Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

I t became clear to Cady that she wouldn't be able to outrun Isaac. He was too fast and she was too sore and winded from her fall down the stairs. What she could do was hide. The woods provided plenty of places to disappear. Rocky outcroppings, pine trees, thick brush, and the natural rolling hills gave way to lots of options.

She didn't have time to climb a tree. Isaac was too close behind her. But what she could do was go low. There was a bank of mountain laurel covering a rocky area that ran about ten feet wide and five feet high. Cady dropped to her knees and crawled backward under the leaf-covered branches. She reached out and tried to cover her trail before completely disappearing behind the branches. Her back pressed up against a limestone rock formation and her hand curved around a loose baseball-sized rock. Then she tried not to move or to even breathe.

Everything went still except for the pouring rain. The thunder clapped. The lightning crashed. And the outline of Isaac's large frame came into view. He wasn't holding his head anymore. He was holding a thick branch that had been broken off so it resembled a club.

Cady pressed herself into the rock, hoping she could become invisible. Isaac stopped and looked around. He was looking for her or any clue as to which direction she took off in.

"Come out, Cady, or I'll burn your whole distillery down, not just a single warehouse," Isaac yelled over the lashing rain. "I just want the book."

Cady's heart raced and she was afraid he'd hear it over the storm. She struggled to control her breathing, hoping he couldn't hear her heaving chest. Water ran in rivulets down her face as she put one of her hands over her mouth to try to minimize any sound of her breathing.

Through the leaves, Cady saw Isaac turn toward the house. He didn't walk that way. Instead, he acted as if he heard something. She watched as he crept behind a giant tree and raised his club like branch. Cady wiped the rain from her face and peered through the branches of the laurel. She couldn't see anything in the rain and darkness. Until a sudden flash of lightning lit up the sky.

"No!" Cady yelled, leaping from her hiding spot. Twigs broke. Her face was scratched and her body was ripped at by the thin, flexible branches, but she didn't care.

Everything in her had her charging forward as Isaac swung. Princess growled. Colton cursed and held up his forearms right in time to take the impact of the swing.

Princess lunged forward and bit Isaac's heel as Colton went flying back at the force of the blow. Cady pulled her arm back and threw the rock just like Cade and his brothers had taught her to do with a knife. The rock hit Isaac in the back of the head, which interrupted his second swing. When the branch hit Princess, it wasn't at full strength. However, it was enough to cause a whimper and send the dog rolling off of his leg.

"There you are." Isaac stumbled toward Cady, who was now weaponless.

Cady braced herself for a fight. Cade and his brothers had taught her hand-to-hand, but she was under no delusion that she was in any way proficient. She balled her hands into fists and held her ground. Isaac didn't fight though. He charged.

Cady only had time to let out a little squeak before she was slammed into the ground. Then she fought. Some of it might have been what the Davies brothers had taught her, but most was pure feminine rage as Isaac tried to use his body to pin her to the ground.

Cady was screaming, she was punching, she was scratching, and then she heard a sound that made her blood run cold. A deep lion-like growl. A split-second later Ginny pounced. Her claws were outstretched and her tiny fangs were exposed. Ginny latched onto Isaac's head, one front claw sliced into his forehead and the other into his neck as she sunk her teeth into his neck. She growled and clawed as Isaac screamed and tried to rip her from his body.

Then suddenly Isaac was gone.

Cady was still throwing punches when she realized his weight was off her. Colton had yanked Isaac off. Ginny, Princess, and George formed a wall around Cady as they all watched good-natured, easy-going, life of the party, Mr. December, Colton Davies in a cold fury.

If she had thought the Davies brothers were fierce, it was nothing compared to Colton. He didn't talk. He didn't make a sound. Instead, he slammed his fist into Isaac over and over as if he were nothing but a punching bag. Isaac got a punch in here or there, but Colton never reacted. It was as if he never felt them.

Punch after punch drove Isaac to his knees. His body was swaying when Colton delivered the final blow. Cady watched in slow motion as Isaac's head snapped to the side, his eyes rolled back, and his body went limp, falling to the ground.

Colton's rapidly rising chest was the only reaction she could see from him. Until his eyes met hers. The mask of cold fury disappeared as his eyes softened with love and relief. The animals parted, Ginny going to sit on top of an unconscious Isaac and lick her paws as Cady and Colton reached for each other.

