Lonestar Angel

by Colleen Coble

  “I sent her after cold meds, and I could use a dose before I go out again.” He blew his nose, then put his hanky back.

  Allie called the cook as she got out of the truck. “Could you bring the medicine, Rita?”

  The young woman dug the box out of the bag, along with a bottle of water, and jogged toward them. “I was hoping you guys were here. There was a man asking about Bluebird Ranch when I got gas.”

  “What did he look like?” Clay asked. Maybe this was their break.

  “Young, maybe thirty.”

  “What did he say?” Rick asked, downing his pills with a gulp of water.

  “Asked the way to the ranch. He wanted to know if the Larsons were still here.”

  “What else can you tell us besides his age?” Clay asked. One of Santiago’s henchmen?

  Rita shifted the bag to her other hand. “Sandy brown hair. Horn-rimmed glasses. Snappy dresser. I can’t remember the last time I saw a man with shoes that shiny.”

  A picture formed in Clay’s mind. Daniel had been missing for two days. Long enough to get here. “Daniel,” he said. “I’ll bet it’s him.”

  “But if he’s just now asking how to get to the ranch, he can’t have Eden,” Allie said.

  “Unless it’s a ruse,” Brendan said. “I’d better talk to him.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Clay said.

  “I don’t think either of you will have to go anywhere,” Rita said, staring at the drive. “There he is now. I thought he’d likely be right behind me.” She started for the truck. “I’ll let you handle this. I forgot milk after I heard this guy. I need to run back to town.”

  Clay watched the blue Chevy, obviously a rental, roll up the drive. He walked toward the vehicle as the door opened and Daniel got out. He hadn’t changed any since Clay last saw him five years ago. He still wore his hair slicked back. The plaid button-down shirt and the pants with the sharp crease completed the image of a man consumed with his image.

  Daniel’s expression was wary as Clay stopped in front of him. “Clay,” he said. “I came to see Eden. I . . . I started missing her and realized I don’t want her out of my life.”

  Clay wanted to grab him by the neck. “Like you don’t know where she is.” He was vaguely aware that Rick, Allie, and Brendan had stopped just behind him.

  Daniel’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

  Clay took a step closer. “Where is she?” he yelled in the guy’s face.

  Comprehension dawned in Daniel’s eyes and he grinned. “You mean she’s left you already? I knew it would happen.”

  Clay clenched his fists. “She didn’t leave me. Someone took her.” He jabbed his finger in Daniel’s chest. “I’m betting that someone is you. The sheriff has a few questions for you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Daniel held up his hands. “I just got to town.” He reached into his pocket and drew out a boarding pass. “See here? I flew into El Paso four hours ago. When did she go missing?”

  “Yesterday.” He didn’t trust anything this guy tried to say. Clay batted Daniel’s hand away. “I want to know where she is.”

  The paper flew from Daniel’s hand. Rick caught it in the air. He opened it and stared. “He’s telling the truth, Clay. He just got to town. This is his flight information and the rental receipt for the car. There’s no way he was here last night when Eden went missing.”

  “You’re serious?” Daniel asked. “Someone really kidnapped Eden?” His voice rose. “What are you doing to find her? She’s been gone a whole day!”

  Her lips were as cracked as the dry riverbed they’d just crossed. Eden wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep going. Squinting at the sky, she realized it was midafternoon. They had been out here at least six hours. The point she’d been heading toward was farther than it looked. They should have turned around, but by the time she realized it, they’d gone so far that they decided to keep on. They thought they would find civilization soon. She missed Clay and the girls. The thought they might be in danger haunted her.

  “Let’s rest a minute,” she told Sister Marjo when they reached a spot where limestone cliffs streaked by erosion rose in the sky.

  Several caves looked inviting, but she knew better than to crawl inside to escape the sun. They could harbor anything from bats to snakes. And scorpions and tarantulas were almost a given. She dropped onto a nearby stone and wiped her forehead. Her skin felt hot and tight.

