Читать книгу Last Resort - Hannah Alexander - Страница 8

Noelle fastened her seatbelt and settled the thermos beside her as Nathan pulled out of her driveway. She fished her cell phone out from her purse then punched in Cecil’s home number. When a stranger answered, she asked about the status of the search and was told Carissa had not yet been found.

“Thanks.” She disconnected. “Nothing yet.”

“We can try again in a little while.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Oh, Carissa, where are you?

Nathan’s warm hand touched her arm. “You okay?”

She nodded as tears stung behind her closed lids. “I’m fine. Carissa will be, too.”

His hand tightened. “You know that for sure?”

She opened her eyes and looked at him, hearing the odd note in his voice. “I’m praying it’s true.” She hadn’t stopped praying since Nathan had broken the news to her. Actually, she’d been praying before that.

He nodded and returned his attention to the road.

She knew this drive well, all the rolling hills, stark cliffs and misty valleys that stretched from Springfield to Branson on Highway 65, and then west on 76 to the Hideaway turnoff. These wooded Ozark hills kept their secrets well.

She closed her eyes, once again picturing her young cousin’s smiling face, her mischievous blue eyes and shoulder-length ringlets of soft brown hair. Oh, Carissa.

Tears smarted Noelle’s eyes again, and she straightened in her seat. “Tell me about the search. Where have they looked? How many are helping?”

“No one has rested,” Nathan said. “Not even Aunt Pearl. They’ve combed Cedar Hollow from end to end. The police, the forest rangers, even some local guardsmen were called to help.”

“So you’re saying they called out the guards before they called me?” That stung, and yet she knew this wasn’t the time to allow her personal feelings to become involved. She’d called the Coopers last night from the store, and left a message on their machine.

“Sorry.”

“How’s Aunt Pearl holding up?” Noelle asked. Her sixty-seven-year-old great-aunt Pearl lived on the original family homestead, about a quarter mile from Cecil’s home. Cecil and his family lived in the same sprawling two-story house in which he had grown up, halfway between Pearl’s house and the sawmill. Ordinarily, a sawmill would need to be situated closer to civilization, but Cooper’s had been in operation for over fifty years, with an excellent reputation. It never lacked for business.

“I’ve hardly seen anything of her,” Nathan said. “She’s obviously upset.”

“How’s her heart?”

“She’s strong as an ox, you know that. I wouldn’t be surprised to discover she’s covered the whole property on foot herself.”

“Surely there have been places the searchers have missed,” Noelle said. “Nobody could possibly cover all two thousand acres in one night. Who, besides the guards and police, is searching?”

“Thirty people from regional search-and-rescue squads, plus the Cooper sawmill employees. Dane Gideon came over with his ranch hands before I left this morning, and as the word’s spread, the churches got involved. Everyone has combed the woods as thoroughly as possible, then started over again. When I left this morning, it looked as if there were more people than trees in that forest.”

Noelle felt a rush of gratitude for the strong community that had always been a part of Hideaway, and the surrounding countryside, and once again tears filled her eyes. “And family?”

“Cecil stays out there all the time. He won’t eat, won’t even sit down for a short rest.”

Noelle could easily believe that. The paternal instinct ran strong in her cousin. “What about Melva?” she asked. Cecil’s second wife had always adored Carissa and Justin. Indeed, the family joked that Melva had married Cecil because she’d wanted to mother his children.

“She’s not holding up well at all,” Nathan said.

Noelle closed her eyes and willed herself not to let the tears fall. Why hadn’t they returned her call last night? She stayed up late waiting and praying, until she’d finally received assurance that everything would be okay. But now? Where was all that holy assurance now?

“Your sister’s been keeping a close eye on Melva,” Nathan said. “Typical Jill.”

Noelle sighed and turned her head to stare out the passenger window, across a rare open valley. “Jill didn’t call me.”

Nathan didn’t reply.

Noelle gave him a sharp glance. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Maybe you should have a talk with Jill when we get there.”

“Why?” She studied his expression. His attention remained on the road, hands at the ten and two position on the steering wheel, back straight, a sure sign he was covering. “Let me guess. She told everyone not to call me.”

He grimaced.

“She did!”

“She said you had a lot going on right now, and this would be too much for you.”

Noelle scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. She should have known better than to tell her sister about Joel’s return. Now Jill was all distressed, begging Noelle to scamper back home to Hideaway with her tail between her legs, like a whipped cur. Again. Jill to the rescue. Again. But Noelle didn’t need rescuing this time.

“She’s only concerned for your welfare,” he said.

“Don’t even start with that, Nathan. I’m thirty-six. She still sees me as a seven-year-old child who’s lost her mother. For Pete’s sake, that was twenty-nine years ago.” And Jill never seemed to remember that she’d lost her mother, too.

