Secluded With the Cowboy (15 page)

She read the caller ID on the phone. “It’s him.”

The only person Nate had communicated with was Nicole. Burke would probably advise that she remain the contact person. They had some kind of rapport.

But Dylan was tired of playing by rules he didn’t understand. He stuck out his hand. “Give me the phone.”

Burke probably would have advised Dylan not to take Nate’s call, but the relief on his wife’s face told him he’d made the right decision. Without objection, she handed the ringing cell phone to him.

He answered, “This is Dylan Carlisle.”

There was a pause. Then, Nate said, “Put Nicole on the phone.”

“I’m the one you’re after.” At the sound of Nate’s voice, rage shot through Dylan’s veins. Every muscle in his body tensed. “Let’s talk, Nate. You and me. Man to man.”

“You brought this on yourself.” Nate’s hatred spewed through the phone. If words were bullets, they’d both be dead. “The high-and-mighty Carlisle family hurt a lot of people. You’ve got enemies.”

He wouldn’t argue that point. With power came adversaries. When Nicole was first kidnapped, they’d made a list of people with grudges. A very long list. But Dylan’s conscience was clear; he had a deserved reputation for fairness. His ranch and associated businesses kept a lot of people employed. There were ten times more friends than foes.

“Put Maud on the phone,” he said. “Before I make any kind of deal with you, I need to know she’s all right.”

“You’re not the boss, Dylan. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m one of your ranch hands. Some dumb cowpoke you can order around.”

“I never thought you were stupid.” Tamping down his anger, Dylan tried to follow Burke’s instruction to establish a rapport. He might be able to play on his shared history with Nate. Though they’d never been friendly, they’d lived only five miles apart all their lives, attended the same schools, went to the same parties. “You were a couple of years ahead of me, but I’m pretty sure you got better grades than I did in high school.”

“Better than your sister, too.” Carolyn was a year ahead of him. “But she went off to a fancy college back east. I could only take part-time classes at Mesa State. Then I couldn’t even afford that. I had to drop out.”

“That’s rough.”

“I could have gotten one of those scholarships your family set up for kids in our area, but I never even applied. My daddy said that we didn’t need the leftovers from the Carlisle table. I didn’t need to humble myself and beg from the likes of you.”

The legacy of revenge had been passed down from father to son. Trying to establish the rapport he needed, Dylan asked, “What did you study at college?”

“Shut up, Dylan. I’m not your friend.” The anger returned to Nate’s voice. “I never had a chance at school. Had to come home and work the operations at the Circle M.”

And he blamed Dylan’s family for causing him to lose his property. Better not to dwell on that. “You’re a smart guy, Nate. And independent. You make your own decisions. Always have.”

“Don’t flatter me. I know what you really think.”

He sounded cocky—as if he’d pulled off some kind of clever trick instead of this craven act of cowardice. Was it possible that he didn’t see the wrong in what he was doing? What kind of heartless dog kidnapped and terrorized women? Nate was so blinded by revenge that he’d lost all sense of decency.

But Dylan couldn’t allow himself to react. He had to keep the hostility from his voice, and that was something he knew how to do. He’d spent a lifetime learning how to control his emotions. When you get thrown from a horse, you don’t let anybody see how much it hurts. When you lose at poker, you lay down your cards and walk away. A cowboy never wept. Nor did he break into rage.
Control
. He had to maintain control. As long as he didn’t look across the table at his wife and see the raw terror in her face, he could handle this.

“I’m asking you, Nate.” His voice was low, cool, monotone. “Let me talk to Maud.”

“Nicole’s mother. Didn’t that turn out to be a big, fat surprise?” Nate gave a raspy chuckle. “When I read that journal, I couldn’t hardly believe it. It was like Santa Claus dropped a present on my lap.”

“A present?”
You sick bastard
. “Why do you think that?”

“Because I know you. The Carlisles will do anything to protect their family. Now that family includes Maud.”

“Only if she’s still alive. Let me talk to her.”

There were scuffling noises, and Dylan didn’t want to imagine what was going on. Then he heard Maud’s voice.

“Dylan? I’m okay. I’m not hurt, just shaken up.”

“That’s good to know,” he said. “This is going to turn
out all right, Maud. I promise. We’ll do whatever necessary to get you back in one piece.”

