by Linda Warren
Eli looked away and took her arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”
They walked together to the elevators, out of the hospital, to the parking area. Neither spoke.
At her car, he said, “I’ll call when Buford is back in his cell.”
“Okay,” she replied, feeling more than a little distracted. She wanted to kiss him so badly that she had to restrain herself.
I love you.
The words hovered on her lips as she got into her car, but she didn’t say them. Eli wasn’t ready.
She watched as he headed back into the hospital, and tried not to let her nerves get the best of her. Searching for her keys, she saw Grace drive into the parking lot. What was she doing here?
Grace jumped out and ran for the walkway before Caroline could get out of her car. She had a feeling something was wrong, yet she didn’t want to go into the hospital again. She wanted to avoid any chance of running into Amos Buford. But it was a big hospital, and Grace was clearly upset. Taking a fortifying breath, Caroline hurried toward the entrance.
She caught a glimpse of her sister’s back as she disappeared around a corner, running. Grace never ran. A sliver of alarm edged its way up Caroline’s spine and she quickly followed, weaving around people, trying not to lose sight of her quarry.
Grace went straight to the emergency room and Caroline saw her talking to a nurse at a desk. By the time she reached them, Caroline was out of breath. “Grace,” she panted.
Her sister swung around, her face blotchy from crying.
“Where have you been?” Grace railed. “I tried your cell a number of times. Why can’t you keep the damn thing charged? That’s what happened, isn’t it? Your phone is dead. Sometimes you make me so angry.”
Caroline put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Calm down, okay?” She’d never seen Grace like this and knew something was terribly wrong. Taking a breath, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Daddy’s had a heart attack.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE BLOOD DRAINED from Caroline’s face. “What?”
“Mom called and I got here as fast as I could.” Grace looked around. “She has to be here somewhere.”
“I just had lunch with him,” Caroline whispered, almost to herself. “He seemed fine—his usual self, demanding and giving orders.”
“He’s always so strong. What if he…” Grace couldn’t finish the sentence, and Caroline grabbed her and held on tight.
“He’ll be fine,” she assured her. “He has to be.”
Had she upset him? Had her defiance triggered this? The guilt kept stabbing at her. Oh, God, no. She could live with a lot of things, but not that. She and her father had their differences, but she loved him. She hadn’t shown that recently, though. Neither had he. What had happened to the little girl who thought her father could walk on water? And what had happened to the man who thought his daughter could do no wrong? Suddenly all their disagreements faded away and she wanted to see her father.
A doctor walked up to them. “Your mother is waiting for you. Come this way.”
They followed him down a hall and into a small waiting room. Joanna was pacing, talking on her cell phone. “Yes. Cancel everything. I will be in touch tomorrow.” She clicked off and turned to her daughters.
“Oh, my darlings. I’m so glad you’re here.” She hugged them briefly. “Don’t worry. Your father will be fine.”
Caroline stared at her, hardly able to believe her eyes. She didn’t seem upset and was carrying on business as usual.
“They’re taking him up for surgery. I contacted Dr. Herman Miller. He’s one the best heart surgeons in the country and I have a lot of faith in his ability. Now I have to call my secretary and have a statement released to the press.”
“What happened?” Caroline asked, before her mother could punch in the number.
Joanna shrugged, staring at the phone in her hand. “You know your father and his temper. Sometimes he lets it get away from him, and he’s been having problems with his blood pressure. He won’t listen to the doctors about diet and exercise.”
“Where did it happen?”
Joanna sighed. “Caroline, is this important now? I really have to make some calls.”
“Yes. It’s important,” Caroline insisted. “Where did it happen?”
“Greg Sherr and your father got into a heated argument about how Greg was mishandling the case and letting Lansing manipulate the system. Stephen clutched his chest and fell to the floor. An ambulance brought him here. Don’t worry, darling. He’ll be fine.” She smiled and turned her attention to her phone.
