Chapter 31 #2
“It leads into the forest, yes. But not just the forest.” I slammed a fingertip into hills marked with increasingly close lines to indicate steeper terrain.
“The two-track leads right into the ascending hills, eventually spills onto a forest service road. That road winds through a shoddy canyon, then connects to a highway that will take them into Idaho, and out of the local counties. No one would follow them there. It gives them a greater advantage if they can pull it off.”
Wyatt’s expression softened, as if he considered it. Cody shook his head again, only more emphatically.
“No way, Cade. There’s just no way. None of our trucks can make it—not even the old tanker. You’d have to ride a snowmobile. Even then, on the slim chance you find them up there, what’re you going to do? Lily is a baby. You can’t carry her on your lap back home.”
Wyatt caught my eye with a devilish grin. “Why yes,” he drawled, “yes, he can! The Montgomerys could have their two snowmobiles here in under ten minutes, and they’re always willing to help in a roundup.”
Challenge brightened the sparkle in Wyatt’s eyes. I’d seen that look before, and it always meant trouble. Right now, we needed a little trouble. The back of my neck prickled as Wyatt slapped me on the shoulder.
“Guess there’s only one way to find out, hoss. Put me on it. I’ll get the snowmobiles and we’ll head out.”
“Make the call,” I said, straightening.
Wyatt whooped and raced out of the kitchen. The stirring instinct had billowed into full- blown certainty. I knew I’d find Richard and Ashley there, and I didn’t know how I knew it. But there had been nothing more clear in my life.
Cody hung his head.
“This is insane, hoss.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Welcome to being an adult, Cody. Sometimes, the right path just doesn’t make sense.”
Eighteen minutes later, I yanked on my snow pants, my boots, rooted through the diaper bag to extract the carrier that Noelle always used, and jerked it over my head. It buckled in front. Tight, but I’d deal. Then, I pulled my coat on over it.
The reverberating sound of approaching snowmobiles preceded bright headlights. Noelle came up to my side, gripped my arm, and whispered, “Please?”
A thousand other words existed behind it. I nodded, put a hand on her neck, and pulled her close. The smell of her shampoo lingered in my nostrils as I kissed her forehead.
“You know I’ll find her, Noelle. Stay here,” I whispered. “In case Hernandez hears or finds—”
The words cut off as our door blew open and Cora spilled inside. Hawk followed close at her back. A little sob peeped out of Noelle’s mouth as Cora rushed over, wrapping her in her arms, as if they’d been sisters forever. Hawk, grim-faced, nodded to me. I returned it.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
Wyatt opened the back door at that moment. He barked, “Ready, Cade!” and slammed the door again. I motioned Hawk into the kitchen, over to the map on the table, and flowed my finger along the two-track I’d drawn into the topography.
“Wyatt and I are going here with our neighbors’ snowmobiles. I think her parents took a Jeep to a back road that’ll drop them into Idaho and provide a clean escape. Cody knows where the entrance to it is, and how to get there.”
Hawk recoiled. “There? You really think—”
“Yep. I do.”
To his credit, Hawk said, “Okay. We’ll stay here with Noelle. We’re prepared to stay all night and help support. I’ll call Channing, too, just to keep Noelle busy for a little while. You got your phone?”
I nodded. While I trusted Cody to handle the house while I was gone, I felt better knowing Hawk was around. Cora, also. Women needed other women.
I had a baby to find.
If I hadn’t released the throttle that revved my borrowed snowmobile at that moment, I might not have heard the phone ring.
But the distinct tinkle broke through the night when the engine switched low, the ringtone light and cheery against the rumble and roar of awaiting horsepower.
Considering Hernandez had a BOLO out and who-knew-might call, I ripped one glove off with my teeth, set it on the gas tank, and swiped the phone to answer it.
“Cade?”
My brow scrunched. “Pastor Mike?”
I had to shout over the noise of the machine, so I cut the engine off.
The Montgomery boys who brought the snowmobiles were piling into the old truck Cody warmed up to take them home.
He waved, taking off with a belch of sound, snow kicking up behind the old tires.
A gust of wind slammed into my cheek at the same moment, and snowflakes danced over my head.
