Chapter 17

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

“Finnnnn!”

Tonka’s head whipped up at hearing Henley scream his name. He immediately dropped the pitchfork where he’d been moving hay, the fear and pain in her voice making his adrenaline spike. He had no idea what was wrong—but there was definitely something.

He’d gotten a text from her not even an hour ago, saying that they were having fun and she should be back at The Refuge before dinnertime.

It was too soon for her to be back already.

Tonka was running without even realizing it. He saw Ryan’s Explorer parked haphazardly in the lot and Henley was racing toward him.

She threw herself at him and was talking so fast and with so much emotion, he couldn’t understand anything she was saying.

“Take a breath, love. What’s wrong?”

He watched her inhale deeply before blurting, “Jasna’s missing! Her camp called and they can’t find her!”

Tonka was certain his heart stopped. “What? How?”

“I don’t know!” Henley practically wailed. “They said they were on a hike and when they got back, she wasn’t there! They’re looking for her, but, Finn…what if they can’t find her?”

“They will. We will,” he said resolutely. Adrenaline flooded him and he wanted to panic. Couldn’t help but think about how scared Jas had to be.

“It’s Christian!”

“What?” Tonka asked, doing his best to concentrate. He’d already turned Henley and was leading her quickly toward the lodge. He needed help.

“Christian Dekker. I told you about him. That boy I was counseling and couldn’t help? The evil one.” She whispered the last part.

Tonka shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

Henley was shaking so much against him, she was having trouble walking. “I do,” she insisted as she held on to Tonka with an iron grip.

He steered her toward the lodge, noting absently that Luna and Alaska were on their heels. He wasn’t sure where Ryan had gone, but at the moment, all he cared about was the woman in his arms and getting information so he could find Jasna.

Alaska must’ve sent a text to Brick, because he burst through the back door with Spike and Pipe right behind him.

“I’ve notified the others. They’re on their way,” Pipe said in a hard voice.

“What info do we have? Where was Jas last seen?” Spike asked.

“Have the police been called? We need to get an Amber Alert out,” Brick added.

Tonka ignored his friends. All his attention was on Henley. He hauled her inside and sat them on one of the couches in the lobby, then gathered her in his arms. “Start from the beginning. Tell us everything,” he ordered gently.

They all listened as Henley repeated the conversation she’d had with the lady who’d called from Horseshoe Bend. After she’d told them what she knew, which wasn’t a hell of a lot, Henley said, “Mike took me aside at the beginning of the summer and said Christian’s parents had found a hit list or something that he’d written, of people he wanted to die. Or kill. Mike and I were on the list, but so were like twenty other people. I didn’t think much about it afterward—but now I can’t stop.”

“Shit,” Brick muttered.

“I’m going to alert the guests,” Spike said.

“Was Jasna on that list?” Tonka asked Henley.

“Not that I know of, but what if he decided to go after her because she’s a kid? An easier target?”

That was exactly what he was worried about.

“I think before we do anything, we need to talk to Mike. And the police. Let them know about Henley’s concerns. Maybe even talk to this Christian kid’s parents. Hold old is he now?” Tonka asked.

“Sixteen, I think,” Henley said.

She was still shaking, but Tonka wasn’t sure she even realized it. Her hands were freezing and he suspected she was going into shock. By now, Owl, Stone, and Tiny had arrived. Tonka looked up at Owl. “Will you grab a blanket for Henley?”

Without a word, the other man nodded and spun around to grab one of the throw blankets the lodge always kept handy in case a guest got cold.

He returned in a few seconds, and Tonka wrapped it around Henley. His mind was going a million miles an hour.

“Are we going to the camp to help look?” Stone asked the others.

Tonka pressed his lips together hard as his friends discussed what to do next. He wanted to be doing something. Needed to be out searching for the little girl who’d become as important to him as her mom. But who would comfort Henley?

He was torn—and it was agonizing. He’d sworn never to sit around and do nothing if there was even the slightest chance he could prevent someone he loved from getting hurt. Letting Garcia torture Steel had left a huge scar on his heart and psyche, and he couldn’t go through that again, even if it meant Tonka himself was hurt in the process.

But how could he leave Henley when she needed him most?

“Tonka?” Tiny asked. “Are you coming with us?”

