Wallflowers: Double Trouble

by CP Smith

  I sat next to her and pulled the book from her hands, smiling.

  “I have a rule,” I began, quoting Blair Mallory from one of my favorite Linda Howard books. “Walk out, crawl back. If a man does the first, then he has to do the second to get back on good terms with me.”

  “Bo didn’t crawl. He came ridin’ in on a stallion,” Poppy chuckled.

  The image of Bo galloping toward me on Goliath flashed through my memory. He would come for me. I knew it. Bo didn’t back down. He didn’t stop until he’d gotten what he wanted, and he wanted me. Wanted us. No, he wouldn’t stop until he found us, and my heart rate began to slow with the knowledge.

  Opening the book, I started to read chapter one. I paused when the torch flickered. Its light began to dim rapidly, then it hissed and went out. Darkness veiled us, and I grabbed Poppy’s hand. We moved closer together, then I turned my phone on to cast light in the chasm. “They’ll come,” I whispered.

  Cali looked at us both and repeated my sentiment. “They’ll come.”

  Bo waited as Nate rode up the rise. He’d gone down to check the old barn at the back of Craig’s property. By the look on his face, he’d found something.

  “Poppy’s car’s hidden inside under a tarp,” he bit out. “No sign of the girls.”

  “Did you see Craig while you were lookin’?”

  He shook his head. “I crept up on the house and looked inside. No sign of him. Goat’s gone, too.”

  Devin swung into his saddle and scanned the property. “We need to find them. If he’s spooked, then whoever has them is as well.”

  Fear crept in for a moment, then Bo shook it off like water. Fear clouded his judgment, made him weak. He needed to be sharp if he was gonna find the Wallflowers. Find his sun.

  “Head across the property to the east side,” he ordered Nate. “Devin, search the south side, and I’ll search the west.”

  “They’re still here,” Devin growled. “I can feel it.”

  Bo nodded. He felt it, too. They were waiting to be found. “Keep in touch,” Bo bit out, turning Goliath west, and took off.

  Hours passed with no leads, and the fear Bo had been tamping down began to rise again with a vengeance. The sun was setting on the horizon, making it hard to see. Night was coming, and the thought of Sienna and the Wallflowers trapped someplace in the gloom of the darkness sat heavily in his gut. They needed flashlights to keep searching, or they’d never find them. Bo pulled out his phone and called Moore.

  The sheriff answered on the third ring. “Did you get Hawthorne’s message?” Bo growled.

  “No, what’s up?”

  “The girls have disappeared. They came to Craig’s property to check on the man, and now their car’s parked in his garage covered by a tarp. He ran after we visited him. I need volunteers to search the property and plenty of light.”

  “The old man is at the heart of this?” Moore questioned.

  “Yeah. Now send me what I need.”

  There was dead air on the line, then Moore sighed heavily. “I’ve got a six-car pileup, and people are trapped. I need the light to cut them out.”

  Bo’s eyes closed, and he gritted his teeth to keep from roaring in frustration. “Send them when you can,” he bit out, then hung up and swiped ‘Call Bernice.’ He didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice. He needed light, and he needed people.

  Bernice answered on the second ring. “We expected you back by now. What are you up to?”

  “We’ve got trouble,” Bo started. “The girls are missin’.”

  A long pause. “What do you mean, missin’?”

  “Craig’s involved in what’s goin’ on over at the Winkles’ property. The girls must have figured it out. Now they’re missin’, and their car’s hidden in his barn.”

  Bernice only hesitated a moment to take in all he’d said. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she rushed out. “What do you need?”

  “Lights. As many as you can find and the people to use them. My gut tells me they’re still here somewhere. We need to find them quickly, and we can’t do that without volunteers.”

  “I’ll get right on it,” she mumbled, then, in a soft whisper, said, “Find my girl. Find them all,” before hanging up.

