“Mama, don’t cry.”
Kate lifted her head and saw Riley standing next to the couch, barefoot and dressed in her blue-and-white flannel nightgown. Kate sat up straight and patted the couch. “Come here and sit with us. You’re supposed to be sleeping.”
“I wasn’t tired, so Abby was reading me her journal she wrote on our camping trip to Colorado. But she fell asleep.” Riley sat on the couch, nestled between Kate and Elliot. “Are you sad?”
“I’m tired, sweetie,” Kate said. “I just want your brother home.”
“Don’t worry. God brought me home.” Riley looked up at Kate, unquestioning faith twinkling in her eyes. “I prayed that God would send Custos, or one of His other angels, to keep Jesse safe and bring him back to us.”
Kate glanced over at Elliot. Riley hadn’t mentioned Custos in a long time. But the angel, real or imagined, that she claimed saved her from drowning during the time she lived incognito with the Tutts had made a seemingly indelible impression on her.
“God can do anything,” Kate said. “I suppose He can use angels to do whatever He wants.”
Riley nodded, the wispy dark curls around her face adding to her look of pure innocence. “Remember when Hawk aimed and shot the rifle out of Isaiah’s hand so Jay didn’t get killed and me and Abby could come home? And he said he felt a humongous wing and something holding him steady?”
“I remember.” Not that Kate could ever forget the incident that had caused her eldest son to turn loose of his cynicism and embrace his Christian roots.
“Well, I think God uses angels a lot,” Riley said. “And since I prayed He would now, I believe He will.”
Kate smiled and cupped Riley’s cheek in her hand. “I know He listens to you.” If only her own faith could be that simple.
“What’s going on?” Abby’s sleepy voice came from behind Kate. “Did they find Jesse?”
“Not yet,” Kate said.
Abby came into view, dressed in a green-and-pink plaid nightshirt, her thick hair draped over her shoulders. She stood next to her younger sister.
“I was reading to Riley and must’ve fallen asleep. I guess I’m drained from worrying about Jesse. Have you been able to sleep?”
“She dozed off for about a half hour,” Elliot said. “I wish you would all try and get some rest. I’ll be glad to stay and wait for Virgil to call Roberta with an update. I’ll wake you if anything changes.”
“Will you tuck me in?” Riley linked arms with Elliot and looked up at him, their momentary pose fit for a Norman Rockwell painting. “I always sleep better when you do it. You say good prayers.”
“Sure I will.” Elliot winked at Kate, then stood and put his arm around Riley. “Come on, doll. Let’s send you off to dreamland.”
Kate relished the warm smile on Abby’s face as Elliot escorted Riley to her room.
“She adores him,” Abby said. “For a guy who’s never had kids, Elliot’s got fatherhood down pat. Are you ever going to marry him?” Abby arched her eyebrows. “I’m serious, Mama. What are you waiting for? This man is perfect for you and we all love him.”
“You don’t think you’re going to resent him when he starts giving you advice and getting involved in your life, day to day?”
Abby shook her head. “He’s already doing that. I don’t resent it. I look up to him. Hawk does too. The little kids think the sun rises and sets on him. What about you? Do you know how many women would give anything to have a man care about them the way Elliot does you? Do you even notice the way he looks at you?”
Kate’s cheeks warmed. “Of course I do. I love that about him.”
“Was Daddy like that?”
“Very much so. I told you when we went back to the high school for homecoming, five years after we graduated, that he proposed to me in front of the entire student body during halftime. Did I ever tell you he added to our wedding vows during the ceremony, totally off the cuff?”
“Nooo.” Abby came over and sat next to Kate, a silly smile on her face. “I want details.”
“We had exchanged traditional vows and I was relieved to have recited my part without getting too emotional. Suddenly, it was as if he and I were the only two people on earth. Micah looked at me, a little choked up, and said, ‘Kate, you are my dream come true. The other half of my soul. The song in my heart. The answer to prayer. This union was meant to be—and it’s forever. I don’t know what the future holds for us, or whether the road will be bumpy or smooth, but I promise I’ll be there, right beside you …’” Kate reached for Abby’s hand and held it, fighting back the emotion. “I’ve often wondered if, while your dad lay bleeding to death, he thought of me and hoped I would know how sorry he was that he couldn’t keep this promise—”
“We’ll never know,” Abby said, dabbing her eyes. “But you don’t have to wonder how he felt about you. How did you remember word for word what he said at your wedding?”
