The Runaway Pastor's Wife (37 page)

David paused for a moment. “Well, yes, I guess
you could say it’s something like that. Except that
Mommy’s
not lost—
we’re
the ones who don’t know where she is.” He looked to his mother for help.

“Oh, sweetie, we just need to pray for Mommy and
at the same time ask God to bring her home to us. I’m sure she’s somewhere safe
and sound, and . . . and probably catching up on her sleep and
just forgot to call,” she finished with gaining speed. She turned around and
poured the first six pancakes onto the griddle, avoiding further questions.

“But Daddy?”

Caroline peeked over her shoulder as David
reached across the table to grasp his daughter’s hand in reassurance. “Jessie,
Gran’s right. There’s no reason for us to worry. She promised to take care of
herself and we’ve all asked God to take care of her, so we just need to practice
our trust a little more. Right? Don’t you think God’s big enough to watch over
our Mommy for us even when we don’t know where exactly she might be?” He nodded
in affirmation to convince those questioning blue eyes.

“Well said, Pastor.”
Practice what you preach,
she thought.

“Yeeeaaahhh.” He yawned, stretching his arms
high into the air. “So where are the boys? Still asleep?” he asked Jessica.

“Jeremy is but—”

“Would you like some coffee, David?” Caroline
grabbed the carafe from the coffee maker.

“Sure, Mom. What were you saying, honey?” he
asked his daughter.

“Cream and sugar?” Caroline held the carton of
creamer directly in front of his face.

David turned to look at his mother. “You know I
never put cream and sugar in my coffee, Mom.” His eyes narrowed as he searched
her face. “Mom?”

She set the carton on the table and handed David
a steaming mug of coffee. “Why, of course you don’t. I don’t know what I was
thinking.”

He placed his hand on her extended wrist. “Mom.”

“Yes, dear?”

“You’ve always been terrible at playing cards.
You never learned how to bluff, remember?”

She smiled weakly. “Oh, well I—”

“Max is gone,” Jessica blurted, disappearing
behind her glass of juice.

“What?” he asked, turning to face her.

“I said Max is gone,” the reply echoing from the
glass.

He turned back toward his mother. She started to
move, but his hand held her firmly in place. “Max is gone?”

“Now before you get upset again, let’s just calm
down and talk about this.” Caroline quickly took a seat.

“Max is GONE?”

“David McGregor! Lower your voice this minute!”
She jerked her hand free and subtly nodded in Jessica’s direction. David’s eyes
grew wider as he started to say something, but Caroline jumped in. “Jessie,
sweetheart, why don’t you go see if
Sesame Street
is— ”

“No!” she answered, pounding her fist on the
table. “I don’t
want
to watch
Sesame Street
. I’m
not a little baby anymore! I’m just as much a part of this family as anybody
else. And I’m tired of everybody trying to keep secrets from me.” Lips pursed,
she raised her chin and folded her arms across her chest.

“Okay, okay!” Caroline raised her hands in
surrender. She drew an unsteady breath before continuing. “Now Jessica,
David—both of you—just stop for a moment and calm down. Jessie, you’re exactly
right. You
are
as big a part of this family as the rest of us. So I
suggest we all try to work through this together. Quietly. Calmly. But
together.”

She turned to face David. “Jessie discovered
Max’s absence just a little while ago when she came to my room. His room is
neat, his bed is made.” Pause. “And his duffel bag is missing.”

David started to speak but his mother beat him
to it again.

“His car is also gone, so I think it’s safe to
assume he’s taken off. And I believe with all my heart he’s gone to find
Annie.”

“What?” David snapped. “Why would he—how does he
think he can—”

“Because he feels as helpless as the rest of us!
And unfortunately he was the closest bystander when you popped your cork
yesterday.” She leveled a knowing gaze at him.

“Popped your what?” Jessie asked.

David sighed. “Popped my cork
.
Lost my
temper. Blew it.”

“Honey, your father held in his feelings as long
as he could, then—”

“Look, I’m sorry about exploding. I need to
apologize to you about that, Jessica—to you too, Mom. I’ve never acted like
that in my entire life. I don’t know what got into me.”

Jessie patted his hand. “You’re forgiven.”

“David, we know how hard this has been for you.
Don’t we, Jessie?” Caroline nodded toward her granddaughter, who nodded back.
“But we’re
all
struggling to get through this. And Max? Well, he’s a lot
like you, son. In his own way, he needed to explode too. And once he calmed
down, I’m sure the wheels in his mind started spinning, no doubt searching for
a solution to ‘fix’ this whole mess for all of us. Maybe it’s not necessarily
what we would have done, but I’m sure he thought it was something
he
had
to do.”

“So where could he have gone, Daddy?” Jessie
tucked a curl behind her ear. “How could he know where Mommy might be?”

“I have no idea,” David answered, mussing his
daughter’s hair. “Not a clue. But I promise you this. I’m going to find out.”

CHAPTER 25

Eagle’s Nest

Annie tucked Michael’s blankets around him after
dressing his wounds again. “Your coloring is better. That’s a good sign. Here,
take these.” She handed him the medication with a glass of water. Her patient
obliged, swallowing the pills.

