by Dianne Drake
“Yes. He’s not there. I’ve got to start searching away from the clinic. With all the rocks and canyons... What I need you to do is call people and ask for help. I need people out here, searching with me. Start with Francine and Bert. Lucas might be trying to get there for another pony ride. Maybe call some of the hotels and businesses and ask them to keep an eye out as well.”
“Is there anything else I can do?” she asked Matt.
He wished there was. But putting her under even more stress scared him. “No. Just take care of yourself. And, Ellie, I’m sorry about—well, a lot of things.” That was all he said before he clicked off and headed toward the dry river bed that was in view of the clinic. It was close, and it was as good a place to start searching as any. “Lucas,” he called out in that direction. “Just stay where you are, buddy. I’m coming to get you.”
He prayed those weren’t empty words.
* * *
Everyone was called, search parties were being organized to meet at the clinic, Cruz was taking to the air, and she was about ready to jump out of her skin. Ellie paced the house, end to end, for about five minutes, then headed to her car. Maybe she couldn’t get involved in the vigorous search, but she had to do something, and driving within reason was approved.
She looked at the clock on her phone and, by all estimations, Lucas had been missing for nearly an hour now. She hadn’t heard back from Matt, so there was no optimism there. And among the people gathering for the search there were no trained search and rescue experts—just concerned residents. A group of rangers were coming in, but not for another hour. So there wasn’t as much optimism as she’d hoped for there either.
Overhead, the sound of a helicopter went from soft to loud, and she looked up to see Cruz heading east, which would take him away from the clinic. Being so high, would he even be able to see someone as tiny as Lucas?
With a sigh and a prayer, Ellie climbed into her car and headed straight to the clinic to see what was being organized. Maybe she wouldn’t be much help, but she’d feel better just being where the activity was. And maybe she’d catch sight of Matt somewhere along the way. She really needed to see him, to reassure him, to have him reassure her.
Ellie drove slowly along the way, looking up and down both sides of the road. Realistically, Lucas couldn’t have come this far in only an hour. She was three miles from the clinic, the only one on the road—probably because everybody else knew what she’d only just figured out. Still, she looked. Saw cactus in bloom, lots of open space, a few cattle grazing here and there, a rundown cowboy trailer.
On a whim, she took the ranch road up to the trailer, glad it wasn’t as bumpy as some, and stopped near the front door. She looked around, saw no sign that anybody was there, but she knocked anyway since it was open. No answer, though.
She decided to take one look around the trailer before she got back on the road, and halfway to the rear she ran into an old man who was tinkering with something in his shed. His rusty truck was parked off to the side, its door part open, its windshield so dirty she wondered how anybody could see out of it to drive. And his yard—it was so cluttered she had to watch every step lest she trip over something and fall.
“There’s a little boy gone missing,” she said. “Search parties are out looking. You wouldn’t have happened to see him, would you?”
The man spun around, his face fixed in a dark glare, and stared at her for a moment. “What I see is a trespasser,” he said.
“I’m looking for a lost child,” she said emphatically. “Since you live near the place where he went missing...”
“Don’t give a damn about lost kids,” he hissed. “If the parents aren’t smart enough to look out for them in these parts, that’s their fault. Not mine. I don’t want no part of it. So get off my property. Go look for your kid somewhere else.” He turned his back to her and continued what he’d been doing, giving Ellie no choice but to leave. Stopping here had been a long shot anyway, since Lucas simply couldn’t have come this far. She wouldn’t have felt right if she hadn’t stopped, though.
And what a rude man. He was the first rude person she’d made contact with in Forgeburn, but maybe he was just bitter about being past his cowboy days because he clearly was well past them. She sympathized with him a little, wondering how she’d feel if time and age had robbed her of who she was. And that man had been a cowboy. His saddle was resting on a sawhorse, exposed to the weather, probably not used in a long, long time. That’s not the way she wanted to end up and now, more than ever, she knew she was on the right course, keeping her baby, adopting Lucas. But Lucas—dear God, she was so scared.