“A friend recorded our vows and typed them out for us. I must have read your father’s words a hundred times after he disappeared.”
“And Daddy ad-libbed the whole thing. That’s so cool. Thanks for telling me. It’s one more special thing about him I didn’t know before.”
“Elliot is just as romantic,” Kate added. “He’s very different from Micah, and yet he has most of the same wonderful qualities. Plus a few besides.”
“What a blessing, Mama, that you’ve been loved that way by two men. Most widows never find another man who can measure up to the husband they lost. So why aren’t you setting a date?”
“Why is everyone in this family pushing me on that?”
“Because”—Abby tilted Kate’s chin and looked into her eyes—“he makes you happy. You hardly ever smiled before, and now you smile all the time. Sometimes you giggle like a schoolgirl.”
“No, I don’t.”
Abby nodded. “You do. And we kids love it. Our house is happy again because of Elliot. He’s here half the time anyway. You should just marry him.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It shouldn’t be complicated either. If you love each other, don’t you want to be together? Sometimes Jay and I can hardly bear to say good night.”
Elliot came out of the hallway into the living room. “Mission accomplished. That sweet angel is somewhere in dreamland.”
Abby rose to her feet. “Here, I’ll give you your seat back. I think I’ll go try again before I’m too wide awake to go back to sleep. Good night.” Abby winked at her mother as she walked off.
Kate was glad for the pleasant-but-momentary distraction and hated to come back to the reality that Jesse was still missing.
“Excuse me.” Roberta stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “I’m going to brew a pot of coffee. Any takers?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Elliot raised his hand. “Count me in.”
“Me too,” Kate said. “I want to be awake when Virgil calls.”
Kate tried not to look afraid, but on the inside, she had completely lost the battle.
t
Liam, stiff and aching, lay on his side, facing Jesse, grateful that the crackling fire outside the shelter had taken the chill off. He heard the deep rumbling of the Search and Rescue helicopter in the distance and wondered how long Slick would wait before he decided to split and force Liam to do the unthinkable.
“Mr. Berne,” Jesse whispered. “Mr. Berne, are you awake?”
“Wide awake. Every inch of me’s throbbing.”
“I hope I’m not bothering you. I just feel better hearing your voice.”
“I don’t know why,” Liam said. “You know what I have to do.”
“What you think you have to do.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m not going to try talking you out of it,” Jesse said. “I’m just lonesome.”
“And scared? I sure am.�
��
“I’m trying hard not to think about that. I’ve been thinking about how awesome it’ll be seeing Jesus, and I’m kind of excited to see my dad. I was only five when he disappeared. I didn’t get to know him very well.”
“I went to high school with Micah,” Liam said. “I was a couple years older, but I knew who he was. Now that I think about it, you look a lot like him.”
“Everyone says that.”
“He was a real nice kid. I’d say you’re a chip off the ol’ block.”
“Thanks. I’d like to be.” Jesse sighed. “I wish the sheriff would show up. At least we’d stand half a chance of getting out of here alive.”
“What are the odds?” Liam said. “That helicopter’s been zigzagging all across the area for hours. I expect they’ll give up looking before long. With this thick canopy, I doubt they can see the campfire. Or would even suspect anything if they did. My guess is they’re concentrating on Sure Foot Mountain.”
“You’re probably right,” Jesse said. “Who would think to look in the woods, right here in the middle of town? Especially since they already went door to door.”
“What’re you two night owls whispering about?” Slick crouched in front of the open side of the shelter, his grin as annoying as ever.
Liam didn’t answer, and neither did Jesse.
Slick crawled inside and made sure they were still bound. “You better not be planning something. Doesn’t matter if you give me the silent treatment, just so you toe the line.”
