Exhaustion swept through Gabby, heavier than the cold. All she wanted to do was find Mia and go home, but the realization of who was standing in front of them didn’t make sense. If he’d been the one to hire Thatcher, showing up seemed foolish.
Thatcher slid down off the horse, leaving her alone on the back of the animal. “How did you find us?”
“I know you better than you think, Thatcher. I trained you, didn’t I? My job was to anticipate your next move and always stay one step ahead of you. Mountain Springs was swarming with law enforcement. You’re smart. I figured you’d use the canyon to try and escape, which would mean you would have to pass by here, and I was right.”
Thatcher’s hands shook as he pulled out his weapon and aimed it at the colonel. “That doesn’t explain why you are here.”
“I heard what happened on the news and called the authorities. Told them I might be able to talk some sense into you. So despite this nasty weather, I decided to make the drive. They said a man is dead and a baby has been kidnapped. I know you’re in a lot of trouble. That’s why I came. To help you.”
Thatcher took a step forward, tension showing in his jaw. “You thought you needed to talk some sense into me? To help me? Who are you? My shrink?”
“Of course not. But I do think I can help.”
Thatcher laughed. “You’re lying. You’re here to make sure I never get a chance to talk to the authorities. But whatever your plan is won’t work. I’ve told these two the truth. They know everything. You might be able to explain why you shot and killed me, but not all of us. You’ll never get away with that.”
“You’re wrong, Thatcher. I don’t want to hurt you. And no one else needs to get hurt. That’s why I’m here. Why I want you to listen to me.”
“Why should I listen to you?”
“When you first enlisted, you had noble reasons for what you were doing. You ended up getting in with the wrong people and followed them. I know it wasn’t your fault. Not entirely anyway. I always wished back then that you would have come to me. I might have been able to fix things.
“You want to fix things? Then tell them the truth.” Thatcher gripped the gun with two hands. “Tell them that you’re the one who got me into this mess, because I’m not going to prison the rest of my life for what happened. This is on you. Not me.”
“Thatcher...listen to me. I know you’re upset, and I understand. But you need to put the gun down before someone else gets hurt. And we can’t let that happen, can we?”
Thatcher pressed his left palm against his temple. “Why do you keep lying? Is that really what you want? It would be a lot easier to explain why you shot me if I was armed.”
“Thatcher, you need to listen to him.” Liam got off his horse. “We have to put an end to this now. No one else needs to get hurt.”
“I’ve been talking to the authorities,” the colonel said. “They’re on their way right now. I just thought we could end this peacefully without anyone getting hurt. Without you getting hurt, Thatcher. I was worried what would happen if you didn’t feel like anyone here was on your side. Afraid you might do something foolish like shoot someone.”
Thatcher took a step toward the colonel. “Don’t talk to me that way. Like I’m imagining things. All I did was what you told me to do. I did everything you asked. Broke into her house. Put a tracking device on her car...”
“I’ve tried to help you, Thatcher. Tried to make you listen to reason.” The colonel pulled out his own weapon. “Put the gun down, Thatcher. You know everything you did was your choice, not mine. I’m not going to take responsibility for what happened, but I will help you. Just like I’ve always tried to do. But not this way.”
“He’s lying.”
Thatcher caught Gabby’s gaze. She could hear the panic in his voice but had no idea which one of them was telling the truth. And at the moment she didn’t care. All she wanted was to find Mia.
“Everything he says is a lie,” Thatcher continued. “He is the one who told me to go after you. To find the evidence Will had and make sure no one ever got it. You believe me, don’t you?”
“But there is no evidence, is there, Thatcher?” The colonel kept speaking, his words barely above a whisper. “Because none of that is true. You did this on your own. Everyone knows that. You know that. I know that. The cops know that. It’s time to stop and get the help you need.”
Gabby got down from the horse, tired of the games. Tired of everything. Thatcher’s story about the colonel had been completely believable. But the truth was, she didn’t care about who was to blame. She just wanted her baby. And one, if not both, of these men knew where she was.
She walked up to Thatcher.
“Gabby, stay back.”
She ignored Liam’s warning. “I don’t care who did what anymore. All I want is my baby. Where is Mia? You know where she is, Thatcher. You promised me she’d be okay if we did what you said. We came with you here.”
Thatcher shook his head. “This wasn’t supposed to end this way.”
“Where is she, Thatcher?”
“Shut up.” He pressed his hands against his ears.
“Thatcher...” Colonel Peterson took a step forward. “Tell her where the baby is. This can stop. All of it. We’ll make sure you get the help you need when this is over.”
“I don’t need help.” He was shouting now. The veins in his neck pulsed. “I told you to shut up. All of you. Mia was my leverage to get you to pay. My leverage to make sure you did everything you promised. You told me you’d send the money. Where is the money?”
