Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(85)

“Reverend Noah Kincaid, Officer. Are the kids all right?”

“They seem to be okay, but as I was explaining to the gentleman here, I’m taking them to the station. I’d like them to sit down with someone, talk about what went on here, and while they’re doing that I’ll write up a report. You call it in? Kids left unsupervised?”

“I believe it was a friend of their mother’s,” he said. “Do they have to go with you?” Noah asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Stan said, knowing he had some kind of big-time domestic situation on his hands. The husband and wife calling the cops on each other, the reverend showing up for ballast. If it weren’t for the weird house and the locks and the nervousness of the kids, he might assume the wife was playing out some vengeance on the husband. “That Mrs. Gunterson, there?” Stan asked.

“No, sir,” Noah answered. “She’s Ellie Baldwin. The kids are Danielle and Trevor Baldwin. Miss Baldwin hasn’t been married to Mr. Gunterson for about a year. They were only married a couple of months. It’s a long story.”

Stan snorted. It always was. “Well, there will be plenty of time. Let’s gather up these kids. You can all come to the station while we figure out what’s next.” Then, under his breath, he said, “My sergeant’s gonna be thrilled….”

“I’ll follow you, Officer,” Arnie said. “I’m sure we can straighten this out without too much confusion.” And with that, the big man strode stoically and confidently to his SUV.

Fourteen

Thank God for Noah, Ellie thought. She was angry enough to kill, but on the way to the sheriff’s substation, he talked her off the ledge. He emphasized that she had to stay calm and try her hardest not to act out. “Arnold will be cool. He’ll do what he can to appear to be the sane, stable one, to smooth things over—he’s obviously good at it. Don’t let yourself get sucked in.”

And of course, that was exactly what happened. While Ellie and Arnie were separated from the kids, Arnie finagled a moment alone with the sergeant in charge. After hearing what Arnie had to say to the locals at Jack’s, Ellie could only imagine. And he’d been in there a long time. “I guess that whole ex parte thing doesn’t apply to sheriff’s deputies,” Ellie muttered.

“It’s a little substation, but you can bet the sergeant has dealt with this before, Ellie,” Noah said. “Let him do his job.”

“I’m worried about the kids,” she said softly. “They’ve been in that back office awhile now.”

“But it was the right thing to do,” Noah said. “Giving permission for them to talk to the social worker alone—that was smart. Arnie couldn’t prevent that happening without bringing some suspicion on himself. Danielle will tell her how it is at that house. And that whole business with the lock—that’s sick. The guy is seriously twisted.”

A giant tear ran down her cheek. “Oh, Noah, this is all my fault. What was I thinking, getting mixed up with him? Look what I’ve done to my kids!”

“Hang on, kiddo. This is a bad time for a meltdown.”

She looked at him with such remorse, such despair, her eyes all liquid, her voice so soft, so unlike Ellie. “It wasn’t too much of a sacrifice for me, you know? I get by any way I can. If Arnie could give them a good home, I could manage. I thought I was making a good decision for my family. I thought—”

“Stop, baby,” he said, pulling her against him, holding her. “It’s going to be all right.”

“Noah, what’s wrong with me? I shouldn’t have—”

“Ellie, stop. You were doing the best you could.”

She was shaking her head. “I should have put more energy into keeping us independent. On our own. At least we could trust each other.”

He lifted her chin and looked into her frightened, wet eyes. “Nothing like this is ever going to happen to you again, Ellie. I’ll make sure of it. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll find a way.”

“But, Noah, that’s not what—”

“Ellie!”

She was cut off by her name being called. She turned to see Jo Fitch rushing toward her, Nick close on her heels.

“What are you doing here?” Ellie asked, giving the wet on her cheeks a nervous swipe.

“I knew you’d end up here. Honey, are they all right?”

She nodded. “But I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Arnie’s with the sergeant and I’m out here and the kids are—”

The sergeant’s office door opened and Arnie came out. He walked toward the front door, paused to glare at Ellie, then exited the building. “Oh, God,” Ellie said. “Was that a good sign? Or bad?”

“He left without the kids,” Noah said, an arm around her shoulders. “So far, I’d call that good.”

“Noah,” she said softly. “This is killing me.”

The woman from Child Welfare Services came from the room where she’d been interviewing the kids. She held a couple of thin files in her arms and approached Ellie. “Mrs. Baldwin, I—”

“Miss,” Ellie said. “Miss Baldwin. Ellie would be even better. Are they doing all right? The kids?”

“They seem to be holding up just fine—but after I make a couple of phone calls, I’ll need your help to talk to them. They’re not going back to Mr. Gunterson’s house tonight, but because of the court order, I have to locate some emergency foster care for them. Hopefully we can keep them together, depending on what’s available. But I can’t make any promises about that.”