Chapter 22
Noah paced the halls of the police station, obsessively checking his phone every few minutes. He was out of his mind with worry. After all they had been through, this seemed so… unjust. Anger mixed with fear bubbled to the surface.
Why God? Why?
He opened his eyes and straightened his back.
The tension he held in his muscles restricted his movements, so he rolled his shoulders and twisted his head from side to side a few times.
Okay God, You’re telling me to lean on You.
Well, I’ve been leaning, and now I’m pushing.
Please keep Ashley safe and bring her back to me and the girls. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
His cell rang. He sprang up and looked intently at the screen. His dad’s name lit up the screen. “Hey Dad. Nope. No more news. The detectives are working the angles for the money drop. Keep praying and hug the girls for me. I promise to call the minute I hear anything new. Love you.”
He sat back down on the bench and waited. Ten minutes later, he shot up as Detectives Stevens and Gonzalez raced down the hall toward him. Breathless, they stopped in front of Noah.
Detective Stevens blurted. “We’ve received a ping from Ashley’s cell phone. One of our units is on the scene.” “Hank Peterson’s been found dead in a shed near the school.”
“What—dead?” He looked down at his phone. “Then who are these texts from?”
“We have a suspicion they are from the other escapee and it looks like he’s on the run.” He paused for a few moments. “Noah, we think he has Ashley. We’ll do our best to find him ASAP.”
“I have to come with you. Please?” Noah pleaded. “I can’t sit here not knowing.”
The detectives looked at each other and nodded in agreement. “Okay,” Detective Gonzalez said, “Let’s roll.”
Carlo tried to wrench his body into the driver’s seat, blood soaking through the bandages and his shirt. He writhed as the steering wheel hit his wound, and an idea came to Ashley.
“Do you want me to drive? I know where the Petersons live.”
Carlo glanced over at her; his face twisted in pain as he tried again to scoot into position.
She sat with dried blood under her crooked nose and tried to look innocent.
Releasing a stream of expletives, he grabbed the doorframe and exited the car.
He motioned with his gun for her to take the driver’s seat, then settled into the passenger’s seat.
“Don’t even think about doing anything stupid.
” He glared while directing the gun to the side of her head.
With one hand, he reached over, grabbed the seatbelt, and attempted to latch it across his torso.
He let out a moan as the belt rubbed against his wound.
With an expletive, he released the belt. “Drive.”
Ashley grabbed the shifter and released the emergency brake. As she entered the highway, she began to pray. The exits blurred past as she drove.
Finally, she saw the answer to her desperate prayer. Ahead was a clump of trees with an emergency pull out. There was a highway patrol parked on the side with a speed gun poised on the speeding cars.
Ashley took a deep breath and slowed as they approached the pull out.
She steeled herself, then fisted her right hand and drove it deep into Carlo’s wound.
As he instinctively grabbed his gut, she slammed on the brakes.
The gun flew out of his hand. His body lunged forward, and he smacked his head against the windshield.
Ashley slammed on the brakes, flung open her car door, and ran screaming toward the patrol officer with her hands in the air. “Help! Help! I’m Ashley Smith, and I was kidnapped by that man!”
Noah and the detectives arrived at the shack, viewing the grisly scene. Police swarmed the area like bees around a hive. Red and blue lights flashed in the pale light of sunset. Yellow boundary tape surrounded the crime scene as the coroner arrived.
Noah’s heart fell as he spotted Ashley’s smashed cell phone on the dirt floor.
He remembered holding her in his arms last night, the sweet fragrance of her skin, the way her eyes shone as he whispered words of love.
They had recaptured the life they had almost lost. Would he ever be able to look at her beautiful face and tell her those words again?
Even though he had been in many a gruesome situation during his firefighter years, responding to motor vehicle accidents and medical incidents, this struck him to the core.
Never had he felt so helpless and lost. His breath caught as he spotted her scrub jacket soiled with bloodstains.
Just that morning, he had given her a goodbye kiss as she slipped on that jacket and headed out the door.
She had winked and chuckled as he told her she was the cutest school nurse he’d ever seen.
He bent his head to hide the tears that slipped down his cheeks. His thoughts turned toward their daughters. How were Emma and Katie ever going to go on if they lost their mom… like this? He placed his hand over his mouth to quiet his sobs as tears flooded down his fingers.
“Hang in there, man. It’s not over. She’s as tough as they come.” Detective Gonzales’s deep voice was followed by a firm hand on Noah’s back.
The words comforted him but did nothing to erase his pain and fear.