Somewhere Along the Way (39 page)

“Are you in town?

One beep.

“Are you inside a van?”

Two beeps.

“Are you inside someone’s house?”

Nothing. Alex fought down panic. She had to ask yes or no questions. If Reagan didn’t know, she might not answer. Or, she might be in too much danger to answer.

Alex tried again. “Are you inside?”

One beep.

“Are you alone?”

One beep.

Jess had moved behind her, following along with speakers on. “She’s inside, but not in a house, Sheriff.”

“Are you in a barn?” Alex yelled.

Two beeps.

“A car?”

Two beeps.

“A business?”

Two beeps.

“A shed?”

One beep. Alex breathed and jotted down for Jess to notify the others that they were looking for a shed.

While Jess called, Alex continued to play the game with Reagan. She wanted to ask where the girl was hurt and who had kidnapped her and why, but none of those mattered. All that mattered right now was finding her. Alex began naming things that Reagan might be able to see.

After a dozen tries, she wrote down
two-story house
and passed it to Jess so he could relay.

“That eliminates most of the town,” he said as he dialed. “The historical district and over by the golf course are about all we got in the way of second stories.”

“We’ve got teams moving toward you,” Alex yelled to Reagan, guessing the phone was not close to her ear. “Are you still alone?”

One beep.

“Is he coming back?”

No answer. She didn’t know.

“Are you warm?”

Two beeps. No. She was probably freezing.

“Are you tied up?”

One beep.

“Is there any light around you?”

Two beeps. Wherever she was, she was in the dark. Alone, cold, and frightened.

The courthouse clock began chiming the midnight hour.

“Can you hear the clock?” Alex closed her eyes and waited, counting the chimes in her mind.

One beep.

Alex was on her feet running. “Call the others. Tell them all that she’s close to downtown. She has to be in the historical district. If she can’t see streetlights, she’ll be in the back behind a two-story house.”

“Got it!” Jess yelled.

Alex was already heading down the steps. The fastest way to the back of the historical district was along the creek bed. She pulled the hood of her coat low and turned into the darkness.

It was dangerous tromping through snow on uneven ground, but Alex knew every minute counted.

EARLY SATURDAY
FEBRUARY 23, 2008
STREETS OF HARMONY

GABE ANSWERED THE PHONE WHEN TYLER CALLED TO tell them the news about how Alex had talked to Reagan and she was somewhere near downtown.

“Tell me all you know, fast,” he said to Tyler as Denver drove the Rover toward the center of town. “We’re coming in from the south.”

Tyler’s voice sounded nervous, but determined. “Do you know the creek path through town?”

“Of course.”

“In the historical district a lot of those old houses have sheds out back. If you go under at the bridge on Elm and Third on foot, you can walk the creek faster than driving down the road and crossing behind every house.”

Gabe agreed. “I know the creek. We’ll cross down to it at Elm. I can find my way in the dark.”

He hung up and grabbed one of the extra crutches they’d picked up at the hospital. “Turn left in two blocks,” Gabe told Denver. “You’ll see a bridge crossing the road. We can cut down to the creek there.”

“I have no idea what you are planning,” Denver said. “But I’m with you.”

A few minutes later they stepped out in the snow. Gabe hated a cane, but this was no time to think about himself. He could move faster with the crutch, plus test for solid ground.

Neither said a word as they moved away from the streetlights and into the creek bed. The air was still, with only the swishing sound of their boots eating up the snow. The ugly bed looked like a wonderland in the snow with icy branches swaying above, but the men saw none of the beauty.

Gabe knew the twists and turns of the creek. With the help of the crutch, he ran. He stopped at each house and shone his light as Denver climbed the five-foot bank and searched shed after shed.

A few times Gabe swore he heard locks being snapped and wood splintering, but time after time Denver returned. “Nothing,” he’d say and Gabe would continue the march.

Gabe’s cell rang while Denver was up top at the fifth house. “Yes,” he whispered.

Tyler’s voice came loud and clear. “Noah and Brandon found the van parked behind the used bookstore off the square. You know, the building where Liz Matheson has her office. Blood inside. No one around.”

For a heartbeat Gabe thought he’d explode. The lot behind the bookstore was Elizabeth’s lot. Then he remembered leaving her at the hospital. She was safe, and when he got back to her he planned on telling her just how much she meant to him.

“Nothing,” Denver said as he slid down the snow to the creek bed. “Let’s keep moving.”

A few houses later Gabe saw the beam of a light coming toward him. He clicked off his light and waited, signaling Denver to do the same.

The beam came closer, waving wildly from side to side.

The two men stood as shadows among the roots of the trees. Friend or enemy, it made more sense to wait.

“It’s the sheriff,” Denver whispered, flipping on his light when she was thirty feet away.

For a second, Gabe saw Alex reach for her weapon, then she watched them step out into her beam. “Any luck?” she said, knowing the answer.

They moved to the first of only three houses left. The snow had finally slowed to a soupy fog in the air. Gabe saw the little garden shed in the Winter’s Inn backyard before the others did. He knew the moment he saw it, just like he knew the moment he’d seen the driver’s eyes before the bomb hit five years ago, that they were in deep trouble.

“That’s it.” He pointed.

Denver scrambled up the embankment and moved silently toward the shed.

Alex was on her radio. “Tell Reagan to do anything she can to make a noise. Tell her we’re close, very close.”

Alex climbed up using crude steps Gabe remembered Martha Q saying her yard man had dug out for her.

The pieces were falling together. He followed as fast as he could.

