Chapter 15
15
A child for a child? Wynona stared at the angry young woman pointing her gun at them. Her words sent a wave of sickening dread washing over her.
Would this woman ruthlessly murder a child?
“Tonya, I’m very sorry about Alecia,” Chase said calmly. “I understand why you blame me for not finding her sooner.” He took a step toward her, lifting his hands palms forward. “You should kill me, not Eli. He doesn’t deserve to die.”
Chase’s offer to die in place of their son made Wyn’s breath hitch in her chest. She knew he wasn’t bluffing. She knew he would absolutely die to protect Eli.
And to protect her too. He was an amazing man whom she’d hurt very badly. And if they got out of this...
No, when they got out of this, she would do her best to make amends.
“You should have found her,” Tonya Redstone repeated. “You with your fancy equipment and your dog. Why didn’t you find her?”
“Tonya, I’m sorry,” Chase said. “Please know I would have done anything to bring Alecia back home safe. Her death has haunted me for months. I wish Rocky and I could have gotten there sooner. But Eli doesn’t deserve your anger and revenge. Please, let him and his mother go. They’re not responsible for what happened to Alecia.”
“Ah, but Eli is your son.” A glitter of anger sparked in Tonya’s dark eyes. “I think it would be fitting for you to watch your son die, the way I had to find my dead daughter.”
Wyn frowned, wondering how Tonya knew that Eli was Chase’s son. Then it hit her. Redstone. Her father served on the tribal council with Hank Redstone. Hank was too old to be Tonya’s husband. But maybe her father?
Wyn’s father must have mentioned how Chase was Eli’s father. Although she was at a loss as to why he would do such a thing. She had to assume that Chase’s name had come up by coincidence. Her father couldn’t have known anything about what the Redstone family would do with that information.
Unless—no way. Her father doted on Eli. And she wished she’d spoken to her father in person rather than sending the email.
Not that it mattered now. There was no help coming anytime soon. She and Chase were alone. And they needed to figure out a way to convince Tonya Redstone not to follow through on her plan.
“Please,” Wyn said, speaking up for the first time. “Please let Eli go. He’s a little boy who doesn’t deserve this.”
The woman’s gaze darted toward her. “Are you saying my Alecia deserved to die?”
“No, of course not.” Wyn tried to think of a way to reach through this woman’s grief and anger. “I would be just as upset as you are if something happened to Eli. It’s our job to protect our children.” She heard the low rumble an engine coming from somewhere outside and hoped this woman didn’t have reinforcements on the way. “But you must know that killing Eli won’t bring Alecia back.”
“A child for a child!” Tonya practically spat the words. “I will feel better when I know that you have suffered as much as I have!”
“We’ve been suffering during the time you’ve taken Eli away from us,” Chase said. “You’ve had Eli much longer than I searched for Alecia.” He lowered his hands, tucking them into his pockets. “If you want revenge, take me. Kill me.” He glanced around the cabin. “I’ll go outside with you right now. We can end this once and for all.”
Wyn noticed that Alecia Redstone’s mother looked a bit uncertain by Chase’s offer to head outside. Maybe the woman had underestimated her ability to take another person’s life. The last thing Wyn wanted was to lose Chase or Eli, but she felt powerless to prevent it.
But she had to try. “If you do this, you may never be aligned with Alecia in the spirit world.” Wyn fell back on some of her early stories from her father’s family. The Native Americans didn’t believe in God or Christianity the way Chase had taught her, but they did believe in an afterlife of sorts. “What is Alecia’s spirit animal? Has your daughter been back to visit you?”
“She was too young to have identified with a spirit animal.” Then Alecia’s mother looked uncertain. “I have seen a goldfinch flying near our home very often in the past few months.” Her voice dropped. “Yellow was Alecia’s favorite color.”
“So you have seen Alecia’s spirit animal,” Wyn said softly. “Your daughter has identified with the goldfinch. I think Alecia wants you to know she’s okay, that she loves flying across the sky. And that she’s waiting for you to join her in the spirit world.”
The tip of Tonya’s gun lowered a bit as she considered Wyn’s words. “Do you really think the goldfinch is Alecia’s spirit animal?”
“Yes, I do,” Wyn said. “She is waiting for you, Tonya. She wants to be reunited with you in the spirit world very soon.”
Chase moved beside her, and suddenly she understood his plan.
She wanted to cry out a protest, but it was too late. Several things happened at once. Chase darted forward while pulling his gun from his pocket. Tonya pulled the trigger, and her gun went off seconds before Chase disarmed her.
