The pulsing throb in Austin’s own head increased. Why hadn’t he brought ibuprofen with him? The minimal relief he’d gotten from the four he’d taken had already started to wear off.
“I can tell you what you want to know,” Austin said. “I had planned to tell you last night, but when I got back you were already asleep.” He explained everything that Heath had shared, including why he didn’t initially tell them the truth.
“Would you ever have told us if Austin hadn’t confronted you?”
Heath glanced to the mirror, then back to the road. “After I talked it out with Charlie, sure. It all happened so fast.”
She hung her head and stared at her fidgeting hands. “He tried to warn me away, but I just wouldn’t listen. And now he’s going to find her.”
“Relax, she works on the ranch,” Heath said. “She should be at work this morning. We’ll talk to her then. You can tell her everything. He won’t find her there.”
Austin suspected Heath was crazy with worry on the inside and his words were meant for himself. Heath only tried to convince himself that Charlie would be okay.
“Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said? This guy took me tonight to distract you. That has to be the reason. He got all of us off the ranch so he could go after Charlie. He knows she’s there. We can’t wait for Charlie to just show up at work. We need to go find her now. Can you call her while we’re driving? You need to warn her.”
She looked to Austin for agreement. “She makes a good point,” he said.
“I’ll try her on the radio.”
While Heath tried to contact Charlie, Austin stared at Willow. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was here in the truck with them. Alive. He had a thousand things he wanted to say to her, but not now. Another, better time. Still, hadn’t that been his excuse before? He was always putting things off. Like she had earlier, he stared out the window as leftover droplets of rain slid down the glass. He needed a moment to regain his composure.
He’d finally faced the guy and been bested. It was all he could do to contain his fury and shame. He wanted a rematch. More than that, he should get out of this business altogether. But not yet. He had no right to feel for Willow the way he did, but it wasn’t like he could quit now and walk out on her. They were near the end. They would find Charlie and introduce her to her birth mother. Catch the person responsible for too much grief.
“I can’t reach her on her radio,” Heath said. “Let me try again on the cell. We have SAT phones for backcountry emergencies, but I don’t have that with me. Charlie could call 9–1–1 with it, if she needed to.” They waited while Heath tried calling. He left a voicemail. Tossed the cell over the back seat to Austin.
“Text her that she’s in danger. Let her know we’re on the way. The texts often go through when a call won’t.”
Austin sent the text but got no reply. Were they already too late?
Soft fingers brushed across his hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Her words landed on his heart. If only he agreed. He shook his head, not wanting to discuss his part in her abduction until they were through this. When her fingers wrapped around his hand, his conscience pinged, refusing to relent. It was time to tell her.
“You asked how I found you tonight.”
Soft lines grew in her forehead. “Yes.”
Austin slowly reached over and found the small chain, lifting it from her neck to expose the western-styled pendant the size of a half dollar. Despite everything, a grin tugged at his cheek. “You kept this on.”
She repossessed the pendant from his fingers. “Yes.” The look in her eyes suggested she second-guessed her decision.
“It doesn’t matter why you did. The truth is that I put a small global tracker on the concave side of the pendant. You’ll see it on the back if you look close enough. I’m surprised you didn’t find it.”
Fire blazed in her eyes. “You what?”
He threw his hands up in surrender. “Just hear me out.” He was going to do this. He was really going to tell her, and Heath would hear it too. So much for him keeping his worst nightmares to himself.
“I’m listening.”
“Are you sure you feel up to this right now?”
“I’m wide awake. We have to find Charlie. While we’re headed that way, just tell me, Austin. Quit putting it off.”
Heath turned down the blasting heat. So he could hear every word?
“I’m duly scolded. When you were in the hospital you mentioned wanting to know the story behind why I left the FBI.” He drew in a long breath. He didn’t want to go there. Didn’t want to think about it, but Willow deserved an explanation. “When I was a fighter pilot, I crashed during a small skirmish in the forsaken desert of a forgotten country. Nothing I’m supposed to talk about. A family hid me until I could get out—their children had been taken by guerrillas. Terrorists. Whatever you want to call them.”
“Taken, why?”
“Sex trafficking. I hated seeing their pain. I wanted to do something to help, but I couldn’t.” He couldn’t seem to get enough air and cracked the window. “So when I was honorably discharged, I got my degree so I could join the FBI. I wanted to find missing and exploited children. I worked with the CARD team on several assignments, but on my last one . . .” Austin squeezed his eyes shut to let the images flow freely. Maybe to work up his courage too. The mantra played through his thoughts.
When every minute counts . . .
“A father abducted his son from his ex-wife—the boy’s mother. The local authorities contacted the FBI. Various teams were assembled, including the CARD team. We were under great pressure to find them, and we did, twenty-four hours later. The father’s green minivan was spotted two states over. We followed protocol. Found the house where he was suspected to be hiding. I was first on the scene, along with two other agents. We heard the boy screaming. We couldn’t wait. While one agent announced our presence to attract the father’s attention, the other agent and I found a way into the house.”
Austin calmed his breathing, slowed his pulse. Prayed his headache wouldn’t get the best of him.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to do this.”
