Kyle's Modern Montana Bride (The New Montana Brides Book 6) (4 page)

chapter Seven

A Glimmer of Hope

Kyle found a city map at the tourist center. He stopped at a fast food place and got a cheeseburger and fries. He went back to the Holiday Inn where he had taken a room. With a drink from the machine down the hall, he spread the map on the small coffee table and ate his cheeseburger while studied the situation. He found two of the places on the list Rollins had given him. He got some of the others from the front desk clerk. Then he began marking up his map.

Finished, he called Susannah.

“I’m in Lake Havasu City. I’ve been to the police and to CPS. They are a small department, but the officer I spoke to gave me several places check. I’ll start that in the morning and go from there.”

“You sure got there in a hurry. Please be careful. I have enough guilt on my plate without you becoming involved in an accident.”

“I flew up here. Took forty minutes from the time my wheels lifted off until I landed. I’m staying at the Holiday Inn. If you have a pen handy, here’s the number in case you get a call.

“I have to tell you, the more I think about being kept in the dark about my son, the more upset I am. I don’t understand it at all. A simple call to the ranch would have gotten you my address.”

Kyle expected an argument from her. He didn’t get it. She didn’t fight back the way her sister used to. She was contrite, and apologetic. “I understand you’re angry and you have every right to be. I should have tried to find you. I just didn’t. I’m sorry, and I don’t know what else to say.”

“You idiot, she didn’t deserve that. She’s worried about your son and you dump on her. You should be ashamed of yourself,”
the little voice in his head said.

He had a fitful night. He dreamed he was in a firefight in a native village in Afghanistan. A building caught fire. The occupants streamed from the building in the face of small arms fire from the Taliban. All left except one. A figure stood behind a window. As Kyle watched, the fire consumed the boy. The last thing he saw was a sad face. Zach’s face, his eyes pleading, but his lips not moving. The face melted, and Kyle jolted awake. The dream had been so real, his undershirt was soaked. His face and arms were covered in perspiration.

When morning finally came, he went in to take a shower. When he looked in the mirror, the face looking back at him looked as if it belonged to someone coming off a two week bender. He had not had a single drink the previous evening. He always abstained from drinking when he might be flying the next day.

He checked with the front desk the checkout time, and then asked about a good restaurant for breakfast. The clerk recommended The Red Onion on McCulloch Street. It lived up to the clerk’s praise and Kyle walked out pleasantly full.

It was time to begin the search in earnest.

By noon, Kyle left the third place on the list. No one recognized the photo of Zach out of the thirty or forty people he spoke with. He went back to the Red Onion for lunch, and visited another location with the same result as before.

With two locations left on the list, he drove to a park by the river and found it to be heavily populated with teenagers. The skunky smell of marijuana hung in the air.

Kyle showed the picture to a girl who looked to be about fifteen; she recognized Zach. “I hung with him several days,” she said. “He’s a really cool kid.”

Elated, Kyle asked, “Is he still here?”

“No, he left two weeks ago,” she said.

Hoping against hope, Kyle asked, “Do you know where he was going?”

“He told me he was going to someplace near Reno. I don’t remember the name but there was supposed to be some kind of battle of the bands he wanted to see. He wanted me to go, but that’s not my thing. I like it here,” the girl said.

“I appreciate your help, I really do. Is there anything you need, money or anything?” Kyle asked.

“I’d like to go home,” she said.

“I will be glad to pay for your ticket home,” he said. “I know what your parents must be going through. Where do you live?”

“Omaha,” she said.

“If I pay for a ticket, will you go home,” Kyle asked.

She nodded. Kyle gave her $200 and said, “That should cover your ticket and meals. There may be enough to get a new pair of jeans and blouse.”

She hugged him. “Thanks mister. Kyle’s lucky to have a father like you. Mine’s going to kill me when I get home,” she said.

“No he won’t. He’s going to hug you and tell you how glad he is you came home. Wait and see. Go get your ticket, and go home,” Kyle said.

“Mister?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“I told you the truth. That’s where he said he was going. Good luck,” she said.

Kyle went back to the Holiday Inn and checked out. He drove to the airport, verified the 310 had been serviced. He went into the FBO and bought the appropriate approach plates for the Reno airport, and paid the bill. He filed an IFR flight plan for Reno direct. He received his clearance, taxied the 310 to the end of the active runway and took off on what he hoped was the last leg of his journey.

It was after dark when he landed, and made the arrangements for servicing the 310. He took a hotel shuttle to the Marriott Residence Inn. It had been a long day and he was tired. He ordered room service and showered while he waited for his food. After the shower, he felt better; his mood heightened.

He ate, took out his iPhone and punched in Susannah’s number. When she realized it was him, she said, “I didn’t think you were going to call. Where are you?”

“I’m in Reno. I had a little bit of luck in Lake Havasu City. I talked to a girl who said she had spent several days with Zach about two weeks ago. She was about a year older than him, and she recognized his picture. He told her he was going to a place not far from Reno, for a battle of the bands, whatever that is. Anyway, the Reno airport is the closest, and I’m going over there in the morning. We’re getting closer.

She had him relate the conversation several times. He told her “The girl called Zach a really cool kid. I asked her if there was anything she needed. She said she wanted to go home to Omaha, but didn’t have any money. I gave her $200. I don’t know what she will do with it. I hope she uses it to go home.”

