AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes!” Moe dug his cell phone out of his back pocket and clicked on the phone finder app. If he knew exactly where she was, he might get to her faster.
The app brought up a map of West Yellowstone with a blue dot indicating his location and a circle with Breely’s tiny image pinpointing her position.
Moe cursed. “She’s not here.”
“What do you mean?” Stone leaned over Moe’s shoulder.
“She’s not in the lodge. She’s on Canyon Street headed north.”
“Toward the airport,” John Jacobs said.
“I’m calling the sheriff.” Stone stepped away and dialed 911.
Moe’s heart squeezed hard. How had he failed her so badly? He looked around. “I have to get there. If they put her on a plane…”
“Can you handle a dirt bike?” John Jacobs asked.
Moe nodded. “Raced them as a teen back in South Dakota.”
“Take my dirt bike,” John said.
“I’ll get it.” Tinker raced down the hill to a storage building.
Moe shook his head. “They have too big a head start.”
“You can go the back way,” John said. “Give me your phone.” He traced a thin line on the map. “That’s a dirt road. It’ll get you there faster. It just isn’t good for cars, but the motorcycle will handle it.”
With hope swelling in his chest, Moe took off after Tinker.
An engine roared from the metal building. A moment later, Tinker blasted around the side on a bike that had to have been used racing in motocross. He stopped beside Moe and leaped off.
Moe hopped on, hit the throttle and headed down the highway leading northwest out of town. Not far past the edge of West Yellowstone, he turned onto the dirt road John had shown him on the map. It was bumpy, full of potholes and overgrown with weeds and brush.
Moe hadn’t ridden a dirt bike in a decade. It bounced and jerked as it hit rough patches but handled the uneven terrain. Better than Moe did.
The dirt road intersected with another dirt road that ran parallel to the airport runway. This road was straight and more even than the previous road.
Moe opened up the throttle, leaned over the bike and flew like the wind.
Ahead, a spec in the sky got bigger, heading toward the north end of the airport. The closer it came, the better Moe could make out what it was.
A helicopter.
From what Moe remembered, the helicopter pad was near the smoke-jumper school at the north end of the airport.
The helicopter approached the airport and hovered over the pad.
Moe had the bike at full throttle. He could make it go faster but still wouldn’t get there before the helicopter that was slowly lowering to the ground.
As he neared the airport terminal area, he left the dirt road and turned into the parking lot where he’d picked up his rental car. At that moment, a maintenance vehicle passed through a gate, and the gate was closing slowly behind him.
Moe hit the throttle, swerved around the maintenance truck and raced out onto the tarmac.
The helicopter’s skids were just touching the ground, the length of the runway away.
What looked like a gray van drove past the fire training area, heading for the chopper.
Moe pushed the bike as fast as it would go. It wasn’t fast enough.
