Inherit the Land

By L. Lincoln Clark

Mitch and Jen were finally married and living the dream life. Then on one fateful morning, their lives changed drastically! Their son, Richie, was missing! Had he been kidnapped, or had he wandered off at Ocean Isle where their beach home was located? Soon it became clear that he had been kidnapped. But by whom? No one came forward demanding ransom. Time dragged on with no results from the search team led by FBI Special Agent Ethan Wolfe.
Just when Mitch thought nothing worse could happen, his wife, Jen, was kidnapped from their home in Stevensville as well. This time, notes started giving clues to who the kidnapper might be. Mitch joined Ethan in a search for his beloved family that led them on a cross-country chase to find the two before it was too late.
Dr. L. Lincoln Clark has woven a romantic suspense story that once you pick it up, you will find it difficult to put it down until you have reached its exciting conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514406069

L. Lincoln Clark

L. Lincoln Clark is a retired social studies teacher. She taught world history for thirty-three years in Roanoke County before trying her hand at writing fiction. She says that the greatest influence in her life to love history and to become a teacher was her stepfather, John Lincoln. Dr. Clark holds degrees in liberal arts, history, social studies curriculum and instruction, and education leadership. This is her first work of fiction. Dr. Clark lives in Vinton, Virginia, with her husband of forty-one years, David William “Bill” Clark, and their two Havanese dogs. The Clarks have one son, David William II.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Unbelievable! That was the only word the prolific novelist Mitch Gunther could come up with to describe what he saw as he drove through the small town of Stevensville on his way home from a book signing. There were flowers and buntings on the front of almost every store in the town. Signs strung across the street read Congratulations, Virginia and Mitch!

Mitch thought to himself, You would think I’m marrying royalty! Actually, Jen, his nickname for Virginia, was a bit like royalty to the people of Stevensville. Virginia Stevens and her son, Richard, were the last of the Stevens dynasty that created the town and the industry that employed most of the people who lived there. While the former leaders of the factories and offices were greedy and inept, Jen came to control in her son’s name, determined to right the wrongs that Alicia and her husband, Roger Albright, had made while they were in control. Alicia was Richard’s aunt and Jen’s sister-in-law who spent most of her last year of life hunting down Jen with the determination to kill her and her unborn child. If she had succeeded, she would have inherited the entire Stevens’ fortune, including Stevens Inc. But she and her hired assassins failed in their attempt and are dead now. It had been a close call though. Jen almost died after she gave birth with no one to help deliver the baby except Mitch. It was quite a story!

Once she recovered, Jen came to Stevensville and went to work. She listened to the workers and tried hard to meet their needs, sometimes going beyond what the workers wanted. She gathered a well-trained corporate team together and went to work straightening out the accounts, many of which had been robbed of most of its funds by Alicia and Roger. She righted the wrongs, finished incomplete contracted agreements, and made Stevens Inc. a corporation other businesses would be proud to do businesses with again.

Yes, I guess I am marrying royalty! Mitch laughed. She was quite a woman, especially considering all she went through to reach this point in her life. The citizens see a strong competent woman in control of everything that made their lives comfortable. Mitch, however, could still see the scared young pregnant girl running away from those who would kill her and having no place to go and no one to help. Thanks to his housekeeper, Maude, Jen found Mitch. He wasn’t exactly happy about her arrival in his life, but her big brown eyes, long dark hair, and the way she smiled when you weren’t looking melted his heart of stone, and he was soon doing everything he could to protect her from those who were looking for her. If only he hadn’t have had to leave her alone in that chalet high in the mountains of eastern Tennessee to go find help when things did not go well after she gave birth, maybe things would have turned out a little less violent, and Alicia and her henchman Walter would have lived, and their friend Dr. Henry Silverstein would not have been so seriously injured. But he should be grateful that Jen, the baby, and Henry all survived. The birth of Richard Jonathan Stevens Gunther was one everyone would always remember. It will be fun someday to tell Richie all about it, but he would need to be a lot older than two to understand it!

For Mitch, the most memorable day was the day the judge made Richard Jonathan Stevens Richard Jonathan Stevens Gunther. He had been proud to officially adopt Richie. He felt like he had always been his father, right from the first time he had made love to Jen when she was barely five months pregnant. The man who had given Richie life had died in a fiery car crash even before Jen was sure she was pregnant. So Mitch would always be the only father Richie would ever know. It seemed odd to marry the kid before the mom, but it had taken two long years for Jen to feel that she could take a break from work long enough to plan the event.

