Missing Read online

  “It’s not your fault, it was Storm’s. All of this. It was his fault, wasn’t it?”

  Wes closed his eyes as he held her and tried not to think of what he’d seen up on the mountain.

  “Yes.”

  “My brothers…Did Agent Hurley find them? Storm said they were dead.”

  Wes said a quick prayer for the lie, then nodded.

  “Yes, darling…he found them.”

  “I need to see them, please.”

  Unconsciously, he tightened his hold.

  “No, honey, no. You don’t…you can’t….”

  “But—”

  “Honey…the fire…they just—”

  Ally moaned, but she didn’t argue. For that, Wes was thankful. He hadn’t exactly lied. He’d just led her to believe what she needed to know, so he could keep her from a more horrible truth.

  “Oh, Wes, how am I going to tell Daddy?”

  “Ally, honey, unless you want to, you’ll never have to do anything alone again. I’ll be right beside you when it’s time.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, let me take a look at your hands.”

  She leaned back as he held them palms up, then grabbed the washcloth from the table where he’d tossed it, and began cleaning the grit and gravel from the scrapes.

  “Wes?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Our house…it’s gone, isn’t it?”

  He paused, then looked up.

  “Yes, honey, but your uncle Dooley’s house is still there.”

  She tried to smile, but it was hard to come by. She didn’t want to go back. She would never be happy on the mountain again.

  “What’s going to happen to Daddy? To us?”

  Wes laid the cloth aside, then cradled her face.

  “Wherever we are, your father will be with us.”

  “I don’t know if he will leave this mountain,” Ally said.

  Wes heard more than concern for her father in her words.

  “What do you want?”

  “To be with you.”

  “That’s already a done deal, darlin’. What else?”

  Her lips were trembling, her eyes swimming with unshed tears.

  “I don’t think I can be here anymore.”

  “Do you mean here in Blue Creek?”

  She nodded. “Too many bad memories.”

  God, he knew just what she meant.

  “It’s all right, baby. I understand.”

  “So what happens now?” she asked.

  There was a long moment of silence as Wes considered his words.

  “We do as everyone has done during times such as these. We pick up the pieces that are left of our lives, weep for the dead, and live the best life that we can for those who can no longer live it for themselves.”

  “Oh, Wes, what a gift you are to my life.”

  “As you are to mine,” he said softly, then added, “So…have you ever been to Montana?”

  Ally shook her head slowly.

  “What would you think about going there?”

  “To live?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “If you’re there, then I think it would be fine.”

  “The sky is closer to the ground and the space wider than you can imagine,” Wes said.

  “Sounds like heaven.”

  Then there was a knock at the door.

  Wes pulled her close, kissing her hard and fast, before going to answer.

  The loose ends of their lives had yet to be tied before they could begin to tie knots of their own, but when they began, there would be no more need to look back.

  The worst was over.

  Colonel John Wesley Holden was no longer missing in action.

  Thanks to Ally, he’d found his way home.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-2900-0

  MISSING

  Copyright © 2004 by Sharon Sala.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  MIRA and the Star Colophon are trademarks used under license and registered in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

  www.MIRABooks.com