America
Reyes was tending to a grandmother and her teenage grandson who’d crawled out of the wreckage of their double-wide trailer home. Reyes had been patrolling up and down the highways and byways within a two-mile radius of where he’d picked me up, but we hadn’t come across Shepley or anyone who had seen him. I was pissed that I didn’t even have a picture of him. They were all on my phone, and my phone was drowning somewhere in the river. The battery had been in the single digits when I checked the weather, so it was probably dead.
Explaining what Shepley looked like was difficult. Short brown hair, hazel eyes, tall, good-looking, athletically built, six foot with no distinguishing marks made my description of him fairly vague even though he was anything but. For the first time, I wished he were a tattooed giant like Travis.
Travis. I bet he and Abby were so worried.
I returned to the cruiser and sat in the passenger seat.
“Any luck?” Reyes said.
I shook my head.
“Mrs. Tipton hasn’t seen Shepley either.”
“Thanks for asking. Are they okay?”
“A little banged up, but they’ll live. Mrs. Tipton is missing her terrier, Boss Man.” His words were hollow, but he wrote everything down on his clipboard.
“That’s awful.”
Reyes nodded, continuing his notes.
“All this going on, and you’re going to help her find her dog?” I asked.
Reyes looked at me. “Her grandsons visit twice a year. That dog is the only thing between her and lonely. So, yeah, I’m going to help her. I can’t do much, but I’ll do what I can.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“It’s my job,” he said, continuing his scribbling.
“Highway patrol helps with missing animals?”
He glared at me. “Today, I do.”
I raised my chin, refusing to let his size and intimidating expression get to me. “Are you sure there’s no way to get a call out?”
“I can take you back to headquarters.”
I scanned the disaster that had been left of the trailer park. “After dark. We have to keep looking.”
Reyes nodded, turning off his lights and pulling the gear into drive. “Yes, ma’am.”
We pulled back onto the turnpike, and for the second time, Reyes drove toward the overpass to check with the emergency crew on the scene to see if they’d seen Shepley.
“Thank you again. For everything.”
“How’s your arm?” he asked, peeking over at my bandage.
“Sore.”
“I can imagine.”
“Do you have family here?” I asked.
“Yes, I do.” His chiseled jaw danced under his skin, uncomfortable with the personal question.
He didn’t seem to want to elaborate, so of course, I couldn’t stop there.
“Are they okay?”
After a second of hesitation, he spoke, “Just missed them. Wife was a little shaken up.”
“Them?”
“New little girl at home.”
“How new?”
“Three weeks.”
“I bet you were worried.”
“Terrified,” he said, staring forward. “I checked on them. A little roof damage. Hail damage on the new minivan.”
“Oh, no. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t new. Just new to us. But nothing important.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m glad.” I looked at the radio clock, feeling my eyebrows pulling in. “It’s been two hours.” I closed my eyes. “This trip was supposed to be the trip. I’ve been dropping hints left and right.”
“For what?”
“For him to ask me … to propose.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “How long have you been together?”
“Almost three years.”
He puffed. “I asked Alexandra after three months.”
“Did she say yes?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t,” I said, picking dried mud off my hands. “He’s asked me before.”
“Ouch.”
“Twice.”
Reyes’s entire face compressed. “Brutal.”
“His cousin and my best friend are married. They eloped after a horrible accident at the college, and I—”
“The fire?”
“Yeah … you’ve heard about it?”
“My brother’s alma mater, remember?”
“Right.”
“So, they got married? And it turned out bad?”
“No.”
“But it was a deterrent to marry the guy you love?”
“Well, when you put it that way …”
“How would you put it?”
“His roommate, Travis, got married. So, at first, he sort of proposed as an afterthought, hoping our parents would let us move in together. My parents weren’t going for it … at all. But I didn’t want to get married just to manipulate a situation, like Travis and Abby. Travis is also his cousin, and Abby is my best friend.” I glanced over at Reyes to see his expression. “I know. It’s convoluted.”
“Just a little.”
