by Jodi Thomas
“County sheriff’s office.”
“Help,” she cried, but the word couldn’t get out past the tape. “Help.”
She heard the click of the call being disconnected.
A light blinked, then went out in one of the windows of the house and she was alone in the darkness.
Totally alone.
Chapter 48
LATE FRIDAY NIGHT
FEBRUARY 22, 2008
HARMONY FIRE STATION
ALEX MET WITH THE FEW MEN WHO COULD MAKE IT IN TO the fire station, wishing they were her deputies, but happy that some would come out on a night like this. Three fire volunteers; one retired deputy; her brother, Noah, who was always thinking about volunteering, but never seemed to have the time; and Bob McNabb, a nice man in his sixties who helped out whenever he could. None could handle Lloyd Franklin if they ran into him. Not much of a force, but all she had.
Brandon Biggs, the kid who came to Reagan’s party, rushed in late just as she began to explain what she feared might be happening. Bran didn’t have a four-wheel drive, but he wanted to help. He was rough around the edges and looked like walking trouble, but now and then Alex saw what Reagan must see in him. Potential.
She set the ground rules. No one drives out without chains on their tires. That left out Bran, the retired deputy, and one of the firemen. No one staying out too long. With a forecast in single digits, the windchill factor would be below zero. No one carries a gun unless he’s also carrying a badge. That left Alex and Denver as the only two armed. She didn’t ask if Gabe had his gun with him. She didn’t want to know.
Denver and Gabe took the time to talk to each man, then divided them into three groups. Each team would have cells and radios with them at all times. The plan was simple. Drive every street, every alley they could get down, every parking lot until someone spotted the van. Edith had told Alex that Lloyd didn’t have many friends to go to if he was in trouble, but he might try a few of the houses he mowed lawns for in the summer.
Denver stood before the search party, a map of Harmony in his hand. “So far we’ve found two crime scenes where Reagan has been. First the hospital where she was abducted, then a house on the west side of town where we believe she was taken for a short time. We found crumblings from her cast and drops of blood in both the driveway and the house, but no one was home to question.”
The retired deputy asked how they got in the house without a search warrant.
Denver explained that the door was open when he walked up. “It looked like they left in a hurry and must have forgot to close the door.”
Alex had a feeling no one in the room, except Noah, believed him.
“The weather may be keeping him in town,” Denver explained. “We don’t have much time to find him. If you spot anything, call in. The radios will broadcast to everyone on the team. Punch one and the cell will ring here. Do not go near him. We have reason to believe he’s armed.” Denver looked straight at Noah and Brandon. “Do you two understand?”
“Loud and clear,” Brandon said. “How about we get going? The sooner we get on the road, the sooner we find Reagan.”
For once, Noah agreed. The two boys might not like each other, but right now they had a common enemy.
Denver passed out slices of the map. “One man drive, the other mark off streets. Look for a garage or barn or anything big enough to hide a van. Both watch for tracks. Not much is out there but him and us, so we’ve got a good chance of crossing his path. Fresh tracks could be a lead.”
As the men moved out, Tyler Wright walked in and headed straight to Alex. The little dog he claimed wasn’t his followed right on his heels. “Hank called me, Sheriff. He said you might could use my help. I guess he figured since the funeral home was so close, I was one of the few in town who could get here.”
Alex smiled. Hank was taking care of her the best he could. “Thanks, Mr. Wright,” she said, calling him what everyone in town did even though she considered him a friend. “If you could help Bob McNabb man the phones, that would be great. Our teams will be calling in and you need to keep one line clear for dispatch.”
Bob was lining up cells, radios, and phones with paper in front of each.
Alex pointed. “Log in all calls, which phone, which man. If anyone doesn’t call in or answer when called, it could mean they are in trouble.”
“Got it.” Tyler set his laptop down at the end of the table. “If you give me five minutes, I’ll have a spreadsheet set up that will make keeping up with this easier.”
Alex pulled on her gloves. “You got everything you need?”
Tyler nodded. “I’ve been here enough trying to teach Hank to program that I know where everything is.” A sadness washed over his face. “Except our Reagan,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of her being out in this storm.”
“We’ll find her.” Alex almost ran out the door. She wanted to check with dispatch across the street and then begin her search. She would be going alone. Her section of the map was the two blocks around the downtown square.
While Denver and Gabe had checked out Lloyd’s brother’s house, Alex had talked with Edith, his wife, and found out little. Lloyd wasn’t answering his cell phone, which didn’t surprise her; he could never keep up with the thing.
Edith said she was staying at the diner all night. If Cass closed, she planned to sleep in one of the booths. Cass was in the back if Lloyd came in before they closed. Edith said she’d told Lloyd before she came to work that she was leaving him, but he didn’t believe her. He never did.
Alex checked her watch. Lloyd usually picked up his wife after midnight on Friday. Cass liked to catch the bar crowd as long as he could.
Alex would take an hour to work her piece of the map, circling by the diner now and then to make sure he hadn’t shown up. If she had to, she planned to be waiting for Lloyd at the diner when he came to pick Edith up. If he came.
When she walked into her office, Jess yelled, “That caller’s doing it again. Calling in, not saying anything and then hanging up.”
