Blue Ridge Sunrise

by Denise Hunter

  “Fine! Just shut her up.”

  Zoe started to pull over, but there was no place to do so. The road was just busy enough to make it dangerous, and there was a deep ditch on their side. As she scanned the highway ahead, an idea materialized like a mirage in the back of her mind.

  Her heart accelerated as the idea took shape. It was a huge risk. Was it worth it? Maybe she was a slow learner, but she wasn’t foolish. She wasn’t doing anything without running it by God first.

  Should I do it? I don’t know what else to do, but You’ve got to get us out of this. Please.

  The song ended, and the sound of Gracie’s wails filled the cab before another began.

  Do I do it, God? Do I take the risk?

  She wouldn’t do it without a sign. She’d already taken things into her own hands, and look how that had turned out. But she needed an answer, and she needed it now.

  “Pull over!” Kyle said.

  Zoe realized the ground beside the road had leveled out, giving them an area to pull off before the woods began. She put on her signal, her heart a jackhammer in her chest.

  Directions, God! I need directions!

  This noise—it was enough to drive anyone batty, much less an agitated and unstable man. Even she could hardly think past the crying, and the rain, and the ear-splitting music.

  The singer’s name registered: Anne Murray. The voice was belting out the chorus, and Zoe’s eyes flew to the radio as she recognized the song.

  Sunday Sunrise.

  Her breath left her body in a wry laugh. It was Granny’s favorite song. The one she’d hummed so many times in those early mornings in the orchard. Zoe stared ahead, disbelieving. If that wasn’t a sign she didn’t know what was.

  Okay. Okay, I get it, God. If Kyle gives me the opening I’m going to do this.

  “What’s so funny?” Kyle glowered at her over Gracie’s head.

  She wiped the smile from her face as she braked harder, slowing the truck to a crawl. “Nothing.”

  He continued to glare at her.

  Her shoulders sagged when he finally turned his attention to his seat belt. She gulped down breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. There was no time to think or plan.

  Here we go. Let’s do this.

  She brought the truck to a full stop and put it in park. She unclicked her seat belt and made like she was reaching for her door handle.

  Kyle couldn’t get away from the noise fast enough. He was already out of the cab and heading around the front.

  Zoe threw the truck into drive and punched the accelerator. The truck darted forward, spewing dirt and gravel. Kyle scrambled out of the way, sliding on the slick pavement.

  She caught sight of his wide eyes and red, rage-filled face as she flew by. Heaven help her get away. If he caught up to her, he was going to kill her.

  “Mama!” Gracie sobbed, gripping Zoe’s arm as they accelerated.

  “Hang on, baby!”

  A loud pop rang out. Zoe shrieked, terror flooding through her.

  “Gracie, get down!” She pushed Gracie down, then focused on getting control of the swerving truck.

  Another gunshot rang out.

  “Mama!”

  “Stay down, Gracie!” With the truck under control, she pressed the pedal to the floorboard, shrinking down in the seat.

  She winced as another shot pierced the evening. A boom reverberated through the truck, and it slowed drastically. Tugged hard to the right. She fought the wheel, trying to gain control, but it spun the other direction, fishtailing. Out of control.

  “Oh, God. Oh, God, help us!”

  chapter forty-four

  Cruz squinted through the rainy windshield as he pressed the truck’s accelerator. The ashen clouds made the sky darker than usual, and he was driving faster than he should be, given the conditions.

  But all he could think about was his girls. If he lost either of them, he’d never forgive himself for not being there.

  Hope’s explanation had made his chest constrict. Made terror run like acid through his veins. What had Zoe been thinking, trying to set Kyle up like that? She’d placed herself right into the hands of a crazy man.

  Kyle must’ve come to meet her. Maybe Zoe had tried to trick him into confessing, and he’d caught on. If that’s what happened Kyle would be livid, and Cruz didn’t even want to think about what he might do to them.

  They had to be on their way to Nashville, and Cruz had to get to them before it was too late. Hope had already put in a call to the sheriff’s office, but with the traffic in town Cruz wasn’t sure how long it would take to get them out here and start looking for Zoe’s truck. Hopefully they had put out an APB.

