by Linda Warren
“I think, as McCains, we’re all like that,” Jake said.
“Joe never showed us any type of love and we’re afraid of it, we don’t trust it. But once you find that special person and realize you can’t live without her, the words will come. Trust me on that, Eli. I’m an expert.”
“He is,” Beau confirmed. “I spent years trying to break through that rock-solid pride of his, and Elise did it without much effort.”
Eli took a sip of his tea. “All my life I’ve felt like the forgotten son, and I wanted it to stay that way. Needed it to stay that way. There wasn’t any chance of getting through that barrier of pride that I had built and strengthened over the years. Not until a green-eyed blonde knocked me on my ass and shattered every defense I ever had.”
“Here’s to kick-butt blondes.” Caleb raised his glass with a broad grin.
“Here’s to brothers,” Jake added.
“Brothers,” they echoed.
And Eli meant it.
JOANNA WALKED INTO the private room and stopped short. Caroline’s purse was on the floor with its contents scattered everywhere. The beds were pushed together, up against the wall.
“Caroline?” she called, looking in the bathroom, but it was empty. She walked outside to the nurse’s station.
“Have you seen my daughter Caroline?”
“No, ma’am,” the nurse answered. “I haven’t seen her for a while.”
“Thank you.” Joanna went back to the room, staring down at Caroline’s checkbook, cash, keys and makeup. Then she saw the scuff marks on the floor. There had been some sort of struggle. Her fingers shook as she picked up the small address book. What had happened here? She didn’t know, but she was afraid. She quickly looked for Eli’s number. Something was wrong and Eli would find out what. He would make sure her daughter was okay.
Caroline had to be okay.
“WE NEED TO MAKE THIS a monthly event,” Beau said, sitting back in the restaurant booth.
“I agree,” Jake replied. “A brothers’ meeting once a month.”
“Sounds good,” Caleb stated.
“I think so, too,” Eli declared.
“Then I nominate Beau as secretary,” Caleb joked, “to keep the minutes of our stimulating conversations for future generations to read.”
“What generations?” Jake couldn’t keep a straight face.
“I’m the only one with kids.”
“Then you get to be the secretary,” Beau told him.
Eli’s phone buzzed and, smiling, he pulled it out. “Eli Coltrane.”
“Eli? This is Joanna Whitten.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I hate to bother you because this might be nothing, but I’m a little concerned about Caroline.”
Eli sat up straight. “What is it?”
“I came into the room at the hospital and Caroline’s purse was on the floor. Her things are scattered all over the place and I can’t find her.”
Eli was on his feet. “I’ll be right there. Don’t touch a thing.” He turned to his brothers. “Sorry guys, I’ve got to go. Caroline might be in trouble.” He ran for his car.
Caleb was a step behind him. “What is it?” he asked, climbing into the passenger’s seat.
Eli told him what Joanna had said, trying not to let his imagination run wild. “Call Tom and Bill and get them to the hospital,” he added. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Caleb talked on the phone as Eli roared through traffic, weaving in and out. He parked in front of the hospital and the two men ran for the elevators. One was available and Eli poked a button. Seconds later they reached the CCU floor and Caleb went to check on Belle.
Joanna met Eli outside the room and Eli took in the scene in a glance. Something was very wrong, and the fear he’d been pushing back surfaced.
“Caroline wouldn’t leave her purse like this,” Joanna said.
“No,” he agreed as Tom and Bill entered the room. Eli nodded to them and they stepped back out into the hall.
Caleb joined them. “Belle is fine and she hasn’t seen Caroline,” he reported.
“What are you thinking, Eli?” Tom asked.
“I’m thinking someone took her by force. The question is who.”
“Buford is dead and his followers are in jail,” Bill said.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“His wives aren’t in jail,” Eli pointed out.
“They’re in the custody of their parents and not in the area,” Bill added.
“Ruth and Naomi were here yesterday. Make sure they’re in Houston with their parents.”
“Eli,” Tom sighed. “This is ridiculous. There has to be a reasonable explanation.”
