'Til Death (A Rebel Ridge Novel) (28 page)

Marlow frowned. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“Yeah, that’s what Kennedy thought. He’s already digging
deeper, but he wanted you to know about Prince.”

“Too bad we didn’t know about this sooner. It might have saved
Meg Lewis.”

Eddy gasped. “Is she dead?”

“Hell if I know. The last thing I heard was that they’d found
her on a ledge about forty feet down the mountain.”

“Oh, man. I hope she’s okay. She’s a really nice woman.”

Prince moaned from the backseat. Marlow looked over his
shoulder at the sorry excuse bloodying up his upholstery and frowned. “Don’t
stop in Boone’s Gap. Just drive straight on into Mount Sterling. I’ve got to
take this one to the doctor and notify Kennedy his missing shooter has been
found. We’ll let the county worry about keeping him in jail until they figure
out what to charge him with first.”

* * *

Linc knew Meg had been taken straight to the hospital in
Mount Sterling. By the time the searchers got him there for treatment, as well,
she was already in surgery. They x-rayed his back and shoulder, and sewed up the
still-bleeding wounds on his head and cheek. As soon as they released him, he
headed straight for the waiting room in the surgical wing.

He hadn’t expected his reunion with Meg’s family to be in a
hospital waiting room, but that was what he got. Dolly and Jake. Ryal and Beth.
James and Julie. Even Quinn and Mariah, who were still wearing their search
gear, had arrived.

When they saw Linc walk in, they all stood up and, before he
could say a word, surrounded him, hugging and shaking hands, and all talking at
once.

Finally Jake stepped in. “Hey, let him sit, people. He looks
like he’s on his last legs.”

“What about Meg? What did they tell you?” Linc asked.

“Jake is right. Come sit down,” Dolly said, and took him by the
hand and led him to a chair.

Linc didn’t have to be told twice. He took off his coat and
dropped. His head was throbbing, and the left side of his body was getting
stiffer by the minute.

Dolly sat down in the chair beside him and then clutched his
hand. There were tears on her face, but her voice was firm.

“Meg has a dislocated hip, a hairline fracture in one arm, a
torn rotator cuff, a concussion and broken ribs that fortunately didn’t pierce
anything vital. They took her into surgery about an hour ago.”

“Did they say anything about brain swelling or damage to her
spinal cord?”

“They didn’t appear to be concerned with either of those
issues,” Dolly said.

“Thank God,” he muttered. “It scared the hell out of me when I
had to move her.” He wiped a hand across his face and closed his eyes,
struggling to maintain his emotions as Dolly gave his hand a quick squeeze.

“Meg believed in you from the start and never stopped. We are
forever grateful for your presence in our lives and hope you’ll learn to forgive
us for not being a better voice for you when you were young. God bless you,
Lincoln. Forgive us for every slight you ever felt. No matter the outcome of
your investigation, you have a place in our homes and hearts forever.”

Linc glanced at Jake. “You didn’t tell them?”

Jake shrugged. “Didn’t hear enough of the facts to start
spreading rumors.”

Linc sighed. “Too bad there weren’t more like you when I went
to trial. So here’s the scoop. Fagan White confessed that his two brothers
killed Dad on Lucy’s orders. It’s a long story, but the bottom line is that they
killed him to hide another crime they’d committed. Dad found out what they’d
done and was going to turn them in. Lucy didn’t want the embarrassment of all
her friends finding out her brothers were thieves, so she told them to kill Dad
so he couldn’t tell. She committed murder to save herself embarrassment. I wish
they still hanged people here. I’d pull the lever on her myself.”

“Oh, dear God,” Dolly said, and then started to cry. “You were
railroaded, and we all let it happen. Why didn’t we question more? Your
grandfather and Tildy kept saying it wasn’t so. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Can you
ever forgive us?”

Linc shrugged. “There’s nothing to forgive, ma’am. You didn’t
convict me. It was Uncle Wes and my stepmother’s testimony that did it.”

Dolly frowned. “That’s the last time I ever expect to hear you
call me ma’am. It’s Dolly or Mom, like the rest of my brood.”

Linc felt like crying all over again. He’d been on his own for
so long that being accepted back into the family he’d thought had forsaken him
was too good to be true. But none of it would be worth a damn if Meg didn’t pull
through.

“Did they say how long the surgery would take?” he asked.

Dolly shook her head.

Ryal looked at the time. It was nearly two in the morning. From
the condition Linc was in, he looked like he was fading.

