Twice the Trouble (21 page)

His cell phone on the kitchen table rang. Alex ducked his head to drink from the water tap, a nasty habit he had when he was alone.

The caller ID showed Jenna’s name on the display. He picked it up immediately, anxious to hear a friendly voice.

“Hey sugar, how’s it going?”

“Not good, Alex,” Jenna voice shook. “I think Mom is hurt.”

“Hurt?” An instant chill of alarm ran up his spine. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I don’t know? We found her lying on the floor in the barn. Jerrod is out there with her now. I had to come inside to get my phone from the charger. I don’t know what to do. We can’t carry her inside.”

“Don’t move her!” Alex was already pulling on a pair of dirty jeans from the laundry room. There was no time to go upstairs. He had his eye on an old T-shirt and a pair of deck shoes. His keys and wallet were still sitting on his desk. “Has she lost consciousness, is she awake? To hell with it, call 911 and I’ll be right there.”

Alex had been thinking about trading his sporty BMW for something more practical. At the moment, he was glad to have the extra horsepower. He wished he wasn’t so far from the farm, but thankfully, he wasn’t still living in Orlando. Lacey needed him, and whether she liked it or not, he would be there for her.

Jenna hadn’t mentioned any visible injuries or blood. Had he given her the chance before hanging up? He should have kept her on the phone. No, she needed to call 911. That was the most important thing right now.

He wondered if Lacey had been kicked by a horse. Maybe she’d climbed on something and fallen. Maybe she’d passed out because of a medical problem. Even people their age were known to have heart attacks, strokes, embolisms and such. She could have gotten into a poisonous chemical or been bitten by some weird spider or insect. Damn, he hoped an ambulance was on the way. Why hadn’t he gotten her grandfather’s phone number?

Alex approached a sharp curve in the road. One long roll of thunder was all the warning he received before he drove into a downpour. He turned his windshield wipers on at full speed. They slapped back and forth at the same rate as his heartbeat. The reflection of his high beam headlights caused the rain to appear as a steel curtain. All he could manage was watching the road below by the lower beams. Soon, even that was hidden by the fog that covered the glass. Alex removed his right hand from the steering wheel to turn on the fan to clear it. In that split second, the wind picked up the lightweight car and shoved it sideways off the road. The windshield cleared in time for him to see that the end of a guardrail for a small bridge was on his left instead of his right side. There was no road in front of him. There was nothing at all.

****

Lacey was tired from giving three riding lessons that afternoon. Still, she made supper and was just finishing cleaning the kitchen. The twins were upstairs, working on their reading list books. The storm as so heavy, she couldn’t see the lake.

“Jenna, Jerrod, you’d better get your showers early tonight,” Lacey called from the foot of the stairs. “This storm looks like it’s going to be a bad one. We may lose power before the night’s over.”

Jerrod came to the railing wearing a worried expression. “I sure didn’t see this coming. Maybe it’ll just blow over real quick.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve been watching storms around here since long before you were born.” Lacey rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. “I’m betting this is going to be an all-nighter. I’ve got an uneasy feeling about it, too.”

Jenna stepped out of her room to join Jerrod on the landing. They did that silent twin talk thing again that drove Lacey a little crazy. Without speaking a word, Jerrod held his hands out to his sides, like he was asking a question. Jenna shrugged. Next, Jerrod pointed at his wrist where an invisible watch might be. Jenna nodded. Jerrod gave her a stern look. She shook her head and scowled. He let out a deep sigh. They both looked as though the weight of the world rested on their shoulders.

“Mom,” Jerrod finally said, “we may have done something that’s going to make you mad.”

Just then, Jenna’s cell phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket so frantically it almost fell to the floor. Her face turned even whiter as she fumbled to open it. A second later she flew down the stairs.

“It’s Alex,” she said. “But all I hear is a weird noise.”

Lacey took the phone and held it to her ear. There was a long steady blaring sound on the other end. Then, it was joined by a momentary scraping noise, and then a clap of thunder. Next, a deep gravelly voice whispered, “Need help.”

“He must be in his car. I can hear the horn blaring. He needs help!” Lacey swung around to look out the window. “He’s out in this storm. I think he’s had an accident!” She spoke into the phone in a firm, confident voice. “Alex, we’re coming. Just hang on. We’ll find you. Close your phone if you can. Try to save the battery.”