“We can work this out, but first put the gun down, Thatcher. I just want help.”
“It’s a lie. You never wanted to help. Never intended to give me the money, did you? You only took advantage of me. Because I know you have it. Five-point-three million dollars. I didn’t even ask for all of it. Just enough to allow me to disappear. Tell them that. Tell them you had to wait until you retired before you disappeared with the money.”
“None of what you are saying is true, Thatcher, and you know it. All I ever wanted to do was help you, but you never wanted me to. And that is why I can’t. There is no money. There never was. I’m sorry. This has to end. I can make sure you get the support you need. Why don’t you let me?”
“You were never planning to help me. You lied about the money—”
“You’re not listening. There is no money. This was all your imagination. Think about it. All your idea.”
“No...no...” Thatcher fired his gun, but his shot missed.
The colonel’s return shot hit Thatcher in the chest.
Thatcher dropped to the ground next to Gabby, blood spreading on his abdomen.
“No!” Gabby heard her own scream as she looked down at Thatcher. “Why did you do that? You didn’t have to shoot him. He’s knows how to find Mia.”
Gabby knelt down beside Thatcher. They couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not without knowing where her daughter was.
She yanked off her scarf and pressed it to where he’d been shot. This couldn’t be happening. She had to find Mia. “Where is she? Tell me where Maldin took my daughter.”
“She...she’s safe.”
“Tell me where they are...please.”
He was rambling now. His face had paled. He was losing too much blood. “He took her to...to a hotel. Pass... I’m...sorry.”
Gabby checked for a pulse. Panic ripped through her. He couldn’t be dead. Not yet. He knew were Mia was and without him... What if they couldn’t find Mia and Maldin?
She grabbed Thatcher’s hand, trying to get him to talk to her.
Liam knelt down beside her, then squeezed her shoulder. “He’s gone, Gabby, but we will still find her.”
“He can’t be. We don’t know where Mia is.” She didn’t even try to stop the flow of tears this time. Exhaustion mingled with panic overtook her, sending her to a frightening place she didn’t want to go. “We don’t know where my baby is.”
Liam pulled Gabby away from Thatcher’s lifeless body, still trying to process how quickly things had spiraled out of control over the past couple days. And now he had no idea who was telling the truth. But for the moment, it didn’t matter. His priority had to be keeping Gabby safe and finding Mia.
Gabby ran toward the colonel, her cheeks flushed as much from anger, he was certain, as from the cold. She pounded her fists against his chest. “You didn’t have to shoot him.”
“He shot at me. What was I supposed to do?”
“You don’t get it. He took my daughter. Knows where she is, but now—”
Liam pulled her back from the man. He understood her anger and believed it was even justified, but there were still too many unanswered questions to make a judgment.
“It’s alright,” the colonel said. “I understand. I can’t even imagine how terrified you must be right now.”
Liam took out his phone, praying Griffin would pick up quickly. “Gabby...what did he say?”
“Just that she’s at a hotel. Through the pass, I think.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say.”
Not being able to narrow down where he’d taken Mia was going to make the search more challenging, but starting in Mountain Springs seemed like the most logical step. He turned back to the Colonel. For the moment, they needed the man’s help, which meant they had no choice but to trust him.
“Colonel Peterson, do you have a vehicle?”
“Yes. I drove here. My car’s parked in a lot just around the corner—”
“Call 911 and get someone here. I’m sure the local authorities are going to need to talk to us about what happened, but we need to get to Mountain Springs.”
Gabby stood in front of the colonel while Liam waited for Griffin to answer, her hands at her side, the muscles in her jaw tense. “This is your fault. He told us you put him up to this. That you hired him to search my house and scare me in order to get the evidence my husband had against you. And now, not only is Will dead but James Casada and Thatcher as well. And my daughter... I have no idea where she is.”
The colonel shook his head. “I know how all of this looks, and I’m so sorry for everything you’ve had to go through, but I knew Private Thatcher. He struggled to assimilate into military life until he was discharged. Truth is, he never should have joined the military.”
“Griffin...where are you?” Liam said, once his brother answered.
“On my way to Canyon Falls. We just got a lead from a Colonel Peterson that Thatcher is there, but I was about to ask you the same question.”
“I’m just outside Canyon Falls. Have you found the other suspect?”
“No, but what about you? How did you get there?”
“Thatcher arrived at the cabin and forced me to go with him as his guide through the canyon. Gabby’s here as well. But Thatcher...” He paused before continuing. “Thatcher’s dead.”
“Dead? How did that happen?”