“Hey, Linc, when was the last time you had anything hot to eat
or drink?”

“I don’t know...at noon with Meg, I guess.” And then his eyes
really did fill with tears. “Damn. That feels like a century ago.”

“How do you take your coffee?” Ryal asked.

“Black.”

“I’ll be back in a few.” Ryal walked out of the waiting room
with Beth at his heels.

A little while later they returned with several cups of coffee
and an assortment of chips and honey buns.

“This will make you feel better,” Ryal said, and handed Linc a
cup of coffee and a sweet roll.

Linc took the food gratefully and allowed himself a few minutes
to relax. The other food was distributed among the family. After that, they all
nursed their coffee in silence, looking up only when they heard footsteps out in
the hall in hopes it would be Meg’s surgeon. The footsteps walked away, and they
all returned to their individual thoughts. Linc had never been good at waiting,
and this suspense was a living hell.

As more footsteps approached they looked up again. Sheriff
Marlow walked in, and headed straight to Linc and Dolly.

“Any news on Meg?” he asked.

Dolly shook her head.

“Where’s Prince?” Linc asked.

“Down in the E.R. I think they’re going to have to operate on
his leg to repair some muscles in his thigh. That dog of Meg’s did a number on
him. Mighty fine dog. She’s got heart, and more guts than good sense. If you
ever breed her, I want one of her pups.”

Jake beamed. “She’s out of good stock.”

“So which charges does he answer to first?” Linc asked.
“Murdering Dad, stalking Meg or attempted murder on Wesley?”

“It’s up to the district attorney.”

Linc’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like the ambiguity of that
answer.

“No, by God, it’s not. You have a duty to correct the wrong
that was done in your jurisdiction, and there’s proof to do it. This is exactly
why I don’t trust anyone with the so-called law on their side. If I have to, I
will get an attorney and shove this down your throat via the media. If you can’t
do what’s right on your own, then the fear of not getting reelected might do the
job.”

Linc got up and strode out of the waiting room, too angry to
sit there and talk anymore.

Marlow frowned. “Damn, I didn’t mean to upset him.”

Quinn snorted softly. “Upset him? Hell, Sheriff, considering
what happened to him, don’t you think he’s got a right to be upset?”

“Yes. I’ll talk to the D.A. myself. I won’t let this be swept
under the rug.”

“And neither will we. You can count on that,” Dolly said.

Marlow frowned. He didn’t like having his word questioned, then
realized what Lincoln Fox must have felt like, having truth on his side and
knowing it still wasn’t enough.

“So, I’ve got to get back to Boone’s Gap. I need to take care
of Fagan. He’s going to jail, as well. Just because he wasn’t in on the actual
acts, he can be charged with abetting due to his silence. He’s going to be
charged right along with the rest of them.”

Linc was pacing the hall, trying to come down from the
adrenaline surge. He was shocked at himself and his lack of emotional control.
The construction business was a daily grind of adjustments and frustrations, and
he’d never lost it like this. This had only begun happening after he’d come back
to Rebel Ridge—when he’d come face-to-face with the people who’d abandoned him.
Obviously he had some issues to address. Even though he’d been betrayed as a
kid, he was a grown man now, and he was coming off like some grudge-bearing
maniac.

Marlow walked up behind him. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to
imply that your case would be shoved to the back burner. It’s just that things
are so convoluted, I’m not sure what the D.A. will want to address first.”

Linc sighed. “Yeah, I’m sorry I lost my cool. It’s been a long
night.”

“I totally understand,” Marlow said. “And for what it’s worth,
after what you pulled off, I think you’re about as close to a damn superman as a
mere mortal can be.”

“There’s one thing about this whole mess that still doesn’t
make sense,” Linc said. “Why was Prince White so set on stalking Meg? It doesn’t
fit the rest of what’s been happening.”

Marlow frowned. “You know what? I hadn’t thought about it like
that, but you’re right. I’m meeting with Detective Kennedy tomorrow. I’ll see
what I can find out.”

Linc shoved a hand through his hair and winced when he
accidentally hit the stitches. “This is a hell of a thing...Lucy and Prince,
even Meg...all here under one roof. It’s giving me an uneasy feeling, like Meg’s
still not safe as long as they’re this close.”

“Just so you know, there’s a guard on Lucy’s door. At first he
was there to keep her safe. She doesn’t know it yet, but he’s there now to make
sure she doesn’t bolt. There’s also a guard on Prince’s room, and he’s
handcuffed to the bed.”

