Collecting Evidence. Rita Herron
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had been missing now for nine weeks.
Jack was fifteen weeks old.
Dear God, could Jack possibly be his son?
The baby suddenly cooed up at him, his chubby cheeks puffing up as he gripped one of Dylan’s fingers in his tiny fist.
Dylan’s chest swelled. “Is it true, Jack? Are you my little mijo?”
And if he was, why in the hell hadn’t Aspen told him?
THE NIGHTMARES TAUNTED HER.
Every night they came like dark shadowy demons with claws reaching for her and trying to drown her in the madness.
If only she could remember her name, what had happened to her, how she had wound up near death and here in this women’s shelter in Mexican Hat.
But the past was like an empty vacuum sucking at her, imprisoning her in the darkness. Only at night in her dreams, memories plucked at the deepest recesses of her mind, trying to break through the barrier her subconscious had erected.
Terrifying memories that she wasn’t sure she wanted to recall.
She forced herself to look into the mirror, to probe her mind for bits of her past. She knew she was Ute—her high cheekbones, long black hair and brown eyes screamed Native American heritage.
But those eyes were haunted by something she’d seen, something that lay on the fringes of her conscience.
Her head throbbed, tension knotting her stomach. She rolled her shoulders to stretch out her achy muscles, but exhaustion was wearing on her. In the weeks since she’d come to the shelter, she’d recovered from her physical injuries, the hypothermia and bruises, but she still hadn’t regained her strength.
The other women and children had gathered after dinner for a support group session in the common room. Sometimes she gathered the children into a circle on the floor for storytime, but tonight one of the mothers was teaching them how to string Indian beads to make necklaces.
Grateful to have some time alone, she gave in to fatigue and crawled onto her cot by the far wall. Dusk was setting, the hot sun melting in the sky, gray streaks of night darkening the room. She closed her eyes, pulled the thin sheet over her legs and turned on her side. But a hollow emptiness settled inside her. She had felt it the moment she’d awakened in the shelter, freezing and delirious. She’d known then that she’d lost something. Something precious.
A loved one maybe.
Tears trickled down her cheek, but she angrily wiped them away. Remembering what had happened could help her return home. But what if she was right?
What if she’d blocked out the memory because someone she loved had died and she couldn’t bear it?
Finally, exhaustion claimed her, but the nightmares returned to dog her, dragging her under a rushing wave of darkness, smothering and terrifying.
Someone was chasing her across the unforgiving land, toward the deep pockets and boulders. She tried to run but her legs felt heavy, her body weighted, and she skidded on the embankment, rocks tumbling downward and pinging off the canyon below. She tumbled and rolled, the sharp edges of the stones jabbing her skin and scraping her flesh raw.
Then his hands were on her, fingernails piercing as they bit into her shoulders. She fought back, swinging her hands up to deflect his blow, but he hit her so hard her head snapped back and stars danced in front of her eyes. Another blow followed, slamming into her skull and pain knifed behind her eyes, her breath gushing out as she tasted blood. She tried desperately to focus, to crawl away, but he yanked her by the ankles and dragged her across the rugged ground, the stones and bristly shrubs tearing at her hands and knees and face as she struggled to grasp something to hold on to.
God help her—he was going to kill her…
Somewhere close by, the river roared, water slashing over jagged rocks, icy cold water that would viciously suck her under and carry her away from everyone she loved.
No, she had to fight.
But the hands were on her again, this time around her throat, punishing fingers digging into her skin, gripping, squeezing, pressing into her larynx, cutting off her oxygen. She gulped and tried to fight back, swung her arms and kicked at him, but her body felt like putty, limp and helpless, as the world swirled into darkness.
Her heart pounding with terror, she jerked awake, disoriented and trembling. She’d only been dreaming; it had been the nightmares again…
She was safe.
But as she exhaled and her breathing steadied, a deadly stillness engulfed the pitch-dark room, the kind of eerie quiet before a storm that sent a frisson of alarm through her.
Then a breath broke the quiet.
A wheezing, whispery low sound. Someone was in the room.
Praying it was one of the sisters coming to check on her, she clenched the sheets and glanced across the space. The tall silhouette of a man stood in front of the open window in the shadows, the scent of sweat and cigarette smoke rolling off of him in sickening waves.
Pure panic ripped through her. Was it the man who’d tried to kill her in her dreams? One of the male abusers the women in the shelter were running from?
His hand moved to his waistband and the shiny glint of metal caught her eye.
She froze, body humming with adrenaline-spiked fear. A knife was tucked into the leather pouch attached to his belt.
She had to run.
Slowly she slid off the bed to escape and yelled for help, but he moved at lightning speed and trapped her. His big hands covered her mouth to silence her screams. She bit his hand, then clawed at him and cried out, fighting with all her might to throw his weight off of her.
Suddenly hall lights flickered on and footsteps clattered toward the doorway, doors banging open. The man’s gaze shot sideways and he cursed, then lurched up, ran to the window and jumped out.
The sisters and three other women poured into the room, baseball bats in their hands, ready to attack.
The light flew on, throwing the room into a bright glare that nearly blinded her. Sister Margaret rushed to her, pulled her into her arms and soothed her. “He’s gone now. You’re safe, child.”
It took her precious seconds to stop trembling, then anger ballooned inside her. She was tired of running, of hiding, of not knowing. They’d all assumed that whoever had hurt her had been a violent boyfriend or husband she’d been running from.
But she couldn’t go on living like this. She had to know the truth. If her attacker was a boyfriend or husband, he’d found her. And she refused to be a coward.
Somewhere she had a life she’d left behind. And she wanted it back. Wanted the man who’d hurt her to pay.
And the person she’d lost—she had to face that truth, too.
“We should call the police,” she whispered. “Send them my picture, Sister. I want to find out who I am and who’s trying to kill me.”
ONCE THE IDEA that Jack might possibly be his son entered Dylan’s mind, he couldn’t let it go. The baby shifted against him, finally falling back asleep, but Dylan didn’t want to put him down. If the child was his, he wanted to know.
Dammit, he deserved to know.
Memories of his father taking him camping and fishing rolled back, and he saw himself doing the same thing with his own son one day.
When he’d first heard Aspen’s baby had been found in her abandoned car, he’d assumed she’d moved on with her life, that she’d forgotten him, and had become involved with another man, someone on the reservation.
Because they’d been careful. And he’d trusted Aspen, trusted that she would have told him if she’d gotten pregnant with his baby.
But