Back on the road, Ellie finally came to the clinic, where several people were still trying to figure out which way to go. She got out of the car, talked to a few of them, and nothing anybody said made her feel easier. The people here were well intentioned, but their searches were random. Even Ellie, who’d had no experience at this, could see that. “Has Matt been back to the clinic?” she asked Francine, who was setting out drinks for those involved. “I’ve tried raising him on the phone, but nothing goes through.”
“Haven’t seen or heard from him. Someone said he started at the dry creek bed over there...” Francine pointed to it. “But who knows which direction he went?”
“And he’s by himself?” Ellie asked. Matt was still in no condition to do this. Granted, his injuries weren’t serious, as confirmed by the X-rays he’d had while she’d been in the hospital, but they were still painful enough that she feared they might compromise him in some way. He was a soldier, though. Smart. Trained in rescue. He’d survived the battlefield, and keeping his friend alive while being shot at. That did give her hope, but she couldn’t help worrying, nonetheless.
She loved that man. Loved that little boy. They’d changed her life in so many ways in such a short time, it had to mean she’d been ready to change and only waiting for the right one or, in the case, ones to do it. Matt and Lucas were the ones. And her baby. There was no doubt in her heart that they were the only ones. And now one of them was in such danger...
“Look, I’m restricted because of pregnancy complications, but I’m going to drive a little way out and see what I can see from the road. If Matt comes back, tell him I’m here but I’m taking care of myself. Will you do that for me, Francine?”
Francine took hold of Ellie’s hand and squeezed it. “Of course I will, dear. But, please, watch out for yourself. The way Matt’s eyes light up when he talks about you—he wouldn’t want you taking chances. Not with yourself, not with his baby.”
Ellie was surprised he’d told anyone about the baby. “He told you it was his?”
Francine shook her head. “No. But that day at the ranch when you keeled over—there was no doubting it. Especially with the way he was looking at you, and the way you were looking at him. Pure love I was seeing in both of you.”
The way he’d looked at her—pure love. Those were the words that ran through her mind as she climbed into her car and headed down the road. Could Matt...did he actually love her? It was too much to hope for, too much to think about right now. Yet...
* * *
Matt glanced at his watch—yes, he was one of those who still relied on his watch and not his phone for the time. Lucas had been missing for an hour and a half, and he simply could not have come this far. He’d seen some of the people out looking, seen Cruz pass overhead a few times, but he was so damn discouraged he didn’t know what to do.
Somebody should have found Lucas by now. A toddler on the loose couldn’t have gotten that far, and because no one had spotted him that could mean—Matt didn’t even want to think about all the rocks and canyons out here. Damn, he didn’t want to think about them, but that’s all that was on his mind—Lucas falling off a rock, or into a canyon, lying there hurt in a place where no one would ever find him.
Bye, Daddy...
Those w
ords were on his mind. He was Daddy, wasn’t he? To Lucas, to his own baby. Sure, maybe he’d tried to ignore that fact, or hide behind the complications, but he wasn’t going to do that anymore. Lucas was in danger. Ellie was struggling to keep their baby alive and healthy. And here he was, always looking for a way out.
“Stupid,” he said, as he trudged toward the road that would take him back to the clinic. There, he’d regroup and start over. And call Ellie. He needed to talk to her. Needed to hear her tell him that they’d find Lucas, that everything would be OK. Because on his own, he sure as hell didn’t believe that.
When he got to the road, the only thing he could see was a distant car, heading very slowly in his direction. Someone out looking, he guessed, glad for the support from Forgeburn that he’d never had as a kid. It was a different community now. Or maybe he was different. Whatever the case, they’d come together for him and there were no words to describe his appreciation. So, could he stay here? Keep the practice, his son and Lucas, and stay?
