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  I know that I will be destroyed if she doesn’t make it through this. I know that somehow she is in my heart more than my wife ever was, more than anyone could ever be. These thoughts slithered through Daniel’s brain, but of course he didn’t speak them aloud.

  “I don’t know much,” he replied. He explained about watching Lizzy pull up and walk to the barn, about his assumption that she probably had apple slices to feed to one of the horses.

  “She did. I was at the café when she asked Mary if she could take an apple.”

  Daniel nodded. “So I watched her go into the barn, saw the light go on, and then I went back to the sofa to watch the weather report, assuming she’d be in at any moment. After a while I realized it felt like she’d been gone too long, so I went to look for her.”

  He looked over to where the paramedics had loaded her onto the gurney. “That’s where I found her, and I immediately called for help.”

  He and Cameron backed out of the barn as the paramedics rolled Lizzy out and toward the waiting ambulance. “I need to get my keys from the house,” Daniel said.

  “I’ll meet you at the hospital,” Cameron replied as Daniel took off running toward the house.

  It was a dream, he thought as he hurried inside to grab his keys. It was a horrendous, heart-screaming nightmare, and he just wanted to wake up and see Lizzy walking through his front door, talking about the people she’d waited on that night.

  With keys in hand he ran to his truck. Both the ambulance and Cameron’s car had already left. Daniel jumped into his truck, his mind whirling as sharp pains pierced his heart.

  Somebody must have attacked her. Somebody had sneaked up on her in the barn and beaten the hell out of her. He clenched the steering wheel so tight his fingers went numb.

  Who? It made sense that it was probably the same person who had attacked her before, but who in the hell was it and why was he after Lizzy?

  Lizzy. His heart cried her name as he pressed on the gas pedal, exceeding the speed limit to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. She had to pull through this, but as he thought about how still she’d been, how pale and small she’d looked, his entire body shuddered with dread.

  His hands relaxed as the sight of the hospital came into view. Grady Gulch Memorial Hospital was small but staffed with good doctors and nurses.

  He parked and raced for the emergency room entrance, his heart still hammering hard and fast. Cameron was already standing in the waiting room. “They’ve taken her back to get her checked out. I imagine it’s going to be a while before we hear anything.” He gestured toward the chairs. “Why don’t you sit and I’ll get us a cup of coffee from the machine.”

  “None for me,” Daniel said as he sank into one of the chairs. He felt that if he tried to put anything into his stomach right now, it just might not stay down.

  Cameron returned with a foam cup of coffee in hand and sat next to Daniel with a tired sigh. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  Daniel stared down at the tiled floor. “I’m thinking I wish I hadn’t watched the weather report. I’m thinking that when I saw her headed for the barn I should have gone out and joined her. Dammit, I should have been there in the barn with her.” He raised his gaze to meet Cameron’s. “And I’m thinking that whoever attacked her the first time and told her to leave town was pissed because she hadn’t done what he’d told her to do, and tonight he found her again.”

  “Who in the hell could it be?” Cameron asked.

  “Aren’t I supposed to be the one asking you that question?” Daniel said wryly.

  Cameron sighed again. “I’ve never felt so impotent as sheriff. My number one goal has always been the safety of the people of Grady Gulch, and now I have one young woman murdered and another apparently beaten to within an inch of her life. I called for a couple of my deputies to head out to your barn and see if the attacker left anything of himself behind. We’ll wait until morning light and check for car tracks or whatever else we can find in the general area. Whoever was in that barn didn’t walk to your place from town. If we can find some tire tracks, I’ll cast them and compare them to every vehicle in the whole town.”

  “Just find him, Cameron.”

  “I’m doing my best.” He took a sip of his coffee and then continued, “Lizzy told me a couple of days ago that she was getting ready to move on from Grady Gulch. Maybe it’s time she did that, if nothing else for her own safety.”