“Sorry, Cade! Is this a bad time?”
Pastor Mike never called outside of business hours, and it was already well toward late on the east coast.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Wyatt stood up on his snowmobile, peering at me. He cut his engine off when I sliced a hand in the air, leaving the two of us in a reverberating, preternatural silence.
“It’s your Mom.”
The words thudded like dull hollows in my chest. Not the words themselves, because he didn’t really say much, but the way he said them. The shape of the words was a hollow, heavy thing. A loaded warning.
“Something happened?”
“She’s in the hospital. She showed up today very . . . sick. I’m not sure I can exactly quantify it, but she was a step beyond loopy. Not drunk. Just . . . something was wrong. She could barely hold herself up. Her eyes were bloodshot. I don’t think it was drugs, I really don’t.”
He blabbered a bit, skating around. I shook my head.
“She’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“And in the hospital?”
“Yes, and not doing well, I don’t think. I’ve left my number with the nurses at the station, and they’re going to let us know if there are any updates. Last time I heard, they were preparing to send her to the ICU.”
“Do you think she’s very sick? Is she on the verge of death?”
He hedged a moment before concluding, “I can’t say exactly, of course, but it’s not good, Cade. I may not be a doctor, but I know that much. If she makes it out, I would be very surprised.”
Another flurry of snowflakes blasted my eyes, grounding me into the current predicament. Lily. Noelle. Custody. Winter. The arithmetic of this problem was about as ugly as it got, particularly because we had no idea where Richard and Ashley went, and if they planned to go home.
But Mom? Mom was in the hospital, potentially dying.
Finally within grasp of meeting up with her after years of searching, yet about to slide away forever.
Every single thing I wanted to say to her would be trapped in my throat for the rest of my life if she died now.
She had called me, showing signs of remembering my name, which is more than I had ever hoped for.
The last thing I wanted for her was to die alone, with strangers.
But . . . Lily.
Noelle.
Cripes, I couldn’t handle this. Shot from every side. No end to the unrelenting grind of expectations and requirements.
I exhaled, pressed my cold fingers to my face. I had to choose. The woman who gave me life and love for as long as she could? My mother. My greatest pain. This might be the last opportunity to say what needed to be said before we lost her for good.
Or an unknown future with a woman and child who affected me more deeply than any people I had ever known?
I didn’t have time to waffle.
I knew the answer.
“Thank you, Pastor Mike. I appreciate you reaching out and letting me know.” Resolve hardened my voice.
“My little girl was just taken from my house by her maternal grandparents, and they aren’t supposed to have her.
They’ve driven into a winter storm that they can’t outlast, and I need to find her. ”
“Well, my goodness! Of course you do.”
“I can’t help you right now, but my sister might be able to. Please call Cora. I believe you already have her number. When I return with the baby, I’ll give you a call and make arrangements then. I’ll just . . . I’ll have to entrust Mom to your care for now. A child’s life depends on me here.”
I swallowed a rising lump in my throat, promising myself that I wasn’t abandoning my mother. I was choosing someone closer. Someone who needed me more than she did. I had made a solemn vow to Lily that I’d never let wolves come through the door for her, and I would keep that promise tonight.
For the first time in so many years, maybe all of my life, I willingly turned my responsibility for Mom over to someone else who could help and serve her.
I had to let her go.
Because I wouldn’t abandon Lily and Noelle at this moment. Not for a woman who left us years ago. All this time holding onto Mom had served its purpose, but it was time to release and grip something better.
Lily and Noelle were the reasons I could move forward, while I let someone take responsibility for others, for a while.
“Happy to help, Cade.”
“Thank you, Pastor Mike. I’m going to rely on you to keep an eye on Mom for now, send me text message updates whenever you want, or contact Cora.”
“You got it,” Pastor Mike said quickly. “I’ll be praying for you, your mother, and that little girl. God speed.”
I closed the phone, shoved it in my pocket, and looked at Wyatt.
“Let’s go get our girl!” I shouted.
Wyatt whooped his cowboy yell, spun his arm in a circle overhead, and the sound of twin engines roaring to life followed.