by Susan Stoker
They followed the footprints as far as they could, until the dust ended and the grass began, and then headed into the woods, hoping against hope they’d find Beth waiting for them.
“Beth! Are you here?” Penelope called out.
“Let’s split up. Cade, you and Hayden go that way, and me and Penelope will go in this direction,” Quint said in a quiet voice. “We’ll find her.”
Without taking the time to agree or acknowledge his friend’s words, Cade headed east, calling himself all sorts of names for not being there to protect Beth as he’d promised.
He could hear Penelope and Quint calling Beth’s name as they headed away from them. Hayden also chimed in, yelling for Beth as the two of them combed the dense woods for any sign of her.
“Make sure you look up as well as down,” Hayden cautioned. “It was amazingly effective when Corrie did it.”
The two split up about ten feet or so and combed both the ground and the trees, occasionally calling Beth’s name.
Cade heard Hayden shout something, but didn’t understand what it was. He looked over at her and saw her running ahead. Immediately, he followed, knowing Hayden wouldn’t be running pell-mell through the woods if she hadn’t found something important.
It took a moment, but Cade picked up his pace when he saw for himself what Hayden had obviously seen. Beth. A very disheveled Beth, but she was alive.
They made more noise than a herd of elephants, but Cade didn’t even really notice. All his attention was on the woman he was afraid he’d never see alive again. He and Hayden reached Beth at the same time and Cade put his hand on the middle of her back, relieved to feel her quick breaths.
Beth was standing barefoot in the middle of a grouping of three trees, with her arms around one of the trunks as if she were hugging it. Cade felt as though he was the one having the panic attack this time, and he looked at Beth in confusion as she turned to them with a huge smile on her face.
A grin was the last thing he’d expected to see. In all the time he’d known Beth, he’d never seen her looking happy when she was outside. She never really looked unhappy, but concerned and focused was more the emotions that radiated from her. But joy was the emotion written all over her face at the moment.
She was covered in dirt, his Station 7 T-shirt she liked to pilfer was smeared with debris, and Cade could see some dead leaves sticking stubbornly to it. She had a small stick stuck in her hair as well as more leaves. Her sweats were hanging extremely low on her frame, almost mooning them as they stood there.
But it was the smile that was most out of place.
“Cade.” Beth breathed the word.
He could hear the relief in the one syllable as if it came from deep within her. He took a step closer, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Are you all right?”
“Surprisingly, yeah. I think I am.”
He brought his other hand up to her face and brushed his knuckles down her cheek. She hadn’t let go of her death grip on the tree, but was following him closely with her eyes. At his touch, she sighed and he could feel her melt a little into his hand.
“What happened?” Hayden asked, looking around as if the bad guys would pop up from behind a tree at any moment.
Penelope and Quint joined the trio. Penelope ran up to Beth and hugged her awkwardly—she still hadn’t let go of the tree and Cade’s arm was still around her waist—and exclaimed, “Thank God! We were so worried about you!”
“What happened?” Quint asked Hayden.
“Not sure, she hasn’t had a chance to tell us.”
“You’re safe now, you can let go of the tree,” Cade told Beth, putting his free hand on her forearm, ready to take hold of her hand as soon as she let go of the trunk.
“It’s the weirdest thing, Cade,” Beth told him without letting go of the tree. “There I was, scared out of my mind, hiding under a bunch of leaves, knowing if I dared come out, the men would be there waiting to get me…and I realized…I was outside. By myself. No one knew where I was—and I was okay. I was afraid, and panic was right there—is still right there—but I’d done it. Without my lighter. Without any drugs. Without you or Pen holding my hand. Me. All by myself.”
Cade got it—and he was so proud of her. “I’ve told you all along how strong you are, Beth. On one hand, I’m sorry this happened to you, but on the other, I’m thrilled that it’s made you see what the rest of us have known all along.”
