REEDITED FOR MINOR ISSUES

A/N I know it's still a cliffhanger, but we are at the end of the kidnapping storyline though the story itself is only beginning. There will also be more of the crimes to be be resolved but it won't involve kidnappings. From here on out, though the next two chapters are a bit angsty, it is just a matter of handling the aftermath and surprising revelations. No character deaths occur, either. I will not keep you hanging long as the next three have been written, and I am putting the final touches on them. I will also be giving you two more chapter releases next week.

Elizabeth was taken to surgery right away. Knowing this, Patrick, Charlotte, and the others went to Headquarters. Gabe felt his duty was to be at the hospital watching over Nathan and Bill while they waited for news. He ensured that the Mounties made a private area available with guards posted to prevent Elizabeth's loved ones from being disturbed.

Nathan sat with his head in his hands as they waited for news. As if a moving picture was playing, his time since coming to Hope Valley began to replay in his mind. But strangely, only the good memories were the brightest and strongest. The memory of her walking into the jail for the first time and deliberately being seen with him. All so the others would give him a chance to prove himself. Their first parent-teacher conference, Allie's sleepover, hunting for Christmas trees, and decorating it all played through his mind. Once it was done, still needing comfort, he pulled out her letter to reread it. It was beginning to show signs of wear from the constant refolding.

"How are you doing, Nathan?" Bill said as he sat down. Nathan looked over at him but quickly looked away, unable to bear seeing the bloodstains still on his shirt. The sight made him tear up as he recalled seeing her and the words exchanged before she lost consciousness. Tears he had been trying to hold back began falling in big drops. Unable to speak because of the lump in his throat, he just shook his head. Bill just gathered him in his arms and said, "I know! I am here! Let it go!"

As if waiting for permission, he gave into all the pain and heartache that had been building over the past six months. He cried out his despair as he faced the possibility that his nightmare would come true and he would still lose her.

"Elizabeth is a fighter Nathan," Bill said, his voice shaking with pain. "I have to believe that with everything you both have been through, that it wouldn't be for naught now that you found your way back to each other."

Nathan was able to recollect himself, grateful that he had Bill by his side as they waited. "Did you see those bruises on her jaw? Her split lip and her eye? Just the thought that someone put their hands on her makes me want to.…." But he couldn't voice the rest.

"I did see them. Charlotte told me her ribs are pretty bad, and that fall she took back at the depot didn't help them." Bill said.

"Where is she anyway?" Nathan asked, noticing for the first time that Charlotte wasn't there.

"She went with Patrick to Headquarters to find Tom. He was the one who went to get help and let them know about the Bouchards hiding at the depot." Bill answered. "Jameson, Tim, and John went with them to help escort the prisoners so Gabe could remain here."

"I keep thinking it's all just going to be a bad dream, and I'll wake up," Nathan said with a heavy sigh of despair.

"Unfortunately, it's not, my friend," Bill said sadly. "Though, for you, I wish it were Nathan. I can barely handle the thought that we could lose her."

Nathan just nodded, leaned back, and closed his eyes as all the stress washed over him, making him feel drained. Bill stood and went to find Gabe. The two men returned after arranging for a buffet to be placed for those waiting. Nathan was roused out of his light sleep by the smell of coffee. Opening his eyes, he saw it coming from the cup Bill held out to him.

"Thanks, Bill," Nathan said appreciatively.

"You are welcome, Nathan. But it's a package deal, and you have to eat this too." Bill said.

"If your good and eat it all, then maybe you can have some dessert afterward," Gabe teased with a smirk. Nathan just rolled his eyes at that one.

The hospital staff had brought a couple of cots in case people needed to sleep while they waited. Shortly after, Lee brought Allie to the hospital. She started sobbing, clinging to her father, glad he was safe after everything that had happened.

"Where's Jack and Rosemary?" Nathan asked Lee after Allie had calmed.

"Rosemary wanted to give you time with Allie first. Jack was still sleeping when we left, but I expect they will be here soon."

A few groups were murmuring about what had happened. But they all stilled as a little boy cried out for his mother.

"Mama? Mama?" They all looked to the door as Jack ran in, hoping to see his mother.

He was very special to many of the people present in that room. Most worked with his father serving together in the northern territories. Others had worked with Bill and knew how much it meant to meet him.

He had always been a beacon of hope to Mountie families because of his birthday and the circumstances surrounding his birth. Mounties occasionally used that story as encouragement when they were on assignments away from their families.

