Seeking Shelter

by Angel Smits

  If something had happened to Katie...

  “Don’t,” Jace whispered. “We’ll find her. We will.” Raising his voice, he added, “I’ll head out to the highway on my bike. See what I can see.”

  Lynne and Beau were going to stay in town, searching and talking to the kids. Gavin sent his deputy east.

  “Ellen, contact search and rescue,” the sheriff said. “They can head to the west hills. That’s what they’re trained for.” He looked at Jace with another glare. “Is that good enough?”

  “For now.” Jace squeezed Amy’s shoulders reassuringly.

  “What about me?” She pulled from his grasp, immediately feeling his absence, and hating how meek she sounded.

  Gavin spoke as he headed around the desk to the door. “You stay home. Wait for our call. We need to be able to reach you as soon as we find her. And if she comes home, someone needs to be there.”

  “What? No, I have to do something.” What was he really saying? That Amy had lost her daughter, so wasn’t capable of helping to find her now? Or was he so afraid of what they’d discover that he didn’t want her to be there when they did find her?

  “While I hate to agree with him...” Hank stepped forward, tilting his head toward Gavin. “He’s right. If she goes home, we don’t want her to find the apartment empty. It’d scare her.”

  Hank had always been the voice of reason in Amy’s life, despite what he’d done to Matt, and what he said now made sense.

  “Do you think she’ll come home?” Amy trembled. “She’s got to be all right.” As it grew dark, maybe Katie would return. Amy grasped on to that hope.

  “Okay, people, the longer we’re here, the longer it will take to find her,” Gavin said.

  Everyone scattered, and as Amy headed home, Caryn came up and slipped her arm around her shoulder. “Rick’s gonna go on his own. I’ll stay with you.”

  Amy nearly crumpled with relief. She had failed her daughter and everyone in town knew it. Tears clogged her throat, and she could only nod. She’d never appreciated her friend more than at this moment.

  Once home, the silence rang all too loudly. There were no exuberant six-year-old footsteps on the stairs. No one screeching “Mama!” from outside. No clatter of plastic dishes falling to the floor or toys bouncing down the steps.

  Only a sad dog who leaned his head on Amy’s lap, pleading with his big eyes. She absently rubbed his ears, trying to soothe them both.

  * * *

  JACE STARED INTO THE approaching sunset, which hinted at a long, dark night ahead. Why would a little girl leave home?

  He knew why sixteen-year-old boys ran away. He didn’t think any of those were very smart, and they certainly didn’t tell him where to begin looking for Katie.

  By now everyone in town knew she was missing. Half the town was out looking or trying to figure out where she might have gone.

  The sun slipped toward the horizon, lengthening the shadows over the hills. A cool breeze slid past, and he shivered. It was as if the desert taunted him.

  He closed his eyes, trying to remember the last time he’d seen Katie. She’d been in the kitchen pestering him, asking a zillion questions. He’d shooed her away, afraid she’d get in the way of the saw, step on a nail or distract him so that he’d suffer some bodily harm...like the last time she’d come in and he’d hit his thumb with the hammer. He looked down at the still purple fingernail. There were no answers there, either.

  She’d stomped off, of course, only to return a couple of minutes later with another question. The memory of his laughter lodged in his throat. He knew so little about kids. What made him think he could figure out her thoughts? What made any of them think the harsh Arizona desert would give her up once it got hold of her?

  The sun sank lower in the sky and his heart sank with it. It was going to get damned cold tonight, and Katie wasn’t dressed for the elements.

  The picture Amy had provided the authorities was one she’d taken last week. Katie’d been sitting on Jace’s shoulders, wanting to see the world from up high. He’d gladly obliged. She’d been laughing, wearing jeans and a T-shirt then, just as she was now. He closed his eyes, wishing that when he opened them he’d see some clue.

  No such luck.

