Chapter Twenty

Nicole stared at the ghost in front of her. "Micah?"

He looked older, thinner. Like the years since she'd seen him last had taken any softness and left behind only the deranged predator.

Harlow had pulled a gun, a semiautomatic pistol she looked perfectly comfortable with. "Nicole, I need you to get behind me. As for you, whoever you are, don't move a muscle."

Unfortunately, Micah had a gun, too. He knew how to use it. Both he and his brother had been gun collectors and practiced regularly. He stood his ground. "I think you're the one who shouldn't move. I'm not sure what she's told you, but Nora is my wife, and we have a few things to work through."

Nicole realized she was blocking Harlow's shot, but she was terrified to move. Terrified she was about to get her friend killed. "Micah, I'll go with you if you'll let my friend go."

Harlow huffed behind her. "I'm not letting that happen."

"Oh, I think you will." Micah's smile went reptilian. "Or my brother can eliminate you."

Nicole gasped and turned, realizing while they'd been protecting their fronts, Ted had moved in behind them and had a gun to the back of Harlow's head.

"My dumb bitch wife is forcing us all into this situation," Ted said, his eyes steely. "I found out she was meeting with the blonde bimbo my parents hired. I suspect she's trying to tell her side of the story. Once I present her with your dead body, she'll know what can happen to her if she talks. It's time to clean up my brother's mess once again."

Micah's eyes rolled. "Sure. It's all me."

Nicole was sick with fear and had to shove the panic down. They were here in broad daylight, and Landon would be back soon.

Would they murder her and Harlow right here? She wasn't sure anyone would stop them.

She wanted Josh and Grim. She wanted to be safe in their arms, away from all the proof of the mistakes she'd once made. She had to be the Nicole they'd fallen in love with, not the Nora who could barely stand up for herself. "The cops will be here soon, Micah. Won't they be surprised. You can't exactly pin my own murder on me."

"Don't have to," Micah replied. "Once we get you back home, I'm going to bury you so deep in the woods no one will ever find you. Now you're going to walk out of this parking lot if you don't want me to shoot your friend there. Drop the gun, lady."

"You'll kill me anyway," Harlow replied. "Nicole, you need to run."

Then Harlow was moving, her foot going back to catch Ted in the gut. He went down, his gun going off, the shot wild. Before he could hit the concrete, Harlow was turning, ready to take out Micah.

Who fired first. The sound rang in Nicole's ears, and horror dawned as a red stain colored Harlow's white T-shirt. Chest. He'd hit her chest. Harlow dropped to her knees and fell forward.

She'd killed Harlow. The world seemed to slow down and speed up all at once, fear and regret choking her.

"Get her," Ted ordered. "We need to get out of here. Someone will have heard that and called the fucking cops. We need to get into the car and figure it out from there."

If she got in the car, she would die. They would kill her, and she would never see her men again. They would come looking for her and find Harlow's body… Harlow…she couldn't comprehend what had happened.

And then she saw it. Harlow's back moved slightly, proof she was still breathing. If she was breathing, she had a shot, and that meant Nicole needed to lead them away from her. Landon would be back soon, and he could bring the police and EMTs.

Would they kill her right here? It no longer mattered. What mattered was making sure her friend kept breathing.

Nicole made her decision. She took off across the parking lot, moving behind the big pillar at the end of the building. It was brick and gave her cover. Nicole's heart raced as she heard another shot go off. She'd been faster, but she couldn't hide here forever. She needed to put distance between them.

"Nicole? Are you all right? I called the cops," a voice whispered. Claudine. She was in her room, the door barely open as she peeked outside. "Come inside. I'll lock us in."

It wouldn't work. They would simply shoot until they got inside. They had no other choice. At this point they had to eliminate her or their whole game was over. Nicole shook her head. "Can't. When you see Josh and Grim, tell them I loved them so much."

"Nicole," Claudine said, her voice cracking.

"Tell them," Nicole said, and then made her move.

The motel was on the outer edges of town, one of the reasons it was used by the more criminal elements of the area. The woods behind the motel were thick and went on for miles. There wasn't a fence for her to get over. It was her best bet.

Those woods would lead her close to the ranch. Jack had taken her out there, showing her how to ride a horse on different types of terrain. He'd spent an afternoon teaching her how to lead her horse through the woods, stopping for a lunch by the river that eventually ran through the south field of the ranch, supplying them with water. They'd sat and talked about camping and how to forage. He'd told her about his childhood, listening to hers as well.

It had been the first time in her life she'd felt like she had a father.

She was not giving up without a fight.

