CHAPTER 22
It wasn’t long before Declan arrived with all four brothers with equipment in tow and oddly dressed similar in dark fatigues like they were mission bound. Everyone knew Everly was unaccounted for, and had been on standby until they heard otherwise, so one quick call from Blake after hanging up with Declan, and the whole gang had arrived.
With everyone together, they went over what they knew once more. Nothing changed, nobody had heard from or seen Everly, and each had the same last conversation – she was excited to find out what the baby’s gender was. Not a single clue outside of the fact that she was traveling one town over to Arrow Springs, a short twenty-minute drive on a good day, perhaps longer given the weather. By this point, she was hours late, several hours.
“I just don’t understand,” Doc pleaded, worry evident, but disappointment somehow seeping in. “Everything was fine when she left this morning. She seemed fine. Do you think this is cold feet?”
“I suppose it’s possible, but unlikely. Surely you would have noticed a change in her, something to clue you in,” Dec offered, not entirely convinced this wasn’t a voluntary disappearance yet.
Doc shook his head, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck as he paced back and forth, trying to come up with something, anything. “Nothing seemed off, but we also haven’t found her or even her car. It’s like she vanished.”
“Before we got here, we did some quick preliminary investigating and know she made it to her appointment, left, and that her credit card was used at three different stores shortly after. That’s when she falls off the grid. She had to have headed home after that…or somewhere anyway.” Liam was the head of IT security in the brothers’ company. He was a highly skilled tech pro, a hacker. “There aren’t any cameras on the highway between McKenzie and Arrow Springs so that was a bust and we confirmed there were no accident reports or calls for a tow truck, assuming she broke down.”
“Yeah, the weather is pretty rough, there isn’t a lot of traffic on that old highway on a good day, today it would be next to nothing, I’m sure. Who knows when the last highway patrol passed through there.”
“She left. She left me…us.” Doc hung his head letting all of the unlikely negative ideas consume him and take over. “Did you guys see her when BJ and Carigan were having their…issue
. Something spooked her. I saw it. She seemed fine after, but…”
“Son, that’s a real reach, don’t you think?” Stone scolded. “I know I’m new at this and still have a lot of learnin’ to do, but I do know that girl doesn’t waver. If she had it in her to leave, she’d ’ave done it right then and there. No games, no hesitation, and no façade. That girl has it real bad for you. Her life before you may poke and prod here and there, but I think she’d be hard for you to get rid of at this point.”
“I suppose you’re right. Lou will be home in a few days, and we’re celebrating the two engagements that day. She’s too excited for both. I don’t know…I just can’t stand not knowing if she’s okay and not being able to help her if she isn’t.”
Jessie put a rare comforting arm on Doc’s shoulder and pulled him into her embrace, “She loves you, and that baby, Doc. You’re everything to her and she’s probably just as worried about you right now. We’re going to find her.”
All eyes were on Jessie in her moment of tenderness. They were either shocked expressions, or warm adoring ones, neither washed over her well. “What the hell are you all looking at, we have shit to do. What’s next, Blake?”
And she was back.
Liam had excused himself outside, to grab something from the truck that he had left behind, and was now sitting in the middle of Everly’s living room, setting up the device. It was something of a bulky laptop with a few extra attachments and an extra screen. He went to work, clearly in his element, fully immersed in whatever he was doing. He was definitely the computer nerd his brothers teased him of being.
“Okay, I am ready to go,” he said, pecking away at the keys. “Searching signals now…should have her car gps and cellphone in a minute.”
Blake chuckled in surprise. “Do you have, oh…say…a warrant
for that O’Reilly? You know that’s illegal and I’m obligated to intervene.”
Jessie, of all people, put an arm around Blake and nudged him to follow her, even using his nickname. “Come look at the snow with me, Coop. I love this big window, such a beautiful view of the ridge.”
“Jessie…” It was obvious what she was doing to help the cause, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him and if he didn’t see it, he wouldn’t have to arrest anyone.
“Can you just stop being a damn GI Joe turbo Cop for a minute and look at the pretty fucking snow with me? Christ, you’re a pain in the ass.”
Subtle laughter could be heard over the ricochet sound of Liam’s fingers padding over the keyboard in front of him at such a fast paced, the sound was only recognizable because they knew what he was doing. Liam enjoyed his work, the challenge was appealing and this task was no different. He was on a mission, one he intended to complete.
“Almost there.” he announced, “Locking in…got her phone…and…boom! Got her car.”
