Chapter 6
6
W ynona stared in shock. It was gone. The trailer. The beer bottle evidence. The only link to the people who had taken her son.
Gone!
“I’m sorry.” Chase’s low voice vibrated with regret. “I should have stayed here. I never should have left. Now it’s too late.”
“How did they know we were here?” She couldn’t tear her eyes from the blaze. “How did they know to get rid of the trailer?”
“I’m not sure.” Chase’s expression was grim. “It’s possible one of them came back in time to see Rocky. I should have insisted we call the tribal police when Rocky alerted on Eli’s scent.”
A shiver that had nothing to do with the freezing temperature ran down her spine. Setting the fire to eliminate evidence was deliberately sinister. And she was horrified to know the same people who’d done this also had her son.
“We need to get out of here.” Chase’s tone turned urgent. “Whoever started this fire could still be in the area.”
“Can we try to find him?” As she voiced the question, she knew the answer. Chase would never risk his K9. And she wouldn’t ask him to. “Never mind. I just hate knowing we’re back to square one.”
Chase gripped her arm, tugging her toward the SUV. “No, we can’t search in the darkness. Not while knowing this guy is armed and dangerous. Besides, I need to call Doug. I’m not sure there’s a good reason for the feds to send a crime scene team out now.”
Swallowing hard, she hurried back to the SUV. She caught the reflection of the fire in Rocky’s eyes before sliding into the passenger seat. Before Chase even got in the driver’s side, the SUV rumbled to life. The sound of the engine startled her, but then she remembered Chase mentioning something about how the vehicle was specially designed for his dog.
The minute Chase was seated, he made the call.
“Hey, Chase, I’m still an hour and forty-five minutes out,” Doug said.
“The trailer house is on fire,” Chase said bluntly. “The evidence is being destroyed as we speak.”
There was a long silence as Doug digested that information. “Not good,” he finally said.
“It’s my fault.” Chase shook his head. “I should have considered the possibility they’d do something like this.”
“You were never a cop, Chase,” Doug pointed out. “Besides, if you had been there, you may have been killed.”
That thought hadn’t occurred to her. Wyn shivered again. “Can DNA still be taken from beer bottles that have been burned in a fire?”
“Maybe,” Doug said. “Typically a house fire would not burn hot enough to melt a glass bottle. But if the same guys who kidnapped your son returned to get rid of the evidence, we should assume they took the beer bottles with them.”
Another depressing possibility that hadn’t occurred to her. “I guess we’ll find out once the fire is out. And Chase still has the shell casing.”
“That’s better than nothing,” Doug agreed.
The shrill of sirens filled the night air. Hearing them, Rocky lifted his head and howled. She turned to look at the K9. “Does he always do that?”
“Yep.” Chase shrugged. “I think it’s a hound thing. Some sort of instinct inbred in his doggy DNA.”
She nodded, impressed that the volunteer firefighters had mobilized so quickly. They obviously took their role seriously. And their fast response gave her a bit of hope. Maybe if they could get the fire under control relatively quickly, they could salvage something from the wreckage.
“Doug, you should probably turn around and head back to the ranch.” Chase spoke over the dual sounds of Rocky howling and the sirens. “There isn’t anything you can do here.”
“Are you sure?” Doug sounded uncertain.
“I’m sure,” Chase said. “Fact is, I may need Maya and some of the other siblings to head over to help if we learn anything new. For now, you should stick close to the ranch. If the situation changes, you and the others will be the first to know.”
“Okay, then,” Doug agreed. “We’re ready if you need us.”
“I know, and I’m grateful to have your expertise.” Chase glanced at her. “Thanks, Doug.”
He ended the call, then slowly rolled past the house fire. Behind them, swirling red and white lights announced the arrival of the fire engine. Using the side mirror, she watched as the fire truck and a large water truck parked near the property. Rocky fell silent once the sirens stopped. Several firefighters emerged from the rig and began uncoiling hoses.
