“Know what?” her mother-in-law asked suspiciously.
“Felix is in jail, Bianca. Your perfect, precious son is in jail.”
* * *
Derek exited Philadelphia General with a bittersweet smile on his face. He’d just left Clara and Burt Watson with their tiny baby girl cradled in the new mom’s arms. Five pounds, six ounces. A month premature but healthy and beautiful and already the apple of her parents’ eyes.
As happy as he was for the couple, seeing the newborn had reminded Derek of the baby he’d lost, the one Tess had taken from him when she’d driven their car over that bridge.
It ate at his insides that he’d never definitively know why Tess had died. If she’d known about their baby when the car sailed over the bridge. If she’d hit the water by accident or with the knowledge that she was finally putting herself out of her own misery.
But one thing Derek did know—Chloe would never have done that to him.
He knew it with the utmost certainty, with not a shred of doubt in his mind. Chloe had fought hard for her babies, desperate to keep them, devastated to lose them. And no matter how many times Felix knocked her down during their marriage, she’d stumbled back to her feet. She hadn’t let the depression consume her the way Tess had. No, Chloe had battled her demons and come out swinging.
Derek froze in his tracks as the realization truly sunk in.
Chloe wasn’t Tess. She would never be Tess.
And another eye-opener was that he’d spent the past two years thinking that he’d disappointed Tess, but it had been the other way around. Tess had disappointed him. She’d taken the love he’d offered and thrown it back in his face.
The same way he’d done to Chloe earlier.
Shame constricted his heart. She’d told him she loved him, and what had he done? Stared at her like an idiot, then said they’d finish the conversation later.
What the hell was the matter with him?
As he strode across the parking lot, Derek whipped out his phone, needing to hear Chloe’s voice. Needing to assure her that he was on his way back and finally, finally ready to talk about how he felt.
When he flipped open the phone, he discovered that Chloe had beat him to it. The missed call display revealed her cell number, and a message icon flashed on the screen.
Derek dialed his voicemail and punched in the pass code.
A second later, Chloe’s voice filled the line.
“Hey, it’s me. If I’m not at the house when you get back, don’t freak out. I went for a drive. I needed a quiet place to think.”
Unlocking the driver’s door of his car, he listened to the rest of the message with half an ear. Chloe’s voice took on a distracted note, but it wasn’t until she gasped that Derek grew worried. He heard her say “Oh, God” and then a clatter filled the line, as if she’d dropped the phone.
His back stiffened with worry, which only intensified when he heard a husky, unfamiliar voice, a woman’s voice, mingled with the sound of footsteps and the soft hiss of the wind. When he made out the words “Start walking” he sprung to action.
Panic slicing into his gut, he started the engine and peeled out of the visitor’s parking lot.
Chloe was in danger. He knew it with a certainty that cut right to the bone.
His foot shook on the gas pedal as he sped away from the hospital. It would take him thirty minutes to get back to town, half that time if he ignored the speed limit and took the toll route instead of the interstate.
Focusing on driving proved difficult; fear and dread coursed through his blood.
I’ll be back, Chloe.
Moreno’s parting words buzzed through Derek’s brain, making him wonder if he’d been wrong to believe the shock he’d seen on Moreno’s face when the man had laid eyes on Chloe.
Had Moreno been responsible for the sick presents all along? Had he arranged for a third party to take care of Chloe in the event that he couldn’t?
Or had the threats come from someone else the entire time—this mysterious woman, perhaps?
Too many questions raced through his mind, and his hands began to shake as he reached for his cell phone again. He wanted to call Tate, or Emma, or hell, a damn SWAT team. But what would he say? He had no idea where Chloe even was.
I needed a quiet place to think.
She’d mentioned a drive, so that meant she had her car, but where would Chloe have gone? As anxiety clamped around his throat, Derek scanned his brain, trying to remember if Chloe had any favorite places in town. He’d only ever seen her at the clinic or her apartment. Neither would offer a place to think.
The waterfall.
Derek let out a ragged breath. Of course. Her safe place. She would’ve gone to her safe place to think.
