Page 73 of Operation: Return
“Hello?”
“Cole, this is Gabby. You need to hurry into Piper’s Ridge.”
He fumbled the phone slightly and turned it on speaker. “Hurry? Why and where?”
“I just got this strange email from the library email address that Erica was trapped at the library and a strange guy was outside. I just drove by the library and it’s closed, locked, and dark. I didn’t see her anywhere. I’ll keep looking, but you need to get here. I need help.”
“I’m about ten minutes away. I’ll call you if I find them.”
“Same.” She hung up.
Cole tossed the phone on the seat next to him and raced toward Piper’s Ridge. The glow of streetlights lit the sky with a dull orange glow from afar. “Lord, I don’t know where Erica and Pete are, but protect them for me, then help me to help them when I find them.”
He pressed the gas pedal as his truck fishtailed on the gravel road. He turned the wheel until he corrected then raced down the road as quickly as he dared. He pulled into town and noticed Gabby talking to Deputy Blake in the driveway of her office. Erica and Pete weren’t there so he drove right on past, waving to her as he drove by to let her know he was there.
Orange light spilled over the block as he slowly drove down the street. There were no cars nor people along the sidewalk. Even the movie theater was closed. Piper’s Ridge was tiny. A blip on the radar. Where could she be? Gabby had to have checked these obvious places.
About ten blocks made up the whole residential area of town and he slowly drove up and down the streets, feeling the ticking clock in his head. Where could she be? And where was Pete? There was no way she could walk to the motel from the library. Logic said he shouldn’t bother checking there, but he couldn’t ignore the possibility. If she was there, she might at least be relatively safe.
He headed through town and got off on the highway heading toward the out-of-the-way motel. It was three miles away and only accessible by the highway. Erica couldn’t walk there. Which meant if she was there, someone had taken her. Maybe the librarian had taken pity on her and given them a ride. He was known to be a softie. He’d helped Gabby a few months ago when she’d gone into the Library after someone had shot at her.
He pulled off the highway within a few minutes and zoomed down the road and into the empty parking lot of Piper’s Ridge Rest. The gray building was shaped in a V with a center office that also acted as the owner’s home. Three small motel rooms flanked either side.
He flew from the car and headed for Doris’s office. She was always grumpy and knocking on her door after dark was going catch him an earful. He knocked then waited, watching the windows of the rooms for any sign of movement.
“What do ya want?” she called from inside. “The doors are locked and I’m not opening them.”
“I need to know if Erica Jameson checked in tonight.” His chest burned and he waited, holding his breath for an answer. “If a mother and her son are staying here,” he amended just in case Erica hadn’t used her name.
Doris opened the door only enough to tighten the security chain and she eyed him from inside, bright pink curlers peeked from her silvery hair at her forehead. “I didn’t rent any rooms to anyone tonight. Now go home!” She slammed her door and the lock clicked shut.
* * *
Sayinga prayer of thanks for the librarian who’d noticed the man standing outside and letting her leave through the back, Erica held tight to Pete’s hand and tugged the rolling suitcase behind her. But to where? Her gun pressed into her back with every step, but what good would it do? In town, anyone would have to get way too close for her to ever use it.
Gabby hadn’t responded to her email for help that Erica could see. The cop that had been there earlier wasn’t driving around anywhere. The longer she stayed walking around, the more likely that guy was going to find her. Not to mention, dragging the bag behind her, she stuck out and couldn’t run.
“Mom, I’m tired and hungry. Can’t we stop somewhere?” Pete tugged down on her hand to slow her.
She was hungry too, but she’d assumed she’d be on a bus to somewhere by now. Not stuck walking down a dark street avoiding some man who terrified her. Pete yanked on her arm as a car with darkly tinted windows pulled to a stop beside her.
“Mom, we need to run.” Pete’s voice quivered.
The window slowly lowered with a softwhirthat sounded really loud on the empty street. The man in black sat inside and he attempted a smile that looked more like a sneer. “Hey. I recognize you from Wayside. Need a ride somewhere? There aren’t many places in Piper’s Ridge a woman can go with her bag and a child in the dark.”
Erica shivered at the implications. “No, thank you. We’re meeting someone.” She headed off down the street faster, but didn’t want to run and risk leaving her son behind and vulnerable.
The car kept pace with her, and he called out the window. “I know you need a place to stay. I know somewhere that’s warm, dry, and will welcome you always. You’ll never need to worry about a place to lay your head again. Neither will Pete.”
Erica refused to look back at him as her gut twisted. She could read between the lines more than he probably realized, or maybe he did since he must know that she recognized him.
Pete jogged at her side to keep up, but the end of the street seemed far away and all the buildings were closed and dark. She wasn’t going to slow down to check them. He could probably stop the car, get out, and nab her before she could test more than one.
The car crunched over the asphalt and came to a stop, the silence louder than the continual rolling of the tires.
“Come on, sweety,” she resisted saying Pete’s name to confirm he was right about it.
Pete rushed at her side. “Leave it behind, Mom. Just run.”