Good, Liam thought. Now leave!
Slick got up in Liam’s face. “Are you starting to feel the thrill of the kill? I know I am. You might could say I’m feeling trigger happy.” Slick pushed Liam’s arm with the palm of his hand, then backed out of the shelter, howling as if he’d cracked the pun of the century.
“I really hate that guy,” Liam said. “I suppose this is how you felt when I intimidated you. If I could go back and undo it, I would.”
“I already forgave you, remember?”
“I do. I just don’t understand how you can keep from hating me.”
“I never said it was easy. But I’m supposed to forgive my enemies and not try to get even with them.”
“I’m not the enemy, Jesse. None of this was my idea. I fully admit that I’m a coward. You’re the only real man here.”
“I sure don’t feel like a man,” Jesse said. “But two times today I thought I was going to die, so at least I know what to expect.”
“So you’re going to take it on the chin, just like that? You’re not even going to fight for your life?”
“Why, so Slick can feel even more powerful? He’s not going to change his mind.” Jesse’s big round eyes were fixed on Liam. “I don’t want to die, but I’m ready. You’re not.”
“Ready? Really, at twelve?” Liam hated the sarcasm in his voice.
“I’m guessing heaven is awesome at any age. The Bible says this isn’t our home anyway.”
“Good grief, kid. Can’t you forget the fairy tale for one minute? This is real. This is now. You’re going to die. Do you get that?”
Jesse’s eyes pooled, a tear trickling down the side of his face. “I get it, Mr. Berne. Do you? You’re the one who has to live with it. Only you’ll be dead on the inside.”
Chapter 36
Sheriff Virgil Granger paced in the command post, waiting for Chief Deputy Kevin Mann to get off the phone. Police Chief Reggie Mitchell stood, his hands clasped behind him, surveying the map of Foggy Ridge and the outlying areas.
Kevin put his cell phone in his pocket, got up, and walked over to Virgil. “Two things,” he said. “One, the bloodhounds are finished tracking the rapist in Washington County, but they’d been on the guy’s tail for nearly twenty hours, and the hounds are spent. The trainers don’t want them going back out until they’re rested. And two, the National Weather Service has issued a heavy fog advisory for northwest Arkansas from eleven p.m. until after sunup. Visibility in many places could be zero. Sir, with all due respect, there’s no way we should send the teams out tonight. The fog will make our job impossible. We need to wait until morning, and that’ll give us time to get the dogs here too.”
Virgil glanced over at Reggie and then back at Kevin. “What about Search and Rescue’s thermal imagining?”
“Unreliable in thick fog, and add the density of the trees, nearly impossible. Look, gentlemen, I know this is disappointing,” Kevin said, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “But we’ve already searched about a hundred yards into each of these undeveloped areas. If we send those teams deeper into the woods, and that fog rolls in, they’ll be stuck wandering in circles, blinded by their own flashlights. We’re all tired. In my mind, the risk of continuing in the fog outweighs any chance we have of finding them tonight.”
Virgil glanced at the clock on the wall and mumbled a swear word under his breath. “My gut tells me they’re still here. Our Amber Alert didn’t reap one valid sighting. Not one.”
Reggie folded his arms across his chest. “Virgil, let’s assume they are here. It’s still a waste of manpower and resources to proceed in the fog. Kevin’s right. It makes sense to wait till after sunup when the fog starts to clear and we’ve got use of the bloodhounds. We’ve been thorough with every step. Would be foolish to risk missin’ somethin’ critical just to try to get it done quickly tonight.”
Virgil pulled up a chair and sat. Was he even capable of being objective where Kate’s son was concerned? He leaned forward in the chair, his elbows planted on his knees, his hands clasped together. He took a slow, deep breath and let it out.
“Humor me a minute,” Virgil said, “and rewind back to the initial planning point. Maybe we’re missing something. If the IPP is wrong, we may be chasing our own tails.”
“Sir, it’s not wrong,” Kevin said. “It’s indisputable that Jesse was last seen at Evans’s Sporting Goods.”