“Do it,” Eli shouted. “And do it as fast as you damn well can.”
“Okay.” Tom gave in. “I’ll call the Wessells if it will make you feel better.”
“Get agents in here to question people, find out if anyone’s seen her.”
Tom and Bill shared a glance.
“Do it,” Eli said between clenched teeth.
Bill glared at him, but grabbed his phone.
Joanna came out of the room with a worried expression and Eli went to her.
“What is it, Eli? Where’s Caroline?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll find her.”
Her hand trembled against her mouth and tears gathered in her eyes. “You don’t think…”
“I’m not sure what to think right now,” he said, not wanting to alarm her any more than necessary. “Why don’t you call Grace and get her over here?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll call Grace.” She hurried back into the room.
Eli stared at Caleb, striving for answers among the jumbled thoughts flooding his mind. “Remember that story Belle told us about the burning?”
“Sure.”
“I feel in my gut that Ruth and Naomi have taken Caroline.”
“But why? Buford is dead.”
“He told them something before he died, and I’d bet my life that he told them to kill Caroline.”
“Again, why?”
“The prophecy, that goddamn prophecy. Caroline is the reason it’s not going to be fulfilled, and in their warped minds she has to…” The word stuck in his throat and he couldn’t say it.
“Good God.”
“We have to get to that camp and fast.” Eli ran for the elevator.
“You think they’re doing this at the camp?” Caleb asked, following on his heels.
“Yes. That’s the only place it could be.”
“But the forensic team is still out there,” Caleb reminded him.
“Ruth and Naomi don’t know that.” Eli reached for his phone and called Greg.
“Is the forensic team still at the site?” Eli came straight to the point when the man answered.
“No. I talked to Martin about an hour ago. They found a couple of big bones and more teeth and they’re bringing them to the lab and closing up for the day. Why are you asking?”
Eli told him his suspicions about Caroline.
“I’ll call Tom and Bill immediately,” Greg said.
“They’re here, but thanks.”
“Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
“The team has left,” he told Caleb. “We have to get there fast.”
“It’s all locked up, Eli. I don’t see how they could get in there, but if you feel we need to go then I’m with you.”
Tom met them at the elevators. “The Wessells don’t answer so I had a patrol car check out their house. We should hear something shortly.”
“We’re going to the camp,” Eli said. “I think that’s where they’re holding Caroline. Get as many men as you can and follow us.”
Tom hesitated. “Eli, this doesn’t—”
Tom’s phone buzzed and he clicked it on. He listened, then hung up with a solemn expression. “The officers found Mr. and Mrs. Wessell dead, their throats slit.”
Eli swallowed hard and got on
the elevator, stabbing the button with his finger. There was no time to lose now. Seconds counted. Deliberately he shoved away the fear that he was about to lose everything he’d ever wanted—for the second time. He didn’t know if he was that strong. He didn’t know if anyone was.
“We’re right behind you,” Bill called as the elevator doors closed.
Eli and Caleb ran to the car, which was still parked in front. Caleb barred the driver’s side, arm outstretched. “Let me have the keys. I’m driving.”
“Get out of my way.”
Caleb didn’t budge. “For Caroline’s sake, let me drive. You’re in no condition. Think about Caroline.”
Hearing her name had a calming effect on Eli, and he handed over the keys. Soon they were on the highway, heading out of Austin.
Eli didn’t think. He kept his mind a blank. He had to. That was the only way he could deal with this.
He wasn’t a praying man, even though Ma had taught him how. But now he was praying like he never had before.
Please let Caroline be alive.
CAROLINE SAT ON the ground with her hands tied, watching the women as they piled the wood high. They were at the camp, she knew.
They’d waited in the van for a long time. Someone had been here and they couldn’t drive in immediately. She’d heard the Wessell sisters talking about forcing their way in, and she’d assumed the gate was locked. She didn’t know how they opened it, but they had.
