Grace awoke to the smell of bacon, biscuits and fresh coffee. She cracked her eyes open as the bed dipped and Cole leaned over her, pressed his lips against her ear and spoke softly.
"Good morning beautiful. I love you." Cole smiled as a shiver ran down her body. "I brought you breakfast."
"I could get used to this, you know." Grace smiled as she sat up and Cole laid a tray of bacon, eggs, biscuits, and coffee on her lap.
He sat down beside her on the bed, grabbed a biscuit and took a bite; then leaned back against the headboard and sipped his coffee. The two of them enjoyed the companionable silence both lost in their thoughts while eating their breakfast. Grace was the first to speak.
"Cole, when can we go back home? I miss the ranch and the house as well as Sam. I know you are trying to protect us but no one has seen anything out of the ordinary for at least two weeks. Please."
He knew that she had been patient and that she wanted to go home, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that they needed to stay in town just a little longer. "Okay, we'll go home tomorrow." Cole said with a sigh.
Grace jumped and squealed as she moved the tray to the foot of the bed, then turned around and wrapped her arms around Cole's neck. "Really? You mean it?"
Cole leaned over and set his coffee cup on the bedside table then wrapped both of his arms around her waist and lifted her onto his lap. "Yes, I mean it. I guess it will be okay for us to go back home. But I'm leaving at least one of the hands with you and Blake and I don't want to hear any arguments. Okay?" He could feel Grace nod her head.
"Thank you."
"Oh, before I forget, Henry said he thought he had something of yours. He said he found it upstairs. I told him you would go over after breakfast."
"I can't think of anything that I left over there." Grace said thoughtfully. "And I really don't want to take Blake out."
"After you feed Blake, how long until you have to feed him again?"
Grace drew her brows together. "Well, I think usually about three to four hours during the day and about six hours at night. Why?"
"How about after you feed him you go over to the diner and see if what Henry found is yours, then go over to Anne's and visit with her for a couple of hours? It will give you a little time to yourself." Cole reached up and cupped her face. "Besides, it will also give me time to spend with Blake."
Grace leaned forward and kissed Cole. The next thing she knew she was laying on her back and her husband was laying over her with his weight supported on his elbows. His lips left hers and trailed down her neck. A moan escaped her lips as her arms wound around Cole's neck running her fingers through his silky black hair.
Blake began to fuss in his cradle wanting to eat his breakfast, too. Both of them lay there for a moment then Cole smiled. "I'll get him, you get comfortable and I will bring him to you."
An hour later Blake had been fed and changed and Grace was walking down the sidewalk to the diner. This was the first time she had really been out since she'd had Blake. Cole either had their meals delivered or he went and picked them up and brought them back to their room. They had eaten at Anne and Andy's a couple of times.
The air was a little cool for this time of year and Grace shivered slightly as she wrapped her shawl a little tighter around her shoulders. She'd decided to go see Henry first even though she really didn't want to see him at all. When she left there, she would go to Anne's house and spend about an hour or so with her friend.
Another shiver ran down her spine but this time it had nothing to do with the cool wind. Grace glanced around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary; just friendly faces smiling and nodding to her as she walked past them. She straightened her shoulders and picked up her pace to the diner.
Grace reached her hand out to open the door to the diner and again, a feeling of apprehension consumed her. She drew her hand back and was about to turn and leave but then laughed at herself, and opened the door. After all, it was broad daylight. The bell jingled over the door as it opened and Grace walked inside. The morning was overcast so the diner had lamps lit on the walls and on a few of the tables. A moment later Henry walked out of his office to greet her with a slightly surprised look on his face.
"Grace, I'm glad you could come by." Henry said with a gleam in his eyes.
Instantly the apprehension she'd felt a few moments ago was back, tenfold. "Good morning Henry. Cole said you found something you thought was mine."
"Yes, I've got it in my office." Henry said as he turned to go back the way he'd come.
Grace stood there for a moment then followed him to his office. As soon as her foot crossed the thresh hold, she knew she'd made a huge mistake. Her worst fear sat behind Henry's desk with his feet crossed and propped up on the top of the desk. His elbows rested on the arms of the chair with his fingers steepled in front of him as if he were deep in thought.
Her feet were rooted to the floor. Her mind was screaming for her to run or scream or something. Her mouth worked but no sound escaped. Grace felt a sharp pain in her head. Her eyes rolled back and the ground came up to meet her faster than she thought was possible. The last conscious thought she had was that she was going to die and Cole would be left to raise their son. At least this time he wouldn't be alone. He'd have Blake.
