The Ring of Fire: The Dragon Dream: Book Two Read online

  It wasn’t long before his father-in-law came into the house and joined him in the room. The other man stood by him and looked out the window with him.

  “We were wondering where you disappeared to,” Philip said to him. He followed the younger man’s gaze. “It looks like you both had a rough night.”

  “We did,” confirmed Craig, but offered no further explanation. He took a swallow from the travel mug in his hand. “She’s happier here. The farm’s safe to her, just like our ranch is. I had no idea being back in town would be so hard on her. On us. Maybe I should have.”

  “Maybe you did but wanted it to be otherwise.” Philip sighed as he too watched his daughter from the window.

  “Maybe,” agreed Craig. Right now, Angela was talking and laughing with her friend Judy. Her karate mentor Maeve was approaching and soon all three were laughing. “I hate leaving her at home when I come here for the store. I had hoped…”

  Philip nodded in understanding.

  “I’ve been thinking about selling the store. Maybe even the house.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Philip remarked, letting out a deep sigh. “Just like I’m not surprised you’re leaving for Montana tomorrow.”

  “Is Jared coming with us or did he decide to fly out later?” inquired Craig.

  His father-in-law laughed. “He’s already packed! I’m sure if he had his way, he’d ride back into town with you just so you wouldn’t have to come back out in the morning.”

  Craig’s smile showed his amusement. “Somehow I don’t think his mother would appreciate it.”

  “No, that she wouldn’t. I think it’s been harder on her than she wants to admit. Her youngest graduating and leaving home, I mean.”

  Nodding, Craig asked, “Could that be part of the reason why she’s been so hard on the girls these past few days?”

  Philip hesitated. “It could be. Did Angela share anything about their argument yesterday?”

  “Not much.”

  The older man nodded. “I didn’t get much either. I think a lot of Maude’s issues have more to do with her disapproval with how the girls are living their lives. With Cass, it has a lot to do with her present lifestyle. With Angela, I have no idea. I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably end up saying it again: I have no idea what their issue is. I thought it had been solved once Angela learned Maude never wanted to give her back to her biological father, but…” Philip paused long enough to sigh. “Maude forgets we raised our children to be independent enough to make their own decisions regardless of what anyone says. She had a conservative upbringing and somehow we managed to raise kids who aren’t conservative.”

  Craig grinned wryly. “Maybe she was expecting them to make an exception in her case?”

  “Most likely,” answered Philip with a laugh. “Come on, son. Let’s go rejoin the party.

  T he Little Beast watched the party from a distance. It hadn’t been an easy trip for Craig and Angela. He had tried his best to run interference without it appearing otherwise. Why hadn’t they brought Princess? Stupid humans.

  It was a hard spot he was in, the human’s proverbial rock and a hard place.

  He was still the ruling power in this region, but he’d begun to hear whispers and worried his time was numbered. Who was he kidding? Once he’d realized the Little Angel’s pain hurt him, he knew then that his time as ruler was nearing an end.

  Fallen angels changing sides was not common, but it wasn’t unheard of either. Malcolm had gone back, so had Az. From what he had heard, they had been completely restored in their angelic standing.

  Beast wasn’t sure if he wanted to go that far. Perhaps he could walk a middle ground if he ended up dethroned from his kingdom. That was a bit more common. The earth was full of rogue angels who ignored both the King and Lucifer. It was hard to do, from his understanding, but it could be done. Although sometimes those rogue angels were the most dangerous ones to contend with; Alpha Six was the most dangerous, even Lucifer feared her.

  Disgusted, he took to the air. The farther he got from the farm, the easier it was to change back and maintain his gruesome form.

  But it brought him no pleasure.

  9

  J ared sat in the back seat of the extended cab of his brother-in-law’s pickup truck, listening to his sister chat with her husband as they drove away from the farm. Craig hadn’t been kidding when he said they were going to get an early start. It wasn’t even six-thirty yet! And here he had thought that being out of school meant he could sleep in later!

