In the Shadow of Vengeance

by Nancy C. Weeks

  “How in the hell did he get in here?”

  Color rose into Jared’s cheeks. “This guy,” he said, pointing to a man lying unconscious in the hallway by the kitchen door, “carried him in over his shoulder. I thought he was an injured marshal. I turned my back for a second and Mendoza had me. Father Anthony took care of him before Mendoza knocked him out.”

  Elizabeth knelt and pressed two fingers at the priest’s neck. “Strong pulse.” She moved her hand around the back of his head and it came back with blood spread across the tips of her fingers.

  “Mendoza wouldn’t kill a priest,” Jared murmured. “He hit him with the butt of his gun.”

  There was no need to check Mendoza’s vitals.

  The next several minutes passed in a fog. The sheriff arrived and ordered a couple of ambulances. Jennie and Jared fussed over a now-conscious priest while Noah couldn’t take his eyes off Mendoza.

  Elizabeth had taken his rifle from him and leaned it against the wall. She stood by his side, her hand clutching his. The room grew dead quiet when Mendoza was placed in a black body bag and loaded onto the medical examiner’s gurney. Jared flanked Noah’s other side and drew him back from the doorway. Elizabeth, who had never met Mendoza, turned her face into his side. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She didn’t need any reminder of what evil looked like.

  Jared cleared his throat. “He’s not faking it this time.”

  Noah met his twin’s misty eyes. He wasn’t mourning. Those tears stood for a different meaning entirely. Relief. Deliverance. Vengeance.

  “No, he’s not. He’s dead, stone-cold dead.”

  Elizabeth pressed a hand at his cheek. He knew she wanted his attention so he wouldn’t watch the men roll Mendoza’s body out of the house and into the bay of the ambulance. He gladly gave it to her. At the sound of the vehicle leaving the property, he brushed away a tear on her cheek with the back of his forefinger. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

  “For what?”

  “Standing by me. I don’t think I could have made that shot without you there.”

  “We’re in this together, right?”

  “Hell, yes.” His lips came down on hers, and for just a moment, he let the world slip away. There had to be times when it was okay to just feel.

  Jared made a loud noise from the back of his throat. “Nice to see you two made up, but it looks like the sheriff here is biting through his bottom lip trying to get your attention.”

  Noah broke away. “Remind me to slug you later.” He faced the sheriff. “I guess you need a statement.”

  “That can wait.” He turned toward Elizabeth. “I need more information about the direction your kids might have taken.”

  She leaned her weight on Noah and his arm went around her waist. “Have you not reached Adam or Marshal Derek Ramon? Derek had a large gash to his right leg, but he could walk on it and should have caught up with them.”

  The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “There’s a U.S. marshal with your children?”

  “I don’t know for sure. Erin and Danny were only a couple of minutes ahead of us when one of my ex-husband’s men held Derek and me at gunpoint. He said he would kill Derek if I didn’t go with him.” She turned back to Noah. “Can’t you track Adam? Maybe he has caught up with all three of them.” She glanced out the door and the color in her cheeks drained away. “It’s going to be dark soon. We have to find them.”

  Noah tightened his hold. “Sarah is trying to track his cell phone. He wasn’t that far behind Derek.” He glanced at his feet, trying to find the words to ask the question that had been plaguing him since he came upon the roadblock. There was no way to ease into it.

  “Elizabeth, can we trust Derek? Mendoza found you because someone on that team is working with him. There’s no other explanation.”

  “Yes,” she hissed. “He has risked his life for me and the kids so many times. There is no way he would ever work for someone like Mendoza. I haven’t a clue how Spencer knew we would be on that road at that time, but it wasn’t Derek.”

  The sheriff cleared his throat. “Ms. Merlot, I got a call from the guy in charge of the search-and-rescue team.”

  She pulled away. “And?”

  “We haven’t had a lot of rain up here all summer. Things have been dry. The amount of rainfall we have had the last two hours has caused at least one major mudslide on the trail we suspect your children used.”

  “Sheriff, what are you trying to say to me?”

  He removed his hat and wiped the rain off his forehead. “It’s going take time to reach the other side of the trail. There is a gorge the size of half a football field where the trail used to be. And then there is the possibility they …”

  “What?”

  “They could have been on the trail when the mudslide hit. We just don’t know.”

  Noah pulled her into him as his heart drummed against his ribcage. Adam was on that trail, too. His father’s famous words danced across his mind: Worry when you have something to worry about. Until then, work the case.

  He lifted Elizabeth’s chin. “Don’t allow your mind to take you to the worst case scenario.” He placed his lips on her forehead. “We’ll find them, all of them.”

  She fisted his shirt in her hands. “This can’t be happening,” she sobbed, resting her head at his heart. “God, one nightmare ended and now this. Noah, I can’t … Danny and Erin … I sent them into those woods.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The mud and rainwater squished over Elizabeth’s borrowed hiking boots, but she continued to place one foot in front of the other. Moving down the trail gave her a purpose, a direction. If she stopped to think for even an instant, the fear would eat her alive.

