First Night of Summer (25 page)

“Mom!” Urgency filled his voice. “Mom! Are you there?” A breakdown of the last five minutes began to manifest. The so-called accident between the white pickup and deer was no accident at all. Rather, it was a carefully staged and effective ploy.

No answer came from his mother.

He slithered beside the wooden guardrail posts toward the truck. Gravel, debris, and asphalt continued to gnaw at his hands, left arm, and ribcage. Sweat made the rubble stick, and the bloody scrapes developed into road rash.

“Isaac?” A soft reply finally came.

“Mom, are you okay?” He squirmed with even more urgency. Too many questions remained unanswered.

“I think so.” Her voice sounded uncertain.

“What the hell happened?” A kick of his feet sprayed loose rocks into the air, and they dinged off the galvanized rail. “Where’s the guy?”

Disoriented, Helen sat up and peered out the windshield. “I don’t know.” She thought hard. Something was definitely off. Her muscles ached like a bad case of influenza. “He wanted to use my phone to call a tow truck.” She tried to sit taller, hearing but not seeing her son.

Isaac had almost made his way to the passenger side. The backdoor sat ajar. “Josie?” he called out. “Mom, is Josie okay?”

Helen slowly twisted at the waist to look over her shoulder. “She’s right back—” Her pace quickened in panic. “She’s not here!” A swift click with her thumb unbuckled the seat belt, and she turned completely around. Her knees were in the seat. “She’s gone!”

Each piece of an intricate puzzle fell into place. The whole picture was there in black and white: Derek the grocery store clerk, the airplanes, the staged wreck, and Josie. Key points added up in an undisputable sequence. They explained everything.

“Josie, answer me,” Helen commanded.

“She’s not there.”

Helen ignored him. “Josephine Snow, you answer me this instant.” The demand sounded fearful, not adamant.

“He took her.” Isaac was sprawled outside her door now.

Helen poked her head out the open window and looked down. Isaac lying on the ground didn’t seem to bother her. “I don’t understand,” she went on. “He couldn’t have taken her.” She averted her stare to the backseat as if Josie might reappear.

Already on borrowed time, he didn’t care to debate the validity of Josie’s kidnapping.

“Dad keeps a multi-tool in the glove box.” He put ice to his voice. “Get it for me.”

“But she was right here. All he wanted was my phone.”

“Mom, the multi-tool. Now! I’m tied up.” He managed to kick the running board with a loud bang to gain her attention.

While he waited for the cutters, a clear display of events poured through his mind. He saw the eyes that stared at him from across Caroline and Josie’s bedroom on the first night of summer. They were the same piercing blues he had seen at the grocery store. And they were the same eyes that had just played him for a fool.

A stream of grizzly abduction memories emerged as if he had been there himself. Letters and Polaroids followed, every one addressed to Josie. The graphic pictures were terrible, but nothing compared to the words of handwritten intent. The last one, “I’ll be seeing you. Soon,” rang louder than ever. No matter how much Isaac had hoped and prayed that it would be, the promise was not empty.

Lastly, the row of vandalized airplanes came to mind. All had been trashed, not just his.
The paint on mine was … red
. He felt disgusted with himself that he hadn’t noticed the subtle clue, a jab to mock him.

And only moments ago, he had stood in front of the murderer’s pickup and swallowed his bait. Blood covered the grill and headlights, but now that he recalled, not one dent marred the vehicle, and no blood trail from an injured animal was left behind. He had been so concerned with reaching Sarah that awareness fell by the wayside. Even though he couldn’t place it before, the seemingly random vision of fireworks and Fourth of July festivals finally made sense.

The Independence Day memories were from childhood. As little boys, he and Charlie lit smoke bombs to play war and pull pranks. The odor was undeniable and, here and now, the smoke had poured from underneath the hood and flawlessly simulated a fluid leak.

Helen emerged with the multi-tool. She opened the wire cutters and knelt in front of Isaac. Slipping the plastic tie between the jaws, she clamped down.

