Once she realized Gram was in danger, Chloe stood up and followed them outside. She pointed toward a footpath. “Mrs. B walked down that one.”
“That’s the way to the ranch. I don’t get it.”
As Riley wrapped her arm around Chloe’s shoulders and whispered for her not to worry, Thayne dialed Hudson’s number.
“Have you found Gram?” Hudson snapped before Thayne said a word.
“No, but we found Chloe at the bunkhouse. She’s been camped out there.”
His brother threw out a flurry of curses. “What about Gram? Chloe didn’t find that place on her own.”
“She claims Gram started walking home.”
“Here?” The sound of Hudson hurrying through the house, opening doors, and flicking on lights was distinct. “She’s not here.”
“Did you search every room?” Thayne asked, seeing Riley hug Chloe and give the worried girl a quick kiss on the top of her head. “Maybe Pops knows of some place she went when she was upset.”
“I’ll ask him.”
“We’re taking the south footpath to the house. That’s the one Chloe said Gram took. Be there soon.”
Thayne ended the call. He went to the SUV and pulled out a flashlight and held it out to Chloe. “We’re going to walk to the house the way Gram went. I know it’s difficult to understand, but Gram isn’t doing well.”
Chloe took the flashlight and flicked it on. “Mama said Mrs. B’s brain is sick.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t remember very well and she gets scared when she’s alone. It’s dark and she might not know how to get home if she strays from the path. We need to find her.”
He showed her how to sweep the beam from side to side. He held up his phone, and its flashlight feature pierced the darkness in front of them. “Keep a lookout for Gram in the grass. She could’ve fallen.”
They started forward, walking slowly, Chloe a few steps ahead of him and Riley. Each took turns calling Gram’s name, then waiting to hear a reply. Chloe’s expression grew more and more concerned.
“She cares about your grandmother,” Riley offered in hushed tones.
“I can tell. Gram has that effect on people.”
The trek back to the ranch’s driveway felt ten times longer than normal. They spotted the house through the trees, and it looked like every light had been turned on. The home glowed like a little pearl of radiance at the bottom of a dark sea. Surely if they could see the house, Gram had. They quickened their steps, and Thayne drew close to Riley. “Once we find Gram, we’ve got to pry the truth out of Chloe.”
“She’s been through so much. I wish Helen could answer our questions,” Riley said.
“So do I.” He raised his voice so Chloe could hear. “This is where Gram lives.”
When they rushed up the front porch steps, Hudson threw open the door. “Thank God you’re here. I was just about to call you. We found her. She was stumbling around near the back shed totally disoriented.”
Thayne rushed inside after his brother, Riley and Chloe close on his heels. “Is she okay?”
Hudson led them past the living area. “She won’t stop crying, and she doesn’t recognize Pops.”
“Where is she?” Thayne asked.
Hudson led them toward a long hall. Their old bedroom was in the original part of the house. “Pops thought it’d feel more familiar. Maybe calm her.”
“Makes sense.”
Carson hovered in the doorway near Madison, who looked on with tears in her eyes. Hudson nudged them clear to make room for Thayne and entered the small room that had been converted years ago into a guest room. The regular-size bed and small dresser appeared crammed into the room, which might have been large in the 1950s but now seemed too small to even turn around in.
Pops sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at his wife. She lay huddled on the quilt, clutching a pillow in her arms. Her sobs were real.
“Don’t cry, Helen, my love. Please.”
“Go away, you old letch. I want my Lincoln.”
Thayne’s heart broke at the words. Both for Gram and for Pops. He’d had to face her rejection too many times over the last year. His sad eyes lifted to Thayne’s and he nodded, giving Thayne permission to take over.
Careful not to startle her, Thayne crouched next to the bed, hating that he had to pretend to be his grandfather but thankful that he could. Her sobs made his soul weep, and he slowly reached out his hand to gently stroke her hair. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
She wiped her eyes and blinked at him. A smile tilted the corners of her mouth up. “Lincoln. Something awful’s happened.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed with a strength he didn’t know she had.
