Desperate Rescue (10 page)

“Sit,” Eli ordered. “I’ll call her. She’ll want to come in.”

Kaylee had seen enough doctors since she escaped from the compound. The doctor that the police ordered and then several in the last two weeks alone. They all meant well, all gave her sound advice, but she was sick of being poked and prodded and questioned.

But she was secretly glad Eli was now driving her into the city. She wouldn’t waste an ambulance and didn’t see that she needed one. But now, over an hour after Eli had found her, nearly to the hospital in Fredericton, she found herself wilting exceptionally fast.

Following her directions, Eli sped up toward the emergency room’s entrance. An ambulance was just pulling out, its lights still winking. The streets all over the city were drenched and deserted, but the hospital was buzzing.

Eli got her in and registered. The clerk informed them that parts of the city were without power and several nursing homes were being evacuated—some of the residents were ending up at the hospital.

“We’ll try to get you in as soon as possible,” she told Kaylee with a sympathetic smile.

True to her word, the clerk called out her name a few minutes later. Eli went in with Kaylee, a fact that she was glad for. The doctor examined her. Her head wound was nothing serious, though she was given a list of things to watch out for. Then he checked all her vitals, saying in the end that it was the rubber boots that kept her from being a better conductor. Although only a few milliamperes could kill, she appeared to have a higher resistance than most.

“Perhaps it’s your lack of body fat. You are one lucky woman,” he said as he finished his exam.

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” Eli stated after the doctor left.

She let him help her off the exam table. “Eli, how can I be grateful that God saved my life, when He could have prevented the accident in the first place?”

He said nothing, but held her hand. Then, a moment later, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Talking into her hair, he said, “There are a hundred answers to that question, Kaylee. And every one of them valid and worth saying. But would you believe them?”

“Maybe.”

“If you were told by someone that you’d get hurt if you went to work today, would you listen to that person and not go to work?”

She lifted her head from his shoulder, meeting his still, soft blue eyes. “It depends on who it was.”

“Only a very trusted friend would be able to convince you to stay home, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anyone in Riverline that you can call a really close, trusted friend?”

She stared down at his jacket, thinking. “Lois cares for me, but she has her family. I have friends back home. Good, trustworthy friends. But, no, no one living in Riverline I would call a really trusted friend.”

She dared a look into his face, to somehow measure his sincerity. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, in the examination room, where the lights were coldly fluorescent, his features looked pale and drawn. The expression was of worry.

Eli was fast becoming the only trusted friend she had here, a thought that tightened her chest and yet didn’t sit well. “The job was the only thing that brought me here,” she said. “My counselor found the house I rent and the job, too. I just took it all.”

“So you haven’t seen your friends back home yet?”

“I called a couple when I first moved to Riverline. I promised I’d go down for a visit soon.”

She felt his grip tighten. “But you haven’t. Why?”

She tried to lift her shoulders to shrug her answer, but he held her tight.

“So you may not even listen to a trusted friend if they warn you, right?”

She lifted her shoulders. “I’d listen. I would respect them that much.” She paused. “But…I would probably go to work. I need the money and it would have to make very clear sense to me not to go.”

Eli pulled her back into his arms and held her there, snugly. His words didn’t make sense. For instance, why did he avoid the issue of God? Why didn’t he use this moment to evangelize? Surprise settled into her as she realized that maybe she was ready to hear Eli’s thoughts on God.

But there were no words for her. Instead, Eli held her close and she could feel his rapid heartbeat, his shallow breathing and what she could only describe as his shaking body.

Then she felt his lips on her hair, warm, touching, almost loving. A gentle gift that left her heart pounding as fast as his was.

“You look a mess,” Jenn announced as Kaylee and Eli returned to the center. All three stood at the entrance to the gym, but with the mop in hand, Jenn was in the middle of a battle with the water that had spread across the gym floor.

Thankfully, she looked as if she was winning. She smiled at Kaylee. “But I’m glad they didn’t keep you overnight.”

Kaylee turned away. “I’ll get another mop,” she said, also thankful.

“Whoa!” Jenn answered her. Kaylee turned. Both Eli and her boss were standing there. While Jenn just gaped at her, Eli scowled.

“You’re in no shape to do any work,” he said.

“I can’t just leave Jenn with this mess!”

