Destiny Canyon

by Val Welch

  “To answer your question, yeah, I’m positive. Stella knows everything.”

  Sullivan nodded. “Well, I’m impressed with how well she’s handling the situation then. And you said there were three kids, correct?”

  Gabe nodded. “Yeah, three boys.”

  “There are now four kids in the house. The three boys and a little girl they’re calling Torrie.”

  Gabe swung around and fully faced Sullivan. “Torrie? Are you sure it’s Torrie?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “How old?”

  “Judging by her language skills, she’s pretty young, two, maybe three, years old.”

  Gabe grabbed his pack, swung his rifle up onto his shoulder and started down the trail.

  Carson followed him. “Gabe, stand down.”

  Gabe turned toward him. “That’s my kid down there and I’m gonna go get her.”

  “Possibly.”

  “What do you mean, possibly? That’s my kid. Eden and I were going to have two kids, a boy name Jacob and girl named Torrie.” He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Damn, she was pregnant when she left. I suspected as much.”

  “Come on,” Carson said. “You can’t go rushing down there. We have to handle this right, keep everyone, including Torrie safe.”

  Agent Sullivan moved closer. “Chief Navarro, he’s right. I can’t let you go down there. Nick Malone is most likely already there in one of the outbuildings. I need to get my teams in place before we establish contact with the people in the house.”

  Gabe glanced down at the ranch. Daylight was breaking fast. It was just a matter of minutes before Stella would be moving around out in the yard. “Whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it now.”

  “I agree,” Sullivan said. “Agent Billings, I’d like to send Charlie team in from the ridge across the valley to secure the outbuildings. Then we’ll work our way down to the back of the house.”

  Carson nodded. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

  “Tell them to watch for dogs,” Gabe said. “Stella always has several around. She keeps them in the barn at night.”

  “Got it.” Sullivan said.

  Gabe, Carson and Agent Sullivan watched a team of agents work their way down the hillside across the valley and move through three of the five outbuildings. The team was approaching the rear of the large barn and adjoining single-car garage when a young man exited the house and walked across the yard toward the barn.

  Sullivan immediately alerted the agents on the ground and they took cover at the rear of the barn. Gabe held his breath as the boy opened the barn doors wide and three large dogs ran out. The dogs immediately began trotting around the corner of the barn toward the team of agents. “Oh shit.”

  The boy called and two of the three dogs responded by running to him, the third and largest stood still then began to creep toward the adjoining garage. “At least he’s not going toward the team,” Sullivan said.

  “What’s in the garage though?” Gabe asked.

  Forty-Nine

  Shelby watched in horror as the garage door slowly slid upward and Nick Malone walked out. He shot the dog and then held the gun on the boy who had dropped to his knees next to the dog.

  “Oh God no,” she moaned. Doc rousted from the chair next to the bed and looked at her.

  He put his glasses on and peered at the screen on the laptop. “What’s wrong?”

  Together, they watched Nick Malone grab the boy, put a gun to his head and drag him back into the garage.

  She saw movement on the ridge behind the house. Carson and Gabe, along with the hostage rescue team were rapidly working their way down the tree covered hillside toward the back of the house. The team that had hidden behind the barn was now moving on the garage Nick Malone had disappeared into with the boy.

  Her cell rang, it was Carson. “Shelby, was it Nick Malone?”

  “Yes. A white pickup just drove out of the garage and there’s a guy standing in the back pointing a missile toward the house. He’s yelling at someone, wait … okay, he’s yelling at Nick Malone who’s walking out of the garage with the boy in front of him. They’re trying to get away using the boy as cover.”

  “Shelby, we’re going in to get Stella and the rest of the kids. Keep talking to me.”

  “Malone must be threatening to kill the boy if the team doesn’t back off,” she said. She watched the standoff in the front of the house then glanced at the overhead view to see Carson, Gabe and the rest of the team enter the house via the back door.

