Heart of the Hunter

by Chance Carter

  “You were?”

  Elle’s eyes widened. It was crazy. In all her years, she’d never met anyone who knew the least thing about Los Lobos. They were one of the deadliest criminal gangs in Nevada in their day, but they were all dead now, and they hadn’t let out many secrets. People had heard of them, they knew of them, but they didn’t actually know them.

  Now she kept hearing from Forrester and others that she had to talk to Jackson about it.

  Faith leaned forward in her seat and put her hand on Elle’s shoulder.

  “Look,” Faith said, “I don’t want to get into it now. It’s not something we should talk about on a day as happy as this one. Today is about getting you a dress for your wedding.”

  “All right,” Elle said, a little uncertainly.

  “I promise you we’ll talk about Los Lobos soon,” Faith said. “For now, I’ll just tell you that I was involved with them too. I was young, I was vulnerable, and they got their claws into me.”

  “Oh no,” Elle said.

  “It wasn’t nice,” Faith said, “but from what I’ve heard from Forrester, it wasn’t nearly as bad as what you had to go through.”

  Elle looked back at Faith and their eyes met. There was so much compassion in Faith’s face that Elle felt reassured. Ordinarily, talking about Los Lobos would have been her worst nightmare, but with Faith she felt safe.

  “How did you get away?” Elle said, her voice quiet and serious.

  “Jackson got me out.”

  Elle nodded. As the car began entering the city of San Francisco, the buildings rising up ahead of them along the freeway, she began to realize something about her past that she’d never imagined. Jackson. Was it Jackson who’d killed Los Lobos? If that was true, she owed Jackson her life.

  She reached back and took Faith’s hand.

  The rest of the afternoon passed blissfully. The girls put serious things like Los Lobos as far as possible from their minds and made the most of their day in the city. They ate lunch at the flower market and the women showed Elle the types of flowers that Forrester was looking at for the wedding. They wanted to make sure she liked them. She was speechless when she saw them. They were so breathtakingly beautiful that she didn’t know what to think. She cried and had to reapply her makeup.

  The highlight was the dress shop though. She hadn’t realized it, but she had an appointment with one of the most famous wedding dress designers in the world. After trying on several fabulous gowns, she settled on a simple, white dress that flattered her figure and accentuated her breasts and curves.

  When Lacey and Faith saw her, to Elle’s amazement, they both started to cry.

  “Oh sweetie,” Lacey said.

  “You look absolutely beautiful,” Faith said.

  “Really?” Elle said, almost unable to believe she was having such an impact on two women she’d only just met.

  Already, they were like family to her. They were for real. They were the big sisters she’d never had. She took photos and sent them to Kelly back in Stone Peak. She felt a twang of guilt that she wasn’t with Kelly now, and wouldn’t be seeing her friend until the wedding, but that was the way life was. Sometimes, when you moved forward, you had to let go of the people you loved, at least a little bit. She missed Kelly and Grace, but she was so excited to start her new life that she couldn’t stay sad for long.

  “Forrester is going to ravish you when he sees you in this,” Faith said.

  “Do you really think so?” Elle said.

  “Girl, if you weren’t already carrying his baby, he’d make sure he put one inside you on your wedding night. You look like an angel.”

  Chapter 52

  Elle

  THAT NIGHT, ELLE FOUND HERSELF sitting on the sofa in the stunning living room of the mansion. She was holding a glass of red wine that Jackson and Grant had made with their own hands. Sitting next to her was Forrester, his hand resting reassuringly on her lap. She looked down at it, the hand of the man who was going to become her husband.

  Sitting across from her were Jackson and Faith.

  “All right,” she said, trying to get rid of the sense of apprehension she felt in her stomach. “What is it? Just tell me everything.”

  Jackson smiled at her. He looked at Forrester before speaking.

  “So, Elle,” he started. “Forrester told me that you had some trouble in the past with Los Lobos.”

