us saw it that way.”

“Because the cop, her husband, said so.” She couldn’t help the bitterness that stung her words.

“And it’s one of the reasons I’ve never been able to let it go.” Cal glanced at her and she shivered at the pain centered in his eyes. When he looked back to the road, Abby felt a small stirring of hope. Had he learned his lesson? Would he believe her if she told him about Reese? Believe that she hadn’t done anything wrong—legally—and if Reese or someone he hired was after her, that he was out to hurt her?

Maybe.

But what would he say about the fact that she’d filed a restraining order against a cop? How would he feel about that?

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“You saved Daniel’s life.” His statement came out of nowhere.

“He was choking. I simply cleared his airway.” She noticed the car again. It seemed out of place on this lonely stretch between town and Cal’s ranch. Cal’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and she saw his brows draw down toward the bridge of his nose. Eyes still on the mirror, he said, “Holly said you’re a doctor.”

Abby paused. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you share this little bit of information about yourself before?”

She sighed. “Because it wasn’t important. It doesn’t define who I am. Right now, I’m not Dr. O’Sullivan. I’m Abby. Just a woman trying to make sense out of a life gone crazy,” she finished on a whisper.

She felt his fingers grip hers for a brief moment and knew he’d accepted her need to be a woman. Not a doctor.

“But you still helped Daniel.”

“Of course I did.” She frowned. “Just because I don’t want to be a doctor right now doesn’t mean I can just set aside those skills when someone’s in an emergency situation.”

“I didn’t mean to imply— Get down!”

The back windshield exploded as Cal jerked her down and toward him. He yanked the wheel to the left at the same time. Abby’s scream echoed through the SUV.

The heavy vehicle bounced off the main road. Cal kept his foot off the brake and let the vehicle bump along. His gaze swept behind him as the cold air blew in from the back.

Abby shot up and spun around to look out. “He’s still there.”

Cal grabbed her coat and yanked her back down. “And he probably still has a gun, so stay out of sight.”

The SUV came to a stop, and Cal released his own weapon from his holster. With one eye on the vehicle still sitting on the road, he grabbed his cell phone and punched in Eli’s number.

When the man answered, Cal hollered, “Someone just shot out the back of my truck. I need some backup.”

“Shot out—” Eli sputtered, then growled, “Where are you?”

Another shot cracked the driver’s side mirror and Cal flinched as Eli shouted, “Was that another shot?”

“Yes,” Cal shouted back. “We’re sitting ducks, Eli.”

He scanned the trees ahead. The ranch lay in that direction, but did they dare leave what little protection the car offered to hike through the trees?

He looked at her white pinched face and felt the anger surge through him. Fingers wrapped around the 9mm, Cal watched the man in the vehicle, taking in as many details as he could.

The business end of a rifle stared back at him. With the tinted window only partially lowered, Cal couldn’t get a good look at the driver. Keeping his head low, he asked Abby, “You know anyone who drives an older model gray Buick?”

“No.”

“Me, neither.” From his position, Cal saw the Buick roll forward, then stop again.

What was he doing?

Head low, Cal pressed the gas to the SUV. The chains grabbed and held and the vehicle inched forward. Another crack sounded a bullet slammed into the back.

Abby gave another whimper. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered and Cal’s anger mounted.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t ask for this.” Teeth gritted, he said, “Eli will be here as soon as possible.”

“It’s not going to be soon enough. What is he waiting on?”

Her question echoed his own. “I don’t know.”

Again, he pressed the gas pedal and again the SUV moved forward.

The Buick backed up. Slowly. Inch by inch. Then the rifle fixated on the driver’s side of the SUV.

“Duck!” Cal grabbed Abby head and pulled her down to shelter her beneath his own body. Tremors shivered through her and he could almost taste her fear.

The driver’s window shattered, raining glass over them. Cal flinched as the small pieces stung the back of his neck.

He looked up and around.

