Chapter 11

CHAPTERELEVEN

Tal was well aware he’d been putting off Sunset’s meeting with Simon. On one hand, he wanted her to give them as much information about the cult leaders as possible so they could be found and prosecuted, but on the other, he was loving watching her relax more and more and come out of her shell. He didn’t want to do anything that would hurt the progress she’d made in the few days she’d been in Fallport. And he had a feeling bringing up her past and telling her she’d been kidnapped when she was eight would be a massive blow.

In the last four days, the other women had completely stepped up. Tal had brought Sunset to The Sweet Tooth, where she’d met Finley. No one could resist Finley’s outgoing personality and friendliness, and Sunset had been no exception. He’d driven her out to Bristol and Rocky’s place, and she’d been dazzled by some of the amazing stained-glass creations Bristol had made that hadn’t been shipped off yet. She also got to see where the wedding she’d listened to had taken place.

He and Sunset had eaten lunch at On the Rocks the day after she’d arrived in town, so she could meet Elsie and Zeke, and later, Tal had taken her to the library to meet Tony. Needless to say, that had gone extremely well. At first, Sunset had been shy, but Tony being Tony, he was oblivious to her reticence and had quickly won her over with his nonstop chatter.

She’d been overwhelmed with all the book choices, but Raiden had helped—after a word from Tal—by picking out some books he didn’t think would be too hard for her to read, taking into account she probably only had a third-grade education or so.

Khloe had come out to say hello too, and while Sunset seemed shy around both her and Duke, Raiden’s bloodhound, she still seemed to enjoy meeting them.

They’d gone over to visit with Lilly again, and this time Caryn had been there. It seemed to Tal that Sunset hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Caryn’s short hair. And when Drew had arrived, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt with a too-long kiss in front of everyone just how beautiful he thought she was—short hair and all—Tal could practically see the wheels turning in Sunset’s head.

Escorting her around town and showing her all the things he’d always taken for granted was both heartbreaking and fun at the same time. They’d gone to the big box store to get a bed for his empty guest room, a small set of drawers, some clothes to tide her over until the other women could outfit her more appropriately, and to stock up on food he thought she’d enjoy, as well as things he wanted her to try. Sunset’s eyes had been as wide as saucers the entire time they’d shopped. She hadn’t said much at the time, but it was easy to see she was both overwhelmed and excited.

Yesterday, they’d walked around the square, getting a feel for the town in general. They’d stopped into Grogan’s General Store, and Tal couldn’t resist buying Sunset one of the “Home of Bigfoot” shirts Harry Grogan had made to sell to tourists. They’d also said hello to Silas, Otto, and Art, who, even though it was early January and not exactly warm, were in their usual spots outside the post office. Then they’d had lunch at Sunny Side Up, where Sandra warmly welcomed Sunset to town.

He’d even brought her into the barbershop and introduced her to his boss, Harvey. While there, she’d let Tal take a little bit more off her hair. All in all, he’d enjoyed showing Sunset the town. He hadn’t been born or raised here, but he’d come to love the small town and its mostly friendly residents.

They spent their evenings watching television, making dinner together, and talking about nothing in particular. He’d read more chapters of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to her, and he loved seeing her excitement over learning things, and the way she embraced this new, sometimes confusing and scary way of life.

Nighttime was both heavenly and frustrating as hell for Tal. Sunset had yet to spend a night in the bed he’d bought for her in the guest room. When it came time for bed, Tal could read the fear in her eyes. She never admitted to being scared to sleep by herself in the other room, but it was obvious that, while she might enjoy the newness of everything, it was also overwhelming.

So they were still sleeping together in the queen-size bed in his room. Her under the covers on her side, and him on top on his side. He hadn’t been sleeping well, but for the first time in his life it wasn’t because of nightmares. It was because as he lay there next to her, listening to her breathe, he was content in a way he hadn’t ever been before…and he didn’t want to miss a moment.

