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Chapter 11
Mia
When the bright green sports car drove up the drive, I was relieved. The last thing I wanted to see was a sheriff's car. That wouldn't be a good thing at all, especially after what I saw. I doubt deputy dimwit would be thrilled to know that I not only made it out of the preserves in one piece but saw Lindsey in a lover's embrace.
Boy, am I in trouble.
Georgia always seems to know when she's needed. I've never been so glad to see someone in my life. I'm not sure how she drove that little car through this downpour to get here but I'm happy to see her.
As she climbed out of the car, I had to laugh at her outfit. The woman has a style all her own. From the jet black hair that she has rolled up in huge rollers on the top of her head to the hot pink shirt and purple pants that match the sneakers on her feet. Georgia certainly stands out from the crowd.
As she gets out of the car I notice she's not alone as she slaps her hand on her thigh, a beautiful red Shepherd jumped out of the cars and right into a puddle. Following her owner, the two run through the heavy rain drops, stopping on the deck and to shake the rain off her coat as I open the front door, the alarm blaring from behind me.
"I didn't know the code!" I screamed over the loud noise that has now given me a terrible headache.
"Don't you worry, sugar. I've got it." Georgia, bless her, pats my shoulder as she hurries past me and finally turns off the alarm and everything goes silent.
The dog follows Georgia in and sits, waiting patiently in the hallway as Georgia shuts off the alarm and I close and bolt the door tight. Even with company here I'm afraid that we aren't safe just yet.
"Thank god! I think my ears are bleeding," holding my head, I can't seem to see straight after ten minutes of that thing going off.
Georgia goes to her dog and gives the beautiful long red haired beast praise, "that's a good girl. This is Lady, she is my new companion. Lady, come meet Mia."
Turning around to bring the dog to me, Georgia takes a long look at me, "Good Lord! What in the devil happened to you? Child, you look like you were rolling around in the mud for days!"
"I fell down a hill and I had to crawl in the rain and mud to hide from Lindsey," I explained, lifting my hands helplessly as I looked down at myself and shrugged.
I began to shiver and shake when I realized I was safe and I had someone here I could trust. Georgia noticed immediately and came to me. She didn't hesitate and pulled me into her arms and held me. The warmth and care she gave me helped settle my nerves a bit but I had no control over the shakes.
"It's okay, sugar. You're okay now," Georgia quietly calmed me. "You come on in here now and sit down."
I don't dare sit on anything. I'm filthy and soaking wet. I don't want to get anything Aubrey's nice new things dirty. Shaking my head I refuse to sit but Georgia continues on to the back of the house to the kitchen.
It's all so pretty in here. Aubrey has done a great job of setting up her new home. I know they were so excited about moving in finally after rebuilding the house. And with all the upgraded security I should have known that getting in with just a key wouldn't be that easy.
"I can't sit. I'm filthy." Refusing her request, Georgia takes another look at me. And I guess agrees with me that I shouldn't sit on anything like this.
"You're about the same size as Aubrey. I'll be right back. Lady, go introduce yourself," she pointed to me and the dog came over and held up her paw to me. Not knowing what else to do, I took her paw and shook it.
Her fur is so soft and her eyes so big and sad. She looks harmless. "Hi Lady. I'm Mia. So Georgia broke down and got herself a dog, huh? That doesn't surprise me. She loves Lump and Max."
At the mention of Aubrey's dogs, the beauty begins to wag her tail happily. "You know them don't you? Lump and Max are great dogs, huh? Are they friends of yours?"
"They certainly are!" Georgia answers as she comes back into the room. "I found Lady at the park when Aubrey took the dogs to play. The woman who owned her was moving and couldn't take her with her. I offered to take this sweet thing into my home and I paid her well for it. I'm happy to say Lady and I have hit it off well."
"She's beautiful," I continue petting the dog and look up at the armload Georgia is carrying.
"That she is. Now, you go in there and get yourself a hot shower and change into some fresh clothes. When you come out, I'll have some dinner ready for us."
"I don't want to..."
"Nonsense! I'm not going anywhere in this storm! We will just make ourselves comfortable here. We have a security guard right here. Now go clean up." Georgia scooted me out and took over.
I went into the guest bathroom and have never been more grateful for a hot shower in my life. I stood under the hot spray and waited until the water finally ran clear. Washing all the mud and grime off me, I was grateful to know that Georgia was waiting for me when I came out again.
"I'm sorry to make you come out in this. I didn't know where else to go when I got lost." I explained as Georgia got a towel for my hair.
"I'm just glad you're safe and sound. I know Cole was worried sick about you." Georgia says as she goes to the stove and puts the pot on for tea. "We can just wait the storm out here. Jim knows where we are, as does my boys."
"Who's watching the babies?" I know she was watching Chance and Hope when we left.
"Jim and Quinn have them and they are just fine. While I was in the mood for getting dogs, I got one for Quinn as well. Hope needs a dog to keep her company growing up. She has a ridgeback, a one family dog named Wrigley. He's eight weeks old so he needs a lot of training and attention. Hope is going to love him!" She proudly says without worrying about how Leo and Quinn are going to react.
