Redwood

by Janie Crouch

  The man nodded. “I know. You can go out there and get it yourself, it’s only about fifteen miles out of town. That would probably be the easiest way if you’ve got a vehicle for it.”

  “I’ve got Mac’s F-150 truck. It’s pretty new and nice. Would that be okay?”

  The man’s face lit up, and he pushed his narrow glasses up on his nose. “Oh, absolutely. I’ve seen that truck around and have been quite envious of it. It will get you there no problem. But I would suggest you hurry in case the storm hits earlier.”

  “Okay, will do. Thanks for your help.”

  She rushed her items to the front to pay, and the individual-sized bottles of champagne on display caught her eye. She grabbed one and then a small container of orange juice out of the cooler by the register. It was completely frivolous, and probably wouldn’t be that great given the quality of the alcohol and juice, but she would make her own mimosas and sip them while sitting in her apartment during the snowstorm.

  And she would only wish a little bit that Gavin was with her. And she would not think about condoms and Sheriff Redwood.

  She paid and rushed out the door. The sooner she got Mac’s medicine, the sooner she could get back and have her own snowstorm party. She didn’t have a cell phone to call Mac and let him know what was going on. She needed to get some sort of cheap phone that didn’t require an ID or credit check. Nothing fancy, just something that would allow her to send texts or make a call.

  Since she was already in the direction of the Sublette County pharmacy, she wouldn’t go back to his house and tell him what she needed to do. He’d just try to talk her out of it anyway.

  She was about ten miles out of town when the trouble really started. The snow had been steady, causing her to drive slower than she normally would on State Road 191, but it hadn’t been bad enough to make her feel the need to stop or turn around. Then all of a sudden she couldn’t see anything in front of her, even with her lights and windshield wipers on.

  Everything around her was completely white. Like darkness, but the wrong color.

  She gripped the steering wheel, knuckles going white. What the hell was going on? The snowstorm wasn’t supposed to be here for another couple of hours. But this snowsquall was like nothing she’d ever seen. It didn’t take her longer than a minute to figure out she wasn’t going to make it to the pharmacy.

  She slowed her speed way down, the whiteness spinning around her making it impossible to see where the road was. Both hands gripped the steering wheel so hard her fingers ached, but she didn’t dare loosen them.

  She needed to get off this road. There was no way she could head back to Oak Creek because turning around wasn’t an option at all.

  She stopped driving so she could take a look at the GPS. There wasn’t much along the road at this point. The Cactus Motel, which she’d heard was little sketchy, was only another couple of miles away. She didn’t care how gross it was if it meant she could get out of this blinding whiteness. But a couple of miles might as well be a hundred. There was also a gas station, but that was even farther away.

  Staying here on this road wasn’t an option. She needed to keep going forward. She started again moving at barely more than a snail’s pace.

  Thank God she wasn’t going any faster and was able to swerve out of the way when an eighteen wheeler traveling in the opposite direction appeared out of nowhere.

  “Fuck.”

  She wasn’t sure the other guy saw her. She jerked the steering wheel to make sure they wouldn’t collide, then let out a scream as her truck found the edge of the road and started to slide down the embankment. There was nothing she could do but hang on until the sliding finally stopped.

  Her heart thundered in her chest, and all she could hear was her breathing inside the truck’s cab as she took stock of the situation. She was okay. She just needed to get back up on the road.

  She put the truck in reverse to try to get some momentum to climb back up from the ditch. The bank wasn’t very steep or tall, but the tires wouldn’t grip enough to get her back up there. After fifteen minutes of trying, she finally put the truck in park and slammed her hand against the steering wheel.

  What did she do now? Nobody knew she was out here. She had no idea how long the storm would last. Hell, at this point she wasn’t entirely sure which direction the truck was facing. And once she got out, she wouldn’t have a GPS to let her know if she was going in the right direction if she tried to walk to the Cactus Motel. Staying here in the truck and waiting out the storm seemed like the least terrible option.

