Page 78 of A Steadfast Heart
Kaitlyn.
She’d left.
Mistake.
Air wheezed into his chest. He wanted to curl into a ball on the cot, but that would require moving. He didn’t have the energy. Or the willpower. Or something.
Except he couldn’t give up. The kids needed him. He forced himself to his feet and closer to the cell bars. “Wallace, where are my children?”
The deputy’s face whitened. “You don’t know?”
Fury surged through Drew. “You arrested their father and uncles, escorted their stepmother to the train, and didn’t even stop to think about where they were?” He gripped the bars, his knuckles white. He wanted to shake them, kick them, reach through them and shake the deputy who hadn’t given a thought to his kids. None of that would get them help faster. “You need to let me out.” The words were gritted out between clenched teeth. “I have to find them.”
Ed joined him, close enough to the bars for his belt buckle to clink against them. “Didn’t you hear the threat to our homestead? What if the children are there when they burn the house?”
Uncertainty flashed across the young deputy’s face before his expression hardened into determination. “I can’t let you out, but as soon as my backup gets here, we’ll round up men to find the children. Besides, the only thing that might have been a threat came from Riley, and he’s in the next cell.”
“Yeah, McGraw. What threat am I, behind bars like this?” Riley snickered. “Not likeIcan tell my friends to burn anything.”
Drew didn’t move. Oh, he heard the emphasis Duncan placed on the wordI. But why respond to a taunting implication when he already recognized the danger? Quade would send his men to Ed’s place soon. Drew couldn’t stop it.
Please, God, let it be soon, before my kids get there. Don’t let Isaac try to stop it. Not by himself. Just help him protect the kids.
Where were his children? Not on the train, or Wallace would have told him. Surely.
No, they were in town. Somewhere. A neighbor would keep them safe. Physically, anyway. They had to be frightened. Barclay, Merritt, Pastor Carson—someone would protect them.
But it was his job, and he wasn’t doing it. One more failure.
Someone sat beside him. “I don’t understand it.” Nick’s voice sounded the same as when he hadn’t been able to solve a math problem back in school. The wooden bed frame creaked as he leaned back against the wall. “Why would she go with him?”
Because the ranch wasn’t enough.
And neither was he.
The door from the street creaked open, and footsteps rushed across the floor. Light footsteps. Children’s footsteps?
He looked up. Merritt was closing the door halfway, letting some air into the stale jail. Tillie rushed to the cell bars, tears streaking her face.
Drew sagged against the cell bars. They were safe. He blinked a few times.
Tillie placed her hands on the bars, but didn’t quite manage to meet his eyes. Drew summoned his own smile and held his hand through the bars for her to take. “It’s gonna be okay, princess.”
“But Pa, Kaitlyn’s the princess, and she’s gone.”
“We’ll be okay without her.” And they would. Eventually.
Jo moved closer. He looked at his middle daughter and his heart missed a beat. Or several. Jo’s eyes were red. She’d been crying. Jo never cried. And he was stuck in here where he couldn’t help.
“We’re not the ones in danger, Pa.” Jo’s voice wavered. More tears streamed down her face, and her shoulders hitched with a partially swallowed sob.
Someone in danger? David? Drew quickly looked around. No, there was his son, standing next to Merritt. David wouldn’t meet Drew’s eyes, and he shifted his weight restlessly from one foot to the other, but he was safe. Drew signaled Merritt to move closer.
“Pa, you gotta listen!” Jo shouted the words, if a sob-drenched voice could be said to shout.
“Tell me, Jo.” He ran his hand along her head, and the tears she’d been fighting won. Tillie’s knees folded and she sank to the floor, but Jo still stood. She’d be better able to explain. “Deep breaths, Jo, in and out.”
Conchas chuckled. “Look, he even has to tell them how to breathe.”
