“I do have a habit of that,” she said, offering him a half smile.
He smiled back. “I can see that.”
“It’s just hard not to boss when I’m usually right.”
“Being right is important?”
“Not always, but about family it is.”
“What makes you so sure? You barely know me.”
Reaching up with her free hand, she touched his face. A tingle went up her arm. “I know you, Chay Benally. I see you.”
He leaned down almost as if he was going to kiss her. Her eyes drifted closed, she leaned in and she felt the brush of his thick hair against her cheek as he kissed the top of Gracie’s head, then winked at Ava and left.
Chapter 4
The National Parks SBI department had a good working relationship with the tribal police department. Chay had been in touch with lead investigator Jacob Colton since the beginning. The information he’d gotten from Ava meant there it was time to check in again. Since he was already in Dark Canyon, he reached out to Jacob and asked to stop by.
Jacob was broad shouldered and over six feet tall. He had blue eyes and medium brown hair and his face was similar to Ava’s. The special agent was in the office, working more leads in the investigation with his team. Chay hadn’t met many of them in person.
“Chay Benally, good to see you. I see my aunt has been busy,” Jacob said with a laugh. Chay had caught him up on what he’d heard via Ava.
“Yeah. Thought I’d stop by and get the official rundown,” Chay said, taking a cup of coffee from Jacob.
“Sure, have a seat. It’s hard to get much out of Fern. We do know that she was taken in Oso by two men in a dark van, but she has been hazy on her descriptions. I’m hoping to get in to speak with her again, but she’ll only talk to me if Ava or Ryan is with her.”
“Fair enough. She’s scared and only trusts the two of them. He rescued her and Ava’s the only one she can talk to,” Chay said.
He remembered how he’d been after his mom had left and he had to go to school. Seemed like he hadn’t spoken to anyone forthe first three months unless his grandmother was in the room. The fear that had silenced him had been strong. There was nothing stronger than the fear of being abandoned. Something he knew. Feeling like you had no one in the world to rely on was harrowing.
“Yeah, I get it. We were curious if Gracie was Fern’s, but she ruled that out. The DNA brought back a match for Annie Ross…she was in the system for a few arrests.”
“Was she from Oso?” Chay asked.
“No. She was from Wilson. She shared an apartment with Lori Stevens and Camille Lancaster. Camille disappeared and the other women filed a missing-persons report, but nothing came of it until Annie started digging around.
“She learned that Camille was taken by two men in a dark van. I read the report. I have a call into the Wilson Police Department, but haven’t heard back from them.”
“That doesn’t really mean much, does it?” Chay asked. It was hard to link the two women unless they had a match on the van.
“Well, I did a little more digging, and both Camille Lancaster and Fern Hensley have no family. They were in the foster care system and aged out. I just think…it’s a connection,” Jacob said.
“Interesting,” Chay agreed. He pulled out his notepad and jotted down the information. The foster care system was overworked, he knew that. It was easy to think that everyone was an adult at eighteen years of age, but those kids had no backup network. For himself he had his grandmother. He’d left home, sure, and ended up in Salt Lake, but she talked to him once a week.
“I’ll look further into the women and see if I can find out more,” Chay said. They spoke a little more about the investigation before Chay left the station. With Ava pushing him hard to think of adopting Gracie, he was reluctant to try to speak to Fern via Ava again, but he’d never been a man to back down.
He knew in his heart that he didn’t have it in him to be a father. Little Gracie deserved two reliable parents. He’d done okay with his grandmother, but as a kid he’d been very aware that it was just the two of them. He had friends and cousins, but it wasn’t the same as having two parents.
Pulling into the hospital parking lot, he texted Ava to see if she’d come with him to talk to Fern.
Ava: I’m on my way to see her for our session. I’ll ask her if she’ll speak to you after. It would be an hour. Okay?
Chay: Sure. I’ll grab a coffee and wait.
Ava sent back a thumbs-up.
He thought about how sassy she’d been pushing him to adopt Gracie. Her passion was something he admired about her. Instead of going into the hospital he called his grandmother.