  Although it still seemed pretty damn terrible.

  Was it going to keep snowing? Had the temperature dropped outside? Would she freeze to death in the truck?

  She would only turn on the truck when it got so cold she couldn’t stand it. Then maybe she’d have enough gas to last however long the storm did without freezing to death. And at least she had some nutrition bars and orange juice.

  She let out a hysterical laugh. If she was going to die in a Wyoming snowstorm at least she could do it sipping mimosas and clutching condoms she’d never get to use with a man she’d wanted more than anyone else she’d ever known.

  She stared out into the canvas of white, trying to ignore the howling wind. And the fact that the cab of this truck suddenly felt like a coffin.

  16

  Gavin might no longer work for the sheriff’s department full-time, but on a day like today, in a situation like this, it didn’t matter.

  Residents of Wyoming took winters seriously. A big storm in December wasn’t uncommon, and they’d been known to happen much earlier than that. But a sudden squall, especially the first one of the season, sometimes caught even the most cautious people off guard.

  Gavin and the rest of the Linear Tactical guys had worked all morning helping the sheriff’s office in whatever way they could as the storm approached. They’d split up and stopped by multiple homes, making sure the elderly and some of the single moms had the necessary generators and fuel. Power was predicted to go out, and might be out for a while with a storm this size coming in.

  Power was already flickering when Gavin got the warning on his phone from the weather service that whiteout conditions had developed outside of Reddington City and would hit Oak Creek.

  Shit. That would just make a bad situation worse. Everyone needed to get off the road. Gavin had lived in Wyoming all his life and knew what all longtime residents did: winter storms were bad enough. Whiteouts were damned scary. He needed to get to his own house, which was only a couple miles out of town.

  He was headed that way when a call came through, and he put it on speakerphone inside his SUV. It was Patricia Rosales, who ran the sheriff’s office and 911 switchboard.

  “What’s up, Patricia?” She wouldn’t be calling unless she needed him.

  “Gavin, have you seen Lexi Johnson?”

  “No.” He tried to ignore the dread pooling in his gut. “I’m assuming someone has tried her apartment and the Eagle’s Nest? Did anyone call Mac?”

  “Mac is the one who called it in. Evidently, she went to pick up some of his heart medicine at the pharmacy, but that was more than an hour ago, and she hasn’t come back yet. He thought maybe you might know something.”

  “Maybe she had trouble driving in the snow. I’m still in my vehicle. I’ll swing back around and check it out.” He was already pulling a U turn in the middle of the road.

  “Okay, but be careful. You got the warning about whiteout conditions, right? It’s already moved up to Sublette County.”

  Shit. That meant it was coming this way quicker than anticipated. “Roger that. I’ll check out the pharmacy first since that’s closest.”

  He maintained his slower speed as he drove toward the pharmacy. There was no sign of Lexi’s car anywhere along the road. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or worried about that—that thing barely had business driving on a summer day much less in a winter storm. He pulled up as Richard Huffman, the tow
n’s pharmacist, was coming out and locking the door behind him.

  Richard turned toward Gavin as he jumped out of his SUV. “I’m closing up, Gavin. Are you picking up a prescription for someone? I can run back in.”

  Gavin shook the man’s outstretched hand. “No, I’m wondering if you’ve seen Lexi Johnson who works over at the Eagle’s Nest. Mac said he sent her to pick up a prescription”

  Richard nodded. “Sure, she was here about forty-five minutes ago. We were out of Mac’s prescription, so she was going to drive to Sublette County pharmacy to get it.”

  “In the middle of a whiteout warning?”

  Richard shook his head. “She left right before the warning came in. I figured she’d get the alert on her phone like all of us and decide not to go. I called the hospital to see if they had enough of the medication for Mac to get through the storm. I talked to Dr. Anne Griffin, and she was going to have Zac run it by.”

