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Traffic was thicker tonight, with people traveling to visit their families and for Christmas Eve church services. Gayle was driving too fast, weaving around slower traffic and in and out of lanes. He tried to keep up, but she swung around another car, clipping its front bumper and sent that car into a spin. Derrick veered sideways to avoid hitting it and attempted to pass and keep up with Gayle, but an oncoming tractor trailer plowed toward him and slammed into the car that had skidded. The car went off the road and the tractor trailer careened toward the ditch then skated sideways and ended up blocking the highway.
He cursed and screeched to a stop.Dammit to hell.Gayle disappeared in a thick blur of fog and darkness. Cars skated to a stop on the other side of the tractor trailer, someone honked loudly, and two vehicles roared to a halt behind him, headlights nearly blinding him. Clenching his phone, he got out to see if anyone was hurt in the accident. A man was climbing from the truck and looked to be okay, just annoyed, and Derrick rushed to the car and found a woman trembling and looking shaken. He opened the car door and looked inside.
“Are you all right, ma’am?”
She looked up at him with a stunned expression, then gave a little nod. “Yes, but that car… it almost hit me.”
“I know, ma’am. Do you need an ambulance?”
She moved her arms and legs as if to see if they were injured. “I don’t think so.”
Hands in the pockets of his big winter coat, the man in the truck walked over to join them.
“Are you all right, sir?” Derrick asked.
“Yeah.” He indicated the woman. “You?”
She nodded shakily, and the man rubbed a hand over his beard with a weary sigh.
“I’ll call it in,” Derrick told them.
He pulled his phone, then made the call. Then he’d phone Ellie and tell her he’d lost Gayle, and he had no idea where she was going.
One Hundred Forty-Four
Bluff County Hospital
Snow fluttered down, the sea of white almost ethereal as the officer drove Ellie and the children through town. The candles glowing from the prayer vigil for Ava glowed like tiny moonbeams of hope in the night. Signs advertised that they were having a repeat performance of the Angel Pageant tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the children’s hospital. Then Santa would pass out the gifts they’d collected at the Angel Tree.
Ellie had never felt such a surge of pride for the town in the way they’d come together to support the Trumans in this holiday season when fear and worry had shattered the joy. Dottie Clark with her neighborhood watch program. Emily Nettles with the Porch Sitters and the prayer vigils and fostering. Even Vera collecting gifts from the Angel Tree in town to pass to the needy.
Her phone buzzed, Derrick calling. “Ellie, dammit, I lost Gayle. She caused an accident and the road is blocked, but she went on.”
Ellie clenched her teeth. “Is everyone okay at the accident?”
“Yes, I called it in, and I hear a siren already. Are you at the hospital?”
“Almost. I’ll see if Gayle’s husband has come to. Maybe he has an idea of where she might go.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
She hung up, but her phone was ringing again. This time, Angelica. “Any word, Ellie?”
“Yes. Meet me at the station in the morning for the full story.” She wouldn’t trust anyone else to handle it.
“What can you tell me?” Angelica asked.
“We found Ava Truman and Kaylee Wilkinson and I’m about to reunite them with their families. Tomorrow I’ll give a full report.”
“Let me know the time and I’ll be there,” Angelica said.
She hung up, and the tires on the police car bounced over the speed bump in the entrance to the ER. Ellie felt as if the girls were healthy, but with their medical conditions, both would need a thorough work up.
“Help me get them in,” she told the officer.
He cut the engine, hurried around to the backseat and opened the door then scooped a sleeping Kaylee into his arms.Ellie climbed out and picked Ava up, cradling her little body to her as they hurried inside. The doors swished open and ER workers rushed to greet them.
“What do we have?” a nurse asked.
