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John’s heart was racing as he ran back to the road. His hands were shaking as he pulled out his phone, praying he’d get a signal strong enough to make a call.
***
Rachel was holding an ice pack against her forehead. Her eyes were swollen from crying, her head was still bleeding, and she was shaking so hard she could barely speak when her phone suddenly rang.
The sheriff jumped up, shouting. “Put it on speaker. If it’s the kidnapper demanding ransom, we’ll—”
Louis turned, shouting in anger over the sheriff’s orders. “Ransom? Have none of you heard a word we said? You just told us Danny Biggers broke out of prison. We should have been notified! It’s your fault we were unprepared! Biggers knows we don’t have money. He’s on the run, not hanging around waiting for ransom. He already got what he came for.”
Rachel took a deep breath and then screamed, “Stop shouting! All of you!” Then she answered the call and put it on speaker. “Hello?”
“Rachel, honey, this is Uncle John. I found an abandoned car on the road about four miles up from your place. There’s a baby bottle with milk in it and a pile of uneaten cookies in the passenger seat. I also found tracks and a piece of blanket caught on some bushes. He took to the woods, sugar. I’ll let the other searchers know.”
“Oh my God, oh my God… Thank you, Uncle John.”
“You rest easy, darlin’. We’ll find Lili and the bastard who took her.”
Rachel was sobbing. “Thank you, Uncle John, thank you.”
Woodley stared in disbelief. Let the searchers know?
“What searchers?” he shouted.
Louis snapped, “Our family. Our friends. I called them while I was waiting for you people to even show. They’ve been looking for a stranger’s car for the better part of thirty minutes now, while you’ve been here arguing with us.”
“Son of a bitch,” Woodley muttered. “Amateurs on the mountain at night. God knows what will happen now.”
At that point, Louis lost it and pointed at the front door.
“Nobody up here is an amateur at anything to do with hunting or tracking. Between them and their dogs, if Biggers is still in the woods, they will find him. If you’re interested in helping, then get the hell out of my house and go do it!”
Woodley’s face turned red as he began issuing orders to his men. Within moments they were exiting the premises and heading up the mountain to catch up with the search party.
But the searchers were already on the mountain with guns and dogs when they got the update from John Cauley. They came out of the trees and crossed the road to the other side and began looking for signs, while Louis went out to his shop, got a piece of plywood, and came back and nailed it over the broken window on their front door.
Chapter 2
Cameron Pope was dreaming of an angel. Reliving the moment in the hotel lobby when he’d first seen her.
She smiled at him and that was all it took. He’d never believed in love at first sight, but it felt like he knew her—had always known her. Through a thousand lifetimes she’d been his.
Now it was his last night on American soil before shipping out for a second tour in Iraq, and all he could think wasThis can’t be happening. It had taken so long to find her, and tomorrow he’d be gone.
One of them moved first. He still didn’t remember if it was him or her, but they were suddenly face-to-face and she was looking at his fatigues and the duffel bag on his shoulder, and a strange look came over her.
What happened next was the stuff miracles were made of.
He could still remember how they fit, body to body, and the tears in her eyes as she came apart in his arms.
And then his phone rang, yanking him from the dream. The scent of her perfume was nothing but a memory as he rolled over in bed. He heard Ghost leap to his feet and the click of toenails on the cold pine floor as he came into the room.
Cameron groaned as the phone continued to ring. “I hear it,” he said, patting the head of his huge German shepherd as he turned on the lamp.
But then he saw his sister’s name pop up on caller ID and frowned. This time of night? It couldn’t be good. When he answered and heard her sobbing, his heart stopped.
“Rachel? Honey? What’s wrong?”
“Danny Biggers was one of the men who escaped from Abercrombie! He broke into our house tonight before Louis got home and took Lili. We called the sheriff. Louis called his dad. Our people are on the mountain with the hounds. You know Danny. He knows the mountains. The law will never find him on their own. Uncle John just found an abandoned car about halfway up the mountain. Biggers is in the woods with my baby.”
