First Night of Summer

by Landon Parham

  He lifted his hands from the wheel in a pose of surrender. Years of military training pulled him from a state of panic and guided his mind in the direction of focus and decisiveness. “Did he take your cell?” He held out his hand.

  Helen jerked her purse from the floor. Her hands dove into the bag and found the phone pocket. It was empty. She dug to the bottom. Still nothing. Raking her fingers through once more, a jingle caught her ear. It wasn’t a cell phone, but better. Why didn’t I think of this before? She dangled a ring of keys into the air with two fobs attached.

  “Please tell me that’s a spare,” he said hopefully.

  “I forgot. I keep the second set to both cars in my purse.”

  He snatched them away and drove the master key into the ignition. The truck purred to life. It made the most glorious sound he had ever heard.

  “I didn’t think about it because I never use them,” she explained and sniffed her runny nose.

  He almost jammed the gearshift into drive but stopped short. He sat there, motionless, for a pause.

  “What are you doing?” Helen pled. “Go!”

  She was right, of course. The most logical choice was to give chase and hopefully catch up to Josie and her captor. But something in the back of his mind told him to act differently. He realized the problem and, as much as it defied rationale, made a judgment call. Josie’s life hung in the balance of his choices. He didn’t deny it and knew what had to be done.

  “No,” he told Helen.

  “He’s getting away!”

  He executed a hasty three-point turn. “He’s already gotten away.” He floored it and started back down the road the way they had just come.

  Helen looked at him like he had lost his mind. Desperation struck her face as she silently pled for him not to drive away.

  “His pickup is faster than ours,” he explained. “Dad’s is built for work, not speed.”

  “But they can’t be far.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” His voice slowly grew calm. The more he reasoned it out, the surer of himself he became. “I guarantee he’s driving double-time now and we’ll never catch up.”

  Helen stared ahead. She held onto a support handle and continued to fight off the after effects of the stun gun. “Then where are we going?”

  Isaac rolled his neck around. He also tried to shake off the fatigued muscle feeling. “Back to the airport.”

  “We just came from there. We need to call the police. Somebody has to start searching.”

  “Yeah, well, we don’t have a phone, Mom.”

  She reached up to the rearview mirror and punched a button with the symbol of a phone on it.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  She gave him an incredulous look. “Calling for help.”

  “It won’t work. That’s a Bluetooth connection. It’s only compatible with your cell. Calls go through the car speakers so you can talk hands free.”

  Helen shook her head. “Not this one. There are too many places with no service in these mountains. Your dad buys minutes through OnStar. It’s a satellite signal, and we can use it anywhere.” She held the icon down until service engaged and then used buttons on the dash to dial. “At our age, it makes us feel safer to always have service.”

  Isaac was impressed with his mom’s knowledge of the system. “Who are you calling?”

  “Nine one one!”

  He quickly hit the disconnect button before the call connected. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. “You can’t do that.”

  “Why?” She scrambled to redial. “That’s what it’s for.”

  He grabbed her wrist and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Stop dialing, Mom. That’s not what I mean.” He had to let her in on his idea. Otherwise, she wouldn’t understand. “Look,” he explained. “If you call nine one one, the alert will go to Taos PD. By the time they question us and finally realize the urgency, Josie will be long gone. And that’s before a search plan has even been put together.” The thought of never seeing her again constricted his throat. “I promise there’s a better way to do this.”

  “I don’t understand. What better way?” She had no knowledge of what happened the night before at the grocery store or the greater meaning behind the vandalized airplanes. The whole affair appeared one-dimensional to her. A man had taken her granddaughter. That was it.

  “Call Charlie,” he instructed.

  “Charlie?” Now she thought he had lost it for sure. “He can’t do anything from Ruidoso. It’s too far away.” She hit the phone button again. “You’re not thinking straight. I’m calling the police, and I’m doing it right now.”

