Mountain Men of Liberty (Complete Box Set)

by K. C. Crowne

  “And what will a lawyer do?”

  “We’ll have to talk to him and figure it out. I’m sure there’s something we can do to make sure Wade can’t come near you and Milo ever again. If Wade wants to threaten you with power and money, we’ll fight back with power and money.”

  Josie stood up and rushed over to me. With Milo between us, she hugged me. I held the two of them close.

  If the legal route couldn’t protect us, I’d do whatever I had to. But for now, I’d try fighting fire with fire.

  Chapter 21

  Josie

  We stayed sheltered at Cyrus’s house for days, only leaving to meet with the lawyer. Even then, Cyrus didn’t let Milo or me out of his sight, and we always went straight home.

  We debated with ourselves about the court date itself. I’d been called to testify, so I would have to be there. But did we want to bring Milo out in the public eye? I offered to go alone, to let Cyrus stay home with Milo, but he refused.

  “I don’t like leaving Milo,” I said for the hundredth time as Cyrus drove us to the courthouse.

  “I don’t either, but I trust Grant. He’s a good man who will protect him at all costs.”

  We’d gone out of our way to get Milo to Grant secretly. Grant came over and literally snuck out with Milo. He hid him against his body inside his jacket. He already had a car seat and everything in his car; we’d set that up beforehand. He was to take Milo back to his place, which was as safe a place as he could be. Grant was an ex-Marine. He knew how to fight back. Anyone walking into that house uninvited was literally asking to leave in a body bag.

  But unless Milo was with me, I didn’t feel safe.

  Grant had messaged Cyrus that they had made it to his house and were doing well. Grant was raising his stepson, Caleb, and had protected him. I knew he was good with kids, and I knew we could trust him. I’d known Grant for most of my life, after all.

  “Do you think they’ll try anything at the courthouse?” I asked. I’d asked this a few times already, but it was all I could focus on.

  “I don’t know, but what I do know is that I don’t want Milo anywhere near Wade,” he said.

  And he was right. I knew he was right. Even if Wade didn’t do anything, even letting him see Milo in the flesh was more than I was comfortable with. Milo didn’t really look anything like him; he looked like my side of the family, but I wanted to keep up the lie that he wasn’t Wade’s - and if there was a chance Wade might notice any resemblance, well, that could make it harder.

  Not to mention, Wade would have friends there. Dangerous friends from the way things were looking recently.

  “And Teddy said they still have nothing.”

  That was a statement, not a question, but Cyrus chose to answer it anyway. “Nope. Nothing that would hold up in court, I’m afraid. Nothing against Wade.”

  “Dan’s going to meet us there, right?”

  Dan Bradstreet was the lawyer from Salt Lake that Cyrus had hired. He was, as promised, the best money could buy. I was very happy with him so far. He seemed to think even if Wade did get out, there was no way he’d win a custody battle in court - no matter how much money and power he had. He did warn us, though, that the judge overseeing the case today was known to be influenced. There was never any proof that he took bribes, but he warned me that things might not go as we hoped. Meaning Wade could get out.

  That blew my mind. I couldn’t imagine him getting out of jail based on the charges he had. He’d kidnapped a woman and held her against her will. He’d drugged her as well. I didn’t know the law very well, but it didn’t seem right that he’d get to walk free after that.

  Dan agreed with me - in a just system, Wade wouldn’t be released. But Wade was rich and powerful; he had friends in high places and enough money to buy himself out of any situation.

  Cyrus liked to remind me that technically we had the same type of money and influence.

  I reached across and took his hand in mine, giving it a firm squeeze.

  “Thank you for everything, Cyrus,” I said. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  He brought my hand to his lips and gave it a soft kiss, never taking his eyes off the road.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. I let go of Cyrus’s hand and reached for it, thinking it might be Grant or the lawyer. A million thoughts fluttered through my mind as I answered it. It was an unfamiliar number, so I had no clue what to expect on the other end of the line.

