Parker drew Jocelyn to the side and shushed other people trying to tell her what to do and not do.
"Jocelyn, Katie has been kidnapped and our only suspect is Stuart Landau. I was here with Ciarán and Liam before they took off after her and Liam said explicitly that you were to expect visitors, not only from here but…"
"…the family. I'll be lucky if they aren't all here before nightfall. Okay, I'll set the house up, get out bedding, etc. What is going on out here and what is already going on in the house?"
"Mrs. O'Malley is doing food and Kelli is making sure the ranch is covered and manning the phones. She is also running stuff out to us and making sure that we have what we need here. Liam said set up Ciarán's house as well. Liam and Ciarán have set off and the rest of the search parties are going out now. The flight and tracking are almost up." He waited for Jocelyn to appear to have internalized the information before continuing.
"Ciarán says that Katie had the GPS and PLB in her pack and since her pack is missing, we hope it's working. We'll try to find her that way, but it can take hours with just the GPS and about an hour with the additional PLB attached. That is about it for now. Kelli may have more information than that from the family at the house."
As Jocelyn started to get back into her car, Parker said, "Can you leave little Paddy at home if you come back out here? It tends to upset the guys because they can't keep him safe and work out here."
"Parker, where do you expect me to put him? If I need to come, I will have to bring him with me." It was at this point that Parker remembered Liam's admonishment on dealing with the O'Connor women and he thought he better practice starting now.
"Jocelyn, then don't come back out. You can't bring him back here, it isn't safe."
Jocelyn paused a moment and then nodded her head, "Okay. I'll leave him with Kelli or Mrs. O'Malley if it's necessary to come back."
Parker nodded and gave her a hug before releasing her to get things done. He cinched up his thick coat closer to his body as he watched her leave.
*****
Katie was feeling exhaustion close in on her muscles. The pain was something she was going to have to deal with before too long. It was draining her inner resources at a rapid clip. Just walking jarred the upper body and led to a continual revival of agony. Going off trail added to the severe vibrations and her head hurt from clenching her teeth to muffle the issuing groans. She ached for her husband. She was cold.
Katie could see that Stuart was beginning to feel the effects of going off the trail trying to trick his potential followers. She had attempted to convince him not to go in that direction, but it seemed to spurn him even more. With her situation not relieving, she risked Stuart's anger by stopping to take her inside shirt and secure her arm to her body, stopping the majority of jostling and lessening the pain but not getting rid of it. As she was putting the last twist to the knot in the sleeves of the shirt, she thought of pain reliever in her pack.
Then she remembered that she was pregnant. Katie experienced a moment of longing for her husband and silently sent heavenward a request for her husband to find her and for her to keep their baby safe. She decided that no matter what happened, she would do what it took to keep her baby safe even if it meant she needed to let Stuart do as he wanted with her. Her barely discovered baby was the important person here.
She mentally reasoned with herself that she had to make sure she had the ability to deal with things. That meant she was going to take the painkiller, no matter what kind it was. She also reasoned that Ciarán would have demanded that she did if he were here. She took the standard prescription pain reliever and counted the remainder of the pills. She mentally calculated how long the pills would last and hoped it was long enough and yet hoped she didn't need it too much or for too long.
Refocusing once again on the direction they were going, Katherine hoped Stuart didn't notice she was leaving little bits and pieces of herself along the way, Hansel and Gretel style. Along the way, Katie had left a button from her shirt that she rubbed on her sweat when using it for her sling, and had done the same for all the other five buttons on her shirt. She had run out of buttons now, so she needed to find something else to leave in the next half an hour. She knew that Ciarán would bring his well-trained dogs. She needed to concentrate on keeping them supplied with leads instead of her aching body.
While she didn't know what time it was, she was becoming hungry so she was sure it had been at least four hours and probably longer since they began to walk. They had doubled back and gone all over the place. He kept muttering about outsmarting the guides. She was so cold and tired; the ongoing pain lowered her generally higher threshold and pain was taking over her thinking.
