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“Bobby—” The name came out as a whisper, but Bobby had already made it halfway to the trio of ranch trucks parked at the end of the curving driveway in front of the house.
Robert tried again. But this time he couldn’t speak the name aloud.
An iron fist grabbed at his heart and crushed it, sending blinding pain rocketing through his chest.
The welcoming darkness enfolded him like a heavy shroud, and he sank into it with relief.
The sound of Beth’s anguished cry came like a faint splinter of light that faded before he could even grasp the words.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BACK AT THE TRUCK, Jolie reached for the cell phone in her purse to check for any calls. The battery had gone dead. “Can I use yours to check for emergency messages?”
Matt reached for the phone he’d clipped to the visor above his head and handed it to her. “Expecting anything?”
“No. But I need to make sure.”
After she dialed and then punched in a code, the tinny recording on the clinic answering machine announced,you have no new messages.
“Thank goodness,” she breathed. “I envisioned being away for two hours and finding that a dozen people needed me at the clinic.”
“So all is well in Garrett Bluff tonight?”
Verywell, she thought, watching his large, tanned hand shift the truck into gear.
Over the years she’d been on a dates meant to impress her, but opening night on Broadway, exquisite French restaurants, and fifty-yard-line seats didn’t even begin to compare with a star-filled night above Garrett Bluff and sitting next to Matt as he maneuvered down this narrow, rocky Montana road.
He turned off the headlights when they reached the edge of the clearing surrounding Jolie’s cabin.
The wash of moonlight across the meadow turned the meadow to silver, the cabin to dark pewter.
“The lights are all off,” Jolie whispered. “Mandy must be asleep.”
“Or she’s on a screen in her bedroom. She’s old enough to decide for herself, but Charlie tries to get away with it all the time.”
As Matt walked Jolie to her door, small sounds came from within the cabin. Like a child stirring. A faint whimper.
He didn’t stop to ask. Taking the key from her hand, he fitted it into the lock and turned it slowly. Eased the door open. “Take it slow,” he whispered. “Let me go first.”
Someone inside cried out.Mandy?
Jolie brushed past Matt, flipping the light switch as she entered the room.
She stopped. Looked around. Cupboard doors hung open, kitchen drawers had been pulled out and dumped on the floor. Through the open door of her bedroom, it appeared her dresser had been ransacked.
An icy rush of horror flooded through her.“Mandy!Are you okay?”
A wail rose from a dark corner of the great room, beneath the steps to the loft.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, Jolie saw a small figure crouched in the darkness. She hurried toward it while Matt searched the other rooms.
“J-Jolie?” Mandy rose slowly, on shaking limbs, her face streaked with tears and one hand held protectively over her belly. “I—I’ve been so scared. I thought maybe h-he’d come back. The landline was dead and I couldn’t call—”
Jolie rushed forward and caught her when she wobbled and nearly fell. She mentally counted the weeks of her pregnancy as she eased the girl onto the sofa. Thirty-four now, if her original estimate was correct. “Is the baby coming? Are you okay?”
Shivering violently, Mandy stared blankly at her. “Someone washere.He broke a window. Just like at the clinic.” She lifted a trembling arm, pointed toward the windows on the other side of the fireplace, where broken glass sparkled on the oval braided rug. “A-and he came inside.”
Jolie pulled an afghan from the sofa and snuggled it around Mandy’s shoulders. “Did he touch you? Did he hurt you in any way?”
