“Great. What time do you think you can get to the mall?”
She wished she hadn’t told him she drove. Thinking about how she could pull it off and not get caught, Maddie slid down the wall, drew in a deep breath, and finally said, “Ten o’clock.”
“I’ll see you there at the northeast entrance. I can’t wait.”
“I can’t either.”
“We’re gonna have so much fun.”
A knock alerted her right before her dad opened the door. She shot to her feet and quickly said, “I have to go. Dinner is ready. See ya.” She shut down her cell and slipped it in her pocket of her shorts.
“Who was that?” Her dad remained in the entrance.
“Kelly. About school tomorrow. I’ll finally get to leave this prison.”
One corner of her father’s mouth tilted up. “At least it’s not solitary confinement. It could be worse.”
She saw no humor in his comment. “Not much.”
“Hon, things don’t have to be like this. All I ask is that you respect my wishes and follow my rules.”
“Is that all?”
He frowned. “Yes. I was a teenager once. I know things aren’t always black and white, but you can’t just break a rule of mine without consequences. What did you expect me to do?”
“Understand.”
“I do understand what it’s like to be a teenager.”
“A girl? You don’t know the first thing I’m going through.”
“Then help me understand.”
“I’ve tried. You don’t listen. You think I’m a little girl. I’m not.”
“You aren’t an adult yet either. I’m still responsible for you.”
“How am I gonna ever learn responsibility if you are always smothering me?” Her voice rose several levels.
Her dad’s expression evolved into a scowl, his brows slashing downward. “Watch your tone, young lady.”
“Yeah, fine. I’m hungry.” She skirted around him and stormed down the hall. All she wanted to do was eat, go back to her room, and plan her meeting with Tyler tomorrow.
“Did I just hear Dad leave?” Maddie came into the kitchen, headed for the refrigerator, and took out the orange juice.
“I’m not sure you should wear that outfit,” Nana said, buttering a piece of toast.
“Remember when we went to the mall to get my tattoo, I showed you this and you liked it.”
“It was on the hanger when I saw it. I didn’t realize how short the skirt was and that the T-shirt doesn’t completely cover your midriff. Does that meet the dress code?”
Maddie tugged the shirt down. “I’ll be fine, Nana. All the girls wear stuff like this.”
“I don’t know—”
“Young lady, you go back to your room and change. That is not appropriate for school, and you know it.”
Maddie pivoted toward the doorway into the dining room. Her dad stood just inside the kitchen, the hard line of his jaw conveying his feelings. One hand clutched the countertop nearby while his gaze cut through her.
“But, Dad—”
“Now.”
Fury sped through her veins. She stomped toward the hallway. “I’m gonna be late for the bus.”
“I’ll drive you to the bus stop. If you miss it, I’ll take you to school.”
With those words, she increased her pace. She couldn’t have her father take her to school. She flew into her room, threw on a pair of jeans and a long plain T-shirt, and returned to the kitchen to retrieve her book bag and a piece of toast with peanut butter on it. Her dad watched her as she started for the back door.
“Aren’t you going to have something to drink?” Nana asked before Maddie put her hand on the knob.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Get some orange juice. I’ll drive you to the bus stop.”
She opened the door. “No, I’m fine. I’m not thirsty.” Then to prove her point, she took a big bite of the toast and chewed it as she went out on the stoop.
She half expected her father to follow her and demand she ride with him. She didn’t want to be around him. He had an uncanny way of knowing something was up. The less she was around him the better she was. At the edge of the yard before ducking between the slats of the fence, she spied her dad leaving in his truck. As he drove away, she followed his progress toward the road, not releasing her breath until the back end of the truck disappeared from her sight.
Maddie glanced over her shoulder to see if Nana was watching. The coast was clear. Maddie darted back toward the house and hid behind the toolshed, waiting for her grandmother to leave, too. Thirty minutes later she finally took her car and headed for the highway. Relief trembled through Maddie. She gave Nana an extra five minutes because sometimes she came right back because she forgot something.
She snuck back into the house, hurried to her room, and changed into the outfit she had worn earlier, then went in search of the keys for the old pickup used around the ranch. She’d learned to drive it this past year, only using the gravel and dirt roads on their property. Now it was time to take her real debut road trip.
The keys were where they always were in the drawer in the desk in the kitchen. She took them and made her way to the barn where the old truck was kept on the west side of the building. The pickup had to be at least fifteen years old with over a hundred and fifty thousand miles on it. It needed a paint job to cover the rust showing through the black paint. But it would get her where she wanted to be and back home.
She settled behind the steering wheel and started the truck. It came to life, then sputtered to a stop. She waited a moment, remembering what her dad had said about flooding the engine. When she turned it over this time, it hummed like it always did. Maddie smiled and patted the dashboard.
Glancing at her watch, she noted she had an hour to get to the mall. Plenty of time. With a sigh, she backed out of the parking space next to the barn and directed the pickup toward the highway. If she remembered all her driving lessons and kept under the speed limit, she would be fine.
