Chapter 9 The Long Game

The next morning, Noelle awoke to the incessant vibrating of her cell phone on the nightstand. "Just stop," she muttered, reaching blindly for it. It was way too early for chatting. She squinted at the screen, wondering who would be rude enough to call her at five o'clock in the morning.

She groaned out loud at the name flashing across the screen.

Beatrice Ward.

Noelle had missed no less than three calls from her already. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Weren't her parents supposed to be on another cruise, this time to the Mediterranean? She seemed to remember her mother saying something about visiting with a friend overseas for her birthday. Had something gone wrong? Though Noelle wasn't close to them, she wished them no ill.

With a sigh of resignation, she took the call. "Mom?"

"Good gracious! You're awfully hard to get ahold of!" Her mother sounded so indignant that Noelle's heart leaped into her throat.

"What's wrong?" She gripped the phone harder, bracing herself for bad news. "Is Dad okay?"

"He's fine. We're both fine," her mother snapped. "Aren't I allowed to call my own daughter?"

"It's five o'clock in the morning," Noelle pointed out, hanging on to her patience by a thread.

"I miss you," her mother whined.

Right. Noelle wasn't buying that line. The two of them hadn't been close in, well, ever. Noelle had mostly been raised by nannies and babysitters while her mother shopped, spent endless hours at the health spa, and hung out with her country club friends.

She muffled a yawn and infused as much politeness into her voice as she could. "How's the cruise?" As usual, her mother had to be working an angle. Hopefully, she'd get to the real point of her call quickly so Noelle could go back to sleep.

"The first half was decent. Then your dad got sick, and we had to cut it short." It was hard to tell if her mother was mad, sad, or just accepting of their truncated vacation plans.

Noelle sat up straighter, feeling more awake. "Is he alright?"

"He is now. I already told you that. We jumped ship, so to speak, caught a flight from Rome, and arrived home last night."

"You mean you're back in Pinetop?" Noelle's stomach muscles clenched. A little more of a heads up would've been nice.

"Where else? Pinetop is where we live now, sweetie." Despite the endearment, her mother managed to sound more condescending than affectionate.

"Are you going to take Dad to the doctor today?" Noelle frowned into the darkness, wondering if she should offer to accompany them.

"I don't think that's necessary. He finally admitted he forgot to take his blood pressure meds for a few days. We think his symptoms were a direct result of that."

But you don't know that for sure. "You might want to take him to get seen anyway, Mom. Just to be safe."

"Your dad is stubborn. I can't exactly make him go." Her mother's tone indicated that she felt like the real victim in the situation.

Noelle rolled her eyes. "If anyone can persuade him, Mom, you can." Her mother held an almost uncanny power over the man.

"Tell you what." Triss Ward's voice grew wheedling.

Here it comes. Her mother was so predictable sometimes that it was laughable.

"I might be able to twist his arm about going to the doctor if you agree to join us for lunch." Her voice grew deceptively soft. "You know, as a reward for good behavior."

The mere thought of being alone with her parents for an hour straight made Noelle's head ache. However, they were overdue for a visit. She had no interest in being hounded to death within the seclusion of their home, but maybe they could meet at a restaurant.

"Alright." She swallowed another groan. "I'm supposed to work at the ranch today, but?—"

Her mother's gasp drowned out the rest of what she was going to say. "You mean you've patched things up with Brady?"

"Actually, I've been helping Shelly out in the front office." More like keeping her company, but Noelle didn't feel like she owed her mother any more details.

"My sweet little rolling stone," her mother murmured. "Always tumbling here and there, following your heart wherever it leads."

The underlying criticism in her words stung. After all these years, Triss Ward still couldn't muster up an ounce of credit for how hard Noelle had worked to become a respected horse trainer. To this day, her parents considered what she did for a living to be a waste of the money they'd spent on her college education.

To call her mother out on the insult, however, would only give her an excuse to fall into hysterics and play the victim again. Instead, Noelle gave a noisy yawn in her ear, making no effort to hide her tiredness. "If you want me to show up for lunch without saddlebags under my eyes, I'd best get back to bed."

