Wyoming Christmas Ransom

He was beat-up and clearly a mess, and still he loomed too large in that bed. Like it didn’t matter he’d been pulverized by metal and concrete, he could take it. She almost believed it when he simply sat there and stared at her.

“Hi,” she offered from where she stood rooted by the door.

“Hey,” he returned, and his voice didn’t sound like him at all. She couldn’t read his expression, either. Maybe it was just pain.

She walked haltingly to his bedside knowing she had to say whatever it was she was going to say before her five minutes were up and Laurel came in to question him.

He frowned at her as she came to stand beside his bed. “You... You’ve been here the whole time?”

It was then she realized what he was looking so quizzically at. The dried blood on her sleeve she’d gotten from touching him out there on that frigid roadside.

When she looked back at his face, he was staring hard at hers.

“You haven’t slept,” he said, as though that were some great surprise.

“I was waiting to hear... I didn’t know how bad off you were. You passed out in the ambulance.”

“I don’t... I don’t remember that. The ambulance.”

“What do you remember?”

“Your voice.”

Gracie inhaled and then forgot to exhale. It didn’t mean anything that she was the thing he remembered. It didn’t mean he cared or this mattered, and as guilty as she felt about almost letting him die, she couldn’t let herself get wrapped up in thinking there was some change here. He was still Will, and she was just...his supplier.

“Gracie.” His non-cast arm moved and before she realized what he was doing, he’d taken her hand in his. There was a bandage on top of his hand, and still he gripped her tight. She stared at it.

“Gracie, look at me.”

She forced herself to take her gaze off his much bigger, and far more battered, hand squeezing hers.

His blue gaze was earnest and desperate. A look she recognized, and one that made her heart pinch. Because before last night she would have felt sorry for him, wondered if he needed therapy.

Today, she knew that desperation wasn’t out of place, and that maybe, just maybe, Will’s obsession with the case wasn’t wrong or sad or an attempt not to deal with the complicated feelings about his wife’s infidelity or death.

“You have to get me out of here,” he said, his gaze never leaving hers. “As soon as possible.”

* * *

WILL HURT JUST about everywhere and he knew pretty soon a nurse would come in and pump him full of all sorts of crap.

He preferred the pain. The pain kept him centered, and it reminded him of one simple truth.

He’d been right. All along, he’d been right. Whoever Paula had been having an affair with—whether they’d been involved in her death or not—needed to keep it a secret. He didn’t know how someone had figured out Will had a clue, but clearly someone had.

Still, Gracie wasn’t saying anything. Her hand was limp in his, but she leaned closer. She was a mess. Maybe not physically abused like he currently was, but exhaustion was etched across her sweet face. She had his blood on her shirt and a rip in her jeans. He wondered if it had come from kneeling next to him on the rough asphalt.

He didn’t remember much of anything. Not the crash itself, not the ambulance ride, but he remembered those few seconds of in between where he’d been lying there on fire and freezing at the same time and Gracie suddenly being next to him.

“Will,” she whispered. “Laurel is right outside.”

He blinked. Then nodded. “We’ll discuss it later then.”

“There isn’t anything to discuss. You have to stay in the hospital till a doctor clears you.”

But she still whispered, as if she was afraid her cop cousin was listening. It gave him some hope he could convince her, but it’d have to wait. He was just afraid he didn’t have much time.

He was hurt, which meant he couldn’t fight anyone off. He probably shouldn’t drive with his arm in a cast, and hell, he didn’t have a car anymore anyway. He’d decided his only chance of survival had been to jump out of the car.

Had he jumped out? He couldn’t actually remember it. But they hadn’t found him in his car, so he had to have done it.

He lifted his nonbroken arm and pressed fingers to his temple, trying to concentrate on the here and now instead of all the fuzziness around the accident.

Here. Now. He needed help, and Gracie was the only one he could trust. He looked up at her. “You do believe me now, don’t you?”

She finally wrapped her fingers around his, just a slight pressure. “Of course I do. How could I not?” She swallowed, and she lifted her free hand as if to touch him.

He found himself intensely wishing she would, but instead she dropped the hand. “I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“You don’t know how close I was to not listening to your message,” she said, her voice still a whisper though he didn’t think it was about not being heard this time. She looked miserable and devastated. “I was going to delete it. I was cutting you off and it haunts me. If I’d deleted it—”

He hated that look of anguish and guilt on her face. He’d never understood why she’d taken so much of him on her shoulders, and he’d never spent much time trying to figure it out. But she’d been helping him for two years, the only actual person who’d stayed a part of his life after Paula’s death. She shouldn’t feel guilty about anything when she’d been the only one who’d stuck. This girl who had no connection to him prior to telling him his wife had died.