Halfway to the mall, she gripped the steering wheel so tight her hands ached. Sweat beaded her forehead. She’d forgotten there wasn’t any air-conditioning in the pickup, and the hot wind blowing through the cab with both windows down wasn’t enough to cool her off. On top of that the thick traffic caused her heart to hammer in her chest at a maddening pace. At a stoplight she tried to calm down.
Last night while she plotted her great escape, it had seemed simple. Now she wasn’t so sure. When someone honked behind her, she released the brake slowly. She crept forward while a car sped around her, then another one did, too. The driver glared at her.
Five miles below the speed limit was better for her than going over it. The thought of a police officer—someone her dad worked with—pulling her over chilled her, even in the hot pickup. She knew kids at school who had skipped before and nothing had ever happened to them. But rivulets of sweat ran into her eyes, stinging them. What was she doing? Why was she taking the chance? Panic nibbled at her resolve to do this.
Then she saw Ashland Mall up ahead, only a block away. She tried to relax her grasp on the steering wheel, but she couldn’t. She turned into the parking lot on the east side of the mall not far from the northeast entrance. All she had to do was find a parking space and—
The pickup sputtered to a stop in the middle of a parking lot row, blocking some parked vehicles from leaving. She wasn’t far from where she should be, but suddenly it seemed miles away. She thought of leaving the truck and going inside to find Tyler, but as she sat in the cab, she couldn’t bring herself to open the door. Her limbs felt weighed down, keeping her glued to the seat.
She pulled her purse to her side and dug inside it until she found her cell, intending to call Tyler and tell him where she was. But again, she couldn’t do it. Her fingers poised over her phone, but instead of punching his number in she found Kate’s stored in her cell from when she’d called a few days ago to see how she was doing. She’d bee
n surprised, but now she was glad Kate had checked on her.
“Maddie, I thought school started today for you,” Kate said when she answered.
“Please come pick me up at Ashland Mall near Bluebonnet Creek. The pickup died in the middle of the parking lot. It’s blocking other cars from leaving.”
“Did you call your dad?”
“No, and promise me you won’t. I’ll explain everything when you get here. I’m two rows north of the northeast entrance.”
“Maddie, you need to call your dad and tell him what’s going on.”
Tears jammed a lump into her throat. She swallowed several times and said, “I will. I promise when I get home. I did something foolish.” Her voice broke. “Help me make it right first.”
“I’ll be there. Probably thirty minutes. Don’t leave the truck. What color?”
“Black. It’s old and beat up. We only use it around the ranch.”
“Lock the doors and stay put.” Kate clicked off.
Maddie checked her watch. 9:40.
In his office, Wyatt stared at the list of his search results. Only three couples’ deaths in a fire in the past eleven years in Texas fit the parameters of what he was looking for. Terry and Laura Alexander, Robert and Vickie Maxwell, and Randy and Debra Rhea. One couple lived within fifty miles of Dallas— the Rhea family. The other two were hundreds of miles away. He would start with the nearest one and pray the couple was Rose’s parents.
Before he left, he started calling his sheriffs and police chiefs about the photos he’d left with them of Rose. He wanted to emphasize the importance of the case by following up with them.
The first three assured him that no one had recognized Rose from the two photos. With the fourth call, the police chief promised he would talk to his men again.
The rest of his calls went about that way. Not one lead. By the time he reached his last one, discouragement frustrated him to the point he was glad he was getting out of the office after this call.
“This is Ranger Sheridan. Is Police Chief Jeffers in?”
“No, sir, he’s gone today. This is Officer Bowen. Can I help you?”
“I was checking back on the two photos I gave him to show around. Have any of you recognized the girl in the picture?”
“When was this?”
“Last week.”
“We haven’t seen a photo of a girl. What age?”
“One is of a sixteen-year-old. The other is a computer-generated photo of that same girl maybe at the age of ten or eleven.”
“I haven’t seen it. Just a sec. I’ll ask a couple of the other officers.”
Wyatt drummed his fingers on his desk while he waited. This same situation had happened at another two offices.
“No, sir, we haven’t.”
“I’m faxing you another set of pictures in a few minutes. Please pass them around and call me if anyone knows anything.”
“Will do.”
Wyatt hung up and stood. He strode to the fax machine and sent the photos to the three offices that hadn’t followed through on the pictures. He realized how good intentions could be forgotten when some other situation came up and took a law enforcement officer’s whole attention. That was why he always called to check on any progress made.
Five minutes after ten, Kate’s rental car pulled up behind the pickup, and Maddie watched her get out. Another woman sat in the passenger seat. As Kate strolled toward her, Maddie opened the door and climbed down.
“Who’s with you?” Maddie wiped her hand across her wet forehead.
“Susan. She works at Beacon of Hope. If I can’t get this truck started, I’m going to wait here for my car service to come get it while she takes you to school.”
