Russell's Return (19 page)

As he approached the house, he spotted a
blonde woman closing the back door. In her hand, she held a pistol. As he
reached the edge of the trees, he laid down and began to crawl the rest of the
way to the porch, inch by agonizing inch.

Moving to the window, he pulled his
pistol and chambered a round. Slowly, he stood slightly to the side of it and
peeked in. He saw a dark-haired man handcuffed to a large arm chair, his back
to him. Across the room stood the woman. Jack watched her kneel down in front
of the man, then stand again, laughing

Jack moved in front of the window and
assumed a shooting position. Ensuring the weapon was ready, he took aim.
Hearing her screech and pick up her gun, he moved his finger to the trigger. He
watched as she laughed at the man and as her face took on an eerie calm. As she
pointed the pistol toward her prey, Jack pulled the trigger.

**********

“It keeps going to voice mail,” Emily said
frantically. “He isn’t answering his phone.”

“No luck with Jack either. His doesn’t
even ring,” Ethan replied just as his own phone buzzed. “Hello Evelyn, we have
a situation here.”

He put the phone on speaker so Emily
could hear. “Emily is here with me.”

“My God Ethan, I was just talking to
Dylan about the lake house.”

“Evie listen, Miranda is missing.”

“Damn it Ethan, you listen. Miranda
thought she saw someone in the lake house. She may have been right,” she
replied frantically. “Remember the dog going crazy by the door, Emily? It
wasn’t the raccoon. She died weeks ago.”

“No, this can’t be happening. Who is it?
Why are they hunting her?” Emily cried as she wrung her hands nervously. “It’s
like the restaurant all over again.”

“Evie, we need to go, you might want to
head home if you can,” Ethan said as he hung up the phone. “Emily, look at me
please.”

She turned toward him, tears flowing
uncontrollably from her eyes. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault…again.”

“This isn’t your fault. We don’t even
know what’s going on,” Ethan said calmly. “She’s probably safe as long as the
dog is with her.”

A scratching came from the door,
followed by whimpering. Ethan quickly moved to open it only to find Rizzy on
the porch. She barked and ran off. Ethan and Emily quickly followed her.

“She isn’t headed toward the lake
house,” Ethan exclaimed. “Where is she leading us?”

“As long as it isn’t the lake house, I
don’t care,” Emily said as she finished wiping her tears. “That’s the barn up
ahead.”

Rizzy stopped and looked back at them,
then turned and ran closer to the barn. As they reached the old building, Rizzy
began howling and pawing at the door. When Ethan got there, he opened it and
the puppy ran in, startling the horses inside.

“Miranda! Miranda, where are you?” Emily
yelled trying to be heard above the commotion of the animals. “Rizzy, be quiet!
I can’t hear.”

As Ethan calmed the horses, Emily picked
up the squirming puppy. A soft whimper, like a cry, could be heard coming from above.
Looking up, they saw Miranda hugging a crossbeam far above the floor.

“Hold on, sweetie. I’m coming up,” Ethan
shouted to her.

“Ethan no!” Emily commanded, grabbing
his arm. “That beam won’t support your weight,
it’s
cracking.”

“I’ll grab a ladder…”

“No time. Take the dog, I’m going up to
get her.”

“Emily, is that wise?”

“I don’t care, she needs me. I’m going,”
she said, gritting her teeth. “Take the damn dog.”

Ethan grabbed the wriggling pup and
Emily ran over to the built-in ladder. Climbing to the hayloft, she made her
way to the beam and straddled it. She worked her way out slowly until she heard
a slight cracking sound. “Randi, I need you to crawl to me.”

“I…I…I can’t,” she stuttered. “I’m
scared.”

“I’m scared too, honey. It’s okay to be
scared. Everyone is afraid at some time,” Emily said calmly. “Can you please
try to crawl to me?”

“I’ll try, but I know I can’t. Sometimes
when I’m scared I can’t think right.”

“Just take it slow sweetie, a little at
a time,” Emily said, smiling at the girl. “I know you can do it.”

Miranda began to move along the beam
with her arms wrapped tightly around it, slowly sliding a few inches at a time.
Ethan and Emily watched, barely breathing. When the beam cracked and dropped a
couple of inches, Miranda screamed and grabbed a hold even tighter.

“Randi please keep coming,” Emily cried.
“You’re almost here.”

Miranda’s only response was a loud
whimpering and a shake of her head.

“You can do it Miranda. It’s only a
couple more feet,” Emily said reaching toward the girl. “A couple of more feet
and I’ll have you in my arms.”

After a few agonizing moments, Miranda
started forward again. “I’m coming Miss Emily.”

“That you are. You’re such a brave
girl.”

