Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Wilder
" H as anyone seen Jonah?" I walk into the stables and call out toward Noah, Ruby, and Ayden.
"Why? You lost your boyfriend?" Noah taunts, walking toward me with one of the boarders.
"The motherfucker hasn't shown up."
"Uh oh, trouble in paradise?" Ruby mocks, grabbing a bucket of feed and going into one of the stalls.
I roll my eyes. "If you see him, call me."
"Aye, aye boss." She gives me a mock salute.
Scratching the back of my neck, I shake my head.
He's never been a no-call, no-show, so it's out of character for him.
I spend the rest of the morning mucking stalls and moving horses in and out of the pasture. I'm back working on the retreat side but since we're still only doing one trail ride a day, I go back and forth with the ranch side since Jonah's working over there.
It's slow this time of year but when the weather changes abruptly, things break and fences need fixing, so I usually get stuck on bitch duty—which is why it'd be nice if Jonah actually showed up so he could help me.
Needing a break and some water from my jug, I head back to my truck and find a text from Delilah waiting.
She hasn't seen or heard from Jonah either.
Meanwhile she's probably worried about him, but I have a feeling he realized he's not cut out for working on a ranch. We've had a mix of rain and snow the past few days and he's bitched about it nonstop. With the Appalachian Mountains surrounding us, we get heavier snowfalls than the rest of the state and we're in that time of year where we have less sunlight during the day, so it gets cold as fuck toward the end of our shifts.
Although he previously did construction, he didn't have to deal with the weather while handling thousand-pound horses and walking through wet pastures.
Once the side of the fence I'm working on is done, I drive to the retreat barn and find Waylon fighting with one of the horses. Since the pastures are a mess, they're cooped up in their stalls and hate it.
"Need a hand?" I offer.
"Sure, but be careful. She's already kicked me once."
I chuckle, and then grab another lead rope and help push her into the stall. When we can't take them out and need to clean their stall, we rotate them in and out of the grooming stall.
"Feisty today," I say, rubbing her neck to calm her down.
When I get a phone call, I walk into the aisle and although I don't recognize the number, I pick it up.
"Hello?"
"Wilder? Thank God."
"Mattie?"
"Yeah, hi. Have you heard from Delilah?"
"We were textin' about fifteen minutes ago. Why? Isn't she at work with you?"
"I left to get a smoothie and when I returned, there were a couple customers wanderin' around, but she wasn't up front. I assumed she was in the bathroom, so I helped them for a few minutes and then rang them up. As soon as they left, I went to check on her in the back, but she wasn't in there. Her truck's in the parkin' lot and her purse and coat are still here."
"Does she have her phone?"
"It's not in her bag, so she must have it."
"Did ya call her?"
"Yeah and texted."
"Is it possible she went to get somethin' to eat?"
"She'd never leave the store without one of us here. Plus, she said she wasn't hungry when I offered to get her a smoothie."
My heart races as I pace the barn. "Okay, let me try her?—"
"Wait, she responded."
I blow out a relieved breath.
"SOS. Jonah. Gun."
"Huh?"
"Those were her messages! What the fuck does that mean?"
"Shit. Let me see if I can track her location."
We exchanged months ago when she was put on babysitting duty.
"What the hell?" I mutter, zooming in on where it says she is. "She's on a country backroad...probably twenty minutes out."
"Jonah took her, didn't he?"
"And he has a gun."
The pieces come together.
"Motherfucker," I spit out. "I'm gonna head in that direction, but I'm at least thirty-five minutes away."
I wave and get Waylon's attention, then nod toward the barn doors as I walk in that direction. "Delilah's in trouble," I tell him.
"Want me to come?"
"Yeah, but I'm not gonna go the speed limit." I run to my truck and quickly get it started. Waylon jumps in after me and we take off.
"Should I call the sheriff and tell him?" Mattie asks.
"Yeah, maybe he can find his truck before I do. I'll keep an eye on her location?—"
I refresh it and notice it stopped.
