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“Did another adult go with them? That’s a lot of kids for one person alone.” I winced in pain when I coughed, damn that hurt. I spotted the pillow on the other bed. “Hand me that pillow so I can hold it on my chest,” I don’t like the idea of Bailey going alone to Florida with all those kids. I heard Izzy was her sister.”
“Carly was going to meet her there; I guess Carly’s living on the beach in North Carolina now. Bailey will be home by now. They were coming back today.”
“Carly will be back,” I replied. “Carly loves that mountain as much as we do. So why did we think the Taggert’s lived in a shack with twelve kids and all that other nonsense we talked about? Steel said their home was beautiful, and Bo is a carpenter and sold handmade furniture and home décor.”
Ryan chuckled as he looked at me. “I had nothing to do with those rumors about Bo and Izzy. They’re my friends, and it was Steel who got into a fight with Bo. I think Steel had a thing for Izzy. So, he didn’t know how famous Bo and Izzy were with their business. Since the Taggert’s don’t go around bragging about their business. Steel could be dating his cousin.” We all laughed, over that.
“If I call Bailey, she might think I’m more interested in her than I actually am,” I whispered, hoping Ghost wouldn’t bring up my feelings for Bailey.
“Oh, come on, Cole. You were talking about Bailey in your sleep. We all heard you. Try telling Allison to keep quiet.”
“Allison heard me?”
“We all did.”
“He’s just teasing you; now he knows your feelings for Bailey,” Ghost chuckled, shaking his head.
“Damn it, you two, please don’t say anything to anyone.”
“I’m not a little girl that goes around gossiping about other people,” Ryan said, laughing.
* * *
Ghost left, and Ryan stayed with me. I was supposed to go home, but the doctor was taking his sweet time. I was dressed and sitting in the one chair when Ryan walked in. The look on his face told me something was terribly wrong. “Steel wants to speak with you,” he said, handing me the phone.
“What happened?”
“Bailey arrived home last night, and I don’t know how to say this, but there were three of them.”
I knew what he was going to say before he said it. “There was a third brother, triplets. Izzy went to see Bailey, and she found Carly unconscious. Carly is in the hospital she just now woke up. She said Bailey told her there were three brothers, and they all looked alike.”
“Where’s Bailey?”
“He’s taken her. I don’t know how else to put it. Carly said he stabbed Bailey twice before he knocked Carly out. She doesn’t know where he’s taken Bailey. She did hear him say he was going to strangle her to death, just like he did Jackie and some others.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Let’s go,” I said, getting up from the chair. “Where could he have taken her?”
“Carly thinks he must be nearby. We’ll find her.”
Three hours later, we stood outside Bailey’s cabin. It was in shambles, with blood on the floor where Bailey must have fallen. I was trembling with fear. I was so fucking scared. Where could he have taken her? How much blood had she lost? Izzy walked into the cabin. It had been about ten years since I’d last seen her, but there was no mistaking she was Bailey’s sister—they looked too much alike, except for her Izzy’s blonde hair.
“I think they’re at Carly’s. Where else could he have taken her?”
“Yes, that must be it,” I said, checking my gun as we headed up the mountain to Carly’s house. Ghost, Steel, and I split up. I noticed the back door was ajar, like a trap. I signaled for them to stop and silently approached the back door, hearing a struggle inside. I hurried toward the noise.
I saw his hand coming at Bailey with a knife aimed at her heart. I took aim and shot the bastard in the heart. Then I kicked him aside as I reached for Bailey. She looked terrible, unconscious. I scooped her up and rushed out the door. Bo had just arrived in his truck. I jumped in, and we sped away. My heart was pounding, and Bailey was badly beaten.
“Is she still alive?” Bo asked, his voice trembling.
I checked her injuries, finding three stab wounds. Bailey was barely breathing. “Yes, she’s alive, but we need to hurry. I found three stab wounds. There might be more.”
We were met by the police at the hospital the doctor and nurses met us at the emergency entrance. I hated handing her over; the doctor must have sensed it. “We’ll take care of her, don’t worry. Grab a cup of coffee and find the waiting room.”
“This is my fault. I didn’t protect her like I should have. How could this one be Donnie Turner when the other brother’s DNA came up as him?”
“This isn’t your fault. None of us knew they were identical triplets. There was no way we could have known,” Ghost said.
“But we should have known, and we should have done a thorough background check on the fucker. In any other situation, we would have known everything about him. I got sloppy twice and almost lost Bailey twice because of it.”