  “Josie.” Wade’s voice sent chills down my spine. I was about to hang up, but he quickly added, “Don’t hang up. I have your mother.”

  “You what?”

  “I have your mother,” he repeated.

  “What do you mean you have my mother, Wade?”

  Cyrus glanced over at me.

  “My people are keeping her company. After we get off the phone, I’ll have them call you to prove it, but hear me out first. If you want to keep your mom safe, you need to do everything I say.”

  I sat up straight in the seat. “I’m listening.”

  “First of all, you’re not going to testify today, and you need to retract all your statements about me. If you testify, we will kill her. If you don’t retract your statements, we will kill her.”

  My heart stopped.

  “Fine. I won’t testify. What else?”

  “There will be further instructions later, Josie. For now, that’s all. Oh, and obviously if you talk to the police, we will kill her, so don’t even think about it.”

  The line went dead. I stared straight ahead with the phone to my ear as if I expected him to say something else. The truck seemed to close in on me, and I couldn’t breathe. I lowered the phone, gasping.

  “Josie? What’s wrong?” Cyrus asked, his eyes cutting to me and returning to the road. “Talk to me.”

  “Stop the truck, please. I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Cyrus pulled over to the side of the road, and as soon as the truck was stopped, I hopped out and hurried to the embankment. I’d been feeling ill all morning, thanks to what I presumed was anxiety, but that moment, everything came up at once. I was kneeling on the side of the road, puking my guts up, and Cyrus rushed over to me.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, as soon as I’d stopped throwing up.

  “They have my mom.” The tears began to fall, and before I knew it, I was full on sobbing. Cyrus held me in his arms, rocking back and forth and holding me close. He stroked my hair and face, trying to calm me, but there was no calming me down. “He said I can’t testify or he’ll—”

  I couldn’t even say the words, but Cyrus knew what I was trying to get out. “What does he want?”

  “I’m not supposed to testify, but that’s only the first part of it.”

  Cyrus let out a deep sigh. “Josie, you have to testify or you’ll be in contempt of court. They’ll arrest you.”

  “I’ll just have to deal with that, Cyrus. I can’t let them kill my mother.”

  He seemed to weigh everything in his head.

  “We’ll talk to Dan afterward, I’m sure he can figure something out. I’m sure we can explain what happened after we get my mom back. I just need to make sure she’s safe. He said he’d have his men kill her if we showed up to testify, and I can’t take that risk.”

  After a long pause, Cyrus nodded. “Fine, yes, you’re right. We’ll take this step-by-step. Until we figure out what he wants and we can get to her, then we go straight to the cops.”

  “Of course,” I said.

  Cyrus stood up and helped me to my feet. My legs felt weak, and I wasn’t sure I could walk back to the truck, but Cyrus helped me. I still felt sick to my stomach and like I couldn’t breathe. My heart pounded inside of my chest.

  The phone rang again, sending panic throughout my entire body.

  “Let me take it,” Cyrus said.

  “No, I need to do it. I need to talk to my mom, make sure she’s alright.”

  I answered and before I could say anything, I he
ard my mother’s voice crying and begging in the background. My insides were torn to pieces.

  A man’s voice came on the line. “Is that proof enough?”

  My mother must have known they were calling me. She screamed out, “Josie, don’t do it. Whatever they want, don’t—”

  The line went dead.

  I was speechless and in more pain than I ever imagined possible. My mother had taken care of me my entire life. She’d always protected me, comforted me. I knew I could always count on her. I couldn’t let her down. I couldn’t let those men hurt her.

  “They went after her since they couldn’t get to me or Milo,” I said, my voice cracking. “We did everything we could to protect the two of us but never once thought about my mother. She’s collateral damage.”

  Cyrus started the truck and drove down the road until we found a place to turn around. He didn’t fight me about testifying, and for that, I was grateful. He knew how much my mother meant to me and how I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her.

