Finding Home (27 page)

“She’s very talented,” she said,
showing him a watercolor painting Sarah had done of a country road surrounded
by flowering trees.

He took the sketchbook from her and
flipped through the pages, seeing several very good drawings and paintings, and
several notes from her teacher telling her she should enter various art
competitions.  Angry, he slammed the book shut, cursing under his breath.

“They held her back,” he bit
out.  “She could have done anything.  Teachers were begging to have
her compete in various activities but they couldn’t chance her being successful
and gaining notoriety.  Damn selfish bastards.”

Charlotte walked in just then and it
was obvious that she had been crying.  She picked up the sketchbook and
thumbed through it, more tears falling down her cheeks.

“I just want to put my arms around
her and never let her go,” she whispered.  “It’s a miracle she is as well-adjusted
as she is.  You were right, Colt, they basically kept her prisoner. 
They didn’t allow her to be a normal child.  She kept a journal. 
I’ve been reading what she wrote when she was a teenager.  She wanted to
do the things the other kids at school did, but she was such a good girl, she
didn’t want to upset her parents.  She knew they were older and that her
so-called father wasn’t in good health so she kept all her dreams to herself,
writing them in her journals instead, and feeling guilty because she did. 
They didn’t allow her to go to football games.  They didn’t allow her to
go to parties.  She didn’t really have any friends.  She went to
school and when she was old enough she went to work and that was all her life
was.  School, work and them.  I thumbed through some of her later
journals.  She didn’t even date anyone until after their deaths…and he was
awful to her.  Has she told you much about that?”

Colt scrubbed his hand over his
face.  “Not a whole lot.  She said he was into her until he got what
he wanted from her and then he left her.”

“She thought she loved him.  He
told her they would be married.  And then within a month of her sleeping
with him, he stopped calling and coming around.   I don’t think she’s
dated anyone else until you.”

He shook his head. “She hasn’t. 
She said she went out on a few dates here and there, but she was so scared of
getting hurt again that she wouldn’t even give them a chance.  She hadn’t
gone out with anyone for a few years before we met.”

Charlotte wiped tears from her
cheeks.  “It just breaks my heart.  Her life could have been so
different.”

“It will be better from now on,” Colt
told her, “I promise you that.”

Charlotte went to him and hugged him,
pulling his head down with a hand to his neck to place a kiss on his cheek.

“Thank God for you, Colton Harris,”
she told him.  “And thank you for loving her.”

“I may have found something,” Tag
called. 

They all went back into the living
room.  Tag was holding an envelope and a piece of paper.

“There’s no address on it, and it
obviously was never sent, but listen:

Dear Sir:

            Our
daughter brought to us the precious treasure you and your men

took several years ago.  We
have kept it safe and well all these years but

feel it is time we let you know
that we have it.  Also, we have fallen on

some hard times ourselves and as
much as we would hate to give it up,

we may be forced to in order to
survive.  Please know that we will only

do so with your assurances that
you will handle it with the utmost care

and that you will promise to
return it to its original owners once

compensation has been received. 
It breaks our hearts to part with it

as we have become quite attached
but with health issues and medical

bills piling up, we feel we have
no other choice.  We have included several

pictures of this treasure from
over the years so you will know it is genuine.

Please contact us immediately with
further instructions.

Sincerely, Ken and Donna
Alexander.”

“Son of a bitch!” Colt swore. 
“So, they knew who was behind the kidnapping, which means she lied to Sarah in
her letter.  They knew exactly who it was they had all along.”

“Sounds like,” Tag agreed. 
“They just didn’t know how to reach this person, or they changed their minds.”

“Look around for more,” Buck said,
digging through the box Tag had found the letter in, “there has to be
more.  If they tried once, they may have tried again.”

Colt was seeing red.  “If she
was feeling so guilty that she wrote that letter to Sarah, why the hell didn’t
she just go ahead and tell her their names?” he asked, looking back and forth
from Charlotte to Buck.  “She told her you were from Wyoming and that she
was three months old when she was taken.  The bitch even said all Sarah
would have to do was look up the info.  Why withhold your names if she
knew?  Why would she do that to Sarah?”

