Bill placed a call to Mountie headquarters the next morning. First, he tried to call the office of the warden. The person on the phone seemed willing to help however as soon as Bill said the name of the prisoner, he was told that he couldn't get any information and they hung up. Bill also tried to call Superintendent Patrick O'Reilly's office but he was out of the office for the afternoon. His assistant said he would have the superintendent call as soon as he was back.

Bill looked over the copy of the paperwork for the prisoner transfer that Gabe had given him before he left. Everything seemed to be in order. If Charles was released, it wasn't because of anything they had done before he arrived. Bill and Gabe each looked over the paperwork to make sure every "i" was dotted and every "t" was crossed.

The door to Bill's office and Gabe walked in. "Hi Bill, I just got back but I wanted to check in with you before I go see how Nathan is doing." Gabe sat down in the chair across from Bill and said, "Boy, am I glad that is over." Bill looked at him with a blank stare and Gabe seemed confused by his reaction. "What is it?"

"It's not over. I got a call last night and they said Charles was released."

"What? Who authorized that?"

"I don't know. I tried to call the warden's office to get a copy of the release papers, but no one would talk to me. Superintendent O'Reilly was the one who called me last night. He and I have known each other for years. He is out of the office this afternoon but his office said he would call me back."

"Nothing was wrong with the transfer papers right? Maybe we should check them again?"

"I've looked over them three times. Everything is correct."

Bill's phone rang and he quickly answered the phone, "Yes, please put him through. Hello. Yes, I have a copy of the paperwork here, everything is in order. They couldn't find it? What does that mean?" Bill was listening to the other person on the phone who Gabe assumed was Superintendent O'Reilly. "Ok. Thank you for letting me know. If there is anything I can do, please call." Bill hung up the phone and looked to Gabe.

Bill explained, "Superintendent O'Reilly, Patrick, asked about our paperwork even though he knows we would have done it correctly with both of us here. He said he went to the warden today and there is no record of the release paperwork. It was there when Charles was released but it has disappeared. He is trying to find out who has been in that office so he can determine what happened to it."

"Bill, that's a problem. If he was released and the paperwork is gone, do you think Charles could have had a Mountie working with him?"

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions but something happened. I am going to give it some time but I think we may need to go to Capital City ourselves if Patrick can't find out anything. I was an inspector. I can investigate even if it is a Mountie who is involved."

"Ok, why don't we go fill in Nathan on everything?"

"Yes, let's go. I will need to go to Elizabeth's after we are done there."

––––––––––––––––

Bill and Gabe walked up to Nathan's door and knocked but there was no answer. Gabe tried the handle and the door opened. The two of them walked in, hoping that everything was ok. Gabe called out for Nathan and they heard him call from the back of the row house. The back door was open so Bill and Gabe walked there to look outside.

Nathan was sitting in a chair outside with the journal Elizabeth had gotten for him. He closed the journal, setting it down next to him. The pages inside were still blank. He had been sitting outside and thinking of what to write about. He had so many thoughts in his mind that he couldn't think of where to start. Nathan was thrilled to have a distraction with Bill and Gabe arriving.

"Hi, sorry I didn't hear you if you knocked."

"That's ok Nathan," Gabe said.

"Why don't we all go inside?" Bill said, leading the other two towards the house.

"Uh oh, is there something going on?" Nathan asked. Neither one of the other men answered and all three of them walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"It's about Charles," Bill said after a couple minutes.

Nathan's jaw tightened, "What about him?"

"He was released. We are looking into what happened, but someone went to the warden to get him out," Bill said.

Nathan stood up and walked around the kitchen. Bill was worried about telling Nathan since he had found out last night. Charles had shot Nathan and attempted to harm Elizabeth and his father. It was no surprise that Nathan was having a strong reaction to this news. "Forget about what happened. Do we know where he is?"

"The Mounties are looking for him."

"Bill. Gabe. We need to find him. We can't let him come back here."

