Dalton pulled to the curb, tires screeching as he jumped out of the patrol car. “Maisy, stay with Luna.”
His blurry-eyed daughter nodded. “Daddy, don’t let it burn down.”
“Stay there,” he told her. Poor kid was still in her pajamas underneath her puffy coat, but he had to come and he couldn’t leave her at home.
When he saw Josie standing with Marilyn and Jack, he hurried over to her. “Josie?”
She turned and fell into his arms, her eyes full of tears. “He tried to burn it down, Dalton.”
“I’m so sorry,” Dalton said, holding her close. “I thought we had our man but I don’t see how Randall would try this knowing we’re on to him.”
“It had to be Randall,” she said, pulling away, her eyes full of anger.
Dalton couldn’t comfort her. He’d failed her, and it was evident from the look on her face that she thought that, too.
Zoe hurried up. “I just heard. Do you think it was Callahan?”
“We need to find out,” Dalton said. “Call the local police station in Utah.” He gave her the number. “Thanks, Zoe.”
Zoe hurried off, her phone in her hand.
Chief Hayes rushed toward them from the back of the building. “Started near the fuse box. Electrical.”
“Electrical?” Josie tugged at her coat. “Randall’s an electrician. What more proof do we need?”
“Unfortunately, a lot more,” Chief Hayes said.
Dalton felt as helpless as Josie. “Officer Trent is notifying the authorities in Utah, sir. We should hear soon if Callahan is involved. Meantime, we can put out a BOLO.”
Dalton watched as tired firemen walked by and went about cleaning up and putting away their equipment. The fire chief came up to Josie and Marilyn. “We managed to put it out, but the kitchen and back part of the building aren’t safe. You’ll need to shut it down for repairs.”
Josie nodded, her fingers pressed to her lips. When Dalton reached for her, she pushed away and headed to the back of the building. “I want to see how bad it looks.”
“I’ll go check on her,” Marilyn said. “Jack, go see about the boys. They might have driven our SUV away by now.”
Her husband hurried to where their big vehicle was parked, but one of the firemen stopped Marilyn to ask her a question. That left Dalton standing alone, the smell of burned wires and scorched wood stifling him. When he heard Luna’s agitated bark, he whirled.
And saw the door to the patrol car standing open.
Maisy wasn’t there.
Josie heard a dog barking in the front parking lot. Wiping at her tears, she turned from the rubble that had once been the storage room and the day care kitchen.
Now she would lose her clients because of fear and not having a place to leave their children. Her life here was over. And for what? Some sort of revenge quest?
When she heard the barking again, she turned and saw a purple backpack lying near the fence. And then she noticed the back gate to the day care property standing open.
With a gasp, she rushed toward the backpack and grabbed it up.
Maisy!
Josie gulped in a breath and turned to find Dalton running toward her, panic on his face. Luna whizzed past him and into the woods, turning to bark before she danced around toward the dark brambles.
Dalton took one look at the backpack and shook his head. “No. No.” Then he called out to Luna. “Find. Find Maisy.”
Luna barked and lunged forward.
Dalton took off running after her.
Maisy was gone.
Josie held to the backpack and followed him into the woods. She could hear him shouting for help. Luna’s barking sounded off in the distance.
Please, Lord, let them find Maisy safe and sound.
But before she could catch up with Dalton, someone grabbed her from behind and clamped a grimy hand over her mouth. Dropping the backpack, Josie struggled, but that only made the man tighten his grip.
“You’re coming with me,” he said. “We end this tonight.”
“Maisy?”
Dalton was hoarse from calling her name. Luna stayed up ahead, racing through the woods until they came out on the other side of the road.
And into the yard with the abandoned car and old, deserted house.
Dalton swallowed the excruciating pain coursing through him. The pain of failure, the pain of knowing he’d been close to the truth the last time he’d been here and he’d found nothing.
Nothing. But now, his daughter might be in there, hurt. Or worse.
Dear God...
He couldn’t finish the words. He hoped God would hear his plea. Luna stopped at the side door of the house. Now she emitted low growls. Her way of warning Dalton while she alerted.
Someone was in there.
Dalton pulled his weapon and prayed Zoe and the chief would follow the trail. His phone buzzed, and he quickly checked the message.