“What’s wrong? I can help.”
She shook her head violently. “I can’t tell you. I promised myself I’d never involve you. If anyone ever found out, you could lose everything you care about.”
“I care most about you, Helen. You know that.”
She patted Thayne’s face. “And I care most about you.” She sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know how, but they’ve been found. I have to help them, but I can’t remember . . .” She bit down on her lip. “I can’t remember who to call. What am I supposed to do?”
Rocking back and forth in despair, Gram glanced up. Her gaze landed on Chloe. “Oh, my dear girl, what are you doing here? Where’s your mother? She has to get help. We have to ask . . . Riley.” Helen’s gaze snapped to Riley, who was holding Chloe’s hand. “You’re not FBI anymore, right? But you know people. You can help them get away. I don’t know how he found out. How does he know? Everyone’s in danger.”
Gram leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “It’s a secret. It has to be a secret forever. Can’t tell anyone. Not Lincoln, not Carson, not Thayne.”
Thayne couldn’t take her rambling any longer. The line between fantasy and reality was getting more blurred day by day. He grabbed his grandmother in his arms and began to hum her favorite song, then quietly sing.
“Could I have this dance . . .”
This time, though, the waltz didn’t calm her. It worked a different kind of magic.
“Thayne, let me go. You’re holding me too tight.”
He released her and backed away. “Gram? Are you okay?” He held his breath, scared it was too good to be true.
Helen glared at the entire room. “What are you all standing around for?” Her gaze traveled across the tiny room until it landed on Pops. “I told you we should’ve just bulldozed this section of the old place. It’s colder than a cow’s hindquarter in a snowstorm in here. Take me back to our room, Lincoln. I need a cuddle.”
Thayne should have been smiling, but Gram’s quick transformation left him speechless. He bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck. Riley entered the room and slipped her arms around him from behind. “What just happened?” he asked her, his voice low.
“Are you okay?” She hugged him tight.
He covered her arm around his waist with his. “Stunned, but grateful. She’s back to being herself. For the moment.”
Thayne glanced at Chloe, whose disturbed gaze followed his grandparents down the hall. “Gram may be on a temporary new normal, but how do we connect with Chloe, get her to communicate with us?” he asked Riley.
“She’s got to start trusting someone. I think Cheyenne was onto something when she asked my sister to sit with her.”
Thayne turned in Riley’s arms. “Chloe’s about the age of your sister when she was abducted.”
“They have a lot in common,” Riley agreed. “And she became a mother to all the kids that man kidnapped. She has experience dealing with teenagers with posttraumatic stress.”
He turned to see Hudson speaking in low tones to Madison, who was still wiping tears from her eyes. “She seems . . . fragile.”
Riley gazed lovingly at her sister and smiled. “She has a big heart. That doesn’t mean she’s fragile.”
Women were complex, and Thayne was just starting
to understand that concept. “So you think she’ll agree to speak with her?”
Riley hugged him tight. “I don’t believe there’s any doubt about it.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The house grew silent as Pops escorted Gram down the hall. Riley’s gaze followed with concern. It seemed to her as if Helen Blackwood was snapping back and forth between the present and the past more and more often. The family had called off the search and let the town know Helen was safe.
Now they all moved to the living room, and Riley plopped onto the couch next to her sister as Thayne and Hudson took the chairs opposite them. Madison picked up Riley’s hand and laced their fingers together. “It’s all just so horrible,” she whispered. “I feel so badly for them. I don’t know how to help.”
“It’s called sundowning,” Thayne said to Riley, Madison, and Chloe. “The evening is tough for Alzheimer’s patients. I haven’t seen any good explanation, but it’s common. Gram gets anxious and more confused. The quieter, the better.”
As Thayne talked, Chloe roamed the room, growing closer and closer to the front door. Subtlety wasn’t one of Chloe’s skills. Riley caught Madison’s eye and nodded toward the girl.
