Forgotten Son Read online

  “I don’t think you have to worry about seeing Tuck again. He’ll probably stay as far away from you as possible.”

  Grace grimaced. “I seem to have that effect on men.”

  “Not Byron Coffey.”

  Byron was senior partner in the law firm, and since his wife had passed away, he’d taken an interest in Grace.

  She rolled her eyes. “Please. He’s twenty years older than me.”

  “But he has a big crush on you. I’ve noticed that when I’ve visited you at your office. He’s always hanging around being nice and helpful.”

  “Yes. But I can handle it.”

  “Just relax a little and have some fun,” Caroline advised.

  “You’re too structured.” She waved a hand around the room. “There’s nothing out of place in this apartment. There’s not even any trash in the trash cans or dishes in the sink or dishwasher. I’m going to drive you nuts in a week. I like clutter.”

  “I’m aware of that. There are photos all over your apartment. Do you ever put them away?”

  “Yes. I have a filing cabinet, but sometimes I like to look at them for a while to see if I can improve the shot.”

  “You really love photography, don’t you?”

  Before Caroline could answer, Grace glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to get back to the office or Byron will be calling.”

  “Dad made you head of the law firm, so why would Byron be calling you?”

  Grace picked up her purse. “He’s been with Dad for many years and I respect his place in the firm.” She slipped her purse over her shoulder. “Do you need anything?”

  “Go to work, Grace.”

  “Call if you need anything.” She hurried to the door as the doorbell rang.

  Caroline heard Colin’s voice. She clenched her jaw, not wanting to see him but knowing she had to.

  Colin came in and kissed her forehead. “How are you?” he asked, sitting at the end of the sofa.

  “Better.”

  Colin was blond and blue-eyed—more boyish than handsome. He was sharp and intelligent, a stickler for quality and detail, yet he was very patient with her idiosyncrasies. She’d loved that about him. She tried to dredge up that feeling but it wasn’t there anymore. His going to Houston without knowing if she was dead or alive had killed the feelings she had for him. She was aware that she was still experiencing an emotional upheaval, but she knew without a doubt that she and Colin could not get back what they’d once had.

  He ran his hand up her shin. “You’re upset with me. I understand that, but I was going crazy not knowing who had you or what they were doing to you. I had to get away.”

  “I know.” She took a deep breath, pulling her leg away from his hand. “Now I’ll tell you how I feel. If you really loved me, you would have been thinking more about me than yourself. You would have stayed in touch with the police, with my family, and you would’ve wanted to be there when they found me—whether I was dead or alive. That’s what love is and that’s how I want to be loved—by someone who’ll put me first just like I would put him first. We don’t have that type of commitment. I’m not sure we ever did.”

  He paled. “Don’t say that. You’ve been through so much. You just need some time.”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t need any time. I know how I feel.”

  “I won’t accept this. I can’t.” He stood. “I have to go to Houston for a few days. When I get back, we’ll talk again.”

  She wasn’t getting through to him and she didn’t want to hurt him. But he wasn’t leaving her much choice. “We won’t talk again. I’m sorry, but it’s over.”

  He stared at her as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I’ll call you when I get back.” Saying that, he walked out of the room.

  “Colin,” she called, but he didn’t stop.

  She curled up on the sofa and wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t. Their relationship was over and he had to accept that. She had. A tear trickled down her cheek and she brushed it away, feeling weak and tired. They’d made so many plans, and they were over, too.

  Right now she had to concentrate on her testimony and the trial ahead. She had an appointment with the federal prosecutor to go over her story. She was sure Eli had to do the same thing. Would she see him? Probably not, and that was for the best. She had to put her life back together—by herself, without Grace or her parents. Without Eli’s help.

  A couple of days were all she planned to stay with Grace, then she’d return to her place. Her life. With all that had happened, it was hard to focus on anything. Fear was her constant companion.

  As much as she tried to push Eli from her thoughts, he was always there. She wasn’t sure why he’d been so cool when she visited him, but reminded herself that they were strangers, as she’d admitted to herself in his room. He was just doing a job; he’d told her that. But she felt a connection to him she couldn’t explain. He’d saved her life and she couldn’t forget that.

  And she couldn’t forget Eli.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE NEXT DAY Eli went to Dr. Stiles’s office to have his arm checked.

  “Everything looks good,” the doctor said. “How’s the pain?”

  “I can handle it.”

  “Are you taking the pills?”

  “No.”

  Dr. Stiles grunted. “I’m not sure why I asked. Just be careful with the arm and watch for excess bleeding.”

  “Will do,” Eli said, and left to go to work. He spent most of the day going over details of the case with Tom and Bill, who constantly badgered him to go home. By five o’clock he was drained and finally did so. He fell into an exhausted sleep, hating that he felt so weak.

  For the next few days, he paced himself and knew he was getting better. The doctor removed the stitches and Eli started therapy, but he never lost sight of the Buford case. It was the main reason he was doing so well. Tuck said it was his stubborn pride. Whatever the reason, Eli wanted to help the FBI close up all the loopholes.