  Sunset bled across the sky, beckoning in the night. Bo scanned the area looking for anything that would clue him in to where Craig was hiding the Wallflowers. He didn’t know why he was certain they hadn’t left the property, other than an ache in his gut any time he considered looking elsewhere. He could feel Sienna waiting for him. Could feel her presence on the property. And until he’d searched every inch, looked under every bush, he wouldn’t leave.

  Crickets began to sing as he kicked Goliath and headed up the hill. He’d searched from the road to the house. Once the lights arrived, he’d fan the volunteers out, and they’d search from the house up. Until they arrived, he’d keep searching.

  He stared at the fence between the Winkles’ property and Craig’s.

  How the hell does ruining the Winkles play into this?

  Pulling out his phone, he dialed Devin.

  He answered on the first ring. “You got them?” he asked anxiously, his deep timbre deafening in Bo’s ear.

  Bo’s heart skipped a beat. A part of him had held out hope that Devin had the girls and hadn’t called him yet.

  “No. Not yet. Lights are comin’, volunteers, too. Let’s meet back at Craig’s house. I want to run this through from the top. I want to know why Craig went after the Winkles.”

  “I’ve been thinkin’ about that as well. Why now after all the years they’ve been neighbors?”

  “That’s what we’re gonna find out. I’ll call Moore back and find out if he found Black’s hotel room yet. Maybe the contents of his room can shed some light.”

  “I’ll call Nate and meet you in ten,” Devin stated, then hung up.

  Bo called Moore again. “Did you find them?” Moore asked after one ring.

  He heard a loud screech from a siren and waited for it to fade. “Not yet. I’m comin’ at this from another angle. Did you find out where Black was stayin’?”

  “My men found it. He was stayin’ out of town. They have his belongin’s, but I haven’t looked at them yet.”

  “Are they on the scene with you?”

  “Yeah. I’ll check and see if they have it bagged and tagged in their unit. Give me ten, and I’ll call you back.”

  Bo hung up and then turned Goliath in the direction of the house. Ten minutes later, he pulled the stallion to a halt and slid off.

  Devin and Nate rode up a few minutes later as Bo knelt in front of Craig’s front door picking the lock. He stood when the bolt slid into the doorframe.

  “Did you reach Moore?” Devin asked.

  “Yeah, he’s checkin’ with his men. They found Black’s hotel out of town. He hasn’t looked through his things yet.”

  The three men scanned the living room. The furniture was old and worn, but clean. A newspaper was strewn on the arm of a recliner, and Bo stared at it. He lived in a technological world now. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d read actual print news.

  “Let’s flip the place,” Devin growled.

  Bo moved to the dining room table and began going through his mail. “Bills. Junk mail. Nothin’.”

  He moved to the bedroom, while Devin tossed the living room. On the bedside table was a brochure for a timeshare in Aruba, and one for Chevy trucks. Bo picked up the timeshare and found a two-story condo circled on the inside flap. He glanced at the Chevy brochure and found a bright red dually cab marked with a star. Craig either expected to come into money or had come into money. Bo started to open the drawer to check the contents, when a picture frame caught his attention. He snatched up the frame and stared into the face of a woman with red hair. The same woman who’d danced with Sienna the night before.

  Tossing the picture onto the bed, he pulled the drawer out and dumped the contents. Nothing of significance appeared, so he m
oved to the closet. He clicked on the light. The bars and shelves were practically empty. Exactly what he expected. He moved to the bathroom. Empty. No bottles of pills. No shampoo. He’d taken everything and wasn’t coming back.

  He was certain, then, that dead or alive, the Wallflowers were still on this property. There was no way those three would have been taken by a fragile old man. They’d have clawed his eyes out before they would have gotten in a car with him.

  Bo moved back to the living room. “Find anything?”

  “Nothin’,” Devin growled.

  Nate walked into the room from the kitchen holding a book and held it up. Bo read the title. “How to Prospect for Gold”

  “Odd subject for an old man to study, don’t you think?” Nate asked.

  “Could be an old book, somethin’ he’s had for years,” Devin replied.

  “Was still in a box on his counter. Amazon order.”