  “But you weren’t able to tell Lexi that.” The sinking feeling in his gut that had started the moment Patricia mentioned Lexi’s name grew worse.

  “No. I let Mac know the medicine was coming from the hospital, but I didn’t have Lexi’s contact information. I’d figured Mac would tell her.”

  Mac couldn’t tell her because she didn’t have a phone for him to contact her through.

  Gavin turned and ran back to his SUV, yelling his thanks back to Richard as he went. Lexi didn’t have a phone. She hadn’t gotten the emergency message about the whiteout.

  She didn’t know about the deadly weather headed their way. She only knew Mac—the only person Gavin had seen her get close to—needed his medicine.

  Gavin was driving back through town, about to call Patricia to get the number for the Sublette County pharmacy, when he saw Lexi’s car parked in its normal spot. Relief nearly swamped him. He parked next to her and rushed up to knock on her apartment door. He needed to see that she was okay and that she had everything to get through the storm.

  Nobody answered.

  He knocked louder, cursing when there was no response. She wasn’t there. Maybe she was at the bar. She couldn’t be far without her car. But if she was, she needed to get back to her apartment before the whiteout hit here. He turned toward the Eagle’s Nest and found Mac walking toward him.

  “Did you get my message about Lexi?” The older man’s face was pinched. “I still ain’t seen her.”

  “She must be over at the bar. Her car is here so she can’t be too far.”

  “She’s not driving her car. She took my truck. I got a call from Zac McKay saying he was going to be bringing my pills by, but I still haven’t heard anything from Lexi. She’s not at the bar, I walked and checked.”

  Gavin scrubbed a hand down his face. “I think she drove to Sublette County to get your prescription filled.”

  Mac let out a curse Gavin wouldn’t have expected from the older man. “Why would she do that in this weather?”

  “She doesn’t have a phone,” Gavin whispered. “I don’t think she knows how bad it is.”

  And it was already turning worse. The snow was piling up and low-lying clouds of the same color were making it more difficult to see—sure signs of the approaching whiteout. He got Mac into his SUV and drove him back to his house while getting on the phone with the Sublette County pharmacy. They confirmed that Richard had sent the prescription request, but Lexi had never picked it up.

  “I never should’ve sent her,” Mac muttered after Gavin disconnected the call. “She doesn’t know anything about driving around here.”

  “She’s in your truck, that’s better than her crappy car.”

  But they both knew in a whiteout it didn’t matter what type of vehicle you were in.

  “I wish we knew how far she got.”

  Maybe she’d stopped somewhere before it got too bad. Maybe she’d recognized the signs.

  “My truck has that onboard GPS. Could you track that?” Mac asked.

  “Yes, that’s great idea. We don’t need a warrant because you’re giving us permission.”

  But by the time Gavin got back to the office and ran it himself, it would be another thirty minutes before he’d be on his way, another couple hours before he actually got to her. If Lexi was in trouble, she might not have that long.

  But if he started from here and let someone else at the sheriff’s office run the GPS tracker, he could be well on his way to Sublette County by the time they pinpointed her location. Although that also meant that he’d be driving directly into a whiteout, which wasn’t much more than a death wish.

  “What are you thinking?” Mac asked.

  He looked the older man in the eye. “I’m thinking you mean a lot to Lexi and she drove to a farther pharmacy to get you that medicine. I’m thinking she didn’t know that this whiteout was coming and she’s in trouble. I’m thinking I’m going to get her. I’ll start driving, and the sheriff’s office can get me the GPS location as soon as they have it.”

  Mac didn’t try to tell him how dangerous this was. They both already knew it. But they both also knew how much trouble Lexi might be in, how easy it was to get disoriented in a snow squall.

  If she got out of the truck for any reason . . .

  “I’m remembering Billy Bradshaw.” Mac shook his head. “That was before your time here.”

  “It was, but I think everybody in the state of Wyoming knows about Billy Bradshaw.”

