Saved by the Rancher (28 page)

They made their way through the forest to the dirt road high in the hills. They’d seen several broken branches and disturbed dirt, but it was difficult to tell if it was manmade or from the animals. They’d make their way back down the road past the lake to the main road, searching for any sign Jenna or a vehicle had come this way.

As they rode on, Jack noticed something up ahead. Deep tire impressions in the dirt and gravel and something else he couldn’t quite make out in the setting sun. They reached the spot and found the rope. “He had her here. These tire tracks are fresh. He must have tied her up at some point.” Jack fisted his hands on the reins, his knuckles going white and his hands aching.

They dismounted and Caleb searched the area. “Where is she now?”

They fanned out, calling out for her, but received no response. Some brush and dirt had been disturbed. Sam searched the road in a zigzag pattern, stopping every couple feet and bending down to take a closer look.

“Check this out,” Sam called. They rushed to his location and stared down at the drops of dried blood.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Jack said, unwilling to believe she could be dead.

“It’s not a lot of blood. Something happened here. Take a step back and look at the disturbed ground. The footprints start here. They’re widely spaced and headed for the trees. She ran.”

“He ran after her,” Caleb said, indicating the larger prints that followed Jenna’s smaller ones.

“Yes. She ran. Despite the blood, the evidence in the disturbed dirt and gravel indicates a scuffle. Hopefully she was able to get away.”

Sam took a closer look around and walked several yards into the trees, following the trail and other bits of evidence. Broken limbs, trampled weeds, disturbed dirt and dried leaves. He came back to the road and walked along the edge further up the road. Spotting something, he bent and pivoted on his toes and looked down the road where he and Caleb waited.

Sam made his way back and spoke first, because Jack couldn’t form a single coherent thought, let alone speak his worst fears.

“All indications show they fought, ran, but . . .”

“But what?” Jack demanded.

“I found her footprints coming back out of the trees about a quarter mile up. Headed this way. Makes sense. This road has a downward grade. If she escaped him, she’d head downhill in hopes of finding the main road or even the ranch. Maybe she’s up ahead.”

Jack held on to Sam’s optimism. He didn’t even want to consider that maybe Merrick had killed her and taken her body somewhere else.

Mounted, about to head out, Jack’s radio squawked to life.

“Jack, this is the sheriff. You read me?”

“Did you find her? Where is she?”

“One of my men reported seeing what looks like a body down by the lake. He’s up on the hill and making his way down to the lake now.”

“We’re on our way. We’re not that far. Call an ambulance, have them meet us there.”

Jack, Caleb, and Sam kicked their horses into motion, racing down the road as fast as the horses could run. They knew it was Jenna. She’d made it all the way down the hills to the lake. Jack prayed she’d be alive when he got to her.

As the three men approached the lake, the sheriff’s man came out of the woods on the run, too. Jenna lay sprawled in the mud, partially in the water.

Jack, Caleb, and Sam jumped off their horses and ran over to her. Covered in dirt and mud, dried leaves and twigs tangled in her hair. Her swollen and bloody hands lay limp in front of her. Several of her nails were broken and torn. Blood covered her neck, hair, and shoulder from a cut on the back of her head. She didn’t move at their approach.

Jack placed a hand on her ribs, barely able to feel the shallow rise and fall as she breathed. Cold to the touch, Jack’s insides froze with fear. He bent his head low to her ear. “Jenna, baby, wake up. Wake up, baby, please.”

Her lips formed Jack’s name, but he couldn’t even hear her voice.

Gently, the men rolled her onto her back, and Jack saw the blood and open wound. “She’s been stabbed.” Covered in blood and mud, the cuts looked bad. “Oh, honey, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

Jenna’s eyes fluttered, but she never got them open. She softly spoke, “Lily?”

“What, honey? What did you say?”

Jenna’s cracked, split lips mouthed, “Lily?”

“Lily’s fine. Everyone else is fine. He didn’t hurt Lily.”

“Water.”

“Yes, honey. We’ll get you some water, and we’ll take you to the hospital.” Jack tore off his jacket and tucked it around her.

Jenna passed out, unable to stay awake any longer. Caleb brushed the hair away from her face and neck and untied the bandana covered in blood from Jenna’s head wound. The men starred at Jenna’s bruised neck.

