Just as Stubborn

by Jeanne Arnold

  The woman perked up. “I made a call to our daughter in Van Buren, north west of here. Reception’s spotty.”

  “Is the interweb working?” Caleb asked.

  “Local radio’s dead, but I caught some weather news online before it froze. A tornado touched on the Oklahoma line. Make yourselves at home.”

  I took a seat beside Caleb in the back pew. Deliah visited with the woman’s husband while I tried to ignore Caleb’s hand on my arm and Gabe’s distressed face in my mind.

  “He has to be okay,” I whispered at Caleb’s shoulder. I tried not to smell his shirt, but he smelled like freshness and rain. His fingers played with the hem of my sleeve. I let him. He seemed fidgety. He was worried too. I could tell.

  “He’s tough. He’s smart. A hell of a lot smarter than me and Lane. Maybe not as smart as her.” He nodded at his sister. “Don’t go telling the bunch of them I said so.”

  Deliah played a familiar song on the piano while the woman and her husband hovered, holding candles. She was musically inclined like Gabe and his mother.

  “Gabe got hit. He could be bleeding,” I whispered as my voice choked on the last word. I wanted to scream for Gabe to hear me wherever he was. I needed him to know I was stuck because of the storm and an accident.

  “Nothing dries quicker than a tear,” Caleb said as he touched the side of my eye. “He’s okay. He’s my kid brother. He’s got to be okay.”

  I closed my eyes as his nose ran across my skin. I was exhausted, emotionally drained. Had I been alone, I would have curled into a ball and sobbed on the floor. I felt lower and more heartbroken than the time when Gabe left me in North Dakota at the end of summer and I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.

  I suffered from a gut-wrenchingly, horrendous ache in the deepest part of my stomach.

  “You smell just like honey flowers. I want to kiss you so badly. You haven’t told him about our special night, so I know you liked it.”

  “Please don’t. Can we try to call again?” I said out loud and straightened up. I wasn’t going to let him do that to me. I wanted to be touched, but not by him. He needed to move over. I needed Gabe. I wanted Gabe.

  Caleb didn’t remove his hand from my arm as he dug into his tight jeans and pulled out the phone. He brought up his contact list with his thumb and called the mansion first. There was no answer as it rung and rung. “Dang it. You try. Call Meggie. Try Josh again too. He got through before. If they up and left, you’d think they’d have holstered their phones.”

  I took the phone, dialed Meggie, held my breath, and listened to it ring three more times. Meggie didn’t answer. Josh didn’t answer.

  After I spent a few minutes fending off his advances, Caleb wheezed at my ear. If he slept, he couldn’t bother me, so I allowed his head to rest against my shoulder. The woman approached, tipped her head, and spread a grin over us as she offered me a cup of coffee.

  I didn’t like coffee, but I took it anyway. She didn’t ask me any questions and instead sat down a few pews in front of me and let her hair fall behind the seat.

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said quietly.

  She turned and nodded.

  “He’s my boyfriend’s older brother. Gabe was taken at gunpoint and the cops are out looking for him and their father is well known and we can’t get ahold of him to help,” I blabbered.

  The woman turned and stretched her arm out over the pew. “I sensed something was wrong. This Gabe, he was abducted?”

  I nodded. “By their long lost mother’s ex-boyfriend who’s an ex-cop. We think he found out their father owns HalRem and he wants money.”

  “Oh my. HalRem? And who is this lovely child who plays the piano like an angel? It’s extraordinary how she plays by ear. We’re going to have to have her come back for our fundraiser. My husband is always rounding up fresh music talent.”

  “She’s their sister and we just found her…or she just found us…and we’re taking her back to meet her father, but he won’t be happy. It’s a long story. Gabe never knew he had a sister, and now my aunt’s going to have his father’s baby, and we don’t know where they are or if she had the baby. They don’t know that Gabe was kidnapped. Nobody knows anything. They aren’t answering their phones.”

  “I’ll say a prayer for you and your boyfriend—for all of you.”

  “My parents don’t know where I am,” I confessed. “Nobody wants me to be here. Nobody wants Gabe and I to be together.”