  “Trouble is an understatement,” Elle said. “My mother sold me to the gang when I was still a baby. My existence, up until the time I was rescued, was a living nightmare.”

  “I can imagine,” Faith said.

  Jackson spoke again. His voice was measured and calm. He was trying to soothe her, but the truth was, Elle felt safe in this place, with these people, and didn’t mind discussing the past with them if they felt it was important for her. She already suspected she knew what Jackson was going to tell her.

  “Faith was Wolf Staten’s girl when I met her.”

  Elle’s eyes grew. She had expected something like this, but it still took her by surprise. Even the mention of Wolf Staten’s name brought back terrible memories. He’d done things to her she’d never forget, and yet had somehow managed to block out of her conscious mind. He was a cruel and brutal man, deeply disturbed. He appeared to Elle in her nightmares.

  “Oh no,” she said, looking at Faith.

  “It was a long time ago, sweetie,” Faith said.

  “Faith was vulnerable, much like your mother must have been,” Jackson continued, “and Los Lobos were always expert at preying on vulnerable women. They had an instinct for it. They got their claws into her and wouldn’t let her go.”

  “That’s awful,” Elle said.

  “It was,” Faith said, “but not as awful as what they did to you.”

  “Did you know?” Elle said, hesitantly. “Did you know they were buying babies?”

  Faith looked into Elle’s eyes. “I knew they were buying women. I knew some of them were children. But I never would have imagined they were buying babies. It’s like something out of a horror story.”

  “You have no idea,” Elle said.

  “Well,” Faith said, continuing the story where Jackson had left off. “Over time, I learned more and more about Los Lobos. I learned how evil they were. I learned that Wolf wanted to lock me up in a private cell, so that he would be the only man who ever saw me.”

  Elle shuddered. She knew what that was like.

  “So when I saw my chance, I escaped. I didn’t know where I was going, or what I was going to do. I was desperate.”

  “And then she ran into me,” Jackson said.

  “Right,” Faith continued. “I needed Jackson. I desperately needed him.”

  “And I needed her,” Jackson said.

  “We ran away together,” Faith went on. “And Jackson made me pregnant.”

  Jackson smiled at that part. “I did, and I knew Los Lobos would never leave Faith in peace. I knew Wolf would stop at nothing to get her back. It would be a matter of pride for him.”

  “It would,” Elle said. “I know how they think. There’s no limit to what they would do, or who they would kill, to get back a woman they thought of as their property.”

  “So I came here,” Faith said.

  “And I knew they’d hunt her down, so I went into hiding, and picked off the members of the gang, one by one.”

  Elle was nodding her head. “It took you years, didn’t it?”

  “It did,” Jackson said.

  “All through my childhood I remember how afraid they were,” Elle said. “They were being picked off, one by one, and they didn’t know who was doing it or why.”

  Jackson shrugged. “Anyway,” he said. “We just thought you should know that. Know about that history.”

  “In a way,” Faith said, “it makes us even closer. Because we were both captives of the same evil men.”

  Elle felt silly. Tears were falling down her cheeks. “If you hadn’t done what you’d done,” she sa
id to Faith, “they’d still have me.”

  “Oh,” Faith said, surprised. “It was Jackson. He’s the one that killed them.”

  “But he did it because you had the courage to leave them,” Elle said. “If you hadn’t had that courage, we’d both still be there, and Jackson would never have been involved.”

  Faith started crying then. “I never thought of it like that. If anything, I felt guilty for all the women I left behind.”

  “What Jackson did, it ended Los Lobos,” Elle said. “He killed them all. Long before the last of them was dead, the police had rescued us. Everything started to fall apart, and they could come and get us.”

  “It’s the best thing I ever did,” Jackson said. “Apart from marrying Faith and starting a family, wiping that scourge from the face of the earth is the most important thing I’ve ever done.”

  Elle got up from her seat and walked over to Jackson. She kissed him on each cheek.

  “Thank you for killing those sons of bitches,” she said.

