A Firefighter's Ultimate Duty Page 4

  Back in the bedroom, she tore open the closet door. At least half of Sophie’s clothes were gone as was her red suitcase.

  Her legs feeling heavy, as if she was dragging weights, she walked over to the sliding glass door. Last night it had been locked. She’d checked it when she’d looked in on Sophie just before finally going to bed.

  She reached for the handle, knowing what she was going to find. Sure enough. It slid open without a sound.

  Daisy ran outside onto the wooden deck and down the steps. Heedless that she was barefoot, she then ran across the cold brittle grass in her backyard and opened the door of the one-car garage behind their house.

  Her car was gone.

  And she felt as if she might faint. And maybe she swayed. But then there was a strong arm cupping her elbow.

  “Steady,” Blade said.

  “She’s gone,” she said. “She took the car and she’s...oh, God, my daughter has run away.”

  Chapter 4

  “Where would she go? Does she have friends who would help her? Access to money? If not, where could—”

  “Stop,” Daisy yelled, putting her hands over her ears. She could not think. Could not breathe. Certainly couldn’t answer Blade Savick’s rapid questioning.

  “Okay,” he said, both palms in the air. “I’m sorry.”

  She put a hand to her forehead. “No, I’m sorry.” He was a firefighter, no doubt trained to spring into action immediately. “I just need a minute,” she added. For her head to catch up to her heart, which was racing in her chest.

  He’d asked where Sophie would go. That answer was maybe the easiest. “She’s on her way back to Denver. She was unhappy about the move.”

  “Okay, good,” he said. “You can probably trace her cell phone.”

  She shook her head. “Long story but no cell phone right now.”

  “GPS in your vehicle?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “You think she could find her way back to Denver with just that?” Blade asked.

  “She can also read a paper map.” Daisy had made sure of that years ago. “There’s one in the car. And we just made the drive a couple days ago.”

  “Oh, honey,” Jane said, putting an arm around Daisy and squeezing her tight. “Let’s go back inside.”

  She let her friend lead her back to the warm kitchen where minutes ago everything had seemed wonderful. When Jane pulled out a chair for her, she sank into it.

  “Would she have much money on her?” Jane asked.

  “No. Probably less than a hundred dollars. Most of what she earned working part-time at the bakery was spent at the mall down the block.”

  “Credit card?” Blade asked.

  He might give his sixteen-year-old daughter a credit card, but that wasn’t her mode of parenting. “No.”

  “You may want to check your cards,” he said.

  No way. Sophie would never take her credit card without permission. But then again, she’d never have thought that she’d have taken the car and stolen away in the middle of the night, either. She grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter, and it took her just seconds to verify what Blade had seemed to know.

  “My Visa is gone,” she said. “I can’t believe this.”

  “It’s good news,” he said. “Something to track.”

  He was right. Her laptop was at the other end of the table. She reached for it and within seconds had the website pulled up. She entered her password and went to pending transactions. There were three. Two for gas: $63.21 in Olympia, Washington, and $65.09 in Spokane, Washington. One for $6.19 at McDonald’s in Ellensburg, Washington. She stared at the information. Then suddenly grabbed for her purse a second time and dug for her receipts. Spread them out on the table. “The first stop was in Olympia for gas. The second stop at McDonald’s was in Ellensburg, Washington. The third stop was for gas in Spokane, Washington. We stopped at all those places coming here. I think she’s doing our trip, just in reverse order.”

  “How would she remember that?” Blade asked, his tone questioning.

  “She doesn’t have to,” Daisy said. “It’s all written down. I keep a trip log. I track all my stops. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, traveling with my mom. It’s always in the console of my vehicle. Sophie never seemed to be paying attention to what I was doing,” she added dully.

  Her kid had fooled her. It wasn’t a good feeling.

  “She has your trip log and you have your receipts. You both know her next stop,” Jane said, her lawyer mind working fast.

  She guessed that was right. She lined up her receipts in order. Picked up the right one. “Her next stop will be just east of Missoula, Montana.”

  “What time do you think she got on the road?” Blade asked.

  Daisy looked at her computer. “She got gas in Olympia just after four this morning. That means she probably left here around three.”

  “We were up until one,” Jane said.

  Daisy could just imagine how frustrated Sophie must have been. She’d been planning her escape and it had likely seemed to her that her mother and Jane were never going to go to sleep. “She probably waited to make sure we were going to stay asleep,” she said.

  “Maybe she slept some herself,” Blade said.

  “I hope so.” Otherwise, her daughter was going to be a very tired driver. And tired drivers made mistakes.

  “I should call the police,” she said. “Right? That’s what I should do?” They could intercept Sophie. “They can be waiting for her at the gas station.”

  “Maybe,” Jane said. “I’m not certain how that’s going to go,” she added, her voice tentative.

  Daisy sighed. She knew what her friend was trying to tell her. The police could intervene without incident. Sophie was just five-three and 110 pounds. But what about afterward when Sophie was back here and they both had to live with the fact that their relationship had deteriorated to the point where police intervention was required?

