“Gabe. Gabe,” I said. “Gabe.” I shook his shoulder and poked his rock hard belly. He roused and rubbed his eyes. “Behind you. It’s a police officer. How do we know if he’s real?”
I locked my hand around his wrist and squeezed his upper arm with my other hand.
“It’s okay. Turn the key.”
He unrolled the window as his eyes darted up.
“Can you step out of the vehicle please?” the man asked.
“Are you sure he’s really real? What should we do?” I whispered into Gabe’s shoulder.
“What he says. I know what he wants.” He slapped a HalRem cap on his head.
I took his hand and jumped off the running board. The officer pointed to the hood and told Gabe to put his hands on it. I gathered he was a legitimate cop. He stopped me from following Gabe and asked, “What are you two doing out here? You look young.”
“We were talking and taking a nap,” I answered.
“So if I go ask him, he’ll give me the same story?”
“I hope so,” I said as I gazed sideways at Gabe. He looked ragged.
“Don’t look at him. Look at me,” the man ordered.
“We weren’t doing anything,” I said.
“Where are you from?” he asked as he drew his eyes up my mud-caked jeans and stopped at my face.
“She’s from New York and we were just taking a nap,” Gabe told him.
“Did I ask you?” the officer said out of the side of his mouth.
Gabe shook his head as the man approached him. He kept his eyes down.
“What’s her name?”
“Her name?” Gabe mumbled.
“Yeah, her name.”
“I think she said it was Bambi,” Gabe told him coolly as he lifted his eyes under the bill of the cap.
“Gabe!” I stomped my foot in a puddle and winced. I quickly understood what was going on, and I was not about to be mistaken for one of those hussy girls I caught Caleb flirting with.
“What’s your name son?”
“Gabe Halden.” He tipped his hat and pointed to the HalRem logo.
“Do you have your license on you? That’s a hell of a bruise you’re sporting, son.”
Gabe flipped his wallet open and handed it over.
“Well, Mr. Halden, we’ve been having issues with illegal activity at this stop.” The man looked at the wallet. “No fooling, you’re one of Joel Halden’s kin?”
“Yup.”
“Halden-Remington?” he asked.
“Yup.”
I wondered how many times a week Gabe had to explain himself. The officer looked to me with an uncertain gaze and Gabe snorted.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
“Joel Halden’s kid, eh? Okay. Sorry to bother you. This isn’t the best place to park. Why don’t you be on your way?”
The man turned and walked off.
“Tell him,” I whispered loudly. “Gabe, tell him about the cabin. Did you forget?”
Gabe lifted his hat to run his hand through his hair. “Hold up, sir.” He waved the hat above his head. I leaned against the truck and watched him slide the cap back on the wrong way. My heart went pitter-patter. “I need to report a kidnapping.”
* * *
I managed to drive Gabe’s truck as he snored against the passenger window with his mouth open enough that I could smell the gum he started chewing before he conked out. The sun crept out from under a gray layer of cloud and brightened the desolateness of Texas and its continuous rolling hills and pastures. I guesstimated I was thirty miles or less from Benjamin. Gabe loathed using a GPS as much as he loathed carrying a phone.
“We’re getting close,” I said. “Wake up, sleepy.”
Gabe’s hand slid across the seat and curled over my leg.
“I feel like I got run over,” he said without lifting his face from the window.
“Yep. We should stop and get some more ice. Maybe your father won’t freak out if he sees you’re in pain.”
He leaned across the seat and nuzzled my ear. His breath tickled my skin like feathers.
“I’m going to sleep all day,” I told him as he played with my hair.
“I know just where,” he whistled into my ear and caused my skin to tighten across my shoulders and chest. “With me in my bed. I need you, Av’ry. You smell so good.” He tugged on the ponytail I strung at the truck stop.
“I’m trying to drive,” I laughed. “I smell like mud.”
“I’m impressed. No lights on the dash, air pressure seems good. Turn here.” He waited until the last minute to inform me. “Then it’s a straight shot to the fortress.”
