Chapter 20

CHAPTERTWENTY

Henley sat next to Jasna’s bed at the hospital with one hand gripping her daughter’s and the other grasping Finn’s. The last few hours had been the worst of her life. Even worse than what she’d gone through when she was ten. Losing her mom so violently, having to listen to the attack, was devastating…but not knowing where Jasna was, if she was being hurt, if she was even alive, was excruciating.

Every time she’d gotten a text from Finn saying they hadn’t found her yet, it was like dying.

When he’d called her to say he’d found Jasna, and was on the way to the hospital, the relief was overwhelming. Pipe had driven her and Alaska to Los Alamos, and she’d been able to see her daughter briefly before Jas was brought into one of the examination rooms. Got to see for herself that she was whole, that she seemed to be okay.

When she and Finn were finally allowed to sit with Jasna, she’d still been sleeping. The doctor had bandaged a cut on her foot, done a thorough exam and confirmed she hadn’t been raped—which had been a massive relief to everyone—and run a blood panel, finding both alcohol and Rohypnol in her system. Knowing that her baby had been drugged was a blow, but it explained why Jasna hadn’t fully regained consciousness.

She’d been in and out of it since then, waking up enough to recognize her mother and know she was safe before falling back to sleep. The doctor said she could be out of it for up to twelve hours, and it was likely she wouldn’t remember much of what happened to her, if she remembered anything at all.

As far as Henley was concerned, that was a blessing.

The doctors had inserted an IV to make sure she was hydrated and wanted to keep her overnight for observation, just to make sure there were no lasting effects of the drug or from her ordeal.

Finn had told her about how they’d had no luck finding any trace of what had happened at the camp, and how someone had called in a tip to the police officers about where to find Christian. She hadn’t yet heard the story about how Finn himself had ended up finding Jasna, but they hadn’t had much time to talk.

Now it was after midnight, and Henley was alone in Jasna’s room with Finn. She sighed and leaned against him, not letting go of either his or her daughter’s hands.

“Can you tell me the rest of the story about what happened tonight, and where Jasna was?” she asked quietly.

“We went to the cabin the tipster said Dekker would be at, and he was. He came outside with a shotgun and shot at one of the officers.”

“He was killed?” Henley asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

Finn hugged her tightly, as if he knew what she was thinking. “Yes. He’s dead. He can’t hurt anyone again.”

Henley nodded. She should feel bad. Christian was only sixteen. He’d had his entire life ahead of him. But what kind of life would it have been? There was something seriously wrong with the boy. Had been since he was a child, maybe even since he was born. It wasn’t a sickness. Wasn’t a mental illness. He was just…wired wrong.

Finn went on. “One of the detectives spoke to me in the waiting room, while the doctor was with Jas, and he told me what they’d found inside the cabin. From all indications, he’d planned on…hurting her. There were handcuffs, and he had various items laid out. They’re assuming he was waiting for her to wake up. He also had gasoline, probably to burn the cabin down. The cops found a notebook filled with ramblings about how many people he wanted to kill, which neighborhoods in Albuquerque were most likely to have homeless and prostitutes. The assumption is that he was going to leave here after burning the cabin and head to the city, where he’d find others to kidnap and murder.”

Henley’s entire body shook. She closed her eyes. God, Jasna’d had such a close call. She’d been in the hands of pure evil, and somehow she was still here. Nearly unscathed. It was literally a miracle.

“How?” she whispered, turning to look at Finn.

“How did she escape?” he asked.

Henley nodded.

He shook his head slightly. “I don’t know.”

She frowned at him. “You can tell me. I’m not going to freak out.”

“Honey, I honestly don’t know,” Finn repeated. “The only thing Dekker said when he came outside with that shotgun was, ‘Where is she?’ and ‘Did you take her?’ I didn’t think much about it at the time, as I was more worried about the weapon in his hands and whether Jasna was going to get caught in the crossfire of the inevitable shootout. But if Dekker was talking about Jas…then he had no idea where she was at that point either.”

“I’m so confused. How did you find her then?”

“I got a text. It was after the police realized Jas wasn’t in the house. I was seriously losing it, Brick and Tiny were literally holding me up…when my phone vibrated with a text. It was from an unknown number. Whoever it was, they let me know where Jas was located.”