  Herbert and Cora Wessell arrived in Austin with Emory Lansing, a high-powered defense attorney. Lansing had Ruth and her sister, Naomi, out of jail in a matter of hours. Ruth talked her father into hiring Lansing to defend Buford, but getting Buford released wouldn’t be so easy. Lansing had a lot of tricks up his sleeve, however, and Eli knew they had to be ready.

  Most of the other women and their children had been turned over to their families. They would still be available for questioning, though. Two eighteen-year-old runaways and their four children were left. Their families didn’t want them back and Child Protective Services had found a place for them to stay.

  The woman now called Jane Doe had been moved to a hospital for a thorough examination. Caleb was handling her case. Eli hadn’t seen him, but since they were working the same case, he knew it was going to be hard to avoid him. He could keep their relationship professional, though.

  Why? That little word hung in his mind, demanding an answer—an honest answer. He wanted family—Caleb was family. But Eli wasn’t ready.

  There wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. Pa had told him that. But Ginny’s murder had been the first dent in that armor of strength. Ma and Pa’s deaths had been another. Now it was his arm. Little by little, life’s blows were getting to him.

  Again he wished he could be like Tuck, open and friendly, accepting of the hand that life had dealt him. But something in him wouldn’t allow him to do that. Maybe he was protecting himself from another blow. Whatever it was, he felt better away from the McCains.

  ELI MET WITH TOM AND BILL at the federal building.

  “Has anyone had enough nerve to tell you that you shouldn’t be working?” Bill asked.

  “My captain is pressuring me,” Eli replied. “But I’m not taking a break until we have all the loose ends tied up.”

  Bill and Tom exchanged a glance. “That might take awhile.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Buford and his men are sticking to their st
ories, and now that Lansing is involved, well, we need something to challenge Buford—something to make him slip up.”

  “Like what?”

  “We were hoping you’d pay Buford a visit at the jail. When he sees you, he might become so enraged at what you’d done to free Ms. Whitten that he could slip up and say something to help our case.”

  “Buford is sharp and he’s not going to make any slips.” Eli didn’t know why he was hesitating, but he didn’t want to encounter Buford again unless it was in a courtroom.

  “So you’re not willing to help?” Bill waited for an answer.

  What was the matter with him? He never took the easy way out. He usually faced everything head-on.

  “No. I’ll see him,” Eli answered. “What do you want me to try and get him to say?”

  “Admitting to Ms. Whitten’s kidnapping would be great,” Tom replied, tongue-in-cheek. “But we’ll take anything that will shake his story.”

  “Okay. I’ll head over to the jail now.”

  When he got there, the FBI had the visit already set up. Eli waited in a small room and they brought Buford in with handcuffs on. He still had long hair and a beard, but he now wore prison orange.

  He sat across from Eli with a calm expression on his face—no anger, no emotion, but a faint smugness. “I forgive you, Brother Elijah,” he said.

  Eli was taken aback, but only for a second. “For what?”

  “For betraying the prophet, but do not worry, my brother. I have prayed for mercy for your soul. You did not know what you were doing.”

  Was he for real? Eli let him talk. It seemed to be what he wanted to do.

  “You should have never taken the woman.”

  “I’m a Texas Ranger and I was there to find her because you had kidnapped her. You were going to kill her—that’s why I took her.” Eli looked directly into his cold gray eyes and saw nothing but a wasteland of hypocritical rhetoric.

  “You took Mary because she was beautiful. You wanted her for yourself, but Mary knew her destiny. That’s what you didn’t understand, because you are so unwise in the ways of our faith. You did not know that we meant Mary no harm. You are forgiven, Elijah.”

  “Mary?”

  “The seventh wife of the prophet. The one to bear the messiah who will bring peace to the world.”

  He was talking about Caroline. Evidently her name was to be Mary. Eli tried to gauge if Buford believed what he was saying or yanking his chain. He decided that Amos knew exactly what he was doing within the confines of that warped mind. The man was deluded, almost insane. He believed in his religious world, in himself and his purported powers—that’s why he could convince people to follow him. The fact that he committed crimes in the name of God made everything all right in his eyes.

  Eli leaned across the table. “Her name is Caroline Whitten and she doesn’t want to be one of your wives or bear you anything.”

  “Elijah, you do not have faith.”

  “I have faith, Amos,” Eli told him. “In my faith a woman has rights—she has the right to say no.”

  “You do not know of what you speak, but it doesn’t matter. The prophecy will still be fulfilled. I will be released soon and my people will be back with me and we will carry on with our mission. We have been persecuted before, but we will triumph. It is God’s will.”

  That was it. Amos was planning on convincing a jury of his persecution. He’d done it before and he was counting on doing it again.

  Eli leaned back. “Or is it the prophet’s will?”

  Amos smiled. “Elijah, they are one and the same. Don’t you realize that by now?”

  “Yes, Amos. I do.” He held his gaze. “How many other young women have you killed?”

  “Many lives will be lost before the prophecy is fulfilled.”

  Eli stood before he actually hit the man. “No, Amos, you’re wrong. No more lives will be lost. You’ll be in jail for a very long time. I’ll make sure of that. That’s Elijah’s will.”

  He walked out of the room feeling a small measure of victory. He wanted that victory for Ginny, and for Caroline.