Caroline wasn’t so sure. Heart surgery was serious, and her mother was acting as if Stephen would be back in his office tomorrow. What bothered Caroline the most was that it could be her fault. Suddenly she felt helpless and afraid, and she didn’t know what to do.
She needed Eli.
No. She could handle this alone.
Her mother put down the phone. “We’ll go upstairs now.”
“Can we see him?” Caroline asked.
“No, darling,” Joanna answered. “We can see him after the surgery.”
Caroline gripped Grace’s hand and they followed their mother, hoping against hope that their father would make it.
ELI HURRIED BACK to meet Caleb, breathing a little easier now that Caroline was out of the hospital. He didn’t want there to be any chance encounters with Amos Buford. She’d suffered enough at his hands.
Eli wanted to tell her he was sorry about this morning, but he’d already done that. There wasn’t anything left for him to say until this case was over and he could do what Jake had done—put his past behind him, forgive and move on. Eli was still grappling with how to do that.
All his life people had told him how strong he was, but he didn’t feel strong. He felt weak and vulnerable. He didn’t like himself very much. Now he had to concentrate on his job. Tonight he’d deal with the pain. Deal with what he’d done to Caroline and with the fact that he was a scarred man. And pray that love would find a way to heal.
Caleb stood outside Belle’s door, waiting.
“How’s Belle?” Eli asked.
“I’m not sure,” his brother said. “To tell you the truth I hardly recognize her.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s dressed in the clothes Caroline bought her and she’s so different. She’s really beautiful. I can’t believe that there isn’t someone out there really missing her.”
Eli cocked an eyebrow. “You say that like you don’t want anyone missing her.”
Caleb frowned. “I feel a lot of sympathy for this woman and I just want to get her back to her family.”
Eli saw a look in Caleb’s eyes that said he felt a lot more than sympathy for Belle.
“Let’s see if we can jog her memory,” Eli said, and they entered the room.
Eli noticed the difference Caleb was talking about. Belle was out of her hospital gown and nicely dressed. It seemed to give her confidence, a boost she needed. And she was beautiful—even he could see that.
Yep. There had to be someone missing Belle. But who? And how had she ended up with Buford and his followers?
For the next thirty minutes they talked about a lot of things and Belle wore a perpetual frown, not able to remember anything about her past life. Eli could see she was getting upset, so he decided to shift the questions from her to Buford.
“Do you know how long you were at the camp?”
Belle shook her head. “Seems like forever.” She tried to think. “It was cold, really cold, when they took me there. That’s why I built the fire in the wood-burning stove. I wasn’t used to sleeping in the cold.”
“You weren’t?” Eli caught the reference to her past and hoped she’d keep talking, keep remembering.
“No. We had central air and heat.”
Eli glanced at Caleb and continued. “Who is we?”
Belle looked at him, her eyes dazed. “What?”
>
“You said we had central air and heat.”
She frowned. “I did?”
“Yes,” Caleb interjected in a whisper.
Belle closed her eyes and her forehead creased in thought. “Yes.” She ran her hands up her arms, her eyes still closed. “It was nice and comfortable. I can feel my big bed. He bought me Egyptian cotton sheets and I said it was too extravagant and he laughed and said nothing was too good for his girl. He spoiled me rotten and I liked it. No one ever…” Her eyes shot open and she clasped her cheeks with her hands. “How do I know that?” she asked in desperation.
“It’s all right, Belle,” Caleb told her. “Your memory is starting to come back. Just take it slow and easy and soon you’ll remember who he is.”
“Yes.” She gave a small smile. “I’m starting to remember. Oh, that’s wonderful.”
There was silence for a moment and Eli knew they’d probably pushed her enough for one day. Still…
“Do you feel up to talking about Buford?” he asked.
Belle linked her fingers together. “Caroline said I should help you.”
“We’d appreciate it,” Eli said. “To keep Buford behind bars we need more evidence.”