As Miranda reached Emily, the beam
cracked again and nearly split in two. “Randi, I’m going to lay back. You need
to crawl over me and get on the floor of the hayloft. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll do it,” she replied as
she began to move over her. “I’m almost there.”

Emily heard a loud grunt as Miranda’s
weight left her. As she sat up and began to slide back, there was the loudest
crack she had ever heard. The beam split in two and she began to fall.

**********

Russell slowly opened his eyes. The first
thing he saw was Vivienne laying across the table, her face serene. As he
looked closer he saw the hole in her chest and began to cry. A mixture of
relief and guilt assaulted him. He jerked when a hand landed on his shoulder.

“You’re safe now, kid.”

The scene in front of him seemed so
unreal. There was Jack calmly going through Vivienne’s pockets. Blood seemed to
be pooling beneath them rapidly. As Jack turned, keys in hand, Russell swore there
was a growing red spot by his new friend’s shoulder. The old man passed out,
just after un-cuffing his right hand.

**********

Emily felt her body jerk to a sudden
stop. “I’ve got you,” came her guardian angel’s voice. The voice of Ethan
Mannon. How had he caught her?  The last thing she remembered, he was
holding Rizzy way down on the barn floor.

“I’m…” Emily muttered as she was pulled
into the hayloft. “Alive.”

Miranda crashed into her friend with a
bear hug. “Mama, you’re safe.”

Emily returned the hug. “We’re both safe
now, Randi.”

“I love you. I don’t want you to leave,”
Miranda sobbed. “I’m sorry.”

“I love you too, sweetie. I’m not
planning on going anywhere,’ Emily soothed as she stroked the girl’s hair.

Ethan sat back, watching the exchange with
a smile. As his back came to rest on the wall he felt a sharp pain run through
his shoulder, back and arms. “I think I’m going to need help getting down. I
won’t be able to use the ladder.”

“I’ll help you, Uncle Cowboy,” Miranda
said, releasing Emily. “You saved Mama.”

“Randi, I’m not…” Emily started.

“Let it go, Emily,” Ethan said through a
wince. “She has accepted you as a major player in her life.”

“You’re the doctor, Doctor,” Emily
chuckled as she pulled out her phone. “I better call for help. The sheriff’s
department can get the volunteer fire crew here to get us down.”

“You better make sure they send an
ambulance,” Ethan said as he closed his eyes against the pain. “I’m not sure,
but I think I hurt myself pretty bad.”

“Ethan,” Emily said shakily as she hung
up the phone. “Help is being sent. Something has happened at the lake house.”

“What? How do you know,” he asked,
concern joining the pain in his voice. “Did they tell you that?”

“No. I overheard the other
conversation,” Emily replied, close to tears. “A man and a woman have been
shot.

“Oh no. Jack got there too late,” he
murmured.

CHAPTER
17

Two hours after the beam fell, Ethan was
loaded onto an ambulance just as Logan Harper arrived. News of the problem on the
ranch had spread quickly and he’d come down from where he was staying on the
mountain. “What’s going on, Em?”

“I don’t know. There was a man and a
woman shot at the lake cabin. Can you watch Miranda?  I need to get to
Russell.”

“I’m coming with you. Jayna sweetheart,
could you watch CJ and my niece for me?” he asked the pretty blond woman
standing nearby with a baby in her arms.

“Of course,” she agreed. “We’ll be
fine.” Her hand rested on the filled holster at her hip.

“The main house is open so you can take
them there,” Emily told her before calling Miranda over.

“Randi this is Miss Jayna, do you think
you could stay at the house with her and help with the baby?”

“I love babies,” she said excitedly “Can
I hold him?”

“Of course you can, as soon as we get
back to the house. Can you show me the way?” she asked, holding her hand out to
the little girl.

“Come on!” she said, grabbing Jayna’s
hand. “It’s this way.”

As soon as Miranda was on her way, Logan
and Emily climbed into his SUV and headed for the lake cabin. As they arrived,
the back side of the home was deserted. They quickly ran around to the front
where the coroner’s van was pulling away, followed by an ambulance without its
lights on.

“Oh no,” Emily whispered. Her heart was
beating so fast. She couldn’t breathe. She was going to throw up. “Russell!”
she screamed. “No! Russell!” It was Daniel all over again. Only she still loved
Russell. But Daniel had died because of her, so the pain of his death had been
just as excruciating.

Logan grabbed her so she wouldn’t flee
into the middle of the crime scene. “Calm down. It’ll be okay.”

“I’m right here, Em,” Russell said
stoically as he stepped out from behind a police vehicle.

A whimper escaped her as she pulled away
from Logan to run to her boyfriend. He caught her in his arms.

“Oh my God! What happened? Are you
okay?” she questioned, desperately checking his torso for any signs of injury.