  In the hall, he met Tom and Bill. “He didn’t budge on his testimony,” Eli told them.

  “Yeah. We heard,” Tom said. Bill and Tom had listened to the whole conversation. “I’m sure Lansing’s going for the insanity plea, and he’ll be right on target.”

  Eli wasn’t so sure. “He’s very calm and I get the feeling Amos wants to tell his story to a jury so they can see a persecuted man. He’s hoping to gain sympathy and he’s counting on freedom.”

  “I just think he’s insane and I’m sure Lansing does, too,” Bill added.

  “Amos has a psychology degree and he knows how to work the mind, how to get what he wants. He’s very charismatic and he can play to a jury.” Eli paused. “We need more proof. I know there are bodies on that property somewhere.”

  Tom sighed. “We have people checking—so far nothing. Right now we have to concentrate on the kidnapping charge. That’s going to put him away for a while.”

  “Let’s hope it turns out that way.”

  CAROLINE WALKED a little more each day and she was getting stronger. She was also trying to gain control of her life. She had a bit of an argument with her father when she dismissed the guard, but he eventually accepted her decision.

  She spent most of the week settling in with Grace, which was an accomplishment in itself. Everything in the condo was neat and clean, as Grace liked it, but Caroline was miserable there. She couldn’t be herself. Sometimes she didn’t want to make the bed when she got out of it, sometimes she left her coffee cup on the table or in the den, and heaven forbid, she occasionally liked to put trash in a trash can. When she did, Grace immediately emptied it into the larger can in the garage.

  Caroline was a guest in her sister’s home, though, and she respected her wishes even if she thought they were off the wall at times. From an early age it was clear that she and Grace were different, but that didn’t keep them from being close. Growing up, with their parents gone so much, they’d depended on each other. Caroline comforted Grace when she was afraid of the dark. Grace helped Caroline pass many tests by helping her study the night before. Grace was on the debating team while Caroline was on the tennis team, and when one sister had an event, the other never missed it.

  Even though their father had pushed both of them to study law, the choice had been right only for Grace. Caroline had seen her sister in a courtroom, and she was brilliant when she was fighting for someone else. She thrived on confrontation, except when it came to their father. It was hard to fight him—Caroline knew that well.

  Maybe it was time she grew up. Maybe it was time she joined her father’s firm and practiced law as he wanted her to. Then she’d be more miserable than ever and that would accomplish nothing.

  She wandered around the apartment, going stir-crazy. She liked being outdoors and on the go. That’s why she loved photography—it allowed her freedom and expression and excitement. But no one understood that—not even Colin. He didn’t understand how she could get so sidetracked with a shoot that she’d forget their dinner date. That was a big clue about the problems in her relationship, one she hadn’t seen before. They were not soul mates or she’d never forget a date, and if she did, he would try and understand.

  Sitting on the sofa, she picked up the remote control and turned on the TV to a talk show. It featured a man caught between his wife and his mother. The wife complained that the mother interfered in their lives, and the mother complained that the daughter-in-law was selfish in not allowing her free time with her son.

  “Get a life,” Caroline said to the TV, and turned it off. How did women watch this every day? It was drivel. She got to her feet, feeling restless. It was time to go back to her own place. She was going nuts here.

  She hurried to her room and grabbed a suitcase. Throwing a few things inside, she refused to listen to the voice in her head. But eventually she had to.

  What
about the night?

  She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but if she fell asleep and woke up in darkness, for a split second she was paralyzed with the memories of that underground room. Now she slept with the light on. And Grace was always near. When Caroline couldn’t sleep, they watched movies until she drifted off. They talked, argued, laughed, forgave and loved like sisters. But she couldn’t keep clinging to Grace. She had to go home and face her future.

  She heard the front door open. “Caroline, where are you?”

  “In the bedroom,” she called.

  Grace stopped in the doorway at the sight of the open suitcase. “What are you doing?”

  “Packing.”

  She walked into the room in a navy suit, heels and pinned-up hair. “Are you sure about this?”

  “No. But I’m going crazy.” Caroline turned to her sister. “I have to get back my life.”

  “But you’re still sleeping with the light on.”

  “I know.” She sank onto the bed.

  Grace sat beside her. “Give it a few more days.”

  “No. I have to do it now. I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  “I’ll miss you,” Grace said in a weak voice. “It was nice coming home to someone.”

  Caroline wavered, but she had to do this. “I have an idea.”

  “What?”

  “A man—you need a man in your life.”

  Grace grimaced. “I see men all day long and when I come home, I do not want to see another one.”

  “Then you’re not seeing the right man.”

  “That’ll never happen for me. You know how I am. No man will ever be able to put up with me.” Grace smoothed her skirt. “When we were small and we’d go outside to play, you’d run around and get your dress all dirty. I wanted to do that, but I couldn’t—just like I can’t make myself change now.”

  “Sure you can,” Caroline said. “You’re older, wiser.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Caroline grabbed her purse and pulled out the therapist’s cards her mother had given her. She hadn’t thought of them until now. She handed them to Grace. “Use these.”

  Grace looked horrified. “I can’t.”