Forever Hunted

by Kathleen Brooks

  Similarly, Cade and Marshall had had no luck finding Miss Mambo. They found her trail and blood, but no horse. They were hunkered down for the night and would also continue in the morning.

  “Get off of me, Spawn,” Ahmed growled. Cy, deep in thought, looked over and found Ahmed lying on the ground using his backpack as a pillow. However, it was the little red dog lying down on Ahmed’s chest that stuck out. Robyn’s nose was tucked under Ahmed’s chin, her two front paws were on each shoulder, and her butt was curled up precariously close to Ahmed’s family jewels. One wrong move and Robyn’s back paws would cause Ahmed to speak as a soprano for the rest of the evening.

  Robyn’s tail thumped and Ahmed grimaced as she licked his mouth. He sputtered, turning his head to spit. “She licked me. In my mouth!”

  “Stop frenching the dog and get some sleep,” Miles ordered as he struggled to keep the laughter from his voice.

  “This is not a dog. It’s a demon sent from the bowels of hell. Look at her. She knows exactly what she did.” Cy looked over at the dog and sure enough, she was practically smiling as she placed one well-directed tail wag onto Ahmed’s crotch. He groaned, and Cy thought twice about teasing Ahmed.

  “Maybe you’re right about her.” The damn dog winked at him. Cy couldn’t believe it.

  “I told you all, but you laughed at me,” Ahmed said, sounding like a victor even though Robyn still lay on him as if the big bad soldier were her very own heated dog bed.

  “Well, don’t make her mad. Snuggle her, man,” Cy ordered.

  Will and Nash shared a look of disbelief as Will rose and walked over to Ahmed. “Come on, sweetheart, you can sleep with me tonight.” Will reached down and Robyn dug her nails into Ahmed and hunkered down. She was not going to be moved.

  Will stood and stared at the dog clinging to Ahmed. “Cy’s right. She’s helping us find my son. Grow a pair and snuggle that dog.”

  With a low groan, Ahmed reached up and awkwardly patted Robyn’s head. The dog was delighted and shoved her nose against his neck and closed her eyes.

  “We’ll start again at first light,” Nash told them with a shake of his head as he watched Robyn and Ahmed. “I’ll take the first watch. We’ll find them in the morning.”

  Cy closed his eyes, knowing rest was what he needed, but it was hard to come by. Slowly the sounds of the snoring dog lulled him to sleep. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’d find his daughter and never let her out of his sight again.

  * * *

  Gemma looked at the text her husband had sent and frowned.

  “Is it Dad?” Porter asked.

  The landing strip was lit up by portable generators and lights strong enough to be on stadiums. The NTSB and FBI were combing over every inch of the plane. The black box had been retrieved and things appeared to be moving quickly. Except they couldn’t declare either Suzanne or Diego’s death a homicide until they gathered further evidence and talked to all parties involved. They also sent their own team of agents and dogs into the woods, against Ryan, Gemma, and Kenna’s protests.

  The families had been moved into a tent the government had put up to shield them from cameras after Gemma and Kenna had refused to leave. The agents in charge had wanted them to wait at a hotel in Chattanooga, but Ryan had used his sway to let them stay. That and a talking to by the Rose sisters got them their own tent.

  Gemma clutched Riley’s hand as her sons looked over her shoulder at the text. “They’ve stopped for the night,” Gemma told the crowd. “They found a scent and followed it, but it became too dark to continue. They’ll start again at first light.”

  Riley’s head cocked as she looked at the text. “Does anyone have a map of the area? I know Reagan and how she thinks. If I can see where everyone is, I bet I can tell you where she’s going.”

  “And then we can come from the opposite direction and rescue them,” Parker said as he quickly understood where his older sister was headed.

  “I have a map in my cruiser,” Deputy Luke Tanner told them a moment before he strode from the tent. As a deputy not in this jurisdiction, Luke had been pawned off onto babysitting duty even though he’d been the one who gathered most of the evidence. Gemma had liked him immediately, as did the rest of the Keeneston crew.

  “Here it is,” Luke said, laying out a map on the table Riley had cleared off. “Let me see the GPS coordinates.”