  “Dammit, Mom. Stop that.” He hit the end button for the second time. “If you call the police, Josie is as good as dead.”

  She gave him a shocked expression, surprised that he dared talk about Josie’s fate so bluntly.

  “I mean it. Get Charlie on the line. We’ll explain what happened, and he can call the Taos police. Everything will move ten times faster if another officer calls it in.” He pushed for every millisecond of speed the cumbersome truck had to offer.

  “Charlie,” he went on, “knows who to contact at the FBI. Their people can come in on a chopper from Santa Fe or Albuquerque. If we do it this way, Josie stands a chance. If not, we can forget it. The cops will keep me from getting involved.”

  It never crossed Helen’s mind that Isaac would help. She assumed he would leave it to the professionals. “And what is it, exactly, that you plan on doing?”

  “Never mind that.”

  Isaac gave her Charlie’s number by memory, and they waited for an answer. It felt so wrong to be driving in the opposite direction of Josie, but the plan was her only hope of rescue and his chance for redemption. He pushed the accelerator harder. The truck devoured the pavement. Finally, after three rings, Charlie’s voice came over the speakers.

  “Chief Biddle.”

  “Thank God,” Isaac spoke into the ceiling mike. “We really need your help.”

  “Isaac?”

  “We have an emergency situation. Listen to what I have to say before you ask questions.”

  There was a brief pause. “Okay,” he agreed seriously. “Shoot.”

  He relayed everything that had happened from the time Dr. Ellison called to inform him of Sarah’s accident, to the vandalized airplanes, and, ultimately, the kidnapping of Josie. Helen jumped in occasionally to give a detail Isaac left out. Charlie made good on his agreement. He didn’t say one word until they finished.

  “Now?” he asked in disbelief. “This is happening right now?” He wanted to be crystal clear.

  “As we speak,” Isaac assured.

  “I’ll call it in immediately and relay everything you just told me. It should expedite a search.”

  Isaac and Helen shared a glance. This was exactly what they wanted to hear. Helen nodded approvingly. The story Isaac told Charlie had come as a revelation to her. She understood the depth and elaborate planning it took the kidnapper to pull this off. One by one, they had jumped through his hoops. No matter how absurd Isaac’s actions seemed at first, she realized he was right. They would never catch him by driving.

  “Then,” Charlie said, “I’ll call the hospital and find out about Sarah. I’m a chief of police, and they’ll let me know what’s going on. Don’t worry. I’ll head to Albuquerque and look after her myself. As for you, do whatever needs done to find Josie.”

  “I will.”

  “Go get the bastard.”

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Twenty minutes after Helen’s spare set of keys saved them from despair, they made it back to the north side of town. A police cruiser in the oncoming lane blew by. His flashers whirled in circles, and the siren blared.

  Isaac watched him speed in the opposite direction. “That would be Charlie,” he said. “The call’s gone out.”

  Helen looked in her side mirror. The cruiser was almost out of sight.

  The officer’s urgency pleased Isaac. More p
eople knew about Josie’s plight now. She had help on the way, but none that would find her in time. He hoped to solve that with his next dubious move. And to succeed, the officer had to be gone from the airfield. Only a gun would stop Isaac at this point. Had the officer not been called away, he would have come face to face with a serious conundrum, shoot Isaac or willingly allow a felony to happen. Isaac had no delusions to the likely outcome of that showdown.

  “Mom, listen to me carefully.” He averted his focus from the road to look her in the eye. Satisfied he had her attention, he said, “When I get out, you need to leave immediately. Do you understand?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. Call Dad, and have him meet you at the police station. When you get there, tell them who you are and that you’re a witness to the abduction. They already know what’s going on from Charlie. Tell them everything you can possibly remember.” He glanced at her again. “Are you following me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t go anywhere else. Drop me off, and go directly to the station.”