Henley waited, but Finn didn’t say anything more. “And? Where was she?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

Finn sighed. He looked around the room as if someone might be lurking nearby, listening. Then he looked her in the eyes. “What I’m about to tell you, only eight people in the world know. Shit, well…maybe nine. You’d be the tenth. And it’s really important that you never tell anyone.”

He looked so serious, Henley got slightly worried. “I promise.”

Finn nodded. “There are seven hidden bunkers on The Refuge property. They’re underground and were put in when we were building the retreat. None of us were in the best frame of mind, and we needed the security those bunkers provided. When that man was here, looking for Alaska? Brick hid her in one of the bunkers while he went to track down the asshole.”

Henley could certainly understand that. She nodded.

“The text I got said Jas was in one of them. It wasn’t from any of our friends. We have no idea who it was from—or how the person knows about the bunkers.”

Henley was still confused. “So, this mysterious person somehow found Jasna, got her away from a serial killer, brought her to one of the bunkers, and left her there? Then texted you so you could go get her?”

“Yes.”

The implications were disturbing. “Can you trace the text or something to see who sent it?”

“We’ve got a friend of ours working on that. He’s a genius when it comes to techie stuff. He’ll let us know when he has a name,” Finn said.

“So there’s someone out there who knows about the top-secret bunkers and…what? Were they in on Jasna’s kidnapping? Maybe working with Christian?”

“Breathe, Hen. I’ve talked about this a little with Brick, and we don’t think that’s the case.”

“Then how…what… I don’t understand, Finn!”

“We’re baffled ourselves,” he admitted. “But whoever texted me…if they wanted to do Jas harm, they had plenty of time to do so. They could’ve taken her far away and we never would’ve found her.”

Henley winced. His words were a little harsh, but he was absolutely right. “So what now?”

“We take Jas home and get on with our lives,” Finn said firmly.

“But…what about the person who knows about the bunkers? They might be watching The Refuge.”

“Tex will figure out who it was, but in the meantime, we continue living. Maybe we’re a little more careful, but again, I don’t think we’re in any danger from whoever led me to Jas.”

Henley turned and looked at her sleeping daughter. It was an absolute miracle she was here. The statistics of missing children were heartbreaking and depressing. Most kidnapping victims were killed within two hours of going missing. But Jas had beat the odds. She’d been in the hands of someone who could’ve become the most prolific serial killer the country had ever known. And yet…here she was. Smiling in her sleep and completely oblivious as to what had happened.

She spared a moment to actually be thankful that Christian had used Rohypnol on Jasna. That she wouldn’t remember being in his clutches. At least, Henley hoped she wouldn’t.

She turned back to Finn. “How are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m good.”

“No, Finn. Seriously. How are you doing? I know nothing about what happened was easy for you. I wanted you to stay with me, but I knew you needed to go and help look for Jasna. Where’s your head at right now?”

Finn gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. “Are you pulling out the shrink on me?”

“Yes,” Henley said without an ounce of hesitation or remorse. She needed the two people she loved most in this world to be okay. And now that she knew her daughter was fine, or would be, she had to figure out where Finn stood.

“I’m honestly okay,” he said softly. “You’re right, I did need to be out there looking for Jas. I couldn’t sit back and simply watch what was happening, like I did with Steel.”

Henley opened her mouth to object. To again tell him that if he’d done anything differently back then, he might not be here today, but he held up his free hand, stopping her.

“I know what you’re going to say—and you’re right about that too. But it doesn’t change how I feel. I won’t lie. Tonight scared me. I fought with my demons and there were a few moments when I thought they were going to win. But here we are. I’m going to miss Steel the rest of my life. I’ll never forget what happened, but the pain I felt that day, and every day since, is fading. You know why?”

“Why?” Henley asked gently.

