Mountain Refuge (Mountain Mutineers #1)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Brooke

A ll evening Adam had been glaring at me and I didn’t know why. Shit, I mean Elijah . That was going to take some getting used to. Belle and Lucas were easy enough to remember and their names flowed naturally when I needed to use them. Elijah’s, though… I cringed. He was still Adam to me. I’d spent months dreaming of Adam , not Elijah. ‘Elijah’ felt like a stranger while Adam felt familiar.

I needed to break that train of thought, though. I knew better than most how important it was that there wasn’t even a suspicion that someone named ‘Adam’ lived up on this mountain.

Elijah continued to glare. He was all smiles around the kids and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ just as loudly as the rest of us but would turn cold when I approached.

I don’t know what sort of reception I was expecting. When Corbin had showed up at my cabin this morning to ask if I wanted to come to Belle’s birthday party, Dalton had already been there. He was helping me fix a leak in one of my sheds. The heavy snow had caused the roof to crack. As usual, Dalton was the first to volunteer his services. I could have done it on my own, but four hands were easier than two to get the job accomplished.

So Dalton had come to the party too. Since the little girl didn’t have anyone her own age to invite, Corbin wanted to make sure there were enough people there to still make her feel special. Apparently, Dalton also had not known that Corbin’s mother, Gertie, was also living on the mountain.

Dalton offered to drive me on his four-wheeler and to take me home at the end of the evening. He truly was a sweetheart. I understood that he needed space from society due to his PTSD, but it was a shame he was all alone. Years ago, he’d described himself to me as a perpetual bachelor.

Then again, who on this mountain wasn’t?

I’d been dreaming and fantasizing about Adam since the moment he’d left, so I had been nervous about seeing him again. Best case, Adam—damn it, Elijah —would run to greet me, kiss me, and declare his love for me. Worst case, he’d offer me his hand and tell me it was nice to see me.

I never expected to be ignored and glared at throughout the entire party.

In fact, I was angry about it. I wanted to shout at him and demand to know what his problem was. If I was here for any other reason except it being Belle’s birthday party, I would have, but I was not going to ruin the girl’s birthday with my petty love issues.

And here I thought I’d left all this drama behind me when I’d moved to Montana. I really did not need this sort of anxiety and stress in my life. That was the whole point of me living outside of society. I wanted a drama-free life. I deserved that after everything I’d been through.

I saw my opportunity to corner Elijah when he went into the kitchen to refill his coffee cup while Belle was opening her gifts. I hadn’t gone shopping for her and didn’t have much in my supply shed that was appropriate for an eight-year-old. However, I’d recently finished crocheting a blanket and decided that was a good gift. And then I realized I didn’t have wrapping paper or a gift bag. Corbin gave me one to use, clearly having come from town.

It surprised me, since Corbin usually wasn’t the first to come down off the mountain after winter. Generally, it was Dalton or me. I guess he made a modification to his schedule this year for his new niece.

Since Belle had already opened my gift, I followed her father into the kitchen. In a hurried whisper, I demanded, “What the hell is your problem?”

He turned around, having not heard me enter. “I don’t know what you mean.”

I snorted. “So, we’re going to be childish about this. Fine. You’ve been glaring at me all day and you haven’t even acknowledged me. A ‘hello’ would have been nice, maybe even a hug.”

“Really?” He turned to the counter to put his mug down and then faced me again. “And how would your boyfriend out there feel about me hugging you?”

My jaw about fell to the floor. “Dalton? He’s not my boyfriend. He offered me a ride.”

Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “You two looked pretty cozy together.”

“He’s a friend! I’ve known him since I moved up here. There’s nothing between us and there never will— oh! ” Before I had finished my sentence, Elijah had moved. He rushed forward, took my face between his hands, and kissed me. I was so shocked by the action that it took me a moment before I gripped his sweater, pulled him closer to me, and kissed him back.

And, damn, the man could kiss.

It had been nearly a decade since a man had kissed me, but I still remembered the mechanics. Yet, I didn’t remember it being like this. The rush, the elation… The way his beard tickled my jaw or the way his hands tangled themselves in my hair. I don’t recall any kiss being so fulfilling before.

“Daddy! Come look what Uncle Corbin got me!”

We broke apart at Belle’s summons. Both of us were breathing heavy, and neither relinquished their hold on the other. Without looking away from me, Elijah called back to his daughter, “Be right there, Angel.” Gently, he lowered his lips to mine again. It was just a simple peck on my lips, but it still sent a shudder all the way through my body. Then, without a word to me, he left me in the kitchen to rejoin his family.