  “So it’s new.”

  Bo looked at Devin. “Is there gold in Georgia?”

  Devin nodded. “All over. My cousin took her kids pannin’ for gold.”

  Lights flooded the darkness outside, and Bo turned for the door. Twenty plus cars lined the yard. Men and women of every age and size peeled out of their cars holding flashlights.

  The cavalry had arrived.

  Bernice and Eunice moved toward them, followed by Natasha, Troy, and Brantley.

  “Have you found them?” Bernice shouted.

  “Not yet. I’m waitin’ for Moore to call me back. He’s got Black’s personal possessions, so we might get lucky.”

  “Where do you want us to start?”

  Bo descended the steps and walked the group to the edge of Craig’s house.

  “Fan out in a line until you reach the property line, then begin moving forward that way. If you find anything, call it in. We’ll join you in a few minutes,” Bo explained.

  Bernice nodded and jumped into action, shouting at the volunteers to get their butts in gear.

  Moving back to Devin, Bo pulled out his phone and dialed Moore again. He was tired of waiting.

  Moore answered on the second ring. “I’m gettin’ the bags now,” he said without prelude. “We had a goat on the road causin’ problems.”

  Bo paused. “Did you say goat?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do any of the vehicles involved in the accident have an old man in them? About seventy, with a balding head?”

  “Yeah. DOA. We haven’t pulled him out of the wreck, yet. The driver’s on a helicopter headed to the hospital, but it doesn’t look good for her.”

  Bo’s heart raced. “Did you recognize her?”

  He expected Moore to say she had red hair, but he described a woman who sounded like the one who’d danced with Calla.

  “The old man is Craig. The driver, a friend of his granddaughter, if the pictures in his house are correct. I’ll send Nate to the hospital. If she’s coherent, he’ll get her to talk.”

  Nate moved to Bo’s side. “Head to the hospital. The woman who danced with Calla last night was with Craig. He’s dead. She’s been life-flighted there.”

  Nate peeled off their group and headed to Bernice. She gave him her keys, and then he was gone.

  “I need you to look for anything that might pinpoint a location on Craig’s property,” Bo barked into the phone, returning his attention back to Moore.

  “On it,” Moore answered. “Breakin’ the seal now.”

  Bo waited. The sound of plastic and paper being shuffled sounded down the line. “I’ve got his clothes, toiletries, and a satellite image.”

  Bo narrowed his eyes. “Did he mark the image?”

  “Yeah. There’s a circle.”

  “Can you take a picture of it and text it to me?”

  “Affirmative. Sendin’ it now.”

  “When you can, send one of your men with the original to me.”

  “Will do. Good luck. I’ll get there as soon as I can,” Moore answered, then hung up.

  Moments later, Bo’s phone vibrated. He opened the image and turned the phone until it lined up with the hillside. “That way,” Bo growled, pointing toward the direction Bernice and the volunteers were heading. Devin went into the house and came back out with two flashlights. He handed one to Bo.

  “Let’s go find our women.”

  “Cali?” Poppy whispered into the darkness. “Why are you so certain that Devin will find us?”

  I could feel Cali smiling. “Because he said my only job was to love him, and that his job was to protect me. I’m holdin’ up my end of the bargain, and I know he will his.”

  Poppy hesitated for a moment, then I heard her turn her head on the dirt floor and look at me. We had slid off the rock to lie on the floor. We didn’t know how long we’d be down here before someone found us and had decided to conserve our energy.

  “Why are you so sure that Bo will find us?”

  I thought about that a moment. “I suppose it’s because he never quits. Look at what he’s overcome. His mother abandoned him, leavin’ him to a father who drank himself to death, and he overcame all that to become a cop. He wears a badge every day, not carin’ he may be puttin’ his life at risk, just to keep people safe. He’s a hero, and heroes don’t quit.”

  Poppy sighed into the gloom. “Okay, I feel better now.”

  “When we get out, I’m gonna order a greasy hamburger and French fries from the nearest burger joint,” Cali said, yawning. “I’m starvin’.”

