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The guards edged closer, reaching out but unable to get close enough without pushing Curt and Tristan over the edge. One guard was able to hold on to Curt’s arm and hopefully give him some sort of anchor if his hand pulled free of where he’d wedged it.
“William,” Curt said. “Reach out for me as Henry swings you toward me.”
William’s dark gaze that had been so malevolent was now full of terror. That Curt would risk his life to save this man was admirable and horrifying at the same time.
“Please, Lord,” Aliya muttered. “Please.”
Jennifer prayed desperately in her mind.
William nodded. He reached out his free hand as he clung to Henry with the other. Henry tried to swing toward Curt. The king and Tristan attempted to help the swinging motion of her dad’s body.
William’s grasp on her dad’s arm slipped. He screamed. Her dad released his grip on the king and tried to grab William with his other hand. Tristan clung to her dad’s belt as her dad was swung violently upside down, his only anchor Tristan’s grasp on him.
Her dad missed, and William slid out of his grasp. William screamed as he slammed into the cliff wall, then spiraled into the chasm below.
Jennifer and Aliya both cried out in horror. It looked like her dad would follow, and Tristan as well if he didn’t let him go.
Curt grabbed on to her dad and yanked him in. Her dad clung to Curt’s arm with both hands. The guard released his grip on Curt and clamped on to her dad as well.
“We’ve got him, T,” Curt said. “Let him go.”
Jennifer’s heart was in her throat as she clasped her hands together and prayed desperately that Curt really did have her dad.
Tristan slowly released him and lay back against the mountain. Curt and the guard helped her dad onto the trail. Nobody moved or spoke. Except for Aliya. The only sound was their heavy breathing and Aliya’s unsteady whispers, “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Father above. Thank you to all the saints and angels and Queen Anne especially. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“I tried to hold on,” her dad said, his voice weary and defeated.
“You did all you could to save him,” the king said. “This is not your fault, Henry. This came about from William’s choices. Let him and the pain go.”
Jennifer’s heart lurched again as she studied her dad. A sob wrenched from his throat and tears traced down his face. William was dead and her dad was free. It was over.
Or would be when they somehow rescued her mum. And somehow let go of all this pain. It heaped on her just like her dad’s sob, full of agony, regret, and despair.
Would things ever be set right again? Could Tristan forgive as easily as the king had? They loved each other but her mum and dad being responsible for his mum’s death and then hiding it for so long was horrific. How could she heal this new rift between them?
Chapter Fourteen
Tristan felt drained emotionally and physically as they slowly hiked back to the side-by-side vehicles. Curt had a satellite phone and more of Ray’s men had been dispatched and met them on the main trail. The Austrian authorities had been alerted to what had happened on their soil, and Ray and Chad were on their way in a helicopter.
The king asked Ray to organize his best men to diffuse the bomb and remove the bodies, but he wanted everyone, including Ray and Chad, searching for Leslie and Naomi. Even with William dead, this calamity wasn’t finished.
The Teryx led the way, with the king driving as fast as the machine would go. Henry sat where Philippe had been a couple hours ago.
Tristan had shot and killed Philippe. With everything that had happened, he was just now processing that. Guilt pressed at him like a heavy weight on his chest, but it had been the only path to protect Jennifer. When Tristan had cleared that doorway Philippe had been aiming his gun right at Jennifer and he’d instinctively shot the man to protect her.
He’d have to deal with the sorrow over killing a man that he’d liked and respected; the pain of knowing the details of his mum’s death and Henry covering it up to protect his family; and the all-encompassing need to hold Jennifer for hours.
Right now, they had to find Leslie.
The speed ride through narrow mountain paths, sometimes with steep drop-offs on one side, was terrifying, but Tristan understood the urgency. Henry had some injuries that needed to be attended to, but Leslie needed to be rescued and Naomi imprisoned. Leslie had been manipulated and controlled emotionally and mentally by Naomi and William. Was she in her right mind now? He prayed Jennifer wouldn’t lose her mum as surely as he’d lost his.
He held Jennifer’s hand in the side-by-side. She clung to it but had spoken little. Was she in shock? Terrified for her mum’s safety? Worried about her dad’s health and state of mind? Seeing Henry cry and hearing that sob had ripped Tristan apart. He’d been carrying this burden for a long time. Almost losing Henry over that cliff had been horrific. For years, Tristan had respected and loved the man like a father and close friend. It was impressive how his dad had granted forgiveness, but it would take some time to come to grips with all of this pain and regret, for all of them. Someday, maybe all this ugliness and pain could be behind them.
They waved goodbye to Curt and Aliya at their cabin. Curt was going to help search the mountains for any sign of Leslie and Naomi, but he didn’t want Aliya in any more danger. Aliya surprisingly hadn’t fought him on it.
The guards followed them, and finally they reached Greenville. There was a lot of activity at the lower gates that led to the castle, men getting assigned to search throughout the country for Leslie and Naomi.
“Henry, you need a doctor,” the king said. “Steffan is at the castle. Let’s have him look at you and see if you need to go to the hospital in Traverse.”