They grinned crazily at each other for a moment before Cade told her in a low voice, “If you wouldn’t mind though, I’m a bit freaked out. Would you mind if you took hold of me instead of that tree? I could use a hug.”
It was as if his words broke her fragile hold on her emotions. Beth let go and turned to Cade. He caught her in his embrace and sighed in relief.
The last thirty minutes had been absolute hell. Not knowing where she was, what had happened, or if she was all right, had eaten at him. It reminded him way too much of the days after she’d fled to Pennsylvania. Beth’s arms went around his waist and the knot that had been in his belly loosened for the first time.
“You’re shaking,” Beth told him without lifting her head.
“Adrenaline dump,” Cade explained, not giving a shit that the others were still standing there witnessing him tremble.
“Can you at least give us the short version of what went on?” Hayden demanded for the third time, clearly losing some of her patience.
Now that Beth was safe in Cade’s arms, she could talk about the events that had led to her being in the woods without any issues. “I was still in bed when I heard someone in the house. They were talking about robbing it and how they’d been watching Cade. They saw the picture you took of us, Pen, and made comments about wanting to ‘do me.’ I realized if they knew I was there they would probably hurt me. There wasn’t any good place to hide, so I went out the window and down the tree. I was going to hide somewhere outside when one of them came out and saw me standing there, trying not to freak out. I ran into the woods and hid. They couldn’t find me and decided to leave. Now you guys are here.”
“How long ago did this happen?” Quint’s voice was no-nonsense as he asked the question.
“What time is it now?”
“One-thirty.”
“Wow, um, maybe around ten?”
“You’ve been out here for three hours?” Cade asked incredulously.
“Probably more like three and a half,” Beth told him, wanting that extra thirty minutes tacked on there. It seemed important to include it in the count, considering how well she’d done.
“I love you,” Cade told her in a soft voice, hugging her to him again.
“We need to get back to the house,” Quint told the group. “Cade, you have to see what was taken, and I need to coordinate the backup officers that have probably arrived by now. They’ll be looking for us, and we need to get a description of the men so we can be on the lookout for them.”
Beth took a step backward and winced, the tiny burrs in her feet making themselves known, now that she wasn’t alone and panicking.
“What is it?” Cade asked urgently, looking on the edge of panic himself.
Beth lifted one leg and showed him. “Have I ever told you how much I hate these damn things?”
Cade didn’t hesitate. He bent and picked Beth up as if she wasn’t only a few inches shorter than him. “Hang on.”
Beth didn’t complain as they headed back to the house—those suckers hurt. She felt herself settled even more when Penelope rested her hand on her leg as they walked. Being surrounded by the two people who knew her best made being outside all that much easier.
* * *
Beth sat very still with her teeth clenched as Crash worked on her feet with a pair of tweezers. Pen had called the fire chief to let him know what was going on and that Beth was safe. Quint radioed for medical assistance when he’d seen the extent of the damage to her feet, and now it seemed like all of Cade’s friends were there.
Sh
e winced and tried really hard not to flinch away from the man sitting at the other end of the couch as he plucked the burrs out of her flesh one by one.
“Damn, that hurts,” Beth said in a voice laced with pain.
“Yeah, these things suck,” Crash commiserated. “Of course, I’ve never had over a hundred stuck in my skin at the same time. You’re just an overachiever.”
Beth appreciated his attempt at levity. She turned her eyes to Cade standing on the other side of the room, telling Quint what he thought was missing. Beth had told him the names of the men who’d been in the house, Frank and Jimmy, and had given a rudimentary description of Jimmy and the car. There was now a BOLO, Be on the Lookout, for the men and their vehicle. If there was any chance of catching them, as soon as possible after it happened was the best time.
Now that Beth was inside, even though the house had been breached, she felt calmer…grounded. Cade had gotten her meds as soon as they’d returned and she could feel herself relaxing even more as they made their way through her bloodstream.
