Chapter Twenty-Two
Blaize parked in the lot next to a pickup at Sister’s Love.
He exited the rental car and opened the door for Carys.
Working like a team, they freed the carrier from the seat belt and grabbed the diaper bag.
Rue had been in his life for less than forty-eight hours yet had managed to imprint his heart.
If he lost her, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Sister’s Love was in need of TLC, much like the ranch. Two stories with peeling paint, it had an almost ominous air to it. The wraparound porch had seen better days. Once he got the ranch up and running again, he could gather a group of volunteers to work on this place.
As they approached the door, it opened from the inside. A short, round woman welcomed them inside.
“I’m Rosie,” she said to Blaize. “I’d offer a handshake but yours are full. Can I take her from—”
“Could we sit down for a minute?” Carys asked.
“Of course.” Rosie led them from the foyer into a formal living area. The furniture looked to be original to the house. She held out her hand toward the sofa. “Please, sit down.”
“I know how challenging it has been with staffing,” Carys said, starting right in. “I’d like to volunteer for the next couple of days.”
Rosie blinked like she couldn’t believe her eyes. “We’re always looking for good people. You of all people know that. We’d love to have you. I’ll get the paperwork started tomorrow morning.”
“I was thinking more like starting tonight,” Carys said.
“With paperwork? Nothing can be done until—”
“I know you need the help, Rosie. And I don’t feel good about dropping her off and running when I know how short-staffed you are.”
“I appreciate your willingness to drop everything else in your life and help.” Rosie sat up a little straighter. “I can assure that we can handle every situation that comes through that door.”
“You sure about that?”
Carys’s words landed like bullets.
Rosie stood up, shot a glare, and grabbed the handle to the carrier. The hallway was too dark to make anything out clearly. Blaize saw the outline of someone lingering. Was she waiting to take Rue?
“Hold on, Rosie. I didn’t mean it to come out like that.” Carys’s tone was pleading.
Blaize reached over and took her hand in his. It was then he realized hers was trembling. Watching Rosie take Rue away and hand her off hit hard.
Carys stood. He followed suit. She squeezed his fingers.
The baby was then given to the silhouette.
Rosie turned around, blocking their view of the hallway. “Shall I walk you out, or do you want me to call the authorities?”
“There’s no need to do anything like that,” Blaize said, a little shocked at the threat. “We’re heading out now.”
Carys hesitated. He squeezed her hand gently for reassurance. Thankfully, she followed him out the front door without an argument. The last thing they needed to do tonight was get the sheriff involved. Carys didn’t need another hit on her performance record.
“We’ll figure something out,” he said as soon as they were in the clear and walking toward the rental car.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a streak of red behind the building.
Nah. Couldn’t be.
What the hell?
“I think she’s here,” Blaize said.
“Who?” Carys’s forehead wrinkled with confusion. And then it dawned on her. Her mouth snapped open and shut. “Sharon?”
He signaled toward the back of the house. Then took off running.
The front door opened, and Rosie came out in a hurry. “Carys. Don’t leave yet. Can I speak to you?”
TORN BETWEEN FOLLOWING Blaize and hearing what Rosie had to say, Carys froze.
“Go talk to her,” Blaize said before disappearing around back.
“What is it?”
“She was here,” Rosie said, waving Carys inside. “Please. Hurry.”
Carys jogged over and then followed Rosie into the house, stopping in the foyer. “What’s going on, Rosie?”
The woman twisted her fingers together. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. “There was a man with a gun. He had her.”
“Who?”
“Sharon.”
“You know her?” Carys didn’t bother to hide her shock.
“She came here when she was pregnant,” Rosie admitted, working her fingers. “We let her help out off the record. She said she was in trouble and needed our help.”
“Blaize just saw red hair,” Carys said, trying to process what she was hearing.
“She dyed it so the baby’s father wouldn’t recognize her.”
“You knew all of this and didn’t say anything?”
“I helped a pregnant single mother without quizzing her,” Rosie said. “It’s part of what we do here.”
“We have reason to believe she died in a car crash.”
“No.” Rosie shook her head. “That would be impossible because she was taken out the back door after you handed over the baby.”