Nicole took off and then a loud sound boomed behind her. Something scraped by her arm, fire lighting her up, but she kept moving. Nicole forced herself to sprint despite the fact she could feel the blood on her left arm. It didn't matter. They were following her. They were focused on her. It would give Claudine a chance to help Harlow.

The light seemed to dim as she moved from sunshine to the heavy canopy of trees that made up this part of the woods. Mighty oak trees rose high above her, blocking out the sun and heat of the day. Nicole hid behind one as she heard the men enter the woods behind her.

"Where the hell did she go?" Ted asked, his breathing heavy.

"How am I supposed to know? You think I spend a lot of time in fucking nature, brother?" Micah shot back. "You're the one who couldn't handle a single female."

They didn't try to hide the sounds of them moving through the woods. She could hear them shuffling along, trying not to miss a hiding spot.

"We should regroup," Ted said after a moment. "Someone has to have called the cops by now, and we don't know if anyone was watching out of their windows. We need to get the hell out of here."

Nicole prayed they couldn't hear how hard her heart was beating.

She took a long breath like Harlow had taught her. Panic was the enemy. She needed to be cool and assess the situation. Panic would send her running from a hiding place that was working for her. Three breaths in and four breaths out. Slow. Quiet. Calm.

"And let that bitch go to the cops? Not on your life," Micah replied. "She can't have gotten far. I'm not leaving until Nora is dead. You should have killed her the first time around."

"You know why I didn't. Our parents would have had questions." Ted didn't seem to feel the need to be quiet. His voice reverberated through the woods. "I did what I had to do to keep them off our backs."

"No, you didn't. You could have done what I told you to do," Micah argued.

Oh, she hoped they kept hashing out all their differences because time meant Landon was closer to coming for them.

"I wasn't going to kill our parents," Ted barked back. "I know you think we can get away with anything, but you're clinically insane."

She wished she hadn't left her cell phone in her purse. She'd dropped it and hadn't picked it back up. Josh could have found her if she had her cell phone. She thought he could. Her hand went up to play with the small diamond solitaire Jack had given her as an "I'm sorry I cubed your car" present. She'd thought the car was enough, but he'd insisted. When she'd realized Olivia had one exactly like it, she'd felt like part of the family.

She would miss them so fucking much. If Micah killed her, wherever she went, she would miss them all.

"You didn't mind when I managed to get us out from under their thumbs." Micah seemed to get closer.

His voice was to her left. The river was to her right. She could hear it. It was full at this time of year. If she got in, she could float to the ranch. She simply had to make it there without Micah seeing her. It would take her far faster than running, and there would be no mistaking where she was going. She couldn't get lost in the river.

"You got us all in trouble. Now I have to find a way to get us out. Maybe I should find a way to get me out instead," Ted said. "You're on your own, brother."

"Fuck you. I'm doing what I have to do," Micah growled back.

There was the sound of footsteps striding away, leaves crackling underfoot.

"Nora. Nora. I think we're alone now."

A chill coursed down her spine. Memories sparked through her, remembrances of the times he would call out her name right before he made her ache. Right before he would make her bleed. He would use that singsong voice. It haunted her dreams.

"I've missed you, baby. I've missed you so much."

He was closer. So much closer. Her fists clenched as she fought back the urge to cry. She had to stay calm. How close was he? Sometimes sounds bounced around the woods.

"You took vows, Nora. Until death do us part," Micah said. "I mean to honor our vows."

He wasn't her husband. He'd never been. He'd been the con artist who tricked her and then the monster who abused her.

Josh and Grim were her husbands. They loved her. They trusted her. They shared their family and their hearts and their futures with her.

She was not fucking giving up. She was not letting Micah Holloway take one more thing from her.

In the distance she heard a shot ring out.

"Damn," Micah said with a huff. "Guess we're not getting out of this. Well, at least I can take you with me."

Adrenaline pumped through her system and she chose. Fight.

"You can't hide from me."

She wasn't going to.

Anything can be a weapon, Nic. Look around. Get creative. But mostly remember the cardinal rule.

She could hear Harlow's voice in her head. Her friend had spent weeks training her for this moment.

And she remembered the rule.

Never fight fair.

"When I find you, I think I'll make it last. What my brother doesn't know is I've left a trail that should lead straight to him," Micah was saying as Nicole glanced around, looking for any advantage she could find. "I have the money. I stole far more than I ever let on. I'm going to take care of you and then I'll disappear. Thanks for becoming a problem again. I was getting bored. Laura doesn't cry the way you did. You were so pretty when you cried."

