Finding Home (20 page)

“Sarah?” he prompted.

She sighed.  “I know…I just
don’t want to leave you right now.”

“I’m gonna be right here with you,
every step of the way,” he promised her yet again. 

“I know…God must have known how much
I would need you, when He put us together in the same restaurant that
day.  I would never make it through all of this without you, Colt.”

He kissed her and reluctantly
released her.  “Yes, you would.  You’re a lot stronger than you think
you are.  But fortunately, He knew how much I needed you, so you don’t have
to face any of this alone.”

She trailed her nails down his
washboard abs.  “Why did you need me?  I still can’t understand why
you weren’t taken.”

He captured her hand before it could
trail any lower and raised it to his lips.  “Because I hadn’t met you
yet.”  He gave her bottom a quick spank, causing her to yelp.  “Get
ready.  Busy day today.”

Sarah watched him walk away,
wondering if she’d ever get used to seeing his muscular backside. 
Catching the towel he tossed at her, she sincerely hoped she never would.

Downstairs, she found Colt in the
kitchen with Tag, while Buck and Charlotte were sitting outside enjoying the
view with a cup of coffee.  She didn’t see Vivian anywhere and assumed she
and Heath were still getting ready. 

“Good morning,” she greeted Tag,
accepting a glass of orange juice from Colt.  “Can I help you?” she asked
Colt, watching him make a skillet of white gravy.

“Nope.  Have a seat there with
Tag or outside with Buck and Charlotte.  I got this.”

“Are you sure?  I can…”

He cut her off with a quick
kiss.  “I got it.”

“Well, all right but…”

“Sweetie, a little bit of advice,”
Vivian said, coming up behind her and linking elbows with her, “if a gorgeous
drink of water like Colt there tells you he’s got it in the kitchen, give him a
kiss and then get the heck outta Dodge!  Come on, let’s you and me go for
a quick walk.”

“Viv,” Tag spoke up, “don’t go far.”

“Relax, Tag.”

Colt watched the girls walk to the
front door, then shifted his gaze to Sarah’s brother.

“Something going on that I don’t know
about?” he asked Tag.

Tag shrugged.  “Ever since
Christine…Sarah was taken, my parents were scared to death that the same people
would try for me or Vivian.  We had bodyguards when we were kids. 
Took self-defense classes…which reminds me…you were a Ranger.”

“Yeah.”

“You need to teach her basic self-defense.”

Colt nodded.  “I can do that.”

“I’d sleep better at night if you
did.”

“Have there ever been any specific
threats against you or Vivian?”

“No.  But once bitten, you
know?”

“I understand.”  Colt said, and
he did.  He could certainly understand how the Bainbridges would be
terrified that someone would try to take one of their other children.

Outside, Sarah walked arm-in-arm with
her older sister, still in awe of the fact that she had an older sister and an
older brother.  Vivian was talking non-stop and Sarah was really only able
to follow about half of what she said, but she really didn’t care.  It was
nice just to listen and laugh with her.  They stopped at a clearing not
far from the cabin and sat on a couple of fallen trees.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Sarah said,
gazing up at the mountain, “I’ve always dreamed about seeing the
mountains.  Colt said he’d bring me back for Christmas.  I’d love to
see real snow.”

“Well…maybe you could come to the Ranch
for Christmas.  It’s beautiful up there, too…and I know Mom and Dad would
love to have you there.”

Sarah raked her fingers through her
hair.  “I…I don’t know, Viv, I…”

Vivian took Sarah’s hand and squeezed
it.  “I know this has to be really hard for you.  You had no idea that
you should have had a much different life all these years.  Mom and
Dad…they put everything they had into trying to find you.  It shaped who
Tag and I became.”

 Sarah stood and began to pace,
feeling a bit like a caged animal.  It was foolish to think she could
handle this without Colt at her side.  She didn’t know how she was
supposed to act, what she was supposed to say, how she should feel.  She
needed to see Colt.  She needed to be able to look into his eyes and know
everything was going to be alright, she needed…to get a freaking grip! 
When did she become so dependent on him that she couldn’t even think for
herself?

“Sarah,” Vivian began and Sarah could
see her sister was alarmed.

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said, taking a
deep breath.  “I freaked out a minute there, but I’m all right.”

Vivian stroked her hand over Sarah’s
hair and tucked a lock of it behind her ear.

“You’re entitled to freak out. 
We’re all just so happy that you are safe.  We just, none of us, know how
to proceed, you know?  You have a life in Texas.  Our lives are in
Wyoming…but we want you to be a part of our lives.”