The fire was in their hands now. Her stomach churned with nausea, but she tried to ignore it. “I need to keep working the Julia Stone angle. She must be related to the kidnappers or at least have rented the house to them. She must know their names and contact information.”
“I agree.” He didn’t say anything else for a long moment. “You have every right to blame me for this.”
“What?” She’d been thinking about other avenues she could use to dig into Julia Stone. “Why would I blame you?”
“If I’d been thinking like a cop...” He didn’t finish. There was a long pause before he continued. “I figured the kidnappers were long gone, especially after taking shots at us. I never considered the possibility they’d come back to clean up their mess.”
“I didn’t think of that either.” She lightly touched his arm. “It’s not your fault. All we can do is to hope that the FBI can still get some DNA from the beer bottles. If they’re inside.” She tried to smile. “Maybe the kidnappers started the fire assuming the bottles would burn. They may not realize that DNA could still be obtained from them.”
He nodded, but his expression didn’t lighten with hope. “I hate knowing I failed. That I may never get a chance to meet my son.”
His words hit hard. “Eli is not going to die,” she said hotly. “He won’t. We’ll find him.”
“Yes, of course. You’re right.” He took off his glove and reached for her hand, gently squeezing it. “I’m sorry. We need to stay positive.”
She gripped his fingers tightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you when I discovered I was pregnant. I mean, that was also the night your parents’ plane crashed. But later, I should have called.”
He nodded. “I share some of that blame. We spent weeks searching the mountain for my parents’ plane and their bodies. We never found them.” He sighed. “But let’s not rehash the past now. I’d rather we keep pushing forward to find Eli.”
She was touched by his comment, knowing he was being much nicer than she deserved. “Okay. But when we find him...”
“We’ll talk,” he finished for her. “And you should know I’m not giving up my son. Whatever arrangements we make will include him staying with me for at least half if not more of the time.”
The knot in her stomach tightened, but she forced a nod. Because she’d known this would be the consequence the moment she called Chase for help. And watching how Chase and Rocky worked to find Eli, she’d known how wrong she’d been to keep their son from him.
Eli wasn’t like other kids, but she knew the boy would benefit from having a strong father figure in his life. Her father had done his best to fill that gap, but being an indulgent grandparent was not the same.
She was about to fill Chase in on Eli’s diagnosis when his phone rang. Doug Bridges’s name flashed on the screen of the center console.
“What’s up, Doug?” Chase asked.
“I gave FBI Agent Griff Flannery an update on the fire,” Doug said. “I wanted you to know he still plans to bring the team up from Cheyenne in the morning to see what’s left of the crime scene. And he’s anxious to get that shell casing too.”
“That’s good to hear,” Chase said. “I still feel bad that I didn’t stick around to protect the place.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Doug said. “Maybe they left other evidence behind by starting the fire. Oh, and that reminds me, Griff wanted to know if you’ve looped in the tribal police on this latest incident.”
“I didn’t, but we’ll do that now.” Chase glanced at her. She nodded and reached for her phone. “Thanks again.”
“Anytime. Call when you have more intel. We’ll be waiting.”
“Will do. Thanks.” Chase used his thumb to end the call.
She scrolled through her phone to contact the tribal police. Something she should have thought to do the minute they saw the fire.
Yet deep down, she knew that if anyone had a chance of finding Eli, it was Chase and his K9, Rocky.
All they needed was a general location to perform the search. She silently begged God to guide them in the right direction.
For Eli’s sake.
* * *
Eli awoke to Smelly Man carrying him into a house. He held himself perfectly still, worried that the smelly man would drop him if he squirmed. He flinched when the smelly man kicked the door. “Come on, open up!”
The door opened, and Eli wasn’t surprised to see Scary Man standing there, scowling at them. “Where have you been?”
“Hey, you’re the one who told me to drive around for a while,” Smelly Man said. Eli was taken into the house and set down on the sofa. “So that’s what we did. We also ate some pizza for dinner. I’ve got leftovers in the truck if you’re hungry.”