The Buick’s taillights were fading.

But was the guy leaving? Or just making him think he was?

Cal grabbed Abby’s hand. “Come on, we’re going to hike it to my house.”

“Hike? I don’t even know if I can stand up right now.” Shock had bleached her face of any color she might have started the day with.

“You have a determined psycho on your tail. He’s already attacked you twice today. I don’t know if he’s gone or coming back. We need to get out of the car while we can and get to some stable shelter.” Like his house where he had weapons and enough ammo to outlast their attacker.

The hum of an engine reached his ears.

Abby’s stricken gaze slammed into his.

Opening his door, he rolled out of the vehicle, glass falling from him to land in the snow. He heard Abby open her door and soon she was beside him.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward the trees and in the direction of his house.

Heart in her throat, Abby stumbled along beside Cal, risking a glance over her shoulder. She had no idea where they were or where he was taking her.

But she had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

Her legs shook so badly that she wondered if she could make it to wherever he was leading her. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told him she wasn’t sure she could stand.

So far, she was holding her own.

“Where are we going?”

“My house. It’s just over that hill. The trees will hide us pretty well. At least until we come to my backyard.”

With his left hand, his fingers gripped hers. With his right, he held his weapon ready.

“Was that him coming back? The engine we heard?” Abby gasped in air as she hurried beside him. The cold stung her cheeks and she wished she had grabbed her gloves from the dash.

“I don’t know. Either him or Eli. I’m hoping Eli, expecting the bad guy, you know?”

“Oh.” And then she had no more breath for talking. She struggled through the snow, slipping occasionally, grateful for Cal’s steady hand.

And then they came to the edge of the trees. About half a football field’s length away, Cal’s house sat on a gentle slope.

It reminded her of a cozy log cabin and she couldn’t wait to get there.

But first they had to get across the open expanse of white.

Abby caught her breath and watched him scan the area. He was on the phone with Eli again. When he hung up, he said, “Eli said he found my SUV.”

“But not the Buick?”

“Nope. Eli’s put out a BOLO for the Buick. Right now, he’s going to see if a tow truck can get in and he can get the SUV towed to a repair shop for me. He’s got everyone on duty looking for the Buick, Abby, we’ll find it—and the guy who goes with it.”

She shivered and saw his eyes dart one way, then back. “We’re going to make a run for it, okay?”

“You think he’s waiting for us?”

Cal’s tight jaw got tighter. “I don’t know. But I can’t leave you here alone to go find out.”

She agreed with that. The last thing she wanted was to be left behind.

Cal still held his phone and she heard it vibrate. He held it to his ear. “Hello?” Pause. “Where? Okay, I’ll be on the lookout.”

“What?” she asked, fear nearly choking her.

“Joel came across the Buick. It’s empty and belongs to Steve Jacobs. He reported it stolen this morning.”

“And no sign of the guy who tried to kill us?”

“Eli’s asking CSU to come in and process it.”

Abby noticed that even as he talked, he never took his eyes from their surroundings, his hyperalertness never dissipated.

“Okay,” he said, “come on.”

With a firm grip on her hand, he pulled her away from the shelter of the trees. They hurried, slogging their way through the snow toward Cal’s front door.

Abby noticed that he kept her back to his front and knew that he was doing his best to make sure she was as small a target as possible.

Just before they hit the front porch, Cal let go of her hand. When she heard the jingle of keys, she figured out why. He didn’t lose a step jamming it into the lock and turning it.

Throwing the door open, he pushed her in and slammed the dead bolt home after him. Abby’s legs gave out and she sank to the floor. Cal looked at her. “You okay?”

“I will be.” Maybe.

“Be right back.”

From her position by the front door, she watched him stride through the foyer and into the kitchen. Then he turned right and disappeared from her view, not worried about the snow he was tracking along his wood floors.

Looking around, it dawned on her that she was in Cal’s house. A beautiful log house with a green roof. The stone fireplace awaited a match. Murmuring came to her and she realized he was on the phone with someone again.