Her sister mouthed, “I got this,” got up, and crossed the room to Chloe, who went immediately still with a very guilty look on her face.
“Hi. I’m Madison.” She stuck out her hand. “I sat with you sometimes when you were at the hospital.”
Chloe screwed up her face. “Why?”
“Everyone deserves a friend.” Madison grinned at Chloe. “Do you like ice cream?”
Chloe glanced between Riley and her sister, looking for something to be wrong. How strange had her life been that she expected the worst out of every situation? “It’s okay, Chloe. Madison is a good person. I’m pretty sure you’re going to like her. I know I do.”
With skepticism pursing her lips still, Chloe nodded. “Chocolate. No vanilla. I mean, what’s the point if it’s just vanilla?”
Madison didn’t hesitate but grabbed Chloe’s hand. “You’d be surprised what you can do with good ol’ vanilla. Come on. That big cowboy over there makes really good hot fudge sundaes. I’ve talked him into making one already today, and I think it’s time for another.”
With a quick wink at Riley, Madison led Chloe to the Blackwoods’ kitchen. Hudson trailed in their wake.
Riley couldn’t stop smiling. Hudson followed after Madison a little like a loyal hound. She met Thayne’s gaze. “Interesting development between my sister and your brother.”
“He talks about her a lot.” Thayne frowned after them. “Hudson doesn’t date much. I don’t know why exactly, but he seems to like her enough to actually pursue a relationship.”
She glanced toward the kitchen and lowered her voice. “Don’t take this wrong, but I don’t know if she’s ready. She doesn’t talk about men.” Riley folded her hands in her lap and then immediately unfolded them. “She’s different, Thayne . . . and you know what I mean by that. Tell him if he’s not really interested to walk away. Otherwise, if he is, he needs to go slow—as in a-sloth-that’s-not-in-a-hurry slow.”
“Got it.” Thayne craned his neck, trying to see into the kitchen, but the angle wasn’t quite right. He leaned forward and cocked his head, trying to hear what they were saying. A frown dug across his forehead.
“What do you think’s going on? Should we join them?”
“Not yet,” she whispered, slightly amused by his impatience. “Give Madison time. If Chloe can connect with her, we’ll have a better chance at getting information.”
Thayne sat back. “I won’t dispute that. Nothing is on the back burner with this one. I feel like—”
His phone rang, and he glanced at the screen. “It’s Willow.”
He got up and moved to sit beside Riley. He answered the phone. “Hey, Willow, did you find anything?”
“He’s good, whoever he is,” Willow said, her voice clear and somewhat in awe. “He’s created a back door in the car rental database. He added a record for Philip Andrews.”
“How can you be sure?” Riley asked.
“Because the date that record was added wasn’t until you started investigating the Jordan deaths as a murder.”
“Hold on, Willow.” Thayne rose, grabbed their jackets, and motioned Riley to follow. He didn’t want to alarm Chloe if she heard him say anything about her parents.
He and Riley ended up on the front porch surrounded by a chorus of chirping crickets. They slipped into their coats. The crisp night air captured the light of the moon as it rose high above the mountain peaks. The setting was beautiful and peaceful, and completely at odds with the Jordan case.
“So Riley’s right,” he said. “These are no accidents happening. Our guy is manipulating our lives. Like the pro that he is. Can you identify him, Willow?”
“There’s no trail that I can see from here. Maybe if I had access to the original server . . . but for that I’d need either inside contacts or it’d have to be official.”
“Let me see what I can do,” Thayne said and hung up. He turned to Riley, who stared at the bright moon hanging above them. “What do you think? Would your boss help us?”
She winced. “We don’t have enough for a warrant. At least not that Tom would feel comfortable presenting to a judge.” She switched her gaze to his and held out her hand. He clasped her fingers and let her drag him back inside the house. “It’s time to ask Chloe what she knows.”
They headed toward the kitchen, but when they got close, soft sobs stopped them from entering. The high-pitched voice shook with vulnerability.