  He could have sat up front with them, since Angela was sitting in the center of the front seat, leaning against her husband. She seemed to do that a lot. But Jared opted to sit in the back to give them the illusion of privacy.

  For a while, Jared played a racing game on his PlayStation Portable. The handheld device had been a Christmas gift from Craig and Angela last Christmas when they’d all flown out to the ranch. His mother hadn’t approved of the gift and didn’t like him playing it. But she wasn’t here, so he felt no guilt. It had been a busy few days, and he was glad for the chance to relax.

  Talk flowed on and off through the day. Lunch was McDonald’s and Jared had no idea when or where they would be stopping for dinner or for the night. He had offered to drive through the night, or even the afternoon, but he was a new driver and had been right in thinking his brother-in-law wouldn’t trust him to drive on the highway. The older man hadn’t even hesitated to refuse his offer.

  After lunch, Jared leaned against the cab wall. It would be so tempting to just let his eyes slide shut and take a nap…

  He wasn’t sure what woke him, but the soft sound of the radio filled the cab. It was country music, and he wasn’t surprised. That seemed to be all they listened to. He shifted against the truck seat but didn’t open his eyes. There was a sense of peace in the cab and he wanted it to linger. He wanted his sister to relax.

  Angela had been so uptight for this entire visit. It had been easy to see and hard to ignore. She had never been this transparent before the kidnapping. It was unsettling.

  Dad said it was unresolved trauma from the incident causing her anxiety. But Jared knew there was more to it than that. Angela had never been one to heal quickly, and given the severity of this wound, Jared didn’t ever expect his sister would ever totally recover.

  Or Craig, for that matter. He’d been hurt just as much as she had been. It couldn’t have been easy watching the woman he’d just married being abducted. Just as it couldn’t have been easy keeping vigil by her bedside for the almost five months she’d been in the coma. It hadn’t been easy for any of them, but Jared knew it had been harder for Craig who in many ways had just been discovering what it meant to live. To love.

  Jared could almost feel the tension in the two adults releasing the farther away they traveled from Tyler’s Grove and the farm.

  “I meant to ask you Angela, did you ever get in touch with Michelle?” Craig asked suddenly. His voice was just barely audible over the music.

  “Yes,” was Angela’s sad reply.

  “That’s good,” replied Craig. “It’s too bad you weren’t able to meet up with her.”

  Jared heard his sister take a deep breath. “Craig, Michelle and I aren’t friends anymore.”

  “What?” Disbelief was clear in Craig’s voice.

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Craig. Not…not right now. When we get home.”

  “Alright,” answered Craig. “I’m shocked, and I’m sorry.”

  Jared felt the same way. Michelle and Angela had always been inseparable. What could have happened to end their friendship?

  Angela had no immediate comment. When she did speak again, it was to ask a question. “Why do you think God lets bad things happen?”

  Craig’s sigh was quiet, but Jared heard it even in the back seat. “I’ve been trying to figure that out for years, Angel.”

  “And you’ve never come up with anything?” Angela sounded disappointed, as if she’d exp
ected her husband to have an answer instead of sharing her questioning.

  “Not really. What do you think?” Craig turned the question back to her in a manner smooth enough to impress Jared.

  Angela’s shrug was audible to the teen in the back seat, a quiet rustling of her clothes. “I used to buy the line preached in church, how God has to give permission for Satan to bring trouble into our lives, how nothing happens without His approval. But I don’t know anymore. When it comes to people doing stuff, free will comes into play. Free will means we choose to hurt people. How can that be if God’s in control of everything? I don’t know.”

  “Did something happen while we were in Tyler’s Grove?” asked Craig, and even Jared could hear the thinly veiled concern in the other man’s voice.

  “You mean something other than running into one of the women behind my kidnapping and the never-ending nightmares that town provokes?”