“Then he asked me three months later, and I felt like he was just asking because Travis and Abby were married. Shep looks up to Travis. I just wasn’t ready.”
“Fair enough.”
“Now,” I let out a long sigh, “I’m ready, but he won’t ask. He’s talking about being a football scout.”
“So?”
“So, he’ll be gone for a good chunk of the year.” I shook my head, picking at my dirty nails. “I’m afraid we’ll grow apart.”
“Scout, huh? Interesting.” He shifted in his seat, preparing for what he would say next. “What’s in the bag?”
I shrugged, looking down at the backpack in my lap. “His stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“I don’t know. A toothbrush and a weekend’s worth of clothes. We were going to visit my parents.”
“You wanted him to propose at your parents’ house?” Once again, his eyebrow arched.
I shot him a look. “So? This is starting to feel like less of a conversation and more of an interrogation.”
“I’m curious why that bag is so important. It was the only thing besides you two to leave the car. He handed it to you before he was blown from the overpass. That’s one important bag.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I just want to make sure I’m not transporting drugs in my cruiser.”
My mouth fell open and then snapped shut.
“Have I offended you?” Reyes asked although he was clearly unaffected by my reaction.
“Shepley doesn’t do drugs. He barely drinks. He buys one beer and babysits it all night.”
“What about you?”
“No!”
He wasn’t convinced. “You don’t have to do drugs to sell them. The best dealers don’t.”
“We’re not drug dealers or smugglers or whatever the current term is.”
Reyes pulled onto the shoulder beside the flooded Charger. Water and debris sloshed into the open windows. “That’s going to cost a lot to repair. How is he going to pay for it?”
“He and his dad share a love for old cars.”
“Restoration project for father-son bonding? All paid for with dad’s money?”
“They didn’t need to bond. He’s very close with his parents. He was a good kid, and he’s an even better man. Yes, they have money, but he has a job. He supports himself.”
Reyes glared down at me. He was just … massive. Still, I had nothing to hide, and I wouldn’t let him intimidate me.
“He works at a bank,” I snapped. “Do you really think I’m hiding drugs in this bag?”
“You’ve been holding on to it like it’s made of gold.”
“It’s his! It’s the only thing I have of him besides that drowned car!” Tears burned in my eyes as the realization of what I’d just said formed a lump in my throat.
Reyes waited.
I pressed my lips together and then tore at the zipper, yanking at it until it opened. I pulled out the first thing I grabbed, which was one of Shepley’s shirts. It was his favorite, a dark gray Eastern State tee. I held it to my chest, instantly breaking down.
“America … don’t … don’t cry.” Reyes looked half disgusted and half uncomfortable, trying to look anywhere else but me. “This is awkward.”
I pulled out another shirt and then a pair of shorts. As I unrolled them, a small box fell back into the backpack.
“What was that?” Reyes said in an accusatory tone.
I dug in the bag and fished out the box, holding it up with a huge grin. “It’s the … this is the ring he bought. He brought it.” I sucked in a ragged breath, my expression crumbling. “He was going to propose.”
Reyes smiled. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I said, opening the box.
“Not transporting drugs. I would have hated to arrest you.”
“You’re a jerk,” I said, wiping my eyes.
“I know.” He rolled down his window to flag down another officer.
With the help of the National Guard, the turnpike had been cleared, and traffic was running smoothly again, but as the sun began its descent, another set of dark clouds started to form on the horizon.
“That looks ominous,” I said.
“I think we’ve already experienced ominous.”
I frowned, feeling impatient. “We have to find Shepley before dark.”
“Working on it.” He nodded to an approaching officer. “Landers!”
“How’s it going?” Landers said.
With him standing next to Reyes’s window, even in a cruiser, I felt like we were being pulled over, and any minute, Landers would ask Reyes if he knew how fast he was going.
“I have a little girl in my car—”
“Little girl?” I hissed.
He sighed. “I have a young woman in my car who’s looking for her boyfriend. They took shelter under that overpass when the tornado hit.”
Landers leaned down, giving me a once-over. “She’s lucky. Not all of them made it.”