  “I will.” She wiped moisture from her eyes. Isaac had her intent on action, not sadness. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  He took a deep, contemplative breath and slowly exhaled. “It’s the only one I have. If Josie and that …” He trailed off, too focused on the task at hand to find a choice word for the kidnapper. “If they stay on the highway, police in Espanola will be ready. The first thing that happens with abductions is a perimeter setup. Espanola is the gateway to larger corridors. I seriously doubt they could make it through without being spotted.”

  “Then why are you doing this?”

  “Because I don’t think he’ll go through Espanola. It’s too far away from where he took her. He’s a smart one and won’t take that risk. And he didn’t double back to Taos.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He left skid marks six inches from my head when he drove away. They were headed south.”

  “Where else can he go from there?” Helen knew no other real roads branched off Highway 68 between the two towns.

  “There are a million and one mining tracks and logging trails that lead off the highway. My guess is he took one into the mountains. If I were him, it’s what I would do.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Charlie about that?”

  “None of those roads are mapped. To anyone on the ground, it would be an endless maze and impossible for the police to effectively search. They don’t have the manpower.” He gave her a weak smile for reassurance. “That’s why I’m the one who has to do it.”

  She reached out and touched his arm. Even though he stood a head above her and could grow a full beard, he was her boy, her only son. She felt pride that he was brave and selfless, a person willing to risk his life to protect those he loved. He did not fear for himself, but she did. She feared she might never see him or Josie alive again. “Isaac, promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “I have to stay alive, Mom. I’m her only chance.” He said it with absolute conviction.

  “What about the guard with pepper spray?”

  “I’ll handle him.” They raced down the tarmac, and he could see her concern over Arnie. “There’s nothing you can do here,” he added. “Go to the station. That’s where you’re needed most.”

  The FBO came closer and closer. They were only a hundred yards out. He wheeled the pickup in a semicircle. Less than five feet from the office entrance, they came to a stop.

  Isaac bolted out of his seat and swung the pickup door closed behind him.

  “I love you,” Helen shouted. She watched him disappear inside, unsure if he heard the last words she might ever say to him.

  He twisted the knob to the office door and threw his shoulder into it. Arnie, he figured, was probably still ruffled from their previous confrontation. The best way to take out an enemy is by surprise. That was Isaac’s philosophy to handle the unpredictable night watchman.

  Arnie sat behind the desk, face buried in his hands. No doubt he was fretting over the recent events and pondering the security of his job. His head sprang up at Isaac’s sudden intrusion. Immediate recognition changed his languid expression. He must have also noticed the determined nature to Isaac’s actions because he reached for his hip holster of pepper spray.

  Before he could get it out, Isaac reacted. He grabbed a logbook off the counter and flung it across the room. Papers and notes scattered. Next, he took a coffee mug full of pens and pencils and hurled it at Arnie’s head. The paunchy fellow had to duck to avoid the projectiles.

  With his nemesis in full defensive mode, Isaac put a hand on the counter and vaulted over the top. He landed in front of the desk.

  The guard’s eyes were so enlarged, the whites showed all the way around. He did his best to back up and put distance between himself and Isaac. A couple more seconds was all he needed to unleash the fiery liquid.

  In a last-ditch effort to overtake Arnie before getting hosed, Isaac leapt headlong over the desk. Pepsi cans and snack wrappers scattered as his body flew forward.

  Arnie had the canister in his hand now and raised his arm to defend himself. But it came a split second too late. Isaac’s shoulder drove into his chest, and they went to the floor. Arnie’s head bumped a file cabinet. A model airplane toppled off and crashed beside the flailing dog pile. Arnie, sprawled on his back and out of breath, sucked in sharply. Precious air filled his lungs. Dazed from the solid collision, he peered up toward the ceiling. Isaac’s dark, angry orbs occupied the space.