  He had to find them before they reached Chattanooga. There were too many side roads, too many places to hide—assuming they were even headed to Nashville.

  He gave his head a shake and pressed harder on the accelerator, whizzing past a semitruck going the opposite direction.

  Red taillights glimmered ahead in the distance. He squinted through the rain, his own headlights doing little in the dim evening light. He was coming upon the vehicle quickly. He took a bend in the road and realized it was off on the side.

  He started braking, shutting off his headlights. As he grew closer his heart sped. It was a red truck. Zoe’s, he realized as he got within a hundred yards. He slowed, assessing. The truck was off the road, tilted down an embankment against a copse of trees.

  A movement on the road ahead snagged his eyes. A man in black was jogging toward the truck, favoring one leg.

  Cruz recognized Kyle’s build. Rage welled, his blood pressure soaring, his muscles quivering. He’d run the monster down. His foot poised above the accelerator.

  But he spotted something in Kyle’s hand. It glimmered in the light as it swung. A gun?

  Kyle hadn’t noticed Cruz yet. The sound of his approach must’ve been drowned out by the torrential rain. But if Cruz accelerated now he would hear it all right. And if he shot Cruz, where would that leave Zoe and Gracie? Assuming they were still okay.

  Cruz braked, then threw open the door and hit the ground running. He estimated the time it would take to reach Kyle, who seemed to be limping. It would be close. Rain pelted Cruz’s face as he ran full out. His shoes gripped the pavement, the force of his steps reverberating through him. Lights from an oncoming vehicle blinded him, and rain dripped into his eyes.

  Kyle was off the road now. Almost to the back of the truck. He disappeared around the corner.

  Cruz dug in, pumping his arms. Get there! Get there! He was a car length away when Kyle reached for the door handle.

  Then Kyle stopped and turned around. His eyes widened, and he raised the gun.

  Cruz plowed into him, and a gunshot fired as they went flying. A second later they hit the earth with a thud.

  Kyle’s breath left in a grunt, and his head thunked against the ground. Cruz reached for the gun and found Kyle’s wrist instead. He banged his hand against the ground until the weapon slipped from Kyle’s grip.

  A fist connected with Cruz’s jaw, and lights flashed behind his eyes.

  Kyle twisted from under him, scrambling for the gun, inches away.

  Cruz delivered a jab to his gut. It caught Kyle off guard, and the moment’s hesitation was all he needed.

  He flipped Kyle to his stomach, straddled him, and cranked his arm up behind his back until he let out a string of curses.

  “Hey! Hey, what’s going on down there?” A burly man approached the road’s edge cautiously. His truck was parked on the other side of the road.

  Cruz struggled to keep Kyle restrained. “Call 911. He kidnapped my girlfriend and our daughter. Got any rope?”

  “Yes, sir. Just a second,” the trucker said as he punched numbers into his phone. He trotted back to his truck.

  Kyle squirmed beneath him. “Get your hands off me!”

  “Be still!” Cruz tightened his grip, shoving one arm up until the man cried out in pain and began cussing Cr
uz out again.

  Cruz kicked the gun a safe distance away, his eyes flashing to the cab of Zoe’s truck. He desperately wanted to check on them. He couldn’t see anything inside from this angle. Why wasn’t Zoe getting out? What if they weren’t even in there? What if they were—

  He couldn’t think the word.

  God, please. Let them be all right.

  He wished the trucker would hurry. The rain had slackened a bit, and he became aware of music blaring from the cab. He listened, his ears homing in on a sound that wasn’t part of the song at all. And yet it was the most precious music he’d ever heard: a muffled wail.

  Gracie.

  The trucker returned with two short bungee cords, handing Cruz one of them.

  “Help’s on the way.”

  “We may need an ambulance.”

  “I told ’em as much.”

  Cruz tied Kyle’s hands while the trucker captured his feet. Tricky work with Kyle struggling against them and the rain making everything slick.