“When Colt first brought up finding
my family, I was so mad at him…because I was scared.  I do have a life in
Texas.  Before Colt came into my life, if I had found you then leaving
probably wouldn’t be quite so hard.  I didn’t have anyone in my life
before him.  Just my parents until they died.  Then the ladies I work
with and then my next-door neighbors and their son.  Colt has been in my
life for six weeks, but I already can’t imagine life without him.  He
moved to Waco to be with his sister and her daughters when her husband died
suddenly.  He gave up his career in the Army to be with them.  She’s
remarried now, to one of his Army buddies, but still…his life is there.”

Vivian smiled.  “Honey, from
what I saw on his face when he looks at you, his life is wherever you are.”

Sarah glanced at the house. 
Colt loved her.  He’d told her several times.  Was it enough, though,
to put up with all she was going through?

Both women jumped when a shrill
whistle sounded and they glanced back to the cabin.  Vivian rolled her
eyes seeing Tag on the balcony.

“We’re not dogs, you know!” she
called out to him.

“You answered, though, didn’t you?”
he called back.  “Food’s ready!”

“Jerk,” she mumbled. 

Sarah laughed.  “I always wanted
brothers and sisters.  Careful what you wish for, huh?”

Vivian again linked arms with her as
they made their way back to the cabin.

“You have no idea!”

Wayne Robinson was not normally a
patient man.  He’d pulled off dozens of heists over the last few
years.  The one that bugged him was the one that  Sherry had screwed
up for him.  The Bainbridge brat was going to be his ticket out of this
country.  He would have gotten enough money off that deal to live like a
king in Mexico or some third world country.  But then Sherry had panicked. 
He had no clue where she’d taken that baby.

Things were looking up now,
though.  Lewis, computer genius that he was, had tapped into the FBI case
files concerning the Bainbridges and now they knew where the girl was. 
Even though Sammy had screwed up his chance to nab her, Lewis had been
confident that another opportunity would present itself.  Sammy and the
others may dismiss Lewis as a nerd, but Wayne had learned over the years not to
underestimate the man.  But, since Sammy had blown his opportunity, they
now had to wait even longer.  Her boyfriend had whisked her off somewhere
for a little getaway, and Lewis learned that the Bainbridges now knew of her
existence.  Nabbing her now was going to be even harder.  He’d been
furious, but Lewis pointed out that now that the Bainbridges knew of her and
that her identity had been verified, that was one less hurdle they would have
to jump when they did nab her again.  And nab her again they would. 
True, the Bainbridges had two other children, and grandchildren now, but
nabbing the one who got away would be more profitable, he surmised. 
They’d lost twenty-six, almost twenty-seven years with her.  They’d pay a
fortune to have her back.  Buck Bainbridge owed him.  And come hell
or high water, Wayne was determined to make him pay. 

Sarah was subdued on the flight back
home.  She snuggled close to Colt on the flight but rarely spoke.  He
knew she had a lot floating around in her mind.  The last week had been an
emotional roller coaster for her.  The Bainbridges had been wonderful to
her.  Perhaps due to their work in the field, they seemed to know not to
push her too much and for that he was grateful.  However, Sarah was
worrying him with how she was handling all of this.  She did OK in front
of everyone.  She was gracious and smiling and friendly toward them, but
she held a bit of herself back.  It was as if she were an actress playing
a part.  She said all the right things, did all the right things but he
could see in her eyes that it was all an act.  Behind closed doors, when
it was just the two of them, she refused to speak about them.  Often, he
would wake in the night to the sound of her muffled tears.  He was so
concerned for her, he spoke to Buck and Charlotte late one night after she’d
gone to sleep, about cutting their reunion short so that he could get her home
and she could have a couple of days to sort through all that had happened
before she had to go back to work.  They’d agreed and now he and Sarah
were on their way back home…to his house.  No way was he letting her go
back to the Sauters’ sad little house.

On the drive from Waco Regional
Airport to his house, he saw Sarah take her phone out and check her messages,
then scroll through the pictures they had taken over the days they were at the
cabin.  He saw her linger over the ones they’d taken that first day when
it was just the two of them.  She scrolled quickly through the ones of the
Bainbridges.  The only one he saw her pause over was the one he took of
all five of them sitting on the veranda.  Sarah was on one of the porch
swings, Buck and Charlotte sitting next to her, with Tag and Viv standing
beside them, each with a hand on Sarah’s shoulder.

“You have a beautiful family, Sarah,”
he said quietly.

She offered him a sad smile. 
“It’s nice to finally know.”

“I’m sure.”

“I wonder what we do now.  Where
do we go from here?”

“Well, you know first up is the press
tour.  They’re going to issue a press release that you’ve been found in a
couple of days, if not sooner.  Rumors are already floating around, you
saw that.”

She nodded.  “Someone said
something to the media about my DNA records being requested by the FBI. 
Tag said people at the Foundation have been asking whether my remains had been
found.”