Expecting the man behind them to start shooting, too, Wyn dropped to a crouch as the door of the cabin burst open. A tall man with brown hair rushed inside. She lashed out at the young Native American with her foot, catching his knee. The man howled but didn’t get a chance to fire his weapon as the newcomer knocked the weapon from his hands.
Wyn wanted to bow her head in gratitude, but Eli’s well-being was all that mattered. She glanced at Chase to make sure he hadn’t been hit but Tonya’s bullet. “Eli?” She darted behind Tonya to the rooms behind her. “Eli? I’m here! Mommy’s here!”
“Mommy!” Eli’s voice sounded hoarse as he called out to her. She barged into the bedroom and found him on the bed with Rocky stretched out beside him. Eli’s right hand grasped a handful of the dog’s fur. “Mommy!”
“I’m here, Eli. I’m here.” She sank down on the other side of her son and gathered him close. Eli rested his forehead against her.
“I knew you’d come,” he said.
“Always.” Tears filled her eyes, and she hugged him hard. Rocky’s dark eyes watched them. She was grateful the dog had come inside to sit by her son, keeping him company as they faced his kidnappers.
Their nightmare was over. For the first time in almost twenty-four hours, the panic that plagued her faded away.
Eli was safe.
* * *
Soft. Hard. Soft. Hard.
Eli hadn’t been afraid of the big doggy. The doggy had put his head on Eli’s lap, and when Eli felt his soft fur, he was back in balance again.
Soft. Hard. Soft. Hard.
He’d thought he’d heard his mommy’s voice in the other room, but the scary man had told him to stay there and to keep quiet, so he hadn’t gotten off the bed to look. Then the big doggy had come in, and Eli had felt safe. The loud bang had scared him, but the doggy stayed right next to him.
He squeezed the doggy’s fur. Soft. Hard. Soft. Hard.
He had known his mommy would come to find him. It had taken a long time, but that was okay. She was here now.
“What’s that in your hand?” his mom asked.
He sat up and looked from the soft doggy to his mom. Then he opened his clenched left hand to show her the small, hard thing.
“Eli, where did you get that?” His mom sounded upset.
He shrugged. But when she stared at him, he knew she wanted him to use his words. “In the back seat of the car.”
When she tried to take it, he quickly closed his fingers around it. “Hard. Soft. Hard. Soft,” he whispered.
“Okay, I understand.” His mother glanced up at the doorway. “We found your wooden building block, but we gave it to the police. We’ll get you another building block when we get home, okay? I have your horsey here. Do you want it?”
He nodded and leaned against her again. The doggy stayed at his side.
Soft. Hard.
He was happy to know he’d be going home soon.
* * *
Chase couldn’t believe Doug Bridges had shown up at the cabin. And even more so to learn his sister Jessica had chartered a plane piloted by her old high school friend Logan Fletcher to bring Doug to the rez.
“How did you find us?” he asked, after he’d bound Tonya Redstone’s wrists behind her back as Doug did the same thing with the young man whom he was pretty sure had killed George Twofeathers.
“Jess tracked your snowmobiles.” Doug grinned. “Your family takes safety measures to an extreme, but in this case, that paranoia has worked out well. We were already in the air when your message came through. That helped us refine our search area.”
“That’s amazing.” Chase knew some of that paranoia was related to the way they’d lost their parents. He’d forgotten about the AirTag trackers they’d put in their snowmobiles years ago. “Thanks for coming.”
“Hey, I had to convince Jess to let me ride along,” Doug said, shaking his head. “She would have come by herself, even though she wasn’t armed.”
That made Chase scowl. He saw Jessica hovering in the doorway of the cabin, her large Belgian sheepdog, Teddy, at her side. Behind her stood Logan. Chase gave his sister an exasperated look. “Jess, you’re not a cop.”
“I know that.” She shrugged, resting her hand on Teddy’s head. “I let Doug come, didn’t I?” She glanced over her shoulder at Logan. “I should say Logan insisted Doug tag along.”
Chase was surprised Maya hadn’t insisted on coming too. Logan’s plane was relatively small, though, and adding another person may have been too much. He sighed and smiled grimly. “Well, thanks. Your timing was perfect.”
“What’s this about you having a son?” Jess asked.
Doug winced. “I thought you were going to wait to bring that up.” To Chase, he added, “I spoke to Griff on the way here.”
Chase sighed again, knowing this conversation was inevitable. He hadn’t met his own son yet for himself, but hearing movement in the doorway, he turned to find Wynona carrying Eli into the living area.