  At the sheriff’s office, Jace had watched Amy turn inward, watched her face shut down. He’d seen it before. On the faces of people standing in line outside the soup kitchen when it closed because there was nothing left for the day. In the eyes of new arrivals when all the beds were taken and they found that they’d be staying the night out in the park across the street. On his mother’s face when they’d received the news of his father’s death.

  And now on Amy’s face as she realized her daughter was gone.

  He’d hated that look in the past. He loathed it now. He’d tried to reassure Amy, but had known it could very well be a lie.

  The Harley’s engine revved as he started another run. He spent the next two hours driving the highway, hoping he’d find Katie somewhere. Anywhere. In one piece. He was exhausted, filthy and defeated. He hadn’t found a thing. No one had called to tell him to come back. Obviously no one else had found her, either.

  With every mile he covered, his mind raced. While his eyes were searching, his brain was reliving and wondering.

  Had his mother been like this when he’d disappeared? Had they made her sit at home, waiting? From what his brother had told him, he hadn’t known Jace was gone until several weeks later. Linc had come home from college and Mom hadn’t been able to hide the fact that he’d left.

  Why hadn’t she done as Amy had, calling every person she knew, involving the authorities, trying to find him? Or had she? And he’d never known? If she had...why hadn’t they found him?

  Was Amy, this distraught, pain-filled woman, a reflection of the mother he’d thought had abandoned him? He hoped not, but his guilt made him push harder.

  * * *

  AMY’S ENTIRE BODY ACHED with tension. Caryn guided her to the coffee bar in the store, where she sat at the front window, looking up and down the street.

  Caryn made them coffee, but Amy let it grow cold. She jumped every time the phone rang or she heard the crunch of tires on the street outside.

  She had to do something. Anything. She got up to pace. It didn’t help.

  She didn’t know how long they’d been waiting when heavy footsteps broke her scattered thoughts. Jace tromped in the back door. His frown was deep. Dust clung to his shoulders and hair. Mud smeared his jeans.

  She tried to read the emotions in his eyes, but he held himself too strongly under control. He looked her straight in the eye. “Where’s Gavin?”

  “Still out searching,” she whispered. “Did you find her?” Stupid question, but she had to ask.

  Jace shook his head and his shoulders slumped. “No.” He turned away from her, apparently intending to leave.

  Suddenly, something inside Amy snapped. If he’d never come here, would any of this be happening? She launched herself at him. “You did this! She’s run away and it’s all because of you.”

  “Me?” Jace spun around just in time to catch her flailing arms. She got in a couple of good solid hits before he grabbed her wrists and pulled her close, stopping her from moving. He couldn’t stop her from speaking, though.

  “I hate you,” she sobbed. “You came into our lives, talking about how you ran away from home. About how you saw the world from your damned bike. She fell in love with you, and then you left her.” Amy cut off the rest of her panic-driven confession, the part about how she’d fallen, too.

  Jace didn’t say anything, proving he knew she was right. This was his fault.

  So where was her sense of victory?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  BY NIGHTFALL, JACE hadn’t found Katie. And apparently, neither ha
d anyone else. The cell phone hadn’t rung once. Sunset stole the color from the desert, leaving the land gray and the hills dark shadows on the horizon.

  He’d driven farther than any little girl could walk. He didn’t let his mind think about how far away she might be if someone had taken her.

  He had to turn back, had to check in again and see where else they should look. What else to do? He made a U-turn and headed home. In the distance, the roofs of the town’s buildings jutted into the purple sky, the recently lit streetlights providing a haunting halo over it all.

  No. Katie couldn’t have made it out this far, not on her own. But he couldn’t stop searching. He wouldn’t accept defeat.

  Jace revved the engine, then headed back to town slowly, his eyes darting back and forth to either side of the road, praying he’d see something he’d missed before.

  At the edge of town, he passed the iron gates of the cemetery again. He thought of Amy’s mother and found himself sending up a prayer to her, and to his own mom, asking for their help. The lump in his throat grew as he thought of what he’d put his mother through. He would probably never forgive himself.