“You would have been right to delete it,” Will said firmly. He didn’t need her guilt. He needed her help. “I get lost in it all and I don’t see beyond it, but you do. You have a life and people who care about you and I know I sound crazy half the time. How could you be as invested in it as me? She wasn’t your wife or even anyone you knew.”

She studied his face as if she was searching for some particular emotion, but he didn’t know what she was looking for, what she wanted. So, he needed to bring the conversation back to where it belonged.

“I need to prove that I’m right. If someone killed her they should pay. There should be some justice.”

“You’re right. Someone tried to kill you. You should have justice, too. And I’m going to help you find it.” She held his gaze, bent over him like this, hand still in his. “I promise you, no matter what happens, I’m going to help you find the truth.” Her dark eyes blazed with that promise. She had such a certainty about her, such an earnestness. He’d never known anyone quite like her. Dedicated and sweet. She cared about people enough to act on it, enough to help.

He didn’t understand her at all, and still she stood over him in this obnoxious hospital bed, her light brown hair glowing near to red in the sunlight streaming through his window. Something fluttered low in his gut, a kind of awareness that prickled over his skin.

He’d noticed before, once or twice, a moment drawn out too long. Noticed the shape of her mouth, or...other parts of her. Exactly like this, a kind of faraway thing that was easy to put out of his mind. They’d always been working on the case. Pictures of Paula’s accident or reports about it or... It had always been easy to shift away from that awareness.

Maybe it was the drugs they’d pumped him full of that made it harder to shift now.

But a knock sounded on the door and Gracie all but jumped away from him as if they’d been, well, anything other than just staring at each other holding hands.

Laurel Delaney stepped into the room looking very official. Will scowled.

“Mr. Cooper, I need to ask you a few questions.”

“About whoever tried to kill me because I got too close to finding the truth?”

He’d give Deputy Delaney credit—she didn’t flinch nor did she dig her heels in. She kept that calm, equitable expression on her face and nodded. “There was some evidence of someone tampering with your car. Well, what was left of it.”

“Am I supposed to be surprised?”

“Do you have any ideas who might have wanted to cause you harm, Mr. Cooper?”

“Oh, just the man who was having an affair with my wife and probably caused her car accident in almost the exact same place.”

“Your late wife had no evidence of car tampering. It’s also been two years. What would cause someone to come after you now?”

“I found a connection. A clue. It’s why I found Gracie at your party. I told her that I had found something, right there in Rightful Claim. Then we talked outside. Anyone could have heard me and gotten to my car.”

“So, your theory is we’re all living amongst a killer and have been for two years?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Laurel pressed her lips together, clearly irritated with his steadfast determination. Still, when she spoke, her voice was even and controlled. “Do you have any evidence? Anything that might be able to help us solve this?”

“There was a piece of paper. In my clothes. I’d written it down.” He glanced from Deputy Delaney to Gracie. “Did they find it?”

The women exchanged a glance and Laurel pulled a small notebook from her breast pocket. She scribbled a few things on it. “I’m going to see if we can find a piece of paper. What kind of information does it have on it?”

“Dates. A few phrases I thought might hint at where they were meeting. I have the information on her computer, though.” He glanced at Gracie and, without him even having to ask, she nodded.

“I’ll run over and get you some of your things,” she said.

“You need some sleep,” Laurel interrupted.

Gracie opened her mouth, likely to argue, but as much as Will didn’t want to agree with Laurel Delaney, she was right. “You’ve been here all night. You need to sleep.”

“I haven’t had parents for twenty years. I know how to take care of myself, thank you very much.”

“Gracie—”

She held up her hand at Laurel and Laurel stopped. “Neither of you are in charge of me. Now, I will run over to Will’s to grab his computer. Is there anything else you’d like while I’m there?”

Since he’d never once heard Gracie use that firm, don’t-you-dare-argue tone, he decided it was best to heed its icy warning. “No, ma’am.”

“That’s settled then. I’ll be back.” She turned on a heel and headed for the door, and even though he wanted to say more, he didn’t. Because Deputy Delaney was still there, staring at him with that inscrutable cop face.

He knew she didn’t believe him. He’d never expected her to, but there being evidence of tampering in his car meant she was going to have to investigate this. She was probably going to get in his way or get him killed in all reality. Because she didn’t believe enough of his story to not be a speed bump rather than offer any actual help.

“She has nothing to do with this,” Laurel said, nodding to where Gracie had disappeared.

“Excuse me?”

“She has nothing to do with this. If you’re in danger, by allowing her to help you, you’re putting her in danger. Is that what you want?” He glanced at the door, then back at Laurel.

The thought of Gracie in danger made his stomach turn, because he’d certainly never considered that. But the thought of trying to solve this without her had a flutter of panic settling into his gut. He tried not to let either emotion show on his face. Deputy Delaney didn’t need any extra ammunition. “You really think I could stop her?”

Laurel’s mouth curved briefly. “You could at least try.”

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