“I’ll take it this time.” Alex sat down and waited. Ten minutes. Twenty. Time she could spend searching, but something held her in place. No more than a gut feeling that somehow this silent caller was the answer, the clue she’d been waiting for.
Thirty minutes. The storm rattled the windows as if reminding her it was waiting outside. Forty minutes. The teams were reporting in at fifteen-minute intervals and Tyler was calling in dispatch as soon as all had checked in. Fifty minutes.
One hour. She could have walked the entire downtown area by now, but she had to trust her instinct.
Finally, the call came in.
“Hello, 911 emergency,” Alex said.
No answer.
Alex gripped the phone so hard she was surprised it didn’t shatter in her fingers. “Reagan,” she shouted. “If it’s you, make a sound.”
Nothing.
Just as she opened her mouth to yell the demand again, the phone clicked as if someone had punched a number.
“If it’s you, do that again.”
The phone chimed once. Alex couldn’t breathe. Somehow Reagan couldn’t talk, but she was on the other end.
“One for yes. Two for no,” she said. “Are you hurt?”
One chime.
“Do you know where you are?”
One, then another chime. No.
“Are you in town?
One beep.
“Are you inside a van?”
Two beeps.
“Are you inside someone’s house?”
Nothing. Alex fought down panic. She had to ask yes or no questions. If Reagan didn’t know, she might not answer. Or, she might be in too much danger to answer.
Alex tried again. “Are you inside?”
One beep.
“Are you alone?”
One beep.
Jess had moved behind her, following along with speakers on. “She’s inside, but not in a house, Sheriff.”
“Are
you in a barn?” Alex yelled.
Two beeps.
“A car?”
Two beeps.
“A business?”
Two beeps.
“A shed?”
One beep. Alex breathed and jotted down for Jess to notify the others that they were looking for a shed.
While Jess called, Alex continued to play the game with Reagan. She wanted to ask where the girl was hurt and who had kidnapped her and why, but none of those mattered. All that mattered right now was finding her. Alex began naming things that Reagan might be able to see.
After a dozen tries, she wrote down two-story house and passed it to Jess so he could relay.
“That eliminates most of the town,” he said as he dialed. “The historical district and over by the golf course are about all we got in the way of second stories.”
“We’ve got teams moving toward you,” Alex yelled to Reagan, guessing the phone was not close to her ear. “Are you still alone?”
One beep.
“Is he coming back?”
No answer. She didn’t know.
“Are you warm?”
Two beeps. No. She was probably freezing.
“Are you tied up?”
One beep.
“Is there any light around you?”
Two beeps. Wherever she was, she was in the dark. Alone, cold, and frightened.
The courthouse clock began chiming the midnight hour.
“Can you hear the clock?” Alex closed her eyes and waited, counting the chimes in her mind.
One beep.
Alex was on her feet running. “Call the others. Tell them all that she’s close to downtown. She has to be in the historical district. If she can’t see streetlights, she’ll be in the back behind a two-story house.”
“Got it!” Jess yelled.
Alex was already heading down the steps. The fastest way to the back of the historical district was along the creek bed. She pulled the hood of her coat low and turned into the darkness.
It was dangerous tromping through snow on uneven ground, but Alex knew every minute counted.
Chapter 49
EARLY SATURDAY
FEBRUARY 23, 2008
STREETS OF HARMONY
GABE ANSWERED THE PHONE WHEN TYLER CALLED TO tell them the news about how Alex had talked to Reagan and she was somewhere near downtown.
“Tell me all you know, fast,” he said to Tyler as Denver drove the Rover toward the center of town. “We’re coming in from the south.”
Tyler’s voice sounded nervous, but determined. “Do you know the creek path through town?”
“Of course.”
“In the historical district a lot of those old houses have sheds out back. If you go under at the bridge on Elm and Third on foot, you can walk the creek faster than driving down the road and crossing behind every house.”
Gabe agreed. “I know the creek. We’ll cross down to it at Elm. I can find my way in the dark.”
He hung up and grabbed one of the extra crutches they’d picked up at the hospital. “Turn left in two blocks,” Gabe told Denver. “You’ll see a bridge crossing the road. We can cut down to the creek there.”
“I have no idea what you are planning,” Denver said. “But I’m with you.”
A few minutes later they stepped out in the snow. Gabe hated a cane, but this was no time to think about himself. He could move faster with the crutch, plus test for solid ground.
Neither said a word as they moved away from the streetlights and into the creek bed. The air was still, with only the swishing sound of their boots eating up the snow. The ugly bed looked like a wonderland in the snow with icy branches swaying above, but the men saw none of the beauty.
Gabe knew the twists and turns of the creek. With the help of the crutch, he ran. He stopped at each house and shone his light as Denver climbed the five-foot bank and searched shed after shed.
A few times Gabe swore he heard locks being snapped and wood splintering, but time after time Denver returned. “Nothing,” he’d say and Gabe would continue the march.
Gabe’s cell rang while Denver was up top at the fifth house. “Yes,” he whispered.
