Manhunt

by Lisa Phillips

  He nodded, and his shoulders slumped.

  “If anything happens to them, this is on you.”

  “I’m not the only one at fault.” Charles gritted his teeth. “Farrell is the fugitive, not me.”

  Hailey turned to Jonah. “Can I leave now? Because I’m not certain I won’t shoot him if I stay.”

  Jonah’s lips twitched. He looked at Eric. “Go with her and Kerry. You’re on protection detail.”

  Eric frowned. “What about Farrell?”

  “I’m nowhere near done asking Charles questions. The team will get Farrell. Your job is to protect Hailey and Kerry.”

  *

  Eric drove, and Hailey sat in the backseat with Kerry.

  “Did that escaped guy really come to see Dad?”

  “It looks that way.” Hailey’s voice was soft. The way she spoke to her daughter was so different—it was like a whole new language they only spoke to each other. “Don’t worry about it, okay? As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

  “But that guy is still out there. And what about the water? I heard Dad say the town was going to flood.”

  Eric’s lips twitched. This kid was entirely too smart—and nosy—for her own good. He hoped it didn’t get her in trouble one day.

  “Our house is on a hill. You’ll be safe, and Eric and I are going to make sure Farrell doesn’t get to you.”

  Eric took the turn for Hailey’s house and started up the incline. He wasn’t sure how he felt about standing on a ridge watching the town wash away. Not that he was worried about the small amount of stuff he’d dumped in his apartment, but not being in the thick of things didn’t sit well with him. This was an all-hands-on-deck situation.

  When Eric pulled onto the Westward Bridge, he slowed and peered out the window. In the dark he could see the water level was already high, and the runoff was pouring from the dam. It didn’t look good.

  The dam was old, and he wasn’t confident it could hold out if the rain kept up. The last thing the town needed was for the dam to break and water to torrent down the valley. It would wash away the old town with the barest effort.

  He would have to check the weather report for an update.

  Eric took the turn and they hit the dirt road that ascended to the farmhouse where Hailey lived. The outside lights were on, and a ladder was against the siding. Eric had barely stopped before Hailey was out of the car, running across the front lawn.

  NINE

  Hailey hurdled over the flowerbed her mom had cultivated, which was now full of weeds. “Dad!”

  She heard the car door slam behind her.

  “Dad, get down from there!” She squinted against the rain. It soaked her hair and ran down her neck. “What are you doing?”

  Her dad labored down the ladder, step by step.

  Kerry stopped beside her. “Grandpa, it’s slippery.”

  Hailey waited until both his feet were on the ground and then folded her arms. “What are you doing?”

  Alan Shelder was two inches shorter than Hailey. His face was lined with years of productive work that had now waned to slippers and a newspaper and tinkering in his work shed. “I’m nailing the windows shut, darlin’.”

  “You shouldn’t be up a ladder, Dad. It’s slick out.”

  “I did fine.” He huffed and turned away, heading to his shed with Kerry following. He called back over his shoulder, and Hailey saw something that might have been discomfort in his eyes. “Put the ladder away, will you, darlin’?”

  “Sure, Dad.” Hailey watched him walk. Was he feeling okay? He’d been a little under the weather lately.

  She stepped up to the ladder, but Eric reached past her and grasped it instead. “I got it. Where do you want it?”

  “In the garage.”

  Eric lifted it like it weighed nothing and retracted the top half. Hailey sighed, as the fatigue of the day pressed down on her shoulders. “I’ll go make some coffee.”

  Eric trudged across the lawn with the ladder. “Sandwich wouldn’t go amiss, either.”

  Hailey shook her head and went inside. She hung her jacket and kicked off her boots. Her jeans were soaked through, but she filled the carafe and measured out the grounds before she went upstairs to change.

  It figured Eric would invite himself inside for a late supper. This marshal wasn’t like anyone she’d ever met. Usually she tried to keep people at arm’s length, especially men she didn’t know all that well. But her dad probably wouldn’t mind the company of another man. So long as Eric didn’t get used to being there.

