by R. C. Ryan
Everett Fletcher nodded. “They can have plainclothes detectives all over the bank and town tomorrow. If necessary they can even act as bank tellers.”
Raven shook his head. “This guy is probably familiar with the bank tellers. We’ll want everything to look as normal as possible.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “We have time enough to set this up. I know it’s foolish to suggest that any of you get some sleep. So I’ll just suggest that you do whatever you can to calm your nerves until morning. I’m heading back to town to go over some details with my operatives and the state police.”
Everett nodded. “I’m going with you.”
The police chief turned to Meg. “I know the hours will crawl by until morning. But hold on to the thought that all of us are here for you, Meg. We’re going to bring Cory home safe and sound.”
“Thank you, Chief Fletcher. Thank you, Raven.”
The two men nodded before taking their leave.
Phoebe put her arms around Meg and hugged her fiercely. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think you should go upstairs and take a long bath and then try to rest. If you could fall asleep for even an hour, it will turn off the painful images in your mind.”
“Thanks, Pheobe.” She managed a weak smile. “I can’t imagine not thinking about Cory. He’s all I can think of. But I’ll try to do as you suggest.”
Jake caught her hand. “I’ll walk with you.”
She called good night to the others before allowing him to lead her up the stairs to her room.
Outside the door he drew her close for a hard embrace. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
She shook her head. “Thanks, Jake. But I think Phoebe’s right. I’m going to try to just get through the night. I need to be alone for awhile.”
He tilted her face up and kissed her. Then for good measure, he kissed her again. “I wish I could do something to make this easier.”
“You and your family have been wonderful, Jake.” She touched a hand to his cheek. “I’ve never known a family like yours before. I’m just so grateful for all of you.”
He watched her walk away and shut the bedroom door. A part of him wanted, more than anything, to stay the night with her and offer her whatever comfort he could. But another part of him wanted, needed, the release of hard, physical work.
He headed for the barn, determined to have it sparkling by morning.
As Phoebe had suggested, Meg took a long bath. Then, too agitated to lie down, she dressed in denims and a simple tee, pulled her hair back in a ponytail and made her way downstairs, hoping a cup of tea would help settle her nerves.
She was relieved to find the kitchen deserted. After setting the kettle on the stove she rummaged through cupboards until she located Phoebe’s tea. Though there was every kind imaginable, she opted for plain black tea.
When the kettle whistled she began to fill her cup just as Cole stepped in from the mudroom.
“Can’t sleep, Meg?”
She shook her head. “I’m too jumpy to even settle. I feel like I want to run across the pastures shouting Cory’s name.”
“I’d go with you if I thought it would help.” He looked over her shoulder. “What’re you drinking?”
“Plain old tea. Would you like some?”
“Yeah.”
She filled his cup and handed it to him before sitting down at the table.
He dropped down into a chair across from her and spooned sugar into his tea. Without looking up he said, “The time crawls by. You look at the clock and want to scream because only a minute has passed since the last time you checked. And your whole life lies before you in tatters, everything you ever wanted is broken, and all you can do is endure.”
“How do you endure?” She looked over at him.
“You just—” he shook his head “—do whatever you have to. Work until you drop. Lie awake in fear that if you sleep, the dreams will be even worse than the things you’re imagining. And your mind never lets you forget. There’s not a day, not a night, not a minute, that you aren’t reminded that there must be something more you can do.”
“Oh, Cole.” She shoved away and circled the table.
He stood and caught her in a hard hug as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his chest.
His cowhide jacket reminded her of her father’s. He smelled of horses and leather and earth, all the things that she’d always loved about her father.
For one small moment in time she felt that her father had come back to comfort her.
“I can’t stand thinking about Cory out there in the dark.” Her words were muffled against his jacket.
“I know.”
“How did you bear it?”
“I did it badly. I was too rough on my boys. Distanced myself from my own father. Avoided my neighbors. And I worked until I couldn’t stand another minute. And still I raged against the doubts and fears and uncertainty.”
He continued holding her until the tears stopped. When at last she pushed free of his arms he handed her his handkerchief. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose and sat down beside him, needing to feel him close.
“It’s only been a day, and I feel like I’m going to explode. But it’s been years for you.”
“Twenty-five years, two months, and sixteen days.”
Meg stared at him in absolute disbelief. “Oh, Cole.” She caught his hand between both of hers. “How do you go on every day?”
“I have no choice. In the early days, when the pain was so bad, I thought about taking my life. But I had three motherless little boys to think about, and a father who had already buried five sons. How could I add to their pain? My own pain was nothing compared to theirs. So I moved ahead, day after day, hoping, praying, that the pain would ease.”
“Did it?”
He shrugged and looked down at their joined hands. “Some days I can go for hours without thinking about Seraphine. Other days she’s on my mind as soon as I wake, and she hovers there all day. As the years have passed, I no longer think of her as suffering, and that’s a real comfort. I’ve convinced myself that wherever she is, it’s a place that gives her peace. Otherwise, she’d have returned to me.”