  Whoever was managing the satellite feed abruptly split the screen into four quadrants, enabling her to watch the front of the house, back of the house, the overhead view and now the helmet camera view from one of the team entering the house.

  “Nothing changing out front,” she reported. She had a huge knot in her stomach as she watched the team inside the house work their way through a long hallway, clearing the rooms as they searched for the hostages. They found two boys huddled together in the corner of a bedroom. An agent quickly scooped them up and ran from the house.

  She scanned the other screens and reported to Carson. “Malone has the teen boy at the truck and is talking to the guy with the missile. It’s one of the enforcers from the compound. The other one is probably the driver. Be careful in there.”

  She continued to watch as the interior team methodically searched the house. She caught a glimpse of Carson and Gabe standing with their backs against a wall talking with the squad leader. Carson closely listened and then nodded. She caught a brief bit of the conversation as the operational audio was added to the satellite feed. Carson was wearing a tactical headset as well as his wireless cell ¬¬ phone mic. “Carson baby, I’m watching you,” she whispered.

  She saw a faint smile cross his face before the camera turned away from him. With tears running down her face, she watched the team run down another shorter hallway and burst into a large living room.

  Eden was standing with her back to a large window, facing them and gripping a handgun in both hands. Stella and a little girl were huddled on the floor at her feet.

  “Get out or they’re dead,” Eden screamed as she jerked around the room waving the gun. Stella pushed the child behind her and turned to face Eden.

  “Eden, calm down. They are not here to take your child,” Stella said steadily.

  Eden turned toward Stella and screamed. “I don’t believe you. You lied to me. You called them to take Torrie away.”

  “My God, it’s true, she does have a child,” Shelby said turning to look at Doc.

  “I’d say so. She looks just like her,” Doc said moving closer and peering at the screen. “Look at Eden’s eyes, she’s definitely on something.”

  “Steady, Carson,” she whispered.

  Carson’s hushed voice came on the phone. “Shelby, what’s happening in the living room? I can’t see from my position.”

  “Eden has Stella and Torrie on the floor waving a handgun around and is threatening to shoot them. Be careful, Doc thinks she’s tweaking.” She heard Carson issue the fall back order and watched as the camera backed out of the room and returned to the hallway where Carson, Gabe and the squad leader waited.

  She turned her attention to the scene playing out in the front of the house. The missile shooter shifted his position slightly as he and Nick Malone yelled at the slowly approaching team of agents. One of the agents took advantage of his momentary distraction and shot him. “Hold on. They took the missile guy out,” she whispered, watching him fall back into the bed of the truck. Seconds later, they shot Nick Malone, his body slamming into the side of the truck by the force of the rounds being pumped into it. The driver of the truck returned fire, hitting one agent before he was shot. The boy was lying on the ground curled into a fetal position under the agent who had shot the driver.

  “Shelby, what’s happening?”

  She realized Carson was screaming in her ear. “It’s okay, the team took them, it’s over out front.” She heard
shots from inside the house and watched in horror as Gabe flashed past the helmet camera and around the corner into the room with Eden and the hostages.

  “No,” Shelby screamed as Carson followed Gabe down the hall and around the corner.

  She heard screaming and shots fired as the helmet camera rounded the corner and hit the floor. The room spun around crazily as the agent wearing the helmet cam rolled to a stop. The camera continued to capture a tilted view of the room, including little Torrie lying on her side, her face frozen in a mask of abject terror.

  “Get out, Gabe. I swear I’ll kill her before I let you have her,” Eden screamed.

  “No,” Gabe screamed as a single shot rang out.

  The hand of the agent wearing the helmet camera slowly moved toward Torrie. Her eyes flickered toward his hand and she hesitantly reached forward, her tiny fingers clutching his.

  “Carson, talk to me,” Shelby pleaded. The room was eerily quiet as the helmet camera stayed frozen on the child’s face. Shelby held her breath as she waited to learn Carson’s fate.