  Sister Marjo still appeared to be doing all right. Her face was red and her forehead moist, but she had retained her smile. She took off her glasses and polished them on her blouse, then perched them back on her nose before joining Eden on the rock.

  “Are you doing all right, beloved?” she asked, putting her hand on Eden’s arm.

  “Why do you call me beloved?” Eden asked. The sun stripped her of the inhibition that had kept that question locked behind her teeth. “You barely know me.”

  The nun cupped Eden’s cheek in her hand. “Because you are God’s beloved.” She smiled when Eden shook her head. “I see from the hurt in your eyes you don’t believe it.”

  “I know he loves me, even though I don’t deserve it. But he sometimes lets his children die.” She hadn’t meant to say what she was thinking. She didn’t want to frighten Sister Marjo, though she was beginning to think the woman would face a saber-toothed tiger with equal equanimity.

  The woman dropped her hand. “There is no death for a believer. Not really. There is only this life and eternity waiting.”

  Eden moved away from a lizard on the rock. “I want to raise my daughter. To love Clay. I don’t want to die out here. I’ve been asking God to let me live.” With every step, she’d pleaded with God for help to arrive.

  “Jacob wrestled with God in the desert when he saw the ladder with angels ascending and descending. Perhaps he brought you out here to do the same.”

  “Clay calls me Angel,” Eden said.

  “Messenger of God,” Sister Marjo said.

  “I’m far from a messenger from God.”

  “We are all his messengers. We can choose to trust and let his love shine out of us, or we can let bitterness and disappointment steal our joy. It’s your choice.”

  Eden turned her head to stare at the limestone jutting into the sky. Choice. She didn’t have any choices. She hadn’t chosen to be abandoned. She hadn’t chosen to have her daughter kidnapped. And she certainly hadn’t chosen to die out here under the blazing sun. In spite of it all, she clung to her trust in God, but fear still coiled in the pit of her stomach. God had her in his hands, but there was no telling whether he might choose to take her to heaven today.

  The last time she’d been in church with Clay, the preacher had delivered a message about Job. The minister had said something about trusting God when all seemed lost, because he had a purpose in everything he allowed. She’d wondered what possible purpose God had for allowing them to be deprived of their daughter for five long years.

  Her vision became distorted. Was she dehydrated? She blinked as she saw a bird overhead that appeared as large as a pterodactyl. She huddled into a ball, hoping the bird didn’t see her. Her head spun as she seemed to shrink to the size of a mouse. It felt as though she were in a vortex, spinning faster and faster. She wanted to fling out her arms and grasp something solid, something she could trust to hold her steady.

  I am here.

  God’s voice wasn’t audible, not like the caw of the crow overhead, but she heard it in her heart. He had never gone anywhere. Who was she to question his ways, even if he let her die today? A verse came to mind. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

  “I can choose to trust,” she said aloud. Her voice seemed small and insignificant, but her chest expanded with the words. Trust was hard for her. It always had been, probably because of being abandoned by her mother. She wanted to have the kind of faith Sister Marjo had, the kind Clay had. Her own seemed anemic by comparison.

  A hand
pressed hers. God’s? Or Sister Marjo’s? She closed her eyes and toppled to the sand. The grit bit into her cheek, but she couldn’t move. Was God looking at her? Seeing her distress the way he’d seen Hagar in the desert? Gradually her head quit spinning, and the nausea in her belly subsided.

  She sat up. The sun had sunk a bit lower in the sky. Her sense of having met with God remained. Maybe she would die out here, but if she did, Clay and Brianna would be all right. She’d glimpsed a tiny bit of God’s power.

  Needing water desperately, she staggered to her feet. Sister Marjo was nowhere to be found. Had the nun wandered off?

  “Sister Marjo!” she screamed. The steps in the sand led toward the limestone cliffs, and Eden followed.

  She ducked under a rocky bridge and entered a small valley. The sound of water came to her ears. A small spring bubbled by a tall ocotillo. Sister Marjo crouched beside it with her hands cupped together.

  “Sister?” Eden said.