It was Randall Callahan. Josie’s brother-in-law remembered someone inquiring about Josie. A coworker of her husband’s named Wilson or possibly Wilcox?
Dalton put away his phone, his gut burning. They’d been targeting the wrong man.
Josie. He remembered her holding the backpack, her eyes wide with fear and horror. She’d want to help find Maisy. She loved his daughter, too.
Blinking back his emotions, Dalton slowly made his way to the old, battered door and stared into the window. A flashlight lay on the floor, illuminating enough of the room for him to see Maisy sitting in a chair, her arms tied behind her so she couldn’t escape. A slow rage boiled up inside Dalton. He was about to kick down the door when he heard a sound behind him. Dalton turned and found a dirty, scruffy-looking man holding Josie, his arm stretched across her neck.
And a gun jammed against her side.
Josie shouted, “Dalton, get down.”
The man shot and missed. She cried out, but he held the gun to her head. “I’ll kill her,” he shouted to Dalton. “Put down the gun and hold that dog back.”
Luna’s growls turned to aggressive barks.
Dalton halted her. “Stay.” He held his gun out and slowly lowered it to the ground.
When Josie heard cries of “Daddy” from inside the house, she breathed a sigh of relief. Maisy was alive.
“I’m coming,” Dalton called. “Maisy, honey, stay right where you are. Don’t try to untie your hands. Stay there, baby.”
“She can’t get away,” the man said. “Y’all are gonna have to join her. And then it’ll finally be over.”
Josie gave Dalton a warning glance. “He’s not my brother-in-law. He’s—”
“Perry Wilcox,” Dalton guessed. “The one missing link that we couldn’t find.” He nodded toward the man. “You worked with Josie’s husband, right?”
The man shoved Josie toward the house. “That’s right. I finally found her. This woman ruined my life, so I tried to ruin hers.”
“By threatening her with strange notes and letters and shooting at her?” Dalton asked. “And now, kidnapping a child, too?”
“I had to get everyone’s attention,” the man shouted. “No one ever listens to me.”
Dalton kept his eyes on Josie. She stared at him, trying to convey all that she felt at this moment—gratitude, fear for him and Maisy, hope and dread, and love. A love so strong that she knew she had to survive this, somehow.
“He thinks I caused the accident at the refinery,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Douglas and I had a horrible fight that day before his shift. Mr. Wilcox cleaned up hazardous spills and...something went wrong.”
The man pushed her closer to Dalton. Luna growled low in her throat, her impatience evident in her body language.
“I’ll show you what went wrong.” Wilcox turned, and Josie felt sick to her stomach. He had a horrid scar on the left side of his face. His skin had been scorched and burned. “This! My marriage ended, and I lost my job.” He jerked his arm tighter around Josie. “The accident was Douglas Callahan’s fault. In the weeks before it, he always came to work drunk. He told us how horrible Josie was, how she didn’t want a family or children. How lazy she was. Not a good wife. He was so mad at her, he couldn’t focus and he messed up big-time.”
Dalton’s eyes held Josie’s, an understanding passing between them. “So her actions ruined your life and you had to make her pay, right?”
Wilcox bobbed his head. “Right. I tried to shut down that kiddie corral. And I’m not done.”
Dalton inched closer. “You don’t have to do this. We can help you. I’ll make sure she gets what she deserves.” Josie knew Dalton was bargaining, anything, to make the man think he was on his side.
Wilcox shook his head. “I don’t care anymore. I can’t let her live when my life is over.” He pressed the gun into Josie’s ribs. “Get inside. I want her to tell me how sorry she is. I want her to beg.”
Josie tried to keep breathing. She could get out of this. She had to help Maisy and Dalton. She wouldn’t let them die because of this madman and his misguided sense of justice.
“Just take me,” she said. “Let them go and take me with you. I’ll do whatever you want if you let them go.”
“Ain’t gonna work,” he said. “Now let’s get inside.”
Before the man could force them into the house, they heard a shuffling noise and a door slamming. Startled, Wilcox looked to the left.
It was all the distraction Josie and Dalton needed. Josie elbowed him in the ribs, stomped on his foot and then shoved him back. She dove to the ground a few feet out of his reach. Dalton grabbed his gun and rushed the man. Luna started barking again.