Being winter, the sun would soon go down, further complicating her expected rescue. The day had been rather gray already, keeping the temperatures not so cold, but the evening was clearing, promising to make the cold bitingly sharp. Be safe Ciarán. I don't want you to do anything that would get you hurt because I'm going to need you when I finally see you. Although she didn't wish to entertain the fear that was rising up again, it was hard to suppress it. She felt tears slide down her face and she resolutely swiped at them so Stuart couldn't see them and use her weakness against her. She swallowed the bile burning her throat.
*****
It was getting colder the farther they had come and still no trace of Katie. Ciarán was becoming frantic with worry and Liam radioed for an update. Liam's tone was rough when he spoke to his brother.
"Ciarán, you have got to focus on the task and not who we are doing this task for; concentrate on the end goal. Compartmentalize, man. I know you are worried but I need you to focus so we can get Katie and go home."
Parker answered the signal and Liam asked, "Parker, tell me the latest."
"No signs here. Still don't know where the car Katie said she saw is located. We blocked the roads going out of town and into the next town to see if we could find her in a vehicle but no luck. We traced the identification of the car Landau has but have not seen it on any of the roads.
"The satellite signal is supposed to be working to try to track her in about twenty to thirty minutes. The weather isn't looking accommodating up the mountain, Liam. Wait, Kelli is calling me on the cell, hold on a sec."
Liam could hear mumbling, but not much else and then Parker came back on. "Sorry about that, I had to reassure Kelli. She says Jocelyn is about ready to come up herself and Kelli was wondering about it as well. I told them you two were the best there were and reminded Jocelyn that you would be none too happy if she took off and left Padraig. Seemed to slow her down a bit and I told Kelli she wouldn't be able to greet Katie when we did get her back because she would be dealing with me. It seemed to work for now."
Liam told him how much he appreciated him stepping in for them while they were away and just as he was about to ring off Kelli rang Parker again to say that Shane, Quinlan, and Andrew had arrived.
"She also said Cián would be in just a bit later tonight. They left a rental ready for him when he got there so he could drive himself in. He said he would take over the ranch operations so the girls could work on the upkeep of so many additional persons on the ranch. It would also relieve Jocelyn to run and check on Bhaile Haven with another person helping because there were new admits coming tomorrow."
Liam relayed all the information to Ciarán, who only seemed to have heard part of what he said. He did show some relief that the other O'Connors had come. "Did you tell them what needed to be done?"
"Parker and I discussed it before we left and they know where to go. They will outfit from the guide equipment. Ciarán, we are going to find her and she is going to be safe."
"God, I hope you're right, Liam, I hope you're right," Ciarán responded to Liam with desperation in his voice.
"Ciarán, you have to believe we'll find her because when you doubt that, your ability to be sharp diminishes. We are damn good at what we do, and we know this area well. But you ha
ve to be full on with me, man."
"I know. We are the best in this area and we have all the equipment we need so we'll make it. I'm worried about Katie, though. I'm concerned about the baby. In a way, I wish we didn't just find out about him because it would make her less anxious and me less worried about her if we didn't know yet. Does that make sense? You know less protective so we could get things done. I'm going to kill whoever has her. Liam, just know that right now." The rage and desperation in Ciarán's voice gave no doubt to the veracity of his statement.
"Would you do that in front of your wife? After all, she has been through enough already? Think man. Your first priority will be to get her out safely and to a hospital if needed, not waste your time on him. Leave him to the rest of us. I promise we'll take care of him."
Ciarán merely nodded and Liam was not sure that he meant he agreed or he heard him. Only time would tell how this turned out for all of them. It was getting very dark now between the loss of light and the added blackness of the forest. They would need their night goggles to keep going and then ultimately to make camp if he could get Ciarán to stop at all.