Jeremiah put his feet down then propped one foot on the opposite knee. Reaching up he took the half smoked cheroot from his mouth and stubbed it out on the sole of his boot then flicked it onto the floor. Completely ignoring Henry's snort of disgust, he stood up and walked over to where Grace lay on the floor.
"Well boys, this was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be. Hell, I'm almost disappointed. Pick her up and bring her out back to the wagon. We need to get going." Jeremiah said as he stepped over Grace's unconscious body.
"Hey! Wait just a damn minute! Where's the reward money you promised me?" Henry demanded. Jeremiah turned back around to face him. The smile on his face and the gleam in his eyes was enough to make Henry shrink back in fear.
"How could I forget? This would have been so much more difficult without your help."
Frank had already picked up Grace and was walking to the kitchen with Clyde on his heels. Jeremiah walked back into Henry's office and shut the door. Beads of perspiration began to form on Henry's forehead, as he took a step back and felt his desk behind him and he could go no further. Jeremiah walked forward to stand in front of the other man and held his hand out for Henry to shake.
Henry visibly relaxed as he took Jeremiah's hand in a firm handshake. As Henry tried to pull his hand back the other man tightened his grip until Henry grimaced in pain. "You should NEVER trust a stranger." Jeremiah drawled as he reached behind him with his free hand and pulled a knife from the waistband of his pants. In one swift motion he brought the knife around burying it to the hilt in Henry's side. He felt the rush of adrenalin as the knife slid between the other man's ribs. He gave the knife a vicious twist then pulled it back out and wiped it on the sleeve of Henry's shirt.
Henry slid to the floor and landed with a thud, gasping for breath. Jeremiah put his knife back in his waistband and turned to leave. "Yep, you never trust a stranger." Opening the door he turned to look one last time at the man laying on the floor wishing he could kill him again. Whistling one of his favorite tunes, Jeremiah closed the door and walked through the kitchen to the wagon waiting out back.
"Do you have everything set?" He asked Frank.
"Yes sir. We got her in the crate in the back just like you planned."
"I hope you didn't hit her too hard. I want to have some fun with her first." Jeremiah said with an evil grin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cole looked at the small clock on the bed side table. Grace had been gone for about two hours and Blake was starting to get fussy. He'd give her a little longer with Ann. After all, she'd been cooped up in this room for weeks now. He began to think of the surprise waiting for Grace when they went home tomorrow. There was another reason he wanted to stay in town. Sam and some of the other men were making new furniture for Blake and painting the room. Cole wanted everything to be perfect when they went home.
He never thought he would be able to love someone again, and he certainly never thought anyone would be able to look beyond his past and love him. And all of that meant no children and he'd been good with that. But now, after finding love with Grace and having Blake, he couldn't imagine his life without them.
Cole thought about Rebecca and knew now that he'd loved her with a boy's heart, not a man's. He hadn't been in love with her like he was with Grace. There was no doubt in his mind that if she had lived he would still love her and been faithful to her. And although he could never replace Caleb or Cassie, the void left by their deaths wasn't quite as deep as it had been.
Blake's crying brought Cole back to the present. He looked at the clock again as he put his son on his shoulder and patted his back trying to comfort him. Grace had been gone for two and a half hours. After a few more minutes of trying to soothe the baby, Cole gave up and began to make his way to Anne's house. He did get a few strange looks, but he didn't care. After all it wasn't every day you saw a six foot three inch tall man dressed from head to toe in black, wearing his guns, carrying a fussing three week old baby down the street.
Cole knocked on the door probably a little harder than he should have, then waited. In just a minute Anne opened the door and stood there in shock. "I need Grace." Cole said before she could say anything.
"Well, where is she?" Anne asked innocently.
"What do you mean, where is she? She's supposed to be here."
"I haven't seen her today." Anne said trying to stay calm. "Maybe she got sidetracked by someone."
"When I picked up breakfast this morning, Henry said that he'd found something that he thought was Grace's and asked me to have her go by there to see. I told her that I would keep Blake so she could go over there then come and visit you for a couple of hours. When she didn't come back I thought maybe she just lost track of time." Cole was starting to babble. "I'm going to the diner and see if she's there." Deep down he knew that she wasn't. Holding Blake tight to his chest he turned to leave.
"Cole!" Anne called stopping him. "Give Blake to me. I'll keep him for you." Anne held out her arms. Cole looked down at his crying son and kissed his downy soft head before handing him to Ann.
"Thank you." He said as he turned to run to the diner. Cole burst through the door to the diner looking around. It was empty, except for the girl that had taken Grace's place as she walked out of the kitchen.