Wincing as another one of the burrs popped out of her skin, Beth tried to distract herself from what Crash was doing.
“So…Crash…how’d you get your nickname?”
As if he knew what she was doing, Crash humored her. “My first day on the job there were four car wrecks. We’d get back from one and immediately be called for another. The other guys decided it was my fault, and christened me Crash.”
“What’s your real name?”
Crash looked up at her and raised one eyebrow. “I’m not sure I want to tell you.”
“Why not?” Beth asked, almost offended.
“I know how you are with that computer. You’ll probably sign me up for some weird service like singing telegrams or something.”
Beth laughed. “Crash, if I wanted to mess with you, first, I don’t need you to tell me your name in order to do it. I could find it within minutes. And second, I’m much more creative than that. Give me some credit.”
Crash leaned back toward her feet and continued plucking the insidious burrs out of her soles. “That’s probably true. It’s Dean. But no one calls me that.”
“No one?”
“Nope.”
“Ever?”
Crash looked back up at her in annoyance at her persistence. “No, not ever.”
“So when you’re in bed with a woman, she calls out, ‘Oh, Crash, harder. Yes, Crash, right there.’ That’s weird and a little creepy.” Beth laughed at the incredulous look Cade’s friend and fellow firefighter was giving her. “Seriously, it’s weird. Trust me on this. When you find a woman who truly interests you, don’t introduce yourself as Crash. Say, ‘Hi, my name is Dean, it’s good to meet you.’ I think things will go a lot better for you if you do.”
“Are you seriously trying to help me with my love life?”
“Yup.”
Crash smirked and tried to look at her sternly, but totally failed.
Changing the subject, Crash told her, “It looks like I’m almost done here. You’re going to want to stay off these for a while, they’re going to be sore. You also need to keep the antibiotic good and smeared on them for at least twenty-four hours, to make sure they don’t get any more infected. Running around in the dirt while they were bleeding didn’t do them any good. If they continue to look red, you need to go to a doctor. Hear me?”
Beth wanted to keep on the subject of Crash and his love life, but understanding the moment was gone, she sighed in relief, knowing the torture of having the burrs removed was done. She smiled in contentment when she felt Cade’s hand on the back of her neck.
“I’ll watch her and get her in if needed. Thanks, Crash.”
“You’re welcome. All done with Quint?”
Cade nodded.
“Do you think they’ll catch them?” Beth asked, holding on to Cade’s hand.
“Hopefully. Quint said you’ll need to identify them if they do. He can bring a picture lineup to the house.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best. I’m not sure I’ll be able to pick them out though,” Beth said, worry lacing her voice. “I was…stressed…and didn’t really get as good of a look at the one guy as I should’ve. I didn’t really see the second one at all.”
Cade kissed the side of her head. “No worries, sweetheart.”
“What if they come back?”
Cade pulled back a bit and looked Beth in the eyes. “You’re safe here, Beth. I know I haven’t done a very good job of making sure of that, but I’ve already called and made an appointment with an alarm company. I should’ve done it before, but I got complacent. This is your home now. I want you to feel absolutely safe. I’m pissed those guys got in and made you feel afraid for even one second.”
Seeing his friends about to get into a deep conversation, Crash stood up. “I’ll just get my stuff together. Remember, the fire chief said you didn’t need to come back in today, Sledge.”
“Thank him for me.”
“Will do.”
“Crash?” Beth asked before he left.
“Yeah?”
“I was serious about the name thing. And you never know when you’ll run into the woman meant to be yours. So keep your wits about you. Yeah?”
“I know you are, and I’ll keep it under advisement.” He brought his fingers up to his head as if to tip an imaginary hat. “Keep off those feet.”
“Yes, sir.”
Crash smiled at her and headed to the front door.
“What was that all about?” Cade asked, confused.