I don’t see why we have to make such a big deal out of it. Jen had already had a big wedding when she married the first time to Richie’s father. And I surely don’t care about all the hoopla going on right now! A ring and the justice of the peace would have been fine. We have been living together for three years now and don’t need all the ceremony to tell us how much we love each other, thought Mitch.

But Jen felt the town needed something to celebrate too. Plus, she loved big events like this and enjoyed planning them. And she was very good at organizing things. So why not let her have her fun. After all, all he had to do was show up with the ring, say I do, and sweep Jen off to the fabulous honeymoon he had planned for the two of them!

The two of them …, thought Mitch. It had never been just the two of them. They met when she was pregnant and running away from her enemies, so they always had to consider them. Then when Richie was born, it was always the three of them or sometimes four when they brought along Maude or Rosa to look after Richie so they could have some alone time.

Thoughts of it almost made his miserable day a good one!

CHAPTER 2

Jen! Jen! Where are you? Mitch called as he made his way through the entry hall of the huge Stevens mansion that he called the mausoleum. He and Jen were in the process of building a newer, more child-friendly house on another section of the property, but it was still months away from being finished. He hated this dark old house and couldn’t wait to be out of it.

We’re back in the kitchen! called Jen. Mitch could barely hear her since the kitchen was in the back of the house.

When Mitch got there, he was greeted by a little boy with peas covering his face and mashed potato–covered hands stretched out to his father, wanting to be picked up. In spite of his dark mood, Mitch could not help but laugh at his son. Did any of his lunch make it into his stomach? he asked.

He did a good job with his fish sticks, replied Jen. We need a little work on veggies and the concept of a spoon though, she replied with a chuckle as she rose to greet her husband-to-be. How did the reading and book signing go?

Mitch’s face darkened, and he replied with a growl, Awful! There were only a handful of people there, and the only thing they wanted to talk about was our remarkable experience a couple years ago. No one seems interested in the new Jon Gunn adventure. Maybe it’s time to kill him off and start with a new protagonist. I was bored even writing it! What’s the answer, Jen? Everyone loved the book you helped me write when we were living at my house in Virginia. Maybe that’s it. This house is too depressing to make a good venue for writing. Let’s move back to Virginia by the lake until our new house is ready! What do you think? Lots of sunshine and green grass for Richie to play in. And the lake! I could teach him how to fish!

Jen came up to Mitch and put her arms around him. I don’t think running away is going to solve the problem. And I’m not sure killing off Jon Gunn is necessarily a solution either. Why not write what the people want to read? They are dying to hear all the details about how you and I met. How we ran from Alicia and her goons Walter and Max. And most of all about Richie’s birth and how you rescued us. You couldn’t make up a better suspense story even if you tried?

I don’t know, Mitch grumbled. I’m not used to readers knowing so much about my personal life. I’m not sure I’m ready to open up like that to them, even for a best seller! Are you ready for what it means to lay your life bare for all to read? Do you want people to read about the most intimate details of our lives? Should I write about the first time we made love? Or when I was between your legs waiting for you to push Richie out into my waiting hands?

Okay! Okay, I get the message, Jen replied. "No, I don’t want people reading every intimate detail. But I would also remind you that you are a writer. You know how to get around graphic descriptions when they are not called for. I’m sure you could just say something like ‘we made beautiful love that day’ without giving details about every move we made!"

Mitch shook his head and reminded her, I am a graphic writer. My fight scenes in my Jon Gunn novels are famous for their details. That’s the way I write.

"Not this time, not for this book, Jen said quietly. You know what, just forget about it. Don’t write about us. You are probably right. It wouldn’t be a good idea, just a good book. Now if you will excuse me, I have a grumpy little man who needs to be cleaned up and put down for a nap. And I have details of a wedding to finish. You do remember that we are getting married in less than a week, right?"

CHAPTER 3

The big day had finally arrived. Mitch stood in front of the mirror valiantly trying to tie his bowtie with hands that were shaking so badly that he could barely hold the tie!