They talked until past midnight. Susannah told him how she had taken care of Zach off and on all of his life. She told him about Ashley’s attempts at rehab and leaving most of them before she should have. “Mom and Dad used most of their savings trying to get her straight, but she kept relapsing. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she caught some sort of disease. In one of her times, she told me how she had hooked for money to get a fix. I hate to admit it, but I gave up; or I would have if it hadn’t been for Zach, and being afraid she would take him away if I confronted her. In my own way, I guess I was as weak as she was. I enabled her, and that was wrong, just as wrong as my not trying to find you.” She had begun crying. Kyle found himself wishing he could comfort her.

“I’m going to start with the sheriff’s office and go from there tomorrow morning. Keep your chin up. We’re making progress,” he said. “Are you going to be working tomorrow? I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

They said goodbye, Kyle put the room service tray in the hall to be picked up, and went to bed. He was asleep before his head could make a dent in the pillow.

chapter Eight

Wild Things Going On

Zach’s name was not in any of the Reno Police Department files. They suggested he check with the Sheriff’s Office.

The desk sergeant in the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department called the detective who acted as the liaison with Child Protection service, to the front after Kyle told him why he was there.

“I’m Kyle Thompson,” Kyle told him. He showed him the photo. “I’m looking for my son. He ran away from his home in Phoenix about six weeks ago. I got word he was heading this way. Something about a battle of the bands.”

““That was a bad scene,” the officer said. “Drugs were everywhere. We had fights, one knifing, and so much prostitution we ran out of space to keep them. It lasted about two weeks before most of them drifted away. He checked his files, but there was nothing on Zach. Another officer came in, just off patrol. The sergeant called him over. “Clyde, what was the name of that place over near Steamboat Springs where we had all of the trouble when that band thing was going on?”

“Are you talking about the Sugar Ranch?” the officer named Clyde asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one. The Sugar Ranch. It’s a run-down old farm. There’s usually a bunch of hippies and druggies crashing there.”

“Can you tell me how to get there?” Kyle asked.

Clay said he could, and gave directions to Steamboat Springs and the place known as the Sugar Ranch. He said, “The last I heard, the place was run by a man named Ray. The people staying there panhandle to pay him.”

Kyle spent the afternoon in the car. He checked out the other places in the Reno area considered likely places. Nothing turned up, so he returned to the Marriott.

He called Susannah. “Nothing good to report yet. Reno didn’t have anything, but the Sheriff’s Office told me about a place near here, and I’m going to run over there in the morning.

“I wish you had come with me. It would be nice to have someone to talk to,” he said.

“I kind of wish I had too,” she said. “I should have. To tell the truth, I was a bit leery about going off with you, when I don’t really know you that well. We never ran in the same crowd back in school. To tell the truth, I didn’t run with any crowd. “

He laughed. “I usually followed Ashley’s lead. I was thinking about that earlier. We did whatever she wanted to do. I don’t know that I was ever asked what I wanted to do. It probably wouldn’t have mattered, though. I didn’t care. I just wanted to be with her.”

“You had it bad, didn’t you?” she asked.

“I guess I did. I kept calling her while I was in school, but she wouldn’t talk to me,” he said.

“You should have called me. I would’ve talked to you,” she said with a wistful tone to her voice.

“Who was your boyfriend back then,” he asked.

“I didn’t have one,” she said. “I dated a boy off and on in college, but having to work didn’t leave me much spare time for dating.”

“Promise not to get mad and I’ll tell you something funny,” he said.

“Ooh, this sounds ominous. Okay, I promise,” she said.

“My recollection of you is you always had a book in your hand. I figured you would probably be a librarian or a teacher,” he said.

“You mean a boring job for a boring person,” she said.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It was rude and uncalled for. Anyway, you shocked me when you opened the door.”

“Good,” she said. “I think I’ve always been a bit of an introvert. I used to envy Ashley being so popular. She was at ease with everyone. Look where that got her. She was stupid to let you get away. In the long run, it killed her. I know that sounds cold, but she was searching for something and didn’t find it. Maybe it was you.”

“I’d hate to think what you just said is true. I don’t need any more guilt,” he said.

“So now it’s my turn to ask you not to get mad. You’ve been home now, what, a year? I haven’t heard you mention anyone. Why not?” she asked.

“I guess I was searching for something or someone. Would you like to apply for the job?” he asked.

“I might,” she said.

There was silence from Kyle’s end of the line.

A few seconds later… “You shocked me again,” he said.

“So, I’m not the mousy librarian you thought I was, huh?” she asked.

“I’m still trying to process the “I might” bit, where do I send the application form?” he asked.

“How about we do a face to face interview?” she asked.

“That works for me.”

They talked long into the night. They shared likes and dislikes. Susannah told Kyle about working her way through college, starting out as a waitress in a local restaurant. She told him how she had gotten a job in a large furniture store, working with one of their decorators. “It was that summer I learned I really like decorating, and discovered I had a knack for it. I changed my major the next semester.”

“What were you majoring in before?” he asked.

“I knew you were going to ask that,” she said, her laugh low and throaty. “Library Science. I was going to be the Longmont version of Marian the Librarian.”

“So I wasn’t that far off base, was I?” he asked.

Kyle had moved from the sofa to the bed. Her soft, sexy voice was lulling him to sleep. “As much as I’m enjoying this, if I’m going to be at my best this morning, I had better get a little sleep.”

“This morning? What time is it anyway. Two o’clock? I don’t believe this. I never talk this much. I enjoyed it too. Good luck this morning, and good night; or, is it good morning?”

“Good night, Susannah. You took my mind off my problems. Thank you. I’ll call if I learn anything.”

They disconnected, Kyle lay there staring at the ceiling.
This could get complicated,
he thought just before his eyes closed and he was asleep.

A thousand miles away, Susannah undressed and got into bed.
Be careful Susannah. Don’t get hurt
was her last thoughts before she too fell asleep.