“Because of you. And Jas. And Melba, Scarlet, and Chuck. Because of Brick, Spike, Pipe, and all my other friends. Because of Raid, and hearing how he’s been able to bond with his bloodhound. I’ll always be overprotective. I can’t help it. I’ll never be voted Mr. Congeniality, but I’m ready to embrace my future. Being around Jas all summer has made me see the joys of living again. In many ways, she reminds me of Steel. She’s friendly and loyal and excited by the smallest thing. She embraces new experiences and isn’t afraid of anything. That’s how my boy was. He loved life, and I loved seeing the world through his eyes. Now I want to see the world through Jas’s eyes. And yours. And through the eyes of our new dogs. And our children, if we’re blessed with them.”

“Finn,” Henley said, her eyes filling with tears.

He pulled her into him, and Henley let go of his hand long enough to wrap her arm around him as she buried her face in his chest. The position was awkward, as they were sitting in separate chairs next to Jasna’s hospital bed, but it didn’t seem to faze either of them.

“I can’t promise not to have my bad days in the future, but I feel as if I’m finally coming up for air after being stuck underwater for years. I need you, Hen. And Jas. Without you both, I’m afraid I’ll get sucked back under, and I won’t be able to surface a second time.”

“You have us. But you’re wrong. You don’t need us. You never have. You’re the strongest man I’ve ever met. And we don’t need you to be anyone but who are you. We don’t care if you have bad days. I’m guessing we’re going to see quite a few of those from our hormonal teenager in the years to come. We just need you to be here. To laugh with us, to watch over us. To be you.”

“I love you,” Finn said, his voice breaking.

Henley looked up from his chest. “I love you too. Can I ask a question?”

“You just did,” he said with a small grin.

She rolled her eyes. “Are we still going to the shelter this weekend?”

“Yes,” Finn said firmly. “The sooner I get a hundred-pound mean-looking pit bull to follow Jasna around and look as if he’d eat anyone who stepped a toe out of line, the better.”

Henley chuckled. “You know that wouldn’t have stopped what happened, right? It’s not like she can bring her dog to camp.”

“She can if it’s her therapy dog.”

“Not happening. We aren’t lying about something like that. It’s not cool,” Henley said a little huffily.

“Relax, Hen. I know,” he sighed. “But if I could give Jas a bodyguard that would glare at anyone who dared to look at her wrong, I would.”

“You’ll just have to teach her to do the glaring. And the kung fu fighting.”

“Oh, that’s definitely happening,” Finn said.

“You’re going to be an awesome dad,” Henley declared.

He stared down at her with a worried look. “I don’t know.”

“I do,” she told him firmly.

“Babies are even more helpless than dogs,” he mused. “I couldn’t protect Steel. What makes me think I can protect a kid?”

Taking a deep breath, Henley let go of her daughter’s hand and stood. She climbed onto Finn’s lap, straddling his waist, and he grabbed her hips, holding her steady. She took his face in her hands and leaned in close. “What happened to Steel wasn’t your fault. It was all that asshole’s doing. Besides, you’ll have help from me. And everyone else at The Refuge. And the dog we’re gonna adopt, and every single guest who comes to stay at the retreat.

“Raising Jasna alone was hard. Really hard. And if I had to be a single parent again, even with how much I love my daughter, I wouldn’t want to try. But knowing, if we’re blessed with kids, that I won’t be alone? It makes me excited about the prospect. You don’t have to protect me, Jasna, or our children by yourself, Finn. It takes a village. And our Refuge village will step up, I have no doubt.”

“I love you,” Finn whispered.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that,” Henley said.

“Good, because I’m not going to get tired of saying it. Now, I’m thinking you need to crash for a few hours.” He looked behind them at the cot that had been brought in a while ago. “And before you say no, I’ll stay up and watch over Jas. If she wakes, I’ll let you know. Promise.”

“I am tired,” Henley admitted. “But you have to be exhausted too.”

“I’m more wired than anything. I’ll crash later. For now, I just want to watch over my girls.”

His girls. Henley liked that. No, she freaking loved that.

“Okay. Finn…thank you for being there for me and Jasna today.”

“I’ll always be here for you both.” Then he stood with her in his arms, and she lowered her feet to the floor. He led her to the cot, and when she lay down and got situated, Finn leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Sleep, love.”

Henley wasn’t sure she’d be able to fall asleep with the hustle and bustle of the hospital. But before she knew it, her eyes closed. The last thing she heard before giving in to the temptation of rest was Finn’s low voice, murmuring to Jasna how much he loved her.