“I’ll be right back in a few minutes with towels and sheets. The kitchen is already stocked with a few dishes and utensils. But it’s BYOF—bring your own food. I can grab a few things from the big house for tonight if you need anything.”
“That’s all right. As long as I can get a glass of water tonight, I’ll be fine. We’ll figure out something tomorrow.”
Supper was good and meeting him was important, but she was growing anxious to get back to the whole reason she’d come to Wyoming. She wanted to call Dana and see if she’d learned anything. Still, she couldn’t deny that seeing Austin in his element, getting a glimpse into his past and his life and who he really was meant more to her than she could fully comprehend at the moment.
Heath marched back to his truck and drove off. He ran a big outfit here. One he’d practically built himself. She hoped Austin wasn’t jealous of his success. She found him looking out a panoramic window at the dense greenery in which the cedar cabin was nestled. Funny, he hadn’t taken off that cowboy hat. She kind of liked it on him. He appeared lost in thought. Had he even noticed her approach?
“And you were so worried about seeing him,” she said. “It all worked out, Austin.”
Willow didn’t know what exactly had caused a rift between them to begin with, or had she misunderstood? Was it all to do with their father? She wanted to ask him. “Whatever differences you had between you, it appears you’ve put them aside. I’m glad for you.”
Now she was talking out of turn.
If he and Heath could move on from whatever dark past haunted them, could she and Austin put their differences aside too and perhaps capture what they’d once had together? No. She wasn’t sure they could. She could too easily let the hurt and pain of losing him resurface. She definitely wouldn’t risk going through that again.
Somehow she had to resist the current called Austin that threatened to sweep her up in him. They had to focus on their goal. Time to put some space between them.
She stepped back from the window while he remained, staring out into the forest.
“Where are you going?” He snatched her wrist and reeled her in.
Her determination went right through the window and disappeared into the woods. How could one simple touch so easily strip her of her resolve? “Nowhere. Just thought I’d look around the cabin.”
He pulled his attention from the window. It landed on her face, traveled down to her neck, then back up to her eyes. Her breath came in short rasps. What was he doing? He lifted a strand of her hair and gently pushed it out of her face. His eyes dropped to her lips.
Oh no. She would have taken another step back, but her feet had betrayed her. The real Austin—the man she’d wanted to know deeply, thoroughly, stared down at her now. She could see the truth in his eyes, and much more that scared her.
“Thank you for encouraging me to come here today. For coming with me.” The words came from some deep place in his heart. She could plainly see that. A place she’d longed to see before, but he’d hidden his true self. Why now? Why was he showing her now?
Her pulse edged up.
“Heath comes on strong at times. But don’t worry about him.”
Heath? Why would she worry about Heath? She was worried about Austin now. Her reaction to him. “Why were you scared to come here to begin with?”
“There’s so much you don’t know.”
Then tell me. I want to know. But she’d made that mistake before. He’d revealed a portion of himself tonight, even if only in a look. Could she wait on him to share more when he was ready?
She heard Heath’s heavy, booted footsteps approaching the cabin. Austin released her, the haunted look returning to his eyes.
What had happened here?
Heath entered the cabin. “I brought towels and linens. Some for each cabin. And your bags.” He set the two duffels on the floor and the sheets and towels on a chair.
“What about the Jeep?”
“It’s fine sitting at the main house tonight. I’ll bring it up in the morning.”
Heath opened a case. He pulled out a large canister. “Bear mace. Just in case.” He handed a canister to each of them.
Then he pulled out a handgun. With a glance at Willow, he offered the weapon grip first. “Austin tells me you know how to use one of these. A Sig Sauer P328 .380. You can use this one while you’re here if there’s a need. It won’t kill a bear, but it’s for protection in general.”
Willow looked from one brother to the other. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t get me wrong. You should be perfectly safe here. Austin explained you’ve had some trouble and that he’s here to protect you as much as help you investigate.”
Austin must have told Heath while they walked to the barn and she wasn’t paying attention.
She took the weapon, wishing she hadn’t needed the stark reminder of potential danger. “Is it legal for me to have this?”
“Wyoming doesn’t require a permit. If you’re a law-abiding citizen, you can carry a gun even in the national forest.”
“That’s good to know.” Willow examined the gun. “My grandfather taught me. I lost my weapon in the fire.”
Lines creased Heath’s forehead, but he didn’t ask her about the fire. How much had Austin shared with him?
“All right. You ready to head to your cabin, Austin?”
He crossed his arms. “I’ll stay here for a while. I can walk over with my things.”
“Not a problem. You know where to find me if you need me.” Heath left them alone in the cabin.
Austin pinned her with his eyes—the intensity holding her hostage. “Are you going to be okay?”
“What? You mean alone in a cabin in the woods? I can rough it like the best of them.”
That earned her a laugh. “You call this roughing it?”
“Yes. Yes I do.”
His dimpled grin beneath that cowboy hat sent tendrils of warmth curling around her heart.
She was in so much trouble.
Her cell rang. Surprised she got a signal, she glanced at the screen, then up at Austin with a smile. “It’s Dana.”