  Jane held up her keys. “Let’s you and I go. We can do this.”

  “We’ll be chasing her all the way to Denver,” Daisy said, verbalizing her earlier realization. “If she left at three, she’s already almost six hours ahead of us.”

  “I’ll drive fast. She’ll still get there a few hours ahead of us. But we’ll find her and we’ll figure out a way to fix this and then come back here,” Jane said.

  Daisy really loved her friend. “You can’t do that. You’re prepping witnesses for a big trial. The biggest of your career.”

  “I don’t care about that,” Jane said.

  “I do. I’ll rent a car and go myself.”

  “And be back to your new job by Monday?” Jane asked. “There’s no way.”

  And new employees who worked one day but unexpectedly couldn’t come back to work generally didn’t keep those new jobs very long. She felt a pain in her stomach. She’d worked really hard to get this job. To get this new chance for her and Sophie. But finding her daughter was the most important thing.

  “Maybe I can help,” Blade said. He’d been quietly listening to her and Jane. But she hadn’t forgotten that he was there. His physical presence loomed large in her small kitchen.

  “My friend has a plane. If he’s available, I think he’d be happy to help us. We identify the airport closest to Missoula, Montana. Once we land, we rent a car. Then we’re in position to intercept your daughter when she stops for gas.”

  “But...” Daisy stopped. It could work. The police would not need to be involved. She wouldn’t have to chase her daughter all the way back to Denver. Sophie would be safe. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You didn’t ask. I offered.”

  “Why?” she asked. She wasn’t used to getting a whole lot of help.

  “I’ve got a sixteen-year-old daughter. I think I’ve got some idea of h
ow you’re feeling right now.”

  Daisy hated owing anybody anything. But Sophie’s safety was on the line. She was a good driver but inexperienced.

  “It’s a good idea,” Jane said.

  Jane had known of this man. She wouldn’t say it was a good idea if she didn’t think he was trustworthy. “If you’re sure,” Daisy said, looking at him.

  He pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket. “I’m calling my friend now.” He walked into the living room.

  “Oh, honey,” Jane said. “I wish I could make this better.”

  “We’ll get through it,” Daisy said. How many times had she said that over the past few weeks?

  Blade was back. “I got us a ride. He’s going to meet us at Rainbow Field.”

  She picked up her purse. Took four steps toward the door. Stopped when he held up a hand. “You might want to get a coat. It’s cold outside.”

  Her daughter was out there, somewhere, in the cold. But maybe she could take a minute to put on jeans and a sweater and brush her teeth and hair.

  She did all that in less than five minutes. Then she put on her coat and a pair of short flat-heeled boots.

  “I’ll lock up your house,” Jane said. “Call me when you find her.”

  Daisy appreciated Jane’s attempt to stay positive. She needed to do the same. “When,” she repeated.

  * * *

  He’d returned a scarf, albeit with an ulterior motive, and ended up in the middle of a family drama. But the look in Daisy’s pretty blue eyes when she’d realized that her daughter had booted it out of town had scared him. He’d seriously been worried that he was going to be picking her up off the ground. But she’d rallied. Even the realization that her kid had stolen her credit card had been taken in stride.

  It was a stroke of luck that the kid was following their previous route. Without cell phone navigation to guide her, Blade figured that likely made the kid feel safe and on target.

  He’d been supergrateful when Jamie had confirmed that he could leave the paperwork behind. Knowing his killer schedule, Blade had drilled him on whether he truly had the time. His friend had brushed off the concern. Are you kidding, this is my chance to meet the elusive Scarf Woman. And for just a second, Blade had hesitated. But the need to help Daisy, and his inherent belief that Jamie would never step over a friend, had him quickly accepting the help. Now they were less than ten minutes from the airfield.

  “Our pilot is Jamie Weathers,” Blade said. “He’s been my friend since grade school.”

  “Is he a firefighter?” she asked.

  “No. Physician. Intellectually superior to most of us and a born fixer. Wants to fix everything. Bodies. Situations. Relationships. If your boss had been more seriously injured from his fall yesterday, you might have met him. He’s a flight doc, does emergency medicine in the field.”

  “I’m so grateful that we didn’t need him,” she said. “It was—”

  Her cell phone buzzed and she snatched it up. Studied the screen. Let out a sigh.

  “Not your daughter?” he guessed.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “My boss, actually. Maybe we conjured him up with our conversation. Anyway, he’s awake and apparently ready for some work.”

  “It’s Saturday,” he said.

  “I’m not sure that makes a difference to him. He wants a follow-up note sent to all employees.”

  “Just tell him what is going on. I’m sure he’ll give you a pass.”

  She gave him a look. “That’s the last thing I need is for people at my new job to realize that my home life is falling apart. No pun intended. You know, falling.” She closed her eyes. “Can’t believe I’m making jokes at a time like this.”

  “Stress relief,” he said. “But unless you pushed your boss, I don’t see how any part of yesterday was your fault.”