Eli had been glad to be given a slice of cheese pizza. His stomach didn’t hurt as much now that he’d eaten. But he was tired. He’d fallen asleep in the car. Now that he was awake, he put his hands into his pockets. He found his black horsey, but not the block. The block was missing!
He frantically looked around to see if he’d dropped the building block on the floor. He didn’t see it. Was it still in the car? He didn’t think so because it had been in his coat pocket.
Soft. Soft. Soft.
He began to rock, wishing desperately that he still had the building block. He felt lopsided, as if he couldn’t sit up straight. He needed to have both items in his pockets.
Now he only had one.
Soft. Soft. Soft.
“Knock it off with the rocking.” Smelly Man sounded crabby. “You’re bugging me. Go to sleep already.”
Eli didn’t stop rocking, because he couldn’t. He didn’t have his block. He didn’t have the hard toy to squeeze in his hand after the stuffed horse.
Soft. Soft. Soft. Eli’s nose ran, and he swiped his arm over his face. His mom needed to hurry up and get there.
He didn’t want to be with these two men anymore.
* * *
Chase did his best to push past the guilt over his failure to focus on their next steps. One thing that had occurred to him was that if the kidnappers had turned around to come back, they hadn’t gone too far.
He wanted to believe they still had Eli here in Riverton. Of all the cities within the rez, this was one of the larger ones. Maybe they thought they could blend in better here, considering they had a small child with them, than in another remote location.
And if that was the case, maybe he could look at a map and identify a few possible places they could be hiding.
He drove around the snowmobile trailer to pull in and park in Wynona’s driveway. She quickly scrambled out of the passenger seat, clearly intending to get back to work on finding Julia Stone as fast as possible.
After releasing the back hatch, he got out too. He had a trailer lock in the back of the SUV and decided to put it on. It wasn’t so much that he was worried about the cost of replacing the sleds, but more that he wanted them safe in case they needed to use them.
Rocky trotted around the front yard, lifting his leg in various spots. Chase kept an eye on the K9 as he dug the lock from the enclosure beneath Rocky’s crate area.
He slipped the lock in place, straightened and headed to the house. After a moment’s hesitation, Rocky joined him.
There was a chill in the air. He noticed the logs in the fireplace had collapsed into glowing coals. Seeing them made him think about the trailer house and what would be left once the fire had been doused.
Crossing to the fireplace, he added more logs and kindling, bringing the blaze to life. Then he shrugged out of his coat, hat, and gloves. For now, he kept his boots on.
Rocky stretched out in front of the fire and promptly fell asleep.
He bent, stroked a hand over his K9’s soft fur, then turned to see Wyn sitting at the kitchen table in front of her computer. Her face was pale, and dark circles smudged the skin beneath her dark eyes. She needed sleep.
They both did.
But he knew that even suggesting such a thing would be considered a betrayal. In truth, he felt the same way. Yet this case was different enough from Alecia’s that he tried to tell himself the outcome would be different too.
Better. That they’d find Eli alive and well.
He sighed and crossed over to join her. “I’ll make more coffee.”
“That’s fine.” She suddenly turned to look at him. “Would Doug have the ability to find more information on Julia Stone?”
“I’ll ask.” He figured Doug was probably pulling into the long winding driveway leading to the main ranch house and Maya’s individual cabin. Thankfully, his sister’s fiancé answered on the first ring. “Doug, I told you before that a woman by the name of Julia Stone owns the trailer house that was started on fire. And so far, we can’t seem to find anything else about her. You said yourself that she’s not in the DMV database. Do you think the feds could dig into her a bit? Maybe they have someplace to look for her that we’ve missed?”
“I can ask. I also have a tech expert I used to work with back in Milwaukee that I can try to contact,” Doug said. “The problem is that they’re an hour ahead of us. I don’t know that he’ll answer his phone now, as it’s going on one in the morning there. Ian Dunlap may call me back at five or six in the morning his time.”