Thayne hated the helplessness that had settled over him the moment he’d realized Chloe had saved herself even as the Jordans had been murdered.
“I should’ve died with them.”
No twelve-year-old should feel that way, though Thayne had met too many who did on his tours overseas.
“No, Chloe,” Madison immediately said. “Don’t say that. Your mother and father wanted you to live.”
Thayne and Riley hovered just outside the kitchen with a narrow view of the room.
Chloe wiped her eyes. “I know. Daddy yelled out our big trouble word ’cause someone bad was in the house. I snuck into the panic room while the man was yelling at my dad.” She toyed with the spoon and stared out the window into the night.
“I stayed a long time. Then the fire and smoke started coming in through the ceiling, so I closed the steel door.” Silent tears escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “I couldn’t breathe and it got so hot.”
Brave kid. She deserved to have it easy, and he couldn’t promise her that. Not in the investigation, not with her biological father.
“Did you see the man who visited your house?” Hudson asked.
Chloe shook her head. “No, but I heard him. He was really angry. He called my mom some really bad names. Told my dad he shouldn’t have married her. I don’t remember falling asleep, or anything else . . . not until I woke up in the hospital. I heard people talking outside my room and I knew the fire got Mom and Dad. I knew my real father wanted to take me away. I couldn’t let that happen. Mom didn’t know, but I remember how he used to hurt her. He’s the reason we came here.”
She still didn’t know her real father was dead, and that the danger from the man who’d hurt her and her mother was gone. Thayne would have to tell her, but he wasn’t quite sure how. She’d been through so much.
Chloe’s spoon clattered in her bowl as she swiped through the hot fudge. She tipped her face toward Madison and confessed, “I knew you were there in the hospital. I pretended to be asleep while you read to me.”
Madison bopped Chloe’s nose. “You fooled me.”
A smile pulled at her lips. “Mrs. B knew. She told me to keep pretending until it was safe. So I did.” Chloe slid her finger through the remainder of the hot fudge and licked it clean. “That’s when Mrs. B helped me escape. Just like before.”
Thayne nodded for
Riley to follow as he stepped into the kitchen. “How’s the ice cream?”
Riley went to her sister and stole a spoonful before grinning at Chloe. “What’s going on in here?”
Their appearance startled the girl, and she immediately pressed her lips together. The wall was back up.
Madison held her hand. “You can trust my sister. I promise.”
“What about him?” Chloe pointed at Thayne. “Mama told me we can’t trust anyone with a badge. They have rules that can hurt you.”
Thayne winced at the truth. It would’ve been difficult to keep Philip away from Chloe if he were still alive.
“I’ll leave if you feel that way, but I only want you to be safe.” He crouched down and met her eye to eye. “You remember when I told you your father couldn’t get you? That’s because he died in a car accident.”
Chloe blinked. “Did you kill him?”
“No. It was an accident.”
“Mama would’ve been happy. He was mean to her.” She laced her fingers with Madison’s. “I really don’t have anyone now, do I?”
Madison squeezed her hand. “You have all of us, honey. I promise.”
The words made Thayne pause in worry. That was a big promise, but then again Madison knew exactly how Chloe felt.
Riley sat down across from Chloe. “Can I get some ice cream like my friend’s here?” she asked, her voice innocent and pointed.
“Of course.” Hudson got another bowl and began building another sundae.
“When Maddy and I were little girls, we’d have ice cream together sometimes,” Riley said. “We played together a lot and told each other everything.”
Chloe leveled an annoyed look Riley’s way. “You’re not even slightly subtle. What do you want to know?”
Riley straightened and met Chloe’s gaze, unblinking and unflinching. “Okay, Miss Smarty-pants. The man who was in your house killed your parents and tried to kill you. I want to stop him, but I need your help. I don’t know who he is. Did you hear them talking to each other? Did he say anything unusual?”
Chloe swallowed deeply. “Madison told me you never give up. Is that true?”
Forgotten Legacy Page 21