  Jared managed not to wince at the bitterness in her voice. That was something new. While Angela had always had a problem with self-condemnation, she’d never had a problem with bitterness. Not that he could remember anyhow. But then, he was just her younger brother, and she had probably hidden a lot from him. She was good at hiding what hurt her. Or at least she had been.

  “Yes,” Craig answered his wife. “Something other than that. I know Sherry was home when I left to visit the store, and that she must have said something to you. I reminded her to respect it if you told her you didn’t want to talk to her, but I also remember a few times she’s given you pressure. I’m beginning to get the feeling that something more has happened beyond her overstepping her bounds.”

  The silence in the extended cab was deafening to Jared, even over the radio.

  “Yes,” said Angela, her voice almost a whisper. “Something more happened. But it’s not something I want to talk about right now.” She cleared her throat. “You understand?”

  He heard rustling clothes again and felt eyes on him. He forced himself to remain still. He’d never been caught eavesdropping but knew he’d catch hell the day he was.

  “We can talk about it later then,” replied Craig, his voice easy. “No pressure.”

  “No pressure,” her voice relaxed.

  Jared wondered which of the two had looked at him. Cracking an eye open, he looked over the seat at them. Angela was leaning against her husband whose eyes were on the highway in front of him. It didn’t really matter which one of them it was, it was just his natural curiosity; he’d bet anything that it had been Angela.

  “I felt like I was being watched,” Angela said after an upbeat Martina McBride song ended and a commercial began to play.

  “You probably were,” admitted Craig. “Starting with me. I’ve been worried.”

  “I know. But it was something more. You, I expect. Even Kevin and Sherry. I like him more than I do her. He’s more…genuine, I guess. I can tell he still sees the little girl when he looks at me. Him and Dad are the only two I can stand that from. But anyway, I felt watched even when I was alone, Craig. Kind of like what I remember from my old apartment. It was a little disturbing.”

  “I imagine so.”

  “You think I was imagining it?”

  “No,” answered Craig after a brief hesitation that made Jared wonder if he’d told the truth. “No, I don’t. I think maybe you were picking up on the attentiveness of certain people and it bothered you to that extent.”

  “Which is a polite way of saying you think I was imagining it.” To Jared’s surprise, Angela chuckled. “Maybe you’re right.”

  “It was a rough visit.”

  “Did you have nightmares too?”

  “I did,” admitted Craig. “The one after seeing Cori was the worst. I dreamt they’d taken you and I couldn’t find you.”

  Angela sighed. “And then you woke to mine.”

  “That’s usually how it happens.” Jared could hear the smile in his brother-in-law’s voice.

  “I’m sorry.” The sorrow in her voice cut Jared to his core.

  “Don’t be, Angel. It’s not your fault. Listen, it’s early still, but why don’t I find us a hotel and we’ll stop for the night?”

  “I’m fine with that. I’m tired still.”

  Jared decided to wait a few more minutes before he ‘woke up’. They’d no doubt ask him how he expected to sleep through the night and his sister would probably tease him about the scenery he was missing, but he’d live with their teasing. One of the perils of being the youngest was incessant teasing.

  He was trying to understand why he would possibly be needed when Craig was more than capable of dealing with and meeting Angela’s needs.

  Granted, he’d been wrong about the feelings he associated with the Holy Spirit before, but this time his father had shared the premonition with him. Either they were both wrong, or Jared just didn’t see the big picture yet.

  A nd that’s how the entire trip progressed, much to the teenager’s amusement. Up and on the road early, six in the morning early, usually grabbing both breakfast and lunch on the road. Bathroom breaks and fuel stops as needed.

  Craig was pushing hard to get home, often driving the unofficial five miles over the speed limit. But they stopped almost as early as they started, even when his brother-in-law said they were only four hours from their ranch.

  “Why don’t we just drive through?” asked Jared, looking at his watch. It was a bulky black ordeal that suited him better than the fancy one Grandma Rose had gotten him. He’d never wear it, but he’d never get rid of it either.

