Chapter 32
NOELLE
Hernandez returned to the house right after Cade and Wyatt sped away. He approached me with a solemn, but not hopeless, expression.
“Noelle, I’ve contacted the deputies in your parents’ county, and they also have an active BOLO for your parents and the Jeep you described.
State troopers, deputies, and officers are alert and watching.
If they find the Jeep, they’ll check to see if your parents provided a car seat, and ask them more questions.
If they’re out on the highways or interstates, I’m pretty confident we’ll find them. ”
Relieved that something was in motion, particularly if it kept Lily safe during transport, I said, “Thank you, Hernandez. That means so much.”
“I’ll stay in touch as soon as I hear anything, and I’ll be close to the radio until my shift ends at midnight. Cade has my number already. Do you need it?”
Nodding, I reached for my phone, then programmed his number inside, sending him a text message so he had mine.
“Thank you again.”
With a nod, he waved to Cora and Hawk and departed. Wind howled by the big window, and a winter storm warning alert pinged on my cell phone. I tried to ignore it. Loads of snow hadn’t fallen yet, and I hoped the weather would take a turn for the better.
Two trucks rumbled up the driveway shortly after Hernandez’s taillights faded.
Cody appeared near the garage, leaping into the dually truck Cade often drove.
Two of his best friends had come over; they planned to canvas the local roads and routes themselves, and let Hernandez know if they saw the Jeep.
A warm hand pressed into my upper arm, pulling me close. Cora put her arm around me, and the bracing side hug was a grounding, steadying gift. My heart didn’t feel so flighty or afraid.
“Do you think Cade is right?” I asked. “To follow a two-track road, of all things . . . my dad . . .”
Cora sighed. “Yes, I do think he’s right.”
“But—”
“It doesn’t make sense, I know. But my brother has instincts deeper than the Grand Canyon and a heart about as wide.
He just . . . he knows things that make no sense.
It happened when we were kids. He had some kind of sixth sense for when Mom was going to take a turn for the worse.
He seemed to know when Child Protective Services might show up.
” She squeezed me again before letting me go.
“If there’s anyone who could find Lily, it’s him.”
Cora sipped her tea. The smell of lemon drifted out of the cup, tinged slightly sweet.
When my stomach growled, I realized I hadn’t served dinner.
The boys hadn’t eaten before heading out, either.
Despite great hunger, they jumped right to Lily’s rescue without question. Tears threatened at the realization.
This little family of mine loved us more than I had ever experienced before.
I’d returned to my safe haven to find the circle of my grandparents’ love and safety continued.
If my parents were unpredictable enough to take Lily with Cade, Wyatt, and Cody so close, they would have done it twice as quickly if I were alone.
Had I been staying with Marsha, I couldn’t even say that she could have shielded me from them.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Cora breathed, her nose scrunched. “Why take her? You said they weren’t really interested in her before, right?”
I laughed without humor. Dad’s lust for success ran deeper than I ever expected.
“It makes sense if you know my job. I was the one keeping his oncology trial audit-ready. There’s an FDA inspection coming up, and if that falls apart, he stands to lose millions.
Tens of millions, in fact. I think he’s removing Lily from my care to either blackmail me, or force me to return in time for the next audit. ”
The robotic words came out with all the emotion of a tin can, but they belied the livid ferocity deep in my stomach. In my core, I knew my mother wouldn’t let harm come to Lily. She might be willing to sneak her out a window and take her home to comply with Dad’s demands, but harm?
No, she wouldn’t go that far.
But Dad?
Him, I wasn’t sure about. And that made me sick to my stomach.
In the background, Hawk’s quiet voice came from my bedroom.
He’d retreated there, and closed the door.
Cora said something about him updating Channing.
My brain crossed trying to figure out if having Channing here would even help.
There was so much more nuance to this than I expected, and the helpless, tied-hands feeling was infuriating. Terrifying.
Cora released a noisy breath through her nose. “You know,” she drawled, head tilting. Her auburn strands swayed around her ears. “There might be something that you and I can do.”
“Oh?”
A sly smile stole across her face. With a hand decorated by glitzy rings and a tinkling bracelet, she waved me into the kitchen.
“I know just who to call. C’mon. We need your computer, stable internet, and somewhere both of us can sit side-by-side.”
