My mouth was opening and closing like a fish. I stared at William, not able to comprehend what he just said. Winston was his cousin? That explains why I thought he looked familiar.
“What’s wrong?” William asked.
“He…he wasn’t arrested?” I stuttered out fearfully.
“Of course not. Why would he be?”
“But he was there when I was kidnapped! He was working for Elliot!”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“Winston was one of the men Elliot had watch over me. He probably would have hurt me if Elliot hadn’t come into the room to tell him to leave.”
William’s face hardened and his jaw clenched tightly. “Why, that son of a bitch! He even came to the hospital to visit you. I didn’t know he was one of Elliot’s little helpers. I never saw him that day either. He probably escaped when we arrived.”
He stood up and placed me on the couch before pacing back and forth across the living room.
“William, don’t pace a hole into the floor. We know who’s working with Kelly now. All we need to do is catch them and turn them in to the police. I mean, you did inform the police about this, right?
He nodded. “I did last night. They said they would try tracking them down, but I don’t think I can wait that long.”
“So why don’t we catch them? We can find your cousin and force him to tell us where Kelly and Natasha are. You said you couldn’t track them, so maybe Winston would know.”
“If only it was that easy.” William sighed. “Winston has a tendency to disappear and reappear at the most random times, not even his parents know his location half the time. When we tracked him this morning, it showed he was at a gas station somewhere in Alabama.”
“So he’s on the run?”
“Apparently.”
I raised an eyebrow. “But you’re going to go after him either way.”
William laughed humorlessly. “I have to. This is so that we can finally end this stupid Kelly thing once and for all.”
I sighed. “If this is the only way to get him, then go for it.”
He gave me a small smile and kissed my temple. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”
I nodded as he raced upstairs.
“Hey, where’s William going?” Jackson asked, coming out of the kitchen.
“He’s going up to his office to try to track Winston.”
He must have understood what that meant because he called out to the rest of the guys and they marched upstairs to William’s office. I shrugged and decided to leave them to it.
***
A couple hours later, I walked into the guest nursery, where Chelsea was trying to change Jonah’s diaper. I had picked him up from my parents’ a while ago and had given him his bottle before putting him down for a nap.
“Is this right?” Chelsea asked, pointing to the diaper.
I smiled. “Yep, you and Ethan definitely got the hang of changing diapers.”
She smiled down at Jonah. “We have.”
I picked Jonah up and watched as she began cleaning up. She turned around suddenly and asked, “Is there a reason why you haven’t moved him to the shelter yet? I know you want to know what the police say, but there’s something else too, right?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. I’m just…I feel so attached to him. That’s one of the reasons why I was so reluctant to let you guys take care of him. There is this motherly, protective feeling that rises in me every time I hold him or think of him. I can’t let go of him, as selfish as that sounds.”
“Why don’t you guys adopt him? He lives with you anyway.”
“I contemplated the idea. I just haven’t brought it up to William yet. Besides, until we take care of the whole Kelly issue, I don’t think it’s safe to have a baby around. Plus, I’m not sure how William would feel about adopting him, and the authorities have to approve of it too,” I said, playing with Jonah’s fingers.
Jonah had definitely grown from when we found him. He finally had some more hair and he had gotten a bit chubbier. He was a glowing eight-month-old child.
“I’m sure William will be happy to adopt him. I mean, look at him, all chubby and adorable,” she cooed.
I laughed. “We’ll see. Now come on, let’s go start lunch.”
“Great, I’m starving! Do you have any spinach?” she asked, rubbing her small bump as we walked to the kitchen.
I stared at her in shock. “Chelsea, you hate spinach.”
“I know, but it must be the baby.”
I smirked. “Wow, the world must be ending. Chelsea Summers wants spinach.”
She laughed. “Yeah, did you know I made Ethan go buy Oreos at two in the morning last week? Thankfully, the Safeway down the street is open twenty-four seven.”
“Ethan probably doesn’t mind. I mean, the love of his life is carrying his baby,” I said, grabbing the spinach from the fridge.
“Uh, how do you want the spinach?”
“I’ll eat it raw.”
I handed her the bag and watched as she began to devour it.
“Hey, ladies,” Ethan said, walking in and grabbing some water. When he saw Chelsea, he almost dropped his glass.
“Is she okay?” he asked me, concerned.
“Yep, don’t worry. She’s just craving spinach.”
“But she ha—” he began, but I cut him off.
“It happens when a woman is pregnant, sometimes things that seem disgusting before are appetizing now,” I explained.
He nodded slowly. “Well, I’m going back upstairs. Yell if you need something.”
“How’s it going up there?” I asked.
“We have a better idea of where he is. Hopefully, we can find the exact location soon.”
I nodded. “We’ll bring lunch up soon. Then you guys can explain it in more detail.”
“All righty, thanks,” he said, pecking Chelsea’s cheek and exiting the kitchen.
I put Jonah in his high chair and gave him his pacifier to suck on for a while. I quickly grabbed a pot and began boiling water to make spaghetti. Then I cut up some garlic bread and put it in the oven to cook.
Once I was done, I took some baby food from the fridge and sat down at the island beside Chelsea. I sighed as I fed Jonah.
“What’s wrong?” Chelsea asked.
“I’m a bit worried, that’s all.”
“You’re stressing too much. Everything will work out, Heather,” she said gently.
I gave her a weak smile. “I hope so.”
I finished feeding Jonah, and Chelsea finished cooking the spaghetti while talking about her plans for the nursery. We headed up to William’s office, and I knocked on the door.
“Come in,” William called out.
We entered his office, and Chelsea placed the tray with our lunch down on the coffee table. I walked over to William and plopped down beside him on the floor. Everyone was staring at their laptop screens intensely.
“What have you guys found out?” Chelsea asked.
“Well, Winston is renting a cabin and staying on some sort of camp ground,” William said, taking Jonah from my arms.
“So, do we wait now?” I asked.
Ethan frowned. “Wait for what?”
“For the police to catch them. I mean, you guys found the location.”
“The police aren’t really helping. I mean, just the five of us found this information ourselves without them,” Jackson said.
“Are we going to lock them up ourselves, then?” I asked excitedly.
“Who’s we? It’s just us guys. You, young lady, have already been injured twice, and Chelsea is pregnant,” Alex said.
“But…but…William, tell him to let me come,” I said, shaking his shoulder.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but he’s right. I can’t stand to think of you getting hurt again,” William said.
I sighed. I wanted to go along and help them.
“When will you guys go?” I asked him dejectedly.
“Tomorrow night. I already called my pilot to get the jet ready,” he said.
I nodded and shared a secret look with Chelsea. There was no way I was going to let them do this themselves.
Just no way.