Authors: Julie Momyer
Spencer shook his head and walked away. He didn’t need a pep talk he needed results. He unclipped his cell phone and looked at the screen. The signal was weak. He dialed Jaida’s home number and then her cell. There was no answer.
He snapped the phone back in the holder and headed into the backyard of the house next door where Tobi was going wild.
*
Jaida scampered up the jagged incline, sucking the hot, dusty air into her lungs then skidded down the other side. She ran her tongue over her lips, tasting the gritty film and swallowing against a parched throat. Two miles deeper and she would be at the end of the canyon. Her limbs were like Jell-O, and her lungs were on fire, but she pushed harder.
Somewhere behind her, the dog still barked. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder. Did her attacker see her run? Had he followed? The stitch in her side slowed her down. She needed to stop. Just for a little while. Up ahead was a hollow. Not a cave, but there was enough of a depression in the hillside that it would conceal her.
She ducked inside the cleft and sank to the ground, her eyes instantly closing.
Please show me the best way out, God.
She reached up and felt the back of her head, wincing at the tender lump. It was the size of a golf ball.
Her time of rest expired, Jaida sat up and leaned forward, looking over the topography of the canyon. She could continue on as she planned or head for the road now. But that might put her out in the open too soon.
If she chose the road, then it made sense to wait until traffic was the thickest. Judging by the light of the sky, in a couple of hours it would be rush hour, and vehicles would clog the two-lane highway from end to end.
She pushed up from the ground, teetered then regained her balance. Two hours was too long to wait. She would go now.
*
Spencer stood at the top of the rise and looked over the canyon. Below him to the left, a stream of blonde hair whipping in the breeze caught his eye.
She’s alive.
“Jaida!” he yelled then scrabbled down the hill. The soles of his shoes offered no traction, and he slid, struggling to keep his footing.
Behind, Tobi was closing in. Spencer didn’t stop for Carl and Auggie. He wasn’t about to let Jaida out of his sight.
*
Her name carried over the open air, breaking up as it tumbled down the hilltop. He was right behind her. Jaida ran. No longer into the canyon, but out to the road.
*
“Jaida!” Spencer called after her again, but she didn’t stop. His shoes an impediment, he took them off and leapt across the rifts of packed dirt, running at a speed beyond his ability.
He punched the air with his fists, propelling himself over the next hilltop and down into the gully. She was staggering, her pace slowing, and he was closing in from behind.
He ran faster, the gap between them forty feet, then thirty, twenty, ten. “Jaida!” He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She stumbled back into his arms, and he wrapped them around her.
She writhed and kicked. “Let go of me! Let go of me!” she screamed. One hand slipped free, and she slapped at his face, her nail catching his jaw.
Spencer caught her free arm at the wrist. “Stop. Jaida, it’s me. Stop it.”
She looked up at him. Her face was splotched red from the heat and smudged with dirt. Confusion clouded her eyes. He drew his arms tighter around her as she crumpled against his
chest. Her keening cry rippled through the air and tore at his heart. What had this man done to her?
“You’re safe now,” he said. He held her close and pressed his lips to the side of her brow, easing her trembling.
It was a slow, irrational tumble he took, falling prey to his longing. He closed his eyes.
I can’t do this. Not again.
He held fast to her, kept her braced upright, but in his heart, he’d opened his hands, stepped back, and let her go.
A scuffling sound came from the hill. Spencer looked up. Auggie jogged a crooked path down the incline then leapt over a short row of scrubby growth. Carl and Tobi were beside him, the shepherd barking, recognizing the find.
“She all right?” Auggie asked. Carl gave Jaida’s arm a light squeeze for reassurance.
“I think so.” But who was he to say? She needed to be checked out by a doctor or an EMT, someone who could evaluate her physically and emotionally.
Her fingers dug deep into his back when Auggie laid a gentle hand on her head. “I’ll take care of this, chica, don’t you worry. Gale and his boys are going down.”
She raised her head the slightest bit. “But it…”
He shushed her. “Let’s get you out of here then we’ll talk.”
“Can you bring your car around to the edge of the canyon?” Spencer asked. It was a shorter distance and the terrain less challenging to cross.
“I’m on it,” Auggie said then took to the hills, back the way he came.
“I’ll stick with you,” Carl said. “Probably not a good idea to leave you two alone out here.” He sat down on the flat of a large rock and massaged the shepherd’s head, fishing a treat out of his pocket for the hero.
“Thank you,” Spencer said. “Not just for staying, but for finding her.” He’d had his doubts.
A half smile lifted the corner of Carl’s mouth. “I’m just glad it turned out well.”
Jaida loosened her hold on him and drew back. Her flushed skin had paled, but her eyes shone with gratitude. She looked meek, fragile, almost breakable.
“How did you know?” she asked. A bruised reed, she swayed. He reached out and gripped her hand, steadying her.
“Auggie called me and told me what was happening. Said he found an address in your hotel room.”
“And you came,” she said, her tone matter of fact rather than surprise.
“Of course.”
She shook her head and lowered her gaze until she was staring at the ground. “Thank you,” she said. She was different, almost shy with him.
“What happened to your shoes?” she asked.
Spencer looked down at his dusty socks then smiled up at her. “They weren’t made for running.”
*
Neither was she, only she realized it too late. Would he give her another chance if she asked?
“I know who my mother is,” she said.
He stiffened, withdrawing from her as if her quest to learn of her parentage was what had destroyed them and ruined her. Ultimately she bore the blame. It was her failing, her transgression, and no one else’s.