  Then she hugged Faith, and the two women held each other as only the survivors of the same crime could do.

  Chapter 53

  Elle

  THE WEDDING PLANS PROGRESSED AT full speed and within a few days of picking out her dress, Elle found herself dialing Kelly’s phone number back in Stone Peak.

  “Elle, is that you?” Kelly said, her voice breaking with emotion.

  “It’s me, sweetie.”

  “Oh, Elle, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

  “Why, has something happened?”

  “No, not at all, it’s just, I miss you, you know?”

  “I know,” Elle said sympathetically.

  “Things just haven’t been the same around here without you and Forrester. You came into our lives and filled everything with so much sunshine. And now you’re gone.”

  “Oh, you were the one who filled my life with sunshine, Kelly. Do you remember how lost I was when you met me? I didn’t even have enough money to put gas in my car. I was destitute. And you helped me. You gave me a job, found me an apartment, you gave me a home, Kelly. And this might sound strange given how short of a time I spent there, but Stone Peak was the first real home I ever had in my life.”

  Kelly started crying.

  “Oh sweetie, don’t cry,” Elle said. “I’m calling with good news.”

  “What is it?”

  “Do you think you and Grace could shut down the diner for a few days?”

  “Why?”

  “So that you can come here for my wedding, silly.”

  “Really?” Kelly said, her voice starting to perk up.

  “Yes. Really. And Kelly, you’re going to love it here. It’s so beautiful, and everyone’s so nice, and there’s even the perfect man for you here.”

  “Grady?” Kelly said, and Elle could clearly detect the sense of longing in Kelly’s voice.

  She’d told Kelly all about Grady, and even sent her some photos. Kelly was smitten, but needless to say, Grady had no idea of the whole thing.

  By the time Elle hung up the phone, Kelly sounded a lot happier than she had. Elle had even promised her that she, Faith and Lacey would take her dress shopping for something to wear. Kelly said she’d never been to a fancy dress store in her life. Elle also made certain that Kelly brought her kid brother, Lucas, to the wedding too.

  The drive back to Stone Peak, later that day, was a strange experience for Elle. She was in one of Forrester’s luxury cars, a black SUV, and she felt very rich and taken care of. It was something she was slowly getting used to. She’d gone straight from being Cinderella to being a princess. Forrester drove with his hand holding hers, and it only added to her feeling of being looked after.

  Pulling into the lot of Gracie’s diner was the strangest part of all. She’d been in such a tight position when she’d arrived there for the first time. Now she didn’t have a worry in the world.

  Entering the diner, she breathed in the familiar smells of the kitchen. She smiled at the faces of the customers she knew.

  “Elle,” Kelly screamed, and ran across the diner to give her a big hug.

  She was a little more reserved with Forrester and they merely shook hands.

  When Grace emerged from the kitchen, she had tears in her eyes.

  “I don’t think I have to tell you how proud we all are of you,” Grace said.

  Elle felt so much love for the woman in that moment.

  “Elle,” Grace said.

  There was a tone in Grace’s voice that told Elle she was about to say something serious. “You’re like a daughter to me. I know we worked together for quite a short time, but during that time, you showed yourself to be a true and loyal friend. I want you to know that.”

  “Thank you, Gracie,” Elle said.

  Grace continued. “That’s why it’s so hard for me to tell you that I won’t be able to attend your wedding.”

  “What? I so wanted you to be there.”

  “I know you did sweetheart, and I’m grateful to you for caring so much, but I haven’t left this diner unattended in twenty years and I just don’t think I can do it now. Not on such short notice. Some people are just better suited to their one place in the world. You girls go and have fun for me.”

  Elle was disappointed but she understood what Grace was saying. Grace lived and breathed for her diner, and shutting the place just wasn’t something she could do.

  “I understand,” she said to Grace.

  Grace nodded sagely and took a small box from her pocket. “This is for you,” she said.