His heartbeat quickened as he whizzed along the highway, going double the speed limit and not giving a damn. Ten minutes later, he burst off the exit ramp, nearly skidding into a ditch as he tried to maintain control of the car.
When he neared Eden Falls Bridge, he didn’t even experience that usual burst of heartache. For the first time in two years, he wasn’t thinking about Tess as he crossed the bridge. He was focused solely on Chloe, and his chest squeezed with panic at the thought of what he might be walking into.
Nothing good, he realized grimly, when he spotted Chloe’s car, along with an unfamiliar black SUV, parked on the side of the road.
Battling a jolt of terror, Derek stopped the car, then snapped his phone to his ear and dialed Emma’s number.
“What’s up, Doc?” came his sister’s amused voice.
He ignored the teasing remark. “Emma, I need you to call the sheriff. Tell him to get to Eden Falls right away. The waterfall, I mean.” His voice came out in sharp pants. “Tell him to come to the waterfall. Chloe’s in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Derek stumbled out of the car. “I don’t know, Em. I’d call Tate but he already left for New York. I have no idea what I’m walking into and I need backup, so call the sheriff now.”
He hung up before she could respond, rounding the vehicle to unlock the trunk, where he’d stashed the gun Tate had given him last night. He’d planned on giving it back to Tate earlier, but it had slipped his mind, and now he was grateful for the oversight. Popping the trunk, he grabbed the weapon and shoved it in the pocket of his coat. Then, jaw tight with resolve, he hurried down the slope toward the tree line.
She’s okay. It’ll be okay.
He clung to the assurances echoing in his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fight the terrifying feeling that he was too late.
“No,” he muttered to himself, anger swamping his gut.
It wasn’t too late. He refused to believe the universe hated him so much that it would take Chloe from him the way it had taken Tess.
With quick, determined strides, Derek followed the riverbank toward the waterfall. Snow and twigs were crushed beneath his boots, the rhythmic cracking noises matching the fast thump of his heartbeat. When the faint sound of rushing water greeted his ears, he slowed his pace, ducking to the left so he could approach the waterfall from the trees rather than the muddy bank.
“You’re a goddamn liar!”
He froze as the enraged voice cut through the cold afternoon air.
Creeping through the brush, Derek neared the base of the falls. Through the trees two figures entered his line of sight. He made out Chloe’s blond hair. A flash of red—Chloe’s scarf.
He moved closer, then eased behind the thick, gnarled trunk of a towering pine tree and peeked around it. His muscles tensed as he stared at the back view of the woman facing Chloe. Dark curly hair, a long gray coat flapping in the chilled breeze.
And then Chloe’s soft voice drifted in his direction. “It’s true. Your son was helping to kidnap Amish girls and selling them to sex predators.”
Your son.
Christ. This was Bianca Moreno, Felix’s mother.
Derek had a tough time keeping his
jaw closed as he absorbed the startling revelation.
“You’re lying! My Felix would never involve himself in something like that,” Bianca hissed.
The voices grew murmured again. Derek swallowed hard, then continued his approach, ducking behind another tall pine just as a maniacal laugh bounced off the trees.
“This time there won’t be anything fake about your death,” the tall woman said mockingly.
Derek glimpsed a gleam of silver. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he realized Moreno’s mother held a pistol in her hands. Oh, Jesus. Chloe had told him her mother-in-law was a tyrant, but clearly the woman was also insane.
“You’re going to commit suicide,” Bianca announced.
Derek tightened his grip on his gun. From his vantage point, he saw the blood drain from Chloe’s face. He heard Bianca Moreno as she said, “And this time you’re going to succeed, darling.”
“You’re crazy,” Chloe burst out.
“And you’re pathetic,” the woman snapped.
Derek crept closer, lifting his weapon. A twig snapped beneath his boots. He froze, his body tensing, but Bianca didn’t whirl around.
Chloe, however, must have heard the noise because her gaze shifted in his direction.