  We’d missed lunch and dinner, and our stomachs were rumbling. Raising my phone, I pushed a button so it would illuminate the cave. It was one a.m., and my phone was at fifteen percent. Poppy and Cali’s phones were in the same condition. Pretty soon we’d have no light at all.

  Time for a distraction.

  I sat up and emptied my purse in front of me. I’d stopped at the liquor store in town and picked up a small bottle of green magic fairy potion, since we’d lost my other bottle in the fire. I’d meant to leave it in my room, but I’d forgotten about it in my purse. Now seemed as good a time as any to pull it out.

  “Got it!” I cried out. “Anyone up for some magic potion?”

  The girls sat up and stared longingly at the bottle like it was a lobster covered in butter. I unscrewed the lid, took a drink, and then passed it to Poppy. They each took a good swig, then we all lay down on the cold ground and smiled. Thank God for green happiness in a bottle.

  “I think we should be makin’ noise,” Poppy said. “We heard Alice usin’ the pickax when we were outside.”

  “I think she was tryin’ to draw us into the cave. I saw the pickax at the opening of the cave, not down here. I doubt they can hear us,” Cali said in defeat.

  I turned and looked in the direction of the fissure. Could sound get out that way?

  “There’s a fissure over there that may let out sound.”

  “Should we try?” Poppy asked.

  “We should save our energy and try in the mornin’. They’re probably restin’ right now, waitin’ for the sun to rise.”

  “Then let’s get some sleep so we have enough energy to scream our lungs out,” Cali yawned, so I doused my light.

  We scooted together for warmth, chests to backs, and I grabbed Poppy’s hand for comfort. Resting my head on my free arm, I closed my eyes and thought about Bo.

  Was he sleeping?

  Was he outside the cave right now trying to find a way inside?

  Was he searching somewhere else?

  Sleep claimed me quickly, thanks to the green magic fairy potion. The sound of water dripping into the puddle followed me under. Its plopping lulled me until nothing but the trickle permeated my awareness. Somewhere between consciousness and dreams, I felt warm arms wrap around me and breath, hot and sensual, hit my shoulder. Lips I’d recognize anywhere ran up my neck, nipping one spot then another, and then a warm, whispered voice rumbled in my ear, “Wake up, baby.”

  I turned and burrowed into Bo’s body.

  “Ar
e you coming for us?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

  “We’re comin’. Just hold on.”

  “We’re hidden,” I said, kissing his chest.

  “It won’t matter. I won’t stop until I’ve turned the farm inside out. I’ll find you.”

  “Look for the gold.”

  “Where?”

  “Behind the bush.”

  Bo jerked awake. It was five a.m., and he and the volunteers had headed back to Craig’s house to regroup and get some coffee. He’d dozed off for a minute, a cup of coffee perched in his hand, after little sleep the past week and a half. He was waiting for the sun to rise so they could search again.

  He scowled at the yard, trying to remember what he’d been dreaming. Closing his eyes, he heard Sienna’s voice, and it curled around him like warm honey. His life had been gray until she walked into it. Her light had pulled him out of a half-life. Chased away the clouds. Now his past didn’t matter, because she’d erased all the pain. She was his once in a lifetime reward, and he wouldn’t stop looking until he was holding her in his arms again.

  “Sun’s startin’ to rise,” Devin mumbled in the chair next to him.

  Bo raised his hand and rubbed at his face. “Has Nate called in?”

  “Yeah. Woman’s name was Alice. She died on the table. He’s on his way back now, and Moore’s headed to her house. With any luck, he’ll find a map that says ‘X marks the spot.’”

  Bo’s head tipped back, and he closed his eyes. They couldn’t catch a fucking break. “Are we huntin’ in the wrong place?” Bo asked his friend, unsure. Panic was starting to cloud his judgment. “Did they get the girls off the farm, and we’re just spinnin’ our wheels here?”

  Devin shook his head. “My gut says they’re here. I can feel that Calla’s close by.”