“It created a lot of speculation when
Tag left first and then the rest of the family joined him.  Tag is the
first line of defense for all things Baby Christine related and people at the
Foundation know that.”

“Yes, that’s what he said.”

“How do you feel about all of that?”

She sighed and looked out the window,
away from him.

“Honestly, I don’t know.  I’m
happy for them.  They’ve been in pain for so long.  Especially Buck
and Charlotte.”

“Yes, they have.  You are the
answer to their prayers.”

“I’m just me, Colt.  I don’t
know how to be who they need me to be.”

“You just be yourself, baby. 
Nothing more, nothing less.”

She started to speak but stopped when
his phone rang.  He cursed and checked the display, seeing it was Tessa.

“Hey, Tess.”

“Hey, I know things are crazy with
you right now and that you really weren’t wanting to take any contracts but
there’s a situation that’s popped up that Mike really wants your help with.”

He glanced at Sarah who was once again
staring at the picture of her with the Bainbridges.

“Now’s really not a good time for me,
Tess.”

“I know, and fortunately, it’s not
time sensitive, but we really do need your help.  I emailed you the
specifics.  Will you at least take a look at it?”

“Yeah, sure, but no promises,
OK?  With all that’s gone on with Sarah, I’m really not comfortable
leaving her just yet.”

“I understand.  Just get back to
me when you can.”

“Will do.  Thanks, Tess.” 
He ended the call just as he was turning into his driveway.

“You don’t have to put your life on
hold because of me, Colt,” Sarah told him.  “If you need to take a job,
you should take it.”

He reached out to cup the back of her
head in his hand and pulled her to him to kiss her. 

“Nothing is more important to me than
you right now, OK?  The job can wait or they can get someone else to fill
my part.  It’s not a big deal.”

“OK, well, if you’re sure, but…”

“I’m sure.  Come on, I need to
make a few other phone calls.”

She followed him inside and went to the
kitchen as he went into his home office.

“Are you hungry?” she called after
him.

“Yeah, but we’ll order
something.  I don’t want either of us to fool with cooking tonight,” he
called back.

She sighed and left the kitchen and
went outside by the pool.  She wouldn’t have minded cooking…it would have
taken her mind off of everything she had going on.  Scout and Izzy greeted
her when she stepped outside.  They were a welcome distraction and she
lost herself in throwing balls and chew toys from them to catch.  When
both dogs started losing interest, she curled up on the comfy outdoor couch and
was immediately pounced upon by both dogs, Izzy climbing into her lap and
showering her with lavish “I missed you so much” kisses.

It was when Izzy finally settled down
into her lap that Sarah looked up to see the older of Colt’s nieces step
through the fence.

“I wondered why Izzy was so excited,”
AnnaKate said.

Sarah smiled at the pretty little
girl, “Your Uncle Colt and I just got home.  Thank you for taking care of
her while we were away.”

AnnaKate smiled and sat down beside
her, giggling when Scout crawled into her lap.

“Izzy’s a lot of fun.  She’s so
fast!  She leaves Scout in the dust.”

“Border Collies are like that,” Sarah
said.

“Where did you and Uncle Colt go?”

“To his cabin in Breckinridge.”

“Oh man!  I’m so jealous! 
Did you go down the Alpine Slide?  I love that, it’s my favorite.”

“We did.  It was a lot of
fun.  I liked the coaster, too.”

“Uncle Colt always goes really fast
on there.  And he lets me drive it when I want, too.  He’s the best!”

Sarah smiled.  “Yes, he
is.  Where’s Olivia today?”

“She’s at her friend Ella’s
house.  She’s just down the street.”

Sarah talked with AnnaKate and found
that she enjoyed the child’s company.  She was cute and smart and one
hundred percent devoted to her Uncle Colt.   She confided that she
was happy that her Mommy had married her stepdad and she was excited about her
new baby brother but she really missed her Daddy. 

“Mommy said your mom and dad died,
too,” AnnaKate said.  “I was sad to hear that.”

“Thank you,” she said, touched by the
girl’s kindness.  “They were my adopted parents.  I met my real
parents for the first time at your Uncle Colt’s cabin this week.”

AnnaKate’s eyes widened. 
“That’s so cool.  Were you excited?”

“It was nice to meet them. 
They…hadn’t meant to give me up, so they were happy to meet me.”

AnnaKate cocked her head, studying
her a minute.  “You seem sad, though.  Didn’t it make you happy to
meet them?”

Sarah drew a deep breath.  “It
did…very happy.  But it made me sad, too.  I miss my parents, the
ones who raised me.”