Charlotte was on the verge of losing
it. 

“They were just going to give her
away,” she cried.  “They needed money, so they were just going to hand her
back over to her kidnapper.  Who may or may not have murdered their own
daughter!  What kind of people do that?!”

“They may have considered it, Mom,
but they didn’t do it,” Vivian said in effort to comfort her.

“No, but to have even considered
it!!”

Colt knew exactly how she felt. 
He was having a hard time controlling his own temper.  These people who
claimed to have loved Sarah were just going to hand her over for money. 
He was certainly glad they were already dead because he felt he was quite
capable of murder at that point! 

Sarah woke when her door
opened.  He was back, a tray of food in his hands.  He sat the tray
on the dresser on the opposite wall then crossed to her to free her hands, then
use the rope to tie her feet.  When he placed the tray on her lap, she
wished she was brave enough to attempt to use the fork as a weapon but she knew
he would quickly overpower her, and even if she were lucky enough to get past
him, there was no way she would make it past his friends.

“It’s not fancy, but it’s food,” he
told her.

“It’s fine,” she replied, her voice
small and quiet.

She felt him studying her but she
kept her eyes on her food.  After several moments, his hand closed over
her chin and jaw, forcing her to look at him.

“You aren’t like what I expected,” he
said, his eyes searching her face.

“How did you expect me to be?”

He shrugged.  “You’re not like
the Bainbridge women.”

“Why would I be?  I’ve only
known them a few weeks.”

“Blood still speaks,” he said.

“Maybe.  But I really have
nothing in common with them.  I was raised very simply and very much out
of the public eye.”

“Sherry didn’t even tell me her
parents were still alive.  Didn’t think to check on that when I became
involved with her and brought her into all of this.”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed.  “You
were her boyfriend?”

He chuckled.  “That sounds so
teeny bopper.  I was her man.”

“What happened to her?”

He sighed.  “When she stole
you…it wasn’t good.”

“Did you kill her?”

His eyes, a deep midnight blue,
flashed to hers.  “I loved her.”

“My mother…well, the woman who raised
me, left me a letter.  She said that Sherry had overheard all of you
talking and saying that you would kill me if the Bainbridges didn’t pay up.”

He nodded, rubbing the back of his
neck, a gesture that she recognized Colt did often and a pang of longing for
him shot through her.

“You have to understand.  Nearly
twenty-seven years ago…most of us were high as a kite the whole time.”

“Would you have killed me back then?”
she asked quietly.

“I’d like to think I wouldn’t have,
but drugs make you do things you wouldn’t normally.”

“Including killing a three month old
baby?” she asked, horrified.

“Guess we’ll never know.”

A chill ran through her.  “What
about now?  Would you kill me if the Bainbridges don’t pay?”

He stood.  “They’ll pay.”

“Aren’t you worried about me
identifying you?”

He shook his head, a slight smile
touching his lips.  “You don’t have very strong survival instincts, do
you?  You shouldn’t ask me that.”

She shrugged, a slight smile touching
her own lips.  “Well, I figure, after nearly twenty-seven years, you’ve
probably already thought of that.”

“I plan to be long gone before any
need for you to identify me,” he answered honestly.

She met his gaze again.  “You’re
very kind.  I hadn’t expected that.”

“Lot can change in nearly
twenty-seven years.  I still want the money.  Your family owes me
after what they did.”

“What did they do to you that would
make you take their baby from them?”

“Well, now, that’s a tale for another
day.  Finish your food.  I’ll be back shortly to collect the tray and
take you back to the restroom.”

When Wayne stepped out of the room
and closed the door behind him, he saw Lewis standing just to the left of the
door, arms folded on his chest, glaring at him.

“What?”

“Why are you talking to her?”