"We should be back from the doctor's office in time for an early lunch," her mother said quickly. "How does eleven o'clock sound?"

"Eleven sounds perfect." Noelle didn't know how her mother could already be so sure about their schedule today before calling the doctor's office, but it didn't feel prudent to point that out. "Let's meet at the Gingerbread House. They serve incredible soups, salads, and sandwiches, plus every flavor of tea imaginable." She paused, fully expecting her mother to raise a protest and try to change the venue to something more posh. Like Castellano's. Were they even open for lunch?

"That sounds lovely, dear." Triss Ward's formal tone was an uncomfortable reminder of Noelle's cotillion days.

Ugh! She did not miss those forced ballroom dance lessons with the sons and daughters of her parents' stuffy friends. All too many of them had been spoiled, entitled brats.

"Alright. We'll chat more later." Noelle yawned again. "In the meantime, I'm going to catch some more beauty sleep."

"So you keep saying." Her mother's voice took on an edge of an arctic chill.

"Bye, Mom!"

"Goodbye, sweetie."

Noelle disconnected the line before her mother could think of a reason to keep her on the phone longer.

No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn't go back to sleep after their call. Though she had no desire to wake Nash, she shot him a text message about an hour later.

You won't believe who called and woke me at the crack of five!

His answer came back so quickly that he must not have been asleep, either. She wasn't overly surprised. He was a pretty early riser.

Cookie?

She read his message and burst out laughing at his mention of the young filly she was training back at Canyon Creek Ranch. Just seeing her name made Noelle miss the adorable, speckled pony.

Noelle:Not even close. I'm doing lunch with my parents. That's both a prayer request and a "please standby for assistance" alert.

Nash: Thought they were on a cruise.

Noelle: They came back early. Lucky me!

Nash: I'll be praying everything goes smoothly.

Noelle: Any chance you're free for lunch today?

Nash: I wish. Got another physical therapy appointment.

Noelle: Way to dodge a bullet!

Nash: I'll only be a call or text away.

Noelle: If you don't receive some sort of proof of life message every hour on the hour, send out a search party. I was last seen at the Gingerbread House.

Nash: You don't have to go if you don't want to.

Noelle: So I keep telling myself. But I can't avoid them forever.

Nash: Sure you can.

Noelle: You have no idea how persistent my mom can be.

Nash: If you'd rather vent in person, I can throw on some sweats and we'll go for a walk.

Noelle: It's a date!

Though she enjoyedevery moment of their sunrise stroll and their parting kiss at the end, she couldn't shake the feeling of dread burgeoning inside her. Just for kicks, she jokingly gave him access to the GPS tracker on her phone before parting ways.

"Maybe I should reschedule my appointment." He frowned in concern as they pocketed their phones again.

"No, don't do that." She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm probably just being paranoid. I've been to the Gingerbread House a bazillion times with you and your brothers. What's the worst my parents can do in broad daylight other than be their normal condescending selves?"

"I'm sorry." He cuddled her closer. "Guess I didn't realize how bad things truly were between you guys. The sooner I get you back to Texas where you belong, the better."

She smiled against his lips. "Thank you for understanding." Sharing the burden with him made it feel more bearable. It didn't stop the dread forming in her belly, though. The knot grew bigger with each passing minute. All too soon, it was time to get ready to meet her parents.

She fiddled with one of the dresses she'd packed but wasn't really in a dress-up kind of mood. In the end, she selected a pair of black jeans and a filmy white blouse with thin black stripes. Classy but simple. She twisted her hair into a loose braid over one shoulder and stepped into a pair of black cowgirl boots. Setting a straw Stetson at a sassy angle on her head, she added the final detail — a pair of aviator sunglasses.

When she moved across the room to survey herself in the mirror, she looked exactly the way she hoped, like a horse trainer for a world-famous bronc riding champion. It would burn her mother's bacon that she hadn't bothered dressing up more for lunch, but Noelle was tired of pretending to be something she wasn't. She was never going to be the tennis playing, country club snob her parents had hoped she would turn out to be.

I'm me. Take it or leave it. She kind of hoped they'd decide to write her off as a lost cause after today.

