Born To Be Wild (14 page)

Whitley gaped at them for a moment before repeating, “Perez? I work with Jorge Perez. He hasn’t been in the last few days. I knew his kid was in an accident, but I didn’t know she’d died. Just last week, when I asked him how Annie was doing, he said she would be home soon.”

Isabel’s heart thudded and her head went light. She looked to Micah and saw that his reaction matched hers. “What about his wife?” she asked Whitley.

Whitley shook his head. “His wife died last year. Cancer.”

Isabel closed her eyes for a moment. No wonder the father had gone over the edge. Losing two loved ones so close to each other…

“That’s it. Perez has to be the one who took our Lucy,” Micah ground out.

“Hey, I never got the idea that Jorge was dangerous,” Whitley protested.

“We don’t think he took Lucy to harm her,” Isabel said, pulling herself together, “but as a substitute for his own child. He must be having some kind of mental breakdown. We need to find him and get our daughter before something terrible happens.”

“Yeah, your poor kid. Sorry. But the poor guy, too. Perez had to be going through hell…” He clucked and shook his head.

Isabel went boneless for a moment.
They now knew who had Lucy
. She closed her eyes and gave thanks for the break they’d so sorely needed.

When Annie died, the pain must have been crushing for Perez. But Isabel didn’t want to feel sorry for him, not now. Not when he’d caused her and Micah such anguish. All she wanted was her daughter back safely in her arms.

“Do you have any idea of where Perez lives?” Micah asked.

“So you’re gonna blow the whistle on him?”

“He kidnapped our daughter!” Micah snapped. “He needs to be accountable.”

Isabel waited on tenterhooks for Whitley’s answer. She felt for Micah’s hand and gave his fingers a squeeze. He squeezed back. They were together on this.

Whitley said, “You’re right, of course. And yeah, I can get you Jorge’s address. I wrote it down on my online calendar because he was going to have a barbecue. That was before the accident,” he mumbled as he left them to get it.

Isabel swayed with relief, and Micah slipped an arm around her back to hug her. She clung to him and they both took a relieved breath.

“The nightmare is almost over,” Isabel choked out. She could hardly believe it.

Micah held her tight. “We’ll have Lucy back with us before you know it.”

With us…

Did that mean Micah really wanted them all to be together, one happy family?

Was it really possible?

Isabel wanted that more than anything. She’d never denied her attraction to Micah. And she’d finally admitted the love she felt for him was still as strong as ever.

But his family was another matter. Could Micah ignore the feud, go against his father’s wishes, and put his love and concern for her and Lucy ahead of those of his family?

First things first. They still had to rescue their daughter.

When she saw Whitley coming back to the front door, Jorge Perez’s address in hand, she couldn’t help but believe Lucy would be home soon.

That’s what she would focus on.

Being able to take her child in her arms, to know that Lucy was safe at last.

Deciding which home they’d both return to—hers or Micah’s—that could wait for now.

Chapter Fourteen

Jorge Perez wasn’t home.

No one answered the front door, so Micah led the way around the neat two-story frame house to the driveway. The garage was wide open. He instantly recognized the black car with the Hispanic cross emblem parked inside. The license plate read 1225TW.

“Whitley’s stolen tags.” Micah’s pulse skyrocketed. “This is it! The car the Donovan kid described!”

Isabel looked halfway between wanting to smile and wanting to cry. “Perez really does have Lucy!”

Micah pulled her close for a hug. Isabel hugged him in return, but as he stared over her shoulder at the empty second slot in the garage, he felt sick inside. “The question is where. He’s not home, so there had to be a second vehicle.”

Why hadn’t Perez taken the time to close the garage door? Had he been in a hurry? Or did it mean he wasn’t planning on coming back?

The thought cut through Micah, and when he met Isabel’s gaze, he saw the fear blossoming in her eyes.

“Do you think he’s taken Lucy s-somewhere?” She swallowed hard, and when she blinked, a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Or is she inside alone?”

“I don’t think he would leave her behind, Isabel, not after all he did to get her.”

“What if he disappears with her? Micah, what are we going to do?”

Fighting to keep himself from losing it, Micah tried to reassure her. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. They might have gone for groceries. No need to panic yet.”

Isabel nodded, but her voice was strained. “I’ve been in a panic since I realized Lucy was missing! What do we do now?”

Micah had noticed a neighbor working on her garden when they drove up, so he walked back around the low fence to a spot where he could see the wizened elderly woman wearing a big floppy hat to protect her wrinkled brown skin from the sun. Focused on trimming back a container plant, she didn’t seem to notice he was standing there until he cleared his throat. Then her head whipped up and her dark eyes met his.

“Excuse me, ma’am, we’re looking for Jorge Perez.”

“I think you’re going to be looking for a while, then,” she said in a raspy voice. “He left with camping gear a few hours ago. Probably will be gone a few days.”

If not forever
.

Isabel drew up next to him. “Was Mr. Perez alone?”

The neighbor pursed her mouth.

“Please,” she said. “This is very important. He may have our daughter with him.”