"Agreed Nathan. But you need to take care of yourself. You need to get your strength back and be fully healed," Gabe said.

"I will. What can I do to help though?"

"Superintendent O'Reilly is looking into how he got out and where he currently is. He is going to call as soon as he knows more. For now, we need to stay alert and let the others know if there is anything suspicious. I am going to go through the information we gathered on Edward and Charles to see if we can figure out where he would go," Bill said.

"Why don't you both come over tomorrow with the files and we can look at everything together?"

"I can come by after rounds," Gabe said.

"I will get some lunch from the cafe and come over with the files," Bill said.

Nathan was worried about protecting Allie as well as Elizabeth and Jack. William would be going home soon so he would need to talk to him about getting some security in place in case Charles or Edward were to show up there. What was really bothering Nathan is how Charles was able to get out after all the things he did. There had to be something bigger going on, if only he knew what.

––––––––––––––

Elizabeth was making dinner while Jack played on the floor in front of the settee. William was reading his newspaper in the chair nearby, stopping at times when Jack wanted to show him something. Elizabeth smiled at the two of them, happy that her father was able to spend more time in Hope Valley. He had made some calls to his office over the last week to make sure everything was running smoothly. Elizabeth would miss him when he returned to Hamilton.

There was a knock at the door and William stood to answer it. "Hello Bill, come in."

"Hello William," Bill said as he walked in. "Hello Elizabeth," he said as he walked towards the kitchen with William.

"Hi Bill, do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Thank you, but I can't. I was hoping I could talk to you both for a minute."

"Of course, please sit down," Elizabeth said as she motioned to the kitchen chairs. She wiped her hands on her apron and sat down with her father across from Bill. "What is going on Bill?"

"I don't want either of you to be alarmed, but Charles is no longer in the prison in Capital City. I am looking into what happened with Gabe and Nathan. I wanted to make you both aware of what is going on."

"Do you think he is coming back here?" William asked.

"I don't. There is something else going on, that is bigger than just trying to buy properties in town. I also don't think he would be coming back here just for revenge since we would all be expecting him. He had to know that we would find out he was released."

"What aren't you saying Bill?" Elizabeth asked. Bill wasn't surprised that Elizabeth had caught on to what Bill wasn't saying. She had a relationship with two great Mounties and therefore had good instincts of her own.

"Charles may have had help from a Mountie to get released. We don't know much right now but the paperwork that was used to get him released is missing from the files in the warden's office."

"Thank you Bill for letting us know. I will be heading back to Hamilton soon but if you could keep me informed I would appreciate it."

"Yes of course. I need to get going. Enjoy your dinner."

Elizabeth sat at the table looking down at her hands as Bill walked out of the door. William took her hand which caused her to look up at him. "Elizabeth, what are you thinking?"

"Father, Charles shot Nathan. I could have lost Nathan before we really had a chance to move forward together. Do you think we need to be worried about him coming back?"

"Elizabeth, don't borrow trouble from tomorrow. You are strong. You and Nathan will be able to handle the challenges that life may give you. I know that Bill will try to find out anything he can about what happened and where Charles is."

Elizabeth nodded as she listened to her father's words. William watched her and he wanted to change the subject to get her mind off the news from Bill. "So I hear there is a wedding on Sunday? Are you going with Nathan?"

Elizabeth looked up with a smile, "We hadn't talked about it. I didn't want to pressure him since he was still recovering."

"I think it would be good for you two to have some time together. I will stay home and watch Jack and Allie. You can go with Nathan and stay as long as you like."

"Really father? You'd be ok with both of them?"

"Yes, we will be fine. I'd like to spend some time with my grandchildren."

"Grandchildren?" Elizabeth said with a question. She hadn't talked to her father about her future with Nathan but she knew that he could see the love between them.

"Well one day anyway," William said, walking back over to where Jack was sitting and leaving Elizabeth to her thoughts in the kitchen.