  Slowly the agent gathered the girl in his arms and stood. His camera panned the room, revealing Sister Stella’s lifeless form lying in a pool of blood, a look of calm resignation on her face. Beyond her was the body of Eden Malone, flung against the wall at an odd angle as though she were a doll haphazardly tossed aside in a child’s tantrum.

  Finally the camera focused on Gabe and Carson. They were standing together, Gabe leaning against Carson, his weapon hanging forgotten at his side. Shelby gulped air into her burning lungs when she saw Carson was alive. The look on their stricken faces broke her heart as she realized Gabe had been forced to kill Eden in order to save his daughter’s life.

  Gabe handed his weapon to Carson and crossed the room to the agent who held Torrie in his arms. He reached out for her and said, “Come on Torrie, let’s go home.”

  Epilog

  Gabe watched from his usual seat in the corner as Torrie and Robin talked.

  After a few moments of chitchat, Robin smiled at Torrie and asked, “Torrie, do you still feel afraid sometimes?”

  “No, I’m not afraid anymore. My daddy will always take care of me … he promised,” she said, briefly glancing at over at him.

  Robin smiled. “I’m really glad, Torrie.”

  “After I talk to you, we’re going to have ice cream and feed the ducks at the lake.”

  “You have fun with daddy, don’t you?”

  “Oh yes … lots of fun. We’re building a playhouse in the backyard for me and my babies.”

  Robin nodded. “Have you had any more bad dreams?”

  She shook her head. “No scary ones. Just the nice one with Aunt Stella. She told me not to worry anymore and she called me sweet-pea again.” She giggled, paused, and then reached up to swipe at a tear.

  Robin handed her a box of tissues. “Torrie, can you tell me what happened to Aunt Stella?”

  Her lower lip trembled. “Yes … she went to heaven to be with Jesus and the angels.”

  Robin waited, gently smiling at Torrie, giving her plenty of time to expand on her answer. Torrie fiddled with the box of tissues and said nothing.

  “Aunt Stella was your friend, wasn’t she?” Robin asked.

  Torrie bit her lip, nodded and angrily brushed the new crop of tears away.

  “It’s okay to cry, Torrie.”

  “I don’t want to cry.”

  “Why?”

  “What if the tears don’t stop falling out, will I be drowned?”

  “No, Torrie, you won’t drown. The tears will stop. Sometimes we need to cry to let the sadness out.”

  She screwed up her little face and looked up at Robin. “If I cry, the sad will go away?”

  “Crying will help the sad stay away more and more until some day when you’ll hardly remember the sad.”

  She wound the tissue around her finger still looking at Robin. “But, I won’t forget Aunt Stella, will I?”

  Robin leaned forward and touched her little arm. “No, you’ll keep Aunt Stella in a special place in your heart forever.”

  Torrie nodded, took more tissues and wiped the tears away again.

  “Is there anything else you want to talk about, Torrie?”

  Gabe waited, hoping this would be the time that Torrie would finally talk about her mother and all that she’d witnessed that day.

  She thought for a minute, glanced over at Gabe, then asked, “Do you help all the sad people?”

  Robin nodded. “Yes, that’s my job.”

  “Sometimes my daddy is sad. Can you help him, too?”

  Gabe flinched as Robin’s eyes met his over Torrie’s head. Obviously, Robin was right. He hadn’t effectively dealt with the sometimes almost overwhelming guilt he felt for killing Eden.

  Robin arched a brow at him. “Yes, I can help your daddy, if he wants me too.”

  Torrie looked at him. “Daddy, the nice lady is going to help you too, okay?”

  “Yes, Torrie. Thanks for thinking about me.”

  Robin reached over and gently touched Torrie’s arm.

  “Is there anything else you want to talk about, Torrie?”

  Torrie shook her head and then looked over at Gabe. “Can we go for ice cream now, Daddy?”

  Gabe’s eyes filled with tears. He was a daddy now and every day was a new adventure with this child of his. “Yes, Torrie. Let’s go.”

  Robin stood. “I’ll walk you two out.”