“It’s half done, now, and I can help her.”

Kaylee stepped forward. “I wasn’t hurt that bad,” she argued back. “I bumped my head and the shock I got barely hurt.” She wiggled her fingers. “See? Everything’s normal.”

Eli’s scowl deepened. “I disagree. Especially since we don’t know how the accident happened in the first place. It could have easily been a deliberate act and whether against you or Jenn, it doesn’t matter. You were hurt and you’re better off going home.”

“It was just an accident,” she insisted.

Jenn stepped between them, still tucking the mop under her arm as she lifted both hands. She looked at Eli then at Kaylee. “No, it wasn’t an accident.”

E
li and Kaylee cut short their argument to stare at Jenn.

She led them into the hall, stopping at the cleaning room. “I did it.”

“How?” Kaylee asked. “Why?”

Jenn laughed self-consciously. “It wasn’t to kill you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I pulled the dryer out in order to clean behind it. I didn’t want you doing it because you’re still not strong enough.”

Kaylee opened her mouth to protest, but Jenn held up her hand. “And I knew if I told you what I was doing, you’d get defensive.” She turned to Eli. “The town has agreed to buy the center another washer and dryer. This pair is on its last legs. I’m even allowed to pick the set out. I’ve ordered them from the catalogue and they were supposed to be delivered tomorrow.”

“So why did you loosen the wires at the back instead of unplugging it?”

“I didn’t. I meant to unplug it, but the phone rang and I left it. Then I forgot.” She faced Kaylee again, looking stricken. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize the wires were loose and the machine posed a hazard. I’d have never left it like that. I feel awful.”

Kaylee automatically reached out to rub her boss’s arm. “It’s okay. But the wires, how did they get so loose? Eli says the ground is off and another live wire was touching the outside.”

“That dryer has been vibrating all over the room for years. It’s as though something inside is out of balance. It’s worse than the washer, believe me. I came in one morning last year and found it jammed up against the door. I could hardly get into the room. It’s as if the thing has a mind of its own.”

Though she didn’t feel like smiling, Kaylee did so anyway. “But I don’t remember you telling me about getting a new washer and dryer.”

Jenn offered a sheepish look. “That’s my fault again. I didn’t tell you, but I did put the memo from the council in your box. You didn’t see it?”

She shook her head. “The only thing in my box was my check.”

Jenn frowned. “I should have photocopied it. Drat. I need that memo, too, for my files. One councillor wants to rescind the offer, saying he didn’t sign it and I know his initials were on the paper. I wonder where it is.” She strode out of the room and down into the office, Kaylee and Eli following her.

After a hasty search, she found it. The desk beside where she’d awoken after getting shocked, Kaylee noted. She’d grabbed that very same memo and shoved it on the desk after it had fluttered down on her head. But the desk wasn’t assigned to anyone.

Eli lifted his brows. “I put that up there. It fell off when I laid Kaylee down.”

“Hmm,” Jenn murmured. “I was sure I put it in your box. Oh, well, we have it now and you aren’t too badly hurt. But you’re not working tonight. Your man here can take you home.”

Kaylee opened her mouth to protest the term Jenn used, but after spying Jenn’s smug smile, decided not to invite more mischief. She shut her mouth. Eli wasn’t her man. And he wasn’t looking for a permanent home here in Riverline or anywhere in Canada for that matter. So making him
her man
was just looking for heartache.

“Let’s go,” Eli said, taking her arm. Despite her internal rebuke, his touch felt good and she found herself leaning in close to him. “I can come back and help Jenn.”

“Thanks.” Was she really heading for another big sorrow in her life? Just him touching her arm sent shivers of excitement through her. She liked Eli’s gentle touch.

Whoa.
This whole situation was getting out of hand, Kaylee decided as she thanked Jenn with a small smile. She’d lost both parents and her beloved sister. Now she was looking at another painful heartache if she thought that anything could come out of this curious relationship she’d developed with Eli.

Besides, hadn’t he, in the backyard, warned her all men were alike? She’d be crazy not to heed his words.

She had to do something, force him to leave before she got hurt. So what could she do?

There was one way. She could go home. Leave Riverline.

