Page 11 of Heston
She nodded farther down the deer trail. “Come with me. There’s something you need to see.”
“What?” Heston asked, as he and Asher grabbed their smaller bags and fell in behind her.
“You’ll see,” she tossed over her shoulder. Even in winter gear, London was all woman.
God, what a lovely view.
Chapter Six
Alex took a step into the dense, unforgiving primeval forest the Pacific Northwest was known for. Didn’t it figure? Instead of that damned Irishman, he ran into the guy who’d pulled him to shore earlier, Tom What’s-His-Name. Alex should’ve been suspicious, given the timing of Tom’s arrival and the Irishman’s departure. But what sort of killer brought his son along with him?
“Hi, Mister,” the kid said brightly. As dark as it was in the trees, he looked a lot like Lexie. Sparkly brown-eyed with the same dark undertones in his chocolate hair. He wasn’t as stocky as Lexie, but he had her wide-open smile. He had…Kelsey’s smile.
Alex’s heart pinched tighter. His breath caught in his chest. Felt like he’d swallowed a rock. How could he ever tell his little girl that her Mom was… that Kelsey was…?
No. Just no.
The little guy rattled on, “Daddy and me is still looking all over for your wife, Mister, and Mommy said maybe you could use some coffee and some hotdogs, and maybe you’d like to come sleep with us in our camper tonight, too, cuz” —he sucked in a belly full of air, then blew a hearty puff into the chilly night— “it’s warmer in there than it is out here, and I can even see my breafff! See?” His cheeks puffed with a very big‘breafff’indeed.
It wasn’t lost on Alex how the boy’s mitten-encased hand wrapped tightly around his father’s gloved fingers, or how his father smiled lovingly down at his son. Or that the little guy liked to talk. “And you can even sleep in my sleepin’ bag if you—”
“Hush, Jackie,” Tom interrupted gently, his gaze keen on Alex. “Mr. Stewart, you don’t know me, and I wouldn’t be offended if you told me where to go, but you can’t trust Bates.”
“Never did. He’s lying. Acted like he had no idea my wife’s in trouble, but I know damned well my TEAM alerted the Forest Service. He should’ve done something. Anything!”
“Yeah, he’s worthless. Gave me trouble when he saw I was carrying. Showed him my conceal carry permit, but he still threatened me. Said if anything happened while we were camped here, he’d see me hang.”
“Hang what, Daddy?”
Tom winked at his son. “A Christmas wreath, Jackie. Now zip your lips and let me and Mr. Stewart finish talking, okay?”
Jackie mimed zipping his lips—just like Lexie would’ve done if she’d been there. Alex’s heart broke all over again.
“Anyway, here,” Tom said, pulling a hefty pistol from his inside jacket pocket and handing it over, grip first. Next came a twenty-count box of nine-millimeter rounds along with a preloaded magazine. “Take these. They’re not much but they’re yours now. I know you won’t rest until you get your wife back and… Oh hell, here.” Tom shrugged out of his jacket and handed that over, as well as the backpack he’d previously dropped on the ground. “There are protein bars in the outside pockets, handwarmers and bottled waters inside. My cell phone’s in there, too. Password’sJackieNTommy, all one word, all lower case except capital J, N, and T. If you need anything else—”
Alex finally heard what Tom was saying. The planet tilted on its axis. His knees nearly buckled at the joining of Kelsey’s murdered sons’ names.Jackie and Tommy Not Tom but Tommy? Why those names? Why here? Why now?Black spots swarmed his vision. His focus faltered, zoomed in and out like a camera lens that couldn’t keep up with the fast-moving picture it was recording. Because—
Jackie and Tommy?Was it even possible?Hell, no. Couldn’t be.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Alex managed to get out before he slapped his free hand against the scraggly pine beside him to catch his balance. What was God doing? Messing with his heart? His mind? Why those particular names? Was it in any way possible He’d actually sent Kelsey’s dead sons, Jackie and Tommy, to help Alex find their mother? Now? When all seemed lost? Was this merely a coincidence or was it an actual, no-kidding sign from God? Or, which was more likely, was it the breakdown Alex deserved? Had he finally lost his mind?
Tom took a quick step into Alex and, stretching forward, settled a hand onto his shoulder. Tom’s fingertips dug into the muscle, his tenacious grip the only thing keeping Alex upright. That had to be the problem. The world was no longer solid. He’d finally lost his mind.
Alex looked across the shimmering space between him and Tom, into the same dark eyes as Kelsey’s. As her dead sons’ eyes. As Jackie’s and Tommy’s eyes. Those were their names. The boys Kelsey’s ex-husband had drowned in frigid Henderson Bay. It happened years ago, but the similarity in Kelsey’s boys’ looks, the color of their hair and eyes, with Tom’s and his son’s, was frightening. Tears for all Kelsey’d lost filled Alex’s eyes.Why those names?!
“You need help. You’re still bleeding, sir,” Tom said quietly. “I’d be glad to search with you, Sergeant Stewart, for as long as it takes. All night if you’re up for it. But you need medical care for that—”
“Do I know you?” Alex interrupted. He didn’t care that he was bleeding. He wasn’t the important one here.
“Probably don’t remember me, but yeah, a long time ago, I had the privilege of spotting for you. We were in Iraq. It wasbefore you were called home. Before you got the news… just before you lost your family.”
Alex had zero recollection of this guy. But the warmth radiating off that sturdy hand on his shoulder reminded him that Kelsey wasn’t warm, that he was wasting time she didn’t have. That it didn’t matter who God sent, they’d better be able to shoot while they ran. He didn’t care that he was bleeding. Didn’t care at all.
“Thank you,” he huffed, straightening his spine, pulling away, once again ready to search all night. Hell, for the rest of his life if needed.
“I’d be glad to go with you, sir. Honest,” Tom offered again. “I’ve got another pistol. It’s my wife’s, but she won’t mind if I take it. She’s just as worried for you and your wife as we are.”
Alex shook the man’s sincerity off. “No, stay with your family. Take care of them. They’re your first priority. I’ll be… I’ll be fine… Tom.”