“Was it worth it?” he asked. “Did it fill that void?” His tone was sharp, honed by years of hurt and anger she had caused.
“No. But I know who I am now. And it isn’t Sofia Carlisle’s and William Gale’s daughter.” She belonged to God. And if Spencer still wanted her…
She could feel Carl’s eyes on her, sense his shock at her announcement as clearly as she saw Spencer’s jaw go slack. She half smiled at their reaction, but there was no pleasure behind it.
“Yes, William Gale is my father,” she said. It was a confession of sorts, and a truth she’d just as soon forget.
Jaida wanted to say more, but movement near the road captured her attention.
What in the world?
“Carina?” Carina was entering the canyon, descending the slope at an angle, her ankles wobbling in shoes too high to be trekking through the brush. What was she doing out here? How had she found them?
Carl asked, “Where did you come from?”
“I’m parked up on the road,” Carina said. “Auggie told me where you were.” Carina rushed at her then and threw her arms around her. Jaida staggered backward at the impact. “I was so worried about you. You didn’t show up at the restaurant, you didn’t call.”
“I don’t understand. Is Auggie coming back?” Spencer asked.
“He had a call,” Carina said. “He’ll be by to pick you and Carl up. He should be just a few minutes behind me.”
Carina turned to her. “He asked me to take you to the emergency room.” She pressed a hand to Jaida’s back urging her forward. “He had me in a panic until he explained you were fine and just needed a once-over by a doctor.”
Jaida dug in her heels. “I am fine. I don’t need to see a doctor.”
“You heard the lady. Do as she said.” The familiar voice silenced her and sent her heart slamming against her ribs.
He was about five feet behind her to the right. Jaida turned. The hammer of his pistol was raised; his finger on the trigger, and it was aimed at the center of her head.
*
“Who is this?” Spencer stepped in front of Jaida, shielding her. The moment was surreal, a scene from a movie, a clip from the news, but it didn’t translate as cogently to real life.
He brushed his hand across the surface of his cell phone clipped to his belt, and prayed he still had a signal.
“His name is Kevin,” Jaida said. He could hear her swallow, feel her fear.
Sensing danger, Tobi hunched down and growled, ready to spring. Kevin swung his foot at the dog. “Shut that thing up, or I’ll do it for you.”
Spencer watched as Carl knelt down beside the animal, soothing her with a soft command, then suddenly and without warning Carl swung around and went for the gun. But Kevin was ready for him. He brought the handle down on the back of Carl’s head, knocking him unconscious.
Jaida cried out, and Tobi let loose a throaty bark, unleashing her distress over the form of her prone master. Spencer took advantage of the split second of chaos, did a half-turn to his right and lunged at Kevin.
He didn’t hear the sonic crack until it was too late. The bullets came in succession:
bam, bam.
His body jerked, and he felt the blows like a ball bat to the chest, the impact hurling him to the ground. A crimson stain spread across the left breast of his white shirt.
“No!” Jaida screamed. Kevin laughed. Both sounds faded in and out like bad reception. His left lung squeezed. Was this what it felt like to die?
A shadow hovered above him lording over the kill.
“There is a time for daring and a time for caution, and a wise man knows which is called for.”
Bl
ood pumped from Spencer’s torso. “What have you done?” Jaida cried.
She dropped to her knees and squeezed his fingers. The
y
were clammy, his breathing shallow.
H
is skin was losing its color, his lips pulled tight with pain. Were the physical changes shock or a prelude to his death?
“Don’t die Spencer. Please, hold on.” She had so much to say, beginning with ‘I’m sorry.’
Carina slowly backed away. “You shouldn’t have shot him, Kevin. We need to get out of here now.”
“Just shut up! I need to think!”
Was Carina involved? “You’re a part of this, Carina?” Jaida’s head whipped back. She heard the crack of Kevin’s knuckles against the side of her face, felt each raised angular knob of bone digging into her muscle and jaw.
He leaned down and got in her face. “This is your fault. You shouldn’t have run.” Marble hard, his eyes burned with hatred for
her. This wasn’t the Kevin she knew. This was an animal. His timidity, his concern for her had all been an act.
Jaida stared back with equal loathing then reached for Spencer, pressing the heel of her hand into the worst of the two wounds. With every beat of his heart, a warm gush seeped through her fingers, his drenched shirt clinging to his chest. How long before there was nothing left in his veins to sustain him?
His lungs rattled when he inhaled and the last trace of color in his cheeks drained away. She was losing him. “Carina, please get help,” she begged.
“Get away from him.” Kevin grabbed her by the arm and jerked her to her feet.
Only a few feet away, Carl was coming to. He groaned and pushed to his knees. Kevin spun and shoving her aside, he aimed the gun at Carl.
Carl raised his hands. “Put the gun down, son. You don’t want to kill anyone.”
Carina shouted, “You can’t do this! You can’t just shoot everyone!” She paced like a caged animal. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Jaida rushed back to Spencer’s side. Again she applied pressure to the wound. He was fading fast. What if he didn’t make it?
But he had to.
“Carina, please, you can make this right. Just go get help.”
A legion of screaming sirens drowned out the rest of her plea. Lights flashed, car doors slammed, and orders were barked. The ground pulsed with pounding feet. Weapons drawn, law enforcement barreled down the hillside. Auggie stumbled behind.
An ambulance was parked at the top of the bank. “Help is coming, Spencer. Stay with me. Please.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I love you.” Tears came so hard now she couldn’t see the face that was only inches from her own.