Willow answered. “Hey. What have you found out?”
“I’ve called Katelyn. The news isn’t good.”
“Oh?” Willow eased into the padded maple rocking chair. “What is it?”
“She’s in the hospital. Taken a turn for the worse.”
Willow lifted her face to Austin. “We’re running out of time.”
Chapter twenty-seven
THURSDAY, 7:22 P.M.
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER
HOUSTON, TEXAS
Katelyn Mason stared at the ceiling from her hospital bed, accustomed to this scenario more often than she would have liked. She thought about the phone call from JT’s assistant, Dana. She didn’t know about family connections in Wyoming. Willow must have been following a rabbit trail. A tear slipped down her cheek. She didn’t bother to wipe it away but let the ache in her heart work its way out. She’d wait until the emotions passed, though, before she called her brother-in-law, John, to let him know she was back in the hospital.
She dreaded making that call. He traveled for his job as a consultant and she didn’t want to worry him. But he’d be furious with her as it was—more hurt, really—that she hadn’t called him already. She couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes, which only added to the pain she already felt.
Because of his years of experience in oil, he’d been a consultant to her when the wells first came in. He’d been the one to talk her into drilling in the first place.
But the way he looked at her lately, she almost thought he had developed romantic feelings for her. She didn’t feel that kind of love for him. But if he proposed, she would consider the proposition. What if Willow found Jamie? Jamie would need a father figure if she died. Someone stable and loyal. Yes. Katelyn would consider his proposal if he offered her one.
Maybe she should even encourage it.
&nbs
p; Either way, she wanted this misery to end soon, but not too soon. The nurses tried to keep their expressions bright, but she saw the pity in their eyes all the same. Still, Katelyn had fooled them many times and gone home from the hospital to live another few years before she became sick again. If only she didn’t have that deep gut feeling that the end was drawing near for her. The way her back and neck ached. The extreme fatigue weighed her down like never before.
Please let me find my daughter first.
But what if she actually found her? Was she being selfish to want to see her daughter, meet her, hold her in her arms? Her daughter then would lose her mother—a mother she’d never known about. There was always the chance that Jamie had died long ago. She had always believed she had an intuitive sense about such things. Like when Cliff had died. She’d had a feeling something bad was going to happen. But she’d never had that feeling about Jamie.
Instead, she had always sensed that Jamie had survived. That whoever had taken her that day had treasured her. Loved her like only a mother could.
She’d been told that women who took babies in this way were unable to have their own child or adopt, and the deep ache and longing twisted their perspective until, out of desperation, they stole someone else’s child. Katelyn’s baby was certainly not the first ever stolen. The doubts about her decision to continue searching, even after two decades, weighed on her. As of that moment, nothing in Scripture could help her silence the doubts.
The trouble was, if she called off the search, she’d always wonder, and she couldn’t live with that. But what did that matter? She wouldn’t live much longer anyway. A fact that only drove her need to know. She’d lived too long with this endless cycle of doubt and determination.
Except she’d also had her doubts about Willow Anderson. She hadn’t had the heart to pull out. Not when it seemed to give JT’s granddaughter hope on the heels of his loss.
Katelyn felt that loss to her diseased bones as if it were her own. Secretly, she’d harbored an infatuation for the man. He’d been a charmer. She’d thought maybe they could have grown closer. An easy friendship, perhaps, or one last romantic fling before the end. She would have treasured the camaraderie—but then again her death would only have left the man empty. Instead, she was the one left hurting with the news of his loss.
She had to hang on to hope that Jamie would be found.
You’re out there somewhere, Jamie, I just know it . . .
Chapter twenty-eight
THURSDAY, 7:52 P.M.
BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL FOREST
This had been a very bad idea.
Darkness closed in on Charlie as the sun finally sank far beyond the horizon, turning the forest almost an inky black in places where the moon didn’t shine. Charlie hiked the trail off the beaten path to the off-grid cabin where she lived for now. She’d had to park Bronc up a little ways in the woods on a forest service road. She didn’t like to hike in the dark and mostly avoided this scenario. She carried her bear mace and 9mm handgun and hoped she wouldn’t be required to use either of them. Half her focus remained on making her way along the nearly two-mile trail to her cabin. The other half on Clyde.
Why had he gone back to the house? Did it have something to do with the argument he’d had with Momma the day she was murdered? Did it involve Momma’s last words to him? That is, if Clyde had been the murderer. Despite all her suspicions, she couldn’t be positive. But who else?
The forest remained unusually quiet. Her heart raced. A coyote’s cacophonous yip from somewhere much too near startled her. She picked up her pace. The cabin barely came into view off the trail nestled between the dense trees. A perfect hideout.
But she still had a haul to get there. Sleeping alone in a secluded cabin in a dark forest didn’t scare her. She was accustomed to living out in the sticks with Momma, though this was much more remote. If she stayed at the house—her house now—she wouldn’t be able to sleep for fear he would kill her there.
Her dog’s bark reached her from the cabin. Was Rufus barking because he sensed her approach? Or had a nocturnal creature, a raccoon or a coyote, disturbed the peace, sending him into a frenzy?