  Cruz put a tight knot in the cord at his wrists. “Stay with him, and don’t trust him.”

  Cruz sprang to his feet, barely resisting the urge to plant his boot in Kyle’s gut as he passed by. The man had a nasty case of road rash running up one arm, but that hardly seemed like punishment enough.

  Cruz picked up the gun and tucked it in his pants, then waded through the tall grass back toward the truck.

  “Zoe!” He called over the music. The front of the truck was smashed into a huge tree, the hood curled up, the engine hissing.

  As he took the slope, he made out a shadow behind the rain-speckled driver’s window. She was hunched forward. Unmoving. His heart kicked into high gear, adrenaline surging through him.

  No, God. Please no.

  He reached the truck and wrenched open the door. The music split the air, as did Gracie’s wails.

  Zoe was slumped lifelessly over the steering wheel.

  “Zoe! Oh God, please.”

  He reached for her, carefully easing her back against the seat. She had a bump rising on her forehead and a minor gash at her temple. Her face was pale. So pale. He quickly scanned her body for injuries and found nothing else.

  He slid two fingers to the side of her neck. “Zoe.”

  With all the racket he had trouble feeling anything under his shaking fingers. He made himself hold perfectly still, his own thumping heart and shallow breaths making it difficult.

  There. There it was. She was alive. She was going to be fine. His breath left in one long exhale.

  “Daddy!” Gracie’s shriek pulled his focus from Zoe. Her face was flushed red and twisted in anguish, her eyes full of fear. She held her little arms out to him.

  Oh, his poor baby. “Bella.”

  He leaned across Zoe to pick her up only to realize she was still belted in. He released it and lifted her carefully across Zoe’s lap, pulling her into his arms.

  “It’s okay, baby girl. I got you.”

  She pressed into the curve of his neck, clinging to him like ivy to a fence. He checked her over quickly, finding no injury. His heart gave a deep sigh. He shifted Gracie, then leaned over Zoe and snapped off the radio.

  Blessed silence filled the cab. Even Gracie’s cries had given way to quiet sniveling, her little stomach quivering against his chest. In the distance he heard the muted sound of a siren.

  Thank God.

  He returned his attention to Zoe, cupping her cheek with a trembling hand. “Zoe, honey. Wake up.”

  The knot on her forehead was worse than he’d realized. A stream of blood flowed down the side of her face.

  “Come on, honey.”

  “Everyone all right in there?” the trucker called from somewhere behind him.

  “She’s unconscious. Bumped her head on the steering wheel, looks like.”

  Kyle was saying something, but Cruz couldn’t make it out. He heard a grunt, then the trucker saying, “Shut it!”

  Cruz caressed Zoe’s face, wiped the blood away. His girl. She had to be all right. He couldn’t stand the thought of anything else. Maybe there was an injury he’d missed. Worry churned in his gut.

  The siren slowly grew louder. They couldn’t get here soon enough. Time had slowed to a crawl.

  “Wake up, Zoe. Open your eyes.”

  Her eyelids fluttered.

  A jolt of hope made his limbs tingle. “That’s it, honey. Wake up. Everything’s all right now.”

  Her lashes fluttered slowly, finally opening. She blinked against the pain.

  He gingerly wiped it away, avoiding her injury.

  Her eyes drifted dazedly, unfocused.

  “Thata girl. You’re all right.”

  Her gaze grew focused, finding him, widening in awareness. They shifted to Gracie, and her breaths grew labored.

  “She’s okay. You’re both safe. Just a little bump on your head.”

  “Where’s Kyle?” Her voice was laced with panic.

  “All tied up—literally. He can’t hurt you. The sheriff’s on his way.”

  She shifted, reaching for Gracie. “Baby.”

  Cruz stayed her with a hand on her shoulder. “Be still. I got her.”

  “Mama, you’re bleeding,” Gracie whined.

  Zoe touched Gracie’s arm with a trembling hand. “Mama’s all right. Everything’s okay.”

  “Does anything else hurt?” Cruz asked.

  “No.” Zoe’s eyes drifted shut. Her Adam’s apple dipped as she swallowed. A crease formed between her brows. She probably had the headache to end all headaches.

