Chapter 4

Nickolas Meyer was drowning.

He was surrounded by a sea of water. The pain in his side was becoming unbearable every time he pulled himself to stay above water.

He was sinking further and further down; he could make out the dimming lights of the yatch as it took on a different course, sailing away. Leaving him behind.

The water kept on rising higher still. Swimming with one hand was becoming impossible.

Whoosh.

The sea waves were rising.

Whoosh.

The current was getting stronger.

When he thought the water would take him under, he was struggling to breathe, his second lung failing. there was a loud banging around his ears, and someone was pulling him out of the water.

“Sir, wake up. Sir!” Nickolas sat up in bed with a start and touched his throat.

He was covered in sweat.

“Jason?” His eyes came into focus; it was one of his farmhands, Jason.

It was the same nightmare.

“Yes sir, you were having a bad dream.” The young man said, wide-eyed, he had been terrified by the screams that were coming from his boss’s suite.

“I’m fine.” Nickolas said and took a steadying breath. He was fine.

The ranch was his sanctuary, the dream a distant, fading nightmare.

He was Mark Smith.

Mark paced around his suite, but some activity caught his attention outside. He stood next to the floor-to-ceiling window and saw more rented cars stop in the driveway; he was getting more business, but it was more than he had bargained for.

The more people that came in, the greater the risk of being discovered.

He brushed his now blonde hair back and told himself everything was twofold. The same business he shied away from, was the same that had dropped Grace on his lap.

She hadn’t changed; the minute she had gotten out of the rented car, he had wanted to grab her and tell her that everything would be alright.

But he couldn't, she called herself Emily now and she was married to a snazzy character called Owen;one that Nickolas had saw right through the minute he smiled that fake smile.

Mark wasn’t so sure about his cover-up anymore. The way Grace…Emily had looked at him; he knew she could sense something about him.

She knew who he was, but for her own sanity, she was too scared to admit it to herself.

But all that mattered was that she was here now, unknown to her, she had gravitated towards him, after all these years.

It was seven thirty in the evening and the ranch was buzzing with excitement, new guests were checking in and Nickolas was on edge, he had left his post behind the front desk in the capable hands of Lilith.

This had been something he had been meaning to do for a very long time but hadn’t gotten around to doing, giving the workers more responsibility.

With the arrival of Grace, he didn’t know how to act. It had been five years since he had been proclaimed dead from an accident on the yatch. And it had been five years he had been living in hiding, afraid that if he ever made contact with his loved ones, whoever was after him would turn their attention on them.

He went out to take a stroll outside the ranch grounds, the atmosphere in the dining hall becoming too much for him.

The ranch grounds reminded him of Meyer grounds in London, lush green and a little pond; only at the ranch, they didn’t have the same abundance of trees they had in London.

He was about to go to his favorite chair by the pond when he saw her. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.

Maybe this time they could start afresh some place far away, just the two of them. He knew about the problems she had been having with her two-timing husband; he knew that even after two years of marriage, they still had no kids.

The husband's investments were failing; his only hope were her assets, which she had not touched since his alleged death.

He wished he could talk to her, tell her she had not lost, everything would be fine, and that they could go back to how things were before… But first, he had to find who wanted his death.

*

Emily sat on the bench, facing away from the ranch.

Her only wish was, if she had visited the ranch under different circumstances, maybe she could've been able to enjoy all that it had to offer.

She heard some rustling behind her and turned to find Mark walking towards her.

What a lovely and thoughtful man.

“It’s nice and peaceful out here.” She said as she cleared her throat; she was still a bit shaky after the embarrassment that Owen had caused.

When she didn’t get a response from Mark, she turned again; maybe he hadn’t heard her remark. But she doubted it very much; he had stopped just behind the bench and gazed straight into the water.

She had to admit that his behavior was as friendly as it had been yesterday; after all, he didn’t know this man.

He put his hands on her shoulders and massaged her gently, her whole body tensed at the unwelcome intrusion. She hoped she hadn’t given him the wrong impression.

She turned to face him, she needed to set the record straight, but before she could utter a single word, he said two words that brought her already broken world to it's knees.

Words that brought back memories of a life she’d hoped was well in her past.

“Hello, Grace." Mark said.