“Like who?” I asked, bending just enough to get a better look.
“I’m not sure. Can you believe one guy was thrown a quarter of a mile and ran all the way back to the turnpike, searching for someone? He was covered in mud. Looked like a melted candy bar.”
“Was he alone? Do you remember his name?” I asked.
Landers shook his head, still chuckling at his own joke. “Something weird.”
“Shepley?” Reyes asked.
“Maybe,” Landers said.
“Was he hurt? What was he wearing? Early twenties? Hazel eyes?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, ma’am. It’s been a long day,” Landers said, standing up.
All I could see of him then was his midsection.
Reyes looked up at him. “C’mon, Justin. She’s been looking for him for hours. She watched him get sucked out by a damn tornado.”
“He had a significant laceration on his shoulder, but he’ll live if the fire chief can talk him into getting it taken care of. He was hell-bent on finding his, um … how did he put it? Epically beautiful girlfriend.” Landers paused and then leaned down. “America?”
My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open into a gaping smile. “Yes! That’s my name! He was here? Looking for me? Do you know where he went?”
“To the hospital … to look for you,” Landers said, tipping his hat. “Good luck, ma’am.”
“Reyes!” I said, grabbing his arm.
He nodded once as he flipped on his lights, and then he threw the gear into drive. We bounced as the cruiser crossed the median, and then Reyes pressed a heavy foot on the gas, barreling down the turnpike toward Emporia … and Shepley.
Shepley
The nurse shook her head, dabbing a cut on my ear with a cotton ball. “You’re lucky.” She blinked her long eyelashes and then reached behind her for something sitting on the silver tray next to my stretcher.
The ER was full. The rooms were only available for the more urgent cases. Triage had been set up in the waiting room, and I’d waited for over an hour before a nurse finally called my name and escorted me to a stretcher in the hall where I’d waited for another hour.
“I can’t believe you were going to walk out of here.”
“It’s getting late. I have to find America before dark.”
The nurse smiled. She was a tiny little thing. I’d thought she was fresh out of nursing school until she opened her mouth. She reminded me a lot of America—tough, confident, and would accept zero percent of shit anyone might give her.
“I told you. I looked,” she said. “America is in the system, which means she’s been seen here. She’s probably out looking for you. Stay put. She’ll come back.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t make me feel better”—I looked down at her badge—“Brandi.”
She smirked. “No, but getting these wounds flushed will. Keep this clean and dry. You’ll have a small nip gone from your ear.”
“Fabulous,” I murmured.
“You’re the one who took shelter under an overpass. Don’t you know anything? That’s worse than standing in an open field. When a tornado goes over a bridge, it increases the wind velocity.”
“Did they teach you that in nursing school?” I asked.
“This is Tornado Alley. If you don’t know the rules already, you’ll be eager to learn after the first tornado season.”
“I can see why.”
She breathed out a laugh. “Consider the ear bragging rights. Not many people can say they’ve taken a trip in a tornado and lived to tell about it.”
“I don’t think they’ll be impressed by a chipped ear.”
“If you’re wishing for a gnarly scar, you’ll have one,” she said, pointing to my shoulder.
I looked down at the white bandage and tape on my shoulder and then behind me toward the door. “If she’s not here in fifteen minutes, I’m going back out to look for her.”
“I can’t get your discharge papers ready in—”
“Fifteen minutes,” I said.
She was unimpressed with my demand. “Listen, princess, if you haven’t noticed, I’m busy. She’ll be here. We’ve got another storm coming in anyway, and—”
I stiffened. “What? When?”
She shrugged, looking to the mounted television in the waiting room. People of all ages—all soaked with rainwater, filthy, and scared—stood, wrapped in hospital-issued wool blankets. They began to crowd around the screen. A meteorologist was standing in front of a radar moving a few inches at a time. A large red blob surrounded by yellows and greens crept up to Emporia’s city limits, and then it started over, stuck in a loop.
“It’s going to swallow us up and spit us out,” Brandi said.
My eyebrows pulled in as the panic swelled in my chest. “She’s still out there. I don’t even know where to look.”