  Gabe stood. Torrie slid to the floor, skipped across the room and raised her arms to him.

  He picked her up and threw her in the air. “Is it chocolate again?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Please.”

  “Thanks, Robin.” Gabe smiled as he put Torrie down and she wandered over to open the door. “She’s doing better, isn’t she?”

  Robin nodded. “Yes, Gabe. You’ve done a wonderful job with her. She’s made tremendous progress. And,” she said touching his arm. “You know, if you need to talk, I’m here.”

  “I know you are. You’ve done so much already. I can’t thank you enough for helping us both through it.” He focused on the view of vast blue sky out the window while trying to control the emotion in his voice.

  Torrie ran over, tugged on his hand and smiled up at him, the dimple flashing at the side of her mouth. “Ready, Daddy?”

  They walked out into the sunlight and paused at the top of the stairs leading to the parking lot. “How do you like Robin?”

  “She’s nice. She helps make the sad go away.”

  “Good, I’m glad you like her and she helps you.”

  Hand in hand they walked down the steps and across the parking lot to the SUV. Gabe lifted her into her booster seat. As he started the car, he caught a glimpse of her in the rearview mirror. She was quietly looking out the window, lost in thought. He worried about what she was thinking.

  She smiled at him in the mirror. “Daddy, did you bring the bread for the ducks?”

  He laughed. “Yes, it’s in the grocery bag, worrywart.”

  “I’m not a worrywart, you are,” she said giggling. “Nana said so.”

  “I bet she did.” He looked at her smiling face in the mirror. Every day she became happier and so did he. What an amazing life he had now, with this child who filled his heart and made his life worth living again.

  * * * * *

  Shelby heard him moving restlessly in the bassinet and rolled over to look at the clock. Two a.m., right on schedule. She eased out of bed, crossed the dimly lit bedroom and scooped him up before he could emit the first real cry. He nuzzled her breast as she settled in the rocker, barely able to get her T-shirt out of the way before he latched onto her breast and began greedily sucking. She started the chair in motion and lovingly looked at his face. Even at three months, Hayden was the perfect replica of Carson.

  Carson rolled over and snapped on the bedside lamp. “Hey,” he said, sleepily as he leaned on his elbow and smiled across the rumpled bed.

  She smile
d. “I tried not to wake you. Go back to sleep. It’s been a long week for you.”

  “I don’t want to sleep. I’ve missed too much already.”

  She smiled as she gazed over at him.

  “Hey, I was too busy ripping your clothes off earlier to ask how dinner with the newlyweds went.”

  “It went great. It’s wonderful to see them both so happy,” she said. “You’ve got to see the pictures Doc took of Greece, it’s amazing there.”

  “How’s Lydia doing?”

  “Really well. She’s thrilled to have Gabe and Torrie living with them.”

  “I’m sure that’s a big help for Gabe. I hope everything works out for him. He deserves to be happy. He’s been through a lot.”

  “Lydia said both he and Torrie have come a long way. He’s focusing on the future and has given up trying to understand why Eden never told him she’d had his baby.”

  “I’ve wondered about it too, especially when she went to live in the halfway house. It seemed like they were going to get back together and it would have been the perfect time to tell him.”

  “Obviously, there was more going on with her than we’ll ever know.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. I doubt we’ll ever fully understand what motivated Eden Malone.”

  “At least now, Gabe and Torrie have each other. And, despite everything she did wrong, I’m choosing to believe that on some level Eden wanted Gabe to have his daughter.”

  He laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “It’s not funny. It’s amazing how you’ve become such an optimist.”

  She grinned at him. “That’s what being happy beyond your wildest dreams does to you.”

  He threw the sheets off, and a delicious warmth spread through her as she saw his naked body. He retrieved his jockey shorts, pulled them on and sat on the edge of the bed smiling at the two of them. “Hey, come here. I need to hold my family,” he said, holding his arms open.

  She left the rocker and settled in his arms.

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