"That should be... interesting," I hope she doesn't get it in her head to get me one. I like animals but I don't have room for one in my tiny apartment.
"Emma is already heading back to Point Conception to the children but I've asked Blake to stay a few more days and help find the others." Georgia shared this information as she fixed some scrambled eggs.
"What do you mean find them? They got lost in this storm?" Now I really feel bad.
"Not exactly," Georgia got the plates out. "They were worried about you and went looking for you when you didn't respond. They're in two groups, and they're safe. I've got their locations on gps but they are stuck there until this storm breaks. Aubrey said the trail is more of a river at the moment. Now how about you tell me how you managed to get back here without a scratch?"
We sat down at the table and ate while I filled her in on my adventure. I told her about Cole and his comments and my frustration with it as Georgia agreed that he was being, in her words, "a proper ass!" and how I tossed the earbud into the bushes then slipped and slid down the hill and lost my phone. When I told her I found Lindsey, she leaned forward and listened intently to every word as I followed her through the preserves and to the road and the waiting vehicle.
"And you recognized the man who helped her? You're positive about that?" Georgia asked, making sure I knew who it was.
"Yes. I know him. I've seen him a hundred times around town. Georgia, I think he saw me. He looked right at me." I'm not sure, but I think I could be in serious trouble.
"We can't take any chances. We won't let Lindsey get her hands on you. Don't you worry about that," Georgia immediately got on her phone. "Sugar, I need you to get Mia out of town immediately. Take her to the house. She saw who was helping Lindsey and he saw her. Yes, she's with me. I appreciate it, sugar."
Georgia goes to her big bag and pulls out a gun. A really big one too. Going to the back window, Georgia stands guard over me. "You're safe with me, sugar. I'm a dead shot. My daddy taught me when I was little to protect myself. I've gone to the shooting range every week for years and I taught my kids. No one messes with me or mine."
"I'm not really sure that I fall into that category," I mumble to myself as I watch Georgia watch outside the window.
She didn't even turn around when she responded to me. It was as if she understood all of this, when I didn't understand any of it. "Of course you do. Cole is mine, and you're his. That makes you one of mine. Don't you worry, sugar. It'll all make sense to you soon enough."
"I doubt that," I wanted to say more but thought better of it. I've found that there are times when Georgia Bradford can be downright scary, and this is one of those moments.
Thunder pounds all around the house and the poor dog crawls under the table between our feet. When the lightning strikes the kitchen goes brilliantly bright with light then all the lights go out and we're sitting in darkness as all the power goes out.
"Well that's not good," Georgia mutters as she pats my hand. "Stay put, sugar."
Georgia gets up and slowly moves across the room just as we hear glass breaking in the other room.
Beckett
"Ma has her!" I let Aubrey and Leo know as we settled into the hunting lodge.
We managed to find a small hunting lodge to get out of the rain and wait out this storm. The others weren't so lucky. They're stuck in a cave. Although they are on higher ground, they have to worry about the wildlife that will be wanting to get out of the storm too.
"She's shaken up but she's fine. She also saw Lindsey. Ma said she followed Lindsey to the road and watched her get into a car with a man and drive off." And just wait until Cole finds out about that!
"Seriously! She did it? That's exactly what she was supposed to do, right?" Aubrey asked with a very self satisfied smile on her face.
"Yes, yes it was. And she got back to our place. Ma is with her now," I replied, knowing that Aubrey isn't going to let Cole forget about this any time soon.
"So maybe all of you owe Mia an apology for being jerks about this to her. And before either of you say anything, all of you had doubts that she could handle this. I think she has proven herself, don't you?" Aubrey isn't wrong. Mia did a good job and we did doubt her.
"Yeah, that's right." Leo agreed before I could. "But we were just trying to protect her."
"Not good enough, you have to apologize to her for not giving her a chance," Aubrey looks at both of us with that mom look in her eyes that says she's not taking no for an answer.
"She did get a chance and she proved herself. Aubrey I think we need to focus on getting ourselves out of here before we worry about who was right or wrong. Brynn and the others are stuck in a cave here," pointing to a spot on the map I had pulled out of my pack, we determined the distance from where we are from them.
"It looks like it's a good ten miles from here. Maybe more if the trail is washed out. We're going to need help getting to them," Leo has the most experience with rescues in the preserves. He would know better than I would.
"And we can't do anything about it tonight. Morning light at the earliest. And that depends on the storm," Aubrey agrees looking out the window at the night sky. "What do we do if Lindsey comes back out here? She saw Brynn. At least that's who they think it was."
"And Mia said she watched Lindsey leave with someone. I don't think they're going to risk coming out in this, do you?" I wonder just how crazy Lindsey would have to be to risk her life to get revenge on us in this storm.
As we discussed this the thunder rumbles over the sky again and lightning flashes around us sending the cabin into a bright white light that suddenly goes dark as all the power goes out.
Without warning there is a slam of a door and we are no longer alone in this cabin.
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