“No, I need to tell you. He was going to kill his son, Willow. I’m told that he didn’t want his ex-wife to have the boy. That’s a sick, sick man. But he aimed the weapon at his only son. I shot him. I shot the kid’s father.”
“So you saved him, Austin. You saved the boy.”
“I saved him from certain death, but I shot his father right in front of him. There’s a certain amount of psychological damage that goes with that. What if we had waited for more backup? Maybe the man would still be alive and his son wouldn’t have had to endure seeing his father killed. The kid saw everything. He wasn’t grateful I’d saved him. He blamed me for killing his father.”
“I’m so sorry, Austin. For that family. And for you—you can’t blame yourself for that. And when the child gets older, he’ll be grateful to you.”
“I’ll never know if it was the right decision. I sure don’t feel like it was. Sure, we got the child back in the arms of his mother, but not without a significant loss. Maybe his father could have gotten help. I was so messed up that the OPR—Office of Professional Responsibility—gave me a psychological evaluation and suggested I needed time. So I took a permanent vacation.” As a private investigator he could pick and choose his cases. “I can’t fail any more children.”
What was that look in her eyes? Disappointment? He couldn’t read her, and for once he didn’t want to.
“Why did you agree to help me with this? To help Katelyn Mason find her child?”
He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “Don’t you know?”
For you, Willow. It’s always been about you. Had he ever stopped thinking about her?
Chapter fifty-three
SATURDAY, 6:32 A.M.
BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL FOREST
Charlie rested in her bed, staring out the wind
ow. She hadn’t been able to sleep. After the storm clouds had moved out, through a small opening in the tree canopy, she’d watched the night sky roll by. Her favorite part of the show—the blackest night sky revealed the brightest stars.
Beautiful.
But the scenery brought back a memory, and she didn’t much feel like reminiscing.
“You’re gonna be a star one day, Charlie. I can feel it.”
“No, Momma. I just want to ride horses.”
Momma smiled. “I have money to make that happen, honey. We’ll build a barn. Get some horses. But you’re going to learn how to take care of them first.”
Charlie pulled her attention from the window and the night sky and the memories. The money, Momma. Who did it come from?
She’d taken riding lessons and now cared for and trained the horses, under Mack’s careful guidance. She and Momma had made plans to build the barn. But Momma had insisted Charlie get a degree first—and then the horses would come. Charlie had to work hard and earn everything because nothing came free in this life. Momma said hard work built character.
She didn’t want to think about any of it now. She only wanted to sleep. Exhaustion ached through every bone, every muscle. Once she’d finally flopped on the bed, she should have gone under in ten seconds flat. Instead, her thoughts ramped into overdrive. Images of Sheriff Everett at the house stalked her, along with the deposits in Momma’s bank account. Who were they from? How could she find out?
Would Sheriff Everett look into the deposits if she told him she believed they could be connected to her mother’s death? Or was he involved?
Huffing, she rolled to her side. Fluffed her cheap feather pillow again. The sky had already started lightening, and she hadn’t slept a wink. She wouldn’t be worth half what Mack paid her at work today.
Birds chirped, stirring in the early morning, and irritated her, reminding her she needed to get up too. But it was much too cold to get out of bed. She hadn’t planned to be at this cabin when the weather started turning.
A new sound drew her attention. Wings flapped as birds dispersed. The woods fell silent except for this new unwelcome sound. She sat up slowly and angled her head to listen as something moved before dawn even broke.
A four-legged creature?
Charlie had never been afraid of staying here alone, though she wished Rufus had remained with her.
A shiver crawled over her.
Now she understood why she wasn’t able to sleep. Providence had kept her awake so she could hear him creeping toward the cabin. She edged toward the window and peeked out. Twenty-five yards away she caught a glimpse of someone between the trees.
Clyde?
Time for Charlie to run.
Chapter fifty-four
SATURDAY, 6:46 A.M.
EMERALD M RANCH
Willow quickly changed into dry clothes in Evelyn’s room so she wouldn’t destroy evidence in the room where she was abducted last night. Austin’s story had rattled her, but she didn’t have time to think about that. Not yet.
Heath had tried to contact Charlie to no avail. Now he was out saddling the horses. They would ride as far as they could up the trail to Charlie’s cabin. It was still early for her to be heading in to work, but if she was on her way in, they would meet her coming as they were going. The off-grid cabin was less than two miles from the ranch up a trail deemed too dangerous for guests—the perfect place for her to hide. Austin and Willow insisted on riding with Heath, who had called Sheriff Haines and explained that they believed Charlie was in danger.
Heath duly agonized over betraying Charlie’s trust, but with her life in imminent danger, he’d had no choice. Still, they couldn’t wait for the sheriff. Heath had been adamant that Charlie remain in hiding, per her request. But the girl needed protecting. All along, she’d claimed the man who killed her mother had also threatened her life. Now it seemed he was going to follow through with his threat.
Willow didn’t want to waste time thinking about what had happened to her last night. She cared more about finding Charlie before it was too late. After all, she was in danger because Willow was searching for her.
Too late to turn back now. Still . . . “Have you considered that the woman you’re looking for doesn’t want to be found?” Heath’s words echoed through her head.