“Shepley,” Brandi said, grabbing my chin and forcing me to face her, “stay put. If she comes back here and finds out you’ve left, what do you think she’s going to do?” When I didn’t answer, she let go of my chin, disgusted. “Do the same thing you would. Go looking for you. This is the safest place for her, and if you stay here, she’ll find her way back.”
I gripped the edge of the stretcher, squeezing the plastic-covered cushion in my fist, while Brandi carefully slid a scrub top over my head. She helped me slip my arms through, patiently waiting, while I struggled with lifting my left shoulder.
“I can get you a hospital gown instead,” she said.
“No. No gowns,” I said. Grunting, I maneuvered my arm through the sleeve.
“You can’t even get dressed, but you’re going to go look for her?”
“I can’t just sit here, safe and warm, while America’s out there somewhere,” I said. “She probably has no clue she’s about to get hit again with more weather.”
“Shepley, listen to me. We’re still under a tornado warning.”
“It’s impossible to get hit twice in the same night.”
“Actually, it’s not,” she said. “It’s rare, but it happens.”
I climbed off the stretcher, my breath catching when the torn muscle in my arm moved.
“Fine. If you’re gonna insist on being ridiculous, you have to sign an AMA.”
“Sign a what?”
“AMA—Against Medical Advice.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Chief said, holding up his hands. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I breathed out through my nose, frustrated. “Another storm is coming in. She’s not back yet.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for you to head out into the rain.”
“What if it were your wife, Chief? What if your daughters were out there? Would you go?”
Tornado sirens filled the air. They were much louder this time, the eerie drone sounding like it was just outside the doors. Everyone looked around, and then the panic began.
I started for the door.
But Chief stood in front of me. “You can’t go out there, Shepley! It’s not safe!”
Holding my left arm to my middle, I shouldered past him and then pushed my way through the crowded waiting room to the doors. The sky had opened up again, pouring down rain on the parking lot. With horror and disbelief on their faces, people were running across the cement to the emergency room.
I looked up for signs of a funnel cloud. I had no car and no idea where she was. I’d been afraid plenty of times in my life, but none of them had ever come close to this. Keeping the ones you love safe wasn’t a question, but I couldn’t save her.
I turned around, grabbing Chief’s shirt with my fist, his badge digging into my palm. “Help me,” I said, shaking with fear and frustration.
Screams erupted, and power flashes sparked in the distance.
“Everyone, get in the hallways!” Chief said, yanking me back to my stretcher.
I fought him, but even though he was twice my age, with the use of both of his arms, he easily overpowered me.
“Get! Your Ass! Down!” he growled, struggling to push me toward the floor.
Brandi put a young boy in my lap and held on to three more children, hunkering down next to me.
The young boy didn’t cry, but he shook uncontrollably. I blinked and looked around, seeing the terror-filled faces of everyone around us. Most of them had already suffered through one devastating tornado.
“I want my dad,” the young boy in my lap whimpered.
I hugged him to my side, trying to shield as much of his body as I could. “It’s going to be okay. What’s your name?”
“I want my dad,” he said again, on the edge of panic.
“My name is Shep. I’m alone, too. You think you could hang out here with me until this is over?”
He looked up at me with big russet eyes. “Jack.”
“Your name is Jack?” I asked.
He nodded.
“That’s my dad’s name,” I said with a small smile.
Jack mirrored my expression, and then his grin slowly vanished. “It’s my dad’s name, too.”
“Where is he?” I asked.
“We were in the bathtub. My mom … my baby sister. It got real loud. My dad held on to me tight. Real tight. When it was over, he wasn’t holding me anymore. Our couch was upside down, and I was under it. I don’t know where he is. I don’t know where any of them are.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll know to look for you here.”
Something slammed into a pane window and shattered the glass. Frightened cries barely registered over the sirens and blustering wind.
Jack buried his head into my chest, and I gently squeezed him with my good arm, holding my left against my middle.
“Where’s your family?” Jack asked, his eyes clenched.
“Not here,” I said, peeking over my shoulder at the broken window.