When I finally got myself together, I turned to reenter the living room. Corbin stood in my way. From the look he gave me, it was obvious he either knew about or had seen the kiss. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting him to say or do. Elijah was his best friend after all. But he let me pass by without saying a word.

I wasn’t sure how to process any of it. Elijah’s now obvious jealousy, the kiss, Corbin’s reaction… Was there even an appropriate response to any of it? If there was, I certainly had no idea what it was.

I’d told Elijah once that I didn’t do casual hookups and I didn’t do relationships. He’d said that there wasn’t much in between those two. And he was right. But what if I made an exception to my rules? Clearly, Elijah hadn’t gotten over me any more than I had him. Where did that leave us?

Was this just a kiss or did it mean more?

Christ, I sounded like a fucking teenager. Does he love me, does he love me not, does he love me…? I was starting to get a headache. I’d spent four months pining over the man and yet I had no answers when he finally kissed me.

Maybe I should walk away. Kiss or not, that was the soundest choice. Less drama, less risk of heartbreak. Walking away would be safe.

Elijah’s deep brown eyes met mine from across the room. Fuck it, I didn’t want safe. I wanted Elijah .

The party seemed to drag on. Per the birthday girl’s request, we had spaghetti cake for dessert. That was a new one for me. Mind, I also hadn’t been to a child’s birthday party in a very long time so maybe this was a new fad.

My brain was having a real Ross-and-Rachel dilemma going on. Fact of it was, though, that no decisions could be made until Elijah and I talked. This will we, won’t we spiral that was going on in my head right now was pointless.

Eventually, we journeyed outside to sit around the fire pit. Since Corbin only had two lawn chairs, we brought out some of the kitchen chairs too. A little bit later, the party goers started to drop off. Lucas went down first. Gertie took him in, claiming she was done for the night too. Belle tried to hold out, but the excitement of the party and the day finally got to her. She crashed on Corbin’s lap, the princess tiara he’d gotten her falling to the side of her head.

Corbin stood with her securely in his arms. He elbowed Dalton’s shoulder since his hands were full. “Mind following me in? I’ve got a project I want to run by you once the ground thaws.”

And then there were two.

Elijah let out a low chuckle as soon as the door closed behind them. “He’s not exactly subtle.”

“Most of us out here aren’t. We gave up drama a long time ago.”

Elijah caught on to my double meaning. “Look, Brooke, I’m not going to say I shouldn’t have kissed you. That would dampen the moment for both of us. Truthfully, I’m glad I did it. ”

“But,” I prompted when he stopped talking.

“It’s not a but . More of a concern that I need to talk through with you. You need to understand what you’re getting into if you choose to be with me. I’ve tried to fight this, I really have. I was almost grateful for the snow because it kept me from going out and stupidly trying to find your cabin again. I want to start something with you.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” We were sitting opposite the fire from each other. It made it easier to see his face, which I was glad for. “So let me be honest in return.

“I like you too, Ad— I mean, Elijah. That’s not even a question at this point. We liked each other when we were stuck together in my cabin, and we like each other now. Our separation over the winter has proven that the attraction between us is real, not fleeting. But if we’re going to start something, I need you to be completely honest with me. About everything, even if you think it’s too dangerous for me to know. I need that honesty between us. I can’t be constantly wondering if today is the day you go on the run again and leave me behind without answers or at least knowing why.”

“I don’t want to run again. My kids are safe here. But there’s always a risk. That’s never going to go away.”

“I know. I knew that before.” Once I’d figured out he wasn’t a lost tourist, that is. “I’m not expecting you to tell me everything right this minute, but it will need to be soon. Certainly before sex is even considered an option for us.”

Elijah gave me a cocky smirk. “Oh, it’s more than an option. It’s inevitable.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. He chuckled.

“I also feel I need to be honest with you. You once asked why I was living on this mountain. It’s a long story, but I’d like for you to know.”

Elijah stood and came to sit in the other lawn chair next to me. He took my hand, lacing our fingers together. I tightened my grip, remembering the pain from the last time we did this. His look was sympathetic, telling me he remembered too.

“Tell me as much or as little as you want to.”

I nodded, taking a deep breath. “I haven’t talked about this in almost a decade. Not exactly easy, remembering your faults and mistakes.