He snatched the tool with his newly freed hands and clipped the bindings on his ankles. Helen reached out and helped pull him up by the arms. They both staggered, neither in full command of their muscles, and rushed to their seats. She slammed her door shut while Isaac teetered around the front. Bloody and dirty, he stretched an arm across the hood for support. His body was there, but his head and heart felt hollow.

Sarah was in the hospital, Caroline was already dead, and Josie drew further and further away by the second. Three girls—his girls—beyond the protection he yearned to give them. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop the tide.

Helen said, “We have to get her back.”

Without a word, he put his foot on the brake and reached for the ignition. His hand fumbled for the keys. They weren’t there.

We are truly stranded, and Josie is on her own
.

Chapter Fifty-Six

I
t took every ounce of discipline to drive on as Ricky struggled to control himself. Josie slept in a drug-induced state from the chloroform. Helpless, she rested in the front passenger floorboard.

This was, unequivocally, the most exhilarated he ever remembered feeling. He had to draw it out and savor the ride. Ending the adventure too soon would be a tragic disservice to his efforts. After he finished with her, it could take years to recapture the euphoric bliss.

Perplexed, he couldn’t put a finger on why Josie demanded so much of him. If the situation called for it, he would pursue her to the ends of the earth. She was more than a minor obsession. Maybe because he had to go without her for so long. Originally, it had been because she and Caroline were identical twins. He had never had twins before. The fantastical idea excited him. Now it was just Josie. And somehow, he relished the notion of her, even more so than when there were two of them. She called to him in a way he didn’t fully understand.

Despite his rushed escape, Ricky knew the stakes were about to change. Eventually, the chase would be on. Every law enforcement officer within a hundred miles on God’s green earth was about to search for him. His best guess was that, currently, no one beyond Isaac and Helen knew anything. Their first opportunity to call for help wouldn’t come until another motorist stopped or Isaac made it back to town on foot. Either option suited Ricky fine. One could take as long as the next.

The song “Time Is on My Side” played in his head.

He continued in a blaze up the mountain road. Confidence blossomed. By the time the police were notified, put together a plan, and finally exercised it, he would be nothing but a tiny speck hidden inside millions of acres of wilderness and uncharted roads.

He glanced down at Josie’s little form. The last time he had seen her sleep was in her own bedroom in Ruidoso. He thought it odd how a dropped flashlight ended up the cause for so much.

Soon, she would pay for his troubles.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

A
n iron fist connected with the dash. Isaac clearly recalled leaving the engine running when he got out to help. He’d left his cell phone in the cup holder. It too had disappeared. Even a small break would go a long way, but the stars weren’t aligned, at least not for him.

He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and violently shook it. “No!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. The wail was long and drawn out, the very essence of defeat.

Helen began to cry next to him. “I don’t know what to do.” Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. She loved Josie and couldn’t bear the thought of what she would soon have to endure. “We have to do something. We have to go.”

He lifted his hands from the wheel in a pose of surrender. Years of military training pulled him from a state of panic and guided his mind in the direction of focus and decisiveness. “Did he take your cell?” He held out his hand.

Helen jerked her purse from the floor. Her hands dove into the bag and found the phone pocket. It was empty. She dug to the bottom. Still nothing. Raking her fingers through once more, a jingle caught her ear. It wasn’t a cell phone, but better.
Why didn’t I think of this before?
She dangled a ring of keys into the air with two fobs attached.

“Please tell me that’s a spare,” he said hopefully.

“I forgot. I keep the second set to both cars in my purse.”

He snatched them away and drove the master key into the ignition. The truck purred to life. It made the most glorious sound he had ever heard.

“I didn’t think about it because I never use them,” she explained and sniffed her runny nose.

He almost jammed the gearshift into drive but stopped short. He sat there, motionless, for a pause.

“What are you doing?” Helen pled. “Go!”

She was right, of course. The most logical choice was to give chase and hopefully catch up to Josie and her captor. But something in the back of his mind told him to act differently. He realized the problem and, as much as it defied rationale, made a judgment call. Josie’s life hung in the balance of his choices. He didn’t deny it and knew what had to be done.

“No,” he told Helen.

“He’s getting away!”