There was nothing around her but sticks and rocks.

Sharp rocks.

As quietly as she could she leaned over and grabbed the biggest rock she could find. It had a sharp, nasty edge to it that felt good against her palm.

"Those nights we spent together. They were the best nights of my life. Laura was a pitiful comparison to you," he said, and she felt his presence.

A step or two more and he would be on her.

Timing. They'd taught her timing was everything.

It was what a family did. They taught the other members what they knew so everyone could benefit. Abby had taught her to stay away from the patch of poison ivy a few feet away. Jack had shown her around the woods so she would know how to find her way out. Harlow had taught her how to fight.

Josh and Grim had taught her she was worth fighting for.

"Got you," Micah whispered.

She turned and brought the rock down on his face, hitting his right eye. Blood spurted and the gun went off. Nicole felt a pain in her gut, but she couldn't worry about it now.

She'd promised her men this asshole was dead. She was going to make good on her promise this time.

Micah had dropped the gun, his hand coming up to try to protect his ravaged eye.

She was supposed to go for the eyes. The throat. The balls. Vulnerable places.

She'd been the vulnerable one once, and she'd promised to never be that again. Not to him.

Micah hit his knees as she continued to strike him. He fell back.

"Nora," he groaned. "This isn't you. This isn't Nora Holloway."

"No. My name is Nicole Barnes-Fleetwood, and you don't scare me anymore." She picked up the gun he'd dropped and without giving him a chance to plead, shot him. The bullet split his forehead, and the monster who'd chased her for years was gone.

She could hear sirens in the background.

A long, slow breath heaved from her as she realized she'd done it.

Then she went light-headed. Her left side ached. She must have hit it on something. Gingerly, she touched her side and realized her fight wasn't over.

Blood covered her abdomen. She'd taken a bullet.

She had to get back to the motel. The ambulance was there. She would be fine if she could only get back.

She took three steps and then the world went wavy.

She could have sworn she heard someone calling her name, but she was falling, and the pain wasn't enough to keep her conscious.

The world blinked out as she wished she could see them one last time.

* * * *

Grim was going out of his freaking mind. "Drive faster."

Josh sped up the truck, but the truth of the matter was he was already pushing the vehicle and Grim knew it. They'd made the twenty-minute trip into town in less than ten.

"Grim, we won't help Nic if we're in a car accident." Jack was the voice of reason. He sat in the back seat beside Sam.

Dad and Pops. They were here with them. They wouldn't let their kids go into this alone.

He'd let go of any wish his childhood had gone another way the night before, but he was reminded of it now. He wouldn't want to be anywhere but here, have any family but this one.

He was wondering how Dad knew where Nicole was. The question ran through his head. They'd all followed Dad to the truck, no one even asking how or why. If Jack Barnes said he knew something, he did. He had pure trust in the man he called Dad.

Still, the question rattled through his brain as some kind of distraction from all the terrible things that could be happening to Nicole. Had he called the security company and asked them to triangulate her cell phone? She had a new one. A reliable one Dad had given her. He wouldn't put it past his old man to have a way to track her. Hell, Jack had given him his phone. And Josh's. And Olivia's.

"Call Landon again." Josh kept his eyes on the road.

Grim pulled his cell and dialed the bodyguard's number. He heaved a sigh of relief when the man picked up. "Lan, where are you?"

"I'm pulling in now. I'm sorry it took me so long, but I couldn't get the security system to unlock at the shelter. I'm glad you're upgrading because it's a piece of crap," Landon complained. "I still can't get Harlow to… Oh, god."

Grim's heart threatened to freeze at those words. "What's happening?"

Josh sped up again, taking the corner that would lead them to the motel way too fast. Grim could feel the wheels come up but Josh handled it, getting the truck stable again.

"We're going to need an ambulance out at the motel," Pops was saying into his phone. He obviously wasn't going to wait. Pops sounded calm and cool under pressure. "Yes, there's been an attack. Have the police come as fast as possible. Yes, Charlene, it's me and Jack and our boys. We've got a bodyguard who'll be on scene, too."

"Lan?" Grim asked.

"He's not going to answer. That's his truck up ahead. He's already out of it. I can't see past it, though." Josh complained tightly. "What if it's…"

"It's not. Damn it. It's not." He couldn't believe Landon had found Nicole's body. He wouldn't believe it. She was fine. She couldn't not be.

"We need to stay calm," Dad advised.

"The cops and an ambulance are on the way," Pops explained, and he shoved his cell in his pocket. "I let them know we're armed."