During the short walk down the street to the Gingerbread House, she experienced a mild attack of remorse. Maybe she was being too hard on her parents. Maybe today's lunch invitation was their way of extending an olive branch at long last. They weren't getting any younger. Her father's blood pressure scare during their recent cruise was proof enough of that. Drawing a fortifying breath, she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

When she arrived at the Gingerbread House, her parents' black Lincoln Navigator was already parked in front of the restaurant. In true Denver Ward style, her father had managed to straddle two lines and hog two parking spots in an area of town where parking was at a premium. Since tourist money was the lifeblood of Pinetop, the locals tended to go easy on outsiders. He'd probably escape without so much as a parking ticket.

More's the pity!

The silver BMW to the right of their vehicle made her pause and stare for a moment. She didn't recognize it. Most folks drove trucks, jeeps, and SUVs up here in the mountains. Whoever was driving it was probably a tourist and a city slicker, at that.

Shaking her head, she moved to the front door of the building, twisted the knob, and let herself inside the restaurant. She gave her name at the check-in booth and was immediately led by the hostess to a shadowy alcove in the rear of the dining room.

As they approached a high table with bar stools, Noelle's breath clogged in her throat at the discovery that her parents were not alone.

Her ex-boyfriend, Ellison Faust, was seated across from them —her father's wheeling, dealing junior partner. A man she'd hoped to never lay eyes on again. The mere sight of him made her stomach pitch with dread.

He was in a designer navy suit with one of those goofy little handkerchiefs sticking out of his breast pocket. The tiny scrap of silk was an ostentatious shade of burnt orange. His dark hair was slicked back in a way that emphasized his receding hairline. He was way too pale and bony for her tastes, a man who spent way too much time indoors hunched over a computer.

He glanced up as she approached and stood, holding out his arms to her like they were old friends. "Noelle, darling!"

She ignored him entirely, facing her parents indignantly. "If you don't have a good explanation for this, I'm out of here."

"Oh, for pity's sake, Noelle! Don't make a scene. We just want to talk." Her mother glanced around them with a look of distaste staining her features. The roots of her hair had been dyed platinum blonde, and her manicure was so fresh that she'd probably gotten it this morning. So much for her promise earlier to take Noelle's father to the doctor! Upon reflection, she hadn't exactly promised. She'd only led her daughter to believe that was her intention.

Thiswas what she'd been planning all along — a forced reunion between Noelle and Denver Ward's slimy business partner. When they'd last spoken, he'd indicated that their relationship was a foregone conclusion. Like she came with his position or something. It was downright creepy the way he refused to believe their breakup was permanent.

"I agreed to a lunch date with my parents. That's it." Noelle pulled out her cell phone and glanced at the time on her screen. "I'll give you thirty more seconds to tell me what's really going on here." When her parents didn't answer, she muttered, "Clock's ticking."

"Just have a seat, Noelle." Her father's normally commanding voice was strained. Like Ellison, he was way overdressed for Pinetop in a gray pinstriped suit with a white paisley dress shirt. To make things worse, he'd clipped on a white silk bowtie. It was hanging crookedly, like he'd put it on in a hurry, which felt off. In the past, he'd always been more of a stickler for details.

"No, thank you. I've lost my appetite." She kept her eyes on the screen of her phone.

Her mother tried a different tactic. "Ellison has been begging us for a chance to see you again. He misses you like crazy."

"Ten seconds," Noelle informed her blandly.

"Don't do this, sweetie," Triss Ward begged in a threadier voice. "He assures us that what happened between you was a big misunderstanding. Just give him a chance to explain. That's all he's asking."

"Time's up." Noelle tucked her cell phone into the front of her waistband, knowing her mother would consider it an uncouth move. She was beyond caring. "I believe I made it very clear that ship has sailed. Since you refuse to respect my decision, I'm leaving the restaurant. Enjoy your lunch." She spun away from them and nearly ran smack into Ellison Faust, who was standing much closer than she'd realized. Too close.