With a knock at the door, Benjamin Thomas entered, followed closely by Henry Silverstein and Henry’s grandson, Grant. Ben was Mitch’s publishing consultant and his best friend for years. He had asked Ben to be his best man for the wedding. Dr. Henry Silverstein was Mitch’s neighbor at his Virginia home where he had first met Jen. It was Henry who had provided them with a hiding place in the Tennessee mountains while Mitch helped Jen run from Alicia and her henchmen. Henry had almost lost his life helping to keep Alicia and assassin Walter away from Jen and newly born Richie. He was the one who caught Richie after the fight between Walter and Alicia over Richie had resulted in Alicia falling over the railing of the deck that rose high above the ground at the back of Henry’s chalet where Mitch and Jen were hiding. Mistaking the infant for a gun in Walter’s hand, the state trooper who had just arrived on the scene had shot and killed Walter. A severely wounded Henry was able to drag himself over to the scene and catch the baby as Walter released him and he fell dying to the floor of the deck.

Mitch had asked Henry to stand up with him when he married Jen out of gratitude and friendship and was surprised when he agreed to make the long trip from Virginia to be with him on his special day. Henry also volunteered his two youngest grandchildren to be the ring bearer and flower girl. Mitch had hoped to use his own son to carry the rings, but at barely two and a half years old, Mitch feared that he might need a little supervision. So eight-year-old Grant would be holding Richie’s hand and making sure he didn’t drop the rings that were securely tied to the pillow they had chosen to use. Henry’s granddaughter Gina was going to be the flower girl.

Thank God you guys are here! Mitch said with a sigh of relief. "Could one of you please tie this da-rn tie for me? (He corrected himself as he looked at the children.) My writer’s hands aren’t working today—can you believe that?"

Ben came forward and began working on the tie. "What do you have to be nervous about? You’ve lived with Jen for over three years. And after all you two went through the first year, you could face just about anything!"

Mitch thought about what Ben just said and laughed. You’re right, buddy. Together, we can face just about all there is to face! But Mitch still had lingering doubts. Their lives had been full of adventure and hard work to get Stevens Inc. up and running. Very little of their time together had been normal. Could they live as just plain Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Mitchell Gunther? Taking care of Richie, watching TV, writing on a routine basis, listening to the friendly banter between Rosa and Maude over who was in charge of what. That’s what scared Mitch the most—normal life!

CHAPTER 4

Contrary to Mitch, Jen was sitting quietly in the bride’s room, actually their bedroom on any other day. She was seated at her vanity table and had Richie on her lap. He was happily playing with her jewelry box. Jen barely noticed the conversation between Maude and Rosaleigh behind her. She was calm and sure that everything would be okay on this special day. After all, she had spent months planning every detail. The hardest part for her was choosing bridesmaids.

Jen had moved around too much to develop any lasting friendships. Even in college, the friends she had made gradually faded into a card-every-Christmas relationship. So when it came time to choose someone to be her maid of honor, Jen could think of only one true friend she had had over the last several years—Maude. But what would people think about her using their housekeeper as her maid of honor? However when you think about it, Maude was the one who rescued her when she was pregnant and running for her life from her sister-in-law, Alicia. She had found her weak, practically starving, with only a few dollars in her pocket. And when she passed out outside the grocery store that first day, everybody ignored her except Maude. Maude put her in her car and took her home, actually to Mitch’s home, and nursed her back to health. It was Maude who introduced Jen to Mitch. He wasn’t exactly excited about the situation, but thanks to Maude, Jen was able to stay with Mitch and grow to love him. It was a rocky road those first few months, but Maude was always there with advice on how to make Mitch love her. So who else could fill the role of maid of honor better?

Jen had also asked Rosaleigh to stand up with her out of gratitude for allowing her to borrow two of her grandchildren for the wedding. Actually, the children were Henry Silverstein’s grandchildren from a previous marriage, but it just seemed to be the right thing to do, especially since Henry was already in the wedding party. Of course, Rosaleigh kept reminding Jen and anyone else that the children were not her grandchildren, emphasizing the age difference between her and Henry.

So whether or not others liked her choices in people, flowers, the after-ceremony meal menu, these were her and Mitch’s choices, and she was satisfied that the day would be a perfect one for the two of them.

What scared Jen the most was life after the wedding. Even though she and Mitch had spent several years together up until now, what they were about to do was supposed to last a lifetime! How sure was she that Mitch was ready to accept the idea of having a wife? He had been awfully nervous lately, but when she asked him about it, he just made a funny comment about the death of his bachelorhood and changed the subject.

