Neva reluctantly agreed. She sat on the edge of the couch, staring at the clock and wringing her hands with worry.
Tory scrounged around in Neva’s kitchen and found the tea bags. Within a few minutes, she brought two steaming cups back to the living room.
“Thank you,” Neva whispered, when Tory offered her the cup. She took a sip of the tea and set it on the arm of the couch, letting the warm brew get cold.
“They’re going to kill Nicholas,” she said firmly and tears ran in earnest down her cheeks.
“Don’t talk that way—”
“I should never have told Trask. Oh, God—” Neva buried her face in her hands. “I’ll never forgive myself if they hurt my baby—”
The knock on the door made Neva leap from the couch. “Oh, God, it’s got to be Nicholas,” she whispered, racing to the door to discover Deputy Woodward on the front steps.
“What happened?” she cried.
The grim deputy looked from one woman to the next. “We’ve found your boy, Mrs. McFadden.”
N
eva looked as if she would faint in relief. “Thank God. Is he all right?”
“I think so. He’s in the hospital in Bend, just for observation. He appears unharmed. I’d be happy to drive you there myself.”
“Yes, please,” Neva said, reaching for her purse.
“Where’s Trask?” Tory asked.
“Senator McFadden is in the hospital, too.”
Tory felt sick inside and she paled. What if something had happened to Trask? What if she could never see him again? What if he were dead? Tory couldn’t live without him.
Neva turned and faced the young deputy. “What happened?”
“The senator got into a fist fight with the man who kidnapped your son. It looks as if this guy might be the one that knocked Senator McFadden out and beat him up a few weeks ago—the guy who was shooting at you on Devil’s Ridge.”
“Who is he?” Tory demanded, fear and anger mingling in her heart.
“A man by the name of Aaron Hughs. He’s the foreman of Linn Benton’s spread, just north of Bend.”
“And Hughs still works for him?”
“Appears that way.” The deputy turned his attention to Neva. “Anyway, if it hadn’t been for the senator, your boy would probably be across the state line by now. According to the sheriff, McFadden should be awarded some sort of medal.”
“Then he’s all right?” Tory asked.
“I think so.”
“Thank God.”
“How did you know where to find Nicholas?” Tory asked.
“Senator McFadden, he thought your son had to be somewhere on Linn Benton’s ranch. As it turns out, he was right. The kid was tied to a chair in the kitchen.”
A small cry escaped from Neva’s lips. “Come on, let’s go.”
The trip to the hospital seemed to take forever. Tory closed her eyes and imagined Trask lying in a stark, white-sheeted hospital bed, beaten beyond recognition. Oh, God, I’ve been such a fool, she thought, knowing for the first time since Keith had been arrested that she would always love Trask McFadden. The few fleeting minutes that she had thought he might be dead had been the worst of her life.
Deputy Woodward took them into the hospital and straight into the emergency ward. Nicholas was sitting up on a stretcher looking white, but otherwise none the worse for wear. At the sight of his mother, he smiled and let out a happy cry.