  Noah’s hand rested at her waist. From the moment they learned about Danny and Erin, he never let go of her. For the first time in more years than she could remember, she dropped all her walls and allowed herself to lean on someone else. His courage kept her moving forward.

  And she loved him with all her heart for standing strong beside her. She never believed it possible to give her heart away to another man, but she was through ignoring the emotions stirring through her. They were raw, explosive, and all-consuming. Noah’s love was absolute, and she would always be able to trust it.

  Her foot slipped and she stumbled. Noah caught her against him, holding her until she found her balance. She paused and wiped the tears and rainwater from her eyes. Choking back a sob, she rested her head against his chest, her hand caressing his soaked shirt. “Just give me a second. I can do this.”

  “You are holding me together as much as I’m holding you together. Just rest a moment and let us both catch our breath.”

  “Tell me again I made the right choice, Noah.” She raised her eyes and met his stare. “I need to hear the words.”

  “There hadn’t been a moment in Danny’s or Erin’s lives when you haven’t placed them first. You did what you had to do to keep them safe. I never would have been able to get you away from Spencer if he had the kids, too. I would have had to choose, and that would have been hell on earth. By the time I got back to you, it would have been too late.” He pulled her closer. “So hell yes, you did the right thing.”

  She let out a breath she didn’t realize she held. “And they are going to be okay, we’re going to find them.”

  “Adam is a force of nature. This will be like playing in the mud. Derek has kept you safe for fourteen years. He won’t let you down. And Danny and Erin, they are just damn remarkable.”

  He kissed her with such tenderness, it made her chest ache. She stepped away from his warmth and took his hand.

  “Okay, that will hold me for the next five minutes. My timing stinks,” she said. “But I need you to know—”

  He cupped her face. “Tonight, Elizabeth. When Erin and Danny are sleeping soundly in their beds, you can show me. I can wait.”

  “Okay, then, tonight. It’s a date.”

  He moved in front of her on
the trail, and they didn’t stop until they reached the area taped off for the mudslide.

  The area below the ridge she had left only a couple of hours earlier was unrecognizable. The debris field looked like what was left over from a tornado: splintered trees ripped out by their roots, boulders, bushes, everything covered in thick mud. A large chunk of the mountain seemed to have broke free and slammed down the slope, taking everything in its path into the river below.

  Several rescue workers tethered to ropes upturned branches and bushes, then moved lower. She turned her head into Noah’s chest. His heartbeat slammed against her ear. He said nothing but held her tightly.

  “They are not down there,” she choked out. She searched across to the other side. A hint of a trail was visible. “Let’s go,” she said, taking his hand and giving it a yank.

  “Go where?”

  “My children, Adam, and Derek are not down there.” She pressed her free hand over her heart. “I feel it here.”

  Noah studied her for several moments before a slight grin touched his lips. “I do, too. This isn’t how it ends.”

  “How does it end?”

  “Shit, we all just got our lives back. Those who tried to hurt us didn’t succeed.” He pointed down the hill. “This isn’t your retribution for doing the right thing. You didn’t sacrifice your life, your family, for your children to end up like this. And my brothers and I didn’t spend the last eleven years of our lives fighting the evil that was Elías Mendoza to lose good men like Adam, Derek, and those marshals in the caravan.” He took her face in his hands. “Damn straight it doesn’t end like this.”

  It was exactly what she needed to hang on to as they made their way back to the truck. The cab was as soggy as her spirits. Noah placed the heat dial on high before he peeled around the number of law enforcement vehicles at the scene and headed back toward the cabin.

  “Where should we begin?”

  “We’re going to circle around and come at that trail from the opposite direction. Adam has trail maps in his den we can use to narrow our search.”

  “It’s going to be pitch dark in minutes.”

  His eyes softened. “Adam will keep them on the trail heading toward his property line.”

  She eased her hand out of Noah’s hold and brushed the hair from her face. “We don’t even know if they are on that trail. What if they cut through the woods and are lost out there?”

  “Danny told me about his orienteering badge he earned in Scouts.”

  “He loved that one.”

  “He also carries the compass I gave him before I went undercover. I know that kid. He’s going to be on that trail because of his training. Finding that path would have been the first thing he did. Under extreme stress, he would follow your instructions to the letter. And remember, Adam and Derek are both highly trained and would have caught up with the kids in no time. They would have moved fast and made it past that section before the mud came sliding down the hill.” He pinned her with a stare. “They are on the other side, Elizabeth, and we are going to intersect them.”

  She had to believe him because the alternative was unthinkable. When doubt crossed her mind, she physically shook her head, sending it into oblivion. “Just clear one thing up for me. Why wouldn’t the rescue workers check the other side?”

  “Because they don’t know who they are dealing with.”

  She clutched his hand and placed it in her lap. As the truck ate up the highway, she emptied her mind and began to pray.

  It took only ten minutes for Elizabeth, with Jennie’s and Calista’s help, to change out of her wet clothing and into a dry raincoat and pants.

  Elizabeth eventually joined Noah downstairs at the table, where he and Jared studied a large map covered with tiny squiggly lines that made no sense to her. Danny had tried to teach her how to read a trail map, but since she wasn’t a big hiker, she never really got the hang of it.