  The nun looked up. “You’re better! I was about to bring you some water,” she said.

  This place was a tiny bit of paradise in the desert. Eden stumbled past green sage and a few desert wildflowers. “How did you find it?”

  “I heard the water.”

  There’d been no sound out by the rocks, but Eden didn’t argue. She knew the woman would claim God had told her. And maybe he had. She stooped and plunged her hands into the pool. Gulping the cool moisture greedily, she drank her fill, and her light-headedness began to subside.

  “You’re different,” Sister Marjo said, her gaze fastened on Eden’s face.

  Eden met her gaze. Of all the people who would believe she’d had an encounter with God, it was this woman. “I can trust now.”

  Sister Marjo’s face broadened. “You heard God’s voice.”

  “Maybe. I just know I have no control and never have had. I have tried to control everything about my life after my mother abandoned me. I realize now that all I can do is trust God.” Oh, how she wanted to see Clay’s face again. To tell Lacie she had a mommy and daddy who loved her. But that was not for her to decide.

  35

  EDEN AND SISTER MARJO SAT BY THE STREAM AND RESTED. EDEN DANGLED HER HAND IN THE water. The only thing lacking was shade, but the cool water made up for it. It was tempting to stay here and wait for someone to find them, but it wasn’t going to happen. They’d stumbled in here by accident, so the chances of someone else doing the same were remote. Once they rested, they had to decide what to do.

  “Tell me about your family,” Sister Marjo said.

  Eden smiled. “My husband is an air force photojournalist. He’s always off documenting stories of war and combat. He’s won a lot of awards.”

  “Out of the country?”

  “Yes, quite often. He loves what he does.” That e-mail. Would he leave again soon? “He’s talked about getting out of the military and becoming a ranger, but I’m not sure he will do it. He loves the excitement.”

  “And you have a daughter?”

  Eden stared into Sister Marjo’s kind eyes. This woman knew her daughter better than anyone. “My daughter was kidnapped when she was six weeks old.” She launched into the story and watched the nun’s eyes widen and fill with tears.

  The sister took a hankie from her sleeve and blew her nose. “I’m so sorry, beloved. You’ll see her again someday.”

  “I already have.” Eden leaned forward, unsure how much to tell her. Something about the nun inspired confidence. “We found out one of the girls at the ranch was our Brianna. But we didn’t know which one, so we had DNA tests run. We just got the results. Lacie is our Brianna.”

  The nun gasped and put her hand to her chest. “M-My Lacie? You’re saying my Lacie is your daughter?”

  “Yes.” Eden patted the nun’s hand before she leaned back. “So you don’t have to worry about her anymore. We want you to stay part of her life, but I’m sure you are happy to know she has a mother and father who love her very much.”

  Sister Marjo took off her glasses and cleaned them. Her smile didn’t return. “I don’t know much about DNA tests, Eden. But I do know that what you are saying is impossible.”

  Eden’s eager smile faded. “I don’t understand.”

  The sister replaced her glasses. “The story about her being left on the church steps? It’s not the full story. My niece is Lacie’s mother.”

  “Th-That’s impossible. The DNA test was very specific. Lacie was the only match.” Eden tried to think through how this could be. “Did you see your niece pregnant? Maybe she was involved in the kidnapping and passed Lacie off as her own child.”

  “No, dear. I delivered the child myself. I saw Lacie’s birth with my own two eyes.”

  Eden shook her head violently. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “No. No, it doesn’t. But I can assure you that Lacie is no relation to you.”

  Eden’s fatigue fell away. “I have to tell Clay. We must figure this out. I think you and I should go back to the cabin. We can hide and watch to make sure the guy isn’t there. He’s got to have a vehicle. We can see the direction he came from.”

  “I think we’re close to finding the road,” Sister Marjo said. “Just over the hill.”

  “We’ve been thinking that for hours.” Eden took a last gulp of water and stood, drying her hands on her pants. “But we’ve just wandered farther and farther. I don’t think we can keep that up. Right now we’re not lost, but if a wind kicks up we could be. All we have to do is follow our tracks back.”