Linc watched the sheriff walk away and was heading back toward
the waiting room when he saw a man in scrubs approaching.

“He’s coming,” he said as he entered.

When the doctor walked into the room, they were all on their
feet.

“Margaret Lewis’s family?”

“Yes,” Dolly answered.

“She came through surgery just fine. We’ll keep her in ICU
tonight, and if there are no surprises, we’ll move her to a room tomorrow.”

“When can I see her?” Linc asked.

The doctor eyed the crowd. “Visitors are allowed for ten
minutes at the top of the hour. Two at a time. There are a lot of you. You’ll
have to figure it out.”

“Her mother goes first,” Linc said.

Dolly’s eyes welled. She knew how much it cost Linc to say
that. “And you’ll be with me.”

Linc backed up to the nearest chair and dropped. The others
were still talking to the doctor, but he’d heard all he needed to hear.

The surgery was over, and she was alive.

Twenty

I
t was nine o’clock in the morning, and
Linc was asleep on a couch in the ICU waiting room. He’d spent the night there,
waking every hour on the hour when the alarm on his watch would go off, just so
he could get an update on Meg’s condition. He’d sat out three separate
visitations so that her brothers and their wives got a chance to go in and see
her. And one by one the brothers and their wives went home, leaving Linc, Dolly
and Jake. After Dolly made her second visit, Jake had taken her to a nearby
motel to get some rest, and Linc was finally alone.

When the alarm went off again he was standing up almost before
his eyes were completely open. He reeled on his feet, wincing at the soreness in
his body, and headed for the bathroom. He’d quit looking at himself in the
mirror, because his appearance wasn’t getting better. His head and cheek were
turning purple and green around the stitches, and one eye was slightly swollen
from the impact with the cliff. It had occurred to him that even if Meg did wake
up, she might not recognize him. He was a wreck. After washing the sleep out of
his eyes and using his fingers to comb his hair, he headed for the ICU.

By now the nurses all knew how the patient in bed six had been
injured, and knew the hunky giant who stood in line to see her was the man who’d
saved her life. When he was finally admitted, Linc walked in quietly and stood
by Meg’s bed.

At first glance she didn’t look any different. Still hooked up
to machines that beeped, her shoulder and arm bandaged from the surgery, and the
leg with the dislocated hip in traction. He sat down on the stool at the side of
her bed and gave her fingers a soft squeeze.

“Hey, Meg. Good morning, honey. It’s time to rise and
shine.”

She stirred, and his pulse kicked. This was the first time
she’d responded so quickly to the sound of his voice.

A nurse came by and paused at the foot of the bed.

“She’s been trying to wake up for a couple of hours now,” she
said. “Let us know if she opens her eyes and speaks to you.”

His hopes rose as the nurse moved on.

“Your mom left to get some rest. She’ll be back around noon.
Your brothers all went home about daybreak. It’s just you and me, babe.”

Meg sighed. Her eyelids fluttered, reminding him of that moment
on the ledge when she’d first opened her eyes and seen him.

He watched her nostrils flare slightly, saw her trying to shift
position and guessed she was in pain.

“Are you hurting, baby?”

She licked her lips, then squeezed his hand just enough to let
him know she’d heard him.

“I’m so sorry, Meg. So sorry. Hang on and I’ll go get a
nurse.”

She clutched his hand tighter, silently asking him not to
leave, and so he stayed.

Her eyelids fluttered again, and then opened. Not much, but
just enough that he could see tiny slits of green.

“Hi,” he whispered.

A frown immediately shifted her expression. She lifted her hand
toward his face and touched his cheek right below the stitches.

“Wha...?”

“War wound. It’s nothing.”

Her lids shut, but her lower lip trembled. When a tear suddenly
rolled down her cheek, Linc groaned.

“No, baby, no. Don’t cry for me. With you safe and getting
well, everything is perfect.”

She clutched his hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

“Over?” she whispered

“Yes, baby, everything is over but your healing. They operated
on you several hours ago to fix what you broke when you fell. Prince White is in
custody. Your family has been here all night and left just a short while ago.
Your mom will be back around noon.”

She blinked to indicate she understood.

“Fell?”

“Yes, you fell. Scared the hell out of all of us. I thought
you’d fallen all the way down, and then Mariah saw your body on a ledge.”

A frown knitted between her brows. “How...get up?”

He stroked her cheek with the back of his forefinger. “I went
down after you,” he said.

She squeezed his hand even tighter.

“Hero. Love.”