  “You look old enough to know what’s best for you,” she replied. “It’s always best to follow your heart, dear. Others will follow your lead. Have faith in yourself.”

  “I’m old enough to be out here. But my sister’s sick, and I took off and they’re just going to lock me up when I go home. I did something I maybe shouldn’t have. It’s actually a really smart thing, but they won’t see it that way.” I took a deep breath and whispered. “I did it because I love Gabe. I can’t ever be away from him. I don’t know how to be apart from him and handle the pain again. I can’t breathe when he’s not around. I’m going to die without him. This is killing me.”

  Caleb remained completely still on my shoulder. I didn’t care if he heard me ramble. He needed to know how I felt about Gabe.

  The woman stood and pressed her lips together. She turned and I heard her say, “You’ll find him, Avery. I’m sure your folks would like to know about your current situation. Why don’t you start by calling them?”

  I didn’t want to call my parents. Not until I knew if Gabe was safe or if Meggie had the baby. That way I’d have something to say that would overshadow my running-away stunt.

  Caleb stirred on my arm and set his hand on my leg. I lifted his hand and set it on his lap, but he snuggled closer.

  “He don’t deserve you, legs. Why can’t you want me as much?”

  The phone buzzed upside down on the seat beside me. I couldn’t tell who was calling. I grabbed the phone.

  “Caleb?” the voice asked.

  “Gabe!” I nearly shouted. Caleb’s head lifted off my shoulder and he glared at me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you get away from him? What happened? Did you run? I love you! Oh my god, you had me so scared.”

  “No,” Gabe hissed. “Listen very carefully.” His voice sounded strained, quiet, almost pained.

  My entire body turned to stone, and my stomach filled with lead.

  I listened.

  “Take that phone to the lieutenant. Y’all have three hours.” He spoke slowly, his accent strengthened when he did that. I thought I heard thunder in the background. Caleb reached over and tried to grab the phone, but I held on tight.

  “Gabe, are you okay? Please tell me what he did to you? Where are you?”

  “Bring the phone to Joel…in three hours. No cops. Do you understand?” He spoke softer.

  “Yes,” I stated clearly. “Three hours or what will happen to you? What will he do? What did he do?” I pulled the phone away for a split second. “Is he listening?”

  There was silence and then Gabe coughed lightly. He spoke fast, “Nothing. Just feels like I got poked with a fork.”

  “What? You got what…you’re not making sense? We can’t get to your father that fast!”

  The call ended, and Caleb grabbed the phone as I wilted on the bench.

  “Where is he? Why do we have to get to my dad? Tell me everything. I couldn’t hear a lick,” he said.

  “He didn’t say where he was,” I whispered, voice full of dread.

  The woman, her husband, and Deliah surrounded us with anxious expressions when I looked up. I hadn’t noticed them approach.

  “What did he say?” Deliah asked.

  “We can’t get there in three hours. He sounds hurt, Caleb. This is awful. I don’t know what to do,” I whimpered, pulling on his arm. “We have to do something. We can’t just sit here waiting!”

  “Why three hours? Why Benjamin?” he asked. “We’re maybe four hours away on a good day.”

  “We have
to get this phone to your father. He’ll call in three hours. I don’t get it. Why would he have Gabe call?”

  “So you wouldn’t catch his accent. He’s from New Orleans. He talks funny,” said Deliah.

  “Talks funny like legs here?” Caleb joked.

  “There’s a good reason he’s an ex-cop and lives in Memphis now,” she said.

  “You say Louisiana? I hired a guy from the Big Easy. Smokes like a chimney,” Caleb explained.

  I stood up and held my hand out to Caleb. I grew impatient while he babbled. Gabe was in danger. Caleb took my hand with both of his and I shook him off. “No, I need your keys. We have to get to your father right now!”

  “Road’s closed, legs.”

  “I don’t care. Please give me your keys. I want to wait in the truck. Please Caleb? Let me have them?”

  I edged up to his legs where he slouched on the pew. I didn’t care that anyone watched me freak out.

  “Please. I just want to go outside,” I begged.

  “Don’t start it up,” he warned.