  She set off toward the limestone bridge, the exit from their piece of paradise. She headed toward the opening, but a figure ducked under the limestone. It was Rita.

  Eden rushed toward her. “Rita! How did you find us?”

  The cook was in jeans and a long-sleeved cotton blouse. She had a knapsack slung over one shoulder. “I saw your tracks at the cabin and followed them in the four-wheel drive.”

  “You went to the cabin first?”

  Rita nodded. “I remembered it was out here. When no one could find you, I decided to check it out on my way back from town. I saw the boards missing and your footprints out across the desert, so I followed.”

  Eden’s hope that Clay was with her vanished. “Is Clay all right? And the girls?”

  “Oh yes. Shannon took the girls with her. That big MacGowan place has enough employees to populate an army. Clay is out looking for you.”

  At least the girls were safe. “I don’t suppose you have any food in that sack, do you?” Eden asked. “We’re famished.”

  The young woman smiled. “I sure do.” She dropped the satchel to the sand, then knelt and opened it. There was a jar of peanut butter and some bread inside. “This seemed the least likely to spoil,” she said.

  Jif peanut butter. Just like the food at the cabin. Eden told herself that millions of people used Jif. It meant nothing. “Thanks,” she said, taking the jar. “Do you have a knife?”

  Rita’s smile faded. “I didn’t think to bring a knife. Use your finger. Your hands have been in the water.”

  Eden turned her back to Rita and went toward Sister Marjo. She and the nun exchanged a long glance, and she knew the other woman was as uneasy as she was. Could it be just coincidence, or did Rita have something to do with all of this? She knelt and unscrewed the lid to the Jif, then smeared some on a piece of bread. The rich aroma made her mouth water. She handed the peanut butter and bag of bread to the nun, then licked her finger while Sister Marjo made a sandwich of her own.

  Eden took her time eating the peanut butter and bread while she turned the facts around in her mind. The cabin was in the middle of nowhere, yet Rita had gone there to “check it out.” It sounded fishy. She leaned over the spring and took a long drink.

  She pasted a smile on her face, then stood and turned toward Rita. Her smile froze when Rita’s hand came up with a gun in it. “What’s this all about?” Eden asked.

  “I knew you wouldn’t buy the story for long,” Rita said,
her face calm. “Let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  The other woman’s smile was cold. “To a funeral. Yours.”

  There were few hours of daylight left. Clay urged his horse toward the ranch. He had to find Eden before darkness fell again. If he had to endure another night wondering about her fate, he would go crazy. But this horse was done in. He had to have a fresh mount.

  When he reached the corral, he dismounted and ran for the house. Maybe some news had come in while he was gone. His cell coverage had been nonexistent out in the desert. “Allie!” he called.

  Allie stepped out onto the porch as he neared it. Her eager smile faded when she saw him. “I’d hoped you’d found her.”

  He sagged against the porch post. “No news?”

  “Nothing. Rick and Brendan just went out again, and of course the sheriff and his men are out. Julia came by. She brought you this.” She handed over an envelope. “I think it’s the court-ordered results on the DNA test. She said they would normally have mailed it, but she knew you were eager so she took a look and ruled on it.”

  He ripped it open. If they had a court date, he could tell Eden when he saw her. And he would find her. He scanned the paper until a word brought him upright. DENIED. He read it again.

  “What’s wrong?” Allie asked.

  “This says there was no familial match with Lacie.”

  “That can’t be right!”

  Clay glanced up at her. “I have a DNA test that says differently. What’s the judge trying to pull here? Could she be blocking the proceedings for some reason?”

  “The sample collection was supervised and observed,” she said. “I don’t see how that’s possible. Could you have mixed up the samples you sent in?”

  “Eden and I did it together. We were very careful.”

  “You took them to the post office yourself?”

  He thought back, then shook his head. “No, Rita took them for me. She was going to town to buy stamps.”

  Allie frowned. “Speaking of Rita, she never came back from the store, and she left hours ago.”