“We’re sorry, Mom,” Jerrod began.

“Let me think,” Lacey snapped. What could she do? She didn’t even know where he was. What would Alex do in her place?

“Jenna, call 911. I have a feeling you know where he was going.”

“Jerrod, you saddle Stardust and Drifter. Alex may be off the road somewhere. And, grab a rope, just in case we need it.”

Jerrod jerked a jacket from a hook by the door and was gone.

“I want to go with you,” Jenna cried.

“No,” Lacey declared. “I can’t watch both of you and look for Alex too. I’ll call you if there’s any news. You call me if you hear anything. If you get scared, call Granddad, but leave the house phone free.”

“Shouldn’t I call the neighbors to start a search party?” Jenna asked.

“No.” Lacey rolled a small blanket into a cylinder shape the size of a bread loaf and slid it into a plastic grocery bag, and then another bag. “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger out in this storm.” She chose the two largest flashlights from the laundry room shelf, and then two pocket-sized lights. She turned each on to check them. “If we work fast, we may be able to hear his car horn before the battery dies.” She stopped to hug her daughter. “We can do this. You just hang tough.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Neither of the horses appreciated being taken out into the storm. With each clap of thunder, and flash of lightning, they nickered and skipped sideways. It was a chore to keep them moving away from the ranch and deeper into the darkness.

Lacey was confident in the knowledge that she’d taught Jerrod to ride well. The twins could both ride their own mounts before they could tie their shoes. This was the payoff. Getting to Alex fast could mean the difference between life and death. She prayed they weren’t already too late.

If Alex had been on his way to the farm as she suspected, he wouldn’t have needed to take a side road. She watched the shoulders of the highway for ruts or skid marks, but each side held standing water. The shallow ditches were already full.

Tilting her face straight up into the rain, the sky looked like a sheet of black burlap shedding thousands of silver needles. Not one star twinkled. Not one moonbeam broke through the heavy cloud cover. After thirty years of living in this area, Lacey felt lost. Nothing looked as it should.

Jerrod hadn’t said a word since they’d left the farm. His serious, determined expression only reminded her more of Alex. As he searched his side of the road, he matched Stardust’s slow gait on Drifter. His shoulders slumped over his loose spine as he swayed in the saddle. The hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up under his hat, shielding his ears.

Drifter did something she’d never seen him do before. In the middle of the Shadow Creek Bridge, he whinnied and stepped backward, refusing to follow Jerrod’s commands.

“Something is wrong,” she hollered over the cacophony of the storm.

They dismounted near each side of the bridge and directed their flashlights over the railing.

“Over here!” Jerrod shouted.

Lacey ran to join him on the other side.

The water rushed over the nose of the little BMW sports car. It was caught against the side of a large live oak. As the water level rose the car would eventually turn sideways and be swept away. The creek wasn’t wide, by normal standards, but wide enough to carry the car between its embankments. It also wasn’t deep, but when swollen, could easily fill the inside of the small car. Instinct told her that Alex was trapped inside that car. If he was unconscious, he could drown without ever waking.

They ran to the far end of the bridge. Drifter didn’t resist being pulled along: Stardust followed behind.

Lacey grabbed the rope from around Drifter’s saddle horn. “I’m going down there.”

“No. This is on me, Mom.” Jerrod jerked the rope from her hand and quickly began tying it around his waist. “It’s my fault that this happened. Besides that, I’m smaller and it would be easier for you to hold my weight.”

A lump of lead formed in Lacey’s stomach as Jerrod descended. She’d lost her family once before. She knew she couldn’t survive losing Jerrod or Alex.

Holding the rope made using her cell phone impossible. She waited until Jerrod had reached the car and gave him a little extra slack before wrapping it twice around a tree and tying it securely. Then she opened her phone and called 911.

****

Alex hurt all over. The lights and horn of his car had died some time ago. Blacking in and out made time hard to measure. He hoped help would arrive soon, but if it didn’t, at least he’d had the chance to hear Lacey’s voice one last time.

A loud thump sounded on the roof above his head. A pair of jean clad legs slid down between his window and the tree that held him in place. It was followed by Jerrod’s concerned face.

