He picked up a marker and Gavin was thankful for his dad’s level head. Gavin wished he was thinking as clearly, but nerves had his hands trembling.

  The door opened and he spun to find Matt and Kendall stepping inside.

  “Any new info on Wilcox?” Gavin demanded.

  “A few things actually,” Matt replied.

  A tight smile crossed Kendall’s mouth. “I got access to Wilcox’s credit card account. He’s been buying caulk for months from various locations around the area.”

  His father arched a brow. “I don’t want to know how you did that, young lady, but thankfully you did.”

  “And,” Matt added, “Wilcox doesn’t work for an oil company. In fact, he has no known source of income, but he’s been arrested for possession and intent to sell narcotics.”

  “Syndicate. Drugs...” Gavin muttered to himself to process. “So why’s he tracking crude around on his shoes?”

  “That, we don’t know.”

  “He’d have to be stepping all over in it to still be carrying even a trace on his shoes by the time he hit the cabin,” Tessa said.

  “Probably has rubber mats in the vehicle,” Matt said. “If this still has to do with pump jacks, I doubt he’d pick up much near them, as the oil companies are doing a much better job in preventing contamination these days.”

  “An oil tank,” Gavin said.

  “You think he has her in a storage tank.” Tessa’s face paled. “The fumes would—”

  “Not a modern metal tank,” Gavin interrupted. “But remember that old wooden one that looked like a big wine barrel?”

  “The one we wanted to play in when we were kids.” Kendall grinned. “And that kid got stuck in the sludge in the bottom.”

  His dad frowned. “We had to rescue him.”

  “Is it still standing?” Gavin asked.

  “Not sure. I do know the oil company covered it, and we’ve had no incidents since then.”

  “It’s a perfect place to hide Lexie and Adam, and it could also explain the caulk.” Tessa’s eyes narrowed. “He could be caulking the slats to make it watertight.”

  “Because?” Gavin asked, but the answer quickly became clear.

  If Gavin didn’t get to the tank in time, Wilcox would fill it with water and end Lexie’s life.

  * * *

  Cold water lapped around Lexie’s knees and she shivered. How were they going to make it out of the tank alive?

  Dean’s head poked over the top of the tank. “Good. I see the water is flowing well.”

  “Please don’t do this,” Lexie said, her teeth chattering. “At least not to Adam.”

  “The more you ask me to let him go, the more I want to leave him with you.” Dean clapped his hands. “Now, I must go. Your big, bad FBI agent is likely looking for you by now and I don’t want to run into any roadblocks.”

  He disappeared and Adam ripped the tape from his mouth.

  “Have you been here all night?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “He kept me in some old house with him. So who is he, anyway?”

  She quickly explained.

  Adam shook his head. “A brother. Our brother? Totally freaky.”

  “We need to let that go for now and get out of here.”

  “How?”

  “Let’s start by trying to pull these bars free.” She wrapped her hand around a bar so shiny that it had to be newly installed.

  “I tried all morning. No luck.” Adam held up his wrists covered in angry cuts and bruises.

  “I’m so sorry, buddy.”

  “For what? You didn’t do this. It was totally Dad’s fault.” He sighed and leaned against the wall. “I might still be mad at Gavin, but I would give anything for him to find us.”

  “You know he has to be searching for us by now.”

  “Do I?”

  “Look,” she said and kept trying to wobble the bar holding them captive. “I get it now. He had to leave here or he would die inside.” She explained what she’d seen in Gavin and his behavior. “If he’d stayed, he would have been miserable and so would we.”

  “Fine, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have come back to hang out with me.”

  “I think he wanted to, but it was too painful for him.” She stopped tugging on the bar. “Remember when you and Shelly broke up and how hard it was to see her every day after that. It would have been easier if she’d moved away, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, imagine that when you’re all grown up and truly in love. How painful that would be.” She peered around the space, looking for a way out while hiding her panic rising as fast as the water.

  “Yeah,” he said grudgingly.

  “Maybe now would be a good time to forgive him,” she said not only for Adam but for herself, as well.

  “Because we’re not getting out of here, you mean?”

  “No, because carrying the pain around hurts.”

  “Sounds like you still love him?”

  Did she? She just didn’t know. “I’m not sure how I feel about him. Would you hate it if I did love him?”

  “I don’t know, either,” he said. “But I’ll think about forgiving him.”

  She nodded. “Now, how about helping me figure a way out of here?”

  “Our only hope is the ladder and we can’t even reach that.”

  He was right. Dean had thought of everything.

  “We can pray.” She took his hands and offered a prayer, her eyes filling with tears that she blinked away before Adam saw them.

  “God will help, right?” he asked.

  She nodded, but one thing she knew for sure. God’s help didn’t always come in the form you hoped for. If it did, Gavin would be beating a path to them right now.

  Come on, Gavin. Please hurry. I need you.

  Did it matter that she needed him? Could he get here and free them before the water took her down, or before the cold did them both in?

  She jerked on her cuffs again. Shook the bar and started screaming for help until she was hoarse. Adam took over and called out, but the water kept coming. Rising higher. Her thighs. Hips. Waist. Nothing to stop it. She was shorter than Adam, and it reached her chest first. Her heart beat furiously.