Jen was about to jump up and say she had to talk to Mitch when disaster struck! Richie knocked over a bottle of hand cream, and it spilled all over the skirt of Jen’s dress! Maude ran and grabbed Richie. Rosaleigh picked up a towel and began to wipe the cream off the dress before it could stain the dress beyond repair! All the commotion caused the little flower girl, Gina, to start crying. And hearing her crying caused Richie to let out a howl that could be heard all the way to the groom’s room. It sent Mitch and Henry running to see who was injured. When they got there, they found Rosaleigh on her knees in Jen’s lap while Gina was pulling at her skirt. Maude was struggling to keep Richie in her arms. And Jen? Jen was sitting there laughing. What did I say about nothing going wrong today?

CHAPTER 5

The setting sun cast a golden glow on the gathering guests and the altar where the ceremony was about to take place. It was a beautiful cool evening that could not have been better if it had been special ordered by the bride herself. Mitch and Jen expected a large crowd since they had made an open invitation to all the workers at Stevens Inc. They expected most of the town would be there to see the last of the Stevens marry. The wedding ceremony would be performed by the Reverend Michaels from the Stevensville United Baptist Church. This had been the church attended by the Stevens family ever since they settled in this little valley and started the city. The pastors of the church had performed every wedding, baptism, and funeral in the Stevens family. Reverend Michaels had performed the ceremony when Jen had married her first husband, Richard Stevens. He had even performed her funeral services when it was thought that she had perished in the same crash that took her husband’s life—the event that had begun her exodus that led her to Virginia and to Mitch.

It was now time for the ceremony to begin. The violins began to play softly as the Reverend Michaels led Mitch, Ethan, and Henry out to stand at the altar. Then Julie Rogers, an up-and-coming country music star and friend of Ben’s, came forward, and the orchestra began to play as she sang The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Holding tightly to the ring bearer’s pillow and walking closely beside Grant, little Richie began to walk slowly down the aisle. They looked so cute in their little tuxes, especially Richie in his short pants. About halfway down the aisle, one of the rings came untied and began to slip. Everybody held their breath knowing for sure that the ring would slip to the ground and bounce away. But just before it left the pillow, Richie reached down and put it back in its place. When the two boys reached the altar, Richie looked up at his father and said, Did I do good, Daddy? Did I?

As the guests laughed at the little boy, Mitch reached down and patted him on the head, saying, You were a champ, little man! You did just fine!

Next came the ladies. Rosaleigh was first. She looked beautiful in her lavender bridesmaid dress. It fit her perfectly and was just the right color for her blond hair.

Wearing the same gown in a deeper shade of lavender was Maude. Mitch found it difficult to believe that this was the sixty-something-year-old woman who had scrambled his eggs and poured his coffee for years. She looked so elegant as she practically floated down the aisle.

Then came Gina, the flower girl. She was a vision of spring dressed in a pale yellow dress trimmed at the waist with daisy appliques. She meticulously placed white and yellow rose petals on the aisle cloth.

And now it was time for the bride. Jen stood for a moment at the beginning of the aisle and surveyed the scene. She was absolutely the most beautiful bride most of those present had seen. She wore a white fully reembroidered Chantilly lace A-line dress with long sleeves and an illusion high neckline. Her long black hair was loosely pinned up and encircled by a halo of daisies woven together to form a perfect circle. Around her neck she wore the diamond necklace Mitch had given her as a wedding present. (She had given him engraved diamond cuff links.) She carried a bouquet of daisies and yellow rosebuds.

Jen bowed her head for a moment as if she were saying a little prayer. Then with head held high, she began to walk down the aisle. Down to Mitch—to her future. Neither of them heard nor saw anything except each other and the music of the beating of their own hearts.

Mitch and Jen had chosen traditional vows but also asked the minister for time to say a few words to each other. When it was Jen’s turn, she spoke to Mitch with tears in her eyes and in a voice just above a whisper. "Mitch, when I was trying to think of words that described you, they came to me from an unusual place. They came from a magazine advertisement for the U. S. Marine Corps. The words are semper fi—always faithful. That is what you have been to me ever since we met—always faithful. You faithfully stood by me when I practically dumped all my problems in your lap. You faithfully took on the role of midwife when Richie was born and faithfully cared for me. And when you found yourself in a position where you could not reach me because the forces of nature kept us apart, you faithfully searched for a way to reach me and bring me the help I needed to save my life. And since, when life has settled to at least a somewhat normal pace, you continue to faithfully love me and understand me and the many tasks involved in running a corporation. Thank you for always being faithful and for always loving me! I promise to you that I will try to always love you and be faithful to you for the