Shock flooded her hazel eyes. As her mouth fell open, Derek shook his head and shot her an urgent look, then lifted his free hand to his mouth and pressed a finger to his lips.
Chloe’s jaw swiftly closed.
Adrenaline pulsated in his blood. He glanced at the back of Bianca Moreno’s head, then at Chloe again. Taking a breath, he held up three fingers, then pointed down to the ground, hoping Chloe understood the message he was trying to transmit.
When she gave an imperceptible nod, he nodded back, his face hard with fortitude.
“I think you’re going to shoot yourself in the heart,” Bianca decided, taking a step closer. “The temple is more in line with suicide, but the note you’ll leave will mention a broken heart. A long, heartfelt message to your new lover, saying you still love your husband and can’t bear to lead him on any longer. I feel that’s poetic, no?”
Derek held up one finger.
Bianca took a step toward Chloe.
He raised a second finger, then a third.
Chloe dropped to the cold ground like a stone.
A second later, Derek sprang on Bianca and tackled the woman to the ground. An outraged wail echoed in the air, followed by a clatter and a wet plop as the pistol in the woman’s hand fell into the pool of water beyond the rock-strewn bank.
With a grunt, Derek straddled Bianca Moreno’s back, jamming a knee between her shoulder blades as the woman wiggled and screamed beneath him. While he attempted to subdue the squirming, infuriated woman, he sent a quick glance in Chloe’s direction. “You all right, sweetheart?”
Looking dazed, Chloe staggered to her feet. “I’m good.”
Beneath him, Bianca continued to struggle, thrusting her elbow back and nearly connecting with his groin. Derek shifted and grabbed hold of Bianca’s dark curls. “Don’t move,” he growled.
The woman shrieked when he yanked on her hair. “Let go of me, you bastard!”
He rammed the butt of his gun into the nape of her neck. “Don’t make me shoot you,” he said in a weary voice.
At the threat, she immediately went still.
Chloe stumbled over, looming over Derek and Bianca, a stunned, slightly exhausted expression on her pretty face. “I can’t believe you found me,” she murmured, her eyes meeting his. “How did you know I was here?”
“You said you needed a quiet place to think.” He swallowed. “Somehow I knew this is where you’d go.”
“Colton!” a loud voice shouted. “Colton, you down there?”
“Over here,” Derek called.
Footsteps crunched in the snow, and then three men lumbered onto the scene, weapons drawn. Two wore the beige uniform of the Eden Falls Police Department, whereas the third, a man with wavy brown hair and shrewd green eyes, was clad in jeans and a heavy parka; Derek instantly recognized Tom Hanson, the lone detective who worked for the department.
The next ten minutes went by in a blur. Derek and Chloe quickly explained to Hanson and his men what had transpired, while Bianca cursed and screamed the entire time, hurling threats at anyone she could. When one of the officers fished her pistol out of the water, the woman denied it was hers. When Hanson slapped handcuffs on her bony wrists, she shrieked in indignation. When she was read her rights, she nearly head-butted the detective.
By the time Bianca was ushered away, her delusional, unbalanced nature was clear to all. As Bianca and the cops disappeared, Derek heard Bianca demanding to see her son, screaming out Felix’s name over and over again.
Stunned, he turned to Chloe, whose hazel eyes flickered with sorrow.
“You okay?” Derek asked gruffly.
Chloe tore her gaze from Bianca’s retreating figure. “I...” Her voice cracked. “Thank you,” she finally whispered. “You saved my life.”
Without an ounce of hesitation, Derek drew her into his arms and held her so tight he feared he’d crack her ribs. Loosening his grip, he buried his nose in her hair and breathed her in, letting her sweet scent infuse his senses. He couldn’t believe he’d almost lost her.
When he felt moisture soaking his neck, he realized Chloe was crying. “It’s over, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Neither of them can hurt you ever again.”
She sniffled, then lifted her head and gazed up at him. “Thanks to you.”
A short silence settled between them, during which Derek took a deep breath and collected his composure. “I have to tell you something,” he said roughly.