  Daniel’s heart rebelled at the very thought, and yet deep in his soul he knew that it had always been Lizzy’s intention to move on. Besides, how could he ask her to stay someplace where her life might be at risk? “Maybe you’re right,” he finally said around the hollow ache of his heart.

  The two of them fell silent then as they waited to hear if the entire conversation had been moot because Lizzy wasn’t going to pull through.

  There was nothing worse than waiting to hear about the condition of a loved one, Daniel thought. Minutes felt like hours, and he could only sit and think about all the terrible things that might be happening behind the closed doors ahead of them.

  As he thought of those dark bruises he’d seen on her, he felt her pain, a jagged piercing ache that shot him to his feet to begin a pace of impatience.

  Cameron got up for a second cup of coffee as Daniel continued pacing back and forth in the small room. What was taking so long? Why hadn’t the doctor come out to tell them something?

  It was another half an hour before Dr. Michael Lawrence finally walked out the door to greet them. “She’s stable,” he began, and the words nearly cast Daniel to his knees in relief. “But, she’s still unconscious. All our tests have indicated there’s no brain swelling, although it’s obvious she was kicked several times in the head. She has a couple of cracked ribs and bruises pretty much from head to toe. All of them appear to be the result of her being kicked over and over again.” He frowned. “Somebody wanted her badly hurt or dead. One more kick to her head and I have a feeling we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “But, she’s going to be all right?” Daniel asked.

  Dr. Lawrence frowned. “I’m not happy that she hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but I think she’s going to be okay. It’s going to take her some time to get back on her feet. She took one hell of a beating.”

  “Can I see her?”

  “Can I keep you from it?” Dr. Lawrence asked with a small smile.

  “Not unless you have a big gun,” Daniel replied.

  “Room 119.”

  Daniel left Cameron and the doctor and burst through the door to find her room. The hallway smelled of some sort of pine cleaner and antiseptic soap.

  The last time he’d been there was the night that Janice and Cherry had died. The city morgue was in the basement of the building. He never wanted to go to the basement again.

  When he found the room he sought, he entered to see Lizzy looking small and fragile against the big hospital bed. She’d been placed in a hospital gown and one arm was out of the blanket that covered her.

  The sight of that small arm, dark with bruises, made him half-crazy with rage and sorrow and guilt. He pulled a chair up next to the bed and sank down and stared at her face.

  He loved her face, even though half of it was showing the signs of the deep purple bruises to come. Why hadn’t she regained consciousness? Had the doctor missed something?

  He leaned forward. “Lizzy? Honey, I know you’re in there somewhere. You need to come back. You need to wake up.”

  There was no response, not even a faint flicker of an eyelid or a change in her slow, even breathing. Would she ever wake up? And if she did, was there going to be any kind of residual damage?

  One thing was clear. She was going to need somebody to help her in her recuperation process, and he was committed to being that person.

  He leaned back in the chair and released a weary sigh. He would do whatever it took to get Lizzy back to health, and then he would have to tell her goodbye.

/>   * * *

  She rose up from the darkness just enough to be aware of faint voices and pain. She couldn’t make out what the voices were saying, but the pain shouted loud, hitting her in every area of her body.

  She tried to fight past it, to open her eyes and see what was going on, but the pain was too great, the confusion in her head too tumbled, and instead she eagerly embraced the darkness as it rose up to claim her once again.

  The next time the darkness began to clear she became aware of more things: the feel of the bed beneath her and the hospital scent in the air. Why was she in a hospital? Had she been in a car accident? She remembered leaving the café, Cameron walking her out to her car. What? What had happened after that?

  The barn. The apple. She should be in the barn with Molly. As the memory of what had taken place in the barn pierced through the veil of darkness, a cry escaped her lips and full consciousness slammed into her.

  “Lizzy?”

  Daniel’s voice came from someplace at her side, and she slowly turned her head to see him seated in a chair next to her. He looked like a wild man, his curly hair standing on end and his eyes dark and filled with such torment she wanted to weep for him.