After a pause, he shook his head, even as he clenched his teeth together so hard, it felt as if he’d crack a tooth. “I’ll stay here with Henley.”

“No.”

Ignoring the surprised looks on his friends’ faces at Henley’s declaration, Tonka turned to the woman he loved.

“You need to go.”

“I need to take care of you,” he countered.

She stubbornly shook her head. “No. Jasna needs you. I know you want to be out there helping. And when you do find her, and she’s scared, it’ll be best that you’re there to comfort her.”

This sucked. Tonka felt immense guilt at how relieved he felt that he could help look for Jas, despite wanting to comfort Henley.

“We’ll be right here with her,” Alaska said. “We won’t leave her alone for a second.”

“Owl and I will stay with her as well,” Stone said.

“Me too,” Pipe said. “I’ll make sure the guests know what’s going on, and they stay aware in case this Christian kid decides to come here for any reason.”

“Taking Jas might be a diversion so he can get to Henley,” Owl pointed out.

Shit, Tonka hadn’t even thought about that. “Then I should stay,” he said.

“No!” Henley said almost frantically. “Please, Finn! I’ll feel better if you’re out there looking for her. I trust you.”

This woman slayed him. He took her face in his hands and leaned down so his forehead rested against hers. She grabbed his wrists and hung on so tightly, Tonka knew she was leaving marks on his skin.

“I swear I’m going to bring her home to you.”

“Okay.”

“I am,” he insisted.

Henley took a deep breath, and he mentally cursed at the tears that fell from her eyes and down her cheeks. “You can’t promise that. I know better than anyone that sometimes bad things happen to good people. But I know that you’ll do whatever you can to bring her home safe and sound if it’s at all possible.”

Tonka hated that she was right. He shouldn’t promise anything, yet he couldn’t help it. “I will,” he vowed.

She nodded. “Go, Finn. Please find my baby.”

He kissed her then, and took precious seconds to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Then he turned to Owl, Stone, and Pipe without taking his hands from her face. “Take care of her,” he ordered gruffly.

All three nodded immediately.

“We won’t let her out of our sight,” Stone promised.

“Thank you,” Tonka told his friends. Then he turned to Henley and repeated those two words. She’d know what he was thanking her for.

For letting him do what he needed to do.

She lifted her chin and kissed him briefly before letting go and giving him a little push.

Tonka stood and turned to Brick, Spike, and Tiny. “Let’s go.”

“I’m driving,” Brick said firmly.

Tonka nodded, because honestly, it was better if he wasn’t behind a wheel right now. The four men stalked out of the lodge, intent on getting to Jasna’s camp and finding out what the hell was going on.

By the time they arrived, the place was crawling with police officers. The kids had all been herded into one of the many buildings, to keep them safe and out of the way.

Tonka went up to the first cop he saw and said, “I’m Jasna’s family. Has there been any clues about where she might be?”

The woman gave him a compassionate look and shook her head. “No, but we’ve got people all over these woods. They’ve got whistles and if she’s here, they’ll find her and notify us.”

It was the “if she’s here” that worried Tonka.

“We’re from The Refuge,” Brick told the woman. “We can help. Tiny and I are former SEALs, Spike was Delta Force, and Tonka was a member of the Coast Guard. We’ve got training to assist in a way most volunteers don’t.”

When he first said they wanted to help, the woman looked like she was on the verge of declining politely, but when he explained who they were, and their backgrounds, she seemed to change her mind. Lifting a radio to her lips, she informed whoever was on the other end that additional help had arrived.

Within minutes, four men strode toward them. They all had police radios but were dressed for hiking. Cargo pants, T-shirts, backpacks, and boots.

“These guys are from The Refuge. This one is a relative of the missing girl,” the officer said to the newcomers. Then she turned to Tonka and his friends. “Each of you go with one of our off-duty officers. Do what they say, when they say it. Don’t make me regret letting you help.”

Tonka understood. Allowing civilians, even ones with military backgrounds, was risky in searches like this. The last thing they needed was to deal with someone getting lost or doing something that might distract the searchers from their goal—finding Jasna.

They all nodded.

Brick turned to Tonka. “Stay in touch. We’ll meet back here if something happens. Do not go off on your own. Understand?”

Tonka nodded. He appreciated Brick’s professionalism more than he could say. It helped keep his mind on the task at hand, instead of worrying about what Jasna was feeling or going through.

