CHAPTER 25
Haley stood watching the funnel cloud grow in front of her. Why in all that was holy had she just sent him away? Fear like she hadn’t experienced since she was a teenager pooled in her belly. This tornado would take lives. She could feel it.
That thought spurred her to action. She wanted Axe here where she knew she could keep him safe, but he had to help his family. She’d manage. Alone. Just like she always did, and if she acted fast, maybe she could help get people out of harm’s way.
She slipped into the passenger side of T-REX and pulled up the Doppler images and superimposed them over a map. Her stomach dropped, and she gasped as she studied the trajectory. “Oh dear God.”
Right through Prairie and out toward the Hansens and Sinclaires. She had to let the police chief know. Travis? The younger Kincaid. “Goddammit,” she shouted at the screen. Why hadn’t she thought to ask for his cell phone? Or Chief Castro’s over at the fire department? They’d have given it to her. Now, she’d have to go through dispatch and that wasted precious time.
She dialed the local police station, hoping to heaven that there was actually a person there. “Prairie Police, Jeanine speaking.”
“Jeanine, this is Dr. Haley Cooper speaking. I need to talk to Travis right away.”
There was a pause. “I don’t think–”
“Let me explain.” It took superhuman effort not to scream into her phone. “I’m the tornado scientist. I’m sitting about six miles southwest of Prairie, and there is a half-mile wide wedge tornado coming straight for Prairie.”
There was a gasp on the other end. “I’ll patch you through.”
“Thank you, and please let Chief Castro know too? People must take shelter immediately.”
“Yes, of course. Hold on.”
It seemed like hours before Travis’s voice came over the speaker. “What’s going on?”
A gust shook the T-REX. Shit, she needed to move. “Hang on, Travis.”
Haley spun the monitor as best she could so she could see the storm from the driver’s seat. She made a note to tell Forte the next iteration of the vehicle had to have an option for a one-person operation.
She hopped out, bracing against the roaring wind, and ran around to the driver’s side. “Okay, I’m back. Listen carefully, you’ve got a tornado heading straight for Main Street.” She spun the car around, gunning the accelerator. The storm was going to cross the road and she needed to stay ahead of it. “The storm is moving about thirty miles per hour. That’s bad Travis, when they’re slow moving like this, the wind speeds are generally higher. This could grow before it reaches you.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Make sure everyone is below ground. I’m already seeing wind speeds estimated at two-hundred miles an hour. That’s a strong EF3 and likely to hit EF4 if it grows. You’ve got about ten minutes. Get anything important to shelter, and concentrate on Main Street south of Rural Road 30, down to about sixth street. The storm looks like it’s going to bisect the town on a diagonal.”
“Where are you?”
“Maybe five miles outside of town. Hurry, Travis. You only have about ten minutes to make sure people are out of their cars and someplace safe.” Another alarm beeped in her car, but she couldn’t reach across to turn it off.
“National Weather Service is going crazy.”
“I know. But you know how it is here, people will go look or ignore it, like they did in Joplin. Don’t let them look Travis.” Hysteria rose inside her, like an uncapped fire hydrant. “If they look, they’ll die,” she said thickly, a picture of Mama June flashing before her eyes.
Travis must have stepped outside. She could hear the sirens coming through her phone. “Travis, I’m going to follow this as much as I can. This is a dangerous life-threatening tornado.” Haley careened around a corner speeding the car north. There was no way to follow parallel to the tornado. She’d have to zig-zag and keep tabs on it. As she came to another intersection, she slammed on the brakes and spun the car, screeching it to a stop. In front of her, an SUV with a small radar set-up and three cameras hanging out the window sat in the middle of the intersection.
Cold fury taking over, she hopped out of the car. “What. The. FUCK do you think you’re doing?” She checked out the logo on the side of the car – Twisted Rides.
“Hey you’re in the way,” the driver shouted out the window.