  The guy had walked outside to get a book out of his car in the middle of a whiteout. Maybe thirty feet. He’d gotten the book, but then walking back had gotten disoriented and had missed his house, the place he’d lived his whole life. He had frozen to death ten yards from his house because he couldn’t see it and didn’t know where he was.

  Billy Bradshaw had become the unfortunate poster child for snowstorm safety, the cautionary tale parents told their kids about the dangers of a whiteout.

  And Gavin was about to drive into one. Because he damned well wasn’t leaving Lexi out there in it alone.

  He looked over at Mac. “I’ll get her home safely.”

  The old man nodded. “I know you will.”

  17

  Every minute Gavin drove, the worse the weather got. He’d already called in Mac’s truck GPS info, and it was only a matter of time before the sheriff’s office got back to him with the location.

  He was aware that he could be risking his own life for nothing. If Lexi had found somewhere safe to stop, Gavin might be the one in trouble soon. But he had to take that risk despite every second becoming more perilous. He was moving at barely more than a walking pace, the snow truly blinding now. When his phone rang, he pressed the button to put it through on his SUV speakers without his eyes ever leaving the road.

  Not that he could see the road.

  “Talk to me.”

  “Gavin, it’s Nelson.” The older man, the town’s elected sheriff, sounded grave. That wasn’t good.

  “Hey, Sheriff. Did you find Lexi?”

  “The truck isn’t moving. It’s sitting near the road about ten miles outside of town.”

  Shit. There wasn’t much around that area in terms of shelter. If Lexi had stopped and gotten out of the truck, she could already be dead.

  “I’ve got somebody here who is going to walk you through finding her.”

  A few seconds later Kendrick’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Gavin. Zac found out what was going on and sent me over to help. The GPS company was giving us some pushback, wanting to double-check Mac’s identification after he’d given approval, so I hacked them. Forget the side of the angels.”

  “Damned straight,” Gavin muttered.

  “And the word hack is my cue to leave,” Sheriff Nelson said. “Let us know when you find her safely, Gavin. I know you will.”

  Gavin wasn’t quite as sure.

  “You’re only three miles from her, it looks like,” Kendrick said.

  “Three miles is going to take a long time in this weather. I’m currently maxing out at about
ten miles an hour.” And even that felt reckless.

  “According to the truck’s GPS, she hasn’t moved in nearly forty-five minutes.”

  “Hopefully, that means she stayed inside the truck.”

  Kendrick stayed on the line with him as Gavin kept plodding through the blizzard. “I appreciate you coming out to the office and doing this, Blaze. Sheriff Nelson has his hands full with everything else.”

  “This whiteout shit is not to be messed with,” Kendrick said. “I thought I had seen pretty bad winter stuff in Boston, but people would fall over and die in something like this.”

  “Believe me, people fall over and die in it out here too.” He prayed Lexi wouldn’t be one of them.

  It took way too long to make it the three miles, probably more than thirty minutes.

  “Okay, you’re there,” Kendrick told him. “You should see her.”

  Gavin stopped his vehicle, but couldn’t see anything. “Visibility is basically zero. She could literally be right next to me, and I wouldn’t be able to see her. I’m going to have to get out and walk around.”

  “Is that safe? Sheriff Nelson’s been talking about how people can lose their bearings out in the white.”

  “I have a rope. I’ll keep it attached to the SUV.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I’ll call you when I have her.”

  Gavin disconnected the call and climbed into the back seat to get the rope. He didn’t waste any time once he had it. He got on his gloves, pulled up his hood, and fastened his coat as tight as he could.

  He felt the biting cold the second he opened the door. It had dropped at least ten degrees since he’d left Oak Creek, and it had been pretty damned cold to begin with.

  And he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. He hooked the carabiner at the end of his rock climbing rope around the ski rack on the top of his SUV and tested it for stability. This was the only thing that would allow him to get back to the vehicle. Attaching the other carabiner to a special loop on his coat, he started moving in the direction Kendrick had said Lexi would be.