  “I’m okay,” she said, hoping those simple words would take away some of the darkness in his eyes. She glanced past him toward the window, where the early light of day was streaking across the sky. “Long night, huh?”

  He raked a hand through his hair, letting her know exactly how it had come to be in its current position. “You have no idea. I need to go get the doctor and let him know that you’re awake. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”

  She forced a pained smile. “I’ll be fine, and I’m certainly not going anywhere.”

  He got up from the chair and raced for the door. It was only as he disappeared from her sight that her smile fell and tears burned at her eyes. Everything hurt. Even drawing a deep breath created a wealth of pain inside her.

  As she tried to sit up, she was struck by a wave of dizziness that instantly forced her back to a prone position. He tried to kill her, she thought with a touch of horror. He’d almost kicked her to death. What kind of a man did that to a woman? To anyone? It had been an act of sheer brutality, of evil hatred.

  Daniel returned with a white-haired man he introduced as Dr. Michael Lawrence. “Well, young lady, it’s good to see you finally awake,” the doctor said as he moved to the side of her bed. “You were beginning to worry me. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve had a close encounter with a very big truck,” she replied.

  “I’d love to have the name of that big truck,” Cameron said from the doorway. His khaki uniform was a wrinkled mess, as if he’d slept in it all night long.

  “I wish I could give you a name,” Lizzy replied.

  “Right now I want both of you out of here so I can have a little time with my patient,” Dr. Lawrence said firmly.

  A few minutes and a couple of prods and pokes later, Dr. Lawrence stepped back from her. “You have three cracked ribs, bruising on both sides and on your arms and legs. You will probably feel the residual effects of a concussion.”

  “Great. When can I get out of here?”

  “I’d like to keep you overnight for observation,” he began.

  “I’ve already been here overnight. I don’t want to stay another one.”

  He frowned and was silent for a long moment. “You’re going back to Daniel’s house?” She nodded. “I’ll tell you what, let’s see how you get through today. If you can get mobile without too much dizziness or nausea then I’ll make the call about releasing you later today.”

  “Sounds fair,” she replied, making a conscious decision not to mention that just trying to sit up had made her nauseous and dizzy.

  “I know Sheriff Evans has been waiting to speak with you, and Daniel has been beside himself with worry, so I’ll let the two of them back in if you feel up to it.”

  All she really wanted was to get out of there and back to Daniel’s house. She wanted to sink into the bed in his guest room and sleep until her pain was gone.

  The doctor left the room and Daniel and Cameron bumped shoulders as they unconsciously fought to get into the room first. She might have laughed if she hadn’t been aware of how badly laughing would hurt.

  For the next half an hour Cameron questioned her, making her go over and over the event in the barn in the hopes that she might have seen something, sensed something before the lights had gone out and during her attack.

  “I’m sorry, Sheriff, I didn’t see anyone but Molly before the lights went out and that barn was pitch-black when he went berserk on me.” She closed her eyes as the memory shot a deep shudder through her.

  A warm hand covered hers and she opened her eyes to Daniel. The caring in his eyes surged a new strength through her. “I just don’t have any information that will help you,” she whispered.

  Daniel squeezed her hand and returned to the chair next to the bed. “I’m going to head back out to Daniel’s place now that it’s daylight and see what we can find,” Cameron said.

  “And you’re going with him,” Lizzy said to Daniel. “I don’t want you spending the day here when you have horses to care for and chickens to feed and crops to…crops and chores that need to be done.”

  “But…” he began.

  “Please, Daniel, go home,” she interrupted him. “I plan on spending most of the day sleeping. There’s absolutely no reason for you to stay here.” She didn’t want him to witness her pain, and she didn’t have the strength to pretend that she didn’t hurt.

  Daniel looked at Cameron. “If I head home, will you post a guard?”

  “I was going to do that anyway. I’ve got Ben Temple on his way,” Cameron replied.

