Page 44 of Clara's Secure Hideaway

“Elsie’s on the way. I hated calling her. She’s done so much for me and getting a call I was in the hospital sent her into a tizzy. She’s determined to find the asshole who ran us off the road. The driver better hope he’s already out of town. I wouldn’t put it past her to track him down.”

A tingle of intuition stirred in his gut. “You said the truck came out of nowhere. Was he behind you, or did he hit you from head on?”

A shiver shook her shoulders. “Behind. One second no one was there, the next he was on my tail. He just kept edging closer and closer until his front bumper touched the back of my car. I tried to speed up, slow down, do whatever I could think of to shake him, but it didn’t work. Then all of a sudden, I was slamming into a tree, and he was gone.”

Visualizing the trauma of what Mila and his mom had been put through turned his stomach, and he struggled to keep his composure. “Do you remember what the truck looked like? What about the driver? You said it was a man, but can you give a description?”

“The man was wearing a baseball hat, so I didn’t get a good luck at his face, but the truck I’ll never forget. It was a large silver truck with an extended cab. Looked newer. No rust or scratches or anything I could make out.”

An image of a similar truck struck a chord in his memory.

A truck parked outside of Bob’s Auto Shop when he’d gone to deliver the protection order to Mitch.

Rage shook his hand as he grabbed his phone and called the sheriff’s station.

“Afternoon, this is Page at the county sheriff’s department, how may I direct your call?”

“Hi, Page. It’s Heath. Anyone in that I can get to run down some information for me?”

“Sure, I’ll transfer you over to Sadie.”

He tapped his toe against the ground, waiting for Sadie to pick up the line.

“Hey, Heath. Heard about your mom,” Sadie said. “Hope she’s okay. What can I do for you?”

“I need you to pull up the vehicle registration for Mitch Parson. Find out what he’s driving.”

The sound of clacking keys reached his ears, but a few seconds later Sadie returned to line. “Chevy Colorado. Silver. Why?”

“I think that sonofabitch ran my mother off the road. Iknowit was him. Give me a second.” He lowered his phone. “Mila, did you tell the police all this?”

“Yes. Do you really think it was Mitch?”

“I do. Sadie, make sure whoever was on the scene is given a heads-up. This wasn’t an accident or a coincidence. Mitch did this on purpose.”

“Why would he go after your mom and Mila?” Sadie asked.

Heath’s heart sank. “To make it easier to get to Clara.”

* * *

Gentle hands skimmedover Clara’s skin, but no matter how lightly those hands touched her, it brought sharp stabs of pain though her body. She struggled to open her eyes, but the bright light streaking through the window ignited agony in her head.

“Clara,” a soft voice cooed. “Can you open your eyes?”

She groaned and curled into herself on the hard floor. She didn’t want to open her eyes, didn’t want to crawl out of the darkness and face whatever had put her in this place.

“It’s Tommy, Clara. I really need you to wake up if you can.” More touching. More soft words and gently coaxing.

Confusion scrambled her thoughts. Tommy? Why was she with Tommy?

“Clara, do you know where Davey and Avery are? I’ve searched the house and they aren’t here.”

The question pierced through her muddled mind and panic clutched her heart. Her eyes flew open on a gasp, and she struggled to sit up right. “Mitch. He was here. He took the kids. Oh my God.” The last word came out on a wail as her very soul cried out for her children.

Tommy knelt on the floor beside her and grabbed her hand. “We’re going to find them, but first we need to make sure you’re okay. Paramedics just got here, and they’ll want to examine you. You’re in rough shape.”

She shook her head and staggered to her feet. Nausea surged to life like an angry storm in the pit of her stomach. Her side screamed in protest, and she doubled over, pressing a shaking hand to the ribs she was certain were cracked in two. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t waste time on me. I’m fine. You need to go out there and find my babies.”

---