The little girl nodded.  “Like I
miss my Daddy.  Sometimes I miss him so much, my tummy hurts.  Daddy
used to read me stories when I couldn’t sleep.  He really got into them
and made funny voices for all the different characters.  Coop reads to us,
and he does that, too, but…”

Sarah stroked her hand over
AnnaKate’s hair.  “It’s just not the same, right?”

“It’s not.  Uncle Colt reads
really good, too.  We missed him a lot when he was in the Army.  We
got him back when Daddy died. We were happy and sad about that, because he
wouldn’t have come back if Daddy hadn’t died.  But, we were happy that
Uncle Colt left the Army because then we didn’t have to be so scared for him
all the time.  He got shot once, you know.”

“I know.  I saw his scar.”

“Mommy was so scared.  She cried
and cried.  We went to stay with our other grandma and grandpa so Daddy
could take Mommy to Germany to see Uncle Colt.  I cried, too.  I
wanted to go.  So, even though it was because Daddy died, we were all
happy that Uncle Colt left the Army…but he still takes jobs that Mommy says are
scary.  Coop has gone with him a couple of times, but Mommy was really
upset about it so he doesn’t go any more, unless it’s just to run the
computers.”

Sarah gave AnnaKate a puzzled
look.  She thought Colt was the one who ran the computers on the contracts
he went on.

“What does your Uncle Colt do on
those jobs?  I thought he ran the computers.”

“He does, sometimes.  But, see,
Uncle Colt is the biggest of all the guys.  He goes in after the bad guys
a lot.  Mommy said Uncle Colt is usually the first one through the door.”

“He’s what?”

AnnaKate nodded.  “Yeah, Uncle
Colt is usually the one who has to kick the door open if they do a raid on a
building.  You know, because he’s so big.”

“AnnaKate, are you tattling on me?”
Colt asked, reaching over the couch to scoop her up in his arms and toss her
high over his head.  She squealed and giggled in delight. 

Sarah watched with a smile on her
face, but she had a sick feeling in her stomach, thinking about what AnnaKate
said about his jobs.  Of course, she’d known he did dangerous work in the
Rangers, but he was done with that.  She’d been on the understanding that
the jobs he took for Orion were more computer/surveillance oriented.  It
alarmed her that he could have misled her about his work.

“Are you going to come over for
Sunday lunch?” AnnaKate asked when he put her down.

“Not sure yet, squirt,” he answered,
eyes shifting to Sarah briefly before looking back to his niece.  “Why
don’t you run on back home now?  Sarah and I have some things to do.”

“OK, Uncle Colt.  I’ll see you
later.  Bye, Sarah.”

“Bye, sweetie.”

Sarah watched her go, then watched
Colt scoot the dogs away and sat down next to her.  He didn’t speak for a
few minutes, watching the dogs run and play together.

“What’s going on in that head of
yours?” he asked quietly.

“Is what she said true?”

“I’ve done that on occasion.”

“Since you’ve been out of the Army?”

“Yeah.”

“You made it sound like you mainly do
tech stuff and surveillance.”

He lifted her hand, laced his fingers
with hers and traced the back of her hand with his free one. 

“I do that, too…mostly that.  I
only occasionally do the physical stuff when they need me.”

“But why?  Didn’t you leave all
that behind when you left the Army?”

He shrugged.  “Uncle Sam spent a
lot of time and effort to train me.  I’m good at what I do, and Orion pays
really well.  Enough that I only need to take a few contracts a year to
make the kind of money that enables me to be here for Claire and the girls…and
now for you.”

She squeezed his hand.  “It’s
scary to think of you doing that kind of stuff though.  I like to think of
you just sitting in front of a computer in a surveillance van somewhere. 
Nice and safe.  Or umpiring a baseball game.”

“Taking contracts helps free me up so
I can take umpiring jobs.”

“But…it’s scary.”

He kissed the back of her hand. 
“You have to trust that I’m good at what I do, babe.  It’s no different
than if I were a cop, or still in the Rangers.”

“I know…but you’re not.  And I
don’t want to lose another person in my life,” she said, her voice small,
barely above a whisper.

“You just gained a whole new family,”
he reminded her.  She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the
cushion.  “Talk to me, baby.”

“It’s just all so overwhelming,” she
said.

“I’m sure it is…but you’ve got to
deal with this.  They are your family.”

She opened her eyes and looked at
him.  “They’re my birth family…but I haven’t been a part of their
lives.  They haven’t been a part of mine.  I just…it seems weird to
try to develop a relationship with them now.  I’m almost twenty-seven
years old.”

“So?  They’ve been through hell,
Sarah.  It’s not their fault you don’t know them.”

“Colt, don’t start, please,” she
said, getting up.  She tried to pull her hand from his but he didn’t allow
it, tightening his grip on her.

“You need to deal with this,
Sarah.  Buck and Charlotte want to get to know you.  They deserve
that after all they’ve been through.”