  He’d just passed the cemetery fence when something beside the road caught his eye. Something pink. He cursed. Why hadn’t he seen it before? He hit the brakes hard, the tires squealing on the pavement. The motorcycle slid sideways, but Jace remained in control until he finally pulled to a stop.

  He climbed off and strode to what he’d seen. A pink sweatshirt jacket. A familiar one. Katie’s. He snagged it, crushing the soft fabric in his fist. He called her name, then stood on the shoulder of the road, listening. He called again. Still no answer.

  The ping of the bike’s cooling engine came from behind him. Animals scurried across the dirt as they rushed to their dens. In the distance, he heard the whine of a truck engine, reminding him how far away from civilization he was.

  But no child’s cry. With the darkness deepening he wouldn’t be able to see anything soon. He’d have to hear Katie if he was going to find her. But if she was hurt, was she capable of making a sound?

  She had to be out there. Had she been taught what to do if she was ever lost in the desert? To make noise, to find a way to draw rescuers to her?

  He closed his eyes. Focused on finding just one sound. He’d been good at this years ago. On the streets of L.A. he’d known the difference between the safe snores of Mac by his side, and the approaching footfall of a threat, be it the police or a thief.

  He filtered it all out. Focusing. Praying. Wishing.

  And then he heard something unusual in the night. A high-pitched screech. It wasn’t an owl or a fox. It was a longer, more sustained sound. Katie? God, he hoped so. Jace held his breath, trying to slow his heart, though at first each beat pounded in his ears and drowned out everything else.

  There it was again. Coming from the west. To his right. He focused on the hills just beyond the tiny cemetery.

  Rummaging through the saddlebags, he found his flashlight. The batteries were still good. He left his bike, took a few steps and stopped, listening. The sound came again.

  Following the noise and the beam of his light, Jace hurried through the brush. Dry, thorny branches scraped against his jeans. His boots crunched on gravel and sand. By now he didn’t have to block out all the other sounds to hear it. It had to be her. It just had to be.

  He ran, leaping over the rocks and down the wall of a wash on the other side of the cemetery. Then he saw it: a gaping hole almost completely hidden in the landscape. If he hadn’t been paying attention, he’d have completely missed it.

  An old mine. He’d grown up in a mining town, and knew that while new, modern mines had huge office entrances, many old ones were little more than holes in the ground. Just like this one.

  A wooden frame and door had rotted away, leaving it dangerously open. His heart skipped. Would Katie have gone in there? Had she fallen?

  Was she even...no, he’d heard her. She was alive. She had to be.

  He yelled her name as loudly as he could, then waited for a response. And waited. Finally, a faint sound came back. He rushed to the hole, sweeping the flashlight beam around its narrow opening. Indecision gripped him and he cursed. “Katie?”

  The silence of the pit was thick, the darkness beyond the beam deep and cold and impenetrable. Jace stood still, listening. Had he missed her? Was she here or was he wrong?

  His heart beat hard in his chest as the claustrophobia overwhelmed him, nearly knocking him backward.

  Reaching out, he pressed his damp palms against the rough rock wall and took a few controlled breaths. Before he could think about it too much, he walked in several feet. No Katie. Was she farther back?

  He pulled out his cell phone. Let there be reception. He stepped back outside. One damn bar. It’d have to do. No one answered at the sheriff’s office, and Jace cursed. Damn Gavin. Next he tried Rick. The call went straight to voice mail. Were they all still out searching, without knowing anything? Had they found her, and was he out here chasing some damned animal?

  Jace had no choice, he called Amy. He hated to give her false hope, and prayed that Caryn was still there to support her.

  Thankfully, Caryn answered. He could barely hear her, but she seemed to hear him just fine. “I think I found her. Get somebody out to the old cemetery. Just west of there is a mine shaft,” he yelled into the phone, before disconnecting.