He executed a hasty three-point turn. “He’s already gotten away.” He floored it and started back down the road the way they had just come.

Helen looked at him like he had lost his mind. Desperation struck her face as she silently pled for him not to drive away.

“His pickup is faster than ours,” he explained. “Dad’s is built for work, not speed.”

“But they can’t be far.”

“It doesn’t matter.” His voice slowly grew calm. The more he reasoned it out, the surer of himself he became. “I guarantee he’s driving double-time now and we’ll never catch up.”

Helen stared ahead. She held onto a support handle and continued to fight off the after effects of the stun gun. “Then where are we going?”

Isaac rolled his neck around. He also tried to shake off the fatigued muscle feeling. “Back to the airport.”

“We just came from there. We need to call the police. Somebody has to start searching.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have a phone, Mom.”

She reached up to the rearview mirror and punched a button with the symbol of a phone on it.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

She gave him an incredulous look. “Calling for help.”

“It won’t work. That’s a Bluetooth connection. It’s only compatible with your cell. Calls go through the car speakers so you can talk hands free.”

Helen shook her head. “Not this one. There are too many places with no service in these mountains. Your dad buys minutes through OnStar. It’s a satellite signal, and we can use it anywhere.” She held the icon down until service engaged and then used buttons on the dash to dial. “At our age, it makes us feel safer to always have service.”

Isaac was impressed with his mom’s knowledge of the system. “Who are you calling?”

“Nine one one!”

He quickly hit the disconnect button before the call connected. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. “You can’t do that.”

“Why?” She scrambled to redial. “That’s what it’s for.”

He grabbed her wrist and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Stop dialing, Mom. That’s not what I mean.” He had to let her in on his idea. Otherwise, she wouldn’t understand. “Look,” he explained. “If you call nine one one, the alert will go to Taos PD. By the time they question us and finally realize the urgency, Josie will be long gone. And that’s before a search plan has even been put together.” The thought of never seeing her again constricted his throat. “I promise there’s a better way to do this.”

“I don’t understand. What better way?” She had no knowledge of what happened the night before at the grocery store or the greater meaning behind the vandalized airplanes. The whole affair appeared one-dimensional to her. A man had taken her granddaughter. That was it.

“Call Charlie,” he instructed.

“Charlie?” Now she thought he had lost it for sure. “He can’t do anything from Ruidoso. It’s too far away.” She hit the phone button again. “You’re not thinking straight. I’m calling the police, and I’m doing it right now.”

“Dammit, Mom. Stop that.” He hit the end button for the second time. “If you call the police, Josie is as good as dead.”

She gave him a shocked expression, surprised that he dared talk about Josie’s fate so bluntly.

“I mean it. Get Charlie on the line. We’ll explain what happened, and he can call the Taos police. Everything will move ten times faster if another officer calls it in.” He pushed for every millisecond of speed the cumbersome truck had to offer.

“Charlie,” he went on, “knows who to contact at the FBI. Their people can come in on a chopper from Santa Fe or Albuquerque. If we do it this way, Josie stands a chance. If not, we can forget it. The cops will keep me from getting involved.”

It never crossed Helen’s mind that Isaac would help. She assumed he would leave it to the professionals. “And what is it, exactly, that you plan on doing?”

“Never mind that.”

Isaac gave her Charlie’s number by memory, and they waited for an answer. It felt so wrong to be driving in the opposite direction of Josie, but the plan was her only hope of rescue and his chance for redemption. He pushed the accelerator harder. The truck devoured the pavement. Finally, after three rings, Charlie’s voice came over the speakers.

“Chief Biddle.”

“Thank God,” Isaac spoke into the ceiling mike. “We really need your help.”

“Isaac?”

“We have an emergency situation. Listen to what I have to say before you ask questions.”

There was a brief pause. “Okay,” he agreed seriously. “Shoot.”

He relayed everything that had happened from the time Dr. Ellison called to inform him of Sarah’s accident, to the vandalized airplanes, and, ultimately, the kidnapping of Josie. Helen jumped in occasionally to give a detail Isaac left out. Charlie made good on his agreement. He didn’t say one word until they finished.