Instead of apologizing or stepping back, he clamped his hands on her waist and drew her closer still. His wiry frame was stronger than it looked. "Before you say another word, you need to know something," he warned in a low voice against her temple. "Your father's business is about to go belly up because of a few bad investments. You and I are the only ones who can fix this. How about we go for a short drive, and I'll explain everything?"

"In your dreams!" She grated out the words, both shocked and sickened by his audacity in assuming she would go anywhere with him. "Let go of me. Now!"

His grip on her tightened cruelly, making her wince. "If you need a little convincing…" Something small, round, and hard bit into her side.

A gun? She blinked at him in horror, feeling the color leave her face. "You're a monster!" Her voice shook.

"It didn't have to be this way, Noelle." He turned her around and towed her toward the exit. "If you scream, I'll shoot," he muttered in her ear. "I care too much for you to hurt you, but I'll pick an innocent bystander."

He was out of his mind! Completely insane! Blinking back tears of terror, Noelle managed to toss one disbelieving glance over her shoulder at her parents before he dragged her away. Her father's face was as white as a sheet. Her mother was draped against him, weeping.

Questions swam dizzily through Noelle's mind. Had they known this was going to happen? Why weren't they calling the police? Was there any truth to Ellison's claim that Ward Accounting Solutions was about to go belly up? Even if it were true, how did it involve her?

The only thing that was clear at the moment was that she was being abducted.

In broad daylight.

In the most festive, family-friendly mountain community in the country.

This can't be happening! It was so wrong. Just when everything in Noelle's life was finally falling into place. When she'd finally found some modicum of happiness…

Ellison led her outside to the silver BMW she'd thought looked so out of place in front of the restaurant, yanked open the passenger door, and all but dumped her inside. Leaning over her, he yanked open the glove compartment and produced a pair of handcuffs. "Put them on," he ordered.

She bit her trembling lower lip, trying not to weep. "Please don't do this, Ellison." She'd moved on with her life. She had a new boyfriend now, a new career. How dare he pop his greasy head out of the woodwork to ruin everything for her again!

"I wish I didn't have to." He sounded close to tears himself, as if he was somehow the victim here instead of her. The man was completely off his rocker!

Not knowing what else to do, she snapped on the handcuffs. She certainly didn't want one of the locals to suffer a bullet wound for her failure to do so.

Please, Lord. Send help! Her brain was too numb to send up a more elaborate prayer. Think, Noelle. Think!

While Ellison hurried around the front of the car to the driver's side, she hastily withdrew her cell phone from her waistband. With trembling fingers, she turned off the sound and dropped it between her seat and the console, praying he hadn't caught sight of what she was doing through the tinted windows. Her GPS tracker was on. It was a long shot, but maybe Nash would be able to use it to locate her. Or the police. Or somebody. Anybody, Lord willing.

A split-second later, Ellison pulled open his door and slid behind the wheel. He took one look at her tear-stained face and sighed, "Believe it or not, I'm doing this because I love you. I've always loved you. That's why I couldn't leave things the way they were between us."

"Wh-what are you going to do?" She hated that she could barely form the words. She hated how helpless she felt. More than anything else, though, she hated the fact that the first man to tell her he loved her wasn't Nash. Her ears felt dirty. In that moment, she would've done just about anything to unhear his insane declaration.

Correction. That wasn't the worst part about what was happening to her. The worst part was that she might never see Nash Carson again.

More terrified tears streaked down her cheeks. This time, she made no effort to stop them.

Nash droveto the cozy red-brick plaza strip that housed his physical therapist. He was fortunate that a town this small had someone with the medical subspecialty his treatment required. Otherwise, he would've had to commute all the way to Phoenix to continue his therapy during his stay.

Instead of immediately heading into the building, he sat in his truck and sent up another prayer. "Lord, give me wisdom." Though he wanted to respect Noelle's intrinsic need for independence, nothing about their conversation earlier had set well with him. No woman should be so uncomfortable at the thought of spending an hour alone with her parents to bring up stuff like proof of life messages and GPS trackers. Though she'd claimed she was probably just being paranoid, he'd never before witnessed her acting on paranoia. It took patience and level-headedness to train horses for a living.

And help a wounded athlete battle his way back to some semblance of normal.

