LITMIR.BIZ

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got to his feet, knowing there was only one way to make her stop with all the nonsense. “Okay, and this will be the end of it.”

      “Yes.”

      As he walked back into the sheriff’s office, the air held a faint moistness from the early morning dew. Where had the night gone? He should be crawling out of bed, getting ready with his brothers for another day of baling and hauling hay. Yet, here he was, stuck in a nightmare.

      He and Maribel had always liked each other and that night in February, sitting in his truck, things had gotten out of control. And not just him. They both had experienced something they didn’t want to talk about or admit out loud, so they didn’t. Afterward, they’d decided they would never see or talk to each other again. It was mutual. It was over. And now... There was just no way.

      Wyatt noticed him walking toward the cells. “Elias, what are you doing?”

      “Just give me a minute.”

      “I’m ready to go home and I don’t have time to deal with all this nonsense.”

      “Just a minute, Wyatt.”

      Elias stopped in front of the cell and Chase jumped up from the cot. “What do you want?”

      Elias stared at the kid, the dark hair, the dark eyes and the lean, lanky frame. He took a couple steps backward as the truth hit him like a sucker punch, almost bringing him to his knees. It was like looking in a mirror when he was that age. All that arrogance, all that anger and all that resentment was him back then. It took the strong hand of his father to turn him around and even then Elias had fought him all the way. He saw all that in the eyes of the kid staring back at him. Oh, man!

      For some reason he pulled out his phone and took a step toward the cell. He stuck his arm through the bars and snapped a picture of Chase’s face.

      “What are you doing? You can’t take a picture of me. That has to be illegal and you need my permission.”

      “Give it a rest, kid.”

      Wyatt grabbed Elias’s arm and pulled him away. “What are you doing?”

      “I’m not sure, but you better stick around because I’m going back outside and I just might kill Maribel McCray.”

      “Elias...”

      Elias hit the door at full speed and didn’t even pause when Wyatt called again. He went straight to Maribel with fire in his belly. “I could strangle the life right out of you and I still might. How could you keep something like that from me? And don’t say it was because I’m a Rebel. That’s not gonna wash.”

      “I tried,” came out low, but he heard it.

      “How? And when?”

      “I was sick in the mornings and my dad figured out I was pregnant. He demanded to know who the father was. I wouldn’t tell him. If I had, he would have killed you. He took out his belt and beat me with it, insisting that I tell him. When he realized I wasn’t going to, he told me to get out of the house and to never come back. He called me a slut.”

      Some of the anger eased from Elias as he started to see the past from her point of view. His parents had never hit them and he couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for a young girl to be hit time and time again.

      “I got in my truck and drove away. I paid for the truck myself from working at the bakery so he couldn’t take that away from me. I didn’t know where to go or what to do, but as I was leaving my mom shoved three hundred dollars in my hand and told me to go to Mrs. Peabody’s.”

      Elias sat on the bench beside her as she continued to talk. “As I was driving away, I thought I wasn’t the only one who had created this baby and you needed to know you were going to be a father. I went to Rebel Ranch to find you.”

      Elias sat up straight. “You went to the ranch?”

      “Yes. Your grandfather answered the door and when he saw me he called for your mother. The moment she saw me she demanded to know what I wanted. I told her I wanted to see Elias and she told me I wasn’t seeing her son.” Maribel wiped at her face.

      Was she crying? Oh, no. He couldn’t stand it when women cried. He just held his breath and waited for more because he knew there was no way his mother would have turned away a Rebel grandchild.

      “She then asked me why I wanted to see you and I had no choice. I had to tell her. I hoped she’d let me see you then, but that hope was short-lived. She said, ‘Get out of my house and if you spread that rumor around Horseshoe, I will have you arrested.’”

      “Nah.” Elias shook his head. “You had me up until then. My mom wouldn’t do that. I know that beyond any doubt.”

      “I’m not lying, Elias. Ask your grandfather. He was there. He even said, ‘Kate, you need to listen to the girl.’ She told him to shut up and that was it. I ran to my truck and drove straight to Mrs. Peabody’s. I told Mrs. Peabody I had nowhere to go. She said she would find me a place away from Horseshoe. She called her sister in Dallas who said I could stay with her until I got on my feet. I went to the bakery and picked up my paycheck and told Doris I wouldn’t be coming back. I drove away, leaving everything behind—the heartache, the pain and my family.”

      Elias rubbed his hands together, trying to believe what she was saying. His mother’s part in this he didn’t believe, just yet. It didn’t ring true for the woman he knew, the mother who always stood up for her children and fought for them. He’d deal with that later. Right now, he was grappling with the fact that he had a child, an out-of-control son.

      “I’ll pay you back, Elias. I just can’t let my son stay in jail.”

      Elias got to his feet. “I’m not spending one dime to get that kid out of jail.” He headed back to the sheriff’s office with Maribel behind him.

      “You don’t mean that!”

      She followed him straight into the sheriff’s office. “Elias, please.”

      “I need to talk to you, Wyatt.”

      “Elias.” Wyatt sighed. “It’s five o’clock in the morning. I’m going home and whatever you want to talk about we can do it on Monday.”

      “We have to do it now.”

      Wyatt stared right at him. “Why?”

      “You asked me for a favor and now I’m asking you for one.”

      Wyatt laid down the pen he was holding. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what favor?”

      “I want you to release Chase McCray into my custody without any money changing hands.”

      Wyatt gave a chuckle. “I think you’re sleep deprived. I’m not releasing Chase McCray to anyone. He stays in jail.”

      “You released the other two boys into the custody of their parents.”

      “Yes, because I know them and I know they’ll be in court on Monday morning.”

      “You know me, too, don’t you, Wyatt?”

      “Too well. And I know once you get something in your mind you never let it go, just like an old hound dog.”

      “So you know I’m not stopping until you release him into my custody.”

      Wyatt sighed again. “Elias, why is this kid so important to you?”

      He took a deep breath and said the words for the first time: “He’s my son.”

      “What?” Wyatt frowned and looked from Elias to Maribel. “You mean you and Maribel were a thing in high school?”

      “Yes. It happened one time and we both knew that because of our families we couldn’t be together and we never saw each other again. I didn’t know Maribel was pregnant and she told me for the first time tonight. So, are you going to let

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