A flicker of concern crossed the old woman’s face, and she straightened. “You accusing Jorge of doing something illegal?”

“We know he lost his daughter, Annie, in the school bus accident,” Isabel said, her voice wobbling. “Our daughter, Lucy—that’s her name,
Lucy
—was sitting next to Annie when it crashed. We think his daughter’s death was too much for Mr. Perez, and that he has confused our daughter with his.”

The elderly woman nodded. “Jorge hasn’t been the same since he buried his little girl.”

“Who would be?” Micah sensed the woman could be won over. “Losing a child has to be the worst thing that can ever happen to a parent. Our Lucy disappeared two days ago. If we don’t get her back…” He couldn’t finish the thought.

He didn’t know how he could ever forgive himself
.

“Jorge wasn’t alone,” the neighbor said. “I did see a girl carry out some grocery bags and get in the SUV. He didn’t force her or nothing. At first my imagination played tricks on me, because I thought it was Annie. But of course that was impossible. So you think that could be your little girl?”

Trying to get past the lump in his throat, Micah pulled the “missing” poster they’d made for Lucy from his pocket. He unfolded it and showed the woman. “This is our Lucy.”

The neighbor looked from him to Isabel and nodded. “Yes, that’s her. How terrible for you.”

Isabel wrapped both arms around herself. “So Perez took Lucy somewhere, camping you said? How do we find them?”

Micah slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as he asked the woman, “Ma’am, do you have any idea where they might be headed?”

“He didn’t say, but…”

“But?”

“I remember,” the neighbor said, “some months ago, before the accident, Annie talked about not being able to go camping last year because the wildfires and flash floods had destroyed so much of the area around here. But she said things were sure to be better this year, and she couldn’t wait to climb into the
cavates
.”

Isabel looked puzzled. “
Cavates
?”

Micah explained, “That’s what they call the caves that ancient Pueblo people carved out of tuff—soft rock caused by volcanic activity.”

“Like the cliff dwellings at Bandelier?” Isabel asked.

“Exactly my thought. You remember the terrible wildfires and flash floods that swept through the national park?”

Isabel nodded.

“They made it impossible for visitors to get into Frijoles Canyon. But I read it’s now open again.” Hoping it was that simple, that their daughter was little more than an hour away, Micah asked the neighbor, “Can you tell us what kind of SUV Mr. Perez was driving?”

The woman shrugged. “Black. Don’t know what kind.”

“Was there anything distinctive about it?”

“No, but he had something hanging from the mirror. Looked like a pine tree.”

“You mean like an air freshener?” Isabel asked, which brought a shrug in response.

As Micah urged her back to the truck, he waved to the neighbor. “Thank you for telling us what you could, ma’am.”

“Godspeed, and may he help you find your daughter soon.”

He could also use all the help he could get to figure out how to bring his family back together. For good this time. One way or another, he was going to make it happen.

They could use whatever help the universe was willing to offer to lead them not only to Lucy, but to Gramps, as well.

What the hell could have happened to the old man?

…

Caleb’s body rolled, and he groaned when the raw spot where the gun had hit his head smacked into the wheel well again. He’d come to in the dark but had soon realized he was not in an actual room. He’d been stuffed into the back of a vehicle where he kept rolling around and getting assaulted by metal walls and sharp edges.

Where the hell is Bobby taking us, Hector?

He could only talk to Hector through his thoughts at the moment. In addition to securing his hands behind his back and fastening his legs together, Bobby had put a piece of duct tape over his mouth to keep him quiet.

It had to be Bobby, right, Hector? For all I know, though, some other cowpoke could have me now.

Keeping up the internal dialogue kept him calm.

The car stopped and he crashed forward onto his face again.

Damn it! They’d been at this for hours now. Stop and go, stop and go. He’d counted four really long stops, but he might have missed one. Maybe more. With nothing to do, with the heat of the closed space cloying and the oxygen waning, he kept slipping in and out of consciousness.

Maybe I’m not so far from seeing you again, Hector. You better damn well be ready to apologize to me the way I did to you.

As anxiety welled up in him, he was finding it more difficult to breathe normally. Plus, he had to pee so bad he couldn’t hold it any more. Nothing could be as humiliating as peeing himself.

Consciousness fading away with the warmth dribbling down his leg, Caleb hoped Hector didn’t notice.

…

Micah sped toward bare yellow cliffs topped with scrubby pine as the sun set, leaving a fiery outline in its wake along the western horizon. At the base of the Pajarito Plateau, the road split, one branch heading for the vast wilderness of Bandelier National Monument with its ancient ruins—cliff dwellings and
cavates
carved out of volcanic tuff. Fifty square miles of steep narrow canyons and mountains rising to ten thousand feet crawled with wildlife and provided an unspoiled paradise for backpackers.

Having loved the place since he was a kid, Micah now thought it would be spoiled for him for all time. When they approached the park entrance, it was already twilight.

“How are we going to find them in the dark?” Isabel asked in a small voice.

“With great luck.”

Night settled over the mountains all too quickly.