  He wiped away the blood with the tail of his shirt. The siren wailed louder, and Cruz looked through the window to see an ambulance approaching, strobes flashing in the waning light.

  “Hang in there, honey. The EMS is almost here. They’re going to fix you right up.”

  She opened her eyes, focusing on him for a long moment, more lucid now. Her gaze was steady, her eyes softening as something unfathomable flickered there. A sweet smile curved her lips.

  Inside him, the sun shone, rays of light warming him from the inside out. All she had to do was smile at him, and he knew he was the luckiest man alive.

  “What’s that smile for?” He had to know.

  Her eyes filled with tears, glistening over green like the most beautiful gem he’d ever seen. “You believed in me.”

  “Oh, Zoe.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his finger, unable to look away from everything he saw there. “Of course I believed in you. I always will.”

  He palmed her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek, feelings welling up in him like a storm surge, impossible to hold back. “I love you, mi leona. Maybe this isn’t the right time or the right place, but for a while there I was afraid I’d never have the chance.”

  Her breath escaped in a sigh, her smile widening. “I love you too. I will never leave you, Cruz Huntley. You can count on that.”

  A lump thickened in his throat as his own eyes grew wet. Her words filled up something deep inside him. Some hollow spot he’d only been vaguely aware of before this moment.

  As if weighted, her eyelids drifted shut again.

  In the distance doors slammed. Finally. Help was on the way.

  “Over here!” he heard the trucker call.

  Gracie snuggled in closer, her breaths growing deeper even as her world righted. When Cruz looked back at Zoe, her eyes were fixed on him again, her love shining for all the world to see. She was everything to him. They both were. And he was going to spend the rest of his life proving it.

  Epilogue

  Where are we going?” Zoe asked when Cruz took a turn off her driveway.

  They’d just had a most excellent meal at the Blue Moon Grill. They were celebrating—Zoe had received the insurance check for the barn and its contents. She’d be able to start rebuilding immediately.

  “Can’t you guess?” He gave her a sideways smile that made her pulse leap.

  His truck bumped over the rutted dirt drive. There
was only one noteworthy destination down this lane.

  “I haven’t been back there in ages.”

  “It’s high time we fixed that then.”

  She gripped his thigh as they bounced along the uneven ground. A few days ago the jarring would’ve made her head pound.

  But she’d fully recovered now, except for a little soreness in her chest and bruising on her forehead. The gash in her temple had only required a few stitches. Gracie had been completely unharmed.

  Her papaw’s truck hadn’t fared so well, though. It was presently sitting in Brady’s driveway, awaiting parts. He’d promised to have it back to its original condition soon, but she wasn’t holding her breath. He had his hands a little full right now with baby Sam.

  She was glad when Cruz had suggested a date tonight. The week had been jam-packed as she’d attempted to manage the busy Peach Barn and answer all the questions from the sheriff’s office and insurance company.

  Kyle had been denied bail and was being held in the Murray County jail until his hearing. He and Axel would be tried for arson. They’d also added a few more charges to the list last Friday, including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. Kyle was going away for a long time.

  Miss Ruby was horrified about her nephew’s role in all of it. She felt terrible about trusting Axel with Gracie. She’d tried to call and leave Zoe a message that night, but Zoe had been in too much of a rush to answer.

  A few minutes later Cruz stretched his arm over the seat behind her and backed his truck up to their old spot by the creek. He put it in park and turned off the ignition.

  “I hope you’re not wanting to go swimming,” Zoe said. “It took Hope an hour to fix my hair.”

  He gave her a mysterious smile as he got out of the truck. “I have something else in mind.”

  She arched a brow at him as she stepped out into the warm evening, shutting the door quietly so as not to disturb the evening. Crickets chirped from the nearby pine grove, and the creek rippled quietly by. A warm breeze rustled the leaves.

  Overhead the full moon floated like a glowing balloon, casting a silvery sheen over the landscape. The familiar peace of this place took her back in time, the memories washing over her like warm water.