CHAPTER 32

Several lands in Hope Valle were being purchased by Wade, this man was strange, Elizabeth didn't like him and his look, she even commented to Lee and she even said that on several occasions, she had the feeling of someone spying on her. Lee then went to Philip and Bill and told them the whole story about Elizabeth and Wade, he didn't want to worry Elizabeth, but he also didn't want something to happen due to a lack of precaution. Bill and Philip looked at each other and decided to tell Lee everything they knew about the dangers with Spurlok, Lee was a trustworthy person and everyone knew that he was like a brother to that teacher.

During all this time, in various cities where she traveled, Lina was tired of looking for the four soldiers who were trapped with Simon. It seemed like they had disappeared and on top of that I didn't know their full names. Lina had been unable to contact soldier Marlen, her great friend from the orphanage, for days. That day, while she was walking through the city of Hamilton, she met a girl, who was being mistreated and called a thief, while trying to clean a store, the owner of the store said loudly and in a rude tone that whoever stole once would always be He barked and humiliated her by throwing rubbish on the floor so that she would be on her knees picking it up. It was very humiliating, and Lina saw that girl really needed a job, so she was there subjecting herself to it. Lina entered that store and defended the young woman, who she now knew was called Collen and took her straight to her house, after the girl informed her of her address. Collen was crying a lot, when she got home and saw her brother at the door, she threw herself into his arms and told him everything that had happened and that Lina had saved him from going through more humiliation, Nathan looked at the girl with a look of gratitude and introduced himself:

- I can only thank you, and thank you very much, I can't even repay you for what you did for my little sister. Sorry, I'm Nathan Grant! And he extended his hand to shake her.

- My God, Nathan Grant, the captain?

- Yes… he said somewhat sheepishly, running his hands through his hair. When he noticed, the young woman was already hugging him tightly, crying and screaming.

- I found you… I found you.

Nathan didn't understand anything, he looked from her to Collen who also shrugged without understanding anything. And only after taking the girl to the living room, and giving her a glass of water, that he learned Simon's whole story, he remembered the boy. He had been thrown into the cell days after Patrick arrived and he was a quiet young man, he was beaten a lot, but the whole time he joined his cellmates, Jack Thorton, as soon as he arrived and woke up he placed that boy in his care, he said that the I remembered a boy named Robert.

- Is Jack Thornton dead? Nathan couldn't be more amazed.

- Soldier Marlen, he grew up with me and Simon in the orphanage, he went there to find Mountie Jack, they knew the name of his city, then Marlen asked for a transfer to work there, then discovered that he died seven and a half months ago , but decided to stay there to protect and care for the widow and the baby she is expecting.

- Is Elizabeth pregnant? I really don't know her, I only saw her photo once, but Jack talked about her all the time and he even said that she was helping him find his way back home.

- Marlen, I said the same and he said he had to take care of her, because Simon had said that you saved each other due to her or their love. Another thing, captain, she is suffering a lot, in addition to the loss of her husband, they tried to rape her inside the school, the mountie captain there and the judge saved her, but she was very hurt, in addition, her father and a man Rich man tried to kidnap her days ago, they were going to abort her baby and force her to marry this millionaire. They are now in prison there in Hope Valle and await trial. She needs protection, so I couldn't ask Marlen to come back, and I continued here looking for you guys to help me.

Nathan sent the girl to get her suitcase from the pension and she would stay in the room with Collen and Alien, he couldn't leave her alone wandering around, running into danger in pensions and not even knowing how she was eating because from what she said she works in some odd jobs always in exchange for food during these months in various cities looking for help for Simon. She even spoke to Hargraves and he promised to help, but Lina said she was scared of him because he was strange and kept trying to touch her. When Nathan heard this, he got goosebumps, an anger inside him for Hargraves putting fear in this girl. He knew something was up. He had been hurt in that captivity, he knew he would be away, but now he saw that it had been a long time. He went to the nearest communication post and instead of a telegram, he preferred to call the orphanage, as he knew that at that time his friend Gab would be there having lunch with Lilia and the children. When he spoke to him he said everything:

- Gab, did you know that Jack Thorton passed away seven and a half months ago? And that your widow Elizabeth is pregnant? And who tried to rape her? Did they try to kidnap her? And they tried to perform an abortion on her to remove baby Thorton and force her to marry a millionaire?

—Haa! Said a scared Gab. Calm down Nathan! It's a lot of information for one man, and all at once, breathe man and tell me everything...

- Gab, something is wrong, we left that hell, we went to the infirmary and said goodbye to Wynn together, on the day Jack was being buried, but was he with us?

- Nathan, when will you return to active duty?

- Hargraves, again signed my papers, as unfit, due to war injuries, even without them examining me, I started to see Simon's story and told Gab everything and they soon realized that there was a lot going on.

Gab would go to meet Nathan, he would arrive at night, he urgently asked for a few days off. Meanwhile Nathan got the address of Patrick O'Reilly's family and called him and found out about his and his wife's accident two days after returning home. Patrick said he was fine, with a very slight limp, and that he would join them arriving at Nathan's house early in the morning. He also agreed with Nathan and Gab that something didn't smell right in this story, besides, they all should protect Elizabeth, because it was a life debt.

Nathan got in touch shortly after with Hope Valle judge Bill Avery, he had already researched and remembered Jack saying that he was a very honest, brusque man, he looked like a bear... then he laughed and said: my Bella, make him turn into a teddy bear stuffed animal in your hands and laugh. So he told Bill what he could over the phone, and agreed that he and the other men would go to the city without uniforms so as not to cause alarm and they would help protect Elizabeth. Bill took advantage of his afternoon to call Wynn, he had to know about these men. Wynn took a deep breath and told her everything he knew and said it would be good for Elizabeth if they were there. He told Bill that he, his wife, and his son Frankison, who was a lieutenant, would arrive in three days and that Bill should set up a townhouse for Nathan's soldiers and a house for himself and his family, and that Nathan and his team should work in the lumber yard and pretend to be a worker at Elizabeth's house, that way they wouldn't arouse suspicion. Bill told about Philip and how he reacted when he found out that Elizabeth might be in danger.

- Wynn, whether he is Jack or not, I can't tell you for sure, but he is affectionate and is doing everything to protect you, including investigating and against Hargraves, you have to see his anger. So they started to make plans and, in addition, they would look at Simon's case, a judge and a commander didn't need anything else in this fight.

Wynn sent orders to the prison along with the release petition made by Judge Bill Avery, asking for Simon's immediate release and correction of his mountie record, as he was a war hero. And he sent orders to Simon to go to a certain address in Hamilton.