Being a Friday evening, a line of vehicles crawled ahead of them, camping enthusiasts ready to commune with nature for the weekend.

“Can’t you go around?” Isabel prodded.

Her rising anxiety was tangible, but there was nothing Micah could do to reassure her. Not when he was so anxious himself that he felt like he might implode at any time.

“Not unless I want to get arrested. The park fee,” he reminded her. “I think we pay the camping fee at the kiosk at the campground.”

“Why do we need to pay for camping when we’re just looking for Perez and Lucy?”

“By the time we get up there, it’ll probably be dark.” Undoubtedly too dark to identify anyone, but they had to try. “So, just in case we have to spend the night.”

Isabel fell silent for a moment before asking, “You don’t think we’ll find them tonight, do you?”

“I’m praying we do.”

They might have to be patient a while longer, but Micah had to believe the search for their daughter would be ended by morning, or he would lose his mind.

“If they’re even here,” Isabel mumbled.

Micah wished he could say something encouraging, but it had been a long, exhausting, and ultimately disappointing day. From what the neighbor had told them, he was almost certain Perez had brought their daughter here. He’d promised Annie.

They
had
to be here.

Stopping at the gate, he noticed the posted warning:
Bear Alert: Bears active in the area. Properly store food and food-related items. Be aware of your surroundings at all times and report any bear sightings.

Well, they had no food with them, so he guessed they had nothing to worry about in that respect.

Once he’d paid the park fee, Micah pointed the truck north toward the campground. He paid for a site at the kiosk, then entered and took the first of three loops. A dark SUV was directly behind him. Remembering that the neighbor had said Perez was driving an SUV, he took a good look at it, but it was impossible to see through the other vehicle’s tinted windows. If there was a pine tree air freshener dangling from the SUV’s rearview mirror as the neighbor had described, he couldn’t tell. Too dark already. Then the vehicle dropped back, and Micah focused his attention on the camps they were passing.

“Keep an eye out,” he told Isabel. “And if you see anything at all—”

“Got it.”

The individual campsites were huge, most buried in stands of trees, which afforded a good deal of privacy. Vehicles were parked on the gravel pads belonging to each camping area. Most tents were pitched at least one hundred feet from cooking areas—for safety in case of a stray bear or other wildlife. Micah drove a slow turn around the loop, every once in a while spotting the SUV behind him.

Cooking fires were roaring at most of the campsites, but they did little to illuminate the people sitting around them. Micah thought he saw Lucy at a campfire, but when the girl leaned in toward the flames and he could better see her, he knew it was wishful thinking. Trying to find her in the dark was futile. But after checking out every vehicle only halfway around the loop, he realized what they’d be in for when daylight came.

“Have you taken a good look at the vehicles?” he asked Isabel.

She sighed along with him in frustration. “Every other person in the whole darn state drives a black SUV.”

“I don’t know about the state, but lots of campers do.” SUVs and pickup trucks being the most convenient vehicles for hauling camping gear. Exiting the first loop, he said, “One down and two to go.”

Micah wasn’t willing to give up yet, even if they were searching in the dark. But if Perez had Lucy in the nearly filled second loop, he couldn’t spot them. When he got to the third and final loop and saw that it was the least crowded, he took a quick tour around, but it was useless. They couldn’t see a damn thing. He said, “I guess morning it is.”

He chose an empty campsite in a deserted area, one where the previous camper had left behind enough wood for a nice fire. Before he could get out of the truck, a black SUV shot past them. The same SUV that had been following them earlier?

He suddenly remembered that Isabel had said there’d been a black SUV outside the house that morning. He’d seen some spots open in the second loop, so why hadn’t the driver taken one of those? Instincts humming, he decided to keep an eye out for that vehicle in case it came back around again.

“I’ll start a fire.” When Isabel didn’t move, he asked, “Are you going to stay in here?”

“Where else are we going to sleep?”

Her voice had thinned as if she had lost all hope. Micah didn’t know how to pick up her spirits when his own were so low.

He said, “Either in front of the campfire or in the back of the pickup.”

“Great. In dirt or on metal.” She hung her head, stared down at her hands, clenched and unclenched her fists. “I just can’t decide which sounds like more fun.”

“Come on. Let’s get out. I always carry some extra clothes and a just-in-case bedroll in back. I’m willing to share.”

He didn’t get so much as a smile out of her, but she did force herself to leave the truck.

Not feeling much like smiling, either, Micah fetched his few things from the back anyway. He threw a work shirt to her, dumped the bedroll on the ground, then saw to building that fire.

He concentrated on layering the kindling, then setting up the logs, while trying to ignore the sounds of her moving around.

Slipping on his shirt for warmth.

Spreading out the bedroll on the ground.

Stretching out on it as if she really could sleep.

He lit a match and started the kindling. His pulse ticked along with the crackle of the new fire. Suddenly very aware they were alone. Together. No separate rooms tonight.

Pulling back from the fire, he sat on the bedroll next to her. He could feel her gaze on him, burrowing into him. Flecks of gold and red reflected from the flames warmed her face. Her expression was open, making his heart race.