“Anything you can do to help is appreciated,” Chase said. “Her name is Julia Stone. We know she’s of Native American heritage as she’s listed in the tribal registry. But that’s about all we know. We don’t have an age, marital status, offspring, or siblings. We’ve got nothing to go on.”
“This could be tricky,” Doug said warily. “The feds keep a hands-off approach when it comes to the Native Americans’ personal lives.”
That was exactly what he was afraid of. “Wynona has been searching social media but hasn’t found her yet.”
“Ian has been playing around with using DNA sites to help find suspects,” Doug said. “Apparently, lots of people go on these sites and build family trees. Could be that one of those mentions Julia Stone.”
It sounded like an extremely remote possibility, but he wasn’t going to argue. “Can’t hurt to try.”
“Hang in there,” Doug said. “And get some sleep. You need to be rested in case we get a lead early tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll try. Thanks again.” He lowered the phone. “He’s going to reach out to a tech expert he worked with back in Milwaukee. They’re an hour ahead of us, so he’ll talk to Ian early in the morning.”
“Okay.” Her haunted eyes stabbed deep into his heart. “I don’t think Julia has a family, though, or they’d be listed within the tribal registry. Everyone living on the tribe gets a share of the profits from the casino. It’s not much.” Wyn dragged her fingers through her long, straight hair. “But it’s enough that they’d register to get their fair share.”
He knew the casino proceeds were shared with those living on the reservation, but he’d never asked for any details. “Maybe her parents are dead, but she has cousins or other relatives. She may have a sibling under a different name.”
She nodded slowly. “I feel like this is taking too long. That we don’t have time to waste waiting for the FBI or Ian to do their thing.”
“I know.” He went into the kitchen to start over with the pot of coffee. “Can you bring up a map of Riverton? I’d like to take a closer look at the area surrounding the trailer house.”
“Sure.” She worked the computer keyboard as he filled the coffee maker. “The trailer house is located on the outskirts of the city. The nicer homes tend to be closer to the Wind River and the hills overlooking the bison.”
“I didn’t see the bison, although I know they’re out there.” He finished the coffee and came to sit beside her. “I’m just curious if there’s another set of trailer homes that are similar to that one.”
“There are trailer homes all over.” She frowned. “Besides, just because they kept Eli in the one trailer home doesn’t mean the next one will be the same setup.”
She was right about that, but he still wanted to see the area himself. Once she had the trailer house pinpointed on a map, he turned the computer toward him and began to zoom out.
Wyn propped her chin on her hand and leaned forward to watch. He manipulated the screen, trying to decide whether it was worth heading out with Rocky to do a search, when he noticed she swayed a bit. “Hey, are you okay?”
She nodded and yawned. Her body was clearly exhausted and craved rest. If he were being honest, his did too.
“We’ve been on an adrenaline roller coaster since this started,” he said softly. “We can’t keep going like this for long. You should stretch out on the sofa for an hour or so. We’ll need all our strength and endurance to search for Eli come morning.”
“No. I can’t.” She gently slapped her cheeks to wake herself up. “I’m fine. I’d rather we figure out a way to find Eli tonight.”
“Technically, it’s already morning.” The coffee maker sputtered, indicating it was finished brewing. He rose to his feet, filled two mugs, and brought them back. The coffee was strong and black, the way he liked it.
But if he had been hoping for a jolt of caffeine to hit his system, he was sorely disappointed.
He blinked to bring the screen into focus. Now that he was looking at the map, he realized his idea was likely a bust. There were far too many possibilities for Rocky to search for Eli’s scent. As much as his dog loved the snow, he couldn’t expose the K9 to the elements for too long. Dogs became dehydrated when sniffing and tracking for an extended length of time.
He was also worried that if the kidnappers had carried the kid around, Rocky may not hit on the little boy’s scent at all. Wyn had mentioned the kid’s runny nose, which may help. But only if he’d been outside for a while.
Staring at the map, he identified a few possibilities, but he knew the chances of finding Eli there were slim. Not to mention, it would be more dangerous to continue the search in the dark.