  She smiled, maybe for the first time that morning. “I didn’t push him, but for the few minutes that I was alone with him on that ledge, I wanted to clobber him. Which isn’t that nice considering he was unconscious for part of the time.”

  “Is this something that Hosea Pratt does with all new employees?” He turned into the airfield gate and drove down the long lane surrounded by green grass on both sides. There was no control tower at Rainbow Field. Just one large hangar filled with small planes and one runway to take off and land on.

  “I don’t know.” She looked around. “It’s pretty quiet out here.”

  “It’s quiet everywhere in Knoware this time of year. Wait until tourist season.”

  “Maybe we’ll still be here,” she said, her voice heavy with contemplation.

  “Why wouldn’t you be?” he asked.

  “I need to work. I need to get Sophie settled down and settled in somewhere. If I can’t manage both of those things, I’ll need to do...” Her voice trailed off.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Something,” she finished. “Is that your friend?” she asked, pointing to the left.

  “Yeah, that’s him.” Jamie was walking around his small plane, doing a visual inspection.

  Blade turned into the parking lot. There were seven other vehicles already there. He parked, and Daisy had her door open before he shut the vehicle off. He understood. There was no time to waste.

  Jamie looked up as they approached. He was wearing sunglasses so Blade was not able to see his eyes. And he was doing a great job of keeping his face expression free.

  “Jamie Weathers, this is Daisy Rambler. Daisy, Jamie.” In his line of work, one learned to be quick with the introductions.

  “Thank you for taking us,” Daisy said. She extended her hand toward Jamie.

  “My pleasure,” Jamie said. “I’m sorry for the bad circumstances and all that.”

  “I appreciate that,” Daisy said.

  “I’m ready if you are,” Jamie said. He opened the door of the plane and then stepped back, allowing Blade to assist Daisy into the four-seater. While she was getting settled into a seat in the second row, he turned to Blade.

  “Nice,” he said quietly. “I’m surprised Marcus gave up so easily.”

  Blade was simply grateful that he had. They hadn’t fought over a girl since they were fifteen, and he didn’t want to start now. “What’s the flight plan?” he asked.

  “Straight east, 468 miles, give or take a couple,” Jamie said. “Winds are light, weather is clear.” He looked at his watch. “It’s 9:40. Trip will take a little more than two hours. I think you could be on the ground and close to the gas station you’re going to by noon.”

  “By noon?” Daisy asked. She’d gotten settled in her seat and had evidently heard at least the last portion of their conversation.

  “Will that work?” Jamie asked.

  She picked up her smartphone. “The stop is roughly ten hours from our new house. If she left at three this morning, that means that she’ll be there about one. We should be in plenty of time.”

  “Remember, you lose an hour. We’re Pacific time, Missoula is Mountain time,” Jamie said.

  Daisy’s face fell. “It’s going to be tight.”

  “We’ll make it,” Blade said. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  “So, you’re from Denver,” Jamie said, once they were airborne.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “And you’re working for Pratt Sports Spot?” he asked.

  She appreciated the effort, she really did. But there was no way that she could make casual conversation. Not when her head was so full of worry. She was just about to say that when she saw Blade turn slightly, catch his friend’s attention and shake his head.

  The questions stopped. And no one talked. Jamie flew the plane. Blade sat erect and watchful in the seat next to him, and she used her phone to compose a draft of the email that Hosea wanted sent. She kept it short and positive and w
hen she was finished, she sent it to Tom Howard for review.

  Then she tried to shut her mind down. But it was a mostly futile effort. Her daughter was a runaway. And a thief.

  Ugly words. Words that she’d have sworn would never describe her kid.

  Was it possible that she really didn’t know her daughter at all? That was a sobering and sickening thought. She knew the last few weeks had been rough, but had she been oblivious to other signs that she and Sophie were living in separate universes? Connected by blood but little else?

  No. She rejected that. She knew her daughter. And while this was certainly a bad thing, she was still a good kid. Maybe even brave. It took some guts to steal away from the house in the middle of the night and start a thousand-mile trip. And she was smart enough to remember that Daisy would have recorded all the stops in her travel log.

  She tried to hang on to the idea that Sophie was smart. A teenager traveling by herself was vulnerable. Another driver might pass her on the road and realize that she was alone. When she stopped for gas, others could see the same thing. Was she smart enough to be watching for that?

  And it didn’t matter how smart she was if she had car trouble. Or if she simply got too tired and fell asleep.

  Daisy closed her eyes and leaned her head against the small window. She was weary. Had been pushing herself for weeks to pack, move and start a new job. Had thought last night as she’d sipped her wine in her new home, with her longtime friend at her side, that maybe she was over the worst of it.

  She was a damn fool.

  Blade turned to look at her. “How you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m okay,” she said. It was easier to lie than to admit that she was barely hanging on.

  He nodded. “We’ll find her. We won’t stop until we do. I promise.”

  “If I haven’t said it, I’m very grateful for what you’re doing.”

  “Like I said, I’ve got a daughter. I know how I’d be feeling in your shoes.”

  “Does she go to Knoware High?” Daisy asked.