  Sometimes it was like she and her dad didn’t even speak the same language. If it wasn’t for Kerry, Hailey didn’t think they would see each other much, let alone share a house. It might be a sad fact, but Hailey figured they just loved each other in their own way. There was too much baggage now for them to get back what they’d had when Hailey was little—when her mom was alive.

  In her room, Kerry was stretched out on her bed with her iPad. The twelve-year-old was probably messaging her friends.

  When Hailey went back downstairs, Eric and her dad were shaking hands. She glanced between them. “Coffee?”

  Her dad sat at the table, in the chair he’d occupied since his own father had died. “Sure, darlin’.”

  “Eric?”

  “That would be great.” He sat, too.

  Hailey pulled out the fixings for a sandwich and set them in front of him. She didn’t mind feeding him, but if he wanted to eat he was going to have to make it himself.

  She poured two coffees, set them in front of the men and then made tea for herself.

  “So, Eric, you live around here?”

  Eric looked up from his mound of turkey at Hailey’s dad. “I have an apartment in town until I get settled. I love the land out here. It’s so open.”

  “Been in our family six generations.”

  Eric’s eyes widened.

  He looked at Hailey and she shrugged. “That’s only because we’re all too stubborn to put up with carting our stuff anywhere else.” She shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about the generations of junk in the south barn.”

  Her dad took a sip of his coffee. “How about you, son? Any family?”

  Eric’s head dipped to the side in a sort of shrug. “Some. A twin brother in Texas with his wife, Mackenzie, and my foster mom lives in Florida with her sister.”

  Hailey swallowed. “Foster care?”

  Eric nodded. “My mom left us with a neighbor and took off. My dad was in prison. He’s out now, but he lives in California.”

  After a few minutes of silence, Hailey’s dad sighed aloud and stood. “Well, kids. I’m going to hit the sack.”

  Hailey nearly laughed at his obvious attempt to give them “alone” time. She stood, too, and gave the grumpy old man a kiss on his cheek. “Good night, Dad.”

  “Nice to meet you, Eric.”

  “You too, sir.”

  Her dad trudged to the door. “It’s Alan.”

  Hailey sat back down. Eric’s plate was empty, and he was sipping his coffee. Hailey didn’t know what to say, so she stared at the clock on the oven. And then the sink with the day’s dishes in it.

  “Your dad seems nice.”

  Hailey shrugged. “Sure. He’s slowing down some, and chafing against it. I just remind him it’s better than drooling in your pudding in some retirement home.”

  Eric laughed. “When you put it that way…”

  Hailey returned his smile. “You get on with your brother?”

  “He was always bigger, if not taller or older than me by more than two minutes. Aaron used to beat up the kids who picked on me. I feel a certain amount of appreciation for that.” He smiled. “I went down for the wedding, but I haven’t spoken to him much since I got here. We’ve both been busy, you know?”

  The patter of Kerry’s feet on the stairs preceded her barreling into the room.

  “Tina says the whole town’s been ordered to evacuate.”
r />   Hailey felt her eyes widen. “What?”

  Kerry flipped on the radio they kept on the counter. “It’s all over the airwaves, apparently. Doesn’t matter where you are, they’re ordering everyone to pack up and get out of town until the rain passes over. Head for high ground.”

  Hailey’s dad trudged in. “We are on high ground.”

  Eric’s lips twitched.

  “We can’t leave. We have to stay here.” Hailey locked gazes with her dad. “The fugitive we’re after has threatened Kerry.”

  Alan Shelder huffed. “I already called the chief and told him to send people up here. It’s easier than leaving town. We should be safe from the flooding.”

  She gaped. “You turned our house into a safe zone?”

  “Calm down, darlin’.” Apparently he could tell she was ready to blow. “Your mom and I did the same thing, remember? And if it was good enough for her, then it’s good enough for me.”