Heavy boots announcing his return distracted her from her perusal.

When he saw her still sitting where he’d left her, he raised a brow. “I called Joseph and Fiona and told them to be on guard. Joseph’s contacting the rest of the men. If this guy shows up, we’ll be ready and waiting for him.”

Abby bit her lip as he held out a hand to help her up. She reached for him and when his warm fingers closed around hers she wanted to burst into tears or fling herself into his arms.

Then she took note of the rifle in his other hand. “What are you going to do?”

“Go hunting.”

TEN

J
oseph’s truck sat in the drive as Cal escorted her back to his sister’s house. “What’s Joseph going to say about me coming back here?”

“I talked to him. He’s okay with it.”

He sounded sure, but Abby had her doubts. For now, she didn’t have a choice. She was stuck. On a ranch with at least one person who didn’t want her here. A pregnant woman who might deliver any day in the middle of a snowy winter.

And a person who seemed determined to cause her enormous amounts of grief.

She couldn’t help but wonder how Cal’s mother felt about her. Probably the same way her own mother felt. According to Abby’s mother, Abby had betrayed them, her mother, her sister, Reese…all of them. And she didn’t deserve their love anymore. Or their forgiveness.

Maybe that’s why she felt God had turned His back on her, too. If the people who were supposed to love her the most could do that to her, why wouldn’t God?

The very idea shook her faith to the core.

But God was perfect. Humans were…human.

Then she didn’t have time to think anymore as Cal helped her out of the truck.

“It stopped snowing.” A winter wonderland of beautiful, endless white greeted her.

“Yep, but it’ll start back up again, I’m sure.”

Smoke rose from the bunkhouse chimney and she knew the men must have decided to get out of the weather.

All in all, it looked like peace reigned out here.

She looked at the house and walked toward it.

And braced herself for the reception she was afraid she was going to receive.

She shouldn’t have wasted her energy worrying.

Fiona threw her arms around her as soon as Abby stepped inside. “Oh, I’m so glad you came back.” Joseph stood with his arms crossed, his hostility level only slightly decreased from when he’d dropped her at the bus station.

Wrapped in the woman’s awkward embrace, Abby felt something nudge her belly. Then a more forceful punch made her gasp a laugh. Pulling back she fought the tears. How many times had Keira called her over to feel the baby move?

Fiona giggled. “Sorry, not even born yet and I can’t control him.”

“Her,” Joseph muttered. He straightened and looked at Abby. “Cal says you’re okay.” His expression softened. “If Cal says he trusts you, then I do, too. You’re welcome to the basement apartment.”

“Thanks, Joseph.”

“Besides, Cal said you’re a doctor.” He eyed Fiona’s round figure. “A doctor might come in handy in the next few days.”

He could have said anything but that and she would have been fine. Now terror struck her heart. There was no way she was delivering that baby in this house. “But you said you could get her to the hospital no matter the weather.”

“Sure, that’s the plan and I have the vehicle to do it, but it sure is comforting to know you’re here.”

For the first time since her sister’s death, Abby felt the need to be closer to God, to pray and have her prayers answered.
Please, God, don’t ask me to deliver that baby.

But the uneasy feeling in her gut said God might have other plans for her.

She cast a wary glance at Cal and the sympathy on his face made her feel only marginally better. Forcing a smile, she said, “Well, now that my bag was stolen and shopping is out of the question, I might need to borrow a few items of clothing.”

Fiona laughed and side-hugged her. “No problem.”

Thursday morning, Cal shook his head and looked at Joseph. “Temperature’s dropping. We need to get those horses in the barn. You ready to round ’em up?”

“Ready when you are.”

“Jesse and the boys are already bringing them in.”

Joseph looked at the sky. “At least the snow’s slowed down.”