“How’s Nicole?” Her voice trembled.

“She loves you.”

“Enough!” Nate was back. “Here’s how this is going to work, Dylan. You and Nicole get back in your car. Drive to the hot springs caves. Not the big one by the Lodge. A smaller operation that’s farther west. It’s called Vapor Caves.”

“I want to leave Nicole out of this,” Dylan said.

“And I want my ranch back. I want my herd. I want my son to live with me so I can raise him. But that’s not going to happen, is it?”

“We can work out a deal.” He needed to stall. Burke and Jesse would be arriving soon. “I could set you up with five hundred head of Black Angus cattle.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Dylan knew he’d hit a nerve. Underneath all his scheming, Nate was still a rancher. He wanted that life, longed for it. Even if logic told him that he’d be arrested for kidnapping and for the murder of Lucas Mann, Nate couldn’t help hoping.

And Dylan played on that slender hope. He sweetened the deal, “I can deed you the south field bordering the Grant place. We’ve already planted winter wheat. You’d be all set for spring.”

“Why would you lift a finger to help me?”

“You and I are more alike than you think.” Dylan sidestepped the obvious difference: Nate was insane. “We can work together. We can come to an agreement.”

“You got fifteen minutes to get to the parking lot outside the Vapor Caves. I’ll call when I know you’re there. Both you and Nicole.”

Still, Dylan tried to bargain. “Come on, Nate. You don’t need her there.”

“Maybe not.” Nate’s voice was flat and cold. “You can leave her behind—all alone and unprotected. Your little wife learned how to obey my instructions.”

Powerful emotions surged inside Dylan, making it impossible to think or to speak. He wanted Nate Miller dead, wanted to strangle him with his bare hands and feel his wretched life slipping away.

Nate continued, “I’m guessing that Nicole would do just about anything to save her mama.”

Dylan forced himself to respond. “We’ll go to the Vapor Caves. Both of us.”

“You’re learning, Dylan. You have to do what I say.”

“But we can’t make it there in fifteen minutes. Give us a half hour?”

“I don’t have to give you a damn thing. Be there in fifteen minutes. Or Maud is a dead woman.”

Nate hung up.

Dylan had no choice but to obey.

W
ITH HER FINGERS CLENCHED
on the steering wheel, Nicole drove their rental SUV toward the meeting place. Her nerves were strung as tight as a barbed-wire fence. Sure, she was scared. But not terrified.

Because she wasn’t alone. Dylan stood with her—supporting and protecting her. Together, she felt that they could handle just about anything.

He sat in the passenger seat, talking on his cell phone to Burke, who had already said that he and Jesse were close. They’d passed Rifle and Silt—less than twenty miles away on the highway. They’d be here in less than a half hour, but it wasn’t going to be soon enough.

As Nicole drove into the empty parking area, Dylan gave Burke the location of the Vapor Caves. A couple of inches of snow had accumulated on the pavement, and Nicole saw tire tracks from other vehicles. Other cars had been here and left.

An A-frame house butted up to the rocky hillside, which was dotted with scraggly, snow-covered pine trees. A worn, wooden sign over the door read: Vapor Caves. Nature’s Greatest Wonder. Other signs advertised massage and spa treatments. This was a much smaller operation than the Yampah Caves near the Lodge and definitely not first-class.

She pulled up near the door and left the car idling, ready to drive away fast if necessary. “Why isn’t anyone here?”

“There’s a note on the door.” He squinted through the windshield. “Closed for repairs.”

She checked the rearview mirrors. “I don’t see Nate. Did we get here on time?”

“We made it with two minutes to spare.” He reached over and touched her shoulder. “I meant what I said to Maud. I won’t let him hurt her.”

“He already has.” Nicole knew firsthand what it felt like to be abducted and held. It pained her to think of Maud in the same situation. “We can’t guarantee that she’ll be safe. Not while Nate’s in control.”

“But we’re going to do everything we can to rescue her, and we’ve got to believe that it’s going to work out. That’s how we do our business. Always plan for the best.”

“But prepare for the worst.”

She’d heard him say that a thousand times. He applied that rule to everything from the purchase of a new
vehicle to the vagaries of weather. In this case, the worst was unthinkable.

