****
Boone and Delilah entered the expansive estate of Allen Miner and his families. The concrete paved driveway was long, framed by tall mature trees on either side. When they reached the clearing of the trees, they noticed three large houses, each around four thousand square feet covering three floors. The house in the middle appeared a bit larger and had a formal portico. Boone drove to the house in the middle.
As soon as Boone and Delilah exited the SUV, a large black and silver dog appeared out of nowhere. It was barking loudly, announcing their arrival and snarling. Delilah was frightened by it and jumped behind Boone. “I got this,” Boone laughed and then stared at the dog. “He is part wolf,” Boone added and growled lowly.
“You talk to dogs?” Delilah asked still fearful while peering at the beast.
“I can intimidate them with my growl,” Boone admitted. “But my wolf is talking to his wolf right now. We are telling him we are here to help. This little guy might be a wealth of information for us.”
“What do you mean?” Delilah asked but before Boone could answer Allen Miner and one of his wives opened the front door of the center home and called for the dog to heal.
“Sorry about that,” Mrs. Miner called out to Delilah. “Brutus does not like strangers.”
“Brutus?” Boone leered while looking at the wolf-shepherd mix. “He looks more like a Warrior to me.”
“Warrior?” Mrs. Miner gasped.
“Was he a rescue?” Boone asked already knowing the answer.
“Yes. But the kids changed his name to Brutus.”
“I think he prefers Warrior,” Boone quipped and then winked at the dog. Boone held out his open palm to Warrior as a sign of friendliness. Warrior licked Boone’s hand as he eagerly wagged his tail.
“You are good with animals,” Mrs. Miner smiled in admiration. “It is a good trait in a man.”
Boone did not reply, but he smiled. Delilah stepped out from behind Boone a bit more at ease. “We called earlier,” Delilah announced. “Huxley Boone and Delilah Wodan from Red Mountain Investigations,” she added as an introduction.
“Allen Miner and my wife, Margaret,” Mr. Miner replied extending his hand towards Boone. Delilah intercepted and shook Mr. Miner’s hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Delilah could see Margaret trying to hide a giggle. Delilah was a strong, assertive woman and Margaret instantly liked her.
“Let’s go inside,” Margaret offered politely. Margaret appeared to be in her early forties with dirty blonde hair worn in a single braid down her back. She wore only a little mascara and clear lip gloss. Her dress was plain and devoid of ornamentation. It was pale green and showed very little of her figure. Overall, she was a pretty woman, plain but pretty. “We can show you Lucy’s room and tell you what we know.” Margaret became quiet and a bit withdrawn. It was quite apparent she was depressed about her daughter’s disappearance. Both Delilah and Boone noticed Mr. Miner’s expression did not match the expression of his wife. It was more stoic, too stoic.
By the time the four reached Mr. Miner’s study, refreshments had been laid out by one of their servants. Confused, Delilah looked at the woman. She thought polygamists were more private about their multiple families. But Delilah said nothing.
“I have three families,” Mr. Miner announced seeing Delilah’s confusion. “Since Utah changed its laws about polygamy ten years ago, we can live openly. Margaret is my first wife. This is her house.”
“Tell us about Lucy’s disappearance,” Boone asked bluntly, cutting to the chase. “We need to know everything you do.”
Margaret started from the beginning telling about the day of Lucy’s disappearance. “Lucy was supposed to go grocery shopping with me. But she had spent Friday night with her best friend and then begged to go to the mall the next morning. She always helped me. She was a good girl. So I decided to reward her with the morning off.” Margaret often paused to dry her tears and to calm herself and tell the rest of the story. She did not disclose anything Boone and Delilah did not already know. Allen sat quiet and still. Both Boone and Delilah found Allen’s demeanor suspicious.
“Did she take anything with her?” Delilah asked Mrs. Miner. “Clothes, money, anything from her room?”
“No,” Margaret replied.
“Did she take a cell phone or tablet? Anything which could be tracked by GPS?” Boone suggested.
“My children do not have cell phones, and she did not take her school tablet with her to the mall,” Allen replied.
“Did she take a backpack or purse with her to the mall?” Delilah asked.
“A small clutch,” Margaret replied. “Just big enough for her ID and a few small items.”
“How much money did she have with her?” Boone asked.
“Not much, two maybe three hundred dollars,” Margaret answered.
“Does she have a debit card or a personal bank account?” Boone queried. He needed to know if she had access to any money or any other resources.
“No,” Margaret started sobbing again. “My baby is out there, all alone. Please, can you help me find her?”
Delilah reached her hand towards Margaret. “Mrs. Miner, I assure you we will do all we can to help you.”
Boone looked at Allen whose face was still stoic. It appeared as if he was getting impatient, bored even. “Mrs. Miner, would you mind showing Delilah to Lucy’s room while I speak to your husband? There is no need to upset you any more than we have today.”