Ten feet from the shed, he heard a tapping sound. One-two-three. They all moved in. Gabe smiled as he heard Denver say his thoughts. “One-two-three, come get me.”

Reagan was sending an SOS and didn’t even know it.

Denver reached her first. His light flashed across a pile of leaves and trash, and curly red hair.

He knelt and began gently digging her out of all the trash, careful not to touch her any more than he had to.

Reagan’s big eyes looked up at him, then over his shoulder as Alex and Gabe entered. Panic and fear filled her gaze.

Alex set her light down and pulled the tape from Reagan’s mouth. “You’re all right, now. We’ve got you.” Then both she and Reagan were crying so hard they could barely talk.

Gabe stood guard at the entrance. All was silent in the yard, but he’d be ready if Lloyd picked this moment to return.

While he waited, he hit redial on the cell Alex had insisted he carry. As soon as Tyler answered, he said, “We got her. Winter’s Inn.”

Denver gave him a thumbs-up sign as he pulled the last of the tape away.

Gabe moved to the back door and banged. Lights came on.

While he waited, Tyler shouted into the phone. “Is she hurt?”

“Yes,” Gabe answered, “but real glad to see us. We’ll know more when we get her inside in the light.”

Tyler paused for a few seconds, then said, “Noah is two miles away. They are on their way in case she needs to be transported to the hospital.”

Gabe remembered the blood at both crime scenes. “Yes, she’ll need transport.”

Mrs. Biggs turned on the light, peeked out at Gabe, then opened the door a few inches.

“I’ll explain later, Mrs. Biggs. We need to get Reagan in the house. She’s been hurt.”

There was no hesitation. Mrs. Biggs cleared the way. Gabe held the door and Denver carried Reagan inside.

They moved to the kitchen and placed her on the tiny table. Mrs. Biggs ran for blankets. Alex grabbed towels and washed away blood. Reagan’s lip had stopped bleeding, but the front of her jacket was bloody.

When Denver touched her bleeding foot covered in dirt, Reagan jerked it away.

“I need to take a look at it, honey,” Denver tried again, obviously not comfortable.

“No,” she said.

“We need to ...”

Reagan looked up at Gabe.

He sat in the chair and lifted what was left of her cast onto his knee. “Will you let me see it? I promise I won’t hurt you any more than I have to, but this looks like it’s still bleeding.”

Reagan nodded.

Slowly, carefully, Gabe washed the blood and mud away. The cut across the inside of her arch was deep and in need of stitches, but not life threatening. He wrapped it as tight as he could, worrying more about infection than blood loss.

Martha Q finally showed up. She’d taken the time to slap on makeup and comb her hair before attending the emergency.

By the time the boys arrived a few minutes later, they had Reagan’s foot taped and had wrapped her in blankets. Noah and Brandon stormed in the front door, almost knocking Martha Q down when she answered.

Gabe felt like a traffic cop. Everyone was talking at once. But when Reagan said Lloyd and his brother were at Buffalo’s drinking, Gabe met Denver’s stare. Both men nodded at once. They knew where they’d be going next.

“Get her to the hospital,” Alex said to Noah and Brandon. “I’ll go after Lloyd.” She looked at her little brother. “You. Be careful.”

“I will,” Noah said. “I could say the same for you. I’m facing the ice, you’re facing the Franklin boys alone. Maybe you should wait for backup?”

“We’ll be with her,” Gabe said simply.

Denver nodded. “You boys can get Reagan back to the hospital safely.” He kissed the top of Reagan’s head. “We’ll back up the sheriff.”

Gabe leaned down to Reagan. “We’ll be there as soon as Lloyd’s locked up.”

Reagan shoved tears aside. “I knew you’d come for me. You’re my guardian angel.”

Brandon leaned down and lifted her up as carefully as he could, blankets and all. Without a word the boys carried her out the door.

Martha Q hadn’t said much, but as Alex, Denver, and Gabe turned to leave by the back door, she spoke. “You’re all welcome back here when all this is settled. I’ll have food and coffee waiting.” She wanted to help, but was totally unaware that no one was thinking of snacks with the crisis.

Gabe managed to tell her thank you as he moved toward the back. Just as he stepped outside, Martha Q leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a grand man, Gabriel Leary, a grand man.”

Gabe heard Denver, ahead of him in the dark, laughing.

Once they were back in the creek bed, they moved fast and silently through the heart of Harmony to the back of the Blue Moon, then across the street to the bar. It was long after closing time, but Alex didn’t seem surprised to find the door was still unlocked.

A few feet inside the cave of a bar, Alex stopped them. “You two are for backup only. I’m not here to cause a scene. I just want to arrest them.”

“Got it,” Denver said too quickly.

Gabe could read his friend’s mind. They weren’t trained to baby bad guys. “We play it by your rules.” Gabe nodded once to Denver and they moved silently inside.

SATURDAY, 1:00 A.M.
FEBRUARY 23, 2008
HARMONY HOSPITAL

ON THE WAY TO THE HOSPITAL, REAGAN HAD TO SIT IN Brandon’s lap, her bloody foot between Noah and the steering wheel as they drove through the streets. Now that she was warm and safe, the throbbing in her leg didn’t matter. In fact, if Bran would stop patting her on the head, she might doze off.

“You’re safe now, Rea. You’re safe. No one is going to hurt you. You’re safe,” Bran kept repeating as he patted.

“Stop saying that, Bran. She knows she’s safe. We’re here, aren’t we?” Noah glared at Brandon so hard, Reagan was surprised by the anger she saw. Streetlights made his face seem to blink like an old black-and-white movie.