That was the question he was contemplating when the car finally came close enough to identify. Ellie! Damn, she shouldn’t be doing this, yet he was so glad to see her. “Ellie,” he called running toward the car as it came to stop in a cloud of dust.
She was out of the car and in his arms in a flash. “Everybody’s looking, Matt. More and more people are showing up to help.”
“Are you OK?” he asked, unwilling to let her out of his arms.
“I’m fine.”
“You know you shouldn’t be out here.”
“Where else could I be?” she asked. “I couldn’t just sit at home and wait. That’s not me.”
“I know it’s not you,” Matt said tenderly, finally loosening his hold on her. “It’s not going well. He couldn’t have gone that far, and...” His words choked off. He couldn’t say them aloud.
“We’re going to find him, Matt. He’s been out for a while. I’ll bet he’s probably crawled off into a shady spot to nap. It is his naptime, you know.”
He tried to manage a smile, but it simply wasn’t in him. “We, um—when we get Lucas back home, and we’re all rested, you and I need to have a talk. There are some things—stupid things I’ve been holding on to, and I can’t go on like this.”
“Me, too,” she said, brushing his cheek with her hand. “But right now how about I give you a ride back to the clinic? Francine’s got some lemonade and other drinks going. You get yourself rehydrated, and maybe by then...”
“Maybe by then,” he said, as he climbed into her car. Maybe by then, but probably not, because there was no optimism left in him. None at all.
* * *
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” she asked Matt, as he prepared to go back out and join the thirty-five other people who were now engaged in the search. “Maybe you should rest a little while longer.”
“Can’t,” he said, swigging on his third glass of iced water. “If Lucas is out there, that’s where I’ve got to be.”
“First, tell me exactly what happened. Tell me about the patient who let him out.”
“He’s a crotchety old guy. Has advanced emphysema and it’s probably muddling his mind like it can do sometimes. He said he turned Lucas loose to find his daddy.”
“OK, so maybe the guy has a problem. But did he leave the front door open as well?”
“Probably, since he’d just come through it.”
Ellie shook her head. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that, but...” The rest of her words were drowned out by Cruz, in his helicopter, who circled once then started to land just off the end of the parking lot. Within a matter of a couple of minutes he was there with them.
“I’m a pretty good spotter. That was half the battle when I was rescuing in the army. But some of this area is so rugged I can’t see as well as I’d like and, to be honest, I’m not as fast as I should be because of that. Didn’t get as much area covered as I’d intended. Matt, would you want to come up with me for a while, so I can focus on the flying while you focus on the looking? I’ve been over every place I think he could have gone in the time he’s been out there, given his age, but there are a few...” he swallowed hard “...less obvious places I want to get down into, and I can’t do that alone.”
Matt nodded. He understood. So did Ellie, as she fought to control tears that wanted to escape. The canyons, the rocks... She couldn’t bear to think that Lucas might be—She reached over and squeezed Matt’s arm. But neither of them spoke. She stepped forward and kissed him, though, before he went off with Cruz. And as the helicopter lifted into the sky, she went to Lucas’s playroom in the clinic, sat down on the floor, and cried harder than she’d ever cried in her life.
Twenty minutes later, still racked with dry sobs, Ellie finally got up, then ran her fingers over the lock on the bottom half of the Dutch door. Matt was so proud of this room. A perfect solution for Lucas when he was at the clinic. She looked at the lock, hating the man who’d opened the door, even though there was a possibility that he had problems. But she couldn’t help herself. Brain complications or not, he’d left two doors open, and now Lucas might be dead because of that. The unthinkable thought now in her mind, she wanted to cry again, but she needed to get back out there and do her little part, even though she was so limited, sticking only to the paved roads.
Sighing, and not caring that her face was still red and bloated, Ellie headed for her car, climbed in, then wondered which way to go. She’d covered everything she could near the clinic, but not the terrain where Lucas might have encountered the rocks and canyons. And Matt and Cruz were now flying over those. Plus, there were so many people going in so many directions...