  She knew that, she’d even told Eric that, but these were totally different circumstances. Hailey turned to Kerry. “Go pack a bag.”

  Kerry rushed out of the kitchen while Hailey’s dad put his hands on his hips. “Now what did you go and do that for? You don’t think I want my family around me in an emergency?”

  “What I want is for my house to be safe for our family. Not bring in a whole town’s worth of people. Now we have to go, because if Farrell comes gunning for Kerry I don’t want a bunch of people getting caught in the middle.”

  *

  Eric cleared his throat. “I’m going to go in the living room and make some calls.”

  He stepped into the next room. He didn’t really have any calls to make. But he pulled out his phone anyway, because it was better than witnessing the tension between Hailey and her dad.

  He could hear Kerry moving around upstairs. Maybe Alan had a spare shirt he could borrow. It would be big on him, but it wouldn’t be soaked through like the one he had on. A dry jacket would be nice, too.

  Aaron had left a voice mail earlier, but Eric would have to wait a few days until life calmed down before he had time to chat with his brother. Then again, maybe a quick call was better.

  He tapped the screen and waited for it to ring.

  “What’s up, brother? I thought you dropped off the map.”

  Eric smiled at the sound of Aaron’s voice. “Nah, I’ve just been busy with work. We have an escapee, and there’s a big storm. They think the town might flood.”

  “What?” Aaron sounded aghast. “Do you need help?”

  “No.” Certainly not Aaron’s brand of help, which involved wading in and beating up whoever was picking on Eric. Until he’d been injured, Aaron had been a Delta Force soldier, which meant his protective instincts were a thousand times worse than a regular person’s. What Eric needed was to help the team get Farrell and help the town through this flood.

  “Are you sure? Because I can get up there if you need help.”

  “I can do my job, Aaron. I don’t need you holding my hand.” There was silence on the line. Eric squeezed his eyes shut. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Was it the truth?”

  It was Eric’s turn to be quiet.

  “Is that it, then? We just go our separate ways? I live my life and you live yours and we just send each other Christmas cards?”

  Eric sighed. “That’s not what I want.”

  “Then what do you want? You’re not acting like yourself.”

  “Of course I’m not. I lost my job, and now I have this new life where nothing is right. Am I supposed to pretend I’m happy?”

  “No, but—”

  Eric squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Look, I shouldn’t have called. I just didn’t want you to think I was completely ignoring you. But I’m really busy right now and I need some time to…I don’t know. Figure out my life, I guess.”

  “I’m sorry, Eric. I know you loved working in witness security.”

  “I don’t need you to be sad for me, Aaron. It is what it is.”

  Aaron was quiet for a minute. Then he said, “What if God had this planned for you all along?”

  That wasn’t where Eric had wanted the conversation to go, especially not now that his brother was all gung-ho over his faith. “Aaron—”

  “Hear me out, okay? You had a good life, but you still didn’t have everything. Maybe God has more for you, but He had to move you out of the life you had so He could give it to you.”

  “I think if God wanted me to have more, He could have done it anywhere. He didn’t have to bring me to this dumb little town in Oregon just to set me straight.”

  Eric ended the call and stuck his phone back in his pocket.

  Something shifted behind him. He spun around, half expecting it to be Farrell. It had been that kind of day. Instead, Hailey and her dad watched him with identical looks on their faces.

  Eric pressed his lips together. He wasn’t going to apologize for how he felt about their town. Not when he’d lived in one big city or another all his life. He was going to try to settle here, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

  Hailey turned away, disgust plain on her face. “I’m going to check on Kerry.”

  TEN

  Eric watched her storm out and sighed. She could be mad at him all she wanted. They didn’t have to agree about everything to work together.

  Alan’s eyes narrowed. “You best watch what you say about this town, son.”

  “Why? What’s the big deal?”