Tears blurred his vision of her face. “I love you, too. Hang
on, baby. I promised the nurse I’d let them know if you woke up. They need to
examine you.”

He waved down a nurse and then stood aside as they began
talking to her. He could tell they were trying to get a handle on brain function
and her ability to move her limbs.

As soon as they finished, he slid back onto the stool. Meg was
drifting in and out of consciousness again. He didn’t care. They’d said enough.
She loved him. It was all a man could ever want.

* * *

Detective Kennedy was getting an earful from Prince
White. For two people connected by birth and blood, Prince and Lucy’s stories
couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.

Even though the surgery to repair Prince’s leg had been
successful, he was having some post-op issues they hadn’t expected. Infection
had set in, and they were pumping large doses of antibiotics into him
intravenously.

As a kid, Prince had been the kind to talk and walk in his
sleep. When he got sick and the fever was high, he rambled nonstop, muttering,
even crying out from time to time. Kennedy had heard a lot of interesting facts
by the time they had the infection under control and was curious to know if
Prince would admit the same things while awake that he’d confessed to in his
feverish state.

As for Lucy, she was on the same floor as her brother but
didn’t know it. He wanted to keep it that way and had already told the nurses
not to talk.

Sheriff Marlow was bringing the other White brother to Mount
Sterling today, and he’d asked the sheriff and his deputy to swing by the
hospital with Fagan before they took him to jail.

He’d finally figured out that the separate stories he’d been
getting from Prince and Lucy were mostly bullshit, and he wanted to see what
happened when he got all three of them together. It would be interesting to see
who pointed the finger of guilt first, and see who they named.

There was one last person involved in this mess who he wanted
to meet, and that was Lincoln Fox. He was curious to see what kind of man he’d
turned out to be after being incarcerated as a kid, and was toying with the idea
of having him present, too. That might just be the trigger that would blow the
top off this family conspiracy.

* * *

Ryal and Beth had done the chores at Meg’s house, then
picked up a change of clothes for Linc from his place, along with his truck, and
brought them to the motel where Jake and Dolly were staying.

Linc was there, waiting, when they arrived. He’d already
showered and shaved after Jake and Dolly returned to the hospital, and he was
grateful for his truck and the change of clothes that Ryal and Beth brought.

“I sure appreciate this,” Linc said as Ryal handed him the keys
to his pickup and the clothes he’d requested.

“My pleasure,” Ryal said. “I have to tell you, that’s one heck
of a fixer-upper job you did on that old bomb shelter. You should do that for a
living.”

Linc grinned. “Thanks. I’ll give it some thought.”

“Oh. Got a phone call from Cyrus. The vet has Honey all patched
up. Broken ribs, some serious contusions on her head and back, and her crippled
paw is raw, but he says she’ll heal. The boys are keeping her up at their house
for the time being. She’s familiar with everything, and they’ll make sure she
gets plenty of attention.”

Linc frowned. “Good to know. I’ve been worried about her, too.
I still can’t get over what she did. Despite her handicap and size, she’s got
the heart of a lion.”

Ryal chuckled. “Like her owner, and speaking of which, we’re
headed up to see Meg. So we’ll see you soon.” He ran back to the car where Beth
was waiting.

Linc dressed quickly, packed up his dirty clothes, put on his
good coat and boots, and slogged through the snow to get to his truck. The
streets were snow packed, but the main roads had been sanded, making travel a
little easier. He was pulling into the parking lot when he got a text from
Ryal.

Meg in room 335.

Great news. No more waiting for a brief glimpse once an hour.
He hurried through the lobby and up the elevator, then down the hall to room
335.

At first he couldn’t see her for the number of people
surrounding her bed, and then Beth stepped back just as Meg turned her head
toward the door.

Their gazes locked.

She smiled a crooked smile, wincing from the pain of her
swollen lip.

Linc slipped off his coat and laid it on the back of the chair
in the corner.

Dolly saw the look on her daughter’s face and took charge.

“We’ve all had our visit, and if you’re okay with Beth and me
taking your quilts to the show, we’d love to do it for you.”

“Yes, thank you,” Meg said.

“No thanks necessary. We love you, Margaret Ann, but you’ll get
better quicker without all this fuss. We’ll be in and out, have no fear.”

Dolly winked at Lincoln as they filed out of the room.

Ryal closed the door behind them, leaving Lincoln and Meg
alone.