*****
Shane, Andrew, and Quinlan decided to change the plans and wait until Cián got there. While Shane knew the land some, Andrew knew it not at all aside from building. He was the angler, so didn't hunt. Quinn was familiar with it because of years of hunting. Cián did guide and trail rides here every summer so it was much more familiar to them. A better use of Andrew was to allow him to take over the ranch operations and the coordination of the assistance to others. That being the case, Andrew took over for Kelli and she stated she was going with her brothers as soon as Cián arrived and they prepared to leave.
Quinn responded first and fiercely, "Hell, no! I'm not letting another sister of mine have her safety threatened."
"Kelli," started Shane, who knew a better reason than Quinn's would be needed to stop her from giving them a huge fight. "I get it that you want to help, and I know you are tough, but you are still our sister and I'm sorry but we would be worried about keeping you safe, rightly or wrongly, and it would make us less effective. We have to be concerned about one thing and that is finding Katie as fast as possible."
Cián added, "Before Ciarán finds and kills that bastard himself."
Kelli began to argue the point that she was well equipped physically and mentally to do a good job with them when Parker stepped further into the room.
He said very quietly but firmly, "Kelli, I know you would be able to go with your brothers and hold your own, but I love you and won't be able to concentrate on my own work if I'm spending my time worrying about you. And make no mistake, it's what I would do. Will you just come with me and help keep a line on where everyone is and fill me in on what is out there that I might not foresee, things that I couldn't possibly know from the map?"
"Oh, you aren't as good as Liam at making it seem like I'm really needed elsewhere, Parker, but you have the added strumming of the heart strings down. I guess I will go with you." She turned to her brothers and warned them, "Do not come back without our Katie. Understand?"
"Don't worry, hon, we are going to find her and bring her home," assured Quinlan.
Jocelyn came in the room hugging little Paddy. "And don't forget she is pregnant so she needs to go to the hospital for a check no matter what she says."
All of the men agreed knowing it would be between Katie and Ciarán, but the women in this family didn't always agree with who it was that made the choices.
Cián had arrived with a pleasant looking young woman about his age that he introduced. "Everyone, this is Molly Rasher. Molly, this is part of my family. I will acquaint you with people later in a more realistic way, but for now, I will present you quickly." Cián then turned her over to Jocelyn and Kelli to take care of her.
"Cián," Jocelyn whispered to him, "Do I put her in your room or…?"
"You can put her in my room and when I get back, we can figure things out. And no, we don't live together, yet. Take care of her, Jos. She is pretty special to me."
"You got it."
The brothers kissed their sisters on the cheek and Paddy before heading out.
"I'm heading out to Bhaile Haven for a bit to see if there are any needs before I leave them for the evening. I haven't been there for the majority of the day and really should put in an appearance."
Shane leaned back into the room and said, "Jocelyn, just call them. They know where you are and can get hold of you easily. It would do you well to see how they are in taking over while you are away. Besides, Paddy looks sleepy, and Liam would want us to tell you to stay home."
"Well, I guess I can wait until Paddy is down and let Mrs. O'Malley keep an ear open for him if he wakes up."
Cián and Quinn, from the other room, yelled, "Stay home."
"Fine!" she yelled back. She wiped tears from her face. She loved this family and the thought of losing even one member of this clan was unthinkable.
"C'mon Kelli, I need to update everyone's position. Let's fill these thermoses before we head back, though." Parker grabbed Kelli's coat on the way out the door heading for the kitchen, and shaking his head as he went. "These O'Connor women are something else. Even the ones that are married into this family are headstrong. You'd think they would find some quiet women who minded more often."
Quinn said as he walked outside, "Where's the fun in that?" Kelli laughed as she led the way to the kitchen. Parker laughed at his own mistake of speaking aloud.
*****
Katie and Stuart stumbled into the cabin well after dark. She stumbled purposely so she could leave her pack on the ground behind a tree as soon as he said they were close to the cabin. Since it was dark, she tried to make sure that it couldn't be seen in the daylight. She hoped that the equipment would give off a robust signal. That combined with the walking they had done, she hoped it still had a secure connection to the personal locator beacon attached to it.