If she was guilty of anything, it was of possessing an overwhelming sensitivity to the needs of those around her. She was constantly lending a hand, constantly spreading her own brand of sunshine. He and Shelly Hofstetter were living proof of Noelle's selfless devotion to others.

Gripping the steering wheel, Nash shook his head, knowing he'd never be able to concentrate on his physical therapy regimen today. Not without knowing that Noelle was okay.

According to the digital clock on his dashboard, he had fifteen minutes to spare before his appointment. That was more than enough time to drive a few streets over to the Gingerbread House to make sure things were going alright between Noelle and her parents. Maybe she'd accuse him of being paranoid before it was all over, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

It took him less than three minutes to roll up to the restaurant. His heart thumped with dread to see the flashing lights of a police cruiser. It was pulled sideways in front of the diagonal parking spots, blocking in two of the restaurant patron's vehicles. One of them was a black SUV he recognized as belonging to Noelle's parents.

Not caring if he was ticketed for what he was about to do, he nosed in behind the police cruiser and killed his motor. Leaping down from his truck, he sprinted for the restaurant entrance.

"Noelle!" He pushed through the front doors, hollering her name. "Noelle Ward! Are you in here?" In seconds, two uniformed officers converged on him.

"State your name and business, sir," one of the lawmen ordered sternly. He wore a sheriff's badge and had his police visor pulled so low over his eyes that it was impossible to read his expression. A guy with a medium build and average features, he could've been thirty or fifty.

"I'm Nash Carson. Noelle Ward's boyfriend. Where is she?" He shot a frantic look around the dining establishment, sensing that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"We're trying to figure that out, sir. I'm Sheriff Dean Skelton. If you'll come with me and Deputy Cannon." He angled his head at the younger officer at his side. They proceeded to escort him to a private room in the back of the restaurant that was normally reserved for parties and other small gatherings. He found Noelle's mother weeping hysterically on her husband's shoulder.

At the sight of Nash, she wailed, "He t-took her!"

"Who took her?" Terror leaped into his chest.

Sheriff Skelton quickly squared Nash away on what few details they had. Apparently, Noelle's father was in debt up to his over-starched shirt collar, and his business partner had offered to make all of his financial problems go away if they'd arrange a lunch date between him and Noelle. The sheriff went on to explain that Noelle had once dated the guy. It hadn't ended well.

"We never d-dreamed he would d-do something like this," Triss Ward wailed. "He was always such a n-nice man!"

Nash stared at her parents in disbelief. Talk about betrayal! Unable to think of anything pleasant to say to them, he whipped out his cell phone and pulled up Noelle's GPS tracker.

Stepping a little away from her parents, he conferred in undertones with the sheriff. "Looks like she's on the highway heading toward Phoenix. Wait! No!" He watched the flashing dot on his screen make a hairpin turn. "The slime ball just pulled off the road with her." Horror stained his voice.

"Let's go." The sheriff motioned for Nash to follow him and his deputy. The three of them took off running.

Dean Skelton took one look at Nash's truck and muttered, "What a joker!"

"It's mine." Nash dug for his keys. "Sorry. I'll move it."

"There's no time," the sheriff growled. "Worst-case scenario, you can pick it up from the impound lot later."

That was fine with Nash. He climbed into the back of the cruiser and navigated the two officers toward the spot where Noelle's phone tracker was leading them.

"The tracker," he muttered hoarsely. "It stopped moving." It had been sitting in the same place since its original hairpin veer off the highway.

"We're almost there," the sheriff growled. "Keep your eyes peeled for a silver BMW. Unless the scallawag managed to swap vehicles somewhere along the way, that's what he's driving."

Around the next bend of the highway, they discovered why Noelle's tracker had stopped moving. The silver sports car they were searching for hadn't just left the road. It was lying upside down in the field to their left. Smoke was rising from its hood.

The car skidded to a halt, and the officers leaped out, opening the back door for Nash. With a prayer on his lips that they would reach Noelle in time, he ran like mad toward the smoking car, shouting her name.

Footsteps pounded behind him as the two officers followed.