  Gemma rattled off the coordinates Cy had texted her along the way as Luke marked them on the map. Riley suddenly pulled out her phone and began to work on it. “Here’s where Matt has been,” she said, showing the GPS map to Luke.

  “I know where they’re all going,” Luke said, standing up and looking at the map.

  “So do I,” Riley said.

  “Moonshine Hollow,” they both said at the same time.

  Gemma looked at the map, and sure enough, the trail Cy had been following was near a stream heading straight for Moonshine Hollow. The scary part was the path Matt was following as he tried to track Mick. He was headed to the same place.

  “We have to warn them,” Gemma said, gripping Luke’s arm.

  “I’m ready to go. I will shoot that man dead if he hurts my friends,” Aniyah said, standing to join them at the table.

  “I believe we all would,” Piper said, standing next to Ava, the newly minted doctor fresh from medical school two months ago.

  “What kind of town is Keeneston?” Luke asked, looking at the roomful of people ready to go into battle.

  “The best,” Aniyah answered immediately.

  “And we have certain levels of skills useful in situations like this,” Riley said with a smirk.

  “You know, that Bridget woman said the same thing. I’m starting to believe your town has a skill set similar to that of a mercenary army,” Luke said as he folded the map. If only he knew how close he was to the truth.

  “I have my wooden spoon,” Miss Daisy said, as she pulled a spoon from the arm of her long-sleeved dress.

  “I packed my crepe pan in the trunk, just in case,” Miss Violet said as she put her hands on her ample hips.

  “Well, fiddlesticks. I need my broom. No one told me we’d be back in the game,” Miss Lily complained.

  Luke shook his head. “And I thought Moonshine Hollow was quirky,” he muttered as he walked out of the tent. A moment later he came back in with a picket sign telling people to keep back. “It’s not a broom, but will this work?” Luke asked Miss Lily. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed the sign that still had dirt on the sharply pointed end.

  “Oh, this is perfect,” she grinned. “Let’s go.”

  Hope roared through Gemma’s body. They knew where Reagan and Carter were headed, and she’d do anything to get to them first. “I’m coming, baby, hold on,” she whispered as the group marched out of the tent.

  “Where are all y’all going?”

  Gemma turned to see the head investigator, Martin Spizer, standing with his hands on his hips as he stared at them. Gemma smiled sweetly, but it was Porter who spoke first.

  “My sister is pregnant and needs to lie down. For the sake of the baby.”

  Riley put her hand on her flat belly and sighed. “The stress of knowing my twin is out there in danger is too much for me to handle in my delicate state.”

  Piper snorted but hid it under a cough drawing the inspector’s attention. “And our dear great-grandmothers are very feeble in their old age. Great-grandma Lily thinks that sign is a broom. It’s the exhaustion of the day. We really need to get them to bed.”

  “So I am taking them to Moonshine Hollow for the night,” Luke interjected.

  “There’s not a hotel in Moonshine Hollow,” Spizer pointed out.

  “No, but there’s Southern hospitality. I have places for them to stay. Unless you need my help?” Luke asked, but just like they knew would happen, the investigator shook his head.

  “No, get them out of here. We’ll call you when we’ve found your son and daughter,” he said to Gemma and Kenna. Gemma saw Kenna’s lips s

narl in what was probably supposed to be a smile.

  “I hate that man,” she whispered to Gemma as they filed off and crammed into various cars. “He reminds me of the people back in New York.”

  “That’s because he is,” DeAndre told her as they climbed into Luke’s cruiser. “Spizer was a big shot investigator and then messed up a case because he slept with a suspect. Luckily she didn’t do it, but it was enough to get him booted down from the big city and into the Chattanooga office for a probationary period.”

  “How do you know that?” Luke asked.

  DeAndre shrugged. “I pay attention. Now tell us about Moonshine.”

  Deputy Tanner explained. “Right now I don’t have any place for you all to stay except for the jail. I’ll call around, though, and will have some place for you to sleep by the time we get there. It’s a small town, probably smaller than Keeneston, and our livelihood rests on the town’s moonshine distillery.”