"Wait, she's not movin'."
"Where is she?"
"Somewhere off road."
"Oh my God, that can't be good."
"No...it's not."
We hang up so she can call Sheriff Wagner and then I catch Waylon up on what's going on. He calls our dad and informs him next.
"Do you have your rifle?" Dad asks on speakerphone.
"Yeah, underneath my seat."
The same one I shot Harlow's kidnapper with last year.
"Be careful. It's almost dark and there aren't any streetlights out there."
"I will." My jaw ticks with anger and my fist squeezes the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles throb.
"You have your flashlights?" he asks.
"In the backseat," I reassure him.
"Maybe they slid on some ice. Those roads get bad."
"I dunno, but if Jonah had anythin' to do with it or she's hurt because of him, I'm not promisin' I won't kill him."
"Don't do anythin' you'll regret, Wilder."
Too late. I regret not kicking his ass when I had the chance.
"Dad, the sheriff's callin' me."
Answering my phone, I put it on speaker so my dad and Waylon can listen. "Yeah?"
"We found Jonah's truck smashed into a tree and got him out."
"And Delilah?"
"She wasn't inside."
My stomach drops, and I feel like I'm going to throw up. "Are you sure?"
"The passenger airbag deployed, but the door was left open. She probably got out on her own and flagged someone down. I put out an APB. The surroundin' towns are keepin' an eye out and checkin' with their local hospitals."
"She coulda stumbled into the woods and got lost.
She'd be disoriented after a crash like that.
"Or worse, she collapsed and is out there freezing to death," I add.
"My guys are out searchin' the area now with K9s, but so far, they haven't found any indication that she's out there."
"Where's Jonah now?"
"Ambulance took him to the hospital. They think he has a concussion and most likely a few broken ribs."
Good, then he still has a few others I can break when I get my hands on him.
"Okay, I'm headin' there now." I quickly turn to head in that direction.
"You can't talk to him, Wilder."
"Why the hell not?"
"He'll be detained until we find her and find out what happened."
"He kidnapped her!"
"That's why he's currently in handcuffs."
"And I wanna know why the hell he took my wife and where he was takin' her!"
"I'm gonna question him as soon as they bring him back from his CT scan."
"Not good enough!"
"Wilder..." Waylon grabs my attention. He gives me a pointed look to calm down. But how can I when my wife is missing and no one knows where the fuck she is?
"Fine, I won't interfere, but then he better give us some answers."
We make it to the hospital in half the time and when we rush inside, we find Sheriff Wagner waiting for us.
"Any news?"
"He's back in his room, but he's not fully conscious. The pain med made him drowsy," he explains, and my blood boils. That bastard deserves to feel the pain.
"Then you better slap him awake and demand answers," I bark. "He's the only one who can give us answers."
Sheriff Wagner holds out his palm before putting it on my shoulder. "I will...but you need to let me do my job. I have over a dozen people searchin' for her, drivin' up and down the roads, and makin' calls. We're gonna find her."
His words should be reassuring, and they are somewhat that he's put so much manpower into finding my wife, but my gut tells me something is terribly wrong.
"Did they find her phone?" I ask as calmly as I can make myself.
"Yes, it seems it was thrown before the crash site. But it's how we found her so fast. She made a 911 call and they were able to hear her givin' directions before the connection was lost."
My smart wife.
"Jonah probably tossed it when he saw her usin' it." My hands ball into fists and I crack my neck. "He played us. Actin' like he was her friend and?—"
"Let's not make assumptions until we have more information."
"What about his sister? Has anyone talked to her?" Waylon asks.
"Mattie said she wasn't at their apartment, but her car is there."
"Wait..." I blink. "Raven's missin' too?"
"Seems that way."
"Was she with Jonah, too? Could she have been in the backseat?" Waylon asks.
"There was no indication of anyone else in the truck. With how pregnant she is, I doubt she would've gotten out on her own."
"Oh my God..." The realization hits me. "Wesley took her. He has them both."