“He tried to strangle her,” Sam said, shocked. How did she survive in the woods after being strangled and stabbed? “My God, she’s one amazing woman.”

The ambulance finally arrived after what Jack considered an eternity. The sheriff’s men, Caleb, and Sam stood back while the paramedics carefully put Jenna on a stretcher and into the back of the ambulance. Jack refused to leave her side for even a second. They’d started an IV for her dehydration, covered her in several blankets to get her warm, and Jack climbed in to ride to the hospital, despite objections from the paramedics.

Sam and Caleb watched as they drove away. “Caleb, let’s take the horses back to the barn and meet Jack at the hospital.”

“Can you believe what that bastard did to her?” Caleb asked.

Furious, Sam saw a lot of horrible things in the FBI, but seeing a woman or child hurt always made him sick. And this was his future sister-in-law. He’d seen the devastated look on Jack’s face, felt his deep pain all the way to his own soul. He hated the bastard who’d done this and made his brother and Jenna hurt.

“You should have seen her the last time,” Caleb said on a weary sigh. “I don’t know how she survives that asshole. He better hope Jack doesn’t find him before the cops do.”

Chapter Forty-Four

J
ENNA WOKE IN
the emergency room, people all around her. Someone was cutting off her clothes and a man next to her issued orders with machine-gun rapid-fire precision. He said something about an X-ray and she panicked. She grabbed his coat and yanked, despite the pain in her hands. He leaned down and she whispered, “Baby.”

“What did you say? Can you say it again?”

She took a deep breath, and although it hurt her throat and ribs, she said, “Baby.”

The doctor locked eyes with Jenna and she nodded yes.

“No X-ray. Let’s get an ultrasound machine in here,” he ordered a nurse, who rushed to get the machine. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything is fine. I’ll give you something for the pain, but it won’t hurt the baby. Do you know if you have any broken bones?”

Jenna couldn’t even attempt to speak again. She shook her head no and her heavy eyelids drooped. The doctor barked more orders, but she drifted off into blissful numbness.

S
AM JOINED
C
ALEB,
Summer, Lily, and Jack in the waiting room after he spoke to the sheriff about finding David Merrick.

“What did the doctor say?” Sam whispered to Caleb.

“Jack’s waiting for an update. The emergency room people have been very closed-mouthed so far.”

“The sheriff contacted Merrick’s lawyers,” Sam explained. “They’re already spinning things, saying Merrick is on his honeymoon and Jenna is trying to cause trouble for her ex, jealous of his new wife, shit like that. If David has a solid alibi, it’ll be the same story, her word against his.”

“Lily saw him,” Summer volunteered.

“Who’s going to take the word of a three-year-old?” Jack frowned and shrugged at his little niece. He believed her, but he wouldn’t put her through that kind of scrutiny. Furious, Jack wanted Merrick found, so he could kill him.

“When will they give us word on Jenna?” Summer asked, worried.

Jack wouldn’t be okay until he saw Jenna, and the doctors told him she would make it. “They won’t say, and they won’t let me see her. Something about a complication they weren’t expecting when she came in. Covered in mud, dirt, and blood, I couldn’t tell how bad she was hurt. God only knows what he did to her out in the woods.”

“They’ll clean and patch her up, and then they’ll let you see her,” Sam assured him. Jack wasn’t so sure he believed Jenna’s wounds wouldn’t be severe, if not life-threatening.

The doctor came into the waiting room a few minutes later. Jack closed the distance in two long strides. He introduced himself, but before he could get any further the doctor spoke to Summer.

“I’m Doctor Weber. I know you’re all anxious to hear what I have to say about Jenna. She’s very upset at the moment, and I need some answers so I can calm her down. Are you Lily?” he asked Summer.

“I’m Lily.”

“Jenna’s asking for you. She’s very concerned. Would you like to go see her? Maybe she’ll respond to treatment better if she sees you.” Addressing the group, he added, “I’ve never seen anyone in Jenna’s condition so determined to find out about another person. She wakes up agitated and demanding answers.”

“I’ll go see her. Is she really sick? Did you give her a pokey shot?” Lily asked with a deep frown.

“I’m afraid I gave her several pokey shots to help make her better.”

“Did you give her a lollipop for the shots?”