  “Have you spent your whole life there?” Gemma asked, trying to relax as her body demanded she do something, anything to find her daughter.

  “No. I spent some time with the Knoxville PD and moved back to Moonshine a month ago,” Luke told her before pulling out his phone and making a few calls. As he found them places to stay, Gemma wondered about Reagan and Carter. Were they hurt? Were they safe? Were they scared? What she’d give to be there with them to protect them.

  Before she knew it, they came to a sleepy little town. Luke pulled over in front of the only place lit up on Main Street. Light splashed out of a large window with the words Mountaineers painted on it. Inside, young men and women were drinking, playing pool, and watching television. A young couple rushed outside as Luke got out of the car.

  “Oh, you poor souls,” the woman cried, wrapping her arms around Ryan, DeAndre, Kenna, and finally Gemma as she got out of the car. “My name is Maribelle, and some of y’all are going to be staying with me tonight.”

  Aniyah, Riley, and Porter’s cars pulled up behind Luke’s, and Maribelle handed out hugs to each of the passengers. “Riley, Piper, and Ava will be staying with you, Maribelle. Make sure you bring them to the sheriff’s office at six in the morning.”

  “You got it, Luke. Come on, girls. Let’s get you home and into a hot shower, then I have the best country-fried steak.” Gemma lost track of Maribelle as she herded the ladies into Riley’s car and had them follow her down the street.

  A large man who exemplified the word mountaineer stepped forward. He was easily six-foot-four with a thick, dark-brown beard neatly trimmed. “Hey. I’m Dale. I’m real sorry about your friends and family. I’ll be helping in the search tomorrow along with the rest of the town.”

  Gemma was taken back by the deep voice and kind words. “Thank you, young man. Any help will be appreciated.” Gemma hadn’t realized she had started to cry until the mountain of a man wrapped his arms around her. She felt like a child in his embrace instead of being old enough to be his mother.

  “It’s okay, ma’am. We’ll find them.”

  Gemma sniffled. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day.”

  Dale let go of her and her tears dried as Miss Violet tried to grab the man to bring him down for a hug, but he was simply too big for her to reach his head. She tried this way and that until she finally let out a huff and ordered the man to bend over so that she could hug him.

  “Vi, this is not the time nor the place—” Daisy started, but Miss Violet had finally brought the mountain man to his knees, literally, and smothered his bearded face into her bosom.

  “You’re such a kind young man,” Miss Violet cooed as Luke looked on with a mixture of horror and amusement.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” came the polite mumble from her bosom a moment before Miss Violet let go of him.

  “Porter, Parker, DeAndre, and Aniyah will be with Dale,” Luke said, giving Dale the same instructions for the morning. Aniyah tossed Ryan her keys as she and DeAndre hopped into Porter’s car.

  “Back in the car. We have two more stops to make.”

  Gemma looked out the window as they pulled into a neighborhood filled with cute cottage houses and lawns overflowing with flowers. They stopped in front of a house with a picture-perfect yard. The front door opened and two ladies who had to be in their early eighties came nimbly running out.

  Ryan and the Rose sisters stepped out of the car behind them and the two women greeted Luke. “Agnes, Vilma, these are the Rose sisters. Lily, Daisy, and Violet. They’ll be your guests for the night. Six in the morning we need them at the sheriff’s office. Got it?”

  “Sonny, I’ve been getting to places on time since before you were an itch in your daddy’s pants. Now, you poor dears, what can we get you?”

  “You don’t happen to have any bourbon, do you?” Miss Violet asked as the five elderly women headed up the sidewalk.

  “No, but you should try our moonshine,” Agnes told them.

  “I’m sure I can scrounge up some bourbon too,” Vilma grinned as Agnes rolled her eyes at her.

  Gemma shot a look to Kenna. “Is this a good idea?” she asked.

  Kenna grinned. “It can’t hurt, right?”

  “Agnes and Vilma have been in Moonshine for as long as anyone remembers. They’re good people. They have a reputation as grandmotherly healers. Our doctor isn’t real good. He’s older than the Rose sisters, but if anyone is sick or needs help, it’s Agnes and Vilma who are always nursing them back to health,” Luke explained as he drove to the next street over. At that moment, Gemma was relieved Ava, with her brand new medical degree, had insisted on coming along.