“First of all, I need to tell you that I was married.” Elijah looked shocked but didn’t interrupt. “Tyler was the love of my life. I’m not saying that to hurt you or even to compare the two of you, but you need to understand my devotion to him. Tyler and I met our freshman year of college. We were inseparable. We did everything together. Our friends called us ‘sickeningly in love’. We were each other’s firsts too. I loved how he would always reach for me, like he couldn’t stand not to touch me. When we had separate classes, he would risk being late to his own so he could walk me to mine. The dorms were split by gender, but he would sneak in after visiting hours were over to stay the night with me.

“He asked me to marry him at the start of our senior year. I, of course, said yes. We decided to wait until after graduation to get married. My parents and my siblings were thrilled for me. My best friend since she was born was my younger sister, Kate. Even though we’d gone to different colleges, we were still close. ‘Thick as thieves,’ our mother called us.

“Tyler and I got married. We bought a house, we started our jobs, and we were still sickeningly in love. He supported me when I went for my detective’s shield and I supported him when he changed marketing companies. Tyler would text me heart emojis throughout the day to let me know he was thinking of me. I wrote love notes to him and put them in his lunch bag. We talked about kids, but I honestly wasn’t interested in becoming a mother. I was being selfish. I wanted Tyler all to myself and he said he was fine with not having kids.

“So, ten years ago, four years into our marriage, I was completely shocked and taken by surprise when I picked up his phone to find an unread text message from ‘Unknown’ on the front screen reading ‘Tomorrow at lunch. I won’t wear panties this time.’”

“Oh fuck.” Elijah’s jaw dropped. “I was not expecting that. I thought you were going to tell me he died.”

I snorted. “If only I had been so lucky. As awful as it is for me to say, I think it would have been easier to get over.

“Tyler was still in the shower after getting home from work. That was why I had picked up his phone. When I saw that message, I opened his phone and clicked on the text. There was an entire thread of messages going back a while, including nude pictures and even a sex video. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it. I was so sure it was a prank of some sort. Tyler would not cheat on me. It was impossible.

“But then I saw a picture of the girl’s face, and it was like a final nail being driven into the coffin. It wasn’t some random girl that I didn’t know. It was my sister .”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

I nodded, confirming, “My sister, my best friend , was having an affair with my husband.”

“My God, Brooke. I’m so sorry. What did you do?”

“That day? Nothing. I took pictures of the text thread, returned the phone to where it was on the counter, and went back to cooking dinner. I was in shock. A part of me wanted to demand answers, but another part knew that it didn’t matter. Nothing Kate or Tyler did or said would ever make it right. My relationship with both was over. Tyler and I would never reconcile, and Kate and I would never be friends or sisters again. ”

“I can’t even fathom how you felt. Weren’t there signs? Like he was home late from work or had a business trip out of town?”

I shook my head. “That was what made it so hard for me to accept. I was a fucking detective and I had no idea my husband was cheating on me? But, to this day, I swear there were no signs , nothing. I had no odd occurrences or wife’s intuition about any of it. He was attentive and loving as he’d always been, and we still had an active sex life. I couldn’t remember seeing Kate and him acting differently around each other either. I had caught no lingering looks or touches between them. And we got together regularly, the three of us. So it wasn’t like they never saw each other outside of holiday family gatherings. She was always over to our house and we were always over at hers.

“The next day, Tyler went off to work and I called in sick to work. The first thing I did was call a divorce lawyer. I had no idea who to choose, so I honestly just went with the first one that came up in Google. My lawyer gave me steps on what to do next. It would take some time to process the paperwork and serve him. First thing, I needed to separate our accounts. We didn’t have any separate accounts other than the trust that was left to me by my grandmother. He knew about it, but we’d never touched it, thinking we could use it to remodel the kitchen or build an entertainment patio out back. I had to go to the bank and take my name off the joint accounts. I split everything down the middle, fifty-fifty.

“Then I went to see the attorney in person. I gave her the pictures I took of the text thread, including the blown-up picture of my naked sister on his phone in my bed .”

“Jesus…”

“Then I went home and packed. I took all my clothes, jewelry, and toiletries. By the time Tyler came home that day, I was on my way to my parents’ house. Kate had tried calling me earlier in the day, but I ignored it. My lawyer warned me not to block Kate or Tyler until the divorce was finalized because any admissions or accusations they sent to me could be used against Tyler in the proceedings.