Sunset made him want to be a better man. She’d been so mistreated by others in her past, he wanted to protect her from anyone who would dare do anything to burst the safe bubble she was in now.

And he knew without a doubt that telling her she’d been kidnapped when she was eight would definitely put a dent in the happiness she was experiencing. As far as he knew, the people in the cult were the only parents and life she remembered. If she recalled anything about her life before age eight, she didn’t share it with him. He was more and more certain she’d probably blocked it out as an act of self-preservation…and Tal didn’t blame her.

So making her talk to Simon would definitely ruin the happy vibe she had going on, and Tal was reticent to do that to her. But he knew he couldn’t put it off. Cypress needed to be found and locked away so he couldn’t continue to hurt other women and children.

Tal quietly slid out of bed without disturbing Sunset. It was early still, and he wanted to let her sleep in. Living in the forest wasn’t an easy life, but with all the things she’d been doing lately, her body was still getting used to being even more active.

Looking down at her before he left the room, Tal smiled. Her temperature ran hot. Every night she went to sleep under the covers, but by morning she’d kicked them off. The cold didn’t seem to bother her, and she didn’t mind that he kept his apartment on the cool side. He supposed she was used to the cold after living outside her entire life. It was one more thing he loved learning about her.

Tal grabbed a change of clothes and slipped into the bathroom silently. When he was done, he couldn’t keep his gaze from going to the bed once more. Sunset’s hair was spread out on the pillow in disarray, the auburn strands looking bright against the white of the pillowcase. She was spread-eagle on the bed, as if her subconscious was reveling in the ability to stretch out on a comfortable mattress.

He realized he was still smiling minutes later as he prepared a cup of tea for himself and set out a mug for Sunset, for when she woke up and joined him. Her wide eyes when she’d taken in the tea aisle at the store had been comical, and when she couldn’t decide which to try, Tal had bought twenty different boxes. She’d also tried coffee—and hated it. He could drink it, but he was English through and through, and he loved his tea.

He sat on the couch, sipping his tea as he opened his laptop to read the day’s news. He was halfway through an article about the increasing tensions in the Middle East when there was a knock on the door. Surprised, because it was still early and he hadn’t made plans with any of his friends to hang out, Tal got up to answer it.

His stomach clenched in discomfort as he realized his time was up. Simon had given him some space, but he was obviously done.

“Morning,” Simon said with a nod.

Tal returned the nod and stood back, giving the police chief room to enter the apartment.

“I need to talk to her,” he said gravely, without preamble. He had a folder under one arm and a serious look on his face. He wasn’t wearing his uniform, which Tal appreciated. He hadn’t missed how skittish Sunset was with anything that had to do with the police. Simon currently wore a pair of jeans, a polo shirt with the Fallport Police Department logo on the front left pocket, and a leather jacket.

“Can you give me a chance to talk to her first?” Tal asked as he closed and locked the door behind Simon.

“From what I understand, you’ve been back in town with her for days,” he replied.

It wasn’t a no, but it was obvious the man had reached the end of his patience.

“We need to go easy on this,” he insisted.

“Do you think she’s Heather?” Simon asked.

Tal sighed and nodded.

“She has a right to know,” the chief told him.

“I’m not disagreeing with you. But she’s terrified of the police. Those assholes she lived with told all the women that if they went to town, they’d be arrested. That the people here were gunning for them. That they’d be abused and treated like shit…which is ironic, considering their living conditions.”

“All the more reason for me to talk to her,” Simon argued. “So she can see for herself that I want nothing but the best for her and everything she learned was bullshit. I also need as much information as I can get, so I can find everyone involved and get justice for her and the other women.”

Simon’s voice dropped. “She was right under our noses the entire time, Tal. I should’ve found her. I should’ve done more for all the women and children who were living out there. I wasn’t here when she was kidnapped, but I went with the former chief’s gut feeling that the men and women living in that camp were harmless. That they were kind of hippies who were living off the land and doing nothing wrong. If what Ethan has already told me is true, they were as far from harmless as people can get. I want them to go down, Tal. And I need her help to do it.”