What if telling Charlie the truth would only complicate her life? But Willow couldn’t play God and keep the information from her either. She’d been paid to find her. Although, Katelyn hadn’t paid Willow to tell Charlie the news, had she? Willow couldn’t help it. Everything that could go wrong flitted through her mind.
Even if she found Charlie safe and sound today and told her everything, Charlie could refuse to see Katelyn anyway. Wouldn’t that break the woman’s heart?
JT, why did you take this on to begin with?
At Anderson Consulting, she had been accustomed to dealing with dead relatives—not those who had a free will and could make choices.
God, please give me direction. Show me what to do. Please help Katelyn and Charlie. You’re all about restoration, aren’t you?
With that thought, Austin’s face came to mind.
That moment in the woods when he had found her hiding in the tree hollow came back to her. She’d never been more glad to see someone, or more glad that Austin had been that someone. When he’d carried her in his arms back to Heath’s truck, she hadn’t wanted to leave his embrace. Willow shook off the unbidden memories. Charlie’s life was in danger. She shouldn’t be thinking about what Austin meant to her.
Or that he was helping her, working with her to find someone’s child. “I can’t fail any more children.”
“No, Austin, you can’t. We can’t fail Katelyn. We can’t fail Charlie,” she mumbled, and finished pulling on her dry jeans.
Despite her resolve to see this through—her faith and hope in things unseen—a sense of dread boiled beneath the surface. She left Evelyn’s room, strode down the short hallway, and found Austin standing at the front door, wearing a jacket, jeans, and a Stetson. He looked like he belonged here. Like he would always belong here. She couldn’t even picture him living in Seattle working as an FBI agent. Coming here had given her a glimpse into the guy he’d been before. A guy he’d hidden from her.
Who are you? She sidled up next to him.
He grinned. “You ready?”
She zipped up her thick fleece hoodie and took the extra jacket he offered. He didn’t open the door but stood in her way. Was he having second thoughts? “You don’t have to go, Willow. I’d prefer you stay here. You’ve been through an ordeal. Please, for me, just stay here. We’ll get a deputy up here to stay. Or I’ll stay with you.”
“You have to go with Heath. He’s waiting. Charlie is waiting. Now let’s go. Katelyn hired me to find her daughter. I’m going to be there when we do. Each minute you spend arguing with me is just wasting time.” Willow pushed by him to open the door.
She marched through the door and down to the barn, leaving Austin to follow.
Next to the barn, Austin held the reins as Willow climbed onto Amber, the gentle horse that Sheriff Everett had brought back last night. She didn’t consider herself an experienced rider, but she’d ridden a few times in her life. Austin and Heath were experienced riders and could help her when the trail got rough.
Lines etched Heath’s features. “With any luck, we’ll run into her on her way down to the ranch.” Regardless, she should have texted or answered her cell or the radio. Heath was worried about Charlie, but Willow suspected it was more than that. He probably believed he was betraying her confidence.
His blue gaze hung on Willow’s. “She trusted me to keep her secret, but to stop the madness, she needs to be restored to her rightful family. I don’t like it though. This is going to come as a complete shock to her. She loved her mother. The woman who raised her. Charlie loved her like we all love our mothers.” He shook his head and stared at something in the distance. “Who was she? Really?”
It wasn’t a question Willow could answer.
He climbed onto Boots and headed out. Willow followed Heath, then Austin behind her as the horses took to the single-file trail. Had she known how steep and rocky the trail would be, she might have opted to stay behind. She tried to remain loose and calm and simply let Amber follow Boots. The horses moved faster than Willow would have liked. What if Amber stumbled on a rock and broke a leg? They would both go down.
Instead of thinking about everything that could go wrong, Willow turned her thoughts and prayers to Charlie.
She pictured the girl in the photograph heading down the trail, surprise on her face at seeing them. But try as she might, she couldn’t muster belief that today would unfold that way.
The trail narrowed and bigger rocks slowed the horses down. At some point, Willow knew they would have to walk. She couldn’t imagine the trail getting worse.
“I almost forgot to tell you,” she called over her shoulder.
“What’s that?” Austin asked.
Maybe it was too hard to talk right now, but she needed to share the information. They hadn’t had a chance to debrief earlier. “I made a discovery last night while you went to the barn to talk to Heath. It’s about Mr. Haus’s son.”
“You mean that guy at the nursing home?”
“That’s the one.”
“And his son?”
“Silas Everett. You know, the sheriff who showed up last night with this horse.”
He angled his head. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
“I keep thinking about what Mr. Haus said. That Marilee knew his secret. Maybe that was one of his secrets. Silas Everett is his biological son. I’m not sure who knows that.”
“You mean besides Nurse Kim, who told us he has one son. So it’s not really a secret, and even if it were, you don’t think she was murdered for that secret. People don’t care about that kind of thing anymore. It’s not motivation for murder.”
“There are reasons to keep the information a secret. Like an inheritance. A person could be removed from a will if it were discovered they were not the biological offspring,” she said. “It’s brutal, I know, but I had one such case, and I had to search for the lost heir. The true heir.”
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