Page 38 of Ace of Spades (Hidden Creek Ranch #1)

WESTON

“Dammit,” I mutter, lifting the hood of my truck.

“Is it not starting again?” Rafe asks, walking down the front steps of the lodge.

“Nope. Can’t be the battery, I just put a new one in her the other day. I’m thinking it’s the alternator.”

“Want me to have a look at it?”

“I’ll probably have you help me pull her around back to the barn if you’ve got time, I don’t feel like dragging my tools down here.”

“I’ve got time. Debbie and Rhonda were trying to drag me into helping them get the bunkhouses ready for our first booking next week, but this is much more fun,” he tells me, coming to stand at my side.

“Thanks, man. Hey, have you heard from Hailey today?”

“No, why? Wasn’t she supposed to go see her dad?”

“Yeah, but she’s been gone for a while. She left after breakfast this morning and I haven’t heard from her since, and her phone keeps going straight to voicemail.”

“Shit, that was like five hours ago. Did she say how long she’d be gone?”

“No, but I’ve got a bad feeling. I don’t know how to explain it, but something just feels… off,” I admit.

Something had been gnawing at me all morning, this weird feeling in my gut that something just wasn’t right. Hailey never turned her phone off, especially not when social media was a huge part of her life.

“Looks like you can stop worrying,” Rafe tells me, bumping me in the shoulder as I turn to find Hailey’s truck driving through the ranch gates in the distance.

A smile spreads across my face as she parks, my legs carrying me as I make my way to greet her.

The truck door opens and my heart sinks to the gravel at my feet, my spine going rigid as William Sorrels steps out. His hat casts shade over his amber eyes, the same shade as his daughters—though his are far colder, a dullness to them that Hailey’s don’t carry.

I catch Rafe tossing his rag down behind me, coming to stand at my side.

“Where’s Hailey?” I ask, keeping my tone level.

“She’s not coming back here. I came to pick up her horses and trailer.”

“Bullshit,” I argue. “Where is she? ”

“As I said, she’s not coming back,” he tells me, his tone placating.

“My daughter and I had a long talk earlier, and she made the decision to move back. She asked me to thank all of you for her time here, but she ultimately decided that her place was with her family. As of today, she has accepted a position with Easton & Sorrels Investment Group, where she will be taking over as head of marketing and advertising for the Cedar Creek Resort.”

“I don’t believe you,” I tell him. “Hailey wouldn’t leave, not without saying goodbye.”

“She felt that goodbyes would be too hard. She also mentioned that she was afraid you might try to stop her from leaving, which is exactly why she sent me in her stead.”

“I want to talk to her,” I tell him, not believing a word that’s coming out of his mouth.

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.”

“Rafe,” I call over my shoulder. “You got your truck keys?”

“Yep,” he confirms, walking over to his truck and swinging open the driver’s side door.

“Either of you step foot on my property and I’ll have you arrested for trespassing,” William threatens. “If you truly care about my daughter, you’ll respect her wishes. Now, are you going to point me to Hailey’s trailer, or am I going to have to find it myself?”

“You take another goddamn step onto my ranch and see what happens. We don’t call the cops out here, Mr. Langford.”

The click of a gun being cocked into place rings through the air, a smirk tugging at my lips at Rafe’s perfect timing as he sets his pistol on the dashboard of his truck .

William looks between the two of us, his face reddening at the threat.

“So be it,” he finally relents, stepping back towards Hailey’s truck. “Stay away from me and my family. I’ll have my security team on standby in case any of you decide you want to try anything funny.”

Rafe and I both remain silent as his truck pulls away, dust forming a cloud behind him as we watch him disappear out through the ranch gates.

“You’re not listening to me! We need to be focused on how to get her back,” I argue, slamming my hands down on the cherrywood desk, the same one that I had fucked Hailey on just two weeks ago.

“We are,” Chance tells me. “But there’s nothing we can realistically do, Weston.”