Belle bowed her head. “What do you need?”
Eli and Caleb shared a relieved glance. “You were there for several months so you saw what was going on.”
She nodded. “But I stayed out of the way when I was doing their chores because I didn’t want them to beat me again.”
Eli swallowed. “How long had they been preparing for the wedding?”
“Since…” She paused.
“Since when, Belle?” Eli prompted.
“Ever since I was there and when the other one—please, I can’t talk about it.”
Caleb got up and sat on the bed beside her. “I know this is hard, but talking about it may help you to deal with it.”
“It was horrible,” she breathed.
“Tell us what was horrible.” Caleb’s voice was gentle, soothing.
“They…they brought another woman in, blond like Caroline and very young. The prophet prayed over her and touched her, thanking God for the great gift he’d been given. The others joined in with chanting and praying, then they took her to the cellar. A few days later they brought her out and she was lifeless and limp.”
“Was she dead?” Eli asked after a moment of pained silence.
Belle shook her head. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
Eli and Caleb shared another glance.
Belle started talking again. “They told me to stay in the kitchen, but I peeked out the window. They placed her body on a bed made of wood and straw. I didn’t know what they were doing and I was so afraid. I tried running away once and they beat me until I lost consciousness. But I wanted to run again because I could feel something bad was about to happen. I guess that’s why I kept looking.”
She took a ragged breath. “Every night they’d build a fire and he preached. That night they marched to the piled logs with her body. The prophet prayed for mercy on her soul, saying the demons had taken over her body and it had to be destroyed. They lifted her body to the top of the logs and then they…they lit it and I…I couldn’t look anymore. I cowered in a corner, knowing this was evil. I didn’t have a memory but I knew this was evil like I’d never seen before.”
Eli had heard and seen a lot in his law career but he was having a hard time handling this. It was worse than he’d ever imagined.
Caleb was silent and his face had turned a sickly white.
“That’s why I had to tell you where Caroline was. You had to get her out of there before they did that to her.”
Eli cleared his throat. “Was that the only burning you saw?”
Belle nodded. “Yes. From the first day I was there, all they talked about was the prophecy and how it had to be fulfilled.”
Eli stood. “Thank you, Belle. This will help a great deal.”
“I just don’t want them to do that to another woman.”
“Don’t worry.” Caleb got to his feet. “We’ll make sure they don’t. Now try to get some rest.”
“I am tired,” she said, and stretched out on the bed.
Eli and Caleb walked outside and stood staring at each other. Neither spoke for a second. “We got him,” Eli said.
“Sherr wanted hard evidence. Well, this is it.”
“Yeah.” Caleb shook his head as if to rid himself of the images. “It’s just hard to believe.”
“Mmm.” He couldn’t dwell on that part. He wanted Buford and now they had evidence to work with, evidence that Lansing couldn’t poke holes in. “Let’s go over to Sherr’s office so we can get a forensic team out to the camp ASAP. All we need to find is human remains in the ashes. Hopefully we can find enough to identify someone and to put Buford away for the rest of his insane life.”
Eli’s cell phone buzzed and he clicked it on. “Yes. We’re on our way.” He glanced at Caleb. “Sherr wants to see us. I’ll meet you there.”
Within minutes they were headed to Greg’s office. Bill and Tom were there, too. Greg held up a plastic bag that had a diamond ring inside.
“The digging crew found it—Caroline Whitten’s engagement ring. It wasn’t discovered in Buford’s hut. They found it about twenty feet under the ground. Exactly where Eli said the cellar was.”
“That’s damn good work,” Tom said. “It proves they’re all lying.”
“Yes,” Greg agreed. “But I’m sure Lansing will have a way to explain it. It’s good, but I’d like to have more.”
“We have more,” Eli declared, and told them what Belle had revealed.
Greg laid the bag down, his eyes narrowed. “Is she sure about this?”