He pounded away at the keyboard before turning the larger computer screen around, facing the group, revealing information that looked foreign to most of them. He stood, leaning over the screen and pointed out what he found, giving an explanation.
“Okay, these are the coordinates for her car, past coordinates show that she did indeed go to Arrow Springs, looks like she made a few stops while there. It seems to be sitting on highway 91 now, doesn’t appear to be moving. I have a cellphone ping on Switch 59, Cell Tower 154, Sector Alpha
. That particular tower is off of highway 91, between McKenzie and Arrow Springs about a half mile from the coordinates that correspond with her car.”
“Um, so, what does all of that mean?” Doc was hopeful this was good news and clinged to that notion until told otherwise.
“It means…I found her. Her car anyway and since her phone is obviously nearby, I have to assume she is still in the area too.”
“What’s near there, Liam?” Doc questioned, trying to visualize the area she was in and if there was any nearby help.
“Nothing, nothing at all. It’s all road and trees through there.”
“Good work Liam.” Blake patted him on the back, a pleased look on his face and sense of hope in his voice. “Let’s plug in the coordinates and get out there then. Sounds like she broke down.”
“Let’s bring the team…be prepared for anything…just in case. It’s good practice,
” Liam interrupted.
“You got it. Load up guys,” Blake instructed.
As the rest of the group made their way outside, filing into the vehicles, Liam held Blake back for a quick conversation in private.
“Hey man, I traced her GPS and the tower hits like I said. I can see where she’s been.” The solemn vibrato to Liam’s voice put Blake on alert.
“Right, you said that already. What’s the problem?”
Liam hesitated for a moment, letting the breath he had been holding slowly leave him. “She hasn’t moved. She’s been sitting there – for a while. You can’t tell me there hasn’t been a single vehicle, emergency or otherwise, that’s passed by her in that time. This isn’t the city, someone would have stopped and helped somehow. I checked all of the towers, none of them are down, we would have heard from her by now. She’s in trouble, man.”
“Shit!” Blake stormed toward the door, Liam close behind. “Boys, get your gear, we’re doing this for real.”
An overwhelming sense of dread took over, leaving Doc dizzy with fear as he clung to the side of the truck. Something was wrong, really wrong. He couldn’t let his mind wander too far because it lead to the shit nightmares were made of. He wouldn’t let himself go there or worry until he had something to worry about, which was damn hard.
Stone placed a hand on Doc’s shoulder. “We’ll find her son, we’ll find her.”
Doc dropped his head and did something he didn’t do nearly enough – he prayed, “Dear God let them be okay…”
In a small caravan of vehicles, the gang, now a potential rescue team, made their way down the snow-covered highway, watching the ditches and old service roads for any sign of Everly so they wouldn’t have to double back, should she not be where Liam’s hacking had placed her. Morgan and Beck had called ahead to Sugar Spring Stables, asking for the horse trailer to be loaded so it was ready when they got there. If this was a real rescue, they would likely need the beasts to get into places made difficult by terrain and weather. Worst case scenario, it was good practice for a real emergency, like Liam and Blake had mentioned before.
Headlights on and wipers running intermittently, the snow came down harder as time went on, making it more difficult to see evidence that any vehicle had been out there in recent hours. They trudged on, creeping up on the location they hoped to find Everly and her car. When it finally came into view, its headlights still on and wipers going, that last half of a mile felt like the longest.
Not concerned with traffic or rules, they parked right alongside Everly’s car in the middle of the road, barely coming to a stop when they rushed from the vehicles. Several ran directly to the vehicle, while some began searching the area around it because it was obvious on their approach that she wasn’t in the car. It was empty.
Blake shouted from the vehicle, only his head inside so he wouldn’t damage the crime scene, or evidence, should this be what they were dealing with. “I got her purse here, phone on the seat, keys in the ignition.”
He reached through the steering wheel and turned the key, starting the vehicle, “It’s running, almost a full tank of gas, and no emergency sensors lit up on the dash. Car seems to be fine. Inside is clean.”
Sighs of relief surrounded the group when they heard what they had been waiting for. Inside is clean
was code for no blood
or signs of menace.
“I got four good tires, no body damage to the exterior,” Wylie added, rounding the vehicle after checking underneath. “Also clean.”
They were two for two, no evidence of foul play, yet,
but where was Everly? Doc stood back and let the team do what they were trained to do, hard as that was. They might have felt better about the lack of evidence suggesting malice, but to him, it just meant they were that much further from finding her. He didn’t want something sinister to be evident, but he’d do just about anything for a simple clue. Anything that could lead them to her.