He sighed. Simon was right, he knew he was, but he hated that talking about this was going to hurt Sunset. “Can you at least let me give her a heads-up? Give me half an hour to talk to her before you interrogate her?”

“I’m not going to fucking interrogate her,” Simon retorted. “Give me some credit here. Jeez.”

“Sorry,” Tal said. “I just hate this for her.”

“You and me both. Take your time. Tell her what you need to. I’ll be out here when you’re both ready.”

“Meaning, you’re not leaving until you talk to her,” Tal said with a resigned smirk.

“Yup.” Simon looked toward the kitchen and frowned. “Shit, I forgot you don’t drink coffee.”

Tal chuckled. “No, but I’ve got lots of different kinds of tea you can choose from.”

Simon’s lip curled. “There’s something wrong with anyone who doesn’t start the day off with a big cup of joe.”

For some perverse reason, irritating Simon right now felt pretty good. Then he sobered. He didn’t want a non-caffeinated Simon to take his frustration out on Sunset. “You’ve got time to run to Grinders if you wanted to. I promise not to go on the lamb with her.”

Simon turned his intense gaze to Tal’s. “I’m gonna go easy on her,” he said softly, but with a thread of steel in his tone. “No matter how tired I am or how badly I want or need caffeine, I’d never take my frustration out on an innocent woman.”

Tal knew that. Simon was a bloody good police chief. He was just worried about his upcoming talk with Sunset.

“Talon?”

As if his thoughts had conjured her out of thin air, Tal turned to see Sunset standing at the end of the hallway. She had on another one of his sweatshirts, even though he’d bought her clothes of her own that fit much better. She was wearing a pair of the jeans he’d gotten for her, and her hair was hanging around her shoulders. It was still long, down to the middle of her back now instead of her butt, but she still hadn’t gotten used to brushing it when she got up. It was messy, which only made Tal want to run his hands through it.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“No,” he said immediately, turning his back on Simon. The man could make himself comfortable; he needed to reassure Sunset more than he needed to be a good host.

When he got to Sunset, he reached for her waist and gently turned her back toward the hall. In the last few days, she’d gotten more and more used to his touch, which thrilled Tal. She no longer flinched when he got close to her.

“Come on, back to our room.”

Our room.He’d used the words without thought.

She didn’t protest and walked quickly back to the safety of the room she’d just left. As soon as Tal closed the door, she turned back to him. Her arms were around her waist protectively and her brows were furrowed. “Talon?” she asked again.

“Come on, sit,” he said gently, gesturing toward the bed.

Sunset shook her head and said, “No. Just tell me what I did wrong and what’s going to happen.”

Tal couldn’t help but smile.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked, sounding pissed.

“I think that’s the first time you’ve told me no,” he told her.

Sunset froze as she stared at him with wide eyes.

“And for the record, I’m proud of you. If you want to stand, or pace, or whatever, you can. I just wanted you to be comfortable while I talked to you about something serious. You aren’t in trouble. Simon’s just here to talk to you. He’s not going to arrest you. He’s not going to yell at you. I promise. You can trust me.”

He saw Sunset take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she gave him a small smile. “I did tell you no, didn’t I? And I demanded an answer to a question too.”

“Sure did.”

“So? Are you going to answer it?”

Tal’s good mood vanished. He sat on the edge of the mattress and hiked one leg up. He didn’t take his gaze from Sunset’s as he asked, “You haven’t talked much about your childhood. Do you remember anything?”

Sunset frowned as she stared at him. “No.”

“Are you sure? Not even flashes here and there?”

It didn’t seem as if she even blinked as she continued to stare at him. “Why?”

Tal sighed. He wasn’t doing any of them any good dragging this out. “Sunset…I’m pretty sure you grew up here in Fallport. Your name was Heather Brown, and you were kidnapped when you were eight years old. I think you were taken by that bloody cult. There were searches for months, but there were no signs of what happened to you.”