  Alan looked more than disappointed. “It might not always have been sunshine and roses, but my girl never left this town. Not once. It’s home to her, but I guess you wouldn’t understand that.”

  The old man strode away, leaving Eric with his morose thoughts. The truth was he didn’t understand what tied someone to a certain place. Eric had lived all over, and he’d never felt at home anywhere in particular.

  Home was the people you lived with. But now the only mom he’d ever known lived in Florida, his brother was building a new family of his own in Texas, and Eric was left with…what?

  Was he supposed to be happy about being stuck here? Whether this was some grand plan of God’s or not, the fact was he’d had something great and now it was gone.

  Just like his relationship with Sarah. He’d been happy in Phoenix. Not over the moon, but as happy as you could be with a great job. There hadn’t been much else since Sarah had been injured. The job had been everything to him, and now he didn’t even have that.

  Eric was determined to give fugitive apprehension his best effort, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy it. If Aaron was right and God had brought him here, then God was going to have to accept that Eric wasn’t pleased about it. Because that was just the way it was.

  Eric heard a screen slap back on its hinges at the back of the house. Whoever had gone outside was going to get wet. Probably not Kerry, since he didn’t figure Alan or Hailey would have let her, so it was either Hailey or her dad out there. He should probably go check on them but figured neither wanted his company right now. And who could blame them?

  He could barely stand himself half the time.

  *

  Hailey leaned against the back porch railing and stared out over the dark backyard. For the first time, her professional life had bled into her personal life.

  Farrell had come after Kerry because of Charles, and now her dad had invited the whole town to stay at their house instead of evacuating. There was no way she could contain the situation with that many people hanging around. It would be too easy for Farrell to slip in and reach Kerry again.

  Hailey’s gut writhed and twisted like whipping flames, the heat seeping all the way to her palms and the top of her head. She curled her fingers on the peeling wood of the rail, knowing she couldn’t lose it. That wasn’t going to help anyone.

  It meant a lot of compartmentalizing to not let on how she was feeling. Kerry didn’t need to see her anger over Charles, or her stress about work. And it meant s
he was more focused on the job if she wasn’t worried about home issues.

  When she was home, Hailey wanted to be home. Until Kerry hit those teenage years when she wanted nothing to do with her parents, Hailey was going to soak up every bit of their relationship and give back to Kerry everything she could.

  And that meant keeping her safe from Farrell, with Eric’s help.

  It shouldn’t have stung to hear he didn’t like the town, but it had. Hailey strove every day to keep it safe. People respected that, but they didn’t understand it. She saw the looks she got at the grocery store or at church. They didn’t know what drove her to want to catch criminals instead of volunteering for the PTA and teaching Sunday school.

  The sound of car engines, a whole train of them, came from the front of the house. Hailey sighed. The two of them needed to ensure Kerry’s safety and get somewhere they could all rest.

  The door swung open behind her, and Eric stuck his head out. “The first of the evacuees are here.”

  Hailey nodded and followed him inside. Eric looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. She hoped he wouldn’t apologize, because she didn’t like it when people did that just because you wanted them to and not because they actually meant it.

  Her dad came out of the kitchen and then headed for the front door. Hailey saw the determination on his face and shook her head. “You should send them all away. What if Farrell comes here looking for us?”

  “You know I’m not going to do that, darlin’.”

  Hailey trotted up the stairs to Kerry’s room. It was pointless arguing with her dad. Eric could play host, but she didn’t want anything to do with it. Not when they all saw something lacking in her.

  Kerry’s drawers hung open, and she was zipping up a duffel bag.

  “Got everything?”

  Kerry nodded. “I just need to find my red jacket.”

  “I think it’s in the hall closet.” Hailey reached for the bag and Kerry handed it over. “Are you doing okay? It’s late. You must be tired.”

  Kerry shrugged, but there were dark shadows under her eyes. “I’m okay.”

  Hailey laid her hand where Kerry’s neck met her shoulder and squeezed. “I know you are.”