  He slapped the keys in my hand, and I bolted for the door, fighting my urge to limp. There was a hint of light on the horizon, pitch black sky behind me. My feet sunk into the grass, and water filled my sneakers. I locked the doors and started the engine. I needed to leave. It was a straight shot to Benjamin.

  “Open up.” Caleb banged on the window. His hair was drenched in seconds. He wasn’t wearing his hat. “Open the damn door, Avery!”

  I rolled down the window. “I need to go. I’m sorry.”

  “Let me in. Can you even drive a truck? Mine’s much bigger than Gabe’s.”

  Deliah ran outside.

  “Get in,” he hollered to her. “She’s on a mission.”

  “She’s driving? Way to go, Avery.”

  I unlocked the doors. Deliah slid in. Caleb followed. “You sure you know how to drive this?” His hand stretched across the back of the seat and pinched my neck.

  I backed out as Deliah waved to the woman and her husband. I tightened my grip. I could hardly reach the gas pedal. I stopped at the road and pulled the seat forward.

  “Take it easy with her. What do you think you’re gonna do at the barricade?” Caleb asked.

  “I’ll run it down. We have to get to your father.”

  “Cool,” Deliah said.

  “Not cool. Make sure you use all of the mirrors,” he warned.

  “You guys are so sensitive about your trucks,” Deliah teased.

  I gripped the wheel so hard my knuckles whitened. I drove toward the blackness at a speed I could manage without feeling out of control. I wasn’t used to the enormous mirrors and prayed nobody would come up on me. The man in the poncho climbed into his Bronco when we approached. A tanker truck passed us going in the opposite direction. I blinked in response to the blinding headlights.

  The road was cleared for traffic. The man pulled out in the direction of the chapel and told us we were free to go. Caleb waved his arm out the window. I released my breath and continued to drive as visions of Gabe tied up and frightened clouded my thoughts.

  Caleb messed with the radio. There was no reception, and his calls continued to go unanswered. We had nothing to go on except to reach Mr. Halden in time.

  “It’s too far. There’s no way we can make it, is there?”

  Caleb squeezed my shoulder. “Just keep driving.”

  I drove through rain and fog. I drove straight into a black cloud at about the same time the sun should have blinded me in the windshield. I thought I drove a hundred miles. At one point, Deliah elbowed me to show me that Caleb fell asleep with his mouth open. She stuck a piece of grass on his lip and he bit it. She laughed so loud he woke up.

  “How ya doing?” Caleb asked as he reached over and slapped my knee.

  “I don’t understand what Gabe was saying to me,” I rambled. “It made no sense. I’m missing something. I could be helping him.”

  “He was probably just trying to get you to hush it,” said Caleb.

  “No, he wasn’t making any sense at all. He knew we couldn’t get to your father in three hours. Even if we did take off right after him. He knows the weather is bad,” I said.

  “Maybe he saw Leon slash the tires too,” Deliah shared.

  “Kid’s got a point. I doubt this Leon thug really put thought into whether we left or not. Obviously, he thinks we can just blink and cross two states in a heartbeat.

  “Maybe Gabe had a gun pointed at his head and he couldn’t say anything!” I yelled.

  “Hey, hey. Don’t get all heated,” said Caleb.

  “I’m fine,” I lied in a huffing voice.

  “He called, right? You know he’s okay. Leon wants something from the lieutenant. He’s probably got some big blackmail scheme in motion. Don’t worry. He don’t got nothing on daddy-goody-two-shoes.”

  “I’m just worried, Caleb. He wasn’t making any sense and his voice was weak. He said he got poked with a fork.”

  “A what? Come again.”

  “A fork,” I repeated and tried to hold back my tears. “I just remembered he said that.”

  Gabe was fearless. He’d been stabbed before, but I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing another scar marring his perfect body.

  “Caleb—you stabbed Gabe once when you were kids, right?” I asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Maybe it’s a clue,” I said excitedly.

  “How’s that a clue, legs? Wait. Stop. Pull over.” Caleb whipped off his seatbelt. He leaned forward and touched my hand on the wheel. “Pull over now!”

  I stopped on the side of the road as lightning flashed, and a wild wind gust rattled the driver’s side. By the time I had the truck in park, Caleb had his hands on my waist and pushed me into Deliah.

