Chapter 6

Chris sat next to his friend on a rock outcropping, quietly watching the sunset over the valley below. Patiently he waited for the younger man to speak.

"She would have told me," Vin insisted.

"How old were you when she passed?" Chris quietly asked.

"I was five, you know that."

"And she'd been sick for a while?"

Vin looked at his friend, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What you getting at Chris?"

Chris shrugged, "Could be she didn't know how to tell you."

"Mama never lied to me."

Chris winced at the pain that he could hear in his friend's voice. "I'm not saying she did. But think about it Vin. You were five years old and she was sick, dying, it must have been a difficult time for both of you. How was she supposed to explain adoption to an already confused and hurting child?"

Vin turned away, blinking his eyes rapidly as memories threatened to overwhelm him. "She didn't lie," the statement sounding more like a question.

"She just didn't have the chance to tell you," Chris replied. He had thought it over during their ride and he couldn't see any reason for the FBI to lie to Vin. If he assumed they were being honest than at the very least Cynthia Tanner wasn't his friend's biological mother. If that were true than it was also possible Vin had been kidnapped from the hospital. He only hoped they would find that Cynthia had nothing to do with the kidnapping. Chris didn't think Vin would be able to handle such a blow.

"You think I'm this missing kid?"

"I don't know Vin, but I do think you should find out."

"All my life I've known who I am. All those years in foster care I knew I was a Tanner, sometimes that was all that kept me going. I knew what being a Tanner meant...I don't know who this McKenna kid is." Vin brushed his tears away with an angry swipe.

Chris swallowed past the lump in his throat. He couldn't imagine what his friend was feeling right now. "Even if you find out you're the missing McKenna child it won't change who you've always been."

"Won't it?"

"No it won't," Chris firmly responded. "Identity is more than blood Vin. You are Cynthia Tanner's son..."

"Except maybe I'm not," Vin miserably interrupted.

"You are even if not by blood. She raised you until you were five and before she died she gave you the strength you needed to become a man. Maybe she didn't give birth to you but she loved you, in the end that's all that matters."

"What if she stole me?" There it was, the root of his fear. As much as he hurt, Vin knew that eventually he would be able to accept the adoption. He would never be able to think of any other woman as his mother, unless she had taken him from his birth family. It didn't matter why. If Cynthia Tanner had a hand in stealing him away from the family he was meant to have it would kill a vital part of his identity.

Chris scooted closer, wrapping a strong arm around the younger man's shoulder. "Agent Price said they have no evidence of that," he reminded. "But if she did then we will find a way to get you through that pain."

"We?"

"You don't think I'm letting you face all of this alone do you?" Chris asked. "And if you think either of us could keep the rest of the team out well you're not as smart as I thought you were."

Vin chuckled. "Think they're back at the ranch?"

Chris closed his eyes in seeming resignation. "Probably drinking all my whiskey."

"Guess we better get back," Vin said, nudging his friend's shoulder. "Chris?" he said as they stood.

"Yeah?" Chris turned. He grunted in surprise as Vin's arms wrapped around him in a quick hug.

"Thanks," Vin whispered in the blond's ear. Letting go he stepped away from his friend. Moving to the horses he went about readying Peso for the ride back to the ranch.

The ride back to the ranch was as silent as their earlier ride away had been. Neither man was surprised to see the team's vehicles parked in front of Chris' sprawling ranch house. Vin smiled softly, comforted by the presence of his friends. Larabee was right, he didn't have to face this alone. Dismounting, they soon led the horses into the barn, removing saddles and tack, each man quietly seeing to the care of his horse.

"You ready?" Chris asked from the front of Peso's stall.

"Almost," Vin replied. In steady strokes he continued to brush his mount's gleaming coat.

Chris sighed. Vin was such a private man, much like himself. It was probably half the reason they got along and understood each other. And like he knew he himself would be, Chris knew his friend would be struggling with the need to inform their friends of the situation. "You keep brushing him and Peso ain't gonna have a hide left."

