Slim To None (Cedar Tree #1)

by Freya Barker

  "I'm such a tool." Emma sniffed.

  He busted out laughing. "Pretty much, darlin', but I love you. Tool and all." Earning him a swat on his chest and a snicker from the hollow of his neck.

  "Come on, let's try to at least close our eyes for a bit longer."

  Turning her head she pressed a kiss to where his heart should be.

  "You're a good man, Charlie Brown. Too bad Lucy can such a bitch"

  "Good thing Lucy's such a hot piece of ass then." He smiled.

  Chapter 24

  It was barely seven o'clock in the morning and already Emma's house was packed with bodies again.

  Gus had slept only a couple of hours off and on, playing out the events of the previous day in his head. Frustrated that he couldn't go out and hunt the girls down was eating at him. But the thought of leaving Emma alone terrified him, 'cause he wasn't sure if would have played into the kidnappers' hands. Leaving Emma for any length of time was simply no longer an option. Not after seeing her in a hospital bed twice already. They'd literally have to kill him to get to her.

  He looked down to the woman in his arms, who finally succumbed to her exhaustion. This woman owned him. As much as she was his. Unfamiliar with this sense of belonging, it had taken him a while to identify it for what it was. Home. Her smell, her smile, her friends and daughter, her house, her life... Hell, even her anger and grief felt a part of him. And something he wanted - no, needed in his life.

  If only he could figure out Silva's ongoing obsession with her. Find a way to put his own demons to rest, before he allowed any of them to fuck up the best thing that happened to him.

  As soon as light started filtering through the blinds, he had slid his arm from around her, trying not to wake her, and disappeared in the bathroom for a quick shower. With light would come the opportunity for some action, and he wasn't about to let any of it go to waste.

  "Neil..." He called over the young wiz kid. "Have you found any movement around Silva? Anything we might be able to use? Airline tickets, rental cars, sudden moves, increased telephone calls; anything?

  "No boss, sorry. Nothing so far on that front. None of my alerts have gone off. But I am actively tracing back connections from Silva and any of his crew to see if I can find something that might look familiar or raise a flag. Unfortunately most of that has to be done manually, so it takes time, but Dana's been helping me."

  He indicates Dana who is sitting across from him at the dining room table, with another laptop in front of her.

  "Okay. Keep at it. But as soon as you have even the slightest suspicion you might have something; fill me in."

  "Will do, Boss."

  Emma was at her usual perch in the kitchen, pouring coffee for the assembled crowd and baking pancakes. She looked so damn fragile this morning, it made his heart ache. Walking up behind her, he slid his arms around her and kissed her neck. "Hey baby, did you take your meds? You're wincing like you are in pain and I haven't seen you take them yet."

  She shook her head. "I have to eat something first, but I don't know if I can keep anything down."

  "Okay. How about some milk to start off? Maybe a cracker or something? Just to get a bit of a base in your stomach. I know it doesn't seem important, but as soon as the post office opens, you and I have to get out of here, and both of us have to be at our best for the girls."

  He kept his fingers crossed that his suggestion wouldn't sound too patronizing and instead would jumpstart her into taking care of herself. If only so she could be strong for Kara and Arlene. Lucky for him, it worked. He could feel her spine straighten as she gathered her resolve.

  "Seb, honey?" She called over the diner's cook. "Would you jump in for a sec? I'll be right back."

  She disappeared into the bathroom and he knew she needed a minute.

  Caleb and Joe had come in early this morning as well and were in the living room when he joined them.

  "Frank had patrols keeping an eye out as off sun up this morning. All around the Mesa Verde perimeter roads. Keep in mind it's a fucking huge area to cover, Gus." Joe filled him in.

  "I know. If we can concentrate efforts along the Mancos river; I'm positive they're being held along there somewhere. Or at least, they've been there."

  Pulling up a satellite map of the area on his laptop, he zoomed in closer on the river's run.

  "Here, Joe, come have a look at this. You're probably more familiar with the area than anyone. Can you see any areas, any spots that would be a good hiding place? Anything stand out to you at all?"