  “What’s going on, Caleb? What do you know?” I cried.

  “Do you know where he is?” Deliah asked. “Are we still going to Texas?”

  We sped through the darkness, jerking our shoulders in unison at each thunder strike and lightning flash. Caleb drove twice as fast. He knew when to slow for flooded roads.

  “I shoulda known,” he mumbled without answering me. “No more questions. Just sit tight and let me drive.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the truck pulling through the stately entrance to the mansion. I imagined Deliah’s eyes popping out of her head when she got a look at what first made me thunderstruck. I wanted to blink my eyes open and see their father waiting for us, waiting for the call, ready to rescue Gabe.

  Caleb drove forever. I kept quiet.

  The truck jerked off the road, and I opened my eyes to watch the fog lights cut a path down an eerie road. I held onto the dash as we bumped and shook on the uneven drive.

  “Where are you going? Tell me!” I shouted.

  Caleb didn’t answer.

  “You have to drive home, Caleb. We have to find your father. Leon’s going to hurt Gabe if we don’t get the phone to your father.”

  Another gust hit the truck, and Caleb’s breath sucked in. “I can hardly keep this straight.”

  He plowed through the dirt and mud as the wipers swished on high. We came to a halt, and I looked up at the familiar sign with six iron stars covering the road. It swayed in the wind as the air blew through it.

  “Dang, look at that—it’s his litter. I always questioned what those six stars represented.”

  “We’re going to the cabin? We can’t. We have to go to Benjamin. Why are you doing this? We’ve got too far to go.”

  Deliah set her hand on my arm. “No, wait, I got an idea. Caleb can pretend to be his dad. I bet you sound a little like him, don’t you? Gabe said he looks like him and you look like Gabe, so I bet you can be him.”

  The truck took a different route than I remembered.

  “Is that why we’re here? You’re going to call him? Caleb, maybe you could pull it off,” I said, quickly feeling the dread release from my body. I set a hand on Caleb’s thigh to steady myself. He looked do
wn and then grinned.

  He kept driving. We bumped around. “I could shine up my silver belt buckle and throw on a tightass, lieutenant uniform.”

  “This could work! It’s clever enough. Gabe will call back, and we’ll be ready. It’s a good plan, right? If we can’t make it to Benjamin, we can fool him from here,” I replied.

  The truck gunned forward, and our heads hit against the headrests. Our shoulders bounced and banged. Five minutes later, my stomach hurt from clenching my muscles to keep still. We stopped cold when the trees shielded us.

  “Sit tight,” he said.

  “Aren’t we all going in?” I asked anxiously. “I need to hear what you say. Don’t call him without me.”

  Caleb opened his door and stepped down but quickly stepped back up and leaned inside the cab. The rain didn’t pound as hard beneath the shade trees. I stared at his eyes. He had eyes just like Gabe.

  “You,” he said as he pointed and winked at me, “and you, little sister, don’t leave this truck. Do not, I say, open a door or get out. Do you understand me?”

  “What are you planning to do? Just leave us here?” Deliah asked.

  “I’m not staying here,” I said. “I’m going in.”

  “Just sit tight. I gotta check on something, and I’ll be back. I’m not messing around now. I’ll leave the keys, but don’t you dare touch ’em.”

  He jumped down into the mud and shut the door. Then he tapped on the window.

  “Don’t get out of this truck,” he barked. “What I just say?”

  I rolled down the window two inches. The wind whistled in. “Get out and run,” I snickered. “Come on, Caleb, maybe we should just go to Benjamin. I’m getting a bad feeling. It’s too early to call, anyway. Leon will know it’s a trick.”

  “Gimme a few minutes and don’t leave this truck.”

  Deliah and I watched the woods as Caleb vanished into the foggy morning.

  “You love him.”

  I loved Gabe. Was that what she meant?

  “You kissed Caleb. I saw it,” she said. “You think he’s sexy.”

  I didn’t blink until my heart calmed down and I prepared what I should say. She didn’t know what she was talking about.

  “You saw Caleb kissing me? Wasn’t it dark? You were…how?” I asked in disbelief. I should have denied it.