“No, but I’ll try to find one for her,” he said, unable to ignore Lily’s earnest question.

“Okay,” Lily said, satisfied.

Doctor Weber bent down in front of Lily and spoke directly to her. “I don’t want you to be scared, but when you see Jenna, she might look different than you remember. She was hurt very badly, and she has some cuts and bruises. Do you understand?”

“Yeah. Does she look like she did when she came to stay with Uncle Jack?”

The doctor gave Jack a questioning, worried glance at hearing Jenna had suffered similar injuries in the past. “She looks bad, and I don’t want you to be afraid. Jenna is very upset and wants to know that you’re safe. Okay?”

“Okay.” Lily needed some reassurance and glanced up at her Mom and Dad. They nodded their encouragement. Jack felt much the same as the doctor. It might not be a good idea for Lily to see Jenna, but Jenna needed to see Lily to put her mind at ease.

“I’m not sure about this one,” Doctor Weber said. “Does anyone know about a ring?”

“I have the ring,” Jack said, relieved he could give that back to her. “The paramedics were concerned about her swollen hands, so we pried it off her in the ambulance.”

“She wants it back. In fact, she’s quite adamant about getting it back.”

“I’ll be sure to give it to her as soon as you let me see her. How is she? What kind of damage did he do to her?”

Summer grabbed Lily and walked down to the nurse’s station away from the doctor and his evaluation of Jenna’s injuries.

“She’s severely dehydrated. We’re giving her IV fluids, and she should recover from that quickly. She’s got two severe lacerations along her ribs on her left side that took quite a few stitches to close up. She has a gash on the back of her head, which also required several stitches. The head injury resulted in a severe concussion and a cracked skull. I don’t know how she’s survived that injury out in the woods overnight in the cold. Those are her worst injuries. Other than that, she has bruises and cuts all over. The bruises and abrasions around her throat are particularly severe. She’s in a lot of pain.”

“You’ve given her something for the pain though, right?” Jack didn’t want Jenna to suffer anymore. He couldn’t stand to think of her enduring any more pain.

“Acetaminophen. She simply refused anything more. She’s very strong and seems to be enduring the pain. I have to go by her wishes.”

“Why won’t she take anything? Can’t you put it in her IV? Take the pain away. That’s your job!”

Undeterred by Jack’s outburst, the doctor simply answered, “I have to go with what she wants. Maybe once you talk to her, you’ll understand. You can go in and see her now. She’s extremely tired and might not wake up, but I think it would do her a world of good to see Lily and the rest of you.

“Also, she needs rest, so only two visitors at a time and for a few minutes only. We’ve cleaned her up and bandaged all the wounds. You may want to warn Lily again before bringing her in.”

“Thanks, Doc. Is there anything else we should know? I feel like you’re holding something back.” He just wasn’t sure what it was, or why.

“She’ll have to tell you the rest, doctor-patient confidentiality. She’ll need to stay here for a few days, at least until we’re sure her concussion is healed.”

The doctor left the waiting room, onto his next patient, leaving Jack confused about the things he hadn’t said. Patient confidentiality. Bullshit. Jack needed to know what wasn’t said.

Chapter Forty-Five

J
ACK HELD
L
ILY’S
hand and walked to Jenna’s room. They entered quietly and found Jenna asleep in the bed. A bandage covered the back of her head and more were wrapped around her wrists. The sheet covered her body and all the other injuries. Nothing he could see should scare Lily.

If not for Lily, Jack would have cried at the sight of her. Pale, her eyes sunken with black circles marring her translucent skin. The cut above her eye had small bandages keeping it closed, and the cut on her swollen lip would heal on its own. Jack’s heart sank at the sight of her. He’d failed her. His mind wouldn’t let him forget, he didn’t protect her after he’d promised no one would hurt her again. Now, look at her, in the hospital, having come too close to dying. Again.

Lily scooted around the bed and touched Jenna’s hand with her tiny fingertips.

Jenna’s eyes fluttered open at the touch. At the sight of Lily, tears filled her eyes and skated down her cheeks. “Come here, Sunshine.” Barely able to hear Jenna, her voice came out like a hoarse croak.

Jack lifted Lily onto the bed and Lily laid her head on the pillow next to Jenna’s. Jenna winced when Lily bumped her. She tried not to show the pain etched on her face.