Page 80 of One Kind Soul

He sped through one of the fields, probably tearing up new sprouts, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. His focus had to be on Ben . . . and avoiding bees.

The barn came into view and Christian nearly cried in relief. He skidded to a stop in front of it, startling a few customers.

Customers!

“Hey!” he yelled. “Which one of you is a cop?”

Two people—a man and a woman—ran over.

Pointing to Ben, he said, “He was attacked back there. Lynda or someone might still be around.”

Nodding, the officers pulled out their phones, no doubt to call in backup.

Nicole came running over. “Oh my God! What happened?”

“Not sure,” Christian said. “Help me get him out.” Turning to the officers, he said, “You can take this vehicle to the east field.”

“I’m calling 911.” Nicole stabbed her index finger to her phone after helping Christian lower Ben to the ground.

“Ben? Ben, can you hear me, man?” Christian shook his buddy a little as he kneeled beside him.

A low groan sifted from Ben’s throat. “Yeah . . . I hear you . . .” He winced. “My head is pounding.”

“Looks as if you’ve been hit in the head,” Christian said. “Do you remember what happened?”

Ben grimaced as he touched the wound at his temple. His eyes widened at the sight of blood on his fingers. “I . . . I was driving back to get you tools . . . and . . .” He let out a grunt as he squeezed his eyes closed. “Sorry. Everything is spinning.”

“Lie still. An ambulance is on its way.” Nicole kneeled on the other side of Ben. She met Christian’s gaze. “This has to be Lynda.”

“It does have that certain flair, doesn’t it?” He pressed his lips together to keep from saying every foul word he knew. “Someone also put a beehive in the back of the utility vehicle. She must know I’m allergic.”

“There was a man . . .” Ben’s voice was faint.

“What man? Where?” he asked.

“When I was driving,” Ben said. “A man came out from the woods.” His brows crinkled. “He had a . . .” He touched his temple again. “He had a shovel.”

Nicole gasped, her hand going to her mouth, and Christian wanted to fold her into his arms, but Ben needed his attention first.

“Okay. I sent cops to check it out, buddy. You hang on.” Sirens in the distance grew louder by the second. “We’ll get you checked out.”

Ben nodded slightly as if he didn’t want to move his head too much.

Nicole took Ben’s hand. “I’m sorry, Ben.” She looked at Christian. “You have to let me draw her out. You have to.”

“I don’t have to do any such thing.”

“Things are going to keep happening. Someone else could get hurt,” Nicole shot back. “Lynda isn’t going to stop. She’s having a fucking blast, screwing with me. I’ve been wondering why she doesn’t attack me, but of course she wouldn’t be that direct. It’s way more fun for her to torture me this way.” She thrust her hands out toward Ben. “She doesn’t want me to die. She wants me to suffer. I can only suffer if she keeps me alive.”

Christian opened his mouth to protest more, but Nicole was right. Lynda was playing a twisted game here. She wasn’t out to end Nicole. At least not yet. Her first goal was emotional trauma and what could be more fun than prolonged emotional trauma?

The ambulance pulled into the driveway and the few remaining customers cleared out of the way. EMTs raced over to Ben and in mere minutes they had him on a gurney heading for the ambulance.

“Call my sister to meet me at the hospital,” Ben said.

“I’ve got it.” Jared jogged over. “I heard what happened. I’ll ride with you, man.” He gave Christian a nod. “You protect this place and your girl.” He climbed into the ambulance after Ben was loaded and the ambulance took off.

Nicole stepped over to Christian and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You have to let me bait her.”