“It was around dinner time when I arrived at my parents’ house. They welcomed me in and that was when I collapsed. I told them everything, including that it was Kate whom he was having the affair with. My dad was outraged, but not for the reason you would think. Kate was the youngest, the baby, and a real daddy’s girl. She could, and did, get away with anything in my father’s eyes.

“My dad actually accused me of staging the text thread to get Kate into trouble. Like we were five and I was trying to get her grounded.”

“That’s fucked up.” Elijah stood up, clearly outraged on my behalf. “You’re his daughter too! And the facts were right there in front of the man. You had the evidence!”

I nodded. “He didn’t care. He told me that if I chose to divorce Tyler over ‘this little incident’ that was my choice, but he did not support it. Then my mom put the icing right on the proverbial disaster that was now my life. She actually told me that if I had just given Tyler the babies he’d asked me for, he wouldn’t have strayed.”

Elijah lowered his head. “Goddamn.”

“I went to my parents for support, and I got spit on. So I left. I’d just checked into a hotel when Kate started blowing up my phone. When I didn’t pick up, she started texting. Calling me a bitch and a liar. Telling me that it was my fault all this happened anyway. That I wasn’t woman enough to hold onto a man like Tyler.

“Per my lawyer’s instructions, I didn’t respond to any messages and took screenshots of each one as they came in. Then Tyler’s messages started to come in. Clearly, someone had told him I knew about the affair or he’d come home to find all my things gone from the house. He demanded to know where I was, apologized, and begged for forgiveness. He claimed it had only happened once, but I knew that wasn’t true because of how far back the text messages went. Also, Kate had already thrown it in my face that they’d been fucking behind my back for months and I never knew. My personal favorite of his excuses as to why he had the affair was because he was a man, and all men cheat.”

“Well, that’s a load of shit. My parents have been happily married for forty-four years and my dad’s never even looked at another woman.”

I agreed. Cheating was a choice, not a biologically driven action. “At that point, I’d had enough. Not wanting to deal with it anymore, I put my phone on silent and went to bed. I had to figure out what I was going to tell my boss in the morning, what I was going to do with the house, our belongings, our entire lives were mixed together. Tyler had been the first and only man I’d loved, and he’d taken my heart and ripped it right out of my chest. Then he gave it to my sister to stomp on with one of her ridiculously high heeled shoes.”

Elijah sat back down next to me. He wasn’t any calmer. Frankly, neither was I. Rehashing all of this was dredging up all those old feelings of heartache and betrayal.

“I hope you understand now why honesty is so important to me, Elijah. You have one shot,” I held up a finger for emphasis, “one chance. One lie—well intended or not—and we’re done. I’m not going through what Kate and Tyler put me through again. I came out here to be alone . The affair divided my family. It killed my marriage. Friends chose sides and it was like a war line was being drawn. Tyler refused to sign the divorce papers for months. He dragged the proceedings on and on, claiming I too was having an affair. Once that was disproven, the judge granted me the divorce against Tyler’s very loud wishes .

“The straw that broke the camel’s back though was at Thanksgiving that year. I had told my mother that I wasn’t going to come to the family meal unless Kate wasn’t going to be there. My mother swore Kate was not. I went. Then Kate walked through the door with Tyler on her arm.”

“Fuck,” Elijah breathed out. “Now I know how Corbin felt when I told him my story. This is like an emotional rollercoaster when you’re sitting on the other side of it. What an asshole, both of them.”

I let out a wry laugh. “Wasn’t exactly an easy ride living through it either. My mother didn’t understand why I was so angry or why I insisted on leaving as soon as I’d seen the happy couple. I was on my way out the door when I heard Kate announce, proudly and happily, that she was pregnant. Suddenly, it didn’t matter anymore if I was present or not, I realized I’d become chopped liver to my entire family. My brother and his wife didn’t try to stop me from leaving. My father was over the moon and my mother immediately stopped her argument against my departure. Kate was once more the center of attention, standing there so proudly with my ex-husband. And my family saw nothing wrong with any of it.

“I left and immediately started researching how to get away. I needed to escape, even if some might consider it cowardly. I saw a post about mountain life, and I was hooked. I took the money from the settlement, plus my trust fund from my grandmother, and built my cabin. I’ve been here ever since.”

“And your family’s never tried to find you?”