Seeing him now desperately looking for his mother was hard to watch. When he didn't see her, his sweet smile left, and huge tears began to fall down his cheeks. Looking around, he said. "Mama! Where are you? Where are you? Jack loves you."

Nathan looked over at Bill as Jack went to his godfather, "Uncle Bill. Is Mama playing Mountie hide and seek?" Without waiting for an answer, he called out. "Mama, where are you? Where are you? Jack loves you."

He spotted Nathan and ran over to him, crying. "Mountie Nathan! Allie, where's Mama? Aunt Rosie said she was here. You helped her, right Daddy?"

He started sobbing, and Nathan picked him up and hugged him tightly. Jack threw his arms around him and cried, "I want Mama. Where is Mama?"

Allie had come up behind Jack and embraced him, creating a comfort sandwich, trying to comfort Jack and crying too. The situation brought forth bad memories of when she lost her own mother. They recreated the scene in Nathan's mind when he told Allie her mom was gone.

Looking over at Bill and seeing that none of the others were in a place where they could say anything, he said. "Jack, your mama is here, but she got hurt. The doctors are working on it, though, Okay?"

The boy looked up into Nathan's eyes, and there was a searching look in the boy's eyes. Suddenly it was replaced by a knowing look that she was severely hurt.

"Mountie Nathan, is Mama going to heaven like Papa?" Jack asked, looking somberly up at him.

Nathan couldn't speak momentarily because the thought of losing Elizabeth was too much. Then looking at Bill before answering, he said. "I don't know, Jack, but she might." When Jack started to cry, he said. "However, I know that there is Someone who does know. Why don't we pray for her now and ask Him?"

"Okay, I'll pray for Mama. We have to bow our heads." Jack said, looking around the room to ensure they followed his instructions to bow their heads.

"Dear God. Thank you for what you do every day for me. Thank you for taking care of Papa and Grandpa Tom. Mama says that you're the best at fixing Boo boos. I always try to be a good boy. Will you fix her so we can go home? Keep watch over the Mounties and thank you for watching out for us. Amen. Oh, God, please hug Papa and tell him I love him. Amen." A chorus of amens followed, and a few tears were subtly wiped away.

Nathan just held him, and about an hour later, he fell asleep. He laid him next to a sleeping Allie on a cot nearby where he could still see them—looking down at the two children. He felt an intense fatherly love surge through him, and a fierce protectiveness at the sight of them huddled together, seeking solace from each other. This was what he wanted for his future. He added his prayers to those of young Jack.

Gabe came over and sat down beside Nathan. "Nathan, now that things have settled and we wait, there were some things I want to tell you and Bill.

Seeing the look in Gabe's eyes, Bill suggested they move further away from the children. After doing so, Bill said, "what is it?"

"Elizabeth told me that two Mounties took her off the train," Gabe said. "But that's not all. Spurlock told them that Jack Thornton was killed by his own men."

"What!" Bill shouted. "That is impossible because he died in a landslide. Leave it to Spurlock to try and twist the knife into Elizabeth's heart."

Nathan suddenly recalled Jack's words about examining everything because it all connected and began to make sense. "Is it Bill?" Nathan said quietly.

"Is it what?" Bill asked, still reeling that Jack could have been killed by his Mountie brothers.

"Is it impossible to think that Jack Thornton was murdered and the landslide either covered the evidence up or proved to be a different avenue to do it?" Nathan replied. "At the end of that dream, Jack told me to examine everything because it all connected. It doesn't take much to see the possibilities but how easily it fits into the puzzle."

"If what you say is true, then I think we could even make a case for another certain someone who was in charge at that time in Fort Clay." Gabe surmised. "This means, as we thought, Elizabeth was targeted from the beginning by Bouchard."

"There's more," Gabe said. "We found evidence that there was a plan for Elizabeth's book. They had planned on putting Elizabeth's name on a risqué story entitled Single Mother on the Frontier while her story would be published under another's name."

Nathan closed his eyes as he tried to curb the fierce anger that was coursing through him as he pondered the ramifications of Gabe's words. "Did Elizabeth say anything about that?" Nathan asked after he managed to calm down.

"I don't think so. But when I told her that Lucas was married and that Helen was his mother-in-law and about Janette, she began to piece it together. She figured either the deal was fake or something else was happening. When we searched where they were held, we found everything concerning the deal and the plan buried in a locked drawer under files." Gabe said.