I glanced in my rearview mirror. A pickup truck got on my tail and didn’t back off. “Gabe, somebody’s trying to run me down.”
“That’s because you drive like an old lady. Pull over or let them go around.”
I slowed down and the truck slowed. “They’re doing what I do.”
“Gas it then.”
He pressed down on my leg, and we jumped forward. “Gabe! They’re still there.”
The truck honked as it rubbed Gabe’s bumper.
“Agh!” I screamed.
“Pull over, Av’ry. I know who it is. Just pull over.”
I threw the truck in park and curled over the wheel. “I’m done. I hate driving your truck.”
“Stay here,” he said before he slammed his door.
I climbed out. Did he really think I would stay in the truck? “Wait,” I hollered.
Gabe turned around and gawked. “I said stay put.”
I examined his broad shoulders as they swayed with careless ease. He didn’t appear concerned as he walked up to the driver’s door. I couldn’t see the driver. The door opened, and Gabe stepped back. A hand reached for his upper arm and held him at bay.
“What the hell happened to you? Dad’s gonna piss fire. You look like you’ve been yanked through a knothole backwards.”
Lane stepped down and turned Gabe sideways and then smacked his shoulder.
“It’s not what you think,” he told his brother. “Dad’s gonna piss more than fire.”
“You got a new truck,” I said as I joined the reunion. I hadn’t seen Lane since the summer. He looked handsome in his sunglasses. All of the Haldens always looked really good—until I spent a few hours with them.
“Avery Ross, still in Texas? I thought they shipped you home.”
“You didn’t pick me up at the airport. I was expecting you,” I told him.
“I left town. Long story. I heard you broke your leg,” he said.
“Yeah. Who told you?”
“Meggie. What did the boy do to deserve all this?” He grabbed Gabe’s chin to examine the bruises. I flinched when Gabe kicked him in the shin, and Lane twisted Gabe’s arm behind his back and pushed him against the hood. “Why aren’t you two at the hospital?”
“Don’t ask,” Gabe said as he elbowed Lane to let him go. “I gotta talk to you, and Caleb’s got something big to show you.”
“We had a chat. First, he said he was bringing me a girl. That’s nothing new. Then, he told me you found mom. I’ll believe it when I see it. I wanna hear the whole story. But we gotta get moving.”
“Why? Did Meggie have the baby?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Lieutenant called me in Minnesota and commanded I tow it back here. Meggie was in labor, but they were waiting it out, I guess. That’s all I know. Something’s wrong with the phones.”
“When was that?” I asked. “We tried to call you a few times too.” Lane looked me up and down and laughed.
“Day before yesterday. I had my phone off for a while—had to think. Maybe Meggie’s still at home.” His concentration dropped to my legs again. His voice raised an octave. “Y’all been mud wrestling?”
“Ha ha,” I said. I should have cleaned all of the mess off at the cabin.
“Y’all hear about Benjamin?” he continued.
“Hear what?” Gabe drawled.
; “Twister leveled the Biggiemart and the bus depot. I heard the lot is flat as a pancake. Biggest pancake in all of Texas.”
“No way? Let’s go see,” I said excited. “Did anybody get hurt?”
“All I heard is it happened overnight. I haven’t seen it with my own eyes. I know for a fact my dad would call off a tornado that dared to land anywhere near his home or his headquarters.”
“This isn’t Benjamin? I thought we were there,” I said.
Lane waved his hat. “Naw, it’s over yonder apiece.”
“Everything looks the same to me for like a thousand miles in every direction. Long and boring and mostly dead. You don’t have as many oil wells here, but it does look like North Dakota.”
Lane and Gabe flashed their humored gazes on me.
“She better watch it,” Lane told Gabe. He leaned into me. “You can’t be saying that in the open around here or they’ll cut your tongue out, Avery.”
“Let’s go. Gimme my keys.” Gabe held his hand out. When I didn’t move, he dug his fingers into my pocket and pulled them out. “You said you hate driving my truck.”
Lane shook his head. “You let her drive?”
