Not by Sight (26 page)

“I don’t think you have to do anything differently with Abby than you’ve been doing with Hawk,” Kate said. “Teach her to love the outdoors and let her choose the activities she enjoys. If she’s anything like I was, she’ll idolize her daddy, and wherever you go, she’ll be your shadow.”

Micah held up Abby’s scaly, purplish foot and chuckled. “How can she have such a perfect little face and feet like a lizard?”

“You know that changes quickly.” Kate smiled. “She’s about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Me, too.”

“We need to get her cleaned up, weighed, and measured,” the nurse said. “I’ll bring her to you as soon as we’re finished.”

“With one of those little pink hats?” Micah said.

The nurse winked. “That’s the one. We won’t be long.”

Kate handed Abby to the nurse and turned to Micah, saying nothing, just relishing the feeling. It was magical …

I miss you so much, Micah. I thought I’d die when you and Riley Jo went missing. I don’t think I can survive losing Abby, too. I really don’t.

Kate sensed someone approaching and turned just in time to see Elliot stop at the bottom of the porch steps.

“I’m sorry to intrude on your privacy,” he said, “but I thought you should know that your dad is handling things in the office. He insisted. I think it’s helping him to cope.”

Kate nodded. “He does better with a lot going on.”

“And what about you?” Elliot said. “How are you coping?”

“Truthfully? I feel as if I’m going to break in two. But I’ve learned that I’m tougher than I think.”

“You’re about the strongest woman I’ve ever met.” Elliot’s face turned bright pink. “I hope you don’t mind me saying that.”

“I’m flattered. I just hate how I earned it.” Kate patted the swing seat. “Come sit with me.”

Elliot didn’t hesitate. He climbed the steps and sat next to her, leaving a respectful distance between them.

“I thought when Micah and Riley Jo went missing I would never recover,” Kate said. “And for a long time, it seemed that way. It’s gotten easier to bear over time. But I just can’t go through it again. I’m not sure I can live through losing Abby …” Kate put her fist to her mouth and choked back the emotion that had formed a knot in her throat.

Elliot took her free hand and squeezed it. “I don’t pretend to know what you’re feeling. But don’t lose hope that Virgil is going to find Abby alive. While we’re waiting to hear, is there
anything
I can do? Buck seemed right at home in the office and didn’t need me to hang around.”

“You’re already doing it. I appreciate your kindness. You’re a good friend.”

Kate’s cell phone rang. She jumped, her hand over her heart, and glanced at the screen. “It’s Virgil.” Kate breathed in slowly and exhaled, then pushed a button “This is Kate. You’re on speakerphone. Elliot Stafford’s here with me. Please tell me you’ve got good news.”

“I wish,” Virgil said. “The hounds picked up both scents immediately and were off and running, but we hit a snag. The dogs came to a gate in a barbed wire fence. It was unlocked, and the handlers took them through. The hounds got a big whiff of some kind of powder on the other side that seems to be playing havoc with their sense of smell. We’re not sure what the substance is or how long it’ll affect them.”

“Are you giving up?” Kate said.

“Not at all. The dogs proved to us the kids had been in these woods. It’s just going to be much harder to track them without the hounds. I’ve got search teams still moving in the same general direction. We’re looking into who owns the property, but I’m declaring exigent circumstances and proceeding without a warrant.”

“What does that mean?” Kate said.

“Simply put, it means that time is of the essence and we can’t afford to get slowed down by red tape.”

Chapter 29

Abby was on the verge of collapse but kept moving along the creek bed at the insistence of Isaiah’s rifle at her back.

“That’s it up ahead,” Isaiah said. “I brung you back a different way so them trees’d hide us from the whirlybird.”

Abby craned her neck and spotted a rather crude-looking log house nestled in the trees about fifty yards in front of Jay. And several small outbuildings, including what appeared to be a chicken coop and a smokehouse. She had never really seen the outside of the place where they’d been kept prisoner. But somewhere nearby was the root cellar. She glanced beyond the buildings to a pen—and spotted pigs. A chill crawled up her spine.

“You gonna throw us back in the hole?” Ella’s voice was filled with dread.

“I already said what I’m gonna do with you.”

Ella stopped and turned around, her arms folded resolutely across her chest, her jaw set. “I ain’t lettin’ you feed me to them pigs!”

“Too late. You shoulda thought ’bout that before you went up against me.”

Abby shot Jay a knowing look. Without giving it a second thought, she swung around and kicked Isaiah in the gut, then grabbed Ella’s hand and ran for the woods.

“Run!” Jay hollered. “Run!”

Abby, breathless with fear but fueled by determination, raced across the property toward the tree line, clinging tightly to Ella’s hand.

A rifle shot ran out. Terror seized Abby, but she kept running faster and faster until they were hidden in the trees. She finally stopped, panting, and looked over at Ella.

“He killed him!” Ella cried. “Pa killed Jay! He’s gonna get us, too!” The child’s eyes were wide and brimming with tears, her body trembling.