  “You can float and hook a leg over my shoulder for support,” Adam said.

  “Just worry about yourself.”

  “No,” he snapped. “I might only be fourteen, but I’m strong and can help you.”

  “Okay.” She hated the thought of him standing in the water alone, but when it hit her chin, she let her body float up to the surface. Lying back, she closed her eyes and prayed again.

  “Put your leg over my shoulder,” he said.

  Lexie didn’t want to, as it would hold him down, but it would give him something to concentrate on, so she did. She talked about the future and all the things they had to look forward to to give him hope. He responded, but when the water reached his chest, he stopped talking.

  The water would soon reach his mouth, but her hands were fastened above his, so she didn’t know if he could float high enough to get his head out of the water. Worse, if she couldn’t keep her position she’d drop onto him, and he’d completely sink below the water. And there was no way to change that. No matter how much she loved him and would give her life for him, she couldn’t.

  She could only trust God now. With the way He didn’t seem to hear her, that thought brought little comfort.

  * * *

  Gavin careened the ranch’s open-air Jeep around a curve on the narrow road. He and Matt might be safer in his bigger SUV, but the Jeep was a cross-country edition and they’d taken a shortcut to reach the rutted road.

  “Careful, bro,” Matt said from the passenger seat. “You won’t do Lexie any good if you can’t get to her.”

  Panic had his foot pressed to the floor on the straightaway, but Gavin eased up before the next curve. He rounded the bend and a car barreled toward them.

  “Watch out!” Matt shouted.

  Gavin jerked the wheel to avoid the other vehicle. The Jeep plunged off the road and slammed into a tree. Gavin somehow managed not to hit his head on the dash or windshield.

  He shook off the shock. “Are you okay, Matt?”

  “Yeah, but no thanks to your lame driving.” He unhooked his seat belt and rubbed his chest before climbing out.

  Gavin got his belt off, too, and scrambled out of the Jeep and after Matt, who was crossing over to the other vehicle that had run off the road and flipped.

  “It’s Wilcox,” Matt called out.

  Gavin’s feet stilled. “Is he alive?”

  “Yeah, but unconscious, so I can’t ask about Lexie and Adam.”

  “We must have the right location, otherwise why would he be out here?”

  “Go after her. But grab the ranch toolbox.”

  Gavin didn’t want to waste time jogging back to the Jeep, but he also didn’t want to show up at the oil tank without equipment he might need to rescue them. He clawed through weeds to locate and grab the wayward toolbox. He held it to his chest, allowing him the freedom to run. The weight slowed him down, but he kept going until the oil tank was in view.

  “Lexie!” he shouted.

  “Gavin!” Her voice came from far off. Had he actually heard it or was it the whistling wind?

  He dropped the toolbox and raced for a tall ladder lying on the ground. He heard the hum of a pump in the distance and water running.

  “Lexie,” he yelled again as he leaned the ladder against the tank.

  “In here. We’re in here,” Adam cried out.

  The boy was alive, but what about Lexie? Fear squeezed Gavin’s chest as he leaned the ladder against the tank then took the rungs two at a time.

  He peered over the top and thought his heart might stop. Adam was cuffed to a long bar and Lexie floated nearby. Her leg hung over Adam’s shoulder, the water nearing the teen’s chin.

  “I’ll get you both out of there,” Gavin promised. “Just hang on.”

  She opened her mouth to speak but water threatened and she clamped it closed.

  “I’ll grab a bolt cutter from the toolbox,” Gavin said. “Hold her up, Adam. Please hold her up.”

  “I’ve got her.”

  It took everything Gavin was made of to turn his back on Lexie, but he leaped from the ladder. He hit the ground hard and ran toward a rickety shed where he heard a motor running. He located the water pump near a covered well, going full force, and turned it off to stop the rise of water.

  He charged to the toolbox, prayed it held bolt cutters and fought with the rusty old latch. He jerked it open and dumped out the contents, revealing bolt cutters he’d used for years working on the ranch. Back he went toward the tank, pausing to shove his phone into his jacket pocket and shed the coat next to Lexie’s, as they would need the warmth once he freed them.

  He sped up the ladder. Lexie was sinking. Water lapping at her mouth, her eyes closed.

  “Hurry,” Adam called.

  “Lift her higher,” Gavin demanded.

  “I can’t. I can’t.” Adam started sobbing, his mouth barely above water.

  Gavin wanted to lunge into the water, but he’d create a wave and further swamp them. So he eased down the ladder and into the icy liquid. The cold seeped into his bones and took his breath. They both had to be freezing.

  “I turned off the water pump,” he said to assure Adam, then felt around for Lexie’s wrist. She stirred.

  “I’ve got you, sugar. Cutting off the cuff now.”

  “Adam first,” she mumbled and got a mouth full of water.

  She started coughing.

  “I’ll help Adam next.” Gavin found Lexie’s handcuff. Sliced through the chain. “Can you put your arms around my neck and hold on while I cut Adam free?”