“For now. It’s supposed to start up again later tomorrow. But it’s supposed to be in the teens tonight. We’re going to have us one big ice-skating rink.” Cal pressed his lips together and thought about his sister. They’d all assured her that they’d get her to the hospital as soon as she gave them the word. But that was in a normal snowy winter. Not this icy stuff that was expected.

He looked at Joseph. “I think we should get Fiona into town. At least where Dylan can get to her to help deliver the baby. I know we told her it was no big deal to get her to the hospital, but I gotta be honest, I’m worried.”

His brother-in-law frowned and looked at the sky. “You might be right.”

“I think we can still get her there. Driving home earlier wasn’t so bad with the chains on the tires, but after this stuff turns to ice—” He pulled in a deep breath. “Yeah, not so sure about that.”

His thoughts turned to the man who’d stolen Abby’s bag. Where was he? Was he camping out somewhere on the land, waiting for his next chance at Abby or was he snugged up in a hotel room biding his time, waiting for the storm to pass?

He just didn’t know. Which meant he and his men couldn’t drop their guard for a minute.

As he and Joseph headed out to the pasture, his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Cal, it’s Eli. I looked at the video footage from Holly’s store.”

“You get anything?” Anticipation churned inside him. If they could get a positive ID on the guy, they’d be able to find him.

“Not much.” Eli’s disgusted sigh deflated Cal’s hope. “We got that he’s about five-ten to six feet and even though the video’s black-and-white, it looks like the guy has light-colored hair.”

“Could you see his face?”

“No. He was careful to keep the hoodie pulled over it.” Eli paused. “It looks like he slipped into the store during the commotion with Daniel. He never once looked away from Abby. When she went back into the internet area, this guy followed her, gave her a shove and grabbed her bag.”

Cal grimaced. “All right. Thanks for the update. I’ll pass the description on to the guys. We’ll be on the lookout.”

Back in the small apartment, Abby rubbed her chilled arms, did her best to put the two latest attempts on her life out of her head and stared at the computer screen.

Insurance fraud.

She’d finally figured it out. It was the only thing that made sense. But who was responsible for it?

Fortunately, she had access to all of her partners’ files. Sometimes they shared patients, so they had to be able to access it to make notes, update information or whatever.

But how would she be able to tell who was actually responsible for the fraud? It would take someone more computer savvy than herself. She wondered if a computer-forensics person would be able to track the original source.

In actuality, it looked like the blame lay on her shoulders. She gulped. Was someone setting her up? So that she would take the fall if the fraud was ever discovered?

A sick feeling invaded her. Who would do this? And why? Well, for the money obviously, but as to the who…

It would almost have to be one of her partners, wouldn’t it? Or one of the office staff who had access. She thought about Lisa, one of the secretaries, who always seemed to find an excuse to be in Abby’s office. Or the receptionist who stayed late to “just finish up.”

Abby gave up going through the list of employees. It was too long.

She’d have to check each and every file. Then again, while she knew her regular patients well, she wouldn’t know the others who she didn’t see on a regular basis.

Abby sat back in the chair with a huff. So, what now?

She needed to make a phone call.

But how could she do it without the call being traced? Then again, did taking precautions really matter? It was obvious whoever was after her knew exactly where she was. Which was why she should have kept going or at least stayed in the bus station. If Reese brought grief to this little family…

Standing, she grabbed her jeans from the chair where she’d tossed them before slipping into a pair of Fiona’s sweats. Reaching into the little hideaway pocket, she pulled out the cell phone and battery. She slipped the battery into the back of the phone and powered it up.

Twenty missed calls.

She scrolled through her call list.

None from her parents. Tears stung the back of her eyelids and she blinked. Then noticed one particular call that caught her attention. An outgoing call to her mother made—after she’d been here with the McIvers.

Someone had used her phone to call her mother.

Cal.

He’d been snooping through the apartment, found her phone and…made the call.

It had to have been him.