  He straddled Arnie’s rotund midsection with both knees on the ground. He’d managed to wrestle the pepper spray away. “Now you listen, and you listen good,” he growled. “My wife is in the hospital, and my little girl needs help.” He aimed the nozzle straight at the rent-a-cop’s face. Blood and sweat were dried in crusty rivulets along Isaac’s left bicep and forearm. His shirtless physique rose and fell with heavy breaths. “I’m taking the MedEvac, and you’re not going to give me any trouble. Is that clear?”

  Arnie shielded his face and nodded. He nervously licked at his lips, eyes darting around in search of a makeshift weapon and betraying his otherwise cooperative demeanor.

  Isaac saw the defiance and knew he had to disable the man. It was the only way to keep him from interfering.

  “Don’t struggle if I let you up,” Isaac baited.

  He came off his knees a few inches. Arnie dropped his hands and used them to push up into a sitting position.

  Isaac didn’t hesitate. He squeezed and let loose a stream of liquid pain before Arnie knew what hit him. He howled in agony as the burning solution seeped into his eyes and sinuses.

  The spray earned Isaac a few minutes of solitude. It would take at least that long for Arnie to compose himself and do anything useful. With that in mind, he snagged the MedEvac keys from the pegboard. Through the dividing door and into the hangar, he found a black void. Light from inside the office exposed a green button mounted to the wall. It controlled the bay doors. He pressed it, and sunshine flooded the dark space with a brilliant glow.

  A finely polished Cessna Caravan waited in the middle of the concrete floor. It had a single turbine engine, overhead wings, and the Star of Life running up the tail, a blue, six-pointed star outlined with a white border and the rod of Asclepius in the center.

  Isaac dashed to the wheels and removed the chocks. He climbed into the cockpit and took a second to familiarize himself with the instrument layout. He had never flown a Caravan before. But thousands of hours in trainers, jets, and other planes gave him more than ample preparation. He ran over a mental list of functions. Confident in his ability, the engine roared to life. Chopped air from the propellers bounced off the metal walls of the hangar. It sounded ominous and powerful.

  He opened the throttle, taxied outside, and prepared for immediate takeoff. A windsock indicated a southwesterly breeze. He was about to fly solo in a completely foreign aircraft, a testament to how desperately he wanted to save Josie. The momen
t stood out, and he hoped it wasn’t too late.

  “I’m coming, Jo. Daddy’s coming. Be brave.”

  He recalled Caroline’s last few minutes on earth, how he held her but couldn’t save her. He envisioned her tiny body on the gurney during their frantic rush to the hospital. Two EMTs fought to save her life. Blood covered the ambulance floor. It ran from her neck, saturated the gurney sheet, and steadily dripped off. He remembered wanting to scoop it up and put it back inside of her. And when they wheeled her away, he was left alone to stare at the crimson pool. Those were the last moments he had spent with his baby girl. The memory tore him apart inside.

  God, he begged, please don’t make me go through that again. Not with Josie.

  He pulled back on the yoke and lifted off. The chase officially began.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Back tires fishtailed across loose gravel and dry dirt. The last Ricky saw Isaac and Helen, they were unable to help themselves, much less come after him. But he imagined the ridiculously resilient Isaac somehow escaping his makeshift handcuffs and rising to the challenge. Odds were another car wouldn’t show up for several minutes at least. If one did though, it might be the spark Isaac needed to ignite a torrential flood of unstoppable rage.

  Ricky squelched the thought, confident he had every angle covered. The road he traveled—if it could even be called a road—had dozens and dozens of arteries splitting off into no man’s land. Even the splits had splits. It would be absolute pandemonium for a group of police cars to search the twisted quagmire. The reality gave him comfort as he navigated a one hundred and eighty-degree turn.

  To complicate the search even further, every rutted track and winding pass ran directly through the middle of thick, pine forest. Some trees grew so closely that their limbs stretched out and covered his route. Each time he traversed, the line of sight changed. For chasers to see him, they would have to be right on his tail.

  The further he drove, the less anxiety he felt. Every minute that lapsed increased his odds of a clean slip.