Page 92 of Ace of Spades
“You guys strapped?” Beau calls down to us.
“Yup,” I respond, Chance and Rafe doing the same.
After William’s visit a few days ago, I wasn’t taking any precautions.
The truck rolls to a halt, the windshield too tinted to make out the driver as the passenger door flies open, my heart coming to a dead halt as a familiar pair of sneakers hit the gravel.
Hailey sprints towards me, the air in my lungs stalling at the sight of her. An overwhelming sense of relief hits me like a freight train as I take off towards her, closing the distance as she crashes into me.
My arms wrap around her, pulling her protectively into my chest. I reach up to smooth down her hair as I hold her tight enough to feel her heartbeat against mine, needing the feeling of it to convince myself that this isn’t a dream.
“Hailey,” I breathe. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine,” she tells me, her eyes watery as she reaches up to caress my cheek. With that confirmation, I slam my lips to hers, not caring that we have an audience as I claim what’s mine.
“Did he hurt you?” I ask, pulling away to study every inch of her beautiful face.
I swear right then and there that if her father so much as laid a hand on her, he was a dead man walking. I wouldn’t have any issues finding the man a grave somewhere on this property.
The driver’s side door opens, and I look up to find a middle-aged woman with the same features as Hailey, other than bleached-blonde hair. Gypsy jumps out of the truck behind her, the little furball running straight for the lodge where she knows the other dogs will be waiting.
“No,” Hailey tells me. “But he locked me in the cellar without my phone, so I had no way to get a hold of you.”
I look over to the woman who I presume to be her mother, my jaw clenching.
“You let that bastard lock your daughter in a cellar for two days?”
She looks down at her feet, shame washing over her expression.
“Hey,” Hailey pulls my expression back, her hand on my face. “I’m okay, Wes. She got me out.”
“I’m leaving him,” her mom finally speaks softly, looking to her daughter, then to me, and then to my three friends still posted at the steps of the lodge. “I’m sorry I ever let it get this far.”
Hailey steps to her mom, grabbing her hand in comfort, and I have to physically hold myself back from pulling her back into me.
“Do you think she could maybe… stay here? With us?”
“Of course,” Rafe tells them, stepping up beside me. “There’s an empty cabin near Mike and Rhonda’s, I’ll have her get it set up for you if you want to come inside.”
“Hailey!” A feminine voice shrieks, and I turn to find my little sister sprinting down the lodge steps as she barrels towards us. Hailey’s eyes water as the two embrace, and something in my chest melts.
“It’s good to have you back, Hails,” Chance tells her, walking up to clasp a hand on her shoulder.
Hailey turns to face all of us, wiping away a tear as she gets right to business.
“I’m glad to be back, but there’s something you need to know. My dad thinks your mom is going to find a way to file it as a historic landmark because of the old wagon station on the trailer park property, and he’s not ready to risk that. I think they’re planning to burn it down or destroy it before we can stop him from tearing it down.”
I look over to my buddies, the four of us exchanging glances.
“Let’s get some of the ranch hands out there,” I tell them, the group nodding in agreement.
Everybody goes to move back inside, but my hand wraps around Hailey’s arm as I hold her back for a moment.
“Hey,” I tell her. “Your dad—he came here the day you went to see him.”
“He did?” she asks, her eyes widening in horror.
“Yes. He tried to tell us that you left voluntarily, and that you had sent him to grab your stuff.”