“She’s the only truly innocent person
in all of this mess.  You saw all those news interviews.  She had no
idea she wasn’t who she thought she was.  Don’t you feel just the least
bit guilty about what we did to her?”

“Are you forgetting what Buck
Bainbridge did to us when he took all that land?  When he fired you?”

“Hell, Lew…I was always stoned back
then.  I deserved to be fired.”

Lewis regarded him as if he’d grown
two heads all the sudden.  “What the hell happened to you?  You were
just as all fired to go after the girl again as the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I know.  She isn’t like
the rest of them.  She had nothing to do with them.  Sherry’s parents
raised her, and they did it under the radar because they didn’t want to get
Sherry in trouble.  That girl in there grew up with nothing.  And yet
she isn’t trembling and bawling like some of the other debutantes we’ve nabbed
over the years.  There’s a sweetness about her that I haven’t seen in any
of the others.”

“I don’t believe this.  She’s
charmed you.  You!!  Of all people!”

“I still want my money, don’t get me
wrong.  And don’t think for one minute I’ve forgotten what Bainbridge
snatching up that land did to my parents.  My dad was never the
same.  That’s on Buck Bainbridge.  But that girl in there…she’s been
the one to pay the ultimate price…and yeah, I gotta admit, that bothers me.”

“Fine.  It bothers you.  But
don’t you dare let that get in the way of us getting our money and getting the
hell out of here, understand?”

“What the hell, man?” Sammy asked
from behind them.  Wayne and Lewis turned to see Sammy and Carl standing a
few feet from them.  “You bonding with the girl?”

“Back off, Sammy,” Wayne snapped.

“Look, man, your ol’ lady screwed us
out of our pay day last time we had this little bitch.  Ain’t no way in
hell we’re gonna let you screw us out of it this time!” Carl spit out.

In her room, Sarah froze, listening
to the men argue.  It would not bode well for her if the one who had been
taking care of her were to get taken out by the others.  Real fear gripped
her heart for the first time since she’d initially been taken.  She pulled
her feet close and used her fork to try to loosen the knots on the rope around
her ankles, cursing when nothing budged.  He’d bound them together so
tight that her ankle bones rubbing against one another was starting to hurt…and
if she could just get free before he came back, she might be able to slip out
the window while they were all arguing.  Just when she was about to give
up, she felt part of the knot start to loosen.  Adrenaline pumping, she
began pulling and working even harder.  It was getting looser! 
Determined, she kept pulling…

They’d managed to go through all the
boxes in the living room, but the letter Tag found was the only thing useful
they found.  Exhausted, Colt gathered up a few of the boxes that held
things of Sarah’s he wanted to look through and then they loaded up and went
back to his house.  On the road, Buck’s phone rang and they all froze when
he held up the screen display that read ‘Unknown’.

“Bainbridge,” he answered, putting
the phone on speaker.

“In a few minutes, you will receive a
text message with an off-shore account number.  You are to transfer the
twenty million into that account.  Once the transfer has been verified,
you will receive instructions on how to get the girl,” the computer altered
voice said.

“No.  I’ll give your money to
you in person where I can see for myself that she is unharmed.”

“You are in no position to make
demands, Bainbridge.  Transfer the money within four hours or the bitch
dies.”

The line went dead.  Mike was
already on his phone to Riley, asking about the signals.  Colt floored it,
wanting to get home as fast as he was able.  He didn’t even bother pulling
into the garage when he got home, stopping in the driveway and rushing
inside.  He brushed Riley aside and pounced on his computer, fingers
flying frantically over the keys. He was so focused that when his phone rang,
he didn’t even bother looking at the ID, he just lifted it to his ear.

“Harris,” he snapped, irritated at
the distraction.

“Colt!” Sarah cried, stopping him in
mid-keystroke.

“Sarah?” he yelled, bringing everyone
in his house rushing into his office.

“Oh, my God!  Colt!!” she sobbed
over the line.

“Baby?  Where are you?”

“I’m in Wyoming, on my way to the
police station.  I got away.  He left me and they were arguing and oh
God, Colt, please come get me!” she sobbed.