“I’m starving. Do you mind fixing me something
to eat?”

She rolled her eyes at him and limped back to
the kitchen.

“How about a hot plate of cheese enchiladas, a
couple tacos, and maybe some queso dip and chips? Can you rustle that up for
me?”

“Dream on. I’m afraid you’re hallucinating.”

He watched her make two sandwiches and placed
them on separate plates with a handful of chips.

“Can you heat up some tea while you’re at it? I
can’t stop shaking.”

“Neither can I. It feels like thirty below in
here.” She balanced the tray of food vicariously, hobbling on one crutch to
carry it over to the coffee table. Setting it down within his reach, she headed
back to the kitchen to fill the kettle with water. “This is getting really
old.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s really not so bad if you
think of it.” Michael chomped on the thick ham and Muenster sandwich as he
studied the fire.

“I’m thinking of it and I’m thinking it’s pretty
bad.” She put the kettle over the fire then sat back down.

“Then you’re looking at it all wrong. The way
I’m seeing it—it’s like being marooned on a desert island, only colder.”

Annie sighed then took a bite of her sandwich.

“Well, aside from the chill, it’s really not so
bad. Think about it. No one else can travel in this weather, which means no one
can get up here, which means for now we’re safe. That may not mean much to you,
but you can’t imagine how good it feels to me.”

“That’s great. I’m glad you’re happy. If you’re
happy, then I’m happy. Just think how amused they’ll be when they find the
frozen smiles on our frozen faces on our frozen bodies.”

“Whiner.”

“I’m not whining.”

“Cry baby.”

“Stop it.”

“Make me.”

“Shut up, Michael.”

“Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“Okay, I’ll shut up on one condition.”

“What?”

“The fire needs stoking.”

He heard her slam the bedroom door just as he
realized she hadn’t served him his tea.

“Annie?”

Silence.

He shook his head, amused and irritated at the
same time. She wouldn’t be in there long. The fire was out here.

But he wasn’t amused for long. The constant,
nagging sparks of fear gnawed at him. With every passing moment, Elliot and his
legions were bound to be closing in on him. Despite the comforts of Christine’s
cabin and the strange companionship and assistance Annie provided, he still
felt like a sitting duck. He resented the physical weakness that trapped him
here on this sofa. He needed to
do
something.

His cell phone caught his eye. Earlier, he had
asked Annie to get it out of his car, though he wasn’t sure if he would use it
or not. He just needed it near. Now with her out of the room, he felt an
urgency to talk to Grady again. He pressed the on button, coughing to cover the
sound of the beep. The instrument came to life, the panel glowing a florescent
blue. He pulled the covers over his head to muffle the sound of his dialing.

“Hello?”

“Grady! It’s Michael.”

“Michael! Thank God! I thought you were dead by
now.”

“No such luck. I’m better—much better than the
last time we talked, that’s for sure. I’ve had some medical attention, I’m in a
secure location—”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to tell you.”

“Michael, you promised me. The last time you
called you promised to come clean and tell me where you are.”

“I know, I know. I just don’t want—hey, wait a
minute. Maybe I can tell you without
telling
you.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning . . . what if I
told you I was at
Tumbleweed’s hideaway
and left it at that?”

A pause on the other end of the line. “You
mean—”

“Don’t say it! Don’t say a word, okay? I still
don’t trust these cell phones. It’s too easy for someone to intercept the
lines. Are we on the same page here?”

Grady laughed. “We’re good, Michael.”

“Good. That’s a big relief. So if anything
should happen to me, you’ll know exactly where to find me. And you still have
the information I gave you about the—”

“Got it. Not to worry.”

“There’s one other thing I need to tell you. At
the moment, I’m a bit
under the weather
, if you follow me—”

“I hear you.”

“But once this all clears up—”

“I understand—”

“I’m going straight to the authorities myself. I
just need to decide how to do that. Who I can trust.”

“Michael, it will make it a lot easier if you’d
just let me go to the authorities now. Give them the location for the packet.
Tell them to come rescue you. It makes sense!”

 “No way.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Dean!”

 “No! I’ve already endangered you by these phone
calls. I don’t want to involve you any more than I already have. I’ll be
careful who I contact. I’ll cover my tracks. I’m only telling you now so that
someone somewhere knows where I am and where there’s information that pieces
together the puzzle behind this nightmare.”

“You sure you don’t want me to handle it for
you?’

“I value your friendship too much to do that to
you.”

No response.

“Grady, you still there?”

“I’m here. Look, you take care of yourself,
okay? And call me back in the morning. Keep in touch. And for the love of Pete,
try not to get yourself killed, okay?”

“I will, Grady. I will.”

Weber Creek
,
Colorado

“Well, what do you think, Doc?” Bob Williamson
asked his friend, leaning across the counter. “You think our guest up there can
cope with this kind of storm?”

Doc Wilkins had trudged across the street
through the piling snow to Williamson’s Store. He was restless. Increasingly
concerned about the troubles up at that cabin, his thoughts had little to do
with the storm. He had a bad feeling about all of it. A feeling he couldn’t
shake. Someone had tried to kill Michael Dean. He could think of little else.