They were stuck, with nothing new to go on. He finished his coffee, then sat back in his chair. Glancing at Wyn, he smiled when he realized her eyes were closed, her chin dropping to her chest.
“Wyn.” Her head jerked up when he said her name. He put a hand on her arm. “Come on, we need to get some rest.”
“I—” She halted her immediate protest. “Okay,” she reluctantly relented. “But it seems wrong to be sleeping when Eli is scared and lonely.”
“By this hour, I’m sure Eli is sleeping.” At least he hoped the child was resting. “We know they’ve moved locations once already. I doubt they’ll head out again anytime soon.”
She scrubbed her hands over her face, then rose to her feet. “I’ll sleep in Eli’s bed. You can use mine or the sofa. Whatever you’d like.”
He nodded, understanding her need to be as close to their son as possible. “Okay. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
She turned away, heading toward the bedrooms. He stayed where he was, watching as she turned into the first room on the right.
Chase bent to feed more wood into the fire, and Rocky opened his eyes for a brief moment, then closed them again with a heavy sigh. The dog was tired too. He stroked a hand over Rocky’s fur, then finished with the fire.
Finally, he bent over to take his boots off. He stretched out on the sofa and closed his eyes. He’d expected to fall instantly asleep.
He didn’t. He pulled his phone out, making sure the ringer was on so he’d wake up if Doug or anyone else called. Then he took a moment to pull up Eli’s picture.
His son. He wished he’d done things differently five years ago. But at the time, the crisis of losing both parents in a small plane crash had consumed his time and energy.
He set his phone on his chest, closed his eyes, and prayed for forgiveness, for mercy, and for his son’s safety.
A strange sound woke him a few minutes later. He bolted upright, confused about where he was. Then he realized the fire was almost out and that the noise was coming from the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
Not five minutes, but four hours. He rose to his feet and staggered toward the hallway. Rocky ignored him. As he drew closer, he could hear Wynona’s harsh, heartbreaking sobs.
“Hey, don’t cry. Please don’t cry.” He entered the room and found her crushing Eli’s pillow to her chest. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he drew her into his arms. “We’re going to find him.”
“I—I had a nightmare,” she said between hiccuping sobs. She wiped her face on the pillow, then looked up at him. “I heard Eli’s voice asking me to come and get him, but the men holding him yelled at him to shut up, so he began to cry.”
He could imagine the scenario all too well. He didn’t have a lot of experience with small kids, but he knew they could get cranky and irritable. If Eli annoyed his captors, they could lash out at him verbally or physically. The thought made him wince.
He pulled her close. “I’m sure Eli is still sleeping.”
“I—know.” She struggled to get her emotions in check. “It’s not like he’s talking their ears off or anything.”
He frowned, leaning back to see her eyes. “Are you saying Eli can’t talk?”
“No, he can talk. When he wants to.” She looked away, sighed, then added, “But he tends to be quiet.”
“That doesn’t sound like any of the kids I’ve ever seen.” He was getting the sense she was holding something back. “I noticed he wasn’t smiling in his picture.”
“No. I—was going to tell you this earlier, but Eli has been diagnosed as autistic.” She still wouldn’t meet his gaze. “He’s very smart but gets hyperfocused on odd things. Contrasts in particular. And he doesn’t talk much. That’s something we’ve been working on with Shana, his preschool teacher.”
“Autistic?” he repeated, stunned. “Will his condition somehow impact his kidnappers? Will they get angry at him?”
“I doubt it.” She finally met his gaze. “He’s a quiet child, which should work in his favor. Even though he called out to me in my dream, I’m sure he hasn’t spoken much while being with the strange men.” She hesitated, and added, “You’ll have to give him time to get used to you, Chase. He doesn’t do well with change.”
Chase realized his preconceived ideas about his first meeting with his son were way off base. From what Wyn was describing, his son wouldn’t be happy to meet him.
Quite the opposite. More likely the little boy would be frightened of him.
His own father.