Page 43 of My Cowboy Salvation
It has to.
Chapter 22
Dylan
“Trick or treat!”
I smile down at the three princesses grinning up at me, their bags open. “Wow. Don’t you all look beautiful! Here you go,” I say, dropping a couple of pieces of candy in their bags.
“Thank you,” they say in unison and turn around, easing their way down the steps.
Bragdon, the deputy Logan has on duty this evening, grins at the little girls as they pass him at midway up the drive. The guy wasn’t happy when I came outside half an hour ago and lit up the jack-a-lanterns and turned all the house lights on to make it clear this house was open for Halloween business, but I smiled widely at him and promised I’d close up shop by eight and that, in the meantime, he could screen every visitor before they headed to the front porch.
I’m sure the guy would have preferred Logan’s approval for this seemingly last minute activity, but I know for a fact he’s currently occupied with a candy screening and safety event at the station until eight, so the deputy would be reluctant to call for further direction.
The sun set in the sky a few minutes before, but there’s still a warm glow overhead that combines with the sounds of kids’ laughter and the smell of burned leaves, offering me a sense of contentment. At least for the moment. I’m trying not to think about the disaster the rest of my life is.
My candy bowl is getting dangerously low, and I’m about to top it off with the last of the bag when the doorbell rings with more kids. I sift through the pieces left, considering how to split it up depending on the group size, and open the door.
It’s an adorable kid in a Spiderman costume who, by his size, can’t be more than six or seven. His dad is standing next to him, also in the spirit of the season with a dark cape and the mask of the phantom from Phantom of the Opera—the same show Simon took me to on our first date.
A prickle of alarm has the hairs on my arms standing up.
It’s a coincidence; it has to be. Simon wouldn’t dare show up like this, in near broad daylight, being so arrogant to march right past a police officer…
I stare into familiar dark brown eyes that flash with excitement, his lips twisting into the smile I remember well, the smile he usually gives just before he strikes. “Evening, chérie,” he whispers.
Fear rolls over me, cold and unrelenting, and I want to step into the sanctuary of the house and shut the door, but I can’t seem to move. My mouth opens as I’m ready to scream to Bragdon he’s here, but Simon’s arm sweeps up.
For a moment I think he’s about to hit me, and I flinch, my arms going up in self-defense. But when nothing comes, I glance at his phone in his hand; he’s trying to show me something on the screen.
It only takes me a couple of seconds to recognize the picture. Parker. Gassing up his car.
“Now, chérie, I need you to weigh your next moves very carefully. You can scream and alert the officer behind me that I’m here, but that will result in my needing to take one or maybe even two vulnerable hostages with me,” he says, glancing down to the kid who is being remarkably calm, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s drugged him to get him to remain so docile. “And your old boyfriend, who is currently staying in a hotel outside Spokane? He likely won’t have the luxury of enjoying tomorrow’s sunrise. Do I have your attention?”
I nod and clutch my hands around me for warmth. Another group of kids are on their way up the driveway now, and we wait as they come up to the porch.
“I know you can do better than that, Dylan,” Simon says softly. “You need to smile like nothing’s wrong.”
“Trick or treat!” the kids yell enthusiastically, and I force a smile and nod, even as I draw candy from the bowl and drop them into the bags.
They all leave, and I notice Bragdon stares curiously up at us.
“Wave to him, Dylan. Let him know you’re fine. I promise. We won’t be much longer.” I do as he says, not wanting to risk this young boy’s safety or Parker’s.
Bragdon nods and looks away, not seeming alarmed by the fact I’m chatting with a man and his son.
“What do you want, Simon? There’s no way he’s going to let me just leave with you without sending off alarms.”
“No, I expect not. So here’s what’s going to happen. There will be a car waiting to pick you up at that corner.” He nods to the street corner about a hundred yards away. “Eight o’clock.”
“How am I going to get away?”
“It’s Halloween. I’m sure you can find something to help you slip away undetected.”
An hour. Logan should just be finishing up at the station. “And then what?” I ask him, although I’m certain I already know the answer.
“Then we go home. Where you belong.” He grins wider. “I won’t lie, Dylan. There will be consequences for your actions. But this little adventure of yours has given me one thing. Leverage. Because now I know that there are people in this world you care about more than your safety. And you wouldn’t want any harm to come to either of them.”