"Can I help you Mr. Weston."
For the life of him he couldn't remember the woman's name. "Have you seen my wife?"
"No sir, I haven't."
"Where's Henry?" Cole asked trying to keep his panic and fear at bay.
"I think he's in his office. His door's been shut since I got back."
Cole walked over and turned the knob opening the door. What he saw made his blood run cold. Henry was laying on the floor with blood all over his side and the floor. Behind him he heard a scream. Without taking his eyes off of Henry, Cole told the girl to go get the sheriff and the doctor. He squatted down to check and see if the man was still alive. Unbelievably he found a faint pulse.
Henry's eyes cracked opened and his mouth tried to form words. Cole leaned down closer to try and make out what the other man was saying. It sounded like he said that Jeremiah had taken Grace. He sat there for a minute trying to process what Henry had said.
Andy burst through the door and came to a skidding stop. "What the hell happened Cole?" Andy panted.
Cole stood up and turned to look at his friend. "Henry said that Jeremiah took Grace!"
A slow rage began to build inside of him. He ran around the sheriff and checked every nook and cranny of the diner. When he didn't find her he walked back into Henry's office and looked at his friend. "She's gone, Andy! She's GONE and that son of a bitch took her!" Cole roared. "I don't even know where to begin to start looking for her."
"First we'll ask around and see if anyone saw anything."
"That will take too much time and that's something we don't have Andy!" Cole began to pace the length of the dining room trying to remain calm. He knew he had to shut down his emotions, that was going to be the only way to save her. Cole made himself stop and think about what he did know instead of what he didn't know.
He was pretty sure that no one saw anything because nobody had reported anything suspicious like a woman being kidnapped. So that meant that she must have been taken out the backdoor. Cole ran to the back of the diner and began to methodically examine the room looking for anything that might give him a clue. Nothing. Nothing was out of place that he could see and there was certainly no sign of a struggle. So she either went with her kidnapper willingly, or she was unconscious. He didn't like either possibility.
Cole knew she wouldn't willingly go with anybody unless it was to protect someone she loved. He walked to the back door opening it slowly. As a cool breeze from the opening ruffled his shoulder length hair, a small movement caught his attention. He took a couple of steps closer to the door frame and saw a small scrap of torn material hanging on a piece of splintered wood. Plucking the piece of material he inspected is closely. It looked like the same material that Grace's skirt had been made of.
The splinter on the door frame was almost the same height as his shoulder; and if that was the case that meant that someone had carried Grace out most likely on their shoulder. He walked down the two shallow wooden steps. With his eyes glued to the ground he began to search for anything that could be a clue. He saw several sets of boot prints and wagon tracks.
Cole ran back inside bumping into the new waitress as he entered the dining room. "Oh, I'm sorry ma'am." He apologized as he grabbed her arms to keep her from falling backward and onto the floor.
The waitress squeaked and sniffled. "Oh, Mr. Weston, I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention."
Cole nodded. "Ma'am, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"No, not at all." The waitress replied wringing her hands in distress.
"Did you see anything suspicious here today?"
"No, sir. I haven't"
"OK, did you have any deliveries today or yesterday?"
"No sir. We haven't had any deliveries for about four days."
"Thank you ma'am." Cole said as he tipped his hat and went back to Henry's office.
He walked into the office where Andy and Doc Baker were leaning over Henry. Glancing down to look at the man's shoes he decided that there was no way those boot prints he saw outside the back door were made by Henry. The sole was different and Henry's feet were much smaller.
"Andy, I think they took her in a wagon and I'm pretty sure she was unconscious. I found this stuck to a splinter of wood on the door frame." Cole said as he showed Andy the scrap of torn material. "This is the same material Grace's skirt was made of. I'm going to get my horse and start tracking the wagon."
"What wagon?" Andy questioned.
"I found boot prints and wagon tracks out back and the waitress said they haven't had any deliveries in four days. That means they most likely had to have put her in a wagon to get her out of town. What about Henry?"
"He's gone." The sheriff replied.
"Damn, did you get any other information from him?" Cole prayed they had gotten something, anything that could help him find Grace. Both the sheriff and Doc Baker shook their heads.
Cole turned to leave but Andy grabbed his arm stopping him. "Go get your horse and mine, I'll go with you.
Cole nodded knowing he would need all the help he could get. He left the diner and ran to the livery to saddle Remi and Andy's horse. A million questions were running through his mind. "Hold on Grace. I'm going to find you and bring you home."