“I’m okay,” he murmured, pulling her
close again. “I didn’t get a scratch on me.”

“What happened, big brother?” Logan
asked, stepping up to them.

“Vivienne,” he mumbled. “She wanted to
kill me to get to Miranda. But she’s dead now.”

“Oh baby,” Emily whispered.

“You had no choice brother,” Logan cut
in.

“What?” Russell said, confused. “No, I
didn’t kill her. Jack did.”

“Jack?  Where is he?” Emily asked,
looking around.

“She shot him in the shoulder,” he said
softly. “He’s still alive, but they took him to the hospital with the
helicopter on standby.”

“Oh no, poor Jack.”

“Hey Russell,” a man called from the
porch of the cabin.

“Yeah Sherriff, what is it?”

“We’re done here. Get your ass home and
rest. I’ll have Martin bring your vehicle to you.”

“Thank you Sherriff.” Russell walked to
Logan’s truck with Emily up against his side. He wasn’t sure who was bracing
who. The three solemnly climbed into the vehicle and headed back to the main
house. The details of what happened slowly came out during the ride. Emily was
telling Russell about what had happened with Miranda and Ethan when they walked
in the door of the main house. They had already agreed that telling the little
girl about her mother would wait a while.

Jayna, Miranda, baby CJ and Rizzy were
sitting on the floor playing with baby rattles and blinking toys.

“Daddy!” Miranda hollered when she saw
him.

“Hey squirt,” he said, bending down to
catch her in his arms. He hugged her as tight as he possibly could without
scaring her. The thought of never being able to see her again made him want to
scream. Tears stung his eyes and he hurried to control them so his baby girl
wouldn’t see them. “Who’s your new friend?” he asked, pointing to the baby.

“That’s CJ. He’s Uncle Logan’s, and
that’s his mommy, Jayna.”

“Do you have something you want to tell
me brother?”

“Russell, Emily, this is my friend Jayna
and
her
son CJ. She’s staying with me for a while until we can figure
out what to do about a little problem she has back home,” he said giving
Russell a look suggesting they could talk more about it later. “She’s friends with
cousin
Jackson, and Deb.”

“Nice to meet you, Jayna,” Russell said.
“My brother has told me nothing about you.”

Jayna flushed a little. “That was my
fault. I’m trying to keep a low profile.”

The front door burst open and everyone
turned to see Evelyn Harper rush in. “What in the hell happened here!”

After introductions were made, Jayna
took the kids upstairs to Miranda’s room to play.

The remaining adults sat round the
living room while Russell and Emily took turns telling details about what had
happened that day.

Evelyn called the hospital to check on
Jack and her brother, then headed to the kitchen to cook dinner for the
exhausted group. Conversation was minimal during the meal, mostly centering on
Jayna and her cute baby.

When plates were cleared, Logan gathered
up his charges and headed home. Emily, Russell, Evelyn and Miranda retired to
the living room.

“Hey Grandma, when is Uncle Dylan coming
home?”

“In a couple of days as a matter of
fact,” her grandmother answered. “It looks like he’ll definitely need to stay
at his apartment in town now. At least Nicoletta has agreed to take the job so
I don’t have to arrange for someone from out of town. I don’t think she’s very
happy about it, but she’s a professional and a patient
is
a patient.

“Miss Emily, can you tuck me in?”
Miranda asked quietly. “I’m getting tired.”

“Of course she can, squirt. She’s
staying here tonight.”

Emily looked at him questioningly but
headed upstairs with Miranda. She walked into the room and was reminded of the
blood on the windowsill. “Hey Miranda, do you have any cuts?”

“No,” she said. “Why?”

“
Your
Uncle
Ethan and I saw blood on the window sill.”

“Oh, that was from the bloody nose I had
this morning.”

Emily closed her eyes and thanked her
lucky stars. “Okay. Go get your jammies on and I’ll read you a quick story then
tuck you in.” She picked an age appropriate book and by the time she was
halfway through chapter one, the little girl and Rizzy were side by side, sound
asleep. She put the book away then kissed Miranda’s forehead. “It melted my
heart when you called me Mama,” she whispered. This precious little girl might
have a rough few days ahead of her, depending on how she reacted to her
mother’s death.

Emily went into the guest bathroom down
the hall to freshen up and on her way downstairs, she heard sobbing coming from
Miranda’s room. “Russell, come here,” she called down the stairs before heading
in to see what was wrong. “Hey sweetie, I thought you were asleep.”

“I was,” she cried, “But Rizzy fell off
the bed and woke me up. Then I remembered that my mother was dead.

“How did you know that?” Russell asked
from the door, fear clutching his chest.

“I heard someone say it when I was
playing with baby CJ,” she cried.

“What exactly did you hear?” he asked
rushing over to sit next to her. Emily sat on her other side to hold her hand.