  "Can I see that for a minute?" Caleb turned the computer to face him. Leaning in he seemed to be focusing on a particular area. With a satisfied grin he pointed at the screen.

  "There. Point Lookout." He said, with a smirk on his face.

  "Yeah? What's with it?"

  "You know how Kara said to 'Make it a point to look out for Mom', last night? I thought that was odd wording, but now it makes sense. That girl is smart, it was another part to her clue."

  He looked at the screen and could see where Caleb indicated a geographical mark inside Mesa Verde. One of the higher points in the park that had a view toward the east.

  "Okay. Good. At least we can focus on the east side and can fairly safely forget about the portion of river that runs the south of the park." He gave Joe a pointed look, who immediately got on his phone to relay this new theory back to the sheriff's office.

  *****

  "Nervous?" He asked, glancing over at Emma who was sitting next to him in the Yukon, hands clenched tightly in her lap.

  They had managed to eat a little, got cleaned up and worked out a plan of action in the past thirty minutes. With the post office opening at eight-thirty, he wanted to make sure they would outside and waiting by the time the doors opened. The instructions had been for just Emma and him, so they assumed they would have eyes on them. It didn't necessarily mean they were going in alone, but there wouldn't be any back up visible. Thanks to Neil, the inside of his truck was now equipped with a hidden microphone in the centre console. The easiest place to hide the necessary wiring. Although no patrol cars would be visible, Caleb was somewhere behind them in Seb's borrowed truck. A nondescript beater, of which there were many on the road. Seb himself had to be virtually tied down to prevent him from hopping in the backseat of the Yukon, and could only be appeased with the promise he could ride shotgun with Caleb, provided he keep his mouth shut, his hands to himself and his ass in the truck at all times. But if Gus was anywhere near correct in his suspicions about the man's feelings toward Arlene, he couldn't blame him for insisting on the ride-along. He would've moved heaven and earth himself had the shoe been on the other foot. Joe had been forbidden by the sheriff, Dr. Waters and Gus himself to leave the couch in his condition, but no one was able to deter him from running the control center. The County Sheriff's Office had whatever eyes and ears they had available tracking their progress. Gus trusted Joe implicitly with that, and didn't even bother to get all the precise logistics. That was Joe's strength and given the circumstances, he had no choice but to leave it all in his hands.

  "Nervous, anxious, scared. You name it, I'm feeling it." Emma said. "I'm wound so tight I'm afraid I'm gonna hurl all over your leather interior." She eyed him sheepishly.

  "That's the thing about leather, darlin'. It's easy to wipe down. It's the least of our worries." He grabbed her hand, putting her cold clammy fingers on his thigh and covering them with his own wide palm. "We are going to focus on getting them back today. Open your mind and be ready for whatever comes. And please trust me."

  "I do trust you." Her slightly defensive tone had him squeezing her hand.

  "I know. I mean, trust me enough not to question me today. Enough to know I'm good at what I do and when I say something, listen to me right away. It might mean the difference between success and failure."

  When it was quiet beside him, he looked over to find her swallowing hard.

  "I will ... I mean, I do - trust you, that is. I'll tak
e your lead. I'll do whatever it takes."

  Picking up her hand, he pressed his lips to her palm.

  When the Postmaster showed up at twenty-five minutes after eight, Gus was by Emma's side of the truck, already helping her down.

  "Morning. You folks are early." He commented over his shoulder, but when he saw Emma he startled.

  "Ms. Young! How are you? I haven't seen you since ... Well, since the accident."

  "Morning, I'm good thanks." She answered him, trying to keep a normal front. "I was told there is an important message waiting for me this morning, do you know anything about that?"

  Looking at her quizzically, he repeated, "Important message? Not that I know of. But maybe something was dropped in the bin overnight. I can go check. It's usually the first thing I do in the mornings, check whatever US mail has delivered in there overnight. Sometimes locals drop their mail right in the slot as well, trying to avoid postage. I don't really mind. Not many folks know about it, and I figure if they're so hard up they come out at night to drop their letters in a slot that only opens between midnight and six AM, to save a few pennies, they probably need a little help."