"There isn't going to be any place for Bouchard and the others to hide when I get through with him," Bill said. Nathan sat there, taking it all in and evaluating everything he heard.

"There's one last thing I want to talk to you both about," Gabe said. "Elizabeth suffered at their hands both physically and emotionally. She broke down when she found out I was heading to Shady Grove. She was terrified, in fact, about being captured again and locked up. If I am being honest, she reminded me of someone who had just got back from the Northern Territories. I don't think she will be able to rest without someone with her, and I don't think she will let many people be around her."

Nathan was crushed, thinking Gabe was telling him she probably wouldn't want to be around him. Gabe saw the look in his friend's eyes. "Nathan, trust me when I say she will have you at the top of her very short list."

"I'm not so sure about that," Nathan said.

"Well, since she insisted that if they left the cabin, she wouldn't stop until she was with you, I think I can safely say I'm right. You saw her condition, and she refused to go anywhere closer." Gabe said, then added, "Elizabeth also said that it was the only place she would ever feel safe, Nathan."

"Really?" Nathan asked.

"Doesn't surprise me at all," Bill said. "We will need to post guards outside her room at all times."

"You can count me as one because I'm not leaving her side as long as she is here," Nathan said, a hint of steel in his voice. Gabe and Bill just nodded knowingly because they were feeling the same way.

A short time later, Sam Collins, John, Tim, and Jameson arrived. Following soon after, William, Charlotte, and Tom with Patrick. Nathan and Bill told them that Elizabeth was in surgery, but there was no news. Charlotte made her way over to the chair Nathan had been sitting and just watched the children sleeping.

The others found chairs and brought them to where Gabe, Bill, and Nathan had been talking. Sam Collins was the first to speak. "Jack was murdered at Fort Clay by Hargraves. He's Lucas Bouchard's cousin on his mother's side, Laurence Bouchard; Lucas' father is the head of Nexus Corporation. There were two extra Mounties on that detail, and Charles Spurlock said they killed him and covered the evidence with the landslide. There's still some we don't know, but I think now that we know about Fort Clay, we can look further into that and reopen the investigation."

"Which means we were right. They went after you as well, Nathan," Bill said. "It wasn't a coincidence that your Inquiry and Helen's visit coincided."

"Hargraves also released Charles Spurlock, and you should know that Wyman Walden is their baby brother though Walden is their mother's maiden name. Bill, they plan on turning Hope Valley into a factory town. One of the men from Brookfield is Henri, who is Jeanette's brother. They and the two fake Mounties were on the train when Elizabeth was taken. Helen Bouchard is Jeanette's mother and is the wife of one Amos Dixon." Sam Collins said.

"Your presence and frequent interactions with Elizabeth continually hindered Bouchard's attempts to gain her affections which probably saved her life. They grew desperate and began making sloppy mistakes. One of which would be underestimating Hope Valley, Bill Avery, the Thorntons, and the rest of us. But that also worked in our favor because we are getting them rounded up before they went into hiding. They have come to believe that they are invincible." Patrick said.

For a while, no one spoke as they processed what they had been told. It was Nathan that finally broke the silence. "I still don't understand why Elizabeth would risk her life and jump in front of me. That's supposed to be my job. I should be lying upstairs, not her. Why would she do that?" Nathan asked, not expecting an answer but instead just processing his feelings.

"I know why," Charlotte said from a nearby chair where the children slept. Standing up, she walked over to where Nathan was talking to Patrick and said. "That boy has many people to watch over him and care for him. But this precious girl right here only has you. Elizabeth was not about to let you be taken from her. We had a lot of time to talk to each other when we were held captive. She told me how things were between you. It's finally good to put a face to the name Nathan. I have to say she didn't exaggerate either; she said you were handsome." Nathan blushed as Charlotte winked.

"I'm Charlotte Thornton." Holding her hand out and looking him in the eye. "But I'm sure you've already gathered that."

Then she turned to address the Mounties as a whole. "Now, Boys," she said, making eye contact with each one individually before continuing. "I know it goes without saying, but you make sure the Bouchards pay for what they did to my family, and no more mistakes either. Do you hear me?"

No one said a word, but instead, one by one tipped their hats in agreement. It was a silent Mountie Code promise and was not taken lightly. Finally, she looked at Bill and raised her brow.

"That goes without saying," He quickly responded, a bit miffed that she even asked.