  We drove home, mostly in silence. I was waiting for the phone to ring again. Another threat or warning or demand. But it never came. We picked up Milo and went straight home. Cyrus called Dan and simply told him I couldn’t testify, that something had come up. Dan tried to tell him the consequences. But Dan didn’t realize the consequences of me testifying far outweighed anything that could happen to me if I did.

  Ooo000ooo

  Dan called Cyrus after the hearing. He put the call on speakerphone, and we huddled together at his kitchen table with Milo in my lap to hear the news.

  “There’s something shady going on. As I expected, the judge seemed to be bought off by Wade, but more than that - so did many of the witnesses.”

  “What do you mean?” Cyrus asked, locking eyes with me.

  “Well, many of them didn’t show up at all, like the two of you. And those who did seemed to have a different story to tell than before. They described Wade as being a good, decent man and made it sound like his past activities were all mistakes or misunderstandings.”

  I sucked in a deep breath and held it, closing my eyes. I knew what was coming next.

  “He’s been released,” Dan said.

  I placed my head in my hands and tried not to cry. I didn’t want to upset Milo. It was like an avalanche had fallen around me, suffocating me and there was simply no escape. I’ll never be safe from him, I thought. Milo would never be safe. Even if Wade didn’t get custody, which Dan said was unlikely, there would always be that fear in my life. Every time Milo went to school or went outside to play… No, he’d never be allowed to do any of those things as long as Wade was still around.

  Cyrus finished the call with Dan, which was a blur to me. He put his arm across my shoulder, leaning in close and whispering, “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out.”

  “I’m not so sure about that, Cyrus.”

  “I’ll protect you.”

  I wanted to believe him. After all, he’d done a fine job of protecting us so far. When the man tried to kidnap Milo and had bashed my face, he’d been there to stop him. But he couldn’t protect everyone all the time. Even if we protected my mother from Wade, who would be next?

  “I can’t keep living like this, Cyrus.”

  “Living like how?”

  “Like a prisoner. And Milo can’t grow up that way either. We can’t be guarded by you 24/7. We both have lives of our own to live. Milo needs to grow up and go to school and make friends at some point.”

  “We’ll figure it out, Josie. One step at a time. Let’s get your mom back, and hopefully we can go to the police with everything afterward.”

  I had very little faith in the police as well. They hadn’t managed to get anything that would lock Wade up for good. Why should I believe that would change?

  My phone rang, and I knew who it was before I answered it. I’d been expecting this call now that Wade was free.

  “What do you want?” I asked, nearly growling into the phone.

  “I just want to see you Josie. Once you come to me, I will set your mother free.”

  Before I could say anything more, Cyrus grabbed the phone from my hand. “Listen here, we’re done playing your games. Let Josie’s mother go. We’ve already done what you wanted.”

  I could hear Wade’s cackling over the phone, and it sent a shiver through my body. I held Milo closer to me, as if that would protect him from his evil father.

  “No,” Cyrus said, speaking into the phone. “You will not deal with Josie personally. You’ll deal with me.”

  “Cyrus, please, let me handle this.”

  “Anything you want to say to her goes through me, got it?”

  “Cyrus!” I cried out, standing up and reaching for the phone.

  Cyrus stared down at the phone in his hand, which I was able to grab. When I got back on the phone, the line was dead. Wade had hung up on us, and I didn’t have a clue what I needed to do.

  Chapter 22

  Cyrus

  “That’s enough, we’re calling Teddy.”

  “Cyrus, no! They’ll kill her if we get the police involved.”

  “Then what are we going to fucking do? I’m not letting you go alone, Josie. No way in hell.” I slammed my hands down on the table, scaring Milo. He jumped and began crying. My heart broke for that little boy. There’d been so much drama the last few days, and here we were, screaming and arguing in front of him.

  I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. I was seeing red again. The bruises on her face and the gash on her forehead were stark reminders that she wasn’t safe. All I wanted to do was beat the shit out of someone - namely, Wade. I wanted to make him hurt the way he was hurting Josie and Milo.