He patted her hand. “My dad always says that life hands the toughest assignments to the strongest among us. He claims that heaven knows which of us can carry the load, and which of us will bend or break. And he ought to know. Big Jim is the strongest man I know. He had to be, to bury a wife and five little babies and carry on with me just scant weeks old. But with Ela’s help, he raised me. And when Seraphine went missing, how could I do less for my boys?”
Meg felt the tears threatening again. She shook her head. “I don’t think I have your strength, Cole. I’m not like you and Big Jim.”
He lifted a hand to her cheek. “Trust me, Meg Stanford. You come from strong stock. You’ll get through this. You’ll do what you have to, and you’ll get Cory back safe and sound.”
She sniffed. “Thanks for talking about Seraphine, Cole. I know it had to be hard to do. But I need to remember that other people have gone through much worse things than this and survived.”
He gave her a sad, haunted smile. “I’m glad I could help. And the truth is, talking about Seraphine didn’t hurt as much as I’d expected. If anything, it just reminded me that I’ve been living in the past too long. The people who care about me have been patient, but it’s time for me to step out of the shadows.”
He leaned close and brushed a kiss on her cheek before heading toward the stairs.
When she was alone Meg looked toward the mudroom to see Jake standing there. From the looks of him, he’d been there long enough to overhear everything his father had said.
He walked closer and took her hand, helping her to her feet.
“You heard?”
He nodded. “I’m glad he was able to talk to you about her. I think it helped him as much as it helped you.”
She sighed. “You have an amazing father.”
“Yes, I do. And you are an amazing woman. Now come with me to bed.”
They walked up the stairs to her room together.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The entire family was up and moving long before dawn, and it was plain that none of them had spent much time sleeping.
Meg and Jake came downstairs to find Phoebe and Ela hard at work in the kitchen.
Phoebe turned to Meg. “Did you sleep?”
Meg shook her head.
“There’s coffee.” Phoebe indicated a tray of mugs on the counter.
While Jake was pouring coffee he said, “I thought I heard Pa and Big Jim talking.”
At that moment Quinn and Cheyenne came in from the mudroom. Overhearing Jake’s remark, Quinn said, “They’re in the barn running a check on the plane before takeoff.”
Josh and Sierra came downstairs arm in arm. Sierra hurried over to hug Meg. “I’m sure the night seemed endless.”
Meg nodded and accepted a mug of coffee from Jake.
Minutes later they heard the crunch of tires and the sound of an engine, and looked out to see Raven and Everett Fletcher arriving in separate vehicles. The two men strode inside and greeted everyone before accepting coffee from Phoebe and Ela.
The police chief spoke first. “It’s all arranged with the bank. Judge Bolton contacted the bank president. As soon as the bank opens at nine a teller will have the money ready. You’ll have to go through the motions of a regular bank transaction, in case Blain is watching from somewhere nearby.”
Meg nodded. “I understand.”
Raven opened a backpack and began removing several items, which he laid out on the kitchen table. “The state police agreed that you need to wear a wire.”
“A wire?”
“This guy isn’t stupid. He was wise to our sting at your ranch. He has to assume that you’ve gone to the authorities. His only hope is grabbing the cash and getting away without being caught. He knows we won’t move on him as long as Cory is in danger. We’re assuming that he’ll choose an isolated spot to have you deliver the money. A spot where we can’t plant our people ahead of time. But with a wire, we get two things. First, a tracking device. We’ll know where you are every step of the way. And second, a microphone. We’ll be able to hear every word he says once you get within close range of him.”
Jake frowned. “You’re thinking of letting her go alone?”
“He’ll insist on it.”
“And she can refuse. She can insist that I go with her.”
The police chief shook his head. “Be reasonable, Jake. The last thing this guy wants is a big, strong cowboy getting in the way. Right now he thinks he’s on easy street. A kid and a woman. And he’s holding all the aces. He’s never going to agree to let you come.”
Raven nodded. “The chief’s right. Meg will have to do this alone.”
When Jake opened his mouth to argue, Meg put a hand to his cheek. “I know you’re worried, Jake. I’m worried, too. But I have to do whatever he demands. For Cory’s sake.”
She turned toward Raven. “Let’s get this wire hooked up to me. The sun’s coming up and Paintbrush is an hour away.”
Cole and Big Jim were airborne as soon as the sky was light. They used Raven’s map and grids to check off each parcel of land as they swept overhead.
While Cole handled the controls, his father focused high-powered binoculars out the windows of the cockpit.
“Such beautiful land,” Big Jim remarked. “Sad to think that somebody could spoil it with something as hideous as harming a helpless boy.”
“In our lifetimes we’ve come across our share of evil,” Cole muttered.
“So we have.” Big Jim lay a hand on Cole’s sleeve. “But the good we’ve seen far outweighs the bad.”
“Let’s hope the good guys win today.” Cole touched the wheel, and the little Cessna dipped lower as they passed over a pasture dotted with Conway cattle.
Quinn, Josh, and Jake had been assigned the task of searching the rangeland around the Conway and Stanford ranches.