If this were a big city, he would worry the cops could roll in and not know who the bad guys were. But the sheriff sometimes called Jack and Sam in to help when they had missing kids or old folks. They knew the area better than anyone. They wouldn't come in shooting. Hell, the sheriff might actually defer to their dad in this situation.

Grim let a cold practicality come over him. He couldn't go into this hot. Whatever had been done to Nicole, he would fix. They would coddle her and love her back to normal. They wouldn't let her go through this alone.

"If she's hurt," Josh said as he rolled up next to Lan's truck.

"I'll take care of it until the ambulance gets here. I can stabilize her." A vet was not licensed to work on humans, but this would be an emergency. He could stabilize her until they got to the hospital.

Please let her be alive. Please. Let her be alive. He could handle anything as long as she was alive.

Then he saw what had caused Landon to hang up and run. There was a body on the sidewalk.

"Harlow," Dad said. "Fuck. That's Harlow."

She lay on the sidewalk outside the room Kim had occupied. He knew it was her from the shock of blue hair. Landon was on his knees next to her.

Grim was out of the truck before Josh put it in park. He grabbed his emergency kit and ran. It was smaller than his normal working kit. This was the one he used when someone needed first aid. A ranch could be a maze of minor injuries, and he was always ready to help.

What had happened to Harlow was anything but minor.

The light-colored shirt she was wearing was stained in blood. Her skin was a stark white, her eyes closed.

"I turned her over." Landon had gone pale. "I shouldn't have done that, but I panicked. Damn it. I know not to turn her over. Did I hurt her?"

Pops was back on his phone. "Yes, ma'am. We've got at least one gunshot victim. Let them know. We're looking for the second woman. She might have been kidnapped."

Or they might find her body somewhere else.

From what Kim had said, there was no reason to kidnap Nicole. They'd come here to silence her.

Harlow was pale but she was breathing. Her eyes opened, and she looked up at him. "It's hard to breathe, Grim."

Okay. He could do this. "Pops, I need your help."

Sam Fleetwood was by his side in a heartbeat. "Jack and Josh are doing a sweep. They will find her, Grim. I promise. Hey, Harlow, sweetie. Looks like you got into some trouble."

"She ran," Harlow managed, pain obvious on her face. "I think Nicole ran toward the woods. I'm not sure. I couldn't see."

"She did." A tall brunette in a caftan was beside Harlow. "Nicole ran into the woods, and those two men who were coming after her followed. I was in my room. I saw the whole thing. I came out and held this woman's hand. I called the police."

"They're on their way," Pops replied. "And I thank you for staying with her."

"Is she okay?" Landon asked.

Harlow tried to take a breath but a rattling sound came out. He knew exactly what was happening.

"The bullet nicked her lung. Or maybe it's lodged there," Grim explained, finding a latex glove. "We need to be careful when we move anything."

"We need to seal the wound. That glove should work," Pops said. "Hand it to me and I'll hold it until the paramedics get here."

It was exactly what he'd been about to do. The prettiest of his fathers was calm and cool under pressure. And knew way more about sucking chest wounds than Grim would have imagined.

"The ambulance is a few minutes out." Landon was on his feet again, and there was a gun in his hand. "I'll make sure no one comes near her until then."

Pops took the glove out of his hand and lifted her shirt, easing it over the wound he found there with a competence that shocked Grim. He sealed the wound, holding his hand over the glove, and immediately Harlow was breathing more easily. "Hey, I've learned a thing or two over the years. I'm more than pretty, son. Now go with Josh and find your girl. Lan and I can handle this."

"Her husband is alive," Harlow said with a grimace, but she sounded far more solid. "I don't know how but he's here, and he's going to kill her. The brother-in-law is here, too. Both armed. She ran into the woods."

Where Dad had been taking her and teaching her to ride and navigate. Where she could hide. Smart girl. She'd lured them away from Harlow, and he prayed it didn't cost her.

He heard sirens in the distance.

"Hey!" Josh shouted.

Grim stood and saw what Josh had seen. A tall man dressed in black pants and a black sweater walked out of the woods, his path about to take him to the parking lot. The man stopped, obviously caught by surprise. Nicole's brother-in-law. He'd seen pictures of the man. For a moment he seemed stuck, utterly unmoving. Then he raised his gun and pointed straight at Josh.

A loud blast cracked through the air as Dad shot the shit out of Ted Holloway. No hesitation. He'd watched the man take aim, and he'd done what he had to do. Unlike whoever had shot Harlow, Jack Barnes's aim was true. That had been a heart shot, and the man wouldn't need an ambulance.

The man in all black slumped to the ground.