“She mentioned that you had a difficult time after the sawmill accident.”

“Sure I did. So did everyone else. It was shocking and horrible, and Jill didn’t even take time to grieve. She was too busy taking care of everyone else. Come on, Nathan, she’s pulling the big-sister act again. It isn’t healthy for her or anyone else. And besides, that accident was ten years ago. I wasn’t exactly in the best mental state at the time.”

Ten years ago, Noelle and Jill had lost their father and grandparents in an accident at the sawmill when a load of cedar logs had fallen off a flatbed truck, crushing them. Four years later, Cecil’s wife—Justin and Carissa’s mother—had suddenly left home, abandoning her family. Two years ago, a tornado had ripped through Cedar Hollow, barely sparing the homes and sawmill. Some people said Cedar Hollow was cursed. Sometimes, Noelle agreed.

From her peripheral vision, Noelle saw Nathan give her a brief glance. “You’ve lost weight,” he said.

“Thank you for noticing.”

“Haven’t been eating?”

She shook her head. “I needed to lose the weight anyway, but I guess I’ve been a little on edge the past couple of weeks, what with Joel back in town.”

There was an expressive silence, and she could have bitten her tongue. Apparently, Jill hadn’t shared that tidbit with Nathan.

“You didn’t tell me.” There was a note of accusation in his voice.

She felt an uncomfortable nudge of guilt. She reminded herself firmly that there was no reason to feel guilty. “Now you’re beginning to sound like Jill.”

“Okay, let me make sure I’m clear on this.” His voice bit with a hint of sarcasm. “Your ex-husband—who has proven in the past to be violent—has suddenly reappeared in Springfield. You’re nervous enough about it that you’ve lost your appetite, yet you don’t think it’s reasonable for anyone to become concerned?”

“I’m simply saying I don’t need more than one person overreacting to the crises in my life. I’m capable of taking care of them myself.” Okay, maybe she was overreacting. Yes, she and Nathan had renewed their friendship, and she valued that friendship highly, but she was answerable to no one but herself. These past few years of independence had given Noelle a sweet taste of freedom. She intended to guard that freedom with everything she had.

She glanced at Nathan’s profile, the even features, the high forehead, and resisted a pang of chagrin at the concern in his expression. “I’m telling you now, okay? And yes, I’ve lost some sleep over it. I just don’t think anyone else should have to worry.” Especially since she had landed herself in this mess to begin with. She didn’t intend to drag friends and family into the ugly aftermath of her past mistakes.

“Has he tried to contact you?”

She hesitated. “Let’s just say he’s made sure I know he’s back.”

“Please don’t tell me he knows where you’re living now.”

“He could easily find out if he wanted to, but he’s been coming into the store the past couple of weeks.”

Nathan’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “He’s been coming in? As in, more than once?”

“Twice when I was working, but he always purchased things, so it isn’t as if he’s harassing me.”

“Has he said anything to you?”

“He barely looked at me.” Okay, so it wasn’t completely objectionable to have Nathan concerned about her welfare.

“Do you think he’s up to something?”

“I can’t tell. Six years ago I was able to read him and know when to expect an outburst, but he’s been gone a long time. Now we’re strangers, and I don’t know what to expect.”

They rode in silence for a moment. During the divorce proceedings, which had been drawn out for eighteen excruciating months, Noelle had received several threats from Joel, along with a broken windshield. There had also been numerous anonymous telephone calls to her place of employment, where she’d worked as a nurse for a pediatric group, calls that ultimately had resulted in the loss of her job when the harassment had become too intense—Missouri’s status as a “right to fire” state hadn’t helped. Three of the five physicians in the group had requested her termination, with no reason needed.

Because of her past work record, she’d found it impossible to find another nursing position, which was her own fault. Testing positive for methamphetamines had cast an indelible smudge on her reputation, though she hadn’t touched drugs again. She only wished she’d never taken those pills the first time, had never fallen for Joel’s promise that they would “keep her alert.”

The situation with Joel had become so frightening that she’d requested a restraining order. She hadn’t received one, because she couldn’t prove her estranged husband was the culprit. During the final six months before the divorce hearing, she’d gone home to Hideaway and stayed with Jill. And her concerned older sister had stepped back into her “mommy” role, to the point of insisting that Noelle eat three healthy meals a day and attend church twice a week. It was then that Noelle had begun to seek God’s direction in earnest, for the first time in many years.

“You don’t think Joel’s sudden reappearance could have anything to do with Carissa’s disappearance, do you?” Nathan asked.

Noelle looked at him, startled. “Like what?”

“Would kidnapping be out of the question?”

“Kidnapping!”