Chief Fletcher pointed to the picture of Cory. “You can see the straw, and a bit of an old wooden wall behind him. That means he’s in a building. A wooden structure of some sort. I don’t care how big or small or how abandoned it may appear, if it’s got four walls, you need to check it out.”
Quinn and Cheyenne headed out on their all-terrain vehicles for the rugged hills above the tree line of the Conway’s north range. Josh and Sierra opted to hike the southern range. Jake took the western ridge of Conway land that abutted the Stanford land. Because of the tall grass, he decided to go by horseback so that he could have a closer look.
After he rode only a few miles the sun had begun climbing steadily over the foothills of the Tetons, filling the rangeland with light. On any other day Jake would have paused to enjoy the beauty around him. Today, all he wanted was to hold back the sunrise and slow down the hours.
Though it weighed heavily that he couldn’t be with Meg, keeping her safe, he took comfort in the thought that if he could only find Cory, they could call off this dangerous game she was being forced to play.
Meg’s hands were slick with sweat, and her heart was pounding as she walked into the bank in Paintbrush.
It all looked so normal. The tellers, sitting at their windows. A smattering of men and women going in and out, some standing at tables, filling out forms, others pausing to chat with neighbors.
Looking at them, Meg couldn’t tell if they were operatives playing a part, or if they were actually innocent people, unaware of the terrible drama being played out before their eyes.
A young teller removed a closed sign and beckoned Meg forward. Meg handed her the withdrawal slip that had been prepared by Judge Kirby Bolton and the young woman said softly, “I’ll have to clear this with our bank president.”
Meg wanted to catch her sleeve and stop her, but the teller was already walking away.
Panic gripped Meg by the throat. Had she chosen the wrong teller? Was she making a terrible mistake?
The young woman spoke to the man in the office before returning to her station. With a smile she said, “Sorry. Bank protocol when there’s a withdrawal of this size. And we always follow protocol.”
“Of course.” Meg ordered herself to breathe.
Obviously the teller had been briefed ahead of time, and knew that she had to play this by the book.
Minutes later she counted out the money in denominations of tens and twenties as requested, and offered Meg a heavy cloth bag. “You may want to use this, since that’s an awful lot of cash.”
“Yes. Thank you.” Meg set the bag of money inside the oversize shoulder purse Raven had provided. Hefting the purse to her shoulder, she turned away.
Though she’d been warned not to call any attention to herself, she couldn’t help noting the number of men on the street outside as she stepped out of the bank. Every one of them appeared to be busy, but she felt her skin prickling at the thought that all of them were there watching and waiting.
She hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps on the sidewalk before she heard the ping announcing the arrival of a text on her cell phone.
Go to your ranch. Alone.
She climbed into her rental car, which Raven had provided, and began the long drive to her ranch. Along the way she spoke, knowing Raven and the state police could hear. “I’ve been ordered to drive to my ranch alone. Since the message came as soon as I’d left the bank, I have to assume he was watching. I hope someone has already spotted him.”
A text arrived saying:
No sign of him, but you’re not alone.
Not alone? She looked in her rearview mirror, and there wasn’t another car on this stretch of deserted highway. Still, she had to believe that the professionals who had planned all this knew what they were doing. Besides, Raven had more than a dozen operatives already in place around her house.
As she came up over a rise, she had to stand on her brakes to k
eep from hitting a line of cows slowly crossing the highway. She could see a length of fencing down and the cattle moving with deliberation, following the lead cow. There was no telling how long this delay might last.
While she waited, she sat drumming her fingers nervously on the wheel. When a hand slapped her driver’s side window she nearly jumped out of her skin.
A man in a plaid shirt and dirty jeans was turned away from her, watching the movement of the cows. With one hand he motioned for her to roll down her window.
She was smiling, expecting to hear a word of apology from the wrangler about this unexpected delay. Instead, when he turned, she sucked in a breath of recognition.
Despite the scraggly beard and battered Stetson, it was Blain Turner.
“Get out of the car now. And don’t forget to bring the bag.”
Blain was astride a bay gelding and holding firmly to the reins of the spotted mare on which Meg rode. By the time the long line of cattle had crossed the highway, the two riders had disappeared into a thick wooded area.
Meg knew that Raven would have overheard Blain’s command to step out of the car, and she was comforted by the fact that his operatives were tracking her, but she could only hope that someone had spotted the cattle and had seen her leaving on horseback.
“Where are you taking me?” She needed to keep Blain talking so Raven and the state police could get a fix on them.
“Shut up.”
“You’d better be taking me to see Cory.”
He turned and pointed a gun at her head. The look he gave her was so dark and menacing, she felt her heart leap to her throat. “What didn’t you understand about ‘shut up’?”
She fell silent and struggled to breathe. Her heart was pounding so hard she was certain Raven and his men could hear it.
They rode deep into the woods before Blain suddenly stopped and slid from the saddle.
“Are we here?” She swiveled her head, straining to see some sign of a cabin.