Page 13 of Longest Ride

“How’s it going up there, Mom?”

“Not worth a pinch, Harlan. I don’t want Travis knowing this yet, but Tammy took off in the big Freightliner belonging to Eldon Fontana.”

“What? Why’d she do that? Has she gone nuts?”

“Yes, not completely nuts, but I do think something has gone wrong with her head, honey. But that’s only half the bad news.”

“What’s the other half?”

“She drove that big truck to the hospital in Enderby in the middle of the night and took Eldon out of his bed. He signed himself out against protests from his doctor.”

“That guy is gut shot, and he can’t be moved. Is Tammy trying to kill him?”

“I’m guessing that isn’t her intention, but it will certainly be the result.”

“Holy horse shit, Mom. What’s she gonna do next?”

“Whatever it is, Harlan, I’m not ready for it. I’m so mad at her now, I’m not sure I’m going to forgive her for this stunt.”

“What can I do, Mom?”

“Can you put a BOLO out on the Freightliner for me? I don’t know how to do it.”

“Sure. I can do that. Wonder which way she headed when she left the hospital.”

“No idea on that, but it’s fairly obvious she’s not thinking straight or thinking at all. The guy she took is right out of surgery and needs constant medical care and if Tammy thinks she can take care of him on her own, she’s sadly mistaken. She’s not a nurse. Eldon will need constant medication.”

“Why would she do something so stupid? She’s smarter than that—at least, I thought she was.”

“I don’t know, sugar pop. See if you can get a location on the truck. We’re snowed in here at the cabin and I can’t get out the driveway until noon according to the cops. Way too much snow.”

“We’ll be working accidents all day down here, but I’ll keep checking for updates on the truck and I’ll call you if we get a hit.”

“Thanks, honey. I miss you.”

“Miss you, Mom. Tell Lucy I miss her too, and I love her. She knows that but tell her anyway.”

“I will.”

When I came in from the barn, Travis and Billy were drinking coffee at the kitchen table. I was still thinking hard on the call from Mom up in butt-fuck nowhere, snow up to her armpits. What the hell was Tammy doing? Mom didn’t want me to tell Travis yet and I understood that. He'd go berserk if Tammy was goners again. We just found her, for chrissakes.

Should I tell Virgie when he wakes up?

“Did Virge help you with the chores?” asked Travis.

“No. I didn’t wake him up. I let him sleep.”

“Both of y’all didn’t get much rest the past couple of days. We’ll have an early night tonight and get caught up.”

“Yeah, that sounds good, Dad. I’m moving kind of slow this morning.”

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Sunday, but we went to the station as if it was a regular workday. Would be if the accidents kept up. Billy got the list from Molly’s desk, and he checked the landline for new calls and wrote them down.

“How many new calls are there?” I asked.

“Only two this morning. I hope everybody realizes it’s Sunday and stays home in bed waiting for the roads to be plowed. People are so damned crazy.”

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