Chapter 4

"Were they Anglo or Mexican?" Nick asked about the hooded men.

"We could not tell," Theresa said. "They both spoke Spanish and English and spoke both with very funny accents."

Nick and Heath looked at each other from opposite sides of the table. "What kind of funny accents?" Heath asked.

Theresa shook her head and looked confused. "I don't know. When one man said 'abajo,' it was more like 'aaahbaaahho'.'"

Serena was still very upset, but she said, "Both of them called me 'Seeerena.' They both said 'Cabrillllo' and not 'Cabryo' like we say it."

"Do you think those accents were genuine, or were they trying to disguise themselves?" Victoria asked.

Theresa shook her head again. "I don't know."

Chonez said something in Spanish to Theresa. It seemed he did not trust his English.

Theresa translated. "Both men called him 'Show-nay' and not 'Chonez.'"

"They knew his name?" Heath asked.

"They knew all our names," Theresa said.

"They must be men we know," Jose said. "And if they are, they must have been mispronouncing words to fool us."

"That seems likely," Nick said, leaning back in his chair. "Did you recognize these men at all by the way they moved or how tall they were?"

"No, I did not," Theresa said. Serena also shook her head.

"Please, give everything some thought so we can help the sheriff when he gets here," Victoria said. "Asking Joe and Annamaria to avoid marrying forever is out of the question."

"Don, does anything anybody said ring any bells with you?" Heath asked Joe's father. "Like maybe somebody who worked for you or something?"

Don Mitchell shook his head. "Since I didn't see them or hear them myself, no, no bells are ringing."

It wasn't very long before Jarrod and Sheriff Harris arrived and came into the dining room. And breathed visible sighs of relief to see everyone together.

"Did you find out anything more in town?" Victoria asked quickly.

Jarrod shook his head. "We didn't have time to do much asking. Steve wanted to get back here to talk Theresa and Serena as quickly as possible. Are you ladies all right?"

"Only frightened," Theresa said. She introduced Chonez.

"Did you recognize who took you at all?" Sheriff Harris asked.

Theresa shook her head. "They wore hoods. We did not see them."

"But they threatened us," Serena interrupted. "They threatened all of us, of both our families, that they would kill if Annamaria and Joe marry."

Jarrod gave a look at the sheriff. "That sounds awfully personal, doesn't it?"

"Doesn't it?" the sheriff agreed.

Victoria said, "Jarrod, Steve, why don't you get something to eat and then you can talk to Theresa and Serena and their driver in earnest? Steve, everyone is going to stay right here at least overnight, and everyone, I hope you will plan to be here tomorrow as well if the sheriff has any more questions."

"We cannot stay here forever," Jose said, "and we cannot ask these two children never to marry."

"They can't marry!" Serena blurted again. She seemed to be the most frightened by what she'd been through, and by the prospects of what might happen in the future.

Theresa put her hand on her daughter's arm. "We will come to a solution for this. We need only talk to the sheriff and answer his questions and we will find out who has done this to us."

"No!" Serena said and jumped up. She glared at Annamaria. "You have to promise me! You have to promise me that you will not marry Joe!"

Jose got up quickly. "Serena – "

"No!" she almost screamed and ran out of the room.

Jose was right behind her. Sheriff Harris started after them, saying, "I think I'd better start the questioning with Serena."

Jarrod said, "It might help her calm down if she talks about it," and hurried out right behind the sheriff.

Everyone else in the room heaved a worried sigh. Annamaria started to cry. Joe put his arm around her and looked up at his prospective mother-in-law, as if to say I will protect her. Don't worry.

Joe's mother Carol moved to the seat beside Theresa that Serena had vacated, and she took Theresa's hand. "The sheriff and Jarrod are the best men around to get to the bottom of this, Theresa. They'll help you and Serena and your driver figure this out."

Between Jose, the sheriff and Jarrod, they got Serena into the library and closed the door. She was a mixture of anger, fear, and confusion but no one offered her any brandy to calm her down. They needed her head to clear without alcohol. The men stood waiting as she paced around the room. They expected her to mutter to herself in Spanish, but she didn't. She just paced and looked terrified.

"Serena, perhaps if you sit down and talk to us, it'll help," Jarrod said.

Jose took his daughter by her shoulders and sat her down in the sofa, sitting down beside her. Jarrod took one of the chairs across from the sofa, while the sheriff stood facing them and the fireplace.

"Serena," the sheriff said quietly, "let's start at the beginning. When did you first see the men who took you?"

"I never saw them," Serena said. "I saw only men in hoods and they stopped us just after we left the town."

"Can you remember exactly where?"

"That place after the road first bends, on the way here. They rode up on horses and stopped us."

"And they were hooded then?" the sheriff asked.

"Yes," Serena said.

"Was there anyone else around?"

"No, no one. They had guns. They threatened us."

"There were two of them."

"Yes, two."

"Did they say anything to you then?"

"Only to stop and come with them. Only later when they said Joe and Annamaria could not marry or they would kill one of us or more. I don't remember if they said anything else. I was too frightened."

"Where did they take you?"

"Off the road somewhere."

"To a building?"

"No. We stayed in the carriage."

Rather than calm down, Serena began to get more nervous. Her father tightened his arm around her as she started to cry. For all intents and purposes, that was the end of the interview. Serena could not remember anything else before the men just left them and rode away. She didn't know how long the men had kept them hostage. She didn't know their voices. She didn't recognize any of their movements or their accents.

Serena was clamming up more, not opening up more, as the sheriff went on so finally he said, "All right, Serena. That's enough. You need to rest and know that you're safe now."

Jarrod said, "You'll be perfectly safe here at the ranch and Jose, I think you should plan to stay with your family for at least a few days. Give things a chance to calm down and give the sheriff a chance to come up with some leads."

"They will kill us!" Serena said again. "If Annamaria and Joe marry, they will kill all of us!"

Jose squeezed her tighter, saying softly, "Hija, hija."

The sheriff looked at Jarrod. "Maybe we'll let this lady rest, Jarrod. She's been through an awful lot."

Jose got Serena to stand up, asking, "Is there somewhere I can take her?"

Jarrod said, "I'll ask Audra to make you comfortable in one of the guest rooms," and headed for the door.

Jose guided his daughter toward the door, that Jarrod held open for them, leaving the sheriff to stand there in the library alone for a moment. He needed that moment. He needed to think, to assess, to consider not only what Serena had said, but how she had said it. She seemed extraordinarily frightened. Shouldn't she be? She'd been kidnapped and threatened not only with harm now, but in the future too. Her fear made complete sense.

So why did that make the back of his mind itch?