“You took Rue and delivered her to a criminal,” Carys said, her tone accusatory.
“I gave her to her mother.” Rosie compressed her lips into a frown. “And now I have no idea what to do.”
“Call the sheriff and explain everything you just told me,” Carys said.
“Sharon said he would kill her if I did that,” she admitted.
“I have to go.” Carys started toward the back door. “Blaize is out there. Alone.”
A shot fired.
Oh no.
Carys’s heart dropped. Rosie grabbed hold of her. The world started to spin. Nausea caused bile to rise up and burn the back of her throat.
Blaize!
“Don’t go out there,” Rosie said. “You might end up getting shot.”
“I can’t leave Blaize out there alone to deal with—”
The back door opened so hard it smacked against the wall. Rosie screamed.
“It’s me,” Blaize said.
Carys bolted around her and into the dark hallway toward the kitchen. The first thing she saw was blood.
“Blaize, you’re shot.”
“I know. It’s okay.” It would be just like him to reassure her when he was the one bleeding out. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
Blood flowered on his shirt sleeve near his right bicep.
“It’s a lot of blood, Blaize.”
He was shot, bleeding. Rue was gone. Sharon was somehow alive.
“Help me!” shouted a female voice from outside.
Rosie came running into the kitchen and straight to the door. “It’s her.”
“Don’t open that door,” Carys warned. “It could be a trap.”
But it was too late. Rosie had already undone the lock. The second she did, the door flung open and smacked her.
“Rosie,” the redhead from the picture—Sharon—said with concern in her voice. She scanned the room. “I’m so sorry.”
“Where’s the baby?” Carys asked.
“He got her,” Sharon said.
“We have to get her back. Call the sheriff,” Carys said to Rosie. “Now!”
“They’ll arrest me,” Sharon said.
“Do you want to lose Rue forever?” Carys worked on stemming the blood dripping down Blaize’s elbow.
“Who has her?” he asked.
“Silus,” Sharon said.
“He came himself?” Blaize asked. He looked to Carys. “I’ve got this.” She’d put enough pressure to stop the bleeding temporarily.
“That’s right. He said he couldn’t trust anyone else to get the job done or handle a precious package like her and—”
“Lock the door behind me,” Blaize said. “I know a shortcut. I can head him off, but I have to go now.”
“Not in this condition, you can’t.” No way was Carys letting him go out there without her. “You’re bleeding.”
He shrugged it off like it was nothing.
“Then I’m coming.”
“Too risky.”
She shot her best do not argue with me look and followed him out the back door after he heaved a sigh and then jumped into action. The lock snicked the moment they were outside. Good that Rosie took it seriously. Not so good that they couldn’t turn around and go back inside if Silus was out here.
Blaize took off running toward a wooded area.
She did her best to keep up as she fumbled with her cell.
Rosie might not call law enforcement due to Sharon’s request, but Carys had no problem doing it.
If the woman ended up in jail, so be it.
For Rue’s sake, Carys hoped the courts would go easy on Sharon.
Silus was a different story altogether. That man needed to rot in a burning—
Dammit.
Carys dropped her cell. It was black as pitch out here. There was no way she could keep going and find it.
“Do you have your phone on you?” she asked Blaize as they half hopped, half ran through scrub brush, zigzagging in and out of trees. Branches slapped her face and torso as they bolted through the woods.
They ran long past her thighs burning. She was lost. It was dark. What if they ended up stuck out here overnight?
The shock of seeing Sharon alive and of Blaize being shot was something she might never recover from.
A glimpse of red taillights stopped Blaize so fast that Carys ran into his back.
As they moved closer, a familiar sound pierced her chest like a bullet through armor. Rue’s cries broke Carys’s heart.
From this distance, they could see that the driver’s-side door was open. Had he fled, leaving his daughter to fend for herself?
The question they should have asked was Why would Silus abandon the vehicle? They didn’t. Emotion overtook logic when it came to Rue.
“Stay here,” Blaize warned.
“Like hell I will.”
Carys bolted around Blaize on his right side and ran like hell toward Rue.