  He hoped like hell someone would come soon. But there was no way he could leave Katie alone in that mine. So he carefully draped the tiny jacket over the largest clump of sage on the ridge above the opening. He had to believe they’d see it. Then, closing his eyes, Jace took a deep breath and stepped back into the shaft.

  The mine smelled of dampness and must. He closed his eyes, fighting the acrid taste in his mouth. He needed air. The walls seemed to move in on him, but he ordered them away. He would not let his past destroy Katie’s future.

  He’d slept a full night indoors at the Grand Canyon. He was banking on that success, praying he was stronger than his fear. Hell, he’d gladly live with the nightmares if he could find Katie.

  With a last glimpse over his shoulder, he started walking, one hand on the rough wall. Faintly, over the roaring of his pulse in his ears, he heard a soft whimpering.

  “Katie?” he called again, his lungs burning as he held his breath to hear her answer.

  * * *

  AMY HAD STOPPED ANSWERING the phone. She let Caryn get the calls. It was never anyone Amy wanted to talk to. Just people asking if they’d found Katie, or searchers checking in to see if anyone had heard anything. It was never bad news, but it wasn’t good news, either.

  In her mind, Amy kept replaying Katie’s angry words. Her daughter was only six, with the brutal honesty children that age sometimes had, but it still hurt. Hurt that she’d said them and, even worse, that she felt them.

  Amy’s tears were too near the surface, too threatening. If she let them fall now, she might never stop.

  Caryn hung up and hurried over to her. “Jace thinks he’s found her.”

  “Where?”

  “In an old mine, just outside the cemetery.”

  “What? How’d she get there?” They were already halfway out the door before Amy realized they’d moved. She stopped just long enough to lock the door.

  For the first time, Amy appreciated the value of Jace’s bike. Hop on and ride. Getting into a car required unlocking and belting...so much more.

  She probably could have run the short distance faster, and almost did. Caryn wouldn’t let her, though. Amy knew her friend was saying something, probably something reasonable, but she wasn’t hearing it.

  Caryn’s voice finally penetrated, and Amy realized that her friend was multitasking. Driving while calling Gavin to give him a report. Everyone was headed to the same place.
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  Already, a couple of cars were cutting through the cemetery on the dirt road. Great plumes of dust rose up to fog their taillights.

  The flashing strobe of the police cruiser broke through the night. For once, Gavin seemed to be doing his job.

  Caryn squealed around a curve, and Amy saw Jace’s motorcycle sitting on the shoulder of the road. Dust coated it and the searchers showered it with a few more layers as they sped onto the drive. Amy saw the headlights of several other vehicles behind them. Probably Rick’s Jeep or Lynne’s little hatchback, among others.

  The squad car disappeared down an embankment Amy hadn’t ever noticed before. The desert landscape hid so many secrets. So many dangers. The cruiser finally pulled to a halt.

  When Caryn followed suit, Amy leaped out and ran toward where Gavin stood with his hands on his hips. She froze just before she reached his side.

  Katie’s pink sweatshirt lay meticulously draped over a large sagebrush.

  Amy ran to it, jerking it loose from the prickly branches and folding it carefully. She hugged the little bundle, wishing she were holding her baby. What if...

  Don’t think it. Don’t even go there.

  She spun around and around peering through the darkness.

  Gavin barked orders. His deputy had just arrived and leaped from his own cruiser. Rick and Hank crowded the sheriff, demanding his attention and direction. The desert was suddenly full of voices and the glow of headlights.

  Amy scanned the crowd. Where was Jace? His bike was parked back on the shoulder of the road. Why wasn’t he here? She walked over to the crowd of men, having to push her way through.

  “What are you going to do?” She was tired of waiting for them to tell her what was going on. She stopped in the middle of the group, then froze. There, just a few yards away, was an opening to an old mine. She’d seen enough of them scattered through the desert in her lifetime. Rattlesnake Bend had begun as a copper mining town. Hundreds of prospectors had wanted their share of the wealth.