Vin laid his head against the horse's side. "I reckon," he said, laying the brush aside. Giving the horse a pat along its neck he left the stall, closing the door behind him.

"You don't have to tell them anything you don't want to."

Vin shook his head. "If it's true, what Price said, they're gonna find out sooner or later."

"True," Chris agreed.

"They're my friends, they deserve to hear it from me not the rumor mill." Without another word he started towards the house, Chris at his side.

"Leave any whiskey?" Chris asked as he stepped into the living room.

Buck held the bottle up, "Maybe a little."

With a teasing growl Larabee headed for the liquor cabinet, snatching the bottle from Buck's hand. "You better have left more than a little Buck."

"Ain't polite to drink all of a man's whiskey," Vin said rescuing the bottle from Chris' grip and pouring himself a healthy shot.

Chris glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that cowboy, I left ya some," Vin drawled to the amusement of the others.

"Don't call me cowboy," Chris snapped in mock exasperation as he poured himself a drink.

The others waited for the two men to make themselves comfortable. "Everything okay?" Buck asked, taking the bull by the horns.

"Don't know," Vin replied.

This brought concerned frowns to the faces of the other men. "Can you talk about what's going on?" Nathan asked. They didn't know if whatever the feebie had to say was classified or not, the agent having only said it was confidential.

Vin sighed. "Agent Price wanted to talk to me about an old kidnapping case."

"One you worked?" JD asked.

"No, one they think I might be the victim of."

"What? Why wouldn't they know? Wouldn't you know?" several voices rang out at once making it impossible to make any sense of the words they threw his way.

"Y'all might learn more if ya'd keep quiet long enough for a man to talk." Murmured apologies were soon heard from the others bringing a small smile to Vin's face. "There was a baby kidnapped from a hospital in Oregon 26 years ago. "

"They believe your sainted mother to be involved?" Ezra asked in concerned disbelief. He knew, as did they all, the importance of Vin's mother to the man. His very identity was wrapped up in the few memories he held of the woman.

Vin shrugged. "They don't know yet. They said all they know is a set of twins was born, one was kidnapped and a short while after Mama adopted me." Vin explained, his voice catching on the word adopted. Chris was probably right about why his mother hadn't told him but that didn't remove all traces of pain the news had brought.

"You have a twin? That's so cool," JD enthused.

"JD," Buck admonished, lightly smacking the back of the younger man's head.

"Ow, what'd ya do that for Buck?" the younger agent groused.

Vin chuckled at the by-play. "It's alright Buck. But we don't know yet if I'm this missing McKenna kid."

"Were they identical twins?"

"I reckon so."

"Seems like they could make an identification pretty easy," Buck stated, the others quickly agreeing with him.

"Still they do say everybody has a twin," Josiah reminded the assembled men.

Nathan nodded. "Might be a good idea to have a paternity test done, just to be safe."

"I was thinking about it," Vin admitted. "The FBI is going to keep investigating, trying to figure out how I ended up in Texas with Mama. That is if I am the missing kid they think I am."

"I can't imagine the woman you have described to us would ever do something as terrible as stealing a child from its rightful family," Josiah opined.

Vin shot him a grateful smile. "Hope you're right Josiah. " Looking around at the assembled men, his friends; they were the first, since his time on the reservation, he had been able to put complete trust in. He could depend on these men. "Ya think y'all could help me find some answers for myself?"

"You mean to say you don't trust the FBI to turn in a stellar performance as they investigate the circumstances of the kidnapping? I am shocked," Ezra teased, his green eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Hard to believe, ain't it?" Vin drawled. "So will ya?" he asked sliding a glance around the room.

Agreement was quickly expressed by each in his own unique way, bringing a grin to Vin's face. Exchanging a look with Chris he could practically hear the man saying told you so. "Shut up Larabee."

TBC...

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