“Nothing.” Beth waved off the question and got back to his earlier statement about the alarm. “Cade, I do feel safe here. The first thing you did was teach me how to get out of the house just in case, and that’s what saved me. They were talking about what they’d to do me if I was here…I didn’t have any place to hide. So you teaching me about the tree saved me from that.”
Obviously not believing her, Cade replied, “I’m very thankful you got out of the house, but I’m still pissed you had to do it in the first place. I’ll be here when the alarm is installed in two days, I don’t want you feeling weird having strangers in the house. But this is a top-of-the-line model. It can be connected to our tablets and laptops so it can be accessed and monitored from anywhere. They’ll teach you how to activate the alarm and—”
“Cade, I’m a hacker. I think I can figure out the mechanics of the alarm, especially once they put the software on my laptop. Thank God they didn’t have time to grab it when they were scooping up other stuff. In fact, I’ll probably tinker with the alarm and make it even better once they’re gone.”
“Oh, yeah…I forgot.”
“You forgot I was a hacker?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
“Um…thanks. I love you back.”
Seeing his confusion over her enthusiastic response to him forgetting about her computer skills, Beth rushed to explain. “Thanks for seeing the good in me past all my issues. I know I’m not a peach to live with. As Dr. Neal said, I’ll probably always be nervous out in public. I’m getting better, even I can see that, and I might even be able to make it to that softball game sooner or later, but trips to Disney will never be something I can stomach. Maybe even Walmart. I haven’t even tried to tackle that one yet.”
“And you don’t need to. There are plenty of other places we can shop.”
“I know, but that’s not the point. The point is that you make me feel safe. I figured it out while I was in Pennsylvania. Not my apartment. Not your house. Not the lighter and fire, not even my computer. You.”
“But you were alone today and I wasn’t here with you.”
“But you were there,” Beth tried to explain. “While I was hiding and trying not to hyperventilate I thought about my ‘safe place.’ It’s what Dr. Neal taught me. When I get stressed out and uncertain, I’m supposed to visualize my safe place. For some it’s the beach. For others it’s a lake or some other physical place that holds
good memories for them. For me? It’s in your arms. All I had to do was close my eyes and imagine your arms around me and I felt safe. I swear I could almost feel the heat of your body surrounding me and your heartbeat against my cheek as you held me while I was hiding. I knew you’d come. The tree was a poor substitute for your body, but it allowed me to hold on until you came and found me.”
Cade pulled Beth into his arms, not even thinking about his sister and friends still wandering around his house. He opened his mouth to speak, but Beth beat him to it.
“I’m sorry about the fire thing. I never got a chance to apologize. It was stupid, and if I’d hurt someone else with one of the fires I’d set, I would’ve felt horrible about it. I know why you reacted like you did and you were perfectly justified. I swear I won’t go there again. Ever.”
“You won’t need to. I’ve got your back, Beth. Always.”
“Are you guys good here?”
They looked up and saw Hayden gazing down at them. She had a weird look on her face, and Beth couldn’t read it. She almost looked sad…and that was an emotion Beth hadn’t ever seen on the tough deputy’s face in all the time she’d known her. She was always the bad-ass, show-no-emotion cop.
“We’re good,” Cade answered matter-of-factly.
“Okay, then I’ll let Quint do his thing. I’m glad you’re all right, Beth. I swear to God I don’t know what it is with trees and women saving themselves, but I’m glad you had the fortitude to get out of the house and to safety. I’ll see you later, Sledge.”
After she’d turned around and left, Beth turned to Cade. “Is she going to be okay?”
He looked at the door Hayden had disappeared through. “Yeah. She’s Hayden. She’s as tough as steel, nothing bothers her. I suppose running in the woods behind my house reminded her a bit of when Corrie saved herself.” He shrugged.
“Did Hayden seem sad to you?”
“Hayden’s never sad.”
“Cade. She seemed unhappy,” Beth repeated more firmly.
“Okay, I believe you. But right now I’m more concerned about you. I’m thinking you need a shower…and maybe a nap.”