Linc pulled up a chair beside her bed and slid his hand beneath
hers as he sat.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier. I was waiting on Ryal and
Beth to get here with my truck and clothes. Was it a rough move?”

“Bad enough,” she said, and threaded her fingers through his.
“Mom said you saved my life.”

“We all did, baby...but we wouldn’t have gotten the chance
without Honey. She led us straight to Prince White and took him down, then
Mariah came along with her dog and picked up the trail.”

“Jake said Honey got hurt.”

He nodded. “Yes, but she’ll heal, and as far as I’m concerned,
she’s the one who deserves all the praise.”

But Meg wouldn’t let go. Her voice was shaking. “You climbed
down a mountain...in a blizzard.” She took a slow breath, easing past the pain
of broken ribs to say what she needed to say. “I remember cold...and your
face.”

“I was so scared that you would never wake up.”

She closed her eyes. Her thoughts were already drifting
away.

Linc could tell the move had exhausted her. “Sleep, baby, just
sleep. I won’t be far. I will never be far away from you again.”

“Lincoln...”

“What, sweetheart?”

She blinked, and for a few moments her eyes were open. “Love
you forever.” Then she drifted away again.

Linc patted her hand, then slid it under the covers, and leaned
over and brushed a kiss across her cheek. Finally he whispered in her ear,
“Forever and ever, ’til death do us part.”

A slight smile tilted one corner of her mouth as she recognized
the line, and then she slept.

Linc sat in the quiet knowing that no matter what else
happened, he was already blessed.

Almost an hour passed, and then he felt his cell phone vibrate.
He got up and walked down to the waiting room to take the call. “Hello?”

“Lincoln Fox?”

“Yes, who’s speaking?”

“Detective Kennedy with the Mount Sterling P.D. Do you have a
minute?”

Linc frowned. “Yes. What’s up?”

“Sheriff Marlow gave me your number. I’m calling to ask you a
favor.”

“Like what?”

“Would you be willing to be present in the room when I question
Lucy Duggan and her brothers, Prince and Fagan White?”

Linc didn’t have to think twice. “In a heartbeat. When?”

“Where are you?”

“Right here in Mount Sterling, at the hospital,” Linc said.

“That’s handy. I’m standing outside Prince’s room, and since
he’s not ambulatory, I’m having Lucy brought here. The sheriff is in the parking
lot with Fagan. What I need is your assurance that you won’t try and break their
damn necks, even though there are those who would argue you’ve earned the
right.”

Linc smiled. He liked the man already. “I promise I will not
touch a hair on their heads. However, I hope you don’t mind if my presence
scares the shit out of them.”

“Actually, that’s what I was counting on. I need to get this
mess unwound, and as long as they’re all telling a different story, I can’t
figure out who gave the orders and who carried them out. They continue to point
a finger at Wendell, who I understand is long dead, making him a far too
convenient scapegoat.”

Linc had an idea. “Do you mind a suggestion?”

“I’m listening,” Kennedy said.

“Right at the start, if there’s a way Fagan can overhear what
the other two are saying to you without them knowing he’s there, you might get
to the truth quicker.”

“Why’s that?” Kennedy asked.

“I think Fagan is guilty by blood and silence only. He knew
what was going to happen but wasn’t a part of it, and after it was over, he
never told. And he intimated to Marlow and me when we heard him confess, that
Lucy is probably the brains behind most of it.”

“You’re saying Fagan may be the trigger that blows the lid off
their lies?”

“Between my presence and what he hears the other two say, I’d
say the odds are good that the whole lot of them spill their guts before it’s
over.”

“Then I’ll see you soon?”

“Where do I meet you?”

“Come to the fourth floor, room 416. Wait out in the hall until
I come for you.”

“I’ll be right up, and thank you.”

“Son, it’ll be my pleasure.”

* * *

Prince was begging his nurse for pain meds when he saw
Detective Kennedy arrive. He remembered the man being in his room before, and
watched as Kennedy paused outside the door to speak to the guard and then walked
in.

He was surprised to see another cop follow and quickly move
toward the far corner of the room, where he began setting up a tripod. When he
popped a video camera on it and then turned it toward the bed, Prince felt a
surge of panic. What the hell?

He had already come to terms with the fact that he was going
down for stalking Meg Lewis and knew from questions the detective had asked him
that they were all being questioned about Marcus’s murder, but that had to be
it, right? His own sister would never finger him for assaulting her and shooting
her husband, because she had to know he would turn right around and finger
her
for arranging it. If they all stuck together, they
could bluff their way out. Couldn’t they?