Sunset had gone so still, Tal wasn’t sure she was even breathing.

When she did finally move, it was toward the bed. “I think I’ll sit now,” she whispered. She sank onto the edge of the mattress and stared off into space. Tal didn’t like that she wouldn’t meet his eyes, but he continued to speak.

“I don’t know for sure, but from what you’ve told me, I’m thinking they took you just like they did all those babies and toddlers. They raised you to believe what was happening to you was normal. They made you and all the other women and children afraid of town, to keep you away so no one would suspect they were anything but the harmless hippies they pretended to be…and so no one would recognize you. They made you think polygamy was normal, as was abusing children by ‘marrying’ them. Nothing about how you lived when you were with Arrow and the others was normal or right, which I’ve already mentioned. And it wasn’t your fault. You were just a kid when you were taken.”

Sunset looked up at him then. Instead of the devastation he expected to see in her eyes, he saw…relief?

“How do you know I’m her? This Heather girl?”

“Well, we won’t know for sure until we do a DNA test. Your parents gave your DNA sample to the police when you were taken, just in case.”

She blinked. “I have parents?” she whispered.

“Yes. Although…I recently found out that they passed away. I’m so sorry. I guess they moved away a few years after you were taken, when you weren’t found. From everything I’ve heard, they were devastated. They just couldn’t continue to live here without you. Everywhere they looked, they were reminded of their heartbreak. Not knowing what happened to you ate at them, and they weren’t able to move on. Your mom started drinking to cope with your loss, and she was in a car accident about a decade ago. Your dad had a heart attack almost five years ago.”

“Did I have any brothers or sisters?” Sunset asked quietly.

“No. But from reading the archives of the news articles from that time, the entire town kind of adopted you as their own. So in many ways, you’re everyone’s sister, daughter.”

When she didn’t say anything, just turned her head to stare off into space once more, Tal clenched his hands into fists. He wanted to take her into his arms. To tell her everything would be all right. But he didn’t want to do anything that might scare her. Or make her lose the tenuous hold she had on her emotions at the moment.

Then she shocked the hell out of him by straightening her back and turning her head toward him. “So Simon is here to talk to me about this? To see if I’m Heather?”

“Yes. And to see if you’ll be willing to tell him about Arrow and Cypress and everyone else you lived with. They shouldn’t get away with kidnapping you and who knows how many other kids. It’s illegal, immoral, and they need to be punished for their crimes. Are you okay? Talk to me, Sunset.”

“Heather. My name is Heather,” she said firmly.

Tal blinked in surprise. “We don’t know that for sure yet.”

“I do,” she insisted. “All my life, I’ve felt as if I didn’t belong. All the other women and kids simply accepted how they were treated. I didn’t. I was constantly getting in trouble. I spent more time than anyone in the punishment tent, even as an adult. I couldn’t understand why I had to test their limits, why I was always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, asking questions. You have no idea how big of a relief it is to know my suspicion that something wasn’t right was correct all along. I have a last name,” she said as her eyes filled with tears. “One that isn’t shared by every other woman around me.”

“Well, you should know that Brown is a common name here in the States. Millions of people have that last name,” Tal couldn’t help but say.

She let out a huff of breath that was partly a laugh. “I don’t care. It’s still mine. I’m Heather Brown.”

It was Tal’s turn to close his eyes and let out a sigh.

“Talon?”

He opened his eyes immediately. “Yeah?”

“You were scared to tell me.”

“I was,” he agreed. “I didn’t know how you’d react. If you’d be mad, scared, or if you’d deny it outright.”

“I am mad,” she said with a shrug. “And scared. I can’t deny it. I don’t remember when I got to The Community, but I remember spending a lot of time in the woods. There were times when I’d be picked up and carried into the trees without warning, a hand over my mouth and someone whispering threats in my ear about having to spend more time in the punishment tent if I called out. Maybe that was when people were searching for me? I don’t know. But the more time I spend walking around Fallport with you, the more…familiar it seems.”