A sense of betrayal rushed through her. Then she stopped. Could she blame him? He hadn’t known her at all when he’d brought her into his home. Of course it made sense that he would check up on her.

Abby stilled, her fingers remained wrapped around the phone. Cal hadn’t even asked her about her last name being O’Sullivan when he read the letter.

Because he’d already known it.

He’d talked to one of her parents. Probably her mother because that was the number he’d called.

Sorrow hit her and she wanted to weep. He hadn’t told her he’d called her mother most likely because her mother didn’t want anything to do with Abby. And Cal was trying to spare her. Possibly. Or gather more evidence against her.

“Lord, please,” she whispered the anguished prayer. “Please let them forgive me one day.”

On the phone, Cal spoke to Jesse. They’d already made three trips, horses in tow. The whole process was taking longer than usual because Cal wanted everyone to work in teams. One to gather the horses and one to keep a watch on the surrounding area for anyone who wanted to get trigger-happy.

The barns held forty-two stalls in all, thirty-one of them in use.

Joseph led two horses. Cal brought up the rear with the last three. He was cold and wanted a warm cup of coffee and some time with Abby. The thought of her waiting at the house made his stomach clench in anticipation.

His heart thudded and he just shook his head at the emotions roiling through him.

He’d almost lost her, though. When she’d insisted on leaving, he’d wanted to grab her and hold her so she couldn’t escape. So she wouldn’t
want
to leave.

“You okay?” Joseph asked.

“Yep. Just thinking.”

“About a pretty little redhead?”

Cal smiled. “Something like that.”

The teasing light in Joseph’s eyes died as he slid from the back of his horse and looped the reins over the rail in front of the barn. He did the same with one of the other horses. “You be careful with her, Cal. We don’t know much about her.”

Defensiveness rose in him and then fizzed. Joseph was right. “I know. I asked Eli to do a background check on her after I read that letter.”

Relief lit up his brother-in-law’s face. “What did he find out?”

“Haven’t heard anything from him yet, which means he didn’t turn up anything.” He wondered if he should tell Eli to make it a priority. “Watch the ice.”

Joseph clicked and led the one horse into the barn, avoiding some icy patches where the snow had been packed down and frozen over.

Cal dismounted and looped his reins next to Joseph’s horse who tossed his head. Cal patted his neck and turned his attention to the skittish mare next to him. Working with her had been difficult. She’d been neglected and malnourished by the time Leigh Ann, Joel’s wife, had found her.

Determined to rescue the horse, Leigh Ann had decided Cal’s ranch was the perfect place for the animal. Normally, he didn’t take in horses that needed that much work, but Leigh Ann had begged him and he’d caved.

He had to admit she was doing much better, learning to trust human hands rather than fear them.

Cal led his horses into the barn, one by one and put them in their individual stalls. Joseph forked over the hay and made sure the water buckets were filled.

“Going to get Princess Mary,” Joseph said as he rubbed Snickers’s nose.

“I’ll get her if you want to head on up to check on Fiona.”

“Naw, it’ll take only a minute.”

Cal nodded and gave Snickers the apple he was searching for. After giving Snickers one last pat, Cal headed out of the barn, Abby’s pretty face at the forefront of his mind.

Joseph had his hands on the skittish horse’s lead when a barn cat shot from the building right under Princess Mary’s front hooves. The horse reared in fright and came down hard on the snow. Joseph stumbled and backed up, still holding the lead.

A loud crack sounded and puffed up ice and snow in front of Joseph and the horse.

Cal watched in disbelief as the horse reared again, only to come down, one shoed hoof catching Joseph in the shoulder spinning him into the hitching rail.

“Joseph!”

Cal started toward him as the man screamed his pain and went down. The mare went up on her hind legs for the third time, hit an icy patch and fell straight toward the already wounded man.

Cal froze. “Joseph! Roll!”

This time the scream came from the animal as she lost her balance, a high-pitched cry that scraped across Cal’s nerves, sending waves of fear all over him.