  “This is my house. You two and Ryan can stay with me.” Gemma looked out at the well-kept little house.

  “Thank you,” Kenna answered for her before the car stopped and they all piled out and followed Luke inside. As Kenna and Gemma lay next to each other in Luke’s bed, they heard Luke and Ryan talking in the living room. The men would be sleeping on the couch and recliner. It sounded as if they were discussing the case, the search, and finally who Carter and Reagan were as people. Gemma smiled into the darkness as Ryan told Luke a story of Reagan stuffing a frog down his pants for making fun of her freckles.

  “Do you think we’ll find them before it’s too late?” Kenna asked quietly. Gemma reached out in the darkness and grabbed her friend’s hand.

  “Don’t lose faith now. Nothing will stop parents from finding their children. Nothing. We will find them and we will keep them safe. I swear.”

  As Gemma finally succumbed to sleep, her thoughts never drifted from her daughter. “I’m coming, Reagan,” she murmured before finally falling asleep.

  21

  Reagan gripped Carter’s shirt in the dark night. They had slept fitfully for a couple hours, but then it seemed the forest had come alive with small animals scampering about, trees moaning in the breeze, and frogs croaking. Reagan hadn’t been able to sleep since.

  Carter stroked her hair, knowing she was agitated at being stuck in one location until the sun could light their way down the rest of the mountain. “Rea, easy. We’re safe. Just relax,” he whispered as he used his other hand to massage her arm. “How is your ankle feeling?”

  Reagan rotated her ankle and winced, but it was better than it had been the previous day. “The rest seems to help. And the cold water. It’s sore and I have a little twinge here and there, but I think I’ll be a lot better come morning.”

  “Good. Then let’s talk about our wedding,” he said soothingly. As he talked about wanting to marry her the second they reached the small town, Reagan began to relax. She stopped focusing on every sound in the forest and focused on Carter’s soothing voice.

  “Our parents will kill us if we got married without them there,” Reagan teased as she cuddled up to him.

  “We can have a reception at Ashton Farm when we get home,” Carter said as he pled his case.

  “I’ll think about it,” Reagan promised, but the thought went out of her mind as Carter ran his fingers over the small of her back on the small patch of skin between her shirt and pants.

  “Hmm,” Carter murmured as he nuzzled her neck. “I bet I can sway you over to my side of thinking.”

  Reagan slid her hand up his shirt and enjoyed the feel of the little arrow of light brown hair that led from under his waistband and up to his navel under her fingers. “I never was the big wedding kind of girl.”

  Carter kissed her then. A kiss that held the promise of a future filled with all the good and all the naughty. “I don’t plan on stopping our little public adventures just because we’re married.”

  “It’s always the quiet ones,” Reagan said as she curled up against his chest. Carter wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him.

  Reagan felt her body relax as she listened to Carter’s heartbeat. His fingers trailed up and down her back in a soothing motion. Suddenly, his hands froze on her back. She’d heard it too. The sound of someone moving through the dense forest. Reagan rolled off Carter as they scrambled as far as they could under the tree. The noise grew closer as the sounds of branches snapping and heavy footfalls grew closer. Reagan held her breath as Carter moved in front of her as if he could shield her from the danger in the night. Reagan wanted to push him aside, but then he pressed a three-inch round limb in her hand. They would fight together.

  Reagan’s grip tightened until the bark dug into her hands as the noise grew louder and closer. There was no more than twenty feet separating them when she heard the soft whinny. Carter turned to her and pressed his lips against his hear. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yes,” she whispered back. “It’s a horse.”

  Before she was able to say her words of caution, Carter was walking slowly from their hiding place. “Miss Mambo, it’s okay, girl. It’s me. You’re safe now, Miss Mambo.”

  Reagan rolled her eyes at the gentle tone Carter used on the horse. It was the same tone he used on her when she was upset. But instead of being angry, it brought a smile to her face. Carter was a gentle, loving man, and in the darkness of the night she saw his outline as he slowly approached the horse.

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