"Damn it, Dad. We needed him alive," Josh shouted.

"Am I supposed to let him kill you?" Dad had his cell phone out. He pointed to the left. "And we do not need that asshole. She's this way. I told you I know where she is."

Grim joined them, his heart threatening to thud out of his chest. What did it mean that Ted Holloway had been coming out of the woods? Nicole wasn't with him. Were they going to find a body?

"I was handling it," Josh insisted, but then followed their father. "Is Harlow okay?"

"Yes, she's stable. Pops has her. Says he knows a lot about gunshot wounds or something. We might need to delve into parental history when we get out of this, brother. Also, she says there were two men. I'm pretty sure the one Dad shot is her brother-in-law. Harlow said her husband is here, too."

"We'll have a lot of questions since Dad seems to have LoJacked our woman," Josh said, his voice tense.

"I personally am happy about that, sir." Grim moved through the woods, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"I know how damn dangerous the world can be, and I'm not about to let it take one of my kids without a fight," Dad said, his eyes on the screen again. "Damn it. It's hard to read. I think we're going the right way. She's not moving. She hasn't for a couple of minutes."

"Then they might have…" Josh began, and then his jaw tightened. "Then she's hiding and we need to get this guy away from her."

"She's close," Dad whispered. "I think I can hear something."

"Those nights we spent together. They were the best nights of my life." A deep voice came from somewhere in the woods to the east. The fucker sounded like he was talking to a lover. "Laura was a pitiful comparison to you."

It turned his gut because he was absolutely certain Micah Holloway wasn't talking about sex. At least not the consensual kind. He was talking about torturing the woman he'd promised to protect and love and how much he'd enjoyed her pain.

"I'm going to kill him," Josh vowed quietly.

"If he's talking, she's alive," Grim pointed out. "She is our priority. Dad can kill him. He seems to be good at it. You have to shove your anger aside and think only of her safety."

Josh frowned, but he nodded. He looked to their dad. "Where is she? Sound bounces through the woods. I can't tell where it's coming from."

"She's close," Jack said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "I think that's as close as we're going to get using technology. It can't pinpoint her. But I can. Look. Someone ran through here and recently."

He looked down, and the ground showed signs of sneaker prints. Two large, one small. One backtracked. Ted. He'd walked back this way to get to the parking lot. So Micah and Nicole had gone further into the woods.

Dad led the way, moving across the soft earth, making far less sound than a man his size should.

She was alive. Grim gripped the handle of his kit with one hand, the gun in the other. It was strictly for emergencies. He would drop that sucker the minute they got to Nicole. He would protect her, hold her together if need be. In this case, his medical kit would do more good than the gun.

They moved quietly, and then they heard it. A loud shot cracked through the woods, and Grim simply ran. He and Josh ran toward the river where the shot seemed to have come from.

His heart threatened to stop as he saw Nicole on the ground. She wasn't the only body, but she was the only one who mattered.

Josh got to her first, falling to his knees beside her. Tears tracked down his brother's face.

He'd never seen his brother cry. Not once in all the years they'd lived together.

Grim felt stuck. Like the world stopped, and as long as he didn't move, it wouldn't go further than this. He could be stuck in this moment, pretending she might still be alive, that she wasn't still on the ground. Facedown in the mud where her abuser had put her.

"Josh, Grim, I'm so sorry," Dad managed to get out.

"I am, too," the sweetest voice said. "This hurts. I'd like some drugs now."

Nicole. The world sped up again and he rushed to her, dropping his kit beside her. "Don't move, baby. Where are you hit? I don't see an exit wound."

But there was blood staining the ground. It soaked into his jeans.

"Uhm, it's my stomach. Or somewhere close to it." Her eyes opened. "It hurts when I try to move."

"Don't," Josh said, holding her hand. "You let Grim take care of you."

"I'm going to get the EMTs up here." Their dad took off.

"Is he dead? I think I killed him this time, but I should make sure. He came back. Like a bad movie. I don't like this part of the movie," she said, sounding a bit loopy.

Blood loss. "Nic, he's dead, and I don't want you to talk."

"Harlow," she began.

"Is alive and being taken care of," Josh promised.

"We have to turn her over." He didn't want to, but he had to minimize the bleed.

"I think I should stay here," Nicole said.

"I'm so sorry." He nodded Josh's way. "We're going to move her gently, and then we're going to put pressure on the wound. Nic, baby, this is going to hurt."

She groaned as they turned her over, and Josh gasped at the amount of blood on her clothes.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she passed out. Grim applied pressure and prayed the EMTs got there in time.