Poor Rufus.
She’d always been good to make it back before dark. Fix dinner. Take Rufus on a walk. Then settle in for a good night’s sleep. She didn’t like lights on at night. She didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to the cabin in case he thought to search for her in these woods.
Maybe she was being paranoid, but she had every reason to be. She crept quietly down the trail, listening for a misstep in the cadence of night sounds. Though Rufus barked incessantly, the critters around the cabin had grown accustomed to him—he was now part of their world.
He’d been given to her as a gift. There was no better security system than a German shepherd guard dog. They’d grown close and she trusted him. But his vicious barks worried her. If something was outside the cabin that had disturbed him, then she’d prefer to be inside with him.
Fear coiled around her. She hurried to the door and fumbled with the key in the darkness, shushing Rufus. “Calm down, boy, I’m coming. I know, I know. You need to go.” And likely already had.
She opened the door. Rufus shot past her and into the woods.
“Rufus! Rufus!” Charlie called after him, but she couldn’t follow him. The way was much too treacherous, even for a grouchy German shepherd.
She called after him repeatedly. Commanding. Demanding. Pleading.
Aware that every shout was in direct defiance of her plan to keep quiet and stay hidden. Twenty minutes later, Charlie slipped into her dark cabin, bolted the door, and found her way to the cot.
Now what was she supposed to do? Her security system had run off.
Chapter twenty-nine
THURSDAY, 10:31 P.M.
EMERALD M RANCH
Willow had donned a T-shirt and sweats to sleep in. On the bed in “The Willow” cabin, if Heath followed through with that suggestion, she pulled the cozy comforter up to her chin.
“She’s in the hospital. Taken a turn for the worse.” Dana’s words resounded in her head. Would Katelyn even live long enough for them to complete their investigation? This hunt for Jamie could very well lead them nowhere, and it gnawed at the back of her mind. Pricked at her heart. If she hoped to get any rest, she’d have to shake the enormous pressure to find Jamie in time. Remove it all from her mind, or she’d be worthless tomorrow. She couldn’t afford to waste one day.
She hadn’t considered today a waste, because they’d come all this way and hoped to hear something from Hank. Why hadn’t he already contacted them? But more than that, she’d known Austin had needed this time with his brother. Tomorrow . . . tomorrow she had to get serious in her search for Jamie.
Willow shifted on the comfortable mattress. Heath had spared no expense for his customers who wanted to experience nature. Nothing better than getting a good night’s sleep with a top-of-the-line mattress while roughing it. She could almost smile at that. She was a nature girl all right. Enjoyed viewing nature from the safety of a panoramic cabin window. Hiking a trail now and again wasn’t too bad, but not too far or for too long.
Her mind refusing to rest, she reached for her cell and pulled up the image of the abductor Dana had sent her a few minutes ago. The forensic artist had taken the grainy image from the hospital security camera and aged the abductor, but she’d taken great liberties since that was a difficult task and she had no other photographs to go by. In the meantime, she continued to work on an image of Jamie, though Willow doubted the forensic artist would come up with an image that looked much different from Katelyn. But one never knew, so that’s why they continued with their efforts.
Willow feared that she would fail to resolve JT’s last case. He’d solved almost every mystery, every question he’d ever taken on. How utterly surreal that he had died in the middle of this impossible task, leaving it to Willow. If only for that reason alone, she could not fail.
She l
et her phone screen go dark and set it on the side table next to the weapon Heath had loaned her.
That, too, was surreal. He’d only given it to her as a precaution. Far from Seattle, she should be safe in Wyoming, especially here on the hard-to-reach guest ranch that hosted only a few families and friends. Austin was in the nearby cabin—as close as he’d ever stayed to her, physically, and emotionally, he was getting closer. He’d shared more of himself with her on this trip than he’d ever shared before, and they weren’t even romantically involved. What was that about? She couldn’t help but think it had everything to do with him coming back to Wyoming and facing what he had left behind.
She also had to consider the very real possibility that JT had, in fact, been thinking of Austin’s struggles when he’d called him for assistance. She knew her grandfather—that would be just like him. Her heart smiled at thoughts of JT, then she turned her thoughts to Katelyn and Jamie.
Lord, please let us find the truth for Katelyn. Please let her stay around long enough. Listen to her heart’s cry. I know you will. You’re good at that.
For the first time in days, Willow relaxed, her mind stopped churning, and sleep finally took hold.
Shadows shifted in the darkness. The silhouette of a man approached. A knife glistened.
Willow’s eyes opened. Her heart pounded from the dream and her frantic breaths filled her ears.
She lay perfectly still, quieting her breaths enough to listen.
It was only a dream.
Her heart rate slowing to almost normal, she soundlessly sat up in the bed, wishing she’d stocked the fridge with at least a few groceries. A jug of milk. Something.
The cabin was much too quiet. The temperatures dropped at night too much this time of year for singing frogs and insects. A cool breeze brought a woodsy scent and raised goose bumps on her arms. She crept over to the open bedroom door. Across the room she spotted the cause—the window was open. The curtains billowed.
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