I planted my fist on my hip. “Silly boys, trucks are for girls.” They both glared. “What? I saw it on a T-shirt back at the truck stop. I should’ve bought it for your—” I cut myself off before I said the name. I knew Gabe wanted to surprise Lane.
I sat in the middle of the seat as we followed Lane for twenty minutes going twice the posted speed limit, bouncing up and down over the gravely road. I recognized the area, but the grocery store was the other way. Gabe was wide awake, fully revived after he downed a box of rainbow Nerds he found in the glove box. I set a hand on his leg. I loved sitting beside him as he drove. His long legs fit nicely under the wheel. He drove with the seat all the way back.
I turned my chin and placed my cheek on his shoulder. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“No. I mean…you said you’re leaving.”
“Oh, that,” he replied under his breath. Was he going to make light of it? “I’m not letting them push me around no more. I’m done following the rules, making everybody else happy. I don’t care anymore. Nobody ever cared if I was happy. My family is so screwed up it ain’t even funny.”
“You can get to know your mother. I think she would want to get to know you. Caleb seems to be okay with her.”
He grunted. “I’ll never see her again. I’m never going back after what she’s done. I’m done with everybody.”
“You’re quitting your job to spite your father?”
“Yup, I am,” he said self-righteously as he swerved the truck to avoid a large branch. Hot tears pressed behind my eyes. I would never allow them to come out, but they were there and I hated how I allowed myself to be hurt again. I couldn’t inhale a deep enough breath. I sat up and leaned away. I didn’t dare sniffle.
“Av’ry,” he murmured.
I didn’t answer. I was beat.
“Hey, look here.”
“No.” I wiped the side of my eye with my finger.
He let off the gas.
“Av’ry?” he drawled.
“I can’t handle that you’re leaving again,” I blurted. “I won’t see you, and you’ll stay away for months and not call. I don’t want to be without you for a minute. This summer the pain bled through me until I almost drown in it, Gabe. When I got sent home from North Dakota, I was so devastated I wanted to die. I couldn’t cope with not talking to you or seeing you or knowing if you were thinking about me. Or if you were alive. I’m just starting to feel good about us, and now you announce you’re taking off. I made plans too.” I wiped my hands on my jeans and raised my unsteady voice. “Dammit, why do you do this to me?”
“Are you done yet?” he asked.
The tires skidded on wet gravel. I slapped a palm on the dashboard and grabbed the door. My eyes spread wide when we nearly careened into Lane’s truck. My hand didn’t release the door handle until I watched Lane jump out. Gabe pushed his door open and scampered off after his brother who was talking to a man on the side of the road.
I sat alone and waited for my nerves to settle. Didn’t he hear me? I wanted to run into the field and disappear.
A moving truck with a national logo lay upside down across both lanes of road. All of the tires were busted off. I couldn’t see the cab. I climbed down from the truck and spotted furniture strewn through the field. I gaped at a dining table standing in tall grass, upright. Mattresses and broken cabinets lay in piles. A set of kitchen chairs were wedged in a tree. A woman was crouched in the grass with her head in her hands. Beside her, a child hugged a doll.
“They called 9-1-1, but they don’t know when the twister hit. The family was following their stuff from Florida to Arizona and just caught up. The cab is freaking gone. So is the driver,” Lane said as he looked past my head and pointed to an area where the ground was completely dug up and trees lay toppled like matchsticks. “I’ve never seen anything like this. That barn is standing up and there’s nothing left of that house. My dad knows the owners.”
“What about Aunt Meggie? I hope they got her out in time.”
“It’s only about a mile or so to our place. This road is impassable. We’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” Lane said. “They’ve been watching choppers fly over our property. It starts beyond those granddaddy trees.”
“Do you think a helicopter took Meggie?” I asked alarmed.
Gabe shook his head in my peripheral vision. “Those are news choppers. They must have found out about the kidnapping scheme. Maybe Caleb got word out too.”
I couldn’t look at him, though I wanted to sit him down in the road and demand he explain what part I played in his grand escape before I completely lost my mind.
“What kidnapping?” Lane said as he set a hand on each of our shoulders. “Caleb didn’t say anything. Are you serious? Who got kidnapped?”