Maybe she should go back the way she’d come. Maybe somehow Lucas was trying to get home. Although she doubted that since he was so young. But Ellie was desperate. She needed to be out there, looking. So, she headed back down the road toward home, passed the same cacti she’d passed a little while ago. Passed by the crotchety old cowboy’s trailer... She got to about a hundred yards away, then jammed on the brakes. Crotchety? No. There was no connection. Could there be?
She looked up, saw Cruz’s helicopter in the distance, dipping into a canyon, and she held her breath until it came back out. Looked back at the trailer, then put her car into reverse. OK, so he wouldn’t be happy to see her again. But she had to go back. Ask one more time. Because—two crotchety old guys in Forgeburn? Sure, it could happen. The people she’d met here were nice, but that didn’t necessarily mean everyone was nice. And the odds that Forgeburn had two old crotchety guys, or maybe even more, were high. She had to look again, though. One more try. Something was pulling her to do it. Something she’d never felt before. Something—maternal?
Whatever it was, Ellie walked straight to the back of the trailer, right past the sawhorse with the saddle, right past the rusty old truck, right up to the old cowboy, who was sitting in a yard chair now, his back to her. Huffing and puffing like he couldn’t get his breath. Emphysema? Like Matt’s patient. “Where is he?” she shouted at the man.
“Who?” he asked, not even bothering to turn to see who it was.
“The boy who’s missing. Where is he?” She looked up as Cruz passed overhead, and jumped up and down, waving, hoping Matt would see her. But he didn’t. The yard was too full of junk, she was too concealed. And the helicopter just kept going. “The boy you let out of his playroom at the clinic. Where is he?” She stepped directly in front of the man and repeated herself. “Where is he?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “Now get off my property, and I’m not telling you again.”
“You took him,” she hissed, and bent over to get closer to him. “You took him, and you’d better tell me...”
Her back caught, and she stood up. The pain was sudden and overwhelming, and she prayed it was only a back spasm, as Dr. Gupta had told her the other incident had b
een. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly, and as she did so she saw something through the dirty window of the old truck. It was moving. Then suddenly it was gone. She blinked, then walked deliberately toward the truck as she couldn’t run. The pain was increasing with every moment. She had to look, though. Had to know...
Then it hit her. The truck’s door was open. She’d noticed that before. Open the way he’d left the playroom door open and the clinic’s door. Even his own front door. An indication of his dementia, possibly. She wanted to hurry her pace, wanted Cruz to fly back over and spot her—but she was on her own now. This was up to her. “Lucas,” she called. “Can you hear me?”
There was no response as she finally made it to the front of the truck. Then the side, and the open door. Where she found Lucas, sitting in the driver’s seat, his hands on the steering wheel, like he was pretending to drive. “Lucas,” she said, as the tears ran down her face. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Daddy?” he asked, looking over at her.
“I’ll take you to him,” she said, climbing into the truck and taking the boy into her arms. “He’s been looking for you, and he’ll be very happy to see you.”
Lucas looked up at her, ever so innocently, then snuggled into her arms. And there they sat for the next several minutes as her back pains grew worse. But she had Lucas, and that’s all that mattered.
* * *
“I’m right behind you,” Cruz called, making sure his helicopter was secure before he followed Matt back to that old cowboy trailer.
Matt was already so far ahead, though, that he didn’t hear. All he knew was that he’d seen Ellie down there, seen her signal. And the few minutes that had ensued before Cruz could set down had been the longest of his life. What was she doing there? Did she have Lucas? Was she in trouble? Too many thoughts tossed around in his brain as he pounded the dirt, running harder and faster than he ever had in his life, despite his injuries.
Finally, when he got there, he saw James Albright. Sitting in a chair. Coughing and wheezing. But no Ellie, and there was no way that Albright, in his condition, could have done anything to her. He looked toward the front of the trailer, saw her car, which meant—