“I have an email account that I communicate with my mother on. If I didn’t have at least that, she would file a missing persons report on me. Jack sometimes emails her for me when I can’t get off the mountain or when I just don’t feel like dealing with her. I don’t think she’s sorry for the way she acted. I truly believe that she thinks I overreacted and abandoned them . ”

“I can’t believe how they turned their backs on you. Kate was clearly in the wrong.”

“And yet…”

“And yet,” he mimicked. We were both silent for a moment. Elijah reached for my hand. I gave it. “Brooke, I can’t promise to be upfront about everything. Believe me when I tell you it’s an even longer and more gruesome story than yours. That was not a comparison,” he added quickly. “Just a statement. I’ll tell you what I can and I swear I’ll never lie to you—unless it’s to save you or my children’s lives.

“My kids come first and, the more people who know my story, the more chances that the wrong person will eventually hear about it too. I’m not saying that I think you’ll tell anyone, but my silence is to protect you too.”

“Protect me from what?” I asked. “You keep talking about protecting me, but I don’t understand from whom. How would the person chasing you even know about me?”

Elijah sat back in his chair. He ran a hand down his face. I could tell he was working the nerve up to say something, so I remained quiet.

“There are warrants out for my arrest.”

My heart nearly stopped. I ripped my hand out of his. “ What ?” I recalled asking Elijah if he was a criminal, and he had assured me that he wasn’t—but something had felt off about that response. I’d brushed it off at the time. I wasn’t going to now. “For what?”

Elijah swallowed hard. “Murder and kidnapping.”

Well. Fuck. Suddenly I recalled Elijah telling me that Lucas’s mother had died in childbirth. What if…? Oh God. What if Elijah had killed her?

Then I paused in my hysterical rantings.

Elijah wasn’t a murderer. He didn’t have an evil bone in his body. I knew Elijah. We might not have talked as much as I would have liked while he was staying in my cabin, but I knew him. I’d watched him. A lot. He was so warm and loving to his children. He was sweet and kind.

That couldn’t have all been an act. Could it?

My insecurities, a parting gift from Tyler, crept forward. I clearly wasn’t a good judge of character like I’d always thought I was. I’d trusted Tyler and look where it got me. I’d quit my job as a detective because I didn’t trust my instincts anymore. Tyler’s betrayal had left me questioning everything I thought I knew about myself.

“I need you to explain that statement. Right now.”

“I didn’t kill anyone, I swear. Brooke, I’ve never even held a gun before in my life. I heard something I shouldn’t have, and my employer was blackmailing me to stay silent with a gun he put my fingerprints on. When I ran, he turned the gun over to the police. The police believe I killed the man who died by that gun, but I swear I didn’t. I’m innocent.”

Tyler had claimed to be innocent too—before he realized how much evidence I really had against him.

Was Elijah being framed? Didn’t every murderer claim he was being framed?

“Who are you accused of murdering?”

Elijah shook his head. “Jack told me the name, but I didn’t recognize it. I’m assuming it’s a business associate of my employer’s, but I don’t know who he is.” He looked me straight in the eyes. “Brooke, I am not a murderer.”

Even in the low lighting of the fire, I could see him clearly. He looked sincere. I wanted to believe him. I really did.

“Jack can verify all this?”

Elijah nodded. “He can. He’s been helping the kids and I since the beginning.”

I recalled that from his stay in my cabin. Jack was the ‘friend of a friend’ who’d been helping them out. I trusted Jack, and from the little of what I knew about Jack’s history, I knew he would not blindly trust Elijah. Should that mean I could trust Elijah too? I wanted to.

“Do you understand now why I stayed away? I don’t want you tangled up in this. If I’m caught, I don’t want you in trouble for harboring a fugitive or obstructing justice.”

It did make sense now. The longing in his eyes, yet always pulling himself away. I got it, but if he was innocent… There had to be a way we could clear his name.

Then I remembered the second charge he’d said he was wanted for. “You kidnapped your own children?”

Elijah shook his head. “They are mine in all ways, except biological.”

“Holy shit, Elijah!” My voice echoed through the trees. I stood up in shock. He might not be a murderer, but he was a kidnapper. “You mean, they’re… They’re not… Fuck!”

Elijah stood too. He frantically launched into his explanation. “I need you to understand. I had to get them out. They have an older brother in his twenties. He helped us to escape. That place, that man…” In the firelight, I saw Elijah’s complexion take on a greenish hue. “Brooke, their birth father tried to sell Belle to a man in his thirties to seal a business deal.”

