He steadied her as he pulled back after a brief hug. “What brought you here, Tori?”
Her spine straightened. “Howard went mad. I’ve never seen him in such a state. He and my father had a horrible argument. It seems Ella was meant to be insurance for some deal they made. I didn’t hear all the details, but I do know that Howard isn’t as wealthy as he likes people to think. And Travis…he’s obsessed with Ella. He caught me listening outside the door and screamed with a wild look in his eyes. He said he’d get Ella back if it was the last thing he did. That’s when I got scared. I had to come here, to warn her. Mail travels too slowly.” Her throat bobbed. “Am I too late?”
“I don’t know.” Travis rammed his fingers through his hair. He turned to Cody. “Cassie came running into my office a little while ago. She said after lunch, Ella headed home, but your wagon is hitched to a post by the stables. I looked but couldn’t find Ella anywhere in town.” His jaw briefly clenched. “A bystander said they saw a well-dressed man carry an unconscious woman into a fancy carriage, one they’d never seen before. He said the woman had red hair and was wearing a blue dress.”
Cody’s heart plummeted. Fear clutched him in iron talons. He could barely force words past his tight throat. “Ella wore blue today.” He’d told her how lovely she looked when she came down for breakfast this morning. And she was one of just three redheads in Harmony Springs.
“Let’s ride. We can discuss next steps in my office.”
Cody started for his horse, then stopped. He turned to his sister-in-law. “I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances, ma’am. I promise you I’ll do everything I can to bring Ella home.”
Tori stared at him for several beats of his heart. She slowly nodded. “I believe you.”
His eyes rose to Hattie. “Would you mind…”
“Of course, I’ll watch the young’uns. You go get that wife of yours.”
The children. Cody ran into the house. He found them huddled in a circle in the parlor.
Isaiah saw him first. “Papa!”
Cody had no time to enjoy the new title. He knelt and gathered all three children into his arms. “I have to go find your mama. Miss Hattie will stay with you until I get back.”
Isaiah’s lips trembled. “You’ll bring Mama back?”
“Yeah.” No hesitation faltered his words. He’d bring her back. End of story.
He rushed back outside. By the time he and Travis reached town, Cody’s nerves were shot. He soon paced Travis’s office like a caged animal. “Did your witness see which way the carriage went?”
“North.” Travis unrolled a map of the territory. “Assuming the kidnapper is someone working for Howard, he’d probably head to Helena.”
“Why a carriage? Why not the train?”
“Next train doesn’t leave for the East until noon tomorrow. There are more trains running in Helena. The perpetrator wouldn’t want to remain in Harmony Springs that long, not when he could get to Helena tonight and catch an early-morning train.”
And Ella would be lost to them. Cody refused to think on that. He’d travel to Boston if necessary to find his wife. “How far to Helena?”
“Forty miles.”
A pregnant silence grew. The kidnapper had a several-hour head start on them, and forty miles was a long journey for a horse. They would have to ride hard into the night to catch up. Cody exhaled. “Let’s go. We can figure out a plan as we ride.”
Blinking open heavy eyelids, Ella groaned. Her head throbbed. A burning sensation assaulted her nose and throat. Her hands tingled with sharp numbness. She tried to relieve the pain, but something kept them bound.
She struggled to see in the dim light. Where was she? Why couldn’t she move? As her eyesight came into focus, more awareness trickled in. She lay on her back, arms raised above her head. Her hands were tied together and fastened to a bedpost. Terror took her. She thrashed her legs and pulled hard at her bonds.
Taunting, familiar laughter came from the corner of the room. Ella stilled. Her panic intensified.No! Not him.
Howard rose from a padded chair and walked in a deliberate manner toward the bed. “Good evening, Ariella.” Reaching out, he ran a finger down her cheek. She flinched away. He sighed. “It seems you did not miss me as much as I missed you. I’m disappointed.” He lifted one perfectly groomed, dark brow. “You married a rancher instead of me? Your standards have lowered, my dear.”
Something sparked inside of her. “Don’t call me that. I’m not yours.”
Both brows hiked. “My, we’ve grown some confidence, have we? Can’t have that.”
She knew what was coming well before his hand hit her cheek. The slap bit hard, stinging pain radiating down her face.
Howard leaned toward her with a hiss. “I need my meek Ariella back.”
Ella swallowed a retort. If he got angry, he might beat her. She needed to think of her baby, protect the little life within as best she could. She schooled her features into a blank mask. “I’m sorry.”