Abby wanted to keep running. But she had to know. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

Abby moved closer to the edge of the woods and looked out, her heart pounding so hard she could scarcely take a breath, shocked and relieved that Jay didn’t appear to be shot. He and Isaiah were rolling on the ground, engaged in a fistfight, the rifle not far from either.

“Jay, get the rifle!” she shouted. “Don’t let Isaiah pick it up!”

Lord, help him!

Everything in her wanted to run out there and snatch the rifle. But if she failed, there was a good chance Isaiah would end up killing all three of them.

Ella came up next to her and clutched her arm.

“Father, we need You,” Abby said aloud. “Help us. You’re all we’ve got.”

Jay, his nose and T-shirt bloody, struggled to his feet, only to have Isaiah get up and knock him to the ground, flat on his back.

Isaiah reached down and picked up the rifle, pointing it at Jay’s chest. “You stupid kid! You shoulda left well enough alone!” He cocked the rifle. “That’s the last time you’re gonna give me grief!”

“Nooo!” Abby cried.

Kate opened her eyes, her heart pounding wildly, her head still ringing with the sound of Abby’s scream. She must have imagined it. How could it have been so real? So chilling?

She got up out of the porch swing and stood at the railing, her pulse racing faster than a doe that bounded across the driveway and disappeared into the woods.

She listened intently to the quiet, which seemed to taunt her. The only sound was the distant reverberation of the helicopter, a haunting reminder that another member of her family might never come home.

There was a time when she might have felt some satisfaction in shaking her fist at God. Now she had neither the passion nor the energy nor even the assurance that there existed a God to blame. The more she suffered, the more convinced she was that nothing happened for a reason. It was all by chance. Chance that had victimized her again with no warning and no higher purpose.

She heard the screen door open behind her.

“You okay?” Elliot’s voice was as soothing as his touch.

Kate had loved being held by him and was disappointed with herself for relishing the arms of a man other than Micah. “I’m fine. I must have dozed off and had a dream. I thought I heard Abby screaming. It sent a chill right through me.”

“I’m sure it did. You haven’t heard anything more from the sheriff?”

“Nothing. I’m so afraid he’s going to be too late. That Abby …” Kate’s voice failed.

Elliot came up behind her and put his warm hand on her shoulder. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think it.”

Kate turned around and looked into Elliot’s understanding eyes, grateful he didn’t tell her that she needed to have faith. Or hit her with meaningless platitudes. Instead, he simply pulled her into his arms and comforted her.

Abby hid Ella’s face in her chest and closed her eyes, waiting for Isaiah’s rifle to fire. Would she ever feel joy that she had found her sister if Jay was killed because of it?

A single shot rang out, echoing across the Arkansas sky. She was pierced to the heart and paralyzed with dread, unsure whether it was she or Ella who was shaking.

Someone shouted a string of obscenities, and Abby’s eyes flew open. Isaiah had dropped the rifle and was shaking his hand, shouting vile words that made her cringe.

A second later, a young man wearing a camouflage T-shirt and matching cap marched boldly out of the woods like a soldier on a mission, his hunting rifle pointed at Isaiah.

Hawk!
Abby wasn’t sure whether she had spoken his name or merely thought it.

“Don’t you
dare
move,” Hawk said, sliding the fallen rifle to Jay with his foot. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Jay said. “Am I ever glad to see you! Abby and Ella are safe. They ran into the woods.”

Abby glanced over at the log house and saw someone close the curtain. She stood at the tree line, waving her arms. “Hawk! His wife’s in the house! Be careful!”

Hawk turned sideways so he could see the house, his rifle still pointed at Isaiah. The front door opened slightly, and a broom with a white cloth hanging on the end slowly emerged through the crack.

“Don’t shoot,” Otha said. “I’m comin’ out now, me and my babies. We’s the only folk in here. Ain’t got no firearm. I ain’t gonna hurt nobody.”

Otha came out, her hands in the air, her twins crying and clinging to her long dress.

“Don’t you betray me, woman!” Isaiah shouted.

“You lied to me from the start,” Otha retorted. “You stole that child from her kin. Whatever happens to you now, you’re deservin’ of it.”

Abby looked at Ella, who seemed dazed. “It’s okay, sweetie. No one can hurt you now.”

But even as Abby said the words, she knew that the emotional hurt was immediate and deep, possibly even irreversible, as her sister was about to be separated from the only family—the only life—she had ever known.

Virgil turned off his siren and got out of his squad car. He spotted a bearded man in the back of Kevin Mann’s car, and Hawk and Abby standing with Jay and a little girl in the shade of a huge hickory tree.

Kevin jogged over to him. “Hey, Sheriff.”

“Fill me in,” Virgil said.

“Everything’s under control. Hawk Cummings took care of business.”

“Anybody dead?”

“No, sir. He shot the rifle right out of the perp’s hand. The guy’s name’s Isaiah Tutt. He’s a backwoods hick with his own mind-set—a real piece o’ work. The bullet grazed his hand, but he’s all right. I’ll have the paramedics take a look at it when they get here.”

“Has he asked for a lawyer?”

“Doesn’t want one. He doesn’t trust anyone connected with law enforcement.”