Not Quite Forever
Page 86

“We have every officer out at this time, Dr. Eddy. We have a description of your mother’s car. We’re looking.”
“Where are you looking?”
The phone rang, distracting her again.
Walt turned around.
Larry nodded toward the door. “C’mon. We’ll look.”
The plows had been through to his parents’ turnoff, but the road to the house was covered in over a foot of snow. They’d been told that an officer had knocked on the door, but there was no evidence of a car passing.
That scared Walt even more.
Larry inched the truck to the house.
Inside was dead silent, the red light on the answering machine blinked.
He heard his own calls, felt his panic all over again with each one.
Walt grabbed the throws from off the backs of the sofas, piled a bag full of water and ready-to-eat food, and shoved them into Larry’s truck.
“They could have missed the turnoff at night.”
“Hard to believe Mom would have missed it.”
“Unless she’d fallen asleep and Dakota missed it.”
Walt agreed with Larry, and they headed farther up the mountain. The snow was even thicker, and the falling rate would give them another six inches before noon.
They made it to a blockade, indicating that the plows hadn’t gone through in some time.
Each hour that passed killed part of Walt’s soul. He called Brenda every thirty minutes only to learn that she’d heard nothing.
Some of the chaos at the police station had mellowed when they returned there just after noon.
Panic moved to anger and Walt made sure he had the attention of as many officers as he could.
When the clerk started in with the we’re looking spiel, Walt lost it.
He slammed his hand on the counter. “My pregnant fiancée and my mother are out there. My father is recovering from heart surgery. We’re looking isn’t good enough!”
Finally, a sergeant came forward. “I’m Sergeant Mills. Let me show you where we’re directing our search.”
A map in a back room had colored stickpins dotting all over it. “We’ve been patrolling the main road, searched the road leading to your parents’ home. The electricity is out all over the west side of the mountain, and we’ve been all over that area helping residents get out, or get in.”
Walt studied the map, pointed above the turnoff. “The road is closed up here, when did that happen?”
“After midnight.”
“Has anyone been