She had very little memory of the camp—just the darkness of the cellar and the escape through the woods. The small shacks were in a circle around her. She hadn’t been aware of them as she and Eli had sprinted for the woods, only of the moon and stars.
What did these women have in mind for her now? The cellar had been caved in, so they couldn’t put her back in there. Thank God for that.
The rope on her wrists was cutting into her flesh and she moved slightly to ease the pain. The ground was cold and hard and a pungent smell filled the still air. The only sound was the clatter of wood as Ruth and Naomi stacked it onto a large pile of ashes, which Caroline assumed had been their campfire.
She glanced toward the thick woods that surrounded them. Where were the bird sounds? The rustling of the trees? Everything was unnaturally quiet, and fear tightened its grip. But she wouldn’t give in. Her life depended on that.
The van had been hot and she was sweaty, but she stayed focused on one thing: she was not going to die. She would fight to her last breath. All she needed was a chance—one small opportunity to escape.
Ruth and Naomi were bigger and older, and Caroline was hoping she could outrun them. Her feet weren’t tied, and if she just had an opening…
The sisters started to chant in a dialect Caroline didn’t recognize, and they circled the wood, waving their arms and bowing to the ground. Over and over they chanted, keeping up the strange ritual.
This was it. Caroline raised herself to her knees. Dusk was blanketing the camp and she had to make a move soon.
Ruth threw a match on the fire and screeched ominous sounds as flames leaped to the sky. The heat from the fire was scorching, and Caroline knew her time was running out.
Ruth and Naomi fell to their knees and began to pray. Slowly Caroline rose to her feet, then sprinted for the woods.
ELI AND CALEB SAW the smoke as they turned onto the dirt track.
“Oh, my God,” Eli cried, feeling his insides cave in.
Caleb pressed his foot down and the car flew through the woods. When they reached the gate, he didn’t even slow down. The vehicle burst through it, sending wire and boards flying in all directions, and came to a stop about twelve feet from the fire.
Eli and Caleb bailed out with guns drawn, but no one was in sight and the sizzle of the fire was the only sound. Eli’s heart thudded painfully against his chest as he looked for Caroline. They walked around the fire and didn’t see anything but an old van. It was getting dark and hard to see.
Eli heard a sudden swishing sound and turned quickly. Naomi lunged at him with a knife. He sidestepped and grabbed her outstretched arm, wrestling her to the ground with one hand, while he held his gun firmly in the other.
He squeezed until she dropped the knife, then he placed the gun against her head. “Where’s Caroline?”
“In the fire where she belongs,” Naomi spat. “The demons have taken her. She belongs to the demons.”
“Where is she?” he yelled, fury ballooning inside him.
“Eli,” Caleb said soothingly, “I can’t see anything in the fire, so Caroline still has to out here somewhere. Ruth’s not here, either. Eli, can you hear me?”
Caroline wasn’t in the fire.
Eli loosened his hold and got to his feet, while Caleb quickly put handcuffs on Naomi. Eli handed him his own cuffs and Caleb clicked them on her feet. The woman began to chant and rock to and fro.
“Enjoy the fire,” Caleb said, straightening.
Cars of FBI agents arrived and Caleb filled them in. Eli had only one thing on his mind. “We have to start searching now,” he said. “Caroline and Ruth are somewhere in these woods. Let’s find them.”
The darkness was almost complete. Eli knew it was going to be hard, but he wouldn’t rest until he saw her face again. He closed his eyes briefly as a weak feeling came over him. He’d had this same fear when he’d been searching for Ginny. He’d wanted to see her, to tell her he loved her. But he had been too late.
Was he too late again?
His belly tightened with a cold, sick fear.
Tom was shouting orders, and Eli ran to the woods, calling her name. “Caroline. Caroline. Caroline.”
Bushes and vines clawed at him, but he kept going.
CAROLINE RAN UNTIL HER chest was tight with fatigue. She couldn’t stop, though. She could hear Ruth lumbering through the woods behind her. Suddenly Caroline’s foot caught on a root and she stumbled to the ground. The woman was on top of her in an instant.