She had been able to switch the Personal Locator Beacon and GPS on, but not very far from the cabin so they wouldn't even be able to get the signal triangulated for another hour or so. Then they would need to walk in. Therefore, it was going to be tomorrow sometime before she would be able to get home but she would survive it because she knew she would get home. She would not allow her mind to go anywhere else in possible outcomes.
Stuart lit the lantern and put out the LED flashlights that they had been using. He barred the door and started the fire that he had previously banked but had almost burned out. Katie sat down and immediately could see that he had been planning this for a while. There were stores and lots of wood already inside. Katie's hopes renewed. They wouldn't go anywhere for a while. That also meant, however, that he had no reason to leave her alone or not have his way with her.
"I had hoped we could try some of my new techniques since we were last together, Katie, but I'm tired, and I can see you are too. So, I will try to give you a reprieve for a short while, but I won't promise for how long."
"Do you have anything to eat?" Katie was thinking that if he ate, he would want to go to sleep.
"Oh, yes. I planned well for us. We'll have to be up here a while and I'm sure my car has been discovered by now, but no one would think that we would backtrack almost back to your house. Who would have known that we are just a couple of miles from your front door? Well, it was your front door. You won't be going back there again because you will be with me, just like we were supposed to be. What do you say we forego the dinner for now and go straight to dessert?"
Katie felt as though she had been slapped in the face for that was similar to what Ciarán had said to her just last night when they realized they were going to have a baby. She let out a cry of emotional pain, and then when she tried to push Stuart off her, she cried out in physical pain. The shoulder was swollen and red, immobile and now, excruciatingly painful. Stuart didn't seem to notice. He continued to try kissing her while Katie began to cry. It was a few moments before she noti
ced that he appeared to enjoy her crying and pain.
Katie felt her control leaving quickly and she knew she needed to retain as much clear thinking as she could to survive. Distract him. I have to distract him. "Food, Stuart, you said you had some food? I haven't eaten all day and I'm feeling faint." Both statements were true, but one didn't have anything to do with the other.
Irritated but easily distracted into a new direction, Stuart jumped up, bumping her arm again but she bit her lip to suppress the yelp she wanted to let out, not wanting to re-direct him from getting up. She felt dizzy with the effort and for the first time since this whole ordeal began, she thought she might lose consciousness. Katie concentrated and tried to control her urge to vomit with her breathing. Sweat broke out on her forehead from the exertion. Eyes closed, she felt her ability to overcome the wave of nausea wouldn't be successful, but then the wave passed.
Just as the room began to come back into focus, Stuart spoke, startling her and once again raising the tempo of her heart.
"Food, right, I did say that I would get some food, didn't I? What about stew? It's from a can, but we can heat it over our fire and have some crackers with it. It will taste good on a long, cold day like this." He waited for her to answer. Knowing he needed to hear appreciation for his efforts, she did so.
"Yes," she responded just above a whisper. "That would be perfect. Please, I would love it."
With that bit of praise, he went about preparing their meal. She had no idea how she was going to eat, but she knew she would try. He appeared to be so engrossed in getting the food prepared, he didn't notice that smoke was coming out of the chimney and even if Ciarán couldn't see it, they would be able to smell it. Good going Stuart, it looks like you are going to help me without even knowing it. It was dark and smoke was not easily seen, but the scent could be detected. Stuart was too focused on his plan to notice anything outside of that.
*****
Ciarán answered the satellite phone and impatiently waited for the information Parker was relaying. It had been almost twelve hours now since they had heard that Katie was missing and too dark for the dogs to go forward well without some scent tag in the area. No scent yet and it was very discouraging. Parker told him they had found the vehicle and after finding the scent at its source, Quinn, Shane, and Cián were on the trail with two of Ciarán's trained dogs.
Katie Consents (Ciaran O'Connor Book 3) Page 4