Page 29 of Left Behind

Linette came by the nurses’ station just after the flowers arrived, and when she found out they were for her, she blushed, knowing she was going to get teased all day. And then she read the card and quickly slipped it in her pocket, prompting every nurse on duty to ask the same question.

“Who are they from?”

And she gave all of them the same answer, “None of your business,” which only amped up the prying, and the smile on her face was all they needed to know the flowers were from a man.

As soon as Linette had a moment, she sent him a text.

You have caused a sensation at my work today. The flowers are beautiful. And you’re right. Two hours was not enough. I’ll check my schedule and you check yours, and we’ll meet in the middle.

Wiley got the message and sighed. Their jobs and schedules were going to be a headache to work around, but she was worth it. He was off today, and tomorrow he’d go back on days and someone else would guard Carey Eggers, and he wouldn’t be in the hospital with Linette anymore.

He sent her a message to that effect, then grabbed his car keys and headed out the door. He hadn’t been to the supermarket since the bank robbery, and while his family had kept him in food, he needed to do laundry and was out of detergent. Once there, he plowed through the deli section, stocking up on food that was already cooked and would freeze well. He wasn’t too proud to thaw and nuke.

He was coming around the corner of the aisle when a lady pushing a shopping cart came from the other direction and bumped into his cart.

She looked up. Her eyes widened as her lips parted, but she never got the chance to utter a word.

Wiley lowered his voice and pointed his finger straight at her. “No, ma’am. Whatever you were going to say, stuff it. I don’t want to even hear the sound of your voice.”

At that moment, Rhonda Tiller realized how utterly stupid it had been to make an enemy of a cop. A dark-red flush crept up her neck and onto her cheeks as she yanked her cart aside, made a one-eighty pivot, and headed down another aisle, afraid to look back for fear that he was following her.

As for Wiley, his shopping experience was over. He headed straight for checkout with his jaw set. He’d had plenty of guys pissed off at him in his life, but a bloody nose or a black eye had solved it on both sides. Women with an agenda were a whole other subset of humanity. They were scary mean and didn’t care who they hurt when they didn’t get what they wanted. He paid for his purchases and headed for the parking lot, and by the time he was driving away, he’d dismissed Rhonda’s existence.

A short while later, he was home and putting up the last of his groceries when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Wiley, this is Sean. I can’t find Mom. She said she wanted to get some air, and I thought she was going outside to the back porch. I went to check on her about thirty minutes later, and she wasn’t there. I’ve looked all over—in the barn, around the outbuildings. I’ve called and called, and she doesn’t answer and she’s nowhere in sight. I knew today was your day off and thought maybe…”

Wiley didn’t hesitate. “Call Cameron. Tell him to bring Ghost to track her. I’m on the way.” He grabbed his car keys and bolted out of the house, calling Aaron and B.J. as he went.

He was halfway up the mountain and almost to the house when he heard a siren and knew it was Aaron in a patrol car. By the time he pulled up in the yard, Aaron was behind him, with B.J. at his side.

B.J. had flashbacks of finding the remains of their ancestor Meg in an abandoned cellar a few years back and knew the remnants of other old homesteads were scattered all over the mountain. He couldn’t bear the thought of his mother falling to her death in a place like that. He was grim-lipped and silent as Sean came running out to meet them.

“Nothing?” Wiley asked.

Sean was flushed and sweaty from searching and could only shake his head. Moments later, Cameron came flying into the yard in his Jeep, with Ghost riding in the seat beside him.

“Thank the lord. That dog could find God if someone would give him a trail to follow,” Aaron muttered.

Cameron clipped a leash on Ghost and hurried to join the others. “Tell me what you know,” he said.

Sean was bordering on panic as he explained what had happened. He’d made a conscious choice to stay on the mountain to watch over her, and now he’d lost her. “I’ve searched the entire property around the house. I can’t imagine her wandering off without letting me know first.”

“So, to confirm, she went out the back of the house and you haven’t seen her since,” Cameron said.

“Yes,” Sean said.

Cameron nodded. “I need something with Shirley’s scent.”

“I knew you would. It’s in the kitchen,” Sean said.

They followed Sean through the house. He gave Cameron the nightgown his mother slept in, then grabbed a backpack from the counter and slipped one strap over his shoulder as they exited the house.

Cameron thrust the gown beneath Ghost’s nose. “Seek, Ghost. Seek!”

Ghost whined, lifted his nose, and then went straight out across the yard, out through the back fence, past the barn, and headed into the forest beyond the pasture without wavering. They were at least a half mile from the house when Ghost began straining at the leash. Cameron unclipped it and let the big dog run, then they lengthened their stride to follow.

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