My stomach rolled at the implication. He had to have been mistaken. My time on the force had proven there were some sick fucks out there, but still… “That’s disgusting. Why would you ever think that?”

“Because I was there. I saw and heard the whole thing. Lyd— Belle , her father was marrying her off. She was seven fucking years old, and he was selling her like she was a brood mare.”

I felt sick. “Oh God.” I didn’t want to believe him because believing him would mean that Belle’s biological father had tried to sell her. That was beyond heinous.

What if he was lying? What if Elijah had taken two children that were not his from a loving household? What if that was why he was on the run?

That conclusion didn’t feel right. Even though believing him was a worse reality for Belle, I couldn’t make myself believe that Elijah was so cruel and selfish a person to take two innocent babies from their home. It didn’t fit with the man I had come to know.

Then again, I’d only known him for six days and he was unconscious for one of those days. So maybe I didn’t know him well enough to trust my intuition about him. But it was those five plus days and nights that I had seen Elijah with his children that didn’t let me believe he was capable of such cruelty.

When Elijah had collapsed in my kitchen, Belle hadn’t been happy he’d fallen unconscious. She hadn’t said anything that indicated Elijah had been anything but loving to her brother and her. I recalled how protective Belle was of her baby brother those first couple of nights while Elijah slept. No matter how much I coaxed or tried, she would not rest. She was guarding her brother against…something.

And that something hadn’t been Elijah.

If Belle and Lucas were strangers to Elijah, or even if they were familiar with him and had been taken from a loving family, wouldn’t Belle have given some indication of that? She was old enough, even at seven, to know right from wrong. Yet, instead of telling me that Elijah was a stranger who had kidnapped her and her brother or ask even once where her parents were, she’d been attentive to Elijah. She’d tuck him in tighter when the blanket would start to fall and had put moisturizer on his lips when they’d been cracking and bleeding from being out in the cold. She’d called him ‘Daddy’. She’d never once slipped and called him ‘Adam’ or another name.

Didn’t they say that kids and pets could always tell the true character of a person? If Belle had been cautious in any way towards Elijah, it would have sent up red flags to me the day I’d rescued them. But she hadn’t. She’d shown clear devotion and love towards Elijah.

Elijah continued talking while I tried to wrap my head around what he was confessing to. “Her older brother and I were already planning on escaping with her when we learned about Lucas. His mother was still pregnant with him then. We knew we couldn’t subject another child to that life, even if it meant stealing the children away from their biological father. We knew the implications, and I didn’t care. Brooke, the man is a psychopath—and I knew that long before he tried to sell his own daughter. Their brother and I decided to wait so we could get the baby out too. We had it all planned out, but everything went wrong. Neither of us were expecting…” He cringed. “There was a shootout between their father’s organization and the one he was trying to marry Belle into. Their older brother was shot protecting us. I didn’t think. I just took both kids, and I ran.”

For a moment, I thought I was going to throw up. Belle’s laugh, the joy on her face tonight… And some bastard who didn’t even deserve to be called her father had tried to take that away from her.

Neither of us spoke for a while. I was trying to process all he had told me. Clearly, he’d left out some details. A lot of details. But God! How could the law be on the side of a murderer and pedophile? Because, whether he touched his daughter himself or not, he was allowing another man to. Worse, he was getting money or some exchange for it. I was fairly certain that fell under human trafficking too.

If what he was saying was true, I couldn’t blame Elijah for running. But he could have run to the police! I get that he thought of those kids as his own, which was another thing I had to address, but surely the police could have helped him .

But it also sounded like his employer was a powerful, manipulative man. I recalled Elijah referring to his contract as signing a deal with the devil. What had seemed like an exaggeration then was now an understatement. Plus, his employer had been blackmailing Elijah. He’d known about the gun with his fingerprints on it, and he’d still taken those kids and run.

“Belle calls you ‘Daddy’. Does she know?”

Elijah looked more ashamed answering that question than he did when he’d admitted to kidnapping two children. “Belle knows far too much. No child should know or have seen the things she has.” The disgust was plain on his face as it was in his voice. “I’m working with her, though, helping her process. Since she could speak, she’s called me her dad. We had to be very careful about who heard her call me that. Biology never mattered to me. From the moment I held her in my arms in that delivery room, she was mine .”

In any other situation, I would call that statement crazy. The man was claiming another man’s child as his own. But given the facts I had, not even knowing the facts he hadn’t yet told, I could understand why Elijah felt justified to take the children out of that situation.