Margaret nodded and dried her eyes with a tissue. Delilah followed Margaret back to the foyer and up the stairs.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Boone demanded once the women had left the room. He knew there was more.
“You are just another investigator in a long line of people trying to get rich,” Allen replied calmly. “It has been three months and no one has found Lucy. I do not want Margaret to get her hopes up again.”
“Then why have you put out such a large reward for finding her? You are the one causing your wife’s heartache, not us. We did not come here today for the money. We might not be trillionaires like you, but we do not need the money. I came here to find the truth. And trust me, I will find Lucy and the truth.”
Boone could hear Allen’s heartbeat quicken. He could feel the panic coursing through his veins. Boone knew there was more to Lucy’s disappearance than what Allen Miner was telling him. He had never tried to push someone for the truth before, but he was tempted to try. He took a deep breath and glared into Miner’s eyes, but before he could penetrate Miner’s mind, they were interrupted.
“I hope the dress helps,” Margaret stated softly to Delilah. “I hope you can help us.”
“We will try our best,” Delilah replied taking Margaret’s hand again. “We will start fresh first thing in the morning. If you think of anything which can help us, call me. You have my number. Put together a list of Lucy’s friends and classmates and send them to me. I will talk to everyone in Provo if I have to.”
“You are not like the rest,” Margaret commented, her voice barely above a whisper. For the first time, she had hope. And her emotions were overwhelming her.
“We are not doing this for the money, Mrs. Miner,” Delilah assured her. “We just want to help.”
“I do not understand,” Margaret sobbed.
“Sometimes you just have to do the right thing,” Delilah tried to explain. “This is what Boone and I do. We are getting married soon and starting our own family. If it was my daughter and she was missing, I would want people who truly cared to help me. I would want people with pure hearts on my side.”
Margaret smiled. “Thank you,” she whispered in gratitude. “You find my daughter and everything I have will be yours.”
“It will not be necessary Mrs. Miner, but thank you. This will not be easy, but we will not give up,” Delilah stated reassuringly and pulled Margaret into an embrace.
“We will be
in touch,” Boone added and held out his hand towards Delilah. Delilah put her hand in Boone’s, and they headed for the door. Boone turned back and glared at Mr. Miner. Boone was more determined than ever to find the truth.
Once in the SUV, Boone took a closer look at the bag which contained Lucy’s dress. He chuckled as he touched the piece of golden colored rope holding it closed. “What’s up Delilah?” he asked.
“I cut a piece of my rope off to tie up the bag, and I accidentally got Mrs. Miner’s wrist caught in it,” Delilah laughed.
“Accidentally?” Boone quipped.
“Well, something like that,” Delilah continued laughing.
“So what did you find out?”
“She does not know much more than what she told us in the study. She does suspect her husband is not being totally forthcoming but could not provide much more. She does not trust him completely, but she does not know why. Just a gut feeling she said. I suggested she have her husband move the reward money into a trust fund she could access.”
“Good idea,” Boone mused. “I was just about to try pushing Mr. Miner when the two of you showed up. I have never attempted to push the truth before, but I figured what the heck.”
“Maybe we should come back tonight after dark and take a look around,” Delilah suggested. “Warrior is your friend. He will not give us up.”
“What are you hoping to find?”
“Not sure. Again, just another gut feeling.”
Boone and Delilah checked into a nearby hotel and went to dinner. As Delilah was changing into her black jeans and boots, Boone smiled. This was the Delilah he had fallen in love with. But instead of her usual red blouse, she donned a black long sleeved t-shirt which accented her small waist and ample breasts.
After the sun had gone down, they headed back to Miner’s estate. Boone parked the SUV near the road, and the two walked towards the houses. Just before they reached the edge of the trees, Boone turned wolf and called to Warrior. The wolf-shepherd mix loped towards Boone happy to see him. After an exchange of growls from each of them, Boone turned human.
“He does not like Mr. Miner much,” Boone disclosed. “Says he yells at his wives a lot and likes to slap them around.”
“So he is a bigger asshole than we thought,” Delilah sneered. “What does Warrior know about Lucy?”
“Not much. He does not remember anything special about her disappearance except she did not come home. Warrior tries to protect the little ones from their father. He takes quite the beating himself sometimes.”
“So why does not he just...” Delilah could not finish the question.
“He puts up with it to protect the kids. Warrior knows Miner could have him killed. Have him put down.”
“I understand,” Delilah sighed. “Warrior is one of the good guys.”
“Yes, he is,” Boone answered while petting Warrior and smiling. “You ready?” Boone asked Delilah who nodded. “Lead the way,” Boone told Warrior.
Warrior ran towards the house on the right. He knew Miner was staying in that house that night. Boone and Delilah followed. As the three moved to the back of the house, Warrior suddenly came to a halt. All three could hear arguing from inside. Warrior growled and took off running towards the confrontation. Boone put out his arm to hold Delilah back. “Warrior’s got this,” Boone whispered as he watched Warrior enter the house through the doggie door.