“Get a forensics team out there and find out, because I have a feeling Belle knows exactly what she’s talking about,” Eli said solemnly.
“I was hoping for a break, but this is horrific.” Greg’s expression spoke volumes.
Eli’s phone buzzed again and he turned away to answer it.
“Eli, it’s Caroline. I just wanted to let you know that I’m not at my apartment in case you call. I’m at the hospital.”
Eli didn’t hear a thing but those last four words. “Why?”
She didn’t answer.
“Caroline?”
“Daddy’s had a heart attack.” The hysteria in her voice twisted his gut.
“I’ll be right there.”
“There’s no—” Eli clicked off, cutting her short.
“Is that about the congressman?” Greg asked.
It took a moment for Eli to realize he was speaking to him. All he could hear was her trembling voice. “Yes…yes.”
“How is he?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got to get back to the hospital.”
“Me, too,” Caleb said. “I don’t want to leave Belle too long.”
“I’ll get everything set in motion. Keep me posted about the congressman,” Greg called as they walked out.
“Is something wrong?” Caleb asked in the hall.
“I’ll tell you later.” Eli hurried to his car.
He didn’t hear Caleb’s reply. His mind was on Caroline now. The traffic was heavy and his temples throbbed with a need to just get to her. At the hospital, a nurse told him the congressman was in surgery. Security had the family waiting in a private room to avoid the press. Eli showed his ID and the nurse made a call. Soon he stepped onto the designated floor. He saw Caroline immediately.
She was pacing back and forth by the nurse’s desk. Turning, she saw him and stopped. They stared at each other and he could see all the pain in her eyes. His ethics, his problem seemed trivial compared to what he felt for her. He walked to her and took her in an embrace.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and for a moment neither said a word.
“How is he?” Eli asked, his voice thick.
“He’s in surgery now. The waiting is awful.”
He stroked her hair. “Ho
w are you?”
She drew back. “Better now that you’re here. I just had to touch you.” Her hand splayed across his chest. “Now I can handle it.”
“But not alone.”
They gazed at each other and both knew they had to talk.
“It’s just so scary, though,” she said. “I thought he was invincible.”
“The doctors can do wonderful things these days.”
“I hope so.” She glanced at the floor. “I have so much to say to him. We haven’t talked in years. When I was younger, we talked all the time.”
“He has an important job.” Eli tried to comfort her. “His life must be very hectic and demanding. Family are the ones that lose that precious time.”
“Yeah.” She brushed her hair back in a nervous gesture.
“I’d better go sit with Mom and Grace. The hospital arranged for us to have a private room, to keep us away from reporters. I was waiting out here because I didn’t want to miss you.”
“I’ll stay for a while.”
“You don’t have to do that. I just wanted you to know why I wasn’t at my apartment.”
He caught her arms and made her look at him. “Yes, I do.”
“Eli,” she sighed. “You can’t say we have no future, then want to be here for me. I can’t deal with that.” She blinked back a tear. “You were right this morning. I want to hear those words from you. This relationship happened so fast, but I know what I want. You have to make up your mind what you want. And to hell with your ethics.” She turned and walked into a room.
His stomach clenched tight and he wondered if he was deliberately trying to hurt her…and himself. This was destructive behavior. Destructive behavior from a troubled childhood.
His legs felt weak and he sank into a chair. Jake’s words came back to him. The answers you’re looking for are inside you. It’s about forgiving and accepting. I had to forgive my mother and the father who hurt me terribly, and most of all, I had to forgive myself.
How did he do that? By making a conscious effort. The answer was plain as day.
All this time Eli had been dealing with the pain inside him and wondering how to make it stop. By forgiving. By forgiving Joe McCain—and himself. Looking back over the years, he realized it had been important to him to hate Joe McCain—that’s what had made him strong. But he couldn’t live that way any longer because he couldn’t continue to hurt Caroline. Or himself.