Remembering the confrontation this morning with her dad and even Nana about her outfit, Maddie gestured at her clothes. “I can’t go to school like this. They would send me home.”
“Why are you dressed like that? Why are you skipping school?”
The sun beat down on her as if she was being grilled under a hot spotlight. Sweat dampened her midriff T-shirt. She peered toward the entrance of the mall where the air-conditioning worked.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. I didn’t call your dad, but I can now.”
Tears flooded Maddie’s eyes. “Don’t. Not yet. Dad is gonna be so disappointed in me. I messed up. Big time.”
“Why are you here?”
“To meet a boy.”
“His school didn’t start today?”
“No, he goes to Southwest Academy. He doesn’t start until tomorrow.”
“He’s in high school. A freshman?”
Maddie shook her head.
“How old is he?”
“He’s a junior.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“Here at the mall a few weeks ago.”
Kate didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Is he a friend of a friend?”
“No.”
“Tell me about him. Have you seen him a lot?”
“How could I? I got grounded. I’ve talked to him on the phone, and he came to the ranch once.”
“Oh, so your dad has met him, and he is okay with him being a junior in high school.”
Maddie straightened. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Does he know about—what’s his name?”
“Tyler Collins, and no, he doesn’t.”
“Has your grandmother met him?”
“No. I met him at the stream between our ranch and Kelly’s. She was there.”
“Did he ask you to skip school today?”
Maddie dropped her head. Anger and embarrassment warred within her. “We haven’t gotten to see each other in a while. Nothing happens at school the first day or so.”
“What’s he look like?”
“He is gorgeous with the prettiest chocolate brown eyes. When you look at him, that’s what you see first. He’s almost six feet, a great tan. I can’t believe he’s interested in me. He probably could have any girl at Southwest.”
“How did you meet at the mall?”
“I bumped into him, and we started talking. He had a friend with him, and Chad likes Kelly.”
“Did Kelly skip school, too?”
“No, but then she hasn’t been grounded like me. I just wanted to have a little fun. If the truck hadn’t died, Dad would never have known about it.”
“Why didn’t you get Tyler to help you?”
The question hung in the hot air between her and Kate. What made her call Kate, not Tyler? She’d been ready to call him and ask for his help. “I don’t know.”
“It didn’t feel right?”
Maddie shrugged. “I guess so. I started thinking about Dad.
I . . .” She didn’t know what to say because she couldn’t really explain her actions. “Come on. Let’s get you to school. Later this afternoon you
and I need to have a long talk with your dad.”
“He is gonna be so mad at me.”
“Yes, he will be, but in the end you stopped and thought about what you were doing. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have called me.” Kate started toward her rental car. “What time do you get home from school?”
“Four.”
“Then I’ll be there. Don’t worry about the truck. I have a car service that can tow it to a mechanic I know. He won’t work on it until your dad knows.”
As they approached the rental, Susan exited the passenger side and rounded the front of the car.
“Susan, this is Maddie, Wyatt’s daughter. She needs to go to school after she goes home and changes. I’ll let you know if you need to come back here or to Bud’s Garage to pick me up. It depends on how fast the tow truck will get here. I’ll call you.”
Susan nodded then turned to Maddie. “Are you ready?”
Maddie peered back at the mall. She made a big mess of everything. “Yes.” She’d never see Tyler again. Her dad would probably never let her out of his sight. Why did sh
e call Kate?
As she settled into the front seat of the car, Maddie relished the cooler interior, but a blanket of perspiration still covered her. Her head throbbed. Her mouth was so dry.
Susan started the engine. “Are you okay?”
Maddie rubbed her temples. “I’ve got a headache.”
“Probably from the heat. We’ll stop and get some water on the way.”
“Why are you and Kate being so nice to me? I screwed up bad this time.” She’d never done something like skipping school. Her dad would ground her for months.
“Because you’re still a child and you’re learning what’s right and wrong. We’ve all messed up in life. Kate and I work with girls who have, and they’re trying to make something better for themselves. At least most of them.”
“Not all of them?”
“There are some that want to keep their old way of life. They get caught up in the sex and drugs. I wish we could reach them all.”
“How in the world do they let that happen to them?”
“Some are runaways and are on the street, trying to find a way to live. Others are recruited.”
“Girls are approached to be a prostitute and agree?”
“I suppose some are, but a lot are kidnapped and forced into it. They’re drugged or beaten into submission.”
And my dad is trying to do something about it. The idea made her think about him differently. He didn’t talk about his work much at home. He’d always steered the conversation to something else—like her friends, training for the rodeo competition. “Is Kate helping my dad?”
Before Susan could answer, Maddie’s cell rang. She noticed it was Tyler’s number and thought about not answering it. What should she tell him?
“Aren’t you going to get it?”
It stopped ringing. “I don’t know what to say to him. It’s the boy I was meeting.”
“You tell him the truth. You changed your mind.” Susan flashed her a grin. “We have the right to change our minds.”
Saving Hope: Men of the Texas Rangers Book 1 Page 24