  “Just time for a break,” answered Craig. He was doing all the driving.

  “I’m feeling better,” Angela commented. “I’m sure…”

  “Not until you’ve seen Dr. Ryan,” her husband cut her off firmly. “We’ll be stopping on our way through tomorrow.”

  Angela sighed, obviously disgusted. “Alright,” she said unhappily as they pulled into the parking lot of a tall hotel.

  Jared hid his amusement as they went through their routine checking in and settling in for the night. Dinner was at a nearby Applebee’s. He hadn’t been paying attention to what city they were in, but it looked busy and exciting. But then he was a country boy who found even a quick trip into the college city of Jordan exciting.

  When morning rolled around, Jared was ready at their normal time, but six came and went without a knock on his door. Maybe they were sleeping in for a change? Then seven passed with no knock. At eight, Jared left his room and knocked on the door across the hall from his room before he saw the clichéd Do Not Disturb sign hanging from the doorknob.

  “Shit,” muttered the teen, but there was nothing he could do now except wait for one of them to answer. God, he hoped it wasn’t his sister.

  After a moment, the door opened to reveal a sheepish Craig wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.

  “Jared,” his brother-in-law said. “I’m sorry, but we’re not leaving as early today. Do you mind?”

  Jared gave him a knowing grin. “No, I wish I’d known earlier…I’d have slept some more. Can I bum some cash, so I can find breakfast?”

  “There’s a free breakfast that comes with the room, but if you want to go out, that’s fine too.” Craig pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and passed him two bills. “You don’t have a cellphone?”

  The teen laughed. “No. Mom and Dad never saw the need.”

  “I could have texted you, if you had, or vice versa. We’ll fix that after Angela’s doctor appointment. We’ll leave around ten-thirty.”

  “I’ll see you then.” Jared was grinning even after the door had shut. Only then did he look at the two twenties his brother-in-law had passed him. “Must be a good morning!”

  Tucking the bills into the front pocket of his loose-fitting jeans, Jared took the elevator down to the main floor and found his way to the hotel’s restaurant. Before long, he was immersed in eggs, bacon, and pancakes. They weren’t as good as Mom could make, but they more than hit the spot and were bet
ter than anything from a drive-thru. Since Mom wasn’t here to look over his shoulder or Angela, who would tease him, he also had a cup of coffee.

  Once he put sugar and milk in the bitter liquid, it was fine.

  About halfway through his breakfast, Jared began to feel like someone was watching him. It started as an uncomfortable feeling in the middle of his shoulder blades; an itch that wouldn’t go away. Was this the feeling his sister had been talking about?

  Looking around the large dining area, not bothering to be discreet, he spotted her near the kitchen doors. A tall hungry looking woman with short dirty blonde hair was trying hard not to stare at him. What? Was he wolfing his food down again? Mom liked to scold him for eating too quickly.

  Why would this stranger look hungry when there was all this food available for free? And why did she keep looking at him?

  Finishing his food and trying to ignore the woman’s stares, Jared left the dining room to return to his room until it was time to leave. He had been planning on wandering around the city and exploring until it was time to leave, but the woman’s stares left him uneasy.

  As he climbed into the elevator, and the doors eased shut, Jared caught a glimpse of the woman in the distance again. From this angle, it looked like she was leaving the hotel.

  Maybe, like Angela, he’d been imaging things.

  S he walked quickly away from the hotel through the parking lot, her gate agitated and trying not to show it. Passing by the Moore’s dark blue pickup truck without a second glance, Nikki Flynn quickened her pace. She gave serious thought to keying the shiny vehicle but wasn’t ready to draw any more attention to herself than she already had. Her own car sat as far away from the truck as possible.

  Climbing into the dark sedan, she was thankful it was ordinary enough to escape attention. Pulling a cigarette out, she lit it with her silver lighter and drew in several deep puffs of nicotine laced smoke. Only then did she release the curse words which had been brewing since the moment she had seen the ghost.