"What makes you think that?" Waylon asks.
I wrap my hands behind my head and pace in front of them. "Wesley was after Raven, but with the PO, he had to keep his distance. He must've found out where she was livin’ and somehow took her when Mattie was at work."
"Okay...and how does Delilah fit into that equation?" Sheriff Wagner asks.
I blow out a breath, trying to organize my thoughts so I can talk this out.
"I-I'm not one hundred percent certain...but it's too much of a coincidence that they're both missin' at the same time and their common links are Jonah and Wesley. We know Jonah was plannin' to take Delilah somewhere..."
"Maybe he was bringin' her to Wesley in exchange for Raven?" Waylon offers.
"But why would he want Delilah and not Raven?" Sheriff Wagner asks.
"To get back at me...or both of us. He blames us for ruinin' his career. He was officially terminated after Delilah got the PO against him. He knows takin' her will ruin my life."
"An eye for an eye..." Sheriff says, then grabs his radio and walks toward the doors.
"You really think he'd take Delilah to get back at you?" Waylon asks.
"I think he's lost his goddamn mind, so yeah, he's probably capable of anythin' right now. He knew he couldn't take Delilah without a fight, so he needed leverage to get Jonah to bring him to her instead.
"Raven for Delilah..." Waylon confirms.
"I could be way off base but why else would Jonah flip a switch and threaten her with a gun? I'm not a fan of him in the first place, but he's too loyal to Raven to fuck up his life."
"You think Wesley would give up Raven, though?"
I snap my fingers as a light bulb goes off. "You're right...he probably wouldn't."
The sheriff returns. "I put out an APB on Wesley and Raven. The entire county is on alert."
We update the sheriff on our theory.
"I agree...he wouldn't give up his wife when she's the one he's been after the whole time." He nods, running a hand over his jawline. "He probably planned to kill Jonah."
"So where would he hide two women?" Waylon asks.
"I just had one of my guys check for any other properties in his name but there's only his house and they were headed there now. But I'm not expectin' them to find much. If Jonah was takin' her outta town, he was plannin' to stash them somewhere else."
"What about in their parent's names?" I ask. "Or Jonah's?"
"Yeah, let me have them check." He pulls out his phone and texts someone. "They're out scoopin' every property and abandoned buildin' down that road and side roads. If he's hidin' out there, we'll find them."
I know he's trying to reassure me, but knowing she might be with Wesley has my guts in a knot.
"Excuse me, Sheriff Wagner?" a nurse grabs his attention. "He's awake if you wanna talk to him."
I go to walk past him, but he stops me. "Stay here. He's not gonna talk if you're in his face."
My chest vibrates with anger and frustration.
Waylon stands next to me and we watch as Sheriff Wagner goes down the hallway toward the deputy guarding one of the rooms. Then the sheriff glances at me briefly before going inside.
Waylon moves in front of me, blocking my view. "You should sit before your heart explodes."
"I'm gonna kill him."
"You can't do that unless you wanna spend the rest of your life behind bars, because not even you're slick enough to get out of a murder charge."
"If he's the reason my wife dies, it'd be worth it."
"She's not dead," Waylon says gently. "Wesley needs her for a reason, so he'll keep her alive."
"That doesn't mean he won't hurt her."
"No, but you can't think like that."
"Why else would he take her?" I snap, pacing the room.
"To fuck with you?"
Before I can respond, the waiting room doors open and my family floods in with Mattie behind them.
"Wilder, I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left her at the store alone."
I wrap my arms around her, knowing she's freaking out too. "No, it's not. He was determined to get her and would've found a way eventually."
“My mom’s on her way,” Harlow tells me, and I can’t help thinking about how much Mrs. Fanning has already gone through. It’s been almost a year to the date since her husband died and Harlow was kidnapped.
And now it’s happening all over again with Delilah.
I bring everyone up to date and what our theory is while we wait for the sheriff to return.
Finally, he does.
"We know where she is..."