“I got prints over here!” Luke yelled from just beyond the vehicle, off the road in what was typically a grassy area that lead to the forest beyond, now covered by snow. “Tracks are headed into the woods. These look too big to be Ev though.”
“I have foot prints down here too…coming from the woods.” Dace was squatting by the tracks he found, scratching his chin. “I agree, these are as big as my feet, looks like boots.”
“Why would there be tracks headed into the woods and back out?” Doc questioned.
“Pregnant, maybe she had to squat behind a tree,” Jessie reasoned. “You know…pee.”
“No, I can’t see her going all the way out to the woods for that in the snow – just open the two side doors and use the side of the road. She’s outdoorsy, she would have thought of something more resourceful then hiking into the woods. Besides, she would be back at the car.” Blake had a good point, Everly was resourceful, did well in tough conditions. It’s what made her good at Search and Rescue and why she was great on the Life Flight Chopper.
Declan observed the tracks from one brother down to the other and noticed something out of place. Something suggesting the foul play that was looming and they’d all hoped to avoid. He pulled off his black leather glove and placed his hand inside the first set of tracks that were just behind the vehicle, then did the same at the other set.
“The terrain between the two sets is consistent and though the snow has been coming down, it’s still easy to see that one set is deeper than the other.”
“So two people were out here?” Doc asked. “Someone helped her?”
Declan looked down with his hands on his hips, his timbre sharp and angry, “Fuck
. No, no one helped her. The tracks match, same foot, same boots. It’s the depth. The tracks going back into the woods are deeper than the other set, quite a bit deeper.”
Jessie shook her head, trying to wrap it around what Declan was suggesting. “I don’t get it, so there is
two people? What does that mean? Why was one deeper and why is that significant. Try to remember we aren’t all GI Joe special forces ninja types like you guys.”
“It means,” Blake took over, “that whoever walked out of those woods, walked back in quite a bit heavier. They were carrying something.”
“Or someone…Everly,” Doc deadpanned. “They were carrying Evie.”
A slow nod came from Declan along with the words that would haunt this group for who knows how long, “It looks that way. I’m sorry man. Let’s mobilize the team, and call it in. We have a full Search and Rescue on our hands and we don’t know what kind of threat we are dealing with. We need to get into the woods and follow the clues. Let’s get those horses ready, we’re going to need them.”
“We’re down a helo,” Blake added, referring to helicopter assistance overhead. “Too many accidents earlier.”
Beck stepped forward, pulling on his gloves and pulling on a heavier waterproof jacket that matched his bottom half. “Blake, I can have a chopper here in minutes. It’s out at my ranch in Arrow Springs. It’s fast, and I might have had it equipped with…state of the art…stuff.”
“What kind of stuff
, McCain?”
“When I joined up on the Search Team, I added things…like things that could help if ever needed.”
“Like?” Blake was getting frustrated with Beck’s elusiveness due to embarrassment, but reality is, his helicopter hobby was likely going to help them find Everly.
“Like a hoist, net stretcher, various harnesses, ladders, all the first aid available for sale…and one of those infrared do-dads that can find people hiding or otherwise. It’s the full deal.”
“Get it here,” Blake said, slapping Beck’s shoulder, before walking off and hollering over his shoulder, “You did good, McCain, that do-dad
might just come in handy.”
Doc’s world had just tipped upside down and spun out of control as the earth quaked beneath his feet and terror knocked the wind from his lungs. Everly was not just missing, she was abducted, and in danger to the point that infrared and helicopters were necessary. His whole life danced in limbo, flashing before his eyes as thoughts of where Everly could be, who could have her, and what they were doing to her, haunted him. He turned to her vehicle behind him where Wylie had been emptying its contents on the hood of the car, looking for hints of any kind.
Balloons were floating just above a series of items that were laying there, baby items. The closer he got, the more his heart sunk as each item registered. She had
been planning to surprise him. There was a tiny onesie that said My dad rocks
and one that looked like a batman suit – he had a band and geeked out over superheroes especially Batman. There was a little ball and blue mitt next to a plastic doctor kit – both things he
loved in his life and would likely enjoy sharing with their child. Her gifts to him told the story.
It was undeniable…he had been right all along, “It’s a boy – I’m having a son.”
Tears welled up and contradicting emotions consumed him. How could he feel such a sense of pride and joy while being scared out of his mind.
“We’re going to find her, Doc…” Blake’s nearly whispered words were appreciated and gave him hope, but they did little to lift any weight or worry that took residence in his broken heart.