Their son looked more like his mother in person, but there were a few hints of Chase’s DNA. Especially in the boy’s chin and his ears. Chase wanted to rush forward but knew that trying to embrace the little boy would scare Eli.
“Eli, this is Chase.” Wyn’s voice was low. “He and Rocky are a search and rescue team. They helped me find you.”
Eli lifted his head to look down at Rocky. He frowned, then looked at Chase. “Soft. Not hard like a rock. Soft.”
Chase smiled, his throat thick with emotion. “Yes, I know. Rocky’s fur is very soft. But he has a hard head when it comes to doing what he wants.”
Eli nodded solemnly. “Soft and hard.”
“Exactly.” He blinked tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Eli.”
Eli didn’t say anything in response to that. Chase didn’t mind. Just seeing his son alive and unharmed was enough for now.
“Eli found something in the car,” Wyn said. “Can you show them, Eli?” His son slowly opened his hand revealing a bullet. Chase stared at Wynona who shrugged. “What can I say? Eli likes contrasts.”
“I see.” He glanced over to where Doug stood frowning over the man he’d disarmed. “I have a feeling we’re going to need that as evidence. To match it with the bullet used to, uh”—he caught himself in the nick of time—“to take care of George Twofeathers.”
“Yes, I thought so.” Wyn flashed him a grateful look. “I gave Eli his stuffed horsey. If he could get his building block back, he’d be thrilled.”
“We’ll get your building blocks very soon,” Chase told the little boy.
Eli nodded. “Thank you.”
Again, Chase felt his eyes tear up. “You’re welcome.”
“I have something hard,” Logan said, entering the room behind Jess. He held up a small stone arrowhead. “Would you like this, Eli?”
Eli leaned forward to see the arrowhead, then nodded. And just like that, Eli had swapped the bullet for the stone arrowhead. “Hard,” Eli whispered. He lifted the stone arrow and the stuffed horse. “Soft and hard.”
Chase gave Logan a nod of appreciation. Logan simply shrugged.
Picking up on Eli’s unique personality, Jess thankfully didn’t ask any more questions about the fact that the boy was Chase’s son. But she did glare at Wynona, likely upset about how Wyn had kept Eli a secret.
Ironically, Chase’s anger had dissipated. There was no point in being upset about what he’d missed or what had been done in the past.
All that mattered was moving forward from here.
“You’ll be glad to know Griff is on his way,” Doug said, interrupting his thoughts.
“How do you know that?” Chase asked. “The cell service out here is nonexistent.”
“As I mentioned, we spoke via radio while on the plane and asked him to meet us here.” Doug waved a hand. “Don’t you hear the sound of car engines?”
Now that Doug mentioned it, he did. Thank goodness, the feds were on their way. Chase narrowed his gaze on the gunman. “Who are you?”
The young man ignored him.
“Scary Man,” Eli said.
Chase swung around to face Eli. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.” Eli snuggled closer to his mother. “He wore the scary black mask.”
That information was only slightly reassuring. Chase met Wynona’s worried gaze and understood her concern. Eli didn’t look as if he’d been hurt in any way, but they wouldn’t know the full extent of the emotional impact to the little boy for some time yet. Considering his son’s diagnosis, they may never understand what he’d suffered.
And that hurt. A lot.
“FBI!” Hearing Griff’s shout, Chase turned to watch the agent enter the room with his gun in a two-handed grip. Griff’s gaze swept over the two perps Chase had tied up before he lowered his weapon. “Looks like you don’t need me.”
“Trust me, we do.” Chase gestured toward Tonya who sat expressionless, her gaze on the floor. “This is Tonya Redstone. She’s Alecia Redstone’s mother and blames me for her daughter’s death.”
“She confessed to kidnapping Eli,” Wyn added. “Her goal was to make Chase suffer as much as she did. She threatened to kill Eli in retaliation for his not finding Alecia.”
“Who’s this?” Griff asked, gesturing to the gunman.
“He’s not talking,” Doug said with a shrug.
“He may have taken George Twofeathers out of the picture.” Chase spoke carefully, aware that Eli was listening. Chase stepped forward to hand over the bullet. “Eli found this in the back of his car.”
“Good. This should help us with a ballistics match.” Griff’s tone rang with satisfaction. “Okay, I’ll need all your statements before we haul them into custody.”
As if on cue, the tribal police filed into the room. From the way the two officers looked at Tonya Redstone and her accomplice, Chase could tell they were upset that two of their own were responsible for this.
“This man is Joshua Redstone,” one of the officers said. “He is Tonya’s cousin. They are both grandchildren of tribal leader Hank Redstone.”