Tyler’s voice came loud and clear. “Noah and Brandon found the van parked behind the used bookstore off the square. You know, the building where Liz Matheson has her office. Blood inside. No one around.”
For a heartbeat Gabe thought he’d explode. The lot behind the bookstore was Elizabeth’s lot. Then he remembered leaving her at the hospital. She was safe, and when he got back to her he planned on telling her just how much she meant to him.
“Nothing,” Denver said as he slid down the snow to the creek bed. “Let’s keep moving.”
A few houses later Gabe saw the beam of a light coming toward him. He clicked off his light and waited, signaling Denver to do the same.
The beam came closer, waving wildly from side to side.
The two men stood as shadows among the roots of the trees. Friend or enemy, it made more sense to wait.
“It’s the sheriff,” Denver whispered, flipping on his light when she was thirty feet away.
For a second, Gabe saw Alex reach for her weapon, then she watched them step out into her beam. “Any luck?” she said, knowing the answer.
They moved to the first of only three houses left. The snow had finally slowed to a soupy fog in the air. Gabe saw the little garden shed in the Winter’s Inn backyard before the others did. He knew the moment he saw it, just like he knew the moment he’d seen the driver’s eyes before the bomb hit five years ago, that they were in deep trouble.
“That’s it.” He pointed.
Denver scrambled up the embankment and moved silently toward the shed.
Alex was on her radio. “Tell Reagan to do anything she can to make a noise. Tell her we’re close, very close.”
Alex climbed up using crude steps Gabe remembered Martha Q saying her yard man had dug out for her.
The pieces were falling together. He followed as fast as he could.
Ten feet from the shed, he heard a tapping sound. One-two-three. They all moved in. Gabe smiled as he heard Denver say his thoughts. “One-two-three, come get me.”
Reagan was sending an SOS and didn’t even know it.
Denver reached her first. His light flashed across a pile of leaves and trash, and curly red hair.
He knelt and began gently digging her out of all the trash, careful not to touch her any more than he had to.
Reagan’s big eyes looked up at him, then over his shoulder as Alex and Gabe entered. Panic and fear filled her gaze.
Alex set her light down and pulled the tape from Reagan’s mouth. “You’re all right, now. We’ve got you.” Then both she and Reagan were crying so hard they could barely talk.
Gabe stood guard at the entrance. All was silent in the yard, but he’d be ready if Lloyd picked this moment to return.
While he waited, he hit redial on the cell Alex had insisted he carry. As soon as Tyler answered, he said, “We got her. Winter’s Inn.”
Denver gave him a thumbs-up sign as he pulled the last of the tape away.
Gabe moved to the back door and banged. Lights came on.
While he waited, Tyler shouted into the phone. “Is she hurt?”
“Yes,” Gabe answered, “but real glad to see us. We’ll know more when we get her inside in the light.”
Tyler paused for a few seconds, then said, “Noah is two miles away. They are on their way in case she needs to be transported to the hospital.”
Gabe remembered the blood at both crime scenes. “Yes, she’ll need transport.”
Mrs. Biggs turned on the light, peeked out at Gabe, then opened the door a few inches.
“I’ll explain later, Mrs. Biggs. We need to get Reagan in the house. She’s been hurt.”
There was no hesitation. Mrs. Biggs cleared the way. Gabe held the door and Denver carried Reagan inside.
They moved to the kitchen and placed her on the t
iny table. Mrs. Biggs ran for blankets. Alex grabbed towels and washed away blood. Reagan’s lip had stopped bleeding, but the front of her jacket was bloody.
When Denver touched her bleeding foot covered in dirt, Reagan jerked it away.
“I need to take a look at it, honey,” Denver tried again, obviously not comfortable.
“No,” she said.
“We need to ...”
Reagan looked up at Gabe.
He sat in the chair and lifted what was left of her cast onto his knee. “Will you let me see it? I promise I won’t hurt you any more than I have to, but this looks like it’s still bleeding.”
Reagan nodded.
Slowly, carefully, Gabe washed the blood and mud away. The cut across the inside of her arch was deep and in need of stitches, but not life threatening. He wrapped it as tight as he could, worrying more about infection than blood loss.
Martha Q finally showed up. She’d taken the time to slap on makeup and comb her hair before attending the emergency.
By the time the boys arrived a few minutes later, they had Reagan’s foot taped and had wrapped her in blankets. Noah and Brandon stormed in the front door, almost knocking Martha Q down when she answered.
Gabe felt like a traffic cop. Everyone was talking at once. But when Reagan said Lloyd and his brother were at Buffalo’s drinking, Gabe met Denver’s stare. Both men nodded at once. They knew where they’d be going next.
“Get her to the hospital,” Alex said to Noah and Brandon. “I’ll go after Lloyd.” She looked at her little brother. “You. Be careful.”
“I will,” Noah said. “I could say the same for you. I’m facing the ice, you’re facing the Franklin boys alone. Maybe you should wait for backup?”
“We’ll be with her,” Gabe said simply.
Denver nodded. “You boys can get Reagan back to the hospital safely.” He kissed the top of Reagan’s head. “We’ll back up the sheriff.”
Gabe leaned down to Reagan. “We’ll be there as soon as Lloyd’s locked up.”