“Attack,” Dalton called, rolling away so Luna could do her job.
Maisy came running around the building, holding a large tree branch. When Josie saw the girl, she grabbed her and held her back. “It’s okay, Maisy. I’m okay. We’re all okay.”
Maisy dropped the big limb and turned and fell into Josie’s arms, her sobs echoing out over the stark woods. “I kept working at the ropes until I could slip through them.”
“You did great, honey.”
When they heard more barking, Dalton called off Luna and cuffed Perry Wilcox. “Don’t move!”
Then he turned and hurried to his daughter and Josie. “It’s over,” he said. “It’s all over.”
Josie stood in her kitchen and smiled at the man sitting with his daughter on the couch. Dalton and Maisy had opened their presents at home, and now they’d come to spend Christmas with her. Dalton was admiring his gloves, and Maisy was wrapping her scarf in much the same way she’d seen Josie wearing hers.
Josie thanked God for this scene. When Dalton got up to refresh his coffee and grab another cinnamon roll, she couldn’t help it. She hugged him close. “Thank you for the hand lotion.”
He sniffed her hair. “You always smell so good, it reminded me of you.”
“It’s so good to be alive,” she said. “We’re so blessed.”
He nuzzled her ear. “Yes.”
The horror of her encounter with Perry Wilcox still held her, though. “I’m just glad it’s over.”
They had Wilcox in custody. The eyewitness had identified him as the man she’d seen in the town center parking lot, and the can of red spray paint left behind was what was used on her fence and her car. The lab had actually found a partial print on the can that was a match.
“We’re here, together, and it’s cold, but we’re warm and safe,” Dalton said. “I’m cleared to start my assignment next week in Canyon County instead of Flagstaff. I won’t have to leave you.”
They glanced at Maisy and Luna, curled up together. Maisy was now reading a book she’d received from Santa, and Luna enjoyed a chew bone from her doggie stocking.
“We have a big day,” Josie said. “Zoe, Sean and Patrick are coming over for dinner and bringing Freya, and then we’ll go over to my aunt’s for even more food.”
“I love it,” Dalton said. “And I love you.”
Josie’s heart dipped and lifted. “I thought we were going to take this slow.”
“We will,” he said. “But I can love you while we do that.”
“I love you, too,” she admitted. “I love Maisy and I owe Luna my life.”
“I’ll remind you of that every day for the next fifty years.”
She smiled at him, and then he dipped his head to give her a quick but thorough kiss. “Let’s hurry up and take this slow.”
When the doorbell rang, Maisy jumped up. “May I get it?”
Dalton laughed. “Make sure you know who it is first.”
He’d had a talk with his brave daughter. She’d untied her hands in spite of his warnings. Or because of his warnings, since he’d tried to teach her how to survive in any situation. Maisy was bold, but he wanted her to be cautious, too.
Dalton gave Josie another kiss before the house filled with laughter and joy. Freya greeted her friend Luna with a doggie woof and then settled down beside Luna to enjoy the day.
Maisy took Patrick by the hand. “Wanna see what I got for Christmas?”
The little boy grinned and showed her his gift, his speech still slow and stilted but improving. “I got a game.”
Zoe hugged Josie and gave her a reassuring smile, while Dalton offered Sean a drink. “You sure look happy.”
“I am,” Josie replied. “I can’t believe the police department volunteered to throw us a party and help us rebuild the day care.”
Sean grinned and held up his drink. “And we’re keeping our children with you. We trust you, Josie.”
Josie found it hard to speak. “I can’t wait to get back to work.”
“Well, meantime, your aunt has the situation under control,” Zoe said. “She was licensed to care for children in her home for years, and she’s still good to go.”
After they gathered around the dining table, Josie took Dalton’s hand. “Will you say grace?”
Dalton looked sheepish. “Yes, I’ll be glad to. I have the best Christmas gift. My family.”
When he finished, Maisy screamed and ran to the window. “Daddy, look. It’s snowing!”
Josie couldn’t believe it. Beautiful, delicate snowflakes fell like lace and covered the ground.
Maisy grabbed Patrick. “This is a perfect Christmas.”
Josie looked around the table and then met Dalton’s gaze. Maisy was right. After so much pain, they were able to celebrate the gift of Christ together. She was home.