  Noah passed half of a sandwich to her along with his mug of hot, fragrant coffee. She forced down several bites, and the warm brew took care of the chill in her bones.

  Noah rolled the map and shoved it in the backpack. “Ready?”

  Elizabeth placed a hand at his waist. “Will I slow you down?”

  “Do you want to wait here?”

  “No. It’ll drive me insane not being out there, but if you think you can cover more ground without me, then I should stay here.”

  “You have kept up with me so far. Besides, Jared is staying behind until my father gets here. I need a hiking buddy.”

  Her heart filled. Noah somehow understood that by coming with him, she gained back a measure of control. “Then you got one.”

  She took the second pack with the supplies and headed toward the back door. They crossed the yard and hiked down the trail to the lake. The rain had eased to a slight drizzle and the wind had died down. Hopefully, the storm had passed and this wasn’t the calm before a much fiercer downpour.

  Noah again kept his hand either at her waist or intertwined their fingers whenever the path narrowed. It was as if he needed her to know he was right beside her. When her mind drifted to the horrible what if, his simple touch kept her grounded.

  They moved out onto the bank of the lake. “Where do we meet up with a trail?”

  “About twenty yards on the other side of the boathouse, there is a trail we’ll take for about four miles.”

  “Have you ever hiked it before?”

  “Yes. The grade is steep, but we should make good time.”

  “What happens after four miles?”

  “If we don’t find them on that trail, we come back and continue the search at first light.”

  A lump formed in her throat, cutting off her ability to speak. The thought of Erin and Danny on the mountain in rain-soaked clothing with the temperature dropping by the minute was too much. She took in a deep, cleansing breath, settled her pounding heart rate, and peered into the darkness. “Then we’d better find them in the next four miles.”

  Noah placed his lips at her forehead, then released her. He turned toward the direction of the trail and came to a complete stop, shoving her behind him. A man stumbled out of the shadow. Noah steadied his stance, his weapon materializing in his hand. She never noticed he reached for it.

  “I swear if you shoot me, bro, I’m going to have to beat the crap out of you. I’m wet to the bone, and a fucking mountain almost fell on my head.”

  “Well hell, you just flushed my rescue operation of the great Adam Blake into the toilet,” Noah replied, holstering his gun.

  Danny and Erin spotted Elizabeth and raced into her arms. The sob she held back broke free as her arms crushed her children to her. Noah removed the blankets from his pack and tucked them around their shoulders.

  “Are either of you hurt?” she asked.

  “Derek has a bad cut on his leg, but Danny and I are okay,” Erin said, keeping her hand around Elizabeth’s waist.

  She glanced at Derek, who stood off to the side by himself. Members of his team were dead because they were trying to keep her family safe. And despite his injuries, he had located Danny and Erin and kept them safe. She had no words.

  She removed the extra blanket from her pack, wrapped it around his shoulders, and gave him a fierce hug. Glancing between him and Adam, she choked back another sob. “Thank you doesn’t even come close to how much I appreciate what you have done.”

  “You have amazing kids, Ms. Merlot,” Adam replied. “Danny’s quick thinking kept me from being washed down the side of a mountain.”

  She sucked in a hard breath. “You were near the mudslide?”

  Erin draped her arm around her brother’s shoulders. “He grabbed hold of Adam, released that paracord bracelet he wears, threw him the line, and he and Derek pulled him up. He then used the cord to help Adam wrap a pressure dressing on Derek’s leg so he could walk.”

  Elizabeth’s heart filled with pride. “I’m so proud of both of you. Let’s get back up to the cabin and—”


  “No,” Danny said, moving next to Derek.

  “Danny?”

  “Noah got you back, but it doesn’t change anything, right? We still have to go into hiding.”

  She didn’t know how to answer. Spencer was in custody and Mendoza was dead, but was the threat over? Somehow, she had to find the words to tell them their father was alive and behind this nightmare. She’d promised them no more secrets. As much as she wanted to eat those words, they needed the truth.

  Danny would never accept just knowing that his father was in custody. He would search until every sin Spencer committed was revealed. And even though her son had never met the bastard, he would allow Spencer’s sins to chip away at him for years to come.

  Again, Noah was there, his hand resting at her waist. All she had to do was be willing to accept what he offered.

  “Danny, things have changed in the last couple of hours,” Noah said, then leaned his head next to her ear. “No more running away, right?”

  Leaving Noah again would destroy her—and staying may place him in the same type of evil he fought. Every problem had a solution. She just had to find one, and fast. “No more running.”

  “Mom, is it over? Are we free to go home?” Danny’s voice came out thick with emotion. “If not, I want to leave now. I don’t want to go through goodbyes again.”

  “Danny, I’m not going anywhere until I at least have dry underwear,” Erin said, lightly shoving her brother.

  Elizabeth placed an arm around both of her children then lifted Danny’s chin so their eyes held. “I know how this hurts, but I don’t have an answer to your question. You asked me to be straight with you and Erin. There are a couple of new developments, and I’m not going to discuss them here. But, Danny, I don’t want to leave Noah any more than you do.”

  “Then don’t, Mom.”

  “That’s a decision the four of us need to discuss. Things are better but far from over.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six