“At this point I don’t know, but having met Joel a few times, and knowing what he’s done to you in the past, I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility. From all accounts, he’s a vindictive scoundrel who should be rotting behind bars.”

She blinked at him, startled by his adamancy. “But Carissa? After six years? I don’t think that’s likely.” And yet, what if…?

She glanced at Nathan’s profile again. Nathan Trask had a kind nature, which was obvious in his expression, in the laugh lines around his eyes. He was also an attractive man, with a high, broad forehead, dark-green eyes, dark-brown hair that he kept short and combed back. Right now, his usual five o’clock shadow had nearly become a beard, and his facial lines were ones of weariness. He had good reason to be cranky.

“Maybe I should be driving,” she said.

“I’m okay. The coffee helped.”

Sitting back, she tried to relax, and again thought about last night. She shivered.

“Cold?” Nathan reached toward the console for the heat dial.

“I’m…fine.” She folded her arms over her chest and tried to let the passing roadside beauty calm her—the bright yellow splashes of goldenrod against the deep red of autumn sumac, highlighted by sprays of purple asters.

It was no use. Her mind wouldn’t stop whirling with questions.

“Noelle?” Nathan said at last.

“Hmm?”

“What else is going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s something else you’re not telling me.”

She gave him a look of aggravation. Nathan Trask had always possessed an irritating ability to read her mind. “Why would you say—”

“Just tell me, okay? I’m not in the mood to dig it out of you.”

“Okay, fine.” He really was a grump today. And she shouldn’t be saying this. It would only invite more questions and cause more worry. Could she trust him not to share too much with Jill? “It’s nothing, really. I had a little episode last night, probably from low blood sugar, since I haven’t been eating a lot, and didn’t—”

“What kind of episode?”

She had his complete attention now. “Watch the road, would you?”

“I’m watching the road. Tell me what happened.”

Rats. She knew he’d get upset. For a few more seconds she stared out at the colorful roadside. Like Jill, Nathan had the “older sibling” complex. He tended to be bossy, and from the time the first of his two younger sisters was born, he had also tried to boss Noelle even though she was his age, and a neighbor rather than a sibling. She’d established her boundaries with him when she was about five. She didn’t intend to have to do so again.

Still, it wasn’t totally disagreeable to have Nathan so concerned about her.

“Okay,” he conceded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. What happened? How did you feel?”

“I felt very concerned for no reason,” she said, then glanced at him to make sure he was watching the road again. “You know how it is when something occurs to you, that seems so real, as though God has spoken?”

He glanced at her again. “That’s a lot more than just nerves or blood sugar.”

“Joel’s arrival is definitely a stressor,” she said.

There was a pause, then Nathan asked, “What time, exactly, did it happen?”

She frowned at him.

He met her gaze briefly, then looked away. “This may have everything to do with Carissa.”

She thought so, too, but why would he?

He took a deep breath and exhaled, then combed his fingers through his hair. The morning sun shining in through the window showed the lines around his eyes and the evidence of his lack of sleep and his worry. “What time did you have the attack? You said it was last night—was it after dark?”

“It was just after closing time.”

“You close at eight—which means this happened about the same time Carissa disappeared.”

“Yes.” She didn’t want to go there. Not yet. It was too soon and she wasn’t ready.

“You know what I’m talking about.” He braked when a car cut in front of him. “It’s as if you somehow knew something had happened to Carissa.”

“You can’t be serious.” Hypocrisy will get you nowhere, Noelle Cooper.

He nodded. The tightness around his mouth revealed his determination. He was going to discuss the subject no matter what she said.

“Nathan, I’m not psychic. I’m surprised a former pastor like you would suggest such a thing.”

“No, not psychic. But you’ve always been able to perceive things others don’t,” he said. “I remember you had dreams several days before your mother died.”

“You remember that? We were seven.”

“You told me about it, and it stuck with me. It scared me, because every time you had a dream after that, I was afraid someone would die.”

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest. Growing up as country neighbors, she and Nathan had ridden horses and bikes, hiked, explored caves, and wandered over the extensive acreage of the combined Cooper and Trask properties. They’d done homework together when they were old enough for homework. She’d shared her thoughts and dreams with him, and he’d remembered, after all this time.

“So you do know what I’m talking about,” he said.

“Just because I had dreams before Mom died doesn’t mean anything.”

“Remember that orange-and-white kitten of mine that got lost when we were ten? I told you about it, and you went right to it. I’d looked for at least two hours, and you found it in five minutes.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. This was just great. She was stuck in a moving vehicle halfway to Hideaway with Nathan Trask, who seemed to be very much in the mood for an argument.

She pointed to a sign. “There’s your turn. Focus on your driving for a few minutes, will you?”

He shot her a quick glance that said, “This subject is only tabled, not closed,” but made the turn in silence.