Page 46 of Fighting for Mallory

“Thank you, Clayton. Now, go on. What happened next?”

“What you might expect. Fourth time I got lost, no one looked for me. Funny thing was, I really needed help. See, I had fallen off a ridge and broken my leg. No way I was getting out by myself. Three days went by, they said, ‘fore my parents raised the alarm, insistin’ I was in real trouble.”

“Were you scared?” Mrs. Scope asked.

“Yup. Cried for my mama like a baby. I don’t remember this, but they said I was mutterin’ Bible verses I’d learned in Sunday School when they found me. Mama and my sisters wept as soon as they laid eyes on me, and my brothers congratulated me on my stupidity. My grandparents and my daddy, though, they looked wrecked. Tired. Scared. If not for my broken leg, I do believe they would have given me a whuppin’ to beat ‘em all.”

“Did you learn your lesson?” River smiled as he accepted more pie and ice cream from Mrs. Scope.

“Nah. I just got smarter ‘bout explorin’, makin’ sure I brought the right tools and equipment with me. I still got lost on numerous occasions, but no one ever had to go lookin’ for me.”

“He left breadcrumbs,” Maverick interjected. “It’s why we call him ‘Moses.’”

“Let me guess. Bible verses,” Hutch offered.

“Correct.”

Hutch grinned at his own cleverness.

After they ate, they helped Mrs. Scope clean the kitchen. Clayton urged them to rest because the night may prove to be long. Luca offered him the room he’d been using and led him down the hallway.

“Much obliged, Luca.” Clayton shook his hand. “Don’t fret. I know the good Lord is with Mallory.”

“I appreciate your faith, Clayton. Mine is waning.”

“I can sense you’re a man of great faith. Hang on to it now when you need it the most.”

“I’m trying.”

Luca couldn’t rest like the others. He wandered outside to the back deck that Scope had added to the house a couple of years ago. He dropped onto a patio armchair and stared at the empty fire pit. Here in Jefferson County, they were three hours away from Mallory, a distance too great in Luca’s opinion. They should have found a motel in Rutherford County and set up base there. Every moment they delayed increased the danger to Mallory. Luca understood better than ever the fear and despair that had gripped Justice three years ago when Axel Anderson had abducted Brielle. She’d been able to resist being brainwashed, but how could Mallory survive a cult determined to sacrifice her?

He leaned forward and held his head in his hands. The inactivity of these next few hours grated on him and augmented his hopelessness. If he wasn’t doing something, moving forward in the search for Mallory, a sense of failure threatened to overwhelm him.

Luca felt a presence beside him and a familiar hand on his shoulder. He knew it was River before he even spoke.

“Luca. What can I do for you, my friend?”

Luca gestured toward the sun. Gray storm clouds gathered on the horizon. “Can you make the sun move faster across the sky?”

“No. But if you want to yell at someone, yell at me. If you want to punch someone, punch me.”

“I don’t have the energy to do either.”

“Then we’ll just sit here together. Silent.”

The silence of their companionship comforted Luca. Hutch soon joined them. In the quietude of the afternoon, they watched a great storm roll in from a distance. The sky turned dark. Lightning flashed. Thunder shook the earth.

And then the rains came.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

25 September

Four days until Harvest Moon

Judd brushed his teeth and climbed into bed next to Faith at a small motel near the University of California’s Berkeley campus. They had flown into San Francisco a couple of hours ago after locating Dr. Isis Khalil, one of Dr. Samir’s sisters. In the morning he and Faith intended to speak with the professor, for time grew short to save Mallory. Finding Neheb proved to be as difficult as Faith had predicted.

Faith’s eyes were glued to the TV. “Judd, do you see this?” She raised the volume.

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