The rain eased over the next twelve hours. And despite the flooded basements and washed-out roads around the area, the late morning air held a cleansed feel. Kaylee had already been out for her walk. She was gaining more endurance, more strength. Her mind slipped back to last night when Eli refused to allow her to work.

She should have helped.

Having seen her return, Lois had already called her to ask if her basement was still dry, adding that the River Road had crumbled in one spot.

Kaylee was due to go back to work that afternoon, and as she set down the phone, she found she was asking herself one question.

Would Eli come with her? He’d spent a week in Riverline and, despite all the difficult issues and the terrible accident, too, she’d enjoyed his company. Last night, he’d been a thankful addition to the cleanup crew, but it wouldn’t be long before he’d hear from his investigator about Phoebe. Then he’d be gone. If she didn’t give him a reason to leave before that. Like leaving first.

Her heart squeezed. She quickly shut the front door and locked it, preparing to walk to work.

Yet as she trotted down her narrow driveway, another question lingered. Was Eli hanging around to find Noah? She’d heard through the center’s grapevine that Hec Haines had claimed to have met Eli and yet she’d heard that Eli denied it.

There was only one answer to Hec’s mistake.

Noah was in Riverline.

Why hadn’t Eli mentioned that to her? Was he trying to protect her? Or was the rumor just that, a rumor?

To counter her crazy heartbeat, she straightened her shoulders.
You’ll keep me safe, won’t You, Lord? Please?

She picked up the pace, wondering briefly if she was running away from her prayer or from Noah. Or from the feelings for Eli growing within her?

Running where, though? Like Lois, her aunt had called that morning, anxious to hear how she’d weathered the storm. She also wanted to know if she was coming down before Christmas, or even during the holidays, for that matter. Kaylee had heard the sadness in her voice, the concern, too, and it had cut into her.

“Kaylee!”

She looked up. Coming down the cul-de-sac was Eli. She stopped and watched him. A week ago she’d fainted, thinking he was Noah. But now, seeing Eli every day, she could see the differences in the two men. Eli’s walk was straighter, his movements more fluid, his frame stronger. Yes, he was more tanned, like she had suspected that evening on her back deck when the setting sun tricked her.

When she turned, she noticed his face light up. Seeing his reaction, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

And found herself smiling at him. “Hi. Not too tired this afternoon?”

He glanced at his watch. “Not quite noon yet. And, no, I’m not tired.” He rolled his left shoulder. “Though I’m a bit sore from mopping most of the night.”

“I’m really grateful that you stayed and helped. You didn’t have to.”

“I was glad to. I just hope no more came in after we left.”

“I don’t expect so. Lois says the town workers have been out all night, so I expect that they sandbagged everything and checked out the back of the gym.”

“I hope I didn’t embarrass myself with my sandbagging skills. I may be a bit rusty.”

“When did you do it last?”

He grinned. “Never.”

She chuckled. “I’m sure it was fine.”

His smile dissolved away. “Someone had moved those sandbags from where you said they were. Recently, I’d say, by the stain left. It caused the water from the downspout to drain straight under the gym door.”

“Did you tell Jenn?”

“No. I didn’t want the kids to get into any more trouble than they were already.”

“Like Officer Reading’s boy?”

“From what you say, he can get into enough trouble without any help from me.”

“True.” She wanted to ask him about his conversation with Hec Haines. But the right words wouldn’t form in her mouth. Should she be repeating rumors? Accusing him of keeping things from her? Did she even want to know his answer?

No.

They fell into step along the sidewalk. For several minutes, they walked in a comfortable silence. Funny how he’d come into her routine and settled in so easily.

“Have you heard from your investigator?” Even as she spoke those words, she regretted them. He was ready to leave town on his quest at any moment.

Why had she asked such an obvious and painful question in the first place?

Eli didn’t want to talk about his investigator. Not with Kaylee. And not now.

“Did you go for a walk this morning?”

She nodded and kept up her brisk pace.

“Was that wise? You were hurt quite badly last night.”

“The fresh air helped my headache. Besides, I’ve got that list of things to look out for. It didn’t say to take it easy.”

“But that would be for a person of normal good health.”

“You sound like my aunt. She called this morning to see how I weathered the storm.”

“Did you tell her about last night?”