She nodded, and from the disillusioned expression on her face, he realized she was expecting the worst. Expecting him to tell her he didn’t want to be with her.
Not wanting to put her through even another second of pain and uncertainty, he said, “I love you, Chloe.”
Her jaw fell open. “What?”
“I couldn’t say it before,” he mumbled, wincing in shame. “I was too much of a coward. But I mean it, sweetheart. From the moment you walked into my life, something changed. I was closed off for so long, blaming myself for Tess’s death, but today I realized that it wasn’t entirely my fault.”
She searched his face. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe I did fail Tess, but you know what? She failed me, too. She refused to heal herself, choosing to play the part of the victim rather than try to fix anything. And her death wasn’t my fault. Tess was mentally ill—nothing I could have done would have saved her.” Residual fear trickled through him. “When I saw Bianca pointing that gun at you, I almost died, Chloe. The thought of losing you...”
“You saved my life, Derek.” She looked achingly beautiful and unbelievably timid as she gazed into his eyes. “But I need to know that’s not the only reason you’re saying any of this. I don’t want to be rescued. I just want to be loved.”
As emotion clogged his throat, Derek leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “Can’t I do both?”
She smiled through her tears. “Yes, I suppose you can.”
* * *
Derek couldn’t keep his hands off Chloe on the drive back to the ranch. He held her hand. Leaned over to stroke her cheek. Sneaked a kiss when they stopped at a stop sign. His heart had damn near stopped when he’d seen Felix Moreno’s crazy mother wielding a gun at Chloe. In that moment, he’d known without a doubt that he didn’t want Chloe to leave. Eden Falls, or him.
Now, with Chloe cuddled up next to him in the passenger seat, Derek had never felt more content.
“I can’t believe both Bianca and Felix are facing jail time,” Chloe murmured.
He squeezed her hand. “Like mother, like son?” he said in a feeble attempt at humor.
But that earned him a genuine laugh. “I guess so. Apparently I married into a crazy family.”
Derek stopped at the entrance of the Double C, then
hopped out to open the gate. A second later, he slid back in the car and steered in the direction of his house. Shooting Chloe a sidelong look, he noted the smile curving her lips. “What are you thinking about now?” he teased.
“I was thinking how happy I was to be home.” She sounded slightly awed. “Which made me wonder when I started to consider this ranch home.”
That’s because it is your home, he nearly said, but bit back the words at the last second. They’d yet to discuss where their relationship was heading now, and he didn’t want to pressure her into moving in with him on a permanent basis. As much as he wanted her to.
And it looked like any decisions about their future would have to wait. Derek suppressed a groan as he spotted Emma, Sawyer and Piper waiting on his porch, but when he registered the genuine worry creasing their faces, he realized he’d neglected to call Emma and tell her what happened at the waterfall.
No wonder his siblings looked ready to kill him when he and Chloe stepped out of the car.
“What happened?” Emma demanded, bounding toward them with Sawyer and Piper on her heels. She turned to Chloe with a look of concern. “Chloe, are you okay?”
“Chloe?” Piper wrinkled her brow. “Who’s Chloe? I thought Amelia was missing.”
Clutching Chloe’s hand, Derek shot his younger sister a rueful smile. “I think we’ve got some explaining to do.” He turned to Emma. “Moreno’s mother was the one sending Chloe all those presents.” His throat went tight. “She tried to kill her.”
“But Derek got there just in time,” Chloe said softly.
Sawyer glanced from one to the other. “I am seriously confused,” the boy announced.
Sighing, Chloe approached Sawyer. “I’ve been lying to you, Squirt. To everyone, in fact.”
He frowned. “Go on...”
Derek hid a smile.
“My name isn’t Amelia. It’s Chloe.” She hastily gave him the short version of the story, omitting the more personal details involving the abuse and miscarriages.
When she finished, both Sawyer and Piper gaped at her. “You’re married?” Piper gasped.
“You crashed a plane into the ocean?” Sawyer breathed.
The contrasting tidbits each kid had taken from the story made Derek laugh.