  She tried to lift her arms but was unable to manage. Gavin hated to do it, but he had to let her go to clip Adam’s cuffs. He worked fast, but she sank under the water. The moment Adam was free, Gavin reached for her and pushed her head above water.

  She coughed and gagged.

  “Go,” Adam said, his teeth chattering. “Take her out. I’m fine.”

  Gavin didn’t know if the chattering was from the cold or from fear, but in either case, he was right. Gavin had to move Lexie now.

  “Get to the ladder and I’ll be right back to help you.”

  “Just make sure Lexie’s all right. Okay?”

  “You’re a good brother, Adam.” Gavin made his way to the ladder and shifted her over his shoulder. As he climbed the rungs, he heard her breathing, and his heart sang at the sound. It took him longer than he’d hoped to clear the top and get down to the ground. He gently laid her down and ran for her jacket to drape it over her.

  “Adam,” she gasped.

  “I’m going back for him now.” Gavin returned to the tank to find Adam clinging to the ladder.

  “Hold your breath,” Gavin shouted and plunged from the top.

  He got behind Adam and lifted.

  Adam started pulling himself up.

  “That’s it,” Gavin encouraged. “You’re quite a kid, you know that? You save your sister’s life, and you still have something left to climb out of here.”

  Adam glanced back, pride lighting his face. When he started moving again, he seemed to have more energy, and in short order, they were back on the ground.

  Adam glanced around. “Your car. Where is it?”

  “I crashed the Jeep about a mile from here. Let’s take shelter in the shed, and I’ll call for backup. Grab my jacket and put it on.”

  He scooped Lexie up into his arms and trudged to the dilapidated building that would at least keep them out of the wind. He sat and cradled her on his lap then turned to Adam. “Sit as close to me as possible so we can share body heat.”

  Adam’s whole body trembled as he lowered himself next to Gavin.

  Gavin fished his phone from his jacket pocket and dialed Matt to fill him in and request an ambulance.

  “Already called one,” Matt said. “Dad should be here ASAP, too.”

  “Wilcox alive?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good,” Gavin said. He wanted the man to live so he could spend the rest of his life behind bars to pay for his crimes.

  Gavin stowed his phone and slung his arm around Adam. He pulled both of them closer and offered a prayer of thanks. God had been there. With him all this time. He got that now and understood that, no matter how many times he’d asked God to change his circumstances since Emily had been shot, the point was for God to leave him in his mess to work through his own problems and change him along the way. He was changed now. For good. His priorities were finally straight.

  “I made a big mistake when I left both of you,” he said fervently. “Can you forgive me?”

  “I can,” Adam said.

  Gavin knuckled his head and peered at him. “Thanks, bud. You know I love you, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” he said, now sounding embarrassed.

  Gavin turned his attention to Lexie. She was looking at him, but her gaze seemed far away. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and stroked her cheek. “Did you hear me, sugar?”

  “Yes,” she said, but then closed her eyes and didn’t continue speaking.

  Gavin’s heart split. Had he waited too long to realize he couldn’t live without her and now she was unable to forgive him? If so, he’d do everything he could to change her mind.

  “I’m never leaving the two of you again.” He tightened his hold on them. “I’ll find a way to make things work with us,” he promised, but Lexie’s eyes remained closed.

  He had no idea if she’d even heard him, much less wanted a future with him, but he wouldn’t give up.

  EPILOGUE

  Lexie unloaded the dishwasher in Ruth’s kitchen and glanced at the clock. Eleven fifty-five. In precisely five minutes, the doorbell would ring and, as much as she wanted to avoid it, her heart clutched at the thought of seeing her daily visitor.

  She dried her hands and went to the foyer, where she’d placed a small wooden storage box with twelve slots. Eleven slots held Christmas tree ornaments depicting the Twelve Days of Christmas. For the last eleven days at precisely twelve o’clock, Gavin rang the doorbell to pick Adam up to take him on a fun outing. Gavin also gave her an ornament and reminded her that she was his one and only true love, and he was one day closer to living in Lost Creek.

  He’d reconciled with his father, but didn’t think they should work together, so he’d left the FBI to take a job with the Texas Rangers’ division of the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, which was within commuting distance to Lost Creek. He also offered the promise that he would never give up on their being together. And each day that he arrived with an ornament and proclaimed his love, her heart let go of a bit of the hurt his abandonment had caused. With today being Christmas Eve and day twelve of his ritual, she had no idea what he planned next. She had to admit she was eager to see.

  The bell chimed and her heart lurched in anticipation. She opened the door and her eyes drank in the sight of him looking so ruggedly handsome in his jeans, boots and cowboy hat. He held out his hand, revealing a delicate glass figurine of a drummer in a red uniform with a silver drum. She took the ornament and held her breath in wait for his next words.

  “As of this moment, I am no longer an FBI agent, and I have submitted my change of address to the Lost Creek post office,” he said. “Means we’re neighbors again, sugar, but I’d like it to be much more.”

  “Gavin, I—”

  He tipped her chin up with one finger and stared deep into her eyes. “I love you, Lexie, and I hope you’ll consider giving me a second chance.”