Chapter 42 Kipp
Kipp
When Lila and then Sage messaged me that Hattie hadn’t made it to their meeting in town, I wasn’t too worried at first. Instead, I just texted her to check in.
We’d had a heavy conversation the night before, but she’d been fine that morning.
She might have gotten caught up in some work with her team online.
Still, as another hour ticked by, there was a relentless pounding in my head that made me turn towards home. It seemed inconceivable that she would have missed an appointment with Lila and Sage. Maybe she’d had an accident.
It was the thought of her hurt that had been on my mind as my truck was turning towards home. Redialing her phone and getting no answer made me even more anxious. I’d even dropped a message a few minutes before I’d left the preserve with Rhodes to see if someone could ping a location on her phone.
This was the first time I regretted living so far out. My trip to the wildlife preserve had taken another twenty minutes, and now I still had the climb to the cabin. Solitude typically calmed me, but right now that distance had me cursing eighteen ways to Sunday.
Rhodes’ call rang through my stereo system. Hitting connect, I asked anxiously, “Is she at the cabins?”
“No man,” he said tightly, “I found her. I’m sending you her location. Looks like her car went off the road.” My stomach pitched. “I’ve already called Wade. He’s going to call out emergency services. You just need to get there.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you.”
“No sweat. I’ll check in with Wade later.”
The line disconnected, and I pulled up the location pin.
It was showing the road down from the cabin into Wildwood Meadows, but inconceivably, a good thousand yards from the road.
Was it in her pocket? Was she lost? Did it fly out of the vehicle?
Taking a breath, I tried to settle myself.
Those weren’t questions I could answer. All I could do was get there and go from that point.
My nerves jangled inside me as my speed picked up.
It would have been almost easy to miss, except for the old truck parked off to the side of the road, and I say that generously. There wasn’t much room for passing or for people to park there. If someone broke down, then a tow was needed immediately because you’d be blocking the whole road.
It wasn’t until I eased up behind the truck that I saw the skid marks and the broken branches.
Chills ran down my spine as my eyes moved between them and the truck.
Red and blue lights pierced through the trees behind me, which I was sure belonged to the police led by my brother, but I wasn’t going to wait.
The truck was sending alarm bells crashing through me, but urgency sped me on as I sprang from the truck, telling Fish to stay.
Her small SUV had rolled down the slope, crashing into the trees and smashing against the trunks. From the top of the embankment, I could see it resting at the bottom with shattered glass scattered and sparkling across the bark and pine needles.
Shuffling down the slope, I angled my boots to the side in the soft dirt, every bad thought running through my head as I took in the mess of her car.
The wreck had been bad. No way was she uninjured, and there was blood on the frame.
Not a lot, but there was definitely some.
The biggest concern was the other set of footprints, the soft dirt, and the dragging marks.
Keeping my weapon up, I started to jog after the tracks until I heard grunts and what sounded like scuffling. I was unprepared when a male voice shouted out. “You fucked up everything!”
Springing into another gear as I raced down another slope, I slid to a stop just feet away from Dale Galloway, who stood over Hattie, rage twisting his features as he pulled back his fist to punch her.
My gun was already out of the holster as the chief paused and turned to me.
Hattie was alive, but her movements hardly registered now.
In the background, Wade was already calling out to me.
My shot caught him right in the head where I intended.
Dale’s body dropped hard and final into the pine needles right next to Hattie’s, the gore staining her hair.
Rolling him away from her, and sinking to my knees, I trembled as I saw how badly she was hurt.
“Jesus. What the hell? We need that stretcher down here!” Wade sank to his knees next to me, next to Hattie. “What happened, Kipp?” His eyes flicked to Galloway. “It was him all along, then?”
“He did this. That’s all I know. He had his hands on her.”
Shaking my head, I couldn’t even answer as the paramedics came down the slope with the stretcher. I wasn’t even sure the words would come until we got her to the hospital. What happened was, my world was lying in the dirt, bleeding. My whole reason for breathing.