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“Wendy told me he owns some land in Montana. We’ll start there. But honestly, he’d be stupid to go there.”
“And if that turns up nothing?”
“We put the cops on it. We hire the best PIs in the business. For once, aren’t you glad that money is no object?”
Again, silence.
What was up with him?
“Baby, this is good news. Once we find Larry, we can force him to tell us who the other two are. Let’s get on it. Let’s get Jonah and Ryan and Marj, and we’ll get started. Not only do you have the money to bankroll a full-scale investigation, but the woman you love happens to be the city attorney of Snow Creek right now. I have access to all the databases. We’ll find him, Talon. I know we’ll find him.”
Still he stared straight ahead.
“What’s wrong? I don’t get it.”
He shook his head slowly, methodically. “I just don’t believe it. I mean, I wanted to believe that I had identified two of my abductors, but inside, inside my objective brain, I knew it was unlikely.” He turned to me, his eyes unreadable. “Is there really an end to this in sight?”
I took his hand, massaging my thumb into his palm. “Nothing can erase what you went through, but we can at least find one of them and bring him to justice.”
And again, silence.
“You should be ecstatic. What’s wrong?”
Silence again.
Then, “It’s just…” He raked his hands through his tousled bedhead. “I’m not sure how to say this. How to make you understand.”
I continued to rub his palm with my thumb, aching to comfort him. I had no idea what could be the matter, but he needed to know I was here for him. That I wasn’t going anywhere. Ever.
“You can tell me anything. You know I’ll understand.”
He drew in a deep breath. “All these years I’ve lived with this horror, and until recently, I never even thought about trying to heal. And now, with you, I finally found a reason to go on. And through you I found other reasons, my brothers and sister, my ranch, even myself. And I’m beginning. I’m moving forward.”
“Yes, you’re doing great. So what’s the matter?”
“I’m not sure. I’m not sure I can put it into words. But if we find one of them, finally put one phase of this to rest…it’s gone. That part of my life is finally gone.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
He shook his head. “I told you that you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. Talk to me, Talon.”
“It was horrible. No child—hell, no living being—should go through what I went through. But I did go through it. It was my own. It was horrible, heinous, awful. But it was mine.”
I squeezed his hand. I wanted to take him into my arms and comfort him, but I wasn’t sure that was what he needed right now. “Why do you want to hold on to this, Talon?”
“I don’t. At least I think I don’t. I told you it was hard to explain. But it’s been part of me for so long.”
“It will always be a part of you. It will always be part of what made you the man you are today. And I think you’re an incredible man.”
“I’m trying, blue eyes. I’m really trying.”
“I know you are. You’ve had to own this. You’ve had to walk this path alone for so long. But you’re not alone anymore, Talon. I’m here for you. Your brothers are here for you. Marjorie is here for you. The six people you saved that day in Iraq—they’re all here for you. The hundreds of employees on this ranch who depend on you for their livelihood—they’re all here for you. You have a lot of people in your corner, a lot of people who would do anything for you.”
“Could it really—I mean really—be over? Really over?”
My sweet, wonderful Talon. He’d lived so long with this burden. “It was over twenty-five years ago, baby. You’ve been free since then. You just didn’t know it. It’s time we took matters into our own hands, time we brought those perpetrators to justice. And