Cady was in his arms, his head buried in her neck, and her head pressed into his chest. They clung to each other, in the rain, as she cried. Fear, frustration, and betrayal nagged at her. But it was her love for Colton, who had rushed in to save her, that left her clinging to him as she cried. His hand stroked her wet hair, his body protecting hers, as he told her she was safe and that he loved her.

"Hate to interrupt, but I figured I should know who I'm arresting."

Cady pulled back and Colton used his thumbs to wipe away her tears before she saw Luke and the fire department. "Isaac Glover. He was my father's assistant and took over as master distiller at Blue Stone after my father died. He wanted my father's recipe book because he was about to be fired."

Luke nodded and pulled out his cuffs as Isaac began to groan. The firefighters happily helped Isaac up as Luke cuffed him.

"Did he hurt you?" Colton asked as she shivered. Adrenaline was wracking her body along with the pain of falling down the stairs, but in the flashes of light she could tell Colton had seen the swelling on her face. "He tried too, but I escaped. He hurt Garth. Is he okay?"

"He's going to be fine. Come on. Let's get you warm."

Cady grimaced when she tried to walk and Colton was instantly there. "What happened?"

"I tried to escape and fell down the front stairs. He hit me in the face and I hit him with the gnome. But the stairs hurt, well, everything."

Cady didn't finish explaining that she was okay because in one quick motion Colton had her up in his arms. "I've got you."

Cady wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. "I know you do. And I've got you, too. And so do Princess, Ginny, and George," she said as she saw the animals following behind them, along with Luke, the firefighters, and a handcuffed and very dazed Isaac.

"He was doing this because Bruce was going to fire him and promote Jordan to master distiller in the hope that Jordan would marry me and get the recipe book. I wish there was a way to make them all pay."

Colton grinned. "I guess I forgot to tell you. The town already did that. PTA Pam might be retired, and might be annoyed she didn't get to run anyone over with her new toy , but she stays in touch with everyone. Including the parents of all the soccer players her kids played with in club soccer. That includes one IRS investigator whom she tipped off to the shocking amount of taxes Bruce has somehow forgotten to pay. They're digging, but it looks as if Bruce owes the IRS over seven hundred million dollars. They're getting all the evidence together, with some help from Kale, that shows decades of tax evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and more."

"No," Cady gasped.

"Yes. And then there's Jordan." Colton grinned and she wondered why. "He assisted in hiding assets and the money laundering. He'll be in jail with Bruce, but probably not as long. Tandy believes he'll cut a deal and turn on Bruce. Either way, his career at the distillery and any reputable business is over."

"And here he was, trying to marry me and drag me into it." Cady couldn't believe it. Well, maybe she could. Jordan would do anything to get ahead.

Colton smirked at that. "He would only marry you after he got a divorce."

"What?" Cady gasped.

"Jordan got married the year after your father passed to a very trusting, very quiet woman from a very rich family. Kale took a little peek at their finances and saw that Jordan had been quietly siphoning off her trust fund and putting it into a private account to the tune of a million dollars. Kale sent an anonymous email to the woman and her father with all the evidence. So, if you roll your dice right, maybe in five to ten years, he'll be out of jail and available to marry."

Cady looked up at the rain-soaked face of the man she loved. "In five years, I'll be happily married to the man I love."

"Strange, that's not my five-year plan."

"It's not?" Oh gosh. She'd been wrong. She thought Colton loved her and marriage would be coming eventually.

"That's my five-week plan. Not five years. In five years, I hope to have a cute little girl with your hair and my eyes running around the distillery after her mommy."

Cady wasn't cold anymore. The rain was probably evaporating off her heated body. This wasn't temporary. This was real. All of it. Their love. Their desire for a future. Everything. "And riding on the fire truck with you and Princess."

"Don't forget our guard cats," he chuckled as George and Ginny stalked past them and out of the woods as if they were delivering the hottest gossip the town had ever heard.

Colton saw the break in the trees. They were almost out of the woods, literally and figuratively, but he was barely containing his emotions. He felt as if he died a thousand deaths while Cady was missing.

The sounds of shouting, cars, four-wheelers, and a horse greeted them as they broke free from the woods. Colton almost stumbled at the sight of a Keeneston army marching toward them.