“Colonel Peterson was waiting for us at the end of the canyon and he shot Thatcher. I was here and saw what happened. It was clearly self-defense. Thatcher pulled a gun on him and shot at him first, but...” He hesitated again.
“But what?”
Liam turned away and lowered his voice. “Let’s just say I’m not sure the situation is really as black-and-white as it appears. But there’s something more important right now. Mia’s still out there somewhere and we need to find her. The second man is our only link right now. According to what Thatcher said before he died, we think Mia is in a hotel, probably in Mountain Springs, but we don’t know which one.”
“That narrows it down a bit, but there are at least two dozen hotels in town. We’ll start canvassing them immediately. We’ve already set up roadblocks for every way out of town. Wherever he is, we will find him. It’s just a matter of time.”
“But you need to be careful. I’m worried about what the man might do. He’s going to panic if he finds out Thatcher is dead. And if he decides to use Mia as leverage, we could have a hostage situation on our hands or worse.”
“What about the local authorities?” Griffin asked.
Sirens blared as three police cars pulled up. The colonel put his weapon on the ground and raised his hands. “They’ve just arrived, so I’m going to go for now, but Gabby and I will meet you there as soon as we can. You’re going to need all the manpower you can get to find her.”
“First, let me talk to whoever’s in charge at the scene.”
“Put your hands in the air...all three of you.”
Liam raised his hands above his head. “My brother, Deputy Griffin O’Callaghan with the sheriff’s department in Timber Falls is on the phone and would like to talk to you.”
One of the officers stepped forward. “Who are you?”
“Captain Liam O’Callaghan, sir, with the US Army. You can check my ID if you need to.”
Liam looked at Gabby while they waited for the two men to talk. Officers were already cordoning off the scene, so they could start their investigation.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
“I just need to find Mia. That’s all that matters right now.”
He squeezed her fingers. “We’re going to find her.”
A minute later, the officer walked back to them. “Your brother’s pretty convincing. I’m still going to need full statements from both of you, but in the meantime, I’ll have my deputy drive you to Mountain Springs so you can help with the search. But you, sir...” He turned to Colonel Peterson. “You’re going to have to come with us now so we can get a complete statement.”
“Of course. I understand.”
“And the horses?” Gabby asked.
“I’ll have one of my officers take care of them.”
An hour and a half later, they were canvassing hotels in Mountain Springs with two officers from the local police station. Liam still had a pile of questions, including why the colonel had suddenly appeared and, even more disturbing, had he really felt forced to shoot Thatcher. But only one thing really mattered right now, and that was finding Mia.
“How many hotels are left?” She glanced at him as they pulled into the parking lot of their third hotel.
“This is one of the last ones,” Officer Thompson answered.
Her frown deepened. “This is like looking for a needle in the haystack. We don’t even have any guarantees that they’re still in Mountain Springs. And if Maldin saw the news...knows that Thatcher is dead, his next move is going to be to get as far away from here as possible. What if we’re too late?”
He squeezed her hand, feeling her frustration. “She’s got to be here. The authorities have set up roadblocks. Wherever this guy is, he’s not going anywhere, and he knows it. Someone out there has seen her.”
“What do you want us to do?”
“The two of you take this one. We’ll take the one across the street.”
“And after that?” Gabby asked.
“We’re going to find her, Gabby. Whatever it takes.”
They climbed out of the squad car and headed for the hotel lobby. Gabby’s worry was justified. Pretty soon, they would have to expand the perimeter of the search.
Liam burst into the lobby of the hotel in front of Gabby and stepped up to the receptionist. “Have you seen either of these men? Possibly with a baby.”
The clerk stared at the photo a few seconds, then shook her head, clearly not interested in getting involved. “Sorry. I don’t think so.”
“Please look at this again. This is my baby.” Gabby leaned against the counter. “Are you sure?”
The woman glanced back at the photo a few more seconds. “Actually... I think I do recognize him, but I don’t want any trouble here.”
“He kidnapped the baby he was with,” Liam said.
“Kidnapped?” The woman’s face paled. “He told me his wife was sick and had just been admitted into the hospital. Made me feel so sorry for him. I can’t believe he’s wanted by the police.”
“What room is he in?” Liam asked.
“He was in room 124.”
Gabby rushed out of the lobby in front of Liam toward the row of rooms with parking-lot access while he called in their find to the authorities. He had no desire to confront an armed man on his own, but if he had to, he would.
The door to room 124 swung open as they approached.
“Mia?”
The little girl was sobbing in a crib in the back corner of the room. Maldin tried to shut the door, but Liam stopped it with his foot. Rushing across the room, Maldin dropped the ice bucket he’d been holding, grabbed Mia out of the crib and held up a gun. “Stay back. Both of you. Or I will hurt her.”