“Get up, you bitch,” she snarled, wielding a knife. She held the blade to Caroline’s throat. “I could kill you here, but your spirit has to be taken by the fire never to live again.”
Caroline gasped for air, hardly able to believe what Ruth had said. “You’re going to burn me in the fire?”
“That’s our faith. All evil has to be destroyed by fire.”
“Amos Buford is evil,” she cried. “And you’re evil, too, if you can do something like that.”
“Shut up,” Ruth said, and jerked her to her feet by her tied hands.
“It’s true,” Caroline insisted. “He’s brainwashed you. You’re like an automaton, doing what he tells you even from the grave.”
Ruth slapped her across the face. “You have to die for your sins!” Her voice rose in anger.
Caroline staggered, but didn’t go down. “You’re already dead,” she yelled back. “You can feel it, can’t you, Ruth? Amos stole the life from you, took other wives, had other children. And when it was time to fulfill his crazy prophecy, he chose another woman, not his head wife.”
“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.”
Caroline was going on a woman’s instinct now, thinking about how having multiple wives would affect Ruth. The woman didn’t like it; that was obvious by her agitation. Caroline kept the conversation going, anything to buy time.
Eli, please find me.
“You should have been the one to bear the messiah. You deserved that honor for your faithful service to him.” The words tasted bitter in her mouth, but they were the only weapon she had.
“Yes. It should have been me.”
“But he wanted someone younger, someone prettier.”
“Shut up. Shut up!” Ruth hurled herself at Caroline and they tumbled backward into the bushes, where sharp twigs and branches dug into her back and arms. Ruth straddled her, holding the knife to her throat. “You have to die. You have to die,” she chanted.
Caroline fought her terror, trying to stay calm, trying to stay alive.
Eli. Eli. Eli.
“They had to die, too. The prophet said so. They were filling our heads with evil ways.”
Caroline took a breath, her tied hands hurting from Ruth’s weight on them. “Who, Ruth? Who had to die?”
“Our parents.”
The Wessells. Oh God.
“Ruth…”
“Shut up,” she screamed, and Caroline could see she was losing what little sanity she had. “You have to die.”
“Ruth, listen to me. The prophet is dead and there is no more prophecy. You are free. Do you even know what that means?”
“You have to die. The prophet said so.”
“No, Ruth. I don’t.”
“Shut up.” The knife trembled against her throat.
Caroline closed her eyes and prayed.
“Caroline! Caroline!”
She heard Eli calling and hope spiraled through her. She screamed his name with every ounce of strength she had left.
Within minutes the FBI had them surrounded. Eli stepped forward, a gun in his hand. “Put the knife down, Ruth,” he coaxed.
“She has to die,” Ruth said, the knife shaking in her hand.
Caroline swallowed hard. “Give him the knife, Ruth. It’s over.”
“She has to die. She has to die. The prophet said so.” The knife wobbled against Caroline’s skin and she drew a hard breath, not thinking or feeling, just focusing on the knife and Ruth.
Eli slowly moved closer, then in the blink of an eye grabbed Ruth’s wrist. The knife fell to the ground.
The agents grabbed the woman and quickly handcuffed her. “She has to die. She has to die,” Ruth chanted as they led her away.
Eli fell down by Caroline and gathered her in his arms. He was shaking and so was Caroline.
“My wrists,” she gasped.
He drew back and saw that her hands were tied. Reaching for the knife, he cut the rope, and Caroline flew into his arms.
“Hold me. Hold me,” she cried, burying her face in his shoulder.
“I’m never letting you go.” He stroked her hair. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, unable to stop the tremors.
“I was so afraid I’d find you…like Ginny.”
“I’m alive.” She kissed his throat.
He took a deep breath. “I…I love you,” he whispered in an aching voice.
The horror, the night, the woods, the agents—everything faded away. All she could hear were those words, holding her together, making her stronger. For a moment she thought she might be imagining them, but she knew she wasn’t. They were as real as the man in her arms.