Page 73 of Landon
“Bingo!” Sadie shouted, snapping everyone’s attention her way. Her wide-eyed gaze swept the room. “Roy Barton’s elderly mother passed away last year. He was her primary caregiver—and she was on digoxin.”
Landon’s jaw tightened, and his lips thinned into a hard line as he pressed them together. “Who the fuck is yanking his chain? Which Fugate? Or all of them?” He exhaled sharply, his fists tightening at his sides. “I’m going to head to Noel’s place now.”
Todd turned to his computer, already pulling up the tracking program. “She’s still wearing the tracker. I can see she’s north of Helena, on the main highway.”
Relief softened Landon’s shoulders for a second. “That’s good. She must be on her way home. Keep following her. I’ll feel better when she’s in my sight. ” He left out that he wouldn’t feel safe until she was also in his arms.
Todd’s expression turned grim as he tracked the signal. “Wait. The signal is off the highway, now closer to Bellehaven.”
The air left Landon’s lungs, and he gripped the back of Todd’s chair, his pulse spiking. “Oh God. Check her phone!”
Sadie’s voice rang out. “She got a call from Roy Barton… ten minutes ago.”
The room shifted into action instantly. “Cole!” Logan barked. “Get the bird ready. Landon, take Devil and?—”
“And me!” Frazier called, already sprinting toward the equipment room. Landon didn’t hesitate. Within minutes, they were geared up and heading for the helicopter, where Cole had it primed for takeoff.
“ETA?” Landon shouted over the whir of the blades as they lifted off.
Cole’s voice came through the headset, steady and reassuring. “I can have us landing at the Bellehaven tennis courts in twenty minutes.”
Landon gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on the horizon as they sped through the air. Every second felt like a countdown, every unanswered call to Noel’s phone like a dagger twisting deeper. He kept redialing, his grip tightening on his phone as each call went to voicemail. He prayed, hard and fast, that she wasn’tpicking up simply because she couldn’t hear it—that it wasn’t already too late.
33
Noel felt a rare lightness as she drove home, a smile tugging at her lips at the thought of seeing Landon again tonight. If she tried to explain to anyone how she could be so crazy about someone after knowing them less than a week, she wouldn't be able to do it. She could describe how he makes her feel when he turns his smile toward her. Or maybe the way he listens carefully, interested in what she has to say. Perhaps because he treats her as an equal, not someone to patronize. She could describe how his deep-set gray eyes stared intently at her, causing all other thoughts to flee from her mind.
She laughed and shook her head. "All I know, girly, is he is someone that I finally met, and I want to see where the relationship can go," she muttered to herself as she pulled out of the parking lot.
She meant to check her messages when she left the meeting, but since it ran extra long, she hurriedly shut down her computer, grabbed her phone, and headed out. Her fingers had just touched the radio when her phone rang. A quick jolt of hope ran through her, imagining Landon’s voice on the other end. She glanced at the screen, her heart sinking a bit at the unknownnumber. Still, it could be something important—she had cases waiting for her attention. “Hello?”
“Is this Ms. Lennox?”
“Yes, speaking. Who’s this?”
“This is Roy Barton, the Fugate family attorney. We met earlier today.”
“Oh, of course. What can I do for you?”
He hesitated, his voice taking on a polite but rushed tone. “I just got home and realized one of the forms requires your signature. I know we discussed full custody for the Fugates with only supervised visitation for Pamela, and they’re eager to have everything ready for the judge in the morning. But I noticed one of your reports has an unsigned page.”
Noel frowned. She prided herself on meticulous work, never missing signatures or details. “I was sure I signed all the documents before filing. But if it’s missing, I can meet you first thing in the morning at your office.”
“Actually,” he said, his voice softening, “I’m at home now. I thought, if you’re nearby, you could swing by? I’ll be traveling for business early tomorrow, so I was hoping to send everything electronically tonight.”
She glanced at the time, realizing she was closer to Bellehaven than she’d thought. “I’m actually in your area now. I don’t mind stopping by to save us both the trouble tomorrow. What’s the address?”
“It's very easy.” He chuckled as he rattled it off.
“I'm turning off the exit that will take me to Bellehaven.”
“How fortuitous! You’re about ten minutes away. I'll see you then. Thank you so much for everything,” Roy said before they disconnected.
A small voice inside her suggested calling Landon, but she pushed it aside. This was a quick formality. A few minutes, and she’d be back on the road.
The drive to Roy’s house took less than ten minutes. The Bellehaven subdivision was polished and quiet, the houses tucked behind manicured lawns and shadowed by thick trees. When she parked in the driveway, he stepped outside to greet her, dressed down in jeans and a navy polo, a far cry from his courtroom attire. He looked almost unassuming and relaxed as he waved her inside.
“Thank you so much for making the time, Ms. Lennox,” he said warmly, gesturing her into the foyer, where he already had the file open on a small side table. “I didn’t want to delay the filing, and it seemed best to get it done tonight.”
