Page 37 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

Wes hesitated but handed it over to Rick. “I don’t like the fact that Weldon is still alive. He’s not operating alone.”

“We’ll figure out a way to protect you. After Weldon is stable, I’ll have him transferred,” Jake said.

“I’m not exactly worried about myself,” Wes admitted, glancing at Shanna. “It’s like he has nine lives.”

Jake pursed his lips, nodding his obvious agreement. “And now that he has the information he wanted, what he could do with it could be devastating if anyone else is involved, which could very well be. I’m not exactly sure how that fire escape ladder was put into place outside your window.”

“All he knows is that the boy is with his grandmother, but I never really mentioned where my mother was living now, except that it was in Northern Michigan,” Wes admitted.

“That should buy us some time,” Rick said, turning to Shanna, who nodded her head in agreement.

“There’s one more thing you should know,” Wes said, looking grim. “Russ Weldon has several fake IDs and one of them is in my name. In fact, he was arrested for having something to do with Tom Ashford’s death. I’m not exactly sure what it was all about, except for some missing funds. It’s just the kind of scam he’d get mixed up in. But it was the woman he was dating who was watching Johnny after he was born. I think she was Tom Ashford’s widow. Her father had money, and that’s all Weldon’s ever wanted. I wouldn’t be surprised if he killed her.”

Jake stilled. “I was notified about that. And I assumed…”

“That it was me?”

Jake nodded.

“I heard the authorities let him go, thinking they could keep track of him, but I’ll bet they dug deeper after releasing him because he disappeared. He’s always been good at that. I’m sure if they took prints, they would never actually lead back to Weldon. My son Wade betrayed me. I never had a clue he was working with Weldon. And now it’s too late. Although he didn’t have many redeeming qualities either. That’s why I want Johnny’s life to be different,” Wes muttered, closing his eyes. “For a while, I was being surveyed by the FBI, I believe, until they took a close look at me and realized that I wasn’t the guy they really arrested.”

“And that’s why you don’t have a record,” Jake muttered. “We’ll talk more about this later.”

Wes nodded.

“You probably still have things to talk about, so I’ll leave the three of you to discuss how you want to handle the situation with the boy,” Jake said.

“You’d better do something with these.” Rick handed over both the Glock and the pistol to Jake as he prepared to leave the room.

“I’ll stick around to talk with all of you once you’re finished,” Jake replied, heading through the doorway with both weapons in hand.

“There are a few other things that I need to say,” Wes said after Jake left the room. “All your proceeds for your paintings are in the safe at the big cabin and everything is itemized and accounted for. That property has also been deeded to Johnny, and you’re named as his executor, Shanna. There are no skeletons attached to the property. It belonged to my grandmother and grandfather, my mother’s parents.”

“What about funds from trafficking?” Rick asked.

Wes snorted weakly. “Russ Weldon kept everything. I think you might have figured that out by now. I’m sure you’ve had me checked out thoroughly, so there’s nothing to confiscate. And as long as you and your boss go along with making sure that my son Johnny’s inheritance is kept intact, I have something that could prove to be very valuable to you two. I’m glad I didn’t say anything when Weldon was here, because no one knows about this but me.”

“So, what do we do next?” Shanna asked, sitting on the bed and reaching for Wes’ hand.

It was strange how Rick had come to accept this man as somewhat of a friend, despite his shocking confessions. And despite her rape and kidnapping, during the past four years, Shanna had come to think of him as the closest thing to a father that she’d ever had. If it hadn’t been Wes, her father wouldn’t have had a problem selling her to someone else. And Shanna knew for a fact that what she’d been through hadn’t been nearly as horrific as the majority of victims that her father had trafficked.

“You can bring Johnny back to see me one more time. Hopefully, I’ll be able to hang on until the two of you get back. I’m not sure if my mother wants to see me. She knows about everything. I promised that I would never try to have contact with Johnny for as long as she was taking care of him. I told her that I would be sending his mother to him sometime soon, so she’s expecting you,” he said.

At that moment, Jake Loughlin returned to the room. “Let me know when you’re ready to talk, Montgomery. I think we can work out a deal if you give me a hint of what you have that’s so important.”

Wes looked at Rick. “I gather you’re still recording?”

Rick nodded his agreement. “Everything.”

“I’m not sure if I trust him, but I do trust you,” Wes said to Rick.

Rick nodded brusquely. “I’ve gotten to know you Wes, during these last four months. And I believe you.”

“I’ve got two notebooks. From what I can tell, they’re filled with the names and locations of every current customer located in the Eastern U.S. along with the Midwest. I found them at one of the trafficking stations. I didn’t even realize what I had until I got them home and studied them.”

“If they prove to be legitimate, I’m positive we can come to an agreement,” Jake said firmly.

“I think the reason that I haven’t seen Russ Weldon until today is because they think that he’s the one who has them, so he’s been in hiding. More than likely, they fell out of one of his coat pocket in the tunnel where I found them, last winter. I haven’t been involved in the trafficking itself for years. Russ handles the meetings with the organization and is the only one who has access to whoever’s being trafficked. He’s probably been frantic, not realizing where those notebooks are because I’m sure that he had to be the one who stole them—more than likely from one of the big guys on top. Russ has done so many things that could get him in trouble, like skimming off the top of the proceeds he collects.” Wes looked at Shanna, clearing his throat. “And other things, I’d rather not get into here and now. He probably doesn’t even know for sure if they’re after him, but I’m willing to bet he’s had some close calls that would have put him on alert.”

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