Reaching the car, Nash dropped to his knees. "Noelle?" He hollered her name over and over again.

The interior of the car was so filled with smoke that he could barely make out the outline of two figures inside. The driver wasn't moving. The passenger, however, was kicking frantically at the window. A black cowgirl boot came crashing through the glass.

"Noelle!" Nash reached through the window to assist her out. As she started to crawl his way, a flume of fire shot across the ground between them.

She pulled her head back inside the vehicle with a muffled shriek of alarm.

"It's gonna blow," the deputy warned.

Nash rolled up the sleeve of his bionic arm, knowing the titanium steel components would have a better shot at surviving what he was about to do.

"Here!" The sheriff knelt beside him to throw a silver emergency blanket over the line of flames beside the passenger door, snuffing out the closest flames.

"Noelle, grab my hand," Nash hollered, knowing they didn't have much longer.

Another flume of fire shot along the ground between them. He kept his bionic arm on the burning side of the blanket, using it to shield her body from the flames as he dragged her through the window. He was more thankful than ever for the rubber piece of padding between his prosthetic limb and the stump of his arm. Otherwise, he might not have been able to bear the searing heat.

A new wave of fury overtook him when he pulled Noelle free of the wreckage. That's when he saw her abductor had locked a set of handcuffs around her wrists. What an animal! Her palms were scratched and bleeding a little from the glass shards, and her face was smudged with smoke, dirt, and tears. However, she appeared otherwise unharmed.

More smoke billowed from the car, and a hiss of steam rose. Nash used his left arm to hoist Noelle over his shoulder. Then he took off running, allowing his sizzling bionic arm to dangle limply in the breeze. Behind him, he heard the sheriff shout to his deputy that the driver was unconscious.

"Can't get the door open, sir," Deputy Cannon called hoarsely.

"We're out of time!" The sheriff's voice rose to a commanding bellow. "Ru-u-u-un!"

The explosion behind Nash rocked the ground, nearly sending him to his knees. He staggered onward with his precious burden, quickly regaining his balance. He canted his body sideways to protect her face from the searing flume of heat that followed. It sent a stinging sensation across his shoulder blades.

He neither stopped nor looked back. He didn't slow his speed until he could no longer feel the melting ache of smoke and flames against his skin. Only when they reached the safety of the ditch beside the highway did he set Noelle back on her feet. His bionic arm was still throbbing from the heat, but the mountain breeze was quickly bringing it back to a more bearable temperature.

"You came for me," she sobbed, fisting her hands in the front of his shirt for balance.

He felt the dampness of tears on his own face as he hooked his left arm more securely around Noelle's middle to anchor her against his chest. "Kind of owed you one, babe, after all you've done for me."

Though her face was filthy, she'd never before looked so lovely as she declared brokenly, "I love you so much, Nash!"

Her confession made his heart sing. "I love you, too. Just glad the Lord saw fit to give me another chance to tell you." He wasn't sure why he'd waited so long.

The sheriff caught up to them, speaking frenziedly into his walkie talkie. The wail of sirens sounded in the distance. Deputy Cannon produced a multi-purpose tool and jimmied with the lock on the cuffs imprisoning Noelle's wrists.

"Your bionic arm is destroyed." There was a hitch to her voice as she surveyed the useless, half-melted twist of metal hanging at his side.

"It can be replaced," he assured her. "You cannot." It suddenly hit him that his bionic arm was largely the reason she was still alive. He might not otherwise have survived pulling her across the line of flames. And if he hadn't survived, she likely wouldn't have made it, either.

It all made sense now. In His infinite mercy, God had been playing a much longer game all along. The partial loss of Nash's right arm had ultimately saved two lives, including that of the woman he loved.

The trapped Ellison Faust wasn't as fortunate. Apparently, he'd lost control of his car after taking a curve too fast. According to Noelle, they'd run into some sort of wind shear. Or maybe Ellison had been stopped by the hand of Providence. They might never know.

What they did know was this: After committing what turned out to be years of financial fraud and personally bringing Denver Ward to the brink of bankruptcy, Noelle's ex ended up paying the ultimate price for his crimes during the ensuing explosion.