Chapter 2
Jarrod and Sheriff Harris went to the fireplace in the parlor, which was to be the front of the room. The priest was there and was beginning to look panicked. Jarrod's expression didn't help him any. Jarrod said quietly to him, "There's a problem." Then he faced the congregation, all those perplexed and nervous faces looking his way. It was like facing a giant jury. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid there's a problem and the wedding is going to have to be postponed."
Alarmed muttering went around.
Jarrod quickly raised his hand. "Please, we need your help. The sheriff has been informed that the bride's mother and sister are missing. He'll want to question everyone but one at a time, so please don't go. Please stay and help us. Food and drink are being provided in the dining room and we'll do our best to see to your comfort until you head home, but for now, please, just follow the sheriff's instructions."
Upstairs, Victoria knocked at the door of the guest room where the Don and Carol Mitchell were helping their son Joe get ready for the wedding. Nick was still there with them, and they all looked a little nervous, just knowing that Theresa and Serena had not yet arrived. Victoria felt another wave of dread wash through her.
"Don, Carol – Joe – " Victoria said as she closed the door behind her. "I have some news." She held out the note.
Don took the note. His wife and son and Nick read it over his shoulder. Each one of them looked startled, then terrified. "Where's Annamaria?" Joe asked quickly.
"At the hotel with her father," Victoria said. "The sheriff has a deputy protecting them."
"This doesn't make any sense at all," Don said. "'We have the Cabrillo women. Call off the wedding'? Where did this come from?"
"It was found at the livery stable, after Theresa and Serena left," Victoria said.
"What in the world could this possibly accomplish?" Don said. "Call off the wedding? As soon as Theresa and Serena were released, the wedding would be back on! Even if whoever has them killed them, the wedding would still happen!"
"Don, we haven't tried to make any sense of it yet," Victoria said. "We're just trying to deal with it. Jarrod and the sheriff are going to question everyone here that they can."
Carol was starting to cry. Joe put his arms around her. "I need to get to town to see Annamaria," Joe said.
"No, not yet, please just stay here," Victoria said. "Annamaria and Jose are safe and well protected. If you try to leave here, you could be exposing yourself to danger too. We will find out what's going on. We will find Theresa and Serena, but it will take some time. Please, Joe, Don, Carol, stay right here at the ranch. Jarrod and the sheriff will question people and then let them go. We'll see to your comfort here as long as we need to and we'll be sure you see Annamaria as soon as possible."
"If anything happens to any of those women – " Don snarled.
"Don, just stay here and stay calm," Victoria said.
Nick put a hand on Don's shoulder. "Don, we'll find out what's going on and we'll straighten it out. Do you know anybody who objects to this marriage enough to do this?"
"I don't know anybody who objects to it at all!" Don said. "At least nobody's said anything to me."
"Carol? Joe?" Victoria asked.
Joe shook his head. Carol said, "This doesn't make any sense to me either."
Nick said, "Why don't you folks just stay here until the sheriff talks to the guests and lets them go? I can go down and get some food and bring it up. Then later we can go down and talk to the sheriff and get this more sorted out."
Carol nodded. Joe said, "I still want to see Annamaria as soon as possible."
"Of course," Victoria said. "Nick, let's leave these people to their privacy for a few minutes and go get something for them to eat."
Nick squeezed Don's shoulder, and after he let it go, he gave Joe's arm a squeeze. "We'll get to the bottom of this as fast as we can."
Downstairs, Heath stayed with the congregation and ushered people into the library when the sheriff and Jarrod asked for them. Most were attending as couples, so they went in two by two, just like they were boarding Noah's ark. The priest remained in the living room, trying to console people who needed it.
Audra announced that food and drink were ready in the dining room and some people took advantage of it right away. Bit by bit, people were questioned and then asked to go home, and to contact the sheriff if they learned or remembered anything pertinent. It took hours to get through the interviews, and at the end of it, there was nothing learned. In the end, only the priest remained with the Mitchells and the servants the Cabrillos had sent. The sheriff asked them all to remain right there, for their own safety.
The Cabrillo servants were the most upset, but Audra and Silas took it as their duty to try to keep them calm and comfortable. Nick finally said, "Why don't Heath and I head into town, Sheriff, and bring Jose and Annamaria back here? Your deputy can ride with us and we'll be plenty safe."
"Nick's right," Victoria said. "I don't think the Cabrillos should be isolated in that hotel right now. They'll be much safer and more comfortable out here with friends, and Annamaria with Joe."
The sheriff nodded. "I'll want to interview the Mitchells. Then Jarrod, can you come to town with me and help me figure out what we're gonna do next? We gotta find those women as fast as we can and we don't have much in the way of leads."
"Have you searched the livery yet, Sheriff?" Heath asked.
The sheriff nodded. "When the note was found we searched but there just wasn't anything there."
"I don't suppose you could follow any tracks out of the livery."
"No, there's too darned many of them in town," the sheriff said.
"And nobody saw anything suspicious?" Nick said.
"Nobody yet, but we haven't asked everybody we can ask," Sheriff Harris said. "I got one deputy in town asking questions now. Jarrod and I can join him, and we should talk to Jose and Annamarie before you bring them out here, but we won't take long."
Father Martin said, "I'd like to stay here for a while. Now that the crowd has gone, the Mitchells may want to leave the guest room and they might want to talk to me."
Victoria nodded. "I'll ask them to come down and talk to you too right away, Sheriff."
"All right," Jarrod said. "Steve, if you can talk to the Mitchells without me, let me and Nick and Heath change clothes and we'll all go into town. I'll stay and work with you there while Nick and Heath bring Jose and Annamaria here."
The sheriff nodded, but then shook his head. "There's got to be some sense somewhere in here. Somebody has to know somebody who wants this wedding called off."
"Maybe somebody knows something but doesn't know they know it," Heath suggested.
"Or maybe somebody, for some reason, is lying," Nick said.
"Let's not make that conclusion just yet," the sheriff said. "There are still people in town to talk to who weren't out here today."
"Obviously, at least one," Jarrod said. "The one who left the note and had something to do with taking those women."
"Nobody we talked to so far could give us any lead on who that might be," Sheriff Harris said.
"Well, let's get moving," Jarrod said, and he and his brothers headed upstairs to change out of their formal clothes.
Victoria was right behind them, saying, "I'll get the Mitchells and bring them down."
That left Sheriff Harris and Father Martin there together, alone. Sheriff Harris said, "I know I haven't asked you any questions yet, Father, and I know about the seal of the confessional, but I also know it doesn't hold on things folks might do after the confession that hurt other people. Do you know anything about this from anyone?"
Father Martin shook his head. "I've been thinking and thinking, and no, Sheriff, no one has said anything at all about this to me, in the confessional or outside of it."
"What about somebody who might just object to a Mexican and an Anglo marrying?"
Father Martin sighed. "Now, that's something else. Not anything anyone's confessed to me. But we both know there are people around, both Mexican and Anglo, who would object to this marriage just because they don't think the cultures should mix. But I don't know of anyone who would resort to violence to keep it from happening."
"That's the trouble with things like this," Sheriff Harris said. "Some people likely to do it are just the ones to keep quiet about it beforehand. Father, I hope you know a few good prayers because those Cabrillo women are gonna need them."