Roman’s warning came late, but it would not have slowed his intent.He kept thinking of that blip on the computer screen.
Had his wife’s heart stopped when it had, too?
He saw them both at the same time.Marlow was straddling Casey’s body with his gun aimed at Ryder’s heart.And the knowledge that he’d come too late filled his soul.Despair shattered his focus.Rage clouded any caution he might have used.His mind was screaming out her name as he pointed the gun at Marlow’s chest.
“You lying son of a bitch.”
They were the last words Lash Marlow would hear as Ryder pulled the trigger.
Lash’s shot went wild as Ryder’s bullet struck Marlow in the chest.He bucked upon impact, and Ryder fired again, then emptied his gun in him just to see him dance.
Roman was only seconds behind.He came through the door with his gun ready, the echo of Ryder’s last shot roaring in his ears.But hope died as he saw the woman on the floor and Marlow lying nearby.It looked as if Ryder would have his revenge, but little else.
Ryder’s gun was clicking on empty chambers when Roman took it out of his hand.Ryder jerked, then groaned and let it go.The pain in his chest was spilling out into his legs and into his mind.He couldn’t think past the sight of her battered and broken body lying still upon the floor.
Roman started toward the two bodies but Ryder stopped him.With tears streaming down his face, he grabbed his brother’s arm.“No.Let me.”
Roman ached for his brother’s pain as he stepped aside, and Ryder walked into the room, absorbing the filth and degradation of the place in which she’d been kept.Dropping to his knees, he lifted her from the filth on the floor and into his arms.
Blood ran down her legs as her head lolled against his shoulder, and then he couldn’t see her face for his tears.His heart broke as he cradled her against his chest.
His voice broke along with his heart.“No more!No more!”Laying his head near her cheek, he choked on a cry.“Ah God, I can’t take anymore!”
His shoulders hunched as he bent from the burden of living when those he loved kept dying around him.
Roman knelt at his side, sharing his brother’s pain.He glanced at the woman in Ryder’s arms.Even through the bruises and dirt, her beauty was plain to see.Years ago, he’d shut himself off from this kind of loss.He’d seen so much death and too much misery to let himself be hurt by it anymore, but this was too close to home.This woman, Ryder’s wife, was gone too soon.He reached out, lifted her hair from the blood on her face, and as he did, his finger brushed the curve of her neck.
His eyes widened as he tensed and shoved Ryder’s hand aside.When he felt the pulse beating strong and sure, he rocked back on his heels.A miracle!That’s what it was.A heaven-sent miracle.
Ryder choked on a sob.“Don’t, Roman.Just leave us alone.”
Roman grabbed his brother’s hand, his voice shaking as he pressed it at the pulse point on Casey’s neck.“She’s alive, Ryder.I swear to God, your wife is alive!”
* * *
At that same moment in the Ruban household many miles away, Matilda Bass heard a whisper.She froze, and then tilted her head, straining to hear.As suddenly as the whisper had come, it was gone, and Tilly’s body went limp.She leaned against the cabinet as the bowl she was holding slipped out of her hands and onto the floor, shattering into a thousand tiny pieces, just like the weight that had been on her heart.
Joshua spun, wide-eyed and startled.And then he saw her face.
“Tilly?”
“They found her, they found her.My baby girl is alive.”
EPILOGUE
From below, the shiny black helicopter flying high above the earth resembled an oversize dragonfly charging through the air.From up above, the earth resembled a vast crazy quilt in varying shades of greens and browns that covered the landscape over which they were flying.
As if at some unseen signpost up in the sky, the pilot suddenly shifted course and soon, a long black rooftop became visible in the distance, along with the roofs of several outbuildings, connected together with a chain stitch of holding pens and corrals.
Casey leaned forward, grabbing at Ryder’s leg as her eyes lit with excitement.“Is that it?Is that the Justice ranch?”
Ryder grinned at her.“That’s it, darlin’.All seven thousand acres.”
Her smile was nervous as she glanced at him.“I’m a little anxious about meeting your family.”
“Easy now, you know they’re going to love you.”
She sighed.“I wish I could have promised you the same thing when I took you home to mine.”