“You look like shit,” Jerrod stated. “Your face has blood all over it. Are you badly hurt anywhere else?”

“Everywhere,” Alex croaked. “Better than the car though.”

“To hell with the car.” Jerrod used his flashlight to inspect the rest of Alex’s condition. He scowled. “It was time to trade up anyway. Can you move your legs at all?”

“Don’t know,” Alex said, struggling to stay conscious. “Sorry ’bout this. I’m supposed to be the hero in this family.”

“That’s okay.” Jerrod smiled. “You’ve saved me twice, so I guess I still owe you one. Besides, getting to be the hero now and then is good for my self-esteem.”

“I’ll have to remember that…” Alex passed out before the blue and red lights of several rescue vehicles pulsed over the landscape.

****

Hospitals are the coldest places in the world. Being soaked to the skin, it felt like sitting in a meat locker. A nurse had taken pity on Lacey and provided a little white blanket. It wasn’t big enough to cover more than her torso. Luckily she didn’t carry matches, or she’d have made a bonfire with the spindly coffee table in the waiting room. The same coffee table she’d seen barely more than a week ago. She seriously needed to examine her karma.

The vinyl-covered chairs didn’t offer any warmth either, but they had more cushion than the saddle she’d spent most of her day in. It’s too bad Lake Regional didn’t provide hot baths and dry clothes for their visitors.

After Alex had been loaded into the ambulance, she’d ridden back to the Double J with Jerrod. He’d insisted that he could take both horses home, but it was still stormy and dark. Alex was secure. She couldn’t risk Jerrod’s health or safety any further.

She didn’t even go inside the barn once she’d gotten there. She’d handed Stardust over to Jerrod and went straight to the truck. She said she’d call as soon as she knew something. So far, she didn’t know anything. Not a single soul had come through those heavy double doors she’d been staring at.

Behind her in the hallway came the sound of several hurried footsteps and her grandfather’s voice.

“You kids slow down before they have to carry me off to the cardiac unit.”

He and the twins entered the room, all wearing rain slickers and wide brimmed hats. She recognized her own slicker over Jerrod’s left arm and a dry pair of her boots in his right hand. Jenna held a plastic shopping bag.

“Have you heard anything?” Jerrod asked.

Clarence shook his slicker out in the corner and hung it on a rack. “Of course she hasn’t. She would have called. It takes a coon’s age to find out anything in these damn places.”

“I brought you a set of dry clothes and a hairbrush, Mom.” Jenna held out the bag. “I knew you’d be as soaked as Jerrod was.”

Lacey quickly stood, carrying the bag toward the ladies room. “Sit down and don’t take your eyes off those doors. If anyone steps through them, come and get me.”

She locked the door and stripped off her sodden clothes, tossing each piece into the sink. The little white blanket made a better towel then it had a blanket. The bone rattling chills were finally dissipating.

The first item she pulled out of the bag was her big, ugly, brown, comfy cardigan. The softness of it nearly brought tears to her eyes. It smelled like home. Next, she found a pair of jeans and a scoop-neck, black T-shirt with the Aerosmith logo on the front. They wouldn’t have been her first choice, but they were dry. In the bottom of the bag were the promised hairbrush, which she now saw was badly needed, and a thick pair of socks. Lastly, she pulled out the sexy, pale blue, lace bra and panty set Jenna had bought her on her last birthday. They were supposed to be incentive for her to start dating again. Recalling how red Jerrod’s face had turned when she’d pulled them from the little gift bag that day, brought a smile to her face. Again, not what she’d have chosen, but who would know?

Back in the waiting room, the twins laid at each end of a small sofa, their eyes glued to the doors. Her grandfather was in the chair next to the one she’d been using. Two cups of piping hot coffee sat before him.

“I’m sorry you were dragged out at such a late hour, Granddad.”

“It’s not the first time,” he told her, holding out one of the cups. “This is the same hospital John and Lily were brought to after the accident.”

“I didn’t know.” The cup felt warm between her hands. “I was at a sleepover with a friend that night. When the police tracked me down there, they told my friends parents to keep me until someone came for me. I was furious. I’m glad you brought the twins. I know better than anyone how badly they need to be here.”