  I opened my eyes after a few moments, and Josie had calmed Milo down, whispering to him and kissing his forehead. She was such a good mother. I knew she’d do anything for her son. I knew she was the way she was because she was raised well, by a woman who would have done anything for her.

  I knew that Josie wanted to fix this on her own, to make sure everyone she loved was safe, even at the expense of her own safety. But I needed to make sure she was good. Not only did I need her, Milo did as well.

  “You’ve known Teddy your entire life, correct?” I asked.

  “Most of my life, yes. We went to school together.”

  “You trust him?” She nodded. “I think if we call him, tell him what we know - what Wade has said about not going to the police - we can keep this on the downlow. Because there’s no way I’m letting you meet Wade alone. It’s too dangerous, and Milo needs his mother.”

  She looked at her son and stroked the hair back from his face.

  “Your mom wouldn’t want you to risk your life for her. Especially when you have a son that needs you.”

  Josie looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I feel so helpless.”

  “I know,” I said, rushing over to her and wrapping my arms around both her and Milo. “But that’s why we need to get Teddy involved. You can’t do this alone, and I can’t leave you alone either. Our hands are tied.”

  Josie wept into my shoulder for a few moments before nodding and wiping her eyes. “Yes, I trust Teddy. No one else, though. We need to make it clear that he’s to tell no one else.”

  “Of course.” I reached for my phone and dialed Teddy’s direct number. He answered on the first ring.

  “Everything okay, Cyrus? Josie didn’t show up to Wade’s trial today.”

  “Yeah, she’s okay, but there’s a reason for she didn’t show up.” I told him everything I knew. Josie sat down at the kitchen table and rocked Milo, who was starting to fall asleep in her arms.

  Once I finished, Teddy let out an audible breath. “And you’re just now telling me all this why?”

  “Because we thought Josie not testifying might be enough to get her mother released, then we could come to you once she was safe. But now, we’re not sure what to do.”

  “I’ll be right over.”
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  “No, don’t come here in case someone is watching the house.” I walked over to the kitchen window. The woods surrounding my house had always been peaceful before. Not today. It provided shelter for people to hide. “We’ll have to talk by phone.”

  “Alright, I’ll see what I can do in regards to finding out Wade’s location without setting off any alarms. I’ll let you know as soon as I have any news.”

  “Thanks, Teddy.” Earlier, I hadn’t trusted him because I felt like he wasn’t doing enough. Now, I realized, he was only doing what he could. Hopefully he could do more now that Wade actually had admitted to committing another crime.

  I hung up the phone and walked over to Josie. She looked up at me with the saddest eyes I’d ever seen.

  “Are you sure this is the best way?” she asked, her voice cracking.

  “I do.” I stroked her face, cupping her chin in my hand. Leaning down, I kissed her gently on the lips.

  Milo was fast asleep in her arms, so I helped her put him to bed. It was getting late, but normally we might stay up a bit longer, hanging out in the living room. But not tonight. Josie sat down on my bed with her legs crossed, her eyes on Milo, not saying a word.

  I joined her on the bed and put an arm around her. She leaned into me, never taking her gaze off the sleeping baby.

  “I feel so torn,” she said softly. “On the one hand, I know you’re right. Milo needs me. But she’s my mother, Cyrus.”

  “We’re not going to let anything happen to her.”

  She pulled away and sat up straight, staring down at her hands in her lap. “You can’t promise me that. There’s no way to be sure she’ll be fine unless I go to him myself.”

  “And even if you go to him, there’s no way to be sure he won’t kill you both anyway.”

  “I know, I’m not stupid, but I’d like to think that Wade only wants me. No one else matters. Not even Milo.”

  She was right. He didn’t ask her to bring Milo to him – he’d asked for her. Not that I was surprised. We all knew Wade was more concerned about her, not Milo. He only used the baby as a pawn in his game to get her back.