Chase glanced at Wyn who nodded. He realized that her father had played a role in Eli’s kidnapping. Not on purpose, but a role nonetheless.
“Are you related to Julia Stone or Carl Longfoot?” Chase asked.
Tonya looked away, a flash of guilt in her eyes. It made him wonder if she’d used the name Julia Stone as an alias.
Wyn took Eli back to the bedroom to keep him from being overwhelmed by strangers. Surprisingly, Rocky had seemed to nominate himself as Eli’s protector. His K9 followed them and stretched out beside the child. Eli gave up his stuffed horsey to bury his fingers in the dog’s soft pelt.
After making sure Eli was okay, Chase filled Griff and Doug in on everything that had transpired. Doug took over the story about how he and Jess had hired Logan to fly them to the location of the snowmobiles’ GPS trackers.
Griff took notes, as did the tribal police officers. Chase could tell that Griff would be taking over the case, in large part because these two perps were grandchildren of one of the Wind River tribal leaders.
When asked about the audit, both Joshua and Tonya looked confused. Chase had to admit that this kidnapping had been fueled by rage and revenge.
Not greed, the way he and Wynona had assumed.
Honestly, he wasn’t sure which was worse. He’d felt guilty over his inability to save Alecia, but he hadn’t killed her.
Not the way Tonya had intended to kill Eli.
Yet he also felt sorry for the grieving mother. To be consumed by her daughter’s death to the point she would do something this drastic. This terrible.
He glanced at Eli and knew his faith would have gotten him through the loss. Not that it would have been easy. Losing a child could never be easy.
But he didn’t think he’d seek revenge the way Tonya had.
“Are we able to leave now?” Wyn’s weary eyes clung to his. “Eli wants to go home.”
He wanted that, too, but his home was the Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue Ranch. And in that moment, he realized he couldn’t simply pick Eli and Wyn up and move them from the rez directly to his cabin. The way he wanted to.
At least not yet. Eli needed time to recuperate. And Wynona did too.
“Yes, of course.” He frowned. “We’ll need to take the snow machines back to the SUV.”
“I told Eli we’d have to ride them back,” Wyn said. “He won’t mind.”
“Okay then.” He managed a reassuring smile. “Let’s go.”
The trip back to the SUV on the sled was slow. Wyn had wanted Eli to ride with her, but in the end, he held the boy on his lap with one arm, driving the sled with the other. It wasn’t easy, but they made it. Rocky galloped alongside, as if helping to keep an eye on Eli.
Wyn sat in the back seat of the SUV holding Eli as he made the long trip back to Riverton hauling the snowmobile trailer. In hindsight, he was extremely grateful he’d brought them along. It didn’t take long for Eli to fall asleep.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Wyn whispered. “You and Rocky were amazing.”
He was a little surprised by her gratitude. “You don’t blame me? Tonya kidnapped Eli because of me. Because in her mind, I killed her daughter.”
Wyn met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’m the one to blame. If I hadn’t kept Eli a secret...”
He sighed. Maybe it was the events of the day, but he was too tired to be angry anymore. “We both made mistakes, Wyn.”
“Yes, but my mistakes were far worse.” She looked away. “I hope you can forgive me.”
He was touched by her confession. “I don’t blame you. And I hope you can forgive me too.”
“You were going to sacrifice yourself for Eli,” she said, “the son you never met.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but my goal was to disarm her. I had hoped to get her outside so that you and Eli weren’t in the line of fire. When I heard the plane, I knew help was on the way, so I decided to make my move then.”
“I didn’t realize the engine was from a plane.” She looked down at her sleeping son. “I would have given my life for his too. But I’m glad we didn’t have to.”
“I agree.” There was so much to discuss, but he figured they could do that later. Eli woke from his nap, rubbing his eyes, then searched for his toys—the stuffed horsey and the stone arrowhead.
“I’m hungry,” Eli said softly.
“What would you like for dinner?” They had reached Riverton now, so he pulled up to the same fast-food restaurant where Eli had been earlier that day. “They have chicken fingers.”
“Yes, please,” Eli said. Then he hid his face against his mother.
Chase wished the little boy wasn’t afraid of him. He ordered their meals, then headed for Wynona’s house. He gave her the food so that he could get Rocky out of the back and grab his K9’s dog food and dishes.
When Rocky had done his business and had spent a few minutes playing with his red ball as a late reward for finding Eli, they joined Wynona and Eli inside.
“We’ve been waiting for you.” Wyn gestured toward the empty seat at the table.
He quickly dished out food for Rocky and gestured for his K9 to go ahead and eat. Then he sat on the other side of Eli. “Thank you for that. I’d like to say grace.”