“No. I didn’t want to worry her.” She slowed her walk, adding, “She asked me when I was coming home for a visit. Two weeks ago, I was so sure I didn’t want to deal with my hometown and rehash everything that has happened to each person I speak to, but now I don’t know. I can’t bring back Trisha. I want to put all of this behind me. Start afresh. And if that means clearing the air in my hometown, so be it.”

He digested her quiet, anxious words. She should go home. She wanted to. Her aunt, her only living relative as far as he knew, should see her. Her friends, too, could help her.

Where would that leave him?

Selfishly wanting her to stay, that’s where. Phoebe had been bang on with her accusation.

And what would Noah do? Discover that there were more people who meant something to Kaylee, more people to torment and hurt with his revenge?

He grit his teeth.
I’m not being selfish, Phoebe.

At the end of her street, they turned left. Ahead, numerous orange pylons indicated where the road had become unstable and, several meters beyond that, a sign pointed to a detour. Curious townspeople had come out to inspect the road for themselves.

“River Road is impassible,” he said, glad for the change of his focus. “I had to cut through the park down by the river. It was nearly underwater, too.”

They picked their way around the pylons toward the park. The wind had stripped the trees. Now the bright red maple leaves lay slick and matted in bold splotches along the road.

At the end, they saw the damage in the full light of day. A huge gouge of chewed up asphalt served now as the lining for a pool of rainwater. Several workers were busying pumping it dry. Along the other way, leaves smothered the storm drains and the water was backing up along the curbs.

“This way,” Eli said, guiding Kaylee around the hole toward the park. The storm had flattened what annuals had survived the frost of a few nights ago. They had to step onto the wet grass in several spots to avoid large puddles. Eli automatically glanced at Kaylee’s feet. Like most others out, she wore rain boots, the same secondhand cracked gum rubbers she’d worn the night before.

All he had were his hiking boots and he could feel the dampness seeping in between his toes.

Toward the end, the park rose slightly and widened. They could see that most of the small trees and shrubs had fared better here. And thankfully, so did the short pedestrian bridge over the creek.

Eli could hear the rushing water as they rounded the path toward the bridge. With his gaze, he followed the swollen creek’s meandering line to where it cut under River Road. After that, it wandered off to the far side of the playground and the rec center.

Still, the town workers were using its close proximity as a drain. Behind them, the steady drone of Wajax pumps filled the air.

Kaylee stepped on the leaf-strewn bridge, slowing down to peer over the railing. Eli stood back a moment.

“Lois said this creek normally dries up by fall. Look at it now.”

Eli watched her instead. To anyone else, he imagined she looked fine, without any great concerns in her life. But there were concerns and the biggest was his brother. He could see the carefully disguised pain in her eyes.

Was Noah responsible for what happened last night?

As Eli started toward her, his cell phone whirred. Reaching into his jacket pocket for it, he paused a few meters from the edge of the bridge. “Hello?”

“Eli, it’s me.”

Roger, his investigator. Eli’s heart hammered as he glanced up to see Kaylee shift to other side of the bridge. The dark, thick shrubs behind her framed her slim form. “What did you find out?”

“Good news.” Roger said. “Several women matching the descriptions you gave me were seen southeast of Tallahassee, Florida. At a campground.”

He perked up. “Are you sure? Were there any men with them?”

“I hired a couple who’ve helped me out before to check on them. But so far, no sign of any men.”

“They usually don’t travel without a man in the group. No one who fits Noah’s description?”

“No men period. Just a couple of children. From what I’ve learned, one of the women fits Phoebe’s description.”

Eli’s heart drummed in his ears, drowning out the distant sound of the pumps and the rush of water ahead. He could hardly breathe. This was good news. Great news! Locating The Farm in Maine had been a blessing for sure, but he hadn’t been able to confirm Phoebe was still with them, not until meeting Kaylee.

Now he had a woman fitting her description. It had to be her!

“Can you fly down?” Roger asked.

A blur of movement in his peripheral vision and he looked up.

Kaylee was gone. A thin line had been drawn through the wet carpet of fallen leaves, from the center of the bridge to the far side.

“Eli, you there?”

He ignored his investigator. “Kaylee?”

No answer. Eli shoved his phone into his pocket. He hurried onto the bridge in time to see the bright blue of her jacket sweep under the rushing water below.

A hand reached out, wildly grasping for the rocks that lined the high sides of the creek.