  Elle looked at the box. It was small and black and lined with velvet, like a box from an expensive jeweler.

  “Can I open it now?” she said.

  “Of course you can, angel,” Grace said.

  Elle looked into Grace’s eyes. She’d never felt so cared for by an older woman in her life.

  “Thank you, Grace,” she said as she opened the little box.

  Inside was something sparkly. Elle’s breath caught in her throat. It was a diamond bracelet, the kind that movie stars used to wear when they played tennis. It was stunning.

  “Grace,” she gasped.

  Grace just nodded. “It was something my mother owned, and her mother before her. Since I never had a daughter, I wanted to give it to you for your wedding day.”

  “You can’t,” Elle said, but Grace just shook her head.

  “It’s yours sweetie.”

  Elle shut the box. She didn’t know what to say. She hugged and kissed Grace and thanked her profusely, but she felt uncomfortable accepting the gift. Surely it should have gone to Kelly, not her. Kelly had practically been raised by Grace, and she needed it more. She had nothing. Elle was getting everything.

  Once back in the car with Kelly, Elle swore to herself that she would figure out a way to help Kelly with her life. Everything good that was happening to her started with Kelly’s deciding to help her out. She owed so much to Kelly, and she wasn’t going to forget her now that she was getting married to the man of her dreams.

  It would take time. You can’t help a person overnight. It takes patience and consistency. Elle knew that she wouldn’t be able to snap her fingers and make Kelly’s life as happy as hers was. But she did know that after her wedding, when things quietened down, she would work on being the best possible friend she could possibly be to Kelly, even though they would be living in different states. After all, as Elle was fast learning, there are few things in life as beautiful as bringing happiness to a person you loved.

  Chapter 54

  Forrester

  FORRESTER FELT LIKE THE HAPPIEST man ever to have lived. He couldn’t believe it was his wedding day already. He stood at the altar, at the place he’d chosen for the wedding, and glanced out over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It was a breathtaking view. Then he turned to face the guests. It was a small ceremony, as all of the Brotherhood weddings were, with the men all standing next to him, and Faith, Lacey and Kelly waiting for th
e bride. Faith and Lacey were holding their beautiful babies. He smiled at the women. Then he smiled at Grant, Grady and Faith and Jackson’s son, Sam. Next to Sam was Luke, Kelly’s little brother. The two boys were about the same age and had sparked off an energetic friendship. The same priest who’d married Grant and Lacey was performing the ceremony.

  The only two people missing were Elle, and Jackson. It had been decided by Elle that Jackson should be the one to give her away, since he was the one who’d been responsible for her getting away from Los Lobos.

  When Forrester set eyes on Elle, she took his breath away. She was the most stunningly beautiful creature he’d ever seen. He admired every inch of her body, from her pretty feet in their white shoes, to the luxurious gown that was draped over her delicious curves, to the thin veil that covered the most beautiful face he’d ever dreamed of.

  This was it. This was his moment of truth. This was the moment every guy dreamed of, the moment he truly became a man. Forrester had never realized it before, but now, as Elle walked slowly toward him, Jackson at her side, the music of a string quartet wafting in the air, he saw his life for what it was. For what it always had been.

  And what it had been was a journey up to this very moment. More than most people, Forrester knew what it meant to say that he’d been born alone. In a very real sense, he’d been more alone than most babies that were born into the world. His mother had died the moment he first drew breath. His father hated him for it right from the beginning. He’d come into a world without love, but he still had a heart. There’d been no warmth for him as a child, but he’d craved it just as much as everyone else in the world. He’d searched for it. He’d thirsted for it.

  And this was the moment that that thirst would be satisfied. This was the moment that he would be made complete.

  Like him, Elle had come into the world alone. Her own mother couldn’t care for her, and in desperation, had given her to the cruelest criminals ever to operate in the southwest.

  For both Forrester and Elle, the desperately dark circumstances of their birth were finally being wrapped up in a moment of pure light.