“How so?” Tal asked.

“Like with Mr. Grogan. When he talked to me, I had a flash that I’d been there before. Walking up and down the aisles seemed very familiar.”

“Harry was around when you were here,” Tal said with a nod. “What else?”

“Art. I don’t have a specific memory with him…but it felt as if I already knew him before you introduced me. And the gazebo in the square. Will you…will you show me the house I lived in?”

“If you want me to,” Tal said.

“I’m sad that my parents didn’t live long enough to know what happened. But…I don’t really remember them. I think I’ve remembered flashes of things here and there, but I thought they were dreams. Or wishful thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Tal soothed.

“Is that why you wanted to find me so badly?” she asked.

Tal shook his head. “No. When Brock and Finley told me about what you did, how you saved them, I was so intrigued—and worried. You were in the cold woods in a dress and no shoes. I had to find you…to help you. It wasn’t until I was already well and truly obsessed with finding you that I found out about Heather, about her kidnapping. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re Heather or Sunset or someone else. I like you for who you are now. I admire you for your strength and fortitude and intelligence. And I’m so proud of how you’ve dealt with all the changes you’ve experienced in the last few days.”

“I’m not smart,” she said hesitatingly.

“The hell you aren’t,” Tal returned. “There’s book smarts, and then there’s life smarts. And you have more common sense and knowledge about the things that matter in life than anyone I’ve ever met. Besides, you can always take classes and learn the things you missed after being taken. The ability to survive in the woods and self-preservation are much harder to learn.”

“I think you’re just being nice,” she said after a moment.

“I’m not,” Tal insisted. “I admire you more than just about anyone I’ve ever met.”

She swallowed hard and whispered, “I’m Heather Brown. Not Sunset Meadowblossom. Wait—am I still married?”

“You were never married,” Tal growled. He took a breath and tried to calm himself. “We talked about this. Those cowards who kidnapped you were child molesters and completely evil. To be legally married, paperwork has to be submitted to the courts. I can guarantee they didn’t do that. Not to mention, it’s not legal to be married to more than one person at a time.”

“Good.”

It was good.

“So…is Simon still here?”

“Yes.”

“What’s he doing out there?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. But I wasn’t going to let him break the news to you about your past. I wanted to do it myself.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because you don’t know him. You know me. You can trust me. And if you didn’t take the news well, I would’ve gone out there and told him you weren’t up to talking to him today.”

Her eyes widened. “You would’ve sent him away?”

“Yes.”

Tal couldn’t read the emotion behind her eyes. He hoped it wasn’t fear.

“Are you willing to talk to him now? If not, if you need to let this settle, that’s okay. I can take you to see the house you grew up in and anything else you want. We can go visit Lilly and you can talk to her about all this if you want.”

“I want to do all that,” she told him. “But I want to talk to Simon. I know I’m Heather, I feel it inside, but I want proof. And I want to tell him as much as I can about Cypress and The Community. It’s not right, what they did. To me and all the other kids who suddenly appeared. They deserve to know who they are for real too.”

“I’m so bloody proud of you,” Tal said, his voice cracking. He should’ve known this woman wouldn’t buckle after hearing about her past.

“I’m still scared,” she said softly. “But now that I know the feelings I’ve had inside for so long were right, that I wasn’t a misfit, that I wasn’t just a bad wife and Community member…I feel as if I can breathe again.”

Tal stood and held out his hand. “Come on then, let’s go talk to Simon.”

She stood and put her hand in his. “Talon?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Can I…do you think…” Her voice faded off.

“What? You can ask me anything. You can trust me, and I won’t hurt you.”

“Can I have a hug?” she blurted.

Without another word, Tal pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. They stood like that for a couple of long minutes. Soaking each other in, finding comfort in one another. He felt her take a large breath right before her arms loosened around him.

“I’m ready,” she said with determination.

Tal twined his fingers with hers and headed for the door.