Boone could hear Warrior loudly growl at Miner. Then he heard a yelp before hearing Miner storm away. “Damn it,” Boone snarled. “That bastard is going to die one of these days.”
Warrior returned to Boone’s side. With the light coming from the window, both Boone and Delilah could see the whelp left by Miner on Warrior's back. “Belt,” Boone whispered to Delilah as he knelt down beside the dog. “Let me heal you,” Boone whispered to Warrior.
Boone gently licked the wound on Warrior’s back. With seconds, the wound had healed and disappeared. Warrior thanked him by licking Boone’s face. “You are welcome,” Boone smiled.
Warrior moved back to the entrance of the house. He looked around and growled softly. “He wants us to follow him,” Boone whispered taking Delilah’s hand. Together they followed Warrior. Warrior continued to the far side of the house. He stopped outside the window. The curtains and the blinds were closed, but a small light emanated from the room disclosing someone was inside. Warrior growled lowly and then stopped. Boone placed his ear near the window and listened. He could hear a girl crying.
“Lucy?” Boone asked looking down at Warrior. Warrior growled softly. “Not Lucy,” Boone whispered for Delilah to hear. “Must be one of the other daughters,” Boone surmised. “But why is she crying? Did he hit her?”
Warrior growled again. “No,” Boone translated. “But she is scared.”
“Of what?” Delilah gasped.
“Minor keeps her hidden away. Almost like a prisoner. She is not allowed to be around the others,” Boone translated again.
“Why? Is he afraid she will run away too?” Delilah guessed.
“Not sure.”
“Does he beat her? Hurt her?” Delilah gasped.
“No.”
Delilah almost sighed in relief. “But he keeps her locked up,” she seethed. “What about the other girls, the other children?”
Warrior growled. “The other girls are still small. This is what Warrior wanted us to see; what he wanted us to know,” Boone explained. “This guy is up to something. Now we just have to figure out what.”
“Lead us out of here, my friend,” Boone instructed Warrior. Warrior growled and led the way back to the trees. Once there, Delilah petted Warrior, no longer afraid of him. “Thank you for helping us,” she told him and then kissed him on top of his head. “You are a great protector, brave and loyal. I will ask Thor to watch over you.”
“Thor?” Boone asked.
“Thor watches over wolves; wild wolves. He will watch over Warrior too,” Delilah explained. “He told me it was his wolves you smelled at the survivalist camp. He had them watching over us.”
“Damn. I did not know that," Boone nodded appreciatively. “I really need to thank him.”
“I already did,” Delilah smiled. “Let’s get some rest and hit the bricks in the morning. We need to get the word on the street about Miner. We need to find out what the locals know, but Miner has failed to tell us.”
“This guy has some secrets. And I am betting they are ugly,” Boone sneered. “Dinner and wine?”
“That would be wonderful Hooxei,” Delilah cooed.
Back the hotel after dinner, Boone and Delilah lay in the bed and talked. “So you do want children?” Boone asked.
“Yes. Maybe two or three. How about you?”
“Two or three would be nice. At least one boy and one girl,” Boone confessed. “I want a girl to spoil and a boy to carry on my legacy.”
Delilah laughed. “I am trying to imagine you spoiling our little girl. She is so going to have you wrapped around her little finger.”
“As it should be,” Boone smiled. “I am sure she will be as beautiful as her mommy.”
Now it was Delilah’s turn to blush. “Woman, you know you are drop dead gorgeous.”
Delilah smiled. It was an innocent smile. Yes, she was beautiful and yes she knew it but hearing Boone say it out loud made her feel loved; truly loved.
“We still need to add onto the house,” Boone reminded Delilah. “Any thoughts?”
“There is plenty of room behind our bedroom. The ground slopes down nicely behind the wine cellar. We could easily add a couple of bedrooms and a family room. And another bathroom or two.”
“Or three,” Boone laughed. “Do you want individual suites and an extra bathroom for the family room?”
“In a perfect world, yes,” Delilah replied. “Once we work out the costs we can decide for sure. Let’s start big and then we can go from there.”<
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“Works for me,” Boone nodded even though he knew the money would not be an issue. “How soon do you want to start our family?”
“Now?” Delilah cooed moving closer to Boone.
“Not now,” Boone smiled and moved away. “But as soon as we are married, I will ask again.”
Delilah frowned but knew Boone would not touch her until they were married. Inside she smiled. It was one of the reasons she loved Boone so much. He was a good man, an honorable man. He would be a good father and role model for their children. He would teach them right from wrong. He would sacrifice anything and everything to protect them and provide for them. But most of all he would love them with his whole being, his entire heart and soul just as he loved her.