  Lizzy stared at first one man and then the other. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might still be in danger, but she suddenly realized that if the man in the barn had meant to kill her, then he hadn’t accomplished his goal. And that meant he might try again.

  “Lizzy, nobody is ever going to hurt you again,” Daniel exclaimed. “When you get back to my place, I promise you that nobody will get close enough to you to do any harm again.”

  “And I’m determined to overturn every rock in this town to find this creep,” Cameron said.

  At that moment Deputy Ben Temple stepped into the room. “Hey, Lizzy, how are you doing?” he asked.

  “It’s not my best day,” she replied.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry. I’m going to be sitting on a chair just outside your door until you leave here, and trust me, nobody is going to get by me unless it’s Daniel, Cameron or Dr. Lawrence. Oh, and whatever nurse is on duty.”

  “Thanks, Ben. I appreciate it.” Suddenly she was exhausted.

  “Okay, everybody out, and let’s let Lizzy get some rest,” Cameron said.

  Minutes later Lizzy was alone in the room, and when a nurse whose name tag said Cheryl came in and offered pain medication, Lizzy eagerly accepted. She was a strong woman, but she wasn’t a silly martyr and if there was a shot or a pill that would take away some of her pain, that would relax her into sleep, she was so there.

  She slept until noon, when they delivered lunch to her room. Although every movement brought pain, she also realized she was hungry, and as far as she was concerned that was a good sign.

  She finished lunch and then for the first time got out of bed. She managed to wobble her way into the bathroom, and when she looked into the mirror she gasped. One side of her face was a deep purple, and when she pulled up the hospital gown to look at her body she realized why she hurt. Her ribs and thighs were deeply colored with bruising. He’d really done a number on her.

  Still, she’d survived, and she’d not only survived but she was actually standing. And she was still standing thirty minutes later when Dr. Lawrence stopped in to check on her.

  “So, you’re up and about,” he said. “How do you feel?”

  “Stiff…sore, but the dizziness I
woke up with is gone and I’m feeling stronger.” She realized at that moment how desperately she wanted to get out of there, how desperately she wanted to be at Daniel’s house. She wanted the comfort of him and his home that had become familiar to her.

  “Any dizziness or blurred vision?”

  “No, nothing like that. My head feels okay. It’s just all the bruising that hurts, and it hurts to breathe too deep. But, I’m still ready to get out of here.”

  Dr. Lawrence studied her for a long moment. “If you were going anywhere but Daniel’s I would insist that you stay here. But, Daniel has called me four times today to check in on you. He sat in that chair all night long waiting for you to open your eyes. I feel confident that I’m placing you in capable hands, so I’ll let him know I’m releasing you.”

  “Thank you,” she said simply.

  As he left the room she walked to the window and stared outside. The horror of the attack still simmered in her, but as she thought of going home with Daniel some of the horror ebbed away.

  And that scared her. She’d never had a place that felt like home, at least not since she’d left her mother’s house at the age of eighteen. Certainly her apartment in Chicago hadn’t been a true home. It had just been a place to shower and sleep after long hours on the job.

  In the last four months of her journey through her bucket list she hadn’t found any place that had tempted her to stay, and yet Daniel’s place felt oddly like home.

  As she turned from the window and felt the pain that walked with her back to the bed, she realized what she should be focused on was getting well enough to pack her bags and get out of town.

  She’d been warned to leave town once with an arm squeezing against her throat and nearly beaten to death because she hadn’t heeded the warning.

  It had never been her intention to stay here, and her feelings for Daniel couldn’t change her mind. She would take a few days to heal, and after that she’d be ready to put Grady Gulch and painful attacks and Daniel Jefferson behind her.

  Chapter 10

  “You want some more soup?” Daniel asked Lizzy as he entered the guest bedroom, where she lay in the bed. In the past three days since he’d brought her home from the hospital, he’d insisted she stay in bed as he waited on her hand and foot.