“I just heard you say that Vivienne was
dead and that’s Mama. Right?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Your mother is in
Heaven now.”

“Why did Mr. Jack shoot her?” the little
girl asked quietly.

Russell couldn’t believe that she’d
heard that too. How was he supposed to answer that?

Emily sensed his distress and turned
Miranda to face her. “Sweetie, your mother was sick. Her brain wasn’t working
right. She was mad at your daddy and tried to hurt him. Mr. Jack had no choice
but to shoot her.”

“She always said she wished Daddy would
die,” Miranda murmured. “I guess she meant it.”

Russell hugged his daughter close. “I’m
so sorry, baby.”

“
It’s
okay,
Daddy. When I first heard it, I was mad at Mom for not saying goodbye - either
time she’s left me. When I woke up, I was sad, but now I’m mad again.”

“It’s okay to love her still,” Emily
said, stroking her hair. “Because at one time she loved you and she’ll always
be your mother.”

“Can I go to sleep now?” Miranda asked.
“I’m tired.”

“Sure kiddo,” Russell said, standing up.
He tucked her in and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well baby.”

Emily and Russell quietly left the room.
“Did you have to tell her what happened?” he groused. “Wouldn’t it be better if
we didn’t scare her?”

Emily sighed. “She asked a direct
question. We had to give her a truthful answer, but I watered it down for her
age level. You’ll be glad when she’s older and you don’t have to answer the
question – ‘Daddy why did you lie to me’.”

“Oh God,” Russell groaned. “I’m sorry I
didn’t mean to snap at you.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her
close for a hug. “It’s been a hell of a day.”

“I know. It will all look more
manageable after some sleep. Could you take me home?” She suddenly felt afraid
of making the walk alone.

“No Em. I want everyone under the same
roof tonight. I can’t bear to let you go to that cottage and be alone.”

“Where do you want me to sleep,” she
asked. “If I can’t go home, I’d like to lie down.”

“My room,” he insisted. “I’m going to go
talk to Ma. I’ll meet you in there.”

Russell headed downstairs, finding
Evelyn in the kitchen. “Hey Ma, can we talk?” he said in a serious tone.

“Sure son. What’s going on? This doesn’t
sound so good.”

Russell invited her to sit at the breakfast
bar next to him. “I think I made a huge mistake in moving here. Today was proof
of that.”

“No son. Today only proved that your
ex-wife was nuts.”

Russell chuckled. “Be serious Ma. I
think I’m going to go home for a while and try to get my head on straight.”

Evelyn sighed. “Well, first of all, you
are home. And second of all, I don’t agree with you and I’ll really
miss
Miranda, but I can’t stop you. You’re a grown man and
you are perfectly capable of making your own mistakes.”

“Damn it Ma!” he said loudly, banging
his fists on the counter. “Stop with the guilt trips. Besides I don’t want to
pull Miranda out of school. Would you be willing to take care of her for me
until I make a decision?”

“Oh Russell,” Evelyn groaned, shaking
her head. “Don’t you think she needs you right now?”

“Not if I’m barely functioning Ma.
She’ll have you and Emily.”

“Damn it son,” she sighed. “I’ll do it
but consider it done under duress. I think you’re making a huge mistake. You
also have your girlfriend to consider.”

“If I decide to go back
ho
…to Vegas, she’ll come with me if she really loves us.”

“Oh son,” she said, cupping his cheek
with a shaking hand. “It doesn’t always work that way.”

“I’ve made up my mind, Ma,” he insisted.
“Goodnight.” Kissing her cheek, he stood up and left the room then turned back.
“I called Jackson’s son, Ethan. He’ll be here in the morning. We can put him up
right?”

Of course,” she agreed. “He’s welcome
here.”

“Thanks,” he murmured and left the room
again.

**********

“Em, are you asleep?” Russell asked
softly as he pushed the door open. The room was pitch black.

“Not yet,” she answered quietly from the
edge of the bed where she was sitting. “I don’t have anything to wear and my
clothes are…gross.”

“I’ll get you one of my shirts to wear
if that’s okay,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.”

“Yes please,” she answered with a yawn.

He kissed the top of her head then
walked over to the closet to get her a shirt. While she put it on, he took a
turn in the bathroom. When he walked back into the room, she was all snuggled
up under his covers. He liked seeing her there, liked having her there but
maybe not in Wyoming anymore. Or maybe…Oh hell he didn’t know which end was up.
Hopefully she would understand his need to get away. “I think my adrenaline is
crashing,” he said climbing into bed beside her.

“
Mmm
, me too,”
she murmured, snuggling up to him. “I love you Russell.”

“I love you too, Em. Now sleep.” He just
hoped that when she woke up in the morning and he was gone, that she would
still feel the same way.