She tried to stop her mind from going there. Nate had already killed Lucas.
Poor Lucas!
His ashes were still in her suitcase in the back of the car. She wanted justice for him.

“Look at me, darlin’.”

Stiffly, her head turned toward him. In spite of their dire situation, his green eyes shone with a clear, steady light. He radiated confidence and strength. This was the man she loved, the man she was meant to be with for the rest of her life, the father of her baby. They had everything to live for.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“So am I.”

“You don’t look it.”

“Hey, I’m good at keeping my feelings inside. Remember?”

“Of course I remember. Haven’t I jumped all over you for not sharing your emotions?”

A wide grin spread across his face. “I like that image. Having you jump all over me.”

She couldn’t believe his mind had gone down that path. “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about sex.”

“Always.”

“We’re in a life-or-death situation. Literally. And you’re having sex fantasies?”

“Darlin’, that’s my reason to go on living.”

In spite of her rising fear, she laughed. “Not the only reason, I hope.”

“I can think of a few other things.”

Her cell phone rang, and she jumped. Negotiations for Maud’s safety were about to start. When Dylan took
the call, she was hugely relieved. She still didn’t trust herself when it came to dealing with Nate.

After only a minute, he disconnected and turned to her. “Nate wants us to go inside the caves and wait for him.”

“He could already be in there, waiting to ambush us.”

“I don’t think so,” Dylan said. “I seriously doubt a cell phone will work inside the cave, which means we won’t have any way to communicate with Burke.”

“That was probably Nate’s plan. To cut us off from any possible backup.”

“And there’s another problem,” he said. “I was hoping I could send you on your way and take care of this by myself. But I can’t leave you unprotected while Nate approaches.”

As if I’d stay behind?
“We’re a team. For better or worse.”
Until death us do part
.

As they walked toward the A-frame, gusts of wind swirled the light snow around them. The icy flakes burned on her cheeks. The entrance to the A-frame office was unlocked, and they went inside.

A scratched wood counter stretched across the front. The carpet showed signs of wear. A couple of chairs and a table were arranged around a freestanding fireplace that needed cleaning. Definitely not a high-class establishment.

Dylan went to the front window and peered out. “Nate said we should wait for him inside the caves.”

She prowled toward the rear of the office. On either side, there were dressing rooms for men and women. A sign over a door at the rear pointed the entrance to the caves. “It’s back here.”

She glanced into the women’s dressing room where a couple of terrycloth robes hung from pegs. Towels
were stacked on a wood bench by the door. The tile floor could have used a good scrubbing. Not exactly the most sanitary conditions. If she’d been coming here for a spa treatment, she would have been uncomfortable stripping down to her bathing suit.

She returned to the front where Dylan was still at the window. He checked his wristwatch. “Burke should be here any minute.”

“He won’t do anything to spook Nate, will he?”

“We talked about that on the phone. He understands that Maud is a hostage. Her safety comes first.”

She wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure?”

“He’s FBI. He knows how to deal with hostage situations. And he’s got even more motivation than that. If he messes up, he’ll have to face the wrath of Carolyn.”

She went to the front counter and shuffled through the papers stacked by the phone. Several phone messages referred to a problem with the electricity. She found Nate’s business card, advertising his experience as a handyman. “I think I know why this place is closed.”

Dylan glanced over his shoulder. “Why?”

“Nate’s business card is right here. He probably messed with their electricity, then showed up to fix it.”

“From the looks of this place,” Dylan said, “all he needed to do to be hired was offer a cheap rate.”

That must have been how he’d set this trap. “So he’s familiar with the set-up here.”

“And the electrical system. The lights are on right now, but Nate could have them rigged to go dark. See if you can find flashlights and matches. Anything that might be useful in the caves.”

Quickly, she gathered up supplies from behind the
desk. Rubber bands, a ball of twine, two flashlights, a pocket knife with a dull blade.

“He’s here,” Dylan said.

She joined him at the window. “He’s using Maud’s van.”

“Burke said it was missing from her house.”

Nate disappeared around the back of the van. When he stepped out and came toward them, he was holding Maud with one arm around her waist. In his other hand was a gun pointed to Maud’s head.

Nicole’s heart sank as she saw her dear friend—her birth mother—being treated so cruelly. “We have to do what he said. He’ll kill her.”