Haley marched up to the window. “Your ride is over. That is a killer tornado headed for a town five miles that way.” She pointed in the direction of Prairie, “Where it will wreak massive devastation. I nearly broadsided you.” The driver looked no more than twenty-five. This kid was the worst kind of storm-chaser.
“You should have been watching where you were going.”
“You shouldn’t be making money off of people’s misfortune.”
“Aren’t you doing the same thing?”
“I’m a scientist, you fucking thrill seeker. I’m trying to make sure dumbasses like you don’t die. You know how many chasers die every year from stupidity? Too damned many. And every single one of them is preventable.”
They both turned at the squeal of brakes as another SUV with riders and cameras screeched to a stop, not six feet from her. Haley turned back to the driver in the first car. “You’re a menace to first responders and scientists alike. You damned well better get your ass to Prairie to help with search and rescue efforts.”
She spun and stalked back to the T-REX, leaning into the wind as it howled around them. She pulled around the two cars, offering a silent prayer of gratitude that no one had been hurt in that near miss. Too many people were going to get hurt today. She floored it, grateful again that the engine was a Jag. Smart move on Forte’s part.
“Haley, where are you?” Travis’s voice shouted through the speaker.
“Sorry. Near miss with some yahoo chasers.” She peered out the window, dread again pooling in her belly. “Travis, we have a problem, it’s getting rain wrapped. I can’t see the column anymore.” She turned the car east again, flying through the wind, and now, torrential rain. Then a thunk hit the roof.
Debris.
“Shit.”
“What? What is it?”
“Debris. Debris is falling. Whatever it sucked up is now getting tossed.” She slowed and pulled over to check the screen again. Adrenaline buzzed through her, making her hands shake. The path hadn’t deviated. “Wind speeds now at two-hundred ten. Travis you have less than five minutes before it’s going to be on top of you.”
She saw a flash outside the window. Transformer, maybe? She didn’t know the electrical grid down here. “Travis?” She glanced down at her phone. “Travis?” Nothing.
It must have hit a cell tower too.
But it should have pinged to another, yes? But this was rural Kansas, not Norman, Oklahoma. She pounded the steering wheel in frustration. More debris rained down on her as the winds picked up. The tornado would cross in front of her about a half-mile up the road. It was so dark, she could barely see. Although, looking south, she could see light. The winds screeched around her and she turned the nose of the vehicle into the wind.
Her stomach roiled, and not from the baby, but because all she could do now was watch the radar and hope and pray people had listened to Travis. Mama June’s face flashed before her again, and then Axel’s. She’d worked all of her adult life to ensure people were safe. Protected. And in the end, all she could do was watch helplessly as a killer tornado threatened them yet again. She’d never felt so powerless. She’d organized her life to never let herself be in a situation like this. And in spite of her efforts, here she was.
The rain became harder and then turned into pings and splats as hailstones hit the roof. She pulled in a low breath and blew it out to a count of ten. A gust blew the car, shaking it. It rocked, but didn’t move. She wasn’t close enough to be hit by significant debris, but she was still scared. An acrid taste developed in the back of her mouth.
A crack of lightning lit up the car. She started, then squeezed her eyes shut, clutching the wheel. The tornado had to be moving over Prairie now. She pictured the buildings on Main Street – Dottie’s Diner, Emmaline’s Dress Shop, the Five’n Dime, the feed store. The little park across the street from the diner. She knew what an EF4 could to, would do. Panic began to curl through her. Was this what people called the dark night of the soul?
She couldn’t bear to think about where Axel might be. Or his family.
What would she do if he got hurt because she’d sent him away? How could she live with herself if she’d killed the father of her child trying to protect him? Panic and grief strobed through her, squeezing painfully on her heart. “Stop it,” she told herself sternly. “Stop it.”
Axe had to live. He had to be okay. She’d done the right thing sending him to help his family, hadn’t she? She prayed with everything inside her, picturing Axel’s laughing eyes, his scruffy ginger beard. The way he smiled at her just before they kissed.
Her throat ached from holding her fear, and she couldn’t catch her breath. All she could do was grip the steering wheel and wait for this nightmare to end.