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"Run the software against video that day?" Madison suggested, absolutely sick with fear for Haldyn. "I can do that so you don't have to watch it."
Hope's eighteen-year-old niece had been one of the victims that day. Hope shouldn't run that video anyway. Her niece Zoey had been a victim the same day as Madison a year earlier. In the choir hall shooting. With a nondescript van. Madison wasn’t lost to the similarities.
Hope probably shouldn't be the one to run the videos through the new software, honestly. But Hope was the best at using it—and Haldyn's life could hang in the balance. Hope could make the difference if she could see something Madison couldn't. She’d rather just get Haldyn back. With Haldyn missing, Madison was the head of the lab right now. She’d make the best decisions she could, and deal with any fallout later. "Run the video we took today against Eastman's ambush video and the video from the choir shooting. See if anyone is similar. I'll sign off on it."
"How will that help us identify who took Hal, though?" Hope asked.
Madison just shook her head. "I don't know. It may not be connected to what happened before. I know that. But the more information we can get, maybe it will lead to something else."
It was a long shot, but right now, it was all they really had.
6
Dr. Haldyn Harris was a beautiful young woman with almost flawless, alabaster skin. Her hair was long and pale with just enough red to hint at fire. Her eyes were big and intensely blue. Frightened. She had worn little wire-frame glasses, glasses that now rested on Beck's nightstand.
Handley had always thought she was a remarkable young woman. Not just because she was beautiful—but that that beauty went soul deep. That mattered in this world. The glasses had somehow stayed on her face even through her ordeal. And it had been an ordeal. There were bruises forming on her beautiful face now.
Handley fought the rage that kindled, seeing those bruises.
He’d remembered her as just a young girl, terrified of her own shadow, the first time Powell had brought her to the ranch for a family dinner. So overwhelmed and shy.
He had always thought she was a sweet girl, and he had been quite fond of her—his rather reserved niece had had so much trouble making close friends, before Haldyn. They had been close for years.
His fondness for Haldyn had just grown through the years.
Handley would find those bastards responsible for the bruises on her face and make them pay for what they had done to her. What they had intended to do to his little Powell. Powell was his only niece, his middle brother Mason's only daughter.
The sweetheart of the entire Barratt family.
Handley had loved her since the day she had been born.
So tiny. So precious.
Haldyn was the sister Powell had never had. Powell could be quite anxious. Afraid, though that girl would never let it show. Always thinking she had to be tough like her brothers and cousins. "How long have you and Powell been friends now? Several years, correct?”
"Since our sophomore year at FCU. Eleven years. She's my closest friend. As close as a sister to me. She’s going to be terrified for me.”
He nodded. Her words echoed his own thoughts. But the time had come.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Haldyn. I will never hurt you." He knew exactly who she was, and not just his niece’s closest friend. And even though it broke his heart to do what he would next, it was best for all involved. He just couldn’t do what he needed to do any longer. This was best. "Then that solves our little problem, doesn't it? One I have been trying to figure out how to fix for a long time. I’ve been delaying it. It’s one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But…I think it is best for him in the long run.”
He could hear his youngest son giggling to the theme song of that damned Scraggle-Popps Beck loved so much. It just cemented what Handley had to do.
"What problem?"
“I’ll explain in a moment.”
He leaned over and pulled her hands into his. Her hand was bruised—possibly broken—and raw beneath his. The marks across her feminine flesh angered him. He wished he could just drive her straight to his brother’s home where she could be protected by Powell’s father and brothers forever. But he couldn’t do that now. He had too much he needed to finish first. A vow he had made long ago. "I am sorry they did this to you."
"Did you know who they were? Or why they did this?”
Handley shook his head, just watching her. Trying to ascertain if he could trust her with the most important part of his world now. He thought he could. She was…a sign. That this was the right time. No matter how it hurt. “That I do not. I just know I was there at the right time when you needed someone. I am glad I was. I would never sit back and watch someone hurt Powell or you, Haldyn. I was not going to let them get away with what they were doing. Not with her. All that is needed for evil to persist, my dear, is for man—good or bad—to do nothing, after all.”
"Where are we, Mr. Barratt? Is that Houghton's younger brother? He looks just like him.” The girl was challenging him. Handley had to admire her spirit. “Well, he looks more like Powell, doesn’t he?”
He had always admired her spirit—even if she had kept it hidden.
“Yes, that is exactly who that child is.” Handley was going to do what he had to do for his son. He loved his sons so much. And always would. “I have plans for you, Dr. Haldyn Harris. You owe me a debt now.”