I slipped out from Lane’s grip and started for the ditch I needed to cross to get around the blocked road.
“Aw come on, Av’ry,” Gabe said.
I ran down one side and up the other, and walked through the field to clear the barricade. My leg acted perfectly normal, though the pain in my heart became more intense. I covered a long stretch before Gabe wove his fingers through mine. We walked in silence. Had he given any thought to my rant? Lane followed.
I surprised myself and stayed quiet when Gabe slid his hand into my back pocket and pulled me close. My thoughts ran wild as I stepped over sections of chain-link fence and pieces of siding in the road. I could see miles of ranch-style fence surrounding the Halden property. It looked like a ribbon holding together a forest. A helicopter shot out from behind the trees and nearly scared the life out of me. I stumbled backward and tripped on Lane’s feet.
I heard the humming; however I thought it was a tractor. Gabe pulled me into the ditch and we squatted together until the flying bird passed over. The helicopter flew low enough for us to spot a camera aimed in our direction.
Lane shouted from the road. “I’ll take care of them.”
Gabe didn’t unclasp his arms from my waist. “You gonna talk to me now?” He pulled me with him as he relaxed against the wall of the muddy trench.
“What’s there to say? You’ve already made up your mind,” I shouted.
Gabe spun us so he was a head taller, stooping over me, causing my back to press into the dirt. He had that look he got when he wanted to kiss me.
His nose pressed into mine, and he shut his eyes. “Damn, stubborn, foolish girl.”
I wanted to forget his kisses.
“I’m not stubborn.”
He grinned and shouted over the noise of the rotor. “I might not have a penny to my name after today.”
“Gabe!” I screamed and buried my head in his shirt as the helicopter hovered directly above us and caused the entire ditch to whip up into a tornado of dir
t. I squatted and covered my ears. Gabe covered me. My knee ground into a sharp rock, and my skin opened inside the fabric. The chopper lifted and moved to the side. Gabe looked up and I saw him flip his middle finger at the aircraft.
My airway clogged. I choked on the dust.
“Get a life, scumbags!” I heard Lane belt above the trench.
Gabe patted my back to help me stop coughing.
“Why did they do that?” I yelled through the noise as he helped me up.
“Paparazzi. Damn oil paparazzi,” Gabe shouted. “They’re always looking for stuff to print about the lieutenant. Oil tycoons hold celebrity status around these parts. Plus, there’s all that anti-fracking business to feed.”
“Take my hand,” Lane said loudly. I climbed out and examined my knee. My already filthy jeans were bloody and torn.
The helicopter made a wide circle and returned. I turned toward the ditch again as Lane ran out along the road. I shielded my eyes, but I saw the man with a camera snapping his picture. He leaned out of the opening and shouted at Lane. They conversed, and the chopper lifted into the air and took off following the road toward the mansion.
“What the hell was that about?” Gabe yelled.
“I’m running ahead,” Lane shouted without further explanation.
My weaker calf muscle ached from climbing in and out of the trench. Gabe hitched me up on his back, and we followed the country road to the picket fence. Trees shed their branches all over. Lane darted down the road and avoided the flooded parts by zigzagging his path. The helicopter circled and then disappeared from sight as we came upon the fencing. I held tightly around Gabe’s neck and rested my chin against his head. He carried me, not even flinching, as he maneuvered through debris and blown-out landscape.
For a good mile, the property was completely barred by trees and fence until we came up on the stone fortification I remembered from my summer visit. It took a while to walk the length to the gates. As Gabe strode past each gap in the wall, I peered in, but there was nothing to see. I glared at the helicopter and wondered why it hung on, waiting for Gabe’s approach. For once, I wished I had my own cowboy hat to hide under.
Gabe stopped in the road when the iron gates came into view. I noted a line of vehicles down the road, some with flashing lights. My pulse raced with a sudden anxiety. I heard honking, but the chopper noise drowned all else. I slid down Gabe’s back and startled when I saw Lane squat in the road and put his hands on his head.
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