Wyn nodded and bowed her head. Eli didn’t speak. He understood now why Wyn had told the little boy that being silent was his superpower. He’d never been around a quieter child.
“Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food and more importantly for guiding us to Eli. Thank You for keeping our son safe in Your loving arms. Amen.”
“Amen,” Wynona echoed.
Eli didn’t say anything. Wyn tried to prod him. Chase shook his head. “It’s okay.”
“Eli needs to remember to use his words,” Wyn said. “Right, Eli?”
“Right.” Eli agreed. He looked down at Rocky who’d stretched out on the floor beside him and smiled. Then he took a bite of his chicken fingers smothered in ketchup.
Chase was almost jealous of the relationship Rocky had forged with his son.
It was only after Wynona put Eli to bed that they had time to talk. He took Rocky out one last time. The dog stretched out on the floor at his feet. He sank down onto the sofa and patted the cushion beside him. “Join me?”
“Of course.” She did so, then surprised him by turning to hug him. “This was the longest day of my life.”
He gathered her close. “For me too.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Wyn, I still care about you. I’d like time to get to know Eli, of course, but I also want to spend time with you.”
“I can’t believe you’re being so nice to me,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “I wanted you to come back so badly, and when you didn’t, I let my pride stand in the way of telling you about Eli.”
“Wait, what?” He eased her upright so he could look into her eyes. “I did come back. Maybe not as quickly as I should have, but once things were settled with the family, I came back for you. But you were gone.”
She looked confused, then realization dawned. “That must have been when I left to move in with my aunt. She was dying, and I promised my father I would help care for her.”
Her father. He had to bite back his feelings for the man. He was about to tell her how her father had refused his request to marry her when there was a sharp knock on the door.
Wyn broke away and rose to answer it. Chase rose to his feet when he saw her father, Ogima Blackhorse, enter the room. The old man’s eyes narrowed when he saw Chase.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Eli being kidnapped?” her father demanded.
“Why did you tell Hank Redstone that Chase was Eli’s father?” Wyn shot back. “That’s how Alecia’s mother knew to take Eli in the first place!”
“Easy, you’ll wake Eli.” Chase took a step closer until he was standing beside Wyn. The last missing puzzle piece fell into place. “You told Hank Redstone the truth on purpose, didn’t you? Because you knew the Redstones held me responsible for Alecia’s death.”
Ogima’s face flushed red. “Of course not.”
But the truth was written there for everyone to see. Even Wyn.
“You should have given me permission to marry Wynona when I asked over five years ago,” Chase continued. “If you had, Eli would never have been in any danger.”
Now the color drained from the old man’s face.
“What? You refused Chase’s request? I can’t believe it.” Wyn’s voice was choked with tears. “You knew I loved Chase. Why would you do that?”
“He’s not good enough...,” her father started, but Wyn stepped back and held up a hand.
“Stop. I don’t want to hear it.” She straightened and stared her father down. “I love you, but I can’t look at you right now. You almost lost your grandson today. And me. Your own daughter. Tonya Redstone was going to kill us all!”
“I didn’t know Tonya was that far gone.” Ogima’s voice was apologetic. “I never would have put you and Eli in harm’s way.”
“But you did,” Chase said. “Thankfully, we were able to escape with help from my family. Not yours. For now, I think Wynona needs time and space to come to grips with your role in this.”
For the first time ever, Ogima backed down. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but turned away. His shoulders slumped in defeat as he left, closing the door softly behind him.
“I can’t believe he did that,” Wyn whispered. Then she turned and threw herself into Chase’s arms. “You wanted to marry me?”
“Yes.” He held her close. “I love you, Wyn. I always have. I never got over you.”
“I love you too, Chase. So much.” She lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed him. A real kiss. And just like five and a half years ago, when they’d allowed their passion to overrule their common sense and willpower, heat instantly flared between them.
“Will you give me a second chance?” Chase pulled himself away from kissing her with an effort. “Will you and Eli come stay with me on the ranch for a while?”
“Yes. I’d like that. I want Eli to know you’re his father.” She kissed him again, then held his gaze. “And somehow, we’ll have to find a way to forgive my father.”
He forced himself to nod. “I don’t want to be at odds with your father, Wyn. Eli needs his grandfather to show him the Native American way.”
“I love you so much,” she said again. “That’s the nicest, sweetest thing you could ever have done for me.”
“For us,” he corrected. “For our family.”
“For our family,” she agreed.
Rocky nudged his side, as if putting his stamp of approval on their love too.