Page 261 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

Nash grinned, so happy to see Wyatt awake that he rushed in and threw his arms around him.

Wyatt chuckled under his breath. “I know how you feel,” he said. “Trust me. You weren’t the only one suffering. I thought I’d lost you too.”

“Knock, knock,” Wade said from the doorway. “I figured I better come in before I lost my place as Wyatt’s favorite.”

“Yeah, come on in, guys. Get a load of the man in a gown while you can.” Wyatt secured Nash’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know why you did what you did back then. We were both just doing our best to get by.”

Nash fought back tears as he nodded.

“And I guess it’s lucky that we had a few guardian angels watching out for us today.” Wyatt glanced around. “Or was that yesterday? What day is it? And when in tarnation can I get some food? I’m starving.”

Wade and Ellie came up behind Nash. And though Wade knew better than to pour over him with sympathy or praise, Ellie did that very thing enough for all three of them, and Wyatt didn’t interrupt a word of it.

CHAPTER 29

They spent hours in Wyatt’s hospital room waiting for him to get released. Wade ordered food—subs from Wyatt’s favorite sandwich shop—and Ellie surprised herself by taking down her entire footlong in one sitting.

Detectives came and went, asking the group separately and collectively, to retell the events. Each kept Wolf's name off the record. Likewise, none mentioned their meeting in the Reunion Tower.

They did, however, tell officers about the anonymous tip concerning a trafficking ring and bids for Ellie on the dark web, saying the details were shared by a male caller from an unknown number.

“The caller warned that this group planned to abduct me,” Ellie told them. “He said he wasn’twiththe group, only that he’d caught wind of what they planned to do. He also warned me that these guys were holding my father and that if I went to the authorities, they’d end his life. So we headed for safety and hoped the caller would succeed in his efforts to help take down the ring and keep my dad safe.”

Ellie prayed that the arrests at the trainyard—combined with whatever Wolf and his team had in store—would demolish the trafficking ring she’d almost fallen victim to.

It would be a while before they had answers, but what they did know was that Nash and Ellie’s captors had been arrested at the trainyard, and so had the pilot of the chopper, who had unsuccessfully attempted a takeoff as authorities neared.

The biggest mystery at this point was how they’d been found. Ellie assured the officers that she’d shut off the tracking devices on her phone while Wyatt and Nash, who’d taken shifts driving, were positive they hadn’t been followed.

A simple two-part question about trackable tags on Ellie’s luggage cracked that part of the case: Did she have any attached to her bags, and if so, did anyone other than Ellie have access to the tracking data involved?

The answers were yes and yes, her dad did.

It was a valuable lesson about trusting the wrong people. Love and trust, Ellie surmised, weren't the same thing. She could love her father, deeply in fact, but she doubted she'd ever trust him again.

As for what happened during the abduction itself, a shoot-out had, in fact, ensued, resulting in four injured, two of which were Wyatt and Wade, and one fatality regarding a man with a long rap sheet.

And while the investigation was still underway, no arrests had been made against Wyatt nor Wade, as evidence of the abduction confirmed their side of the story.

In addition, since they couldn't be certain that Ellie and the Copelands were in the clear, officials suggested the family lay low for a while. Even then, an officer remained outside the room and ready to escort them to their vehicles when it was time to leave.

After a few hours of shuteye—Wyatt in the hospital bed, the others in unforgiving visitor chairs—Wyatt was released at last.

“They’ve got a safe house for us on base,” Wade announced as the officer saw them all to the waiting SUV. “We can stay there until our time’s up in the spring. And since my arm’s bound and you’ll be hobbling on crutches, they’re sending a crew over to the apartment to help us move.”

It was good to see Bronson again, poised beside the car with a questioning look in his eye. “Ms. Ellie,” he said as he opened the rear door.

Ellie motioned for the men to fill the rear portion of the car. “I’ll sit up front with Bronson,” she told them, planting a kiss on Nash’s lips. Yet before she’d made her way to the other side of the car, the door flung open, and Geneva stepped out.

“Thank goodness you’re okay,” Geneva blurted as she threw her arms around Ellie and pulled her in for a hug.

Ellie sighed, gladly accepting Geneva’s warm embrace. “I’m glad you’re okay, too,” she said. “We’ve um…” She glanced over at Bronson, glad she’d get to share the details with both of them at once. “We’ve got a lot to cover. I’ll fill you guys in on the way to Wyatt and Wade’s apartment.”

Though there were plenty of seats in back, Geneva insisted Ellie sit on the bench seat up front so she could “squeeze her a few more times.”

Ellie did just that, using Wolf’s save-your-questions-for-last approach so she could get through the details in a timely manner.

“I always worried about your old man,” Bronson said.