Page 54 of Shelter for Tanna

With a gun.

Tanna threw the truck into gear and floored it. Gravel shot out from under the back tires as she sped away, if it could be called speeding in the big rig. The road was just a narrow county route, with potholes and broken pavement here and there, and she struggled to hold the wrecker between the ditches. The car was keeping up with her easily, so she pushed the truck’s engine for more power. Up ahead was a curve, and she prayed she could make it.

But as she started into it, the truck’s front end began a slide, and before she knew what was happening, she was plunging down an embankment, bouncing wildly, the steering wheel flipping back and forth in her hands. She tried to hang on as best she could, but it was hard. A tree loomed in front of her, and there was nothing she could do except brace for impact.

The sound of breaking glass and crunching metal was ear-splitting, and the air bag in the steering column deployed about halfway. But that was the least of her worries. Tanna leaped from the truck’s partially-open door and took off at a run through the woods. Behind her she could hear the men yelling and the sounds of them crashing through the leaves and brush just as she was.

Tanna ran. She ran like she’d never run before, like her life depended on it, because she knew it did. If they caught her and she couldn’t tell them where the car was, they’d kill her. That was a sure thing. Slipping and tumbling down another smaller embankment, she somehow miraculously landed on her feet and kept running. The sounds of them yelling and the noises of their footfalls grew more distant, and still she kept running, not knowing or caring where she was going. She only knew she was going away from them. That was all that mattered.

Her lungs felt like they were going to burst and her heart hammered so hard that she could hear the blood thrumming in her ears. Putting distance between her and them was the only solution she had at the moment, so she kept going. She couldn’t hear them anymore, but that meant nothing. They could be right behind her, she was sure. An eternity passed as she kept moving, not quite as fast as before, but still at a pretty good clip, afraid to slow down. Without breaking stride, she turned slightly to look back over her shoulder. In a split second, something seemed to grab at her right foot, and she stumbled and pitched forward.

But instead of hitting the ground, she had the sensation of falling, and the breath was knocked out of her when she hit the dirt below her. She lay there for a few seconds, listening, afraid to open her eyes, but there wasn’t a sound around her except a couple of squirrels scolding each other and a bird calling. A minute passed, then two, and she opened her eyes.Oh holy fuck, her mind screamed.

A sinkhole. They were all over Warren County, and she’d fallen right into one. The damn thing was about twenty feet deep, and the entire bottom was nothing but mud. When she stood it was in mud almost up to her knees, and the rain was still falling. Listening intently, she still couldn’t hear the men. Maybe they’d given up. She didn’t know, and she was afraid to call out. They’d be the only ones out there who could hear her, and that would be worse than being in the hole.

One ankle was throbbing, and she feared she’d broken it in the fall. Tanna glanced around in the near darkness. A large rock sat on one side of the hole’s floor, half of it embedded in the wall, and she slogged over to it and sat down. Even though it was slimy and covered in mud, it was better than trying to stand the whole time. She didn’t know what to do, and she patted her pocket.

Her heart sank. In her panic, she’d left her bag and her phone in the truck. She had nothing. Then she realized that no one would know where she was. Charlie didn’t keep up with the locations of the pickups, just handed the order slips to the drivers. He didn’t have the address, and even if he did, it didn’t exist. There were three more pickups that afternoon. Nobody would even miss her until five o’clock, and if she wasn’t back when Charlie was ready to leave, he’d just lock up and go, assuming she’d be in shortly. No one was looking for her. No one even knew she was missing.

It was still pouring down rain, and the temperature was dropping. Sweating under the rain gear would probably make her colder, but at least her clothes would be dry. Well, except for her pants. They were coated in mud. But when that dried, if it did, it might actually provide a layer of warmth.

Who am I kidding? Nobody’s ever going to find me down here. I’m screwed.She thought about Daniel and Max, how they’d wonder where she was when she didn’t show up at home. They’d be alone?Braden was at work. Daniel had his number. Would he call Braden when she didn’t show? Or would he just wait, thinking she’d be there at any time? How long would it take for someone,anyone, to realize she was missing?

Tanna hung her head and closed her eyes. With the blackened, rain-soaked skies, it would be dark in just a few hours. Once darkness fell, no one would be able to see her truck from the roadway. Hell, she wasn’t even sure they could see it in broad sunny daylight. She sat back on the rock and tried to get comfortable, but that was a joke. There was nothing she could do.

Isn’t it just my luck that right when I finally have the promise of a decent life ahead of me, it all turns to shit?Her eyes filled with tears and in seconds, they coated her face. It was over before it even had a chance to begin. All her hopes and dreams drifted away like smoke up a chimney. She hoped Braden would stay in the boys’ lives even though she was gone. He loved them, and they loved him. Maybe the courts would let him adopt them. They’d need somebody.

Her kids would grow up without her. That was what hurt the most.

* * *

“God damn bitch! Are you serious?” Wayne and Beau crashed through the brush and undergrowth, through the fallen leaves, and tried to chase the woman, but she had a head start on them. They could hear her ahead of them, but the sound was getting fainter. Wayne finally stopped. “Well, for fuck’s sake. We can’t win for losing. I’m soaked. Let’s go.”

“What are we going to do about DimSum? He’s going to kill us, Wayne. You know he will.”

“Not if he can’t find us. That means we’ve gotta lay low for a while.” They wandered back through the forest floor until they came to the wrecked tow truck. “Let’s see if there’s anything of any value in here.”

Thirty minutes later, they’d stripped the truck of anything that held any worth?tools, supplies, anything they thought they could sell or pawn. “And looky here!” Beau said, holding up Tanna’s bag. “Plus this.” In his other hand, he held her cell phone.

“Well, there’ssomethin’at least. Let’s get the hell out of here before somebody sees us.” Wayne took off toward the car with Beau right on his heels.

They drove around aimlessly for a few hours until they came upon an abandoned mobile home. No thought was given to criminal trespassing as they kicked in the door and made themselves as comfortable as possible. It was cold and there was no electricity, but it was dry. They could wait out the search Quyen would be conducting, and if they could get to Owensboro, they could sell or hock everything they’d lifted off the truck.

At least they’d have a little money. It wouldn’t last long, but it was better than nothing.

Chapter 9

Twice that afternoon they’d gotten called out, and Crash had stayed at the station house to wait for them. The first was a structure fire downtown which was under control pretty quickly, and the second was an accident scene. Every time it rained, people got stupid, somebody got hurt, and a car or two got crunched up. It was inevitable.

Braden was just thinking of calling Tanna when his phone rang. He pulled it out, but instead of her number showing up, it was Daniel’s. “Hey, buddy! What’s up?”

“Have you talked to Mom?” There was an edge to the boy’s voice that set Braden’s heart hammering.

“No. She isn’t there?”

“No. She hasn’t come home. I called the office, but Charlie’s gone and there’s nobody there. I keep calling her phone but nobody answers. After what happened last night, I’m scared.”

A buzzing sound set up in Braden’s head. “What happened last night?”

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