He shot a look over to Mike. 
“She got away.  She’s in Wyoming.  I need a flight there. 
Now!  Sarah, baby, where in Wyoming?  Whose phone are you on?”

“I flagged a trucker down.  He
is taking me to the police station.  In Torrington.”

“Torrington?”

“That’s about an hour and a half
outside of Cheyenne,” Tag told him. 

“OK, just hang tight, we’re getting a
flight there and we’ll –“ He was cut off when Sarah screamed. 
“SARAH?!”

“They’ve found us, they’re shooting
at us.  Oh, God, Colt, I’m scared!” she cried, then screamed again.

“Hold on!” he heard a man yell
frantically.  “They shot my tire!  We’re going to crash!”

“COLT!” Sarah screamed.

“Sarah!  Answer me! 
SARAH!!!!”  He could hear the sound of the tires sliding on the road, the
man telling Sarah to brace for impact and Sarah’s helpless screams and the
sickening sound of metal crashing against something solid.  For the first
time in his life, Colt felt his legs give out and he dropped to his knees on
the floor.  He was aware of Mike and Gib and Riley all yelling into their
phones.  He felt hands on him but couldn’t identify who was touching
him.  All he knew was that the sounds of the accident were no longer
filling his ears and neither was the sound of Sarah’s voice.  He
momentarily pulled the phone from his ear to check that he still had a
connection and saw that he did.  “Sarah!! Baby, talk to me! 
Sarah!!!”  There was no sound at all and then suddenly he heard voices
approaching.  At first he couldn’t make them out, then as they got closer…

“Is she alive?” one said.

“I don’t know.  I can’t get to
her.  Hang on…yeah, yeah, I got a pulse.”

“Is she pinned or hurt?  Can we
move her?  We need to get her out of there before the cops show up.”

“She’s slumped down in the floorboard
but I think she’s OK.  She’s got a cut on her head somewhere that’s
bleeding but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

“Hey, leave her alone,” another
slurred voice Colt recognized as the truck driver said.  There was a pause
and then he heard gunfire.  They’d just killed the truck driver.

“How do you know she doesn’t have any
internal injuries?  We need to get her to a hospital.”

“Shut your mouth, Wayne, you’re lucky
I don’t put a bullet in you.  You’re the one who got us in this mess in
the first place.  We’re just going to have to take a chance.  He’s
already called and given them the account number.  We can’t screw this up
now.”

Colt heard a few creaks and rustles
and then cringed when he heard Sarah whimper in pain.  He held his breath
when they grunted and she cried out a few times and then he heard them walking
away from the cab of the truck.  For several long, agonizing moments, he
stayed with the phone glued to his ear, just in case there was anything else to
hear, then he passed the phone off to Whit when he heard sirens, hopeful that
the police would discover the open phone line and pick it up.

Claire was right beside him, her
hands on his shoulder.  He looked at his sister, then scrubbed his hands
wearily over his face, neck and head.  He’d never felt so helpless in his
entire life. 

“She’d gotten away,” he said
hoarsely.  “I don’t know how, but she flagged down a trucker and he was
taking her to the police station in Torrington.”

“A call came through the Torrington
dispatch,” Gib relayed, “a trucker picked Sarah up on the side of highway
26.  She identified herself and said they were on their way into the
station.  Dispatch was in the process of sending a car out there to escort
them in.  They are organizing a search party and mobilizing helicopters
from state highway patrol.”

“I’ve contacted our police and FBI
friends in Cheyenne,” Buck said.  “They won’t stay hidden for long.”

“Got a jet landing at the TSTC
airport shortly,” Mike told him.  “It can carry all of us.  Grab your
gear.”

“I called Mom and Dad,” Claire told
him when he stood to begin packing his computer.  “They’re arranging to
fly to Cheyenne as well.  The Jenkins have the girls.  Coop and I are
coming as well.”

Colt nodded but his mind had already
shifted.  Someone would pay and pay dearly.