“It’s been two days,” I seethe. “Two fucking days!”

I’d been losing my mind over the last forty-eight hours, calling everyone in the damn area to see if they’d heard from Hailey.

I’d driven past the Sorrels estate a few times as well, confirming that William hadn’t been bluffing about the security measures.

I was at my wits' end, I needed to find a way to get to her. There wasn’t a single part of me that actually believed that Hailey would leave without even as much as a goodbye.

I dig through the desk until I find the pack of cigarettes that I know Mike hides in here, holding one between my teeth as I light it. I’m not a huge smoker—haven’t even touched one in months—but right now, I need something to take the edge off.

“Okay, and then what are we supposed to do? Call the cops and report a kidnapping? He’s her father, Wes, and there’s nothing on the record about her even ever having officially lived here.

They’ve got the kind of lawyers that only big money can buy.

They would find a way to spin it on us,” Beau chimes in.

I chuck my hat across the office, feeling like my blood is on fire as I rake my hand through my hair and try not to rip it out.

I take another drag of the cigarette, walking over to stand by the open window.

Debbie and Rhonda would kill me for smoking inside, but it was the last thing on my mind right now.

“For all we know, she stayed with her dad voluntarily,” Beau states. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s something we have to consider—that she left of her own volition.”

“Not possible,” I argue, leaving no room for question in my tone. “She wouldn’t leave her horses behind, she wouldn’t leave us, or Poncho, or—” a ball lodges in my throat.

Me. She wouldn’t leave me.

The three of them fall silent.

“She just wouldn't, okay?” I finish, my anger dissipating.

Chance pushes off of the windowsill, coming to stand around the table.

“You’re right,” he says, his tone solemn. “She wouldn’t.”

“What do you want to do?” Rafe asks, his eyes lifting to meet mine.

“Get her back,” I state, no hesitation in my tone.

“Then let’s get her back. ”

“Beau?” I ask, turning to face my friend as he stands from the desk.

He thinks about it for a moment, pacing around the room.

“We could try calling a welfare check? If we tell them we have reason to believe that she might be in danger, they would be required to go check it out. Unless her dad has something on her, it would at least give her the chance to talk to somebody and hopefully get help.”

“Fine,” I say, putting out the cigarette on my boot. “But I’m waiting outside those damn gates to talk to the cops myself when they show up. They need to know exactly what’s going on.”

“Let’s do it,” Chance agrees, the three of them following behind me as I walk out to the main portion of the lodge.

“Where are you guys going?” Rhonda calls from the kitchen.

“To get Hailey back.”

“Really?” Dakota exclaims, her eyes lighting up for the first time in days. “Can I come?”

“No,” I tell her. “I promise we’ll be back, okay?”

“Wes,” Chance calls, and I turn to find him looking out through the front of the lodge, the massive floor-to-ceiling windows giving us a clear view of an unknown truck pulling down the driveway.

“Stay here,” I tell Kota, shooting a glance over at Rhonda and Debbie to extend the command to them.

The guys and I walk out to the front porch, Beau hanging back as Chance, Rafe, and I take the few steps down to the gravel below.

“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.”

“Weston, I never—”

“I know,” I stop her. “I don’t know how, but I knew. I’ve been trying to find a way to you since then.”

She gets a glimmer in her eyes, her lips tilting into a playful grin.

“Are you saying you missed me, Langford?”

My mouth tilts into a grin, my hands wrapping around her waist as I pull her into me.

“What I’m saying is that Poncho really missed you while you were away. You know, you can’t just leave me with a baby raccoon and run off on me, Sorrels.”

“Weston,” she scolds, gently smacking my chest .

“Of course I missed you,” I chuckle, running my hands through the hair at the back of her nape and pulling her mouth to mine.

More than you’ll ever know.

“I missed you too,” she whispers against my lips, and my heart flutters in my chest.

“For the record—if you ever do decide to leave, you’re not getting away from me that easily.”

She chuckles.

“I’m not going anywhere.”