Ten minutes later, Cora set her hands on my shoulders and plopped me into a kitchen chair.
At the same moment, a video chat began to ring on my open computer screen. The obnoxious sound buzzed for three seconds before revealing a large man who looked just like Hawk. Except this man had refrigerator-sized muscles. They shared the same bright and easy smile, dark skin, broad nose.
“Cora, Cora,” he sang with a smooth voice like fresh-brushed velvet. “It is good to see you. Hello, Cora’s friend.”
I gave a weak smile.
Cora took up half the screen and all the conversation power.
“Hello, Noah.” She lifted an open palm toward me. “Noah, this is Noelle. Noelle, this is Noah, Hawk’s brother. The two of you are practically name-twins, and destined to be good friends.”
He chuckled, a bass purr. “Nice name. The no part really rings of power and authority.”
Cora rolled her eyes.
“Same,” I replied, smiling. I liked Noah immediately. He set me at ease, and I didn’t know why. He would make more sense on a football field terrifying wide receivers than on a video call with us on a blustery winter evening.
Cora leaned in. “Listen, Noah. I need you to step up and be a hacker extraordinaire. We have a real situation on our hands, and I think you’re the one to help us with it. And we have nothing else to do, and you need to keep us distracted.”
Noah adjusted, and I realized that he stood at his computer.
A blank wall filled the place behind him, and to the side were wide windows overlooking a white sand beach and a rolling, wave-capped ocean.
The idyllic, warm day sent jealous shivers through me.
Blizzard-level winds whipped by so fast they might crack the windows here in Wyoming, and I worried for Cade and Wyatt, chugging farther into the storm.
Noah brushed his palms together with a gleam in his eye. He asked, “Oh, really? What do you have for me? It’s been a while since I had a good challenge.”
Efficiently, but with grave tones, Cora explained the situation with Lily, my parents, the other grandparents vying for custody, and touched lightly on Naomi’s death.
The experience of hearing someone else recount my life was a gut-clenching minute.
I caught sight of what I looked like in the corner camera. What I saw struck me.
Not fear.
Not wilting desperation.
Not tear tracks.
I saw rage. Determination. I saw a woman who had been through everything Cora said, and more. Mom and Dad may have surprised me, put Lily at risk by dodging into a snowstorm while they weren’t prepared, and attempted to take control of her, but that didn’t mean I was going to take it lying down.
My shoulders pulled back, chin elevated. A few deep breaths cleansed the muddled feeling in my head, and suddenly, this video call seemed like more of a gift than I had expected.
Cora turned to me with a devilish sparkle in her eyes. “Cora, Noah is very low-key and phenomenal, but he’s also ridiculously intelligent, quiet, and can work a computer like Rembrandt worked a canvas.”
I understood her point. Noah strode that fine line between truth and arrogance by simply waiting for the conversation to unfold, neither encouraging nor chastising her. There was something about his smile that gave me a little hope.
Cora turned back to the computer.
“A challenge, indeed,” he said.
Cora spread both hands out, asking an unstated question. Noah lifted a hand to his mouth, tapped a finger against his upper lip. His endless umber eyes had narrowed for a moment. The other hand worked a control or a mouse, because his gaze darted around and off to the side.
“What are your parents’ names, address, phone numbers, Miss Noelle?”
I rattled the information off, filled with my own questions.
What was he going to do? How could he possibly help while they plunged into the Wyoming mountains?
Yes, they were likely heading home to Chicago, but that could take days while riding with an infant.
Mom might be holding Lily in her lap in the car for now, but eventually they’d have to find civilization and buy formula, diapers, and a car seat.
Right?
The clack of his keyboard filled the space. “Would your parents use a map app?”
“Uh, yes? My Dad uses the one on his Android.”
“Good. How about emails?”
“Sure.”
“Text messages?”
“Definitely. Dad is glued to his phone.”
“Do your parents have shared accounts? Such as a password application on both their phones sharing the same account?”
“Probably? I don’t really know.” A hint of color rose to my cheeks when I admitted, “Despite working for my Dad, I don’t have much contact with my parents. Not anymore. Even when I did . . . I . . . I’m not sure I could tell you much about their day-to-day lives.”
I looked to Cora, who reached over, gave my hand a squeeze, and smiled. Noah cleared his throat. His broad shoulders smoothed down as he repositioned his stance.