They were clearly ready to search the woods for Cady and were armed with weapons, flashlights, and dogs. Bridget had them trained for military use and her husband, Ahmed, had trained Vizslas to track. He was standing with one of Cady's shirts and his dog at the ready.

"Cady!" Colton's mom yelled, seeing them first.

"Jeez, Mom, was the acid gun of death really needed?" Colton asked.

Annie shrugged. "I also brought five others in case they were more appropriate to the situation. Where's the asshole who took you? Was it Bruce?"

Luke chose that moment to walk out with Isaac handcuffed.

"Who is he?" Annie asked and Colton felt Cady chuckle in his arms.

"You can put me down," she whispered to him.

"Not yet. You're mine, and I don't want to let go yet. I was so afraid I lost you."

"If you're not going to tell us you're engaged, at least tell us what happened," Sophie said, leaning a very wicked looking weapon he hadn't seen before against her shoulder.

"Cady, give them the short version. By the time we reach her house, we're locking the door and you can talk to her tomorrow. She's hurt and she's freezing," Colton told the crowd.

Colton didn't stop moving through the crowd as Cady told them what happened. She had hit all high points by the time he climbed the stairs to her house.

"Told you gnomes made good weapons," his mother said proudly.

"Yes, thank you! Best gift ever," Cady called over his shoulder as Colton walked through the door.

He kicked it shut with his foot, turned, and locked it before heading straight for the bathroom. Colton set her down on the closed toilet lid before reaching into the shower and turning on the hot water.

"I got it," he told her as she grimaced when she bent to take off her boots.

Colton gently helped her out of her clothes before peeling his off in the steam-filled bathroom. "I feel very judged," Colton said with a chuckle as he saw George and Ginny sitting on the counter watching them while cleaning their paws.

"Trust me, you have nothing to be embarrassed about," Cady told him, stroking his ego. But he was more concerned with the bruising that was beginning to bloom all across her body.

Colton bent down and helped Cady up. They turned toward the shower only to freeze in their tracks. Princess was standing under the hot water stream. Muddy water was washing down the drain as her eyes were closed in pure pleasure. The dog sighed blissfully and Cady laughed, only to groan as she cringed in pain.

"Okay, Princess. You have to share the shower." Colton hated to do it, but he had to step away from Cady to grab a towel from under her sink. "Princess, come on."

Princess rolled her eyes but stepped out of the shower. He saw it start with her ears. They began to sway, and then her whole body followed. "No!" Colton yelled, but it was too late when he tossed the towel at her. The shake went down her body, her long, wet hair flying. Water sprayed the entire room as she shook. Then Princess looked up at him with her big brown eyes and her tongue hanging happily out of her mouth.

"You bit the bad man, so you deserve the shower. But now it's my turn," Cady told her as she scratched Princess's dripping wet head.

Colton helped Cady into the hot stream of water before he rubbed the towel over Princess. "Don't get on the bed!" he called out to her as she trotted out of the bathroom.

Colton climbed in the shower and wrapped his arms gently around Cady from behind. She leaned into him and he held her like that as he washed her. The mud, the blood, the bone deep chill from the rain, finally all washed away.

"Let's get you into bed," Colton said as the sun was rising.

"Thank you for rescuing me," Cady told him as she snuggled into bed.

Colton closed all the curtains, moved the cats from his side of the bed, and crawled under the sheets. "I'll always rescue you. But I don't think you'll need it anymore. You're safe now. Now my job is to sit back and cheer you on as you and your distillery take over the world. I'll hold your purse as you accept Distiller of the Year. I'll happily volunteer to taste all your recipes. And I'll beam with pride as you expand your distillery."

Cady snuggled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "That's really sweet, Colton. And I'll be the first to buy a boatload of calendars to fund the station, keep the lights on for you when you get home from a late-night call, and pretend to like your mother's apple pies. But I'm not expanding my distillery. That's my dream, but I don't think it's very realistic."

"Yet. You will and I'll be right there with you when you do."

Colton kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. She might not know it yet, but he could see it clearly. Isaac had wanted the book because he thought Cady had used her father's recipe to make the bourbon she'd served at the conference. She hadn't. She'd used her own recipe for that. Her father taught her well, but Barrel Creek Distillery was all hers and there was nothing the woman he loved couldn't do—including taking over the bourbon industry.