But there had to be other options than going on the run with them like he had. Witness protection or protective custody?

“Jack and Corbin can verify everything that I’ve told you. I know you’ll trust their word over mine. I get if this changes how you feel and think about me. You were right that it wasn’t fair to you to start something without you knowing the truth, or at least part of it. But I beg of you, Brooke, don’t tell anyone about us. If not for me, for those children. They are finally happy and, above all, they’re safe. If their birth father finds us, I’ll be killed. And those kids? Belle will likely be sold or married off to benefit his business. In his mind, that’s all women are good for anyway. Lucas will likely grow up to be ruthless, heartless, and to follow in his father’s footsteps. I couldn’t bear that.”

I couldn’t either. It was clear Elijah believed what he was telling me. The disgust and the passion rang true in his voice. I also believed that if a man could sell his own daughter into slavery, then he would not hesitate to kill the man who’d tried to keep him from those profits.

But just because Elijah believed something, didn’t mean it was true. Humans had once believed the Earth was the center of the universe and that the world was flat. Others believe that the moon landing was a hoax and aliens walk among us. And don’t even get me started on the countless religions in the world that have sparked brutal and unnecessary wars.

I’d always been taught to uphold the law. Right versus wrong. It was why I’d longed to become a cop since I was a little girl. When I’d discovered what Tyler and Kate had done, I hadn’t hesitated to take action. There’d been no forgiveness, no listening to stories or reasons. I’d cut both of them out of my life completely and immediately. And when my family had chosen to support them, the wrongdoers, instead of me, the victim, I’d done the same with them (with the exception of my mother’s monthly email to prove I was still alive).

So why was I hesitating now?

Elijah was in the wrong. He’d taken two children that were not his, claimed them as his own, and gone on the run with them.

But blood wasn’t everything. Corbin and Elijah were as close as brothers and look at the extremes Corbin had gone to protect Elijah. Yet my own sister, who had also been my best friend, had been screwing my husband, the love of my life, behind my back for four months and now had a child with him. I’d never inquired about the child, and I’d never asked my mother if Kate and Tyler were still together. My own blood had completely blown up my entire reality.

And if I believed Elijah, which I was ninety-nine percent sure I did, then Belle’s biological father, her blood , had tried to sell her off to a man who would claim to marry her—because that sure as hell would never be a legal union—before raping her. A child.

Hadn’t Elijah proved he was more of a father to the children than their biological one was? But did that give Elijah the right to take the children away from their father and their home?

Right versus wrong.

I looked towards Corbin’s cabin. I’d never been invited inside before today. It was weird, because he’d never been inside of mine before he’d made it down the mountain to reunite with Elijah. We had a birthday party for the first time on this mountain tonight. Elijah had done that by bringing those kids to our mountain. I saw Belle’s face when Gertie had put her birthday spaghetti cake in front of her. That was a look of pure joy and innocence that only a happy and healthy child could portray.

I wanted to believe Elijah. I really did. It wasn’t that I needed more facts or to verify his version of events with Jack or Corbin. My hesitation came from my own morals. Was Elijah right or wrong to take those children?

I stepped forward and put my hand on his arm. My hand traveled down until I was able to lace our fingers together. I stepped into him. “I need time to think about all this. I think you were very brave to remove Belle and Lucas from such a grotesque situation. I can’t even begin to imagine the horrors Belle would have gone through if you hadn’t. I understand now the risk you were talking about as well as your desire to protect me.” I pressed my lips to his shoulder. “But I still need time. Your secret is safe with me. I’d never do anything to endanger those children. I just… You gave me a lot to process. ”

Elijah pulled me into his chest. I felt his lips in my hair. I pressed my face into his sweater. He was so warm. “I know. Thank you for believing me. I know the story sounds farfetched, but it is the truth. I swear it to you. All I ask is that you take care when asking Jack or Corbin about this. Make sure there’s no chance of you being overheard.” He clenched me tighter before adding, “Please don’t ask Belle about any of this. I’ve been working with her on processing the things she saw and heard. She’s finally to a point where she’s ready to move on.”

I squeezed him tighter too. From one perspective, one could argue that Elijah was taking away my option of asking the only witness who had actually been there. From another, it was obvious Elijah was only trying to protect his daughter.

I remained silent, knowing I’d never do anything to endanger those children. We stayed like that until Corbin and Dalton came back outside.