Brick clasped Tonka’s shoulder tightly, nodded, then the four of them followed behind their escorts as they entered the woods in different directions.

“I’m Tonka,” he said, introducing himself to the man he was paired with.

“Bret. I’m a forest ranger stationed here in Los Alamos.”

Tonka nodded. Frankly, he didn’t care if the man was President of the United States. As long as he knew what he was doing and could communicate with the other searchers, he’d be satisfied. “Where have you looked so far?”

As Bret explained how the search was being conducted and where they were headed, Tonka swallowed hard. The weather was fairly decent. Not too hot or cold. It wasn’t raining and the night was supposed to be warmer than usual. All things that should’ve made him happy. But they didn’t. Because thinking about Jasna having to spend the night in the forest scared the crap out of him. She was a smart girl. But did she know it was best to stay put if she ever got lost?

Tonka kicked himself for not making sure she knew the basics of outdoor survival. No, he hadn’t thought she’d ever need them, but did anyone ever think they would get lost in the woods? The Refuge was smack dab in the middle of some of the sparest populated land in the state. He should’ve at least had a talk with her about how to use a compass, what to do if she ever found herself lost on the property.

They’d been walking and calling Jasna’s name for about twenty minutes when Tonka’s phone rang. Looking down, he saw it was Tiny calling.

“Did you find her?” he asked as he answered.

“No. But I wanted to let you know that Christian Dekker’s parents showed up at the police station. The Amber Alert went out about Jasna’s disappearance and they’re scared to death.”

“Why?”

“They think they might be next. That their son might be working on that hit list he wrote. They went in to talk to the detectives and tell them everything they could about Christian. There’s no proof he’s behind Jasna’s disappearance, but they didn’t want to take that chance when they recognized Henley’s last name. As soon as they’re done at the station, they’re leaving town.”

“Shit. What did they say?”

“I don’t have all the details, just what I overheard on the radio of the officer I’m with. But I guess he’s been coming and going from their home as he wants all summer. He dropped out of school in the spring. He doesn’t say much to them, kind of pretends they’re not even there. They said he’s been acting creepy.

“The bad news is that no one’s seen the kid. No one around the camp remembers him being there, his parents haven’t seen him in days. There’s no proof he’s got anything to do with Jasna being gone. At the moment, the officers are still acting under the assumption that she wandered off and got lost.”

Tonka’s gut churned. He remembered the fear in Henley’s voice when she told him about the client she believed had literally been born evil. Before going through what he had with Steel, he probably wouldn’t believe that some people were born bad. But after experiencing Pablo Garcia’s utter lack of humanity, he’d changed his mind.

If Henley thought Christian Dekker was capable of hurting those around him without remorse, he believed her.

“Are the cops even looking for Dekker?” he asked.

“Unofficially, yes,” Tiny told him.

That was at least something. “Okay. Does he have a phone? Can they trace it?”

“Not without a search warrant.”

Shit. There was no telling how long a court order would take to obtain. Especially without any evidence, only his parents’ fears and Henley’s suspicions.

If Christian Dekker had grabbed her, Jasna could literally be anywhere. They could be halfway to Albuquerque by now. The Amber Alert was good, it would hopefully encourage people to be on the lookout for her. But without a person of interest’s name or car description attached to the alert…it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. If Jas was in the trunk of a car or hidden some other way, no one would even have a chance to see or identify her.

Tonka knew the statistics. Children who went missing had a very small window to be found before the chance of them being found alive plummeted. He couldn’t imagine Jasna being abused or hurt…or killed. Her death would break Henley.

She’d survived her mother’s assault and murder. He wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle her daughter becoming the victim of a violent death, as well.

“Thanks for calling,” he told Tiny in a ravaged tone.

“I’m sorry, Tonka.”

“I know. We just have to hope she’s out here. Somewhere.”

“I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”

Tonka nodded, even though his friend couldn’t see him. “Okay.”

“Later.”

He clicked off the phone, grateful that his friend hadn’t given him empty platitudes. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Bret. “How fast can you walk?”

“Fast,” Bret said with a determined look on his face.

“Good. Because if I have to search every inch of this damn forest, that’s what I’m going to do,” Tonka told him.

Bret nodded and they both set off again, at a much quicker pace than they had before. If Jasna was out here, someone was going to find her. They had to.