“But,” Virgil said, “it’s also true that Mr. Evans never physically saw Jesse again after he greeted him at the front door around nine a.m. So what isn’t clear is when and how Jesse left, and why.”
Kevin nodded. “Right. Evans is sure that Jesse entered the store at nine. And that Berne came in just after nine thirty and checked out at nine forty-five. We can’t be certain where Jesse was during that time. We assume he was in the store. We just don’t know.”
“What we do know,” Virgil said, “is that after Jesse failed to rendezvous with Hawk at ten o’clock, Hawk and Mr. Evans searched the store and Jesse wasn’t there.”
Kevin nodded. “A short time later, police officers and deputies searched Evans’s store and found no indication which of the three exits Jesse had used—the front door, a west side door, or the private exit door in Evans’s office. Each opens into a different area of the customer parking area. After your meeting with Colleen Berne, we’ve since hypothesized that Jesse spotted Liam Berne in the store, recognized him as Colleen’s brother, and assumed he’d heard the rumor that Jesse was a witness. Jesse then sought to avoid Berne by slipping out one of the exits. Of course, it’s also possible that Berne had been threatening Jesse, and when Jesse saw him, he ran.”
Virgil sighed. “And it’s certainly in the realm of possibility that it was Berne who saw Jesse in the store, recognized him as the kid who claimed to be the only eyewitness to his mother’s drowning, and went after him.”
“I’m leanin’ that way,” Reggie said. “Berne’s vehicle hasn’t been spotted. And my officers went door to door in Foggy Ridge, and not one person reported seeing Jesse. We’ve searched the first hundred yards of the undeveloped areas in town, including the woods behind Evans’s, and that effort didn’t yield any clues. We’ve searched nearly every inch of those hills with no sign of either of them. I have to wonder if Berne took off with the kid long before we issued the Amber Alert. Maybe he’s holed up somewhere, waitin’ for the dust to
settle.”
Virgil stood and stretched his lower back. “Maybe. But my gut instincts tell me Jesse’s here somewhere. It helped to revisit what we know from earlier in the day. Thanks. Colleen Berne’s statement blew this case wide open, and I wanted to be sure we’re not missing something.”
“Why don’t we call it a night?” Kevin said. “Let’s all go home and get some rest and meet here at daybreak. I’ll go tell the teams to come back then. We’ll go deeper into the wooded areas and use the bloodhounds, but I’ve got to tell you, Sheriff, I’m not that hopeful we’re going to find them.”
Virgil stood. “Sounds like a plan. I need to tell Deputy Freed what we’re doing so she can inform Kate. Better yet, I’ll head up the mountain and tell Kate myself.”
Virgil called Deputy Freed and told her the plan, and asked her to let him tell Kate. He asked her to tell the family he wanted to talk to them, and for her to reassure them that he wasn’t bringing grim news.
He encountered thick patches of fog on Angel View Road as he drove up the mountain. By the time he pulled into the driveway of the Cummingses’ log house, the fog was severely impairing visibility. Kate was at the door waiting. He got out of his squad car and walked toward the house.
Kate opened the door, took Virgil’s hand, and pulled him inside. “Roberta told us you wanted to update us on the search.”
Virgil took off his hat and followed Kate into the living room, where Buck, Abby, Hawk, and Elliot were waiting. Kate sat on the couch next to Elliot, and Virgil sat in an upright chair facing them.
“I wanted to come in person to explain where we are in our search to find Jesse. As you know, we went door to door in Foggy Ridge and didn’t find Jesse or Liam Berne and got no actionable leads. We’ve now finished searching the hills, and we didn’t find either of them or obtain any clues leading to their whereabouts. Berne’s car hasn’t surfaced, despite the Amber Alert. We wanted to search even deeper into the few wooded areas in town yet tonight, but the National Weather Service has issued a heavy fog advisory from eleven p.m. until after sunrise. Search and Rescue’s thermal imaging won’t work in thick fog, and I can’t get the bloodhounds from Washington County until morning. So we made the decision to suspend the search until tomorrow morning after the fog lifts. We’ll be able to make good time if the bloodhounds pick up their scents.”
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