  Shrugging his shoulders apologetically, he went off in the back, only to return moments later with a large canvas bag stretched open on a metal frame. Dumping the contents on a sorting table behind the counter, he started putting the accumulated mail into piles. Waiting as patiently as she could, Emma felt the barely controlled frustration course through Gus, whose fingers were starting to squeeze her waist tighter and tighter. Shifting slightly to loosen his vice-like grip, she apparently caught his attention.

  "Fuck me. Sorry, Peach. I didn't mean to ..." Stopping him mid-sentence, by grabbing his face, she kiss him once, hard, on the mouth.

  "It's okay. It's getting to me too."

  "Here is something addressed to you."

  Waving an envelope around, the Postmaster was barely able to take two steps before Gus was on him, snatching the paper from his hand.

  "Hey. Wait a minute!"

  Emma quickly intervened. "I'm so sorry, we've been waiting for this news and are a little impatient. Thanks so much for your help. We'll get out of your hair now." And with a raised eyebrow at Gus, she turned to the door expecting him to follow behind her.

  Once outside, she turned to him.

  "Can you hold off until we're in the truck?"

  "Yeah, sorry. Hang on." Opening the doors, he lifts her in, tosses her walker in the back and jogs around to the driver's side. Once seated he rips open the envelope and she scoots closer to read along with him.

  DRIVE TO ENTRANCE MESA VERDE NATL. PARK

  TEXT THE WORD "ARRIVED" TO 970 734 0234 FOR INSTRUCTIONS

  Flipping the note over to check for anything else, Gus repeated the contents out loud for the benefit of those listening in.

  "Do you think that means we interpreted Kara's words wrong? You think maybe she is inside the park?" Fear that perhaps they had been making all the wrong assumptions was crawling over Emma's skin, causing her to shiver.

  With a quick flick of his eyes, Gus assured her. "No. Not necessarily. I'm thinking perhaps whoever has them, thought they might throw us off by directing us there. A place that would seem easy to disappear in. They know it would take a huge amount of manpower, equipment and time to search, so that makes it the perfect tactical distraction possible. They must figure we'd come somewhat prepared and might want to throw whoever is tracking us off their game, right?" When Emma nods her agreement, he continues. "I am expecting to have to leave my truck behind at the very least, since that would be easiest to keep track of. But what they don't realize is that we already have a good idea of their whereabouts. Near the Mancos River on the east side of the park, somewhere visible from Point Outlook and somewhere that has good fishing. Or at least somewhere that reminded Kara of fishing."

  Directing his voice to whomever was listening at the other side of the microphone he added, "Check the area for anything along the river. Bait shops, fishing hangouts, any restaurants in the neighborhood that serve fish or seafood, even outfitters. It may be a long shot but we have to consider she may have relayed anything she saw as landmarks as well."

  Radiating confidence and completely in his element now, Gus was a sight to behold. As unsure and anxious as she had been before, looking at the big hulk of a man beside her with the intense and determined look on his face, she was amazed to feel her resolve and faith returning. There was no doubt in her mind they would find her girls. Not with Gus so focused and sharp.

  Turning to face her, he even flashed her a grin. "Eyes sharp, Peach. We're looking for signs, businesses, buildings; anything that has any of the words, or combination of the words in Kara's message. Counting on you, love." He said with a wink.

  God, she loved this man. She wanted him in her life.

  By the time they arrived at the turn off for Mesa Verde National park, her eyes were gritty with the intense focus on every sign they passed by on buildings, road signs or billboards. Other than Mesa Verde and some signage for the town of Mancos, a little further down the 160, she hadn't seen much that peeked her interest.

  Gus pulled the Yukon into an empty parking spot to the left of the entrance gate and killed the engine. "Nothing on your side?" He wanted to know.

  "Nope. Not a damn thing. So what do we do now?"

  "We follow instructions and see what happens, but we have to try and leave some direction behind. If we can. We'll think of something, just be ready to improvise and remember that Caleb is still somewhere behind us. He can hear us and would've kept a safe distance." Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he started typing.

  "Wait." She covered the phone with her hand. "Just one sec please." Leaning her head back against the seat, she kept her eyes on Gus, as he waited her out. "I love you." He mouthed at her making her smile.

  "Back atcha, big guy." She replied soundlessly, all too conscious of all the ears that were listening in. Reaching for him she slid her hand around his neck and gently pulled him toward her, meeting his lips and pouring everything she couldn't say at that moment into their kiss. His hand came up to cradle her face as he pulled away and she could see a myriad of emotions swirling in the depths of his eyes. With one last kiss on the tip of her nose, he released her and went back to the text on his phone. Then they waited.

  Chapter 25

  The five minutes it took for a response to come back felt like an eternity. Gus looked at the screen and read it off out loud. "It says; Leave the car. Walk to exit and wait for Cortez cab. Do it now."

  Turning to Emma, he smiled at her encouragingly. "Okay, here we go, darlin'. We're being picked up on the road. Assume we are still moving east of Mesa Verde so focus in that direction. Keep an eye out for Cortez taxi cabs." The last was directed at their silent audience, the ones they were about to leave behind and had to trust would find other ways to keep track. Pulling out Emma's walker, he was just in time to catch her trying to jump out of the Yukon. "Easy there, tiger. Don't want you getting hurt. I was coming to get you."

  "I know. I just want to go get her. Now."

  The tightness around Emma's mouth was evidence of the determination and strength this woman had in spades. She completely blew him away. Almost running with her walker, he threw his arm around her shoulder, trying to force her to slow down a bit. "Darlin', you run off all that energy now, you might not have enough left later. Save it."

  Irritated, she tried to shrug his arm off, but she must have seen the validity of his point, because she slowed down her gait.

  They didn't have to wait long at the side of the road. As promised, a cab pulled up with the passenger side window rolled down. When Gus leaned down to peek in, an elderly man was at the wheel.

  "You Emma Young?" He tried looking past Gus at Emma, but Gus persisted in standing in his way, glaring at him. "Look young feller, I was told to pick up an Emma Young and her companion who had some car trouble here. Now if it ain't you twos, I'm gonna hafta find em."
>
  "It's us." Emma said from behind him, slipping around to the window. "Can you pop the trunk for my walker?"

  "Sure thing missy, need my help?"

  "No thanks, we've got it." Pulling his sleeve as she moved to the back of the cab. "He seems pretty clueless, Gus. I doubt he's involved." She whispered.

  "Of course he is, he just may not be aware of it. He may have some answers though."

  He folded her walker into the trunk, closed it and took her arm to help her in the backseat. But before he could close the door, she grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

  "Don't do anything that might endanger the girls. We don't know who's watching or listening." Well damn. There was that. For all he knew they had this cab wired for sound, or would harm the old man if he said anything. He couldn't go in demanding answers, but that didn't mean he couldn't chat a little.

  "So," he started, "Did triple A contact you?"

  "Hell no. That'll be the day, won't it. Nah, he said he was her brother-in-law or something. Baby-sitting her little girl? Didn't sound too friendly, if you ask me, but what do I know. Said to drop ya'll at the Outlook's yard. Belongs to a buddy of his he says. I'm guessing they'll pick up yer truck too."

  One look over his shoulder told him Emma had been listening as closely as he had to the ramblings of the old man. Brother-in-law? Emma mouthed at him questioningly. Apparently that one caught her attention as well, and damned if that didn't send shivers down his spine. What kind of sick perverted game was being played out here? He wasn't allowing his mind to wander in the direction it wanted. Because at this point there was no way of exploring all the possible scenarios.

  "So, erm... Where is this yard you're taking us to? I'm none too familiar with the area, so I've never heard of it."

  "Round the other side of Mesa Verde right where the 37 and the 38 meet. Just this side of Mancos on the river. Not too far. Pretty area. You drive down that road a ways and you've got the high cliffs on the one side, and the river on the other. Me and the missus used to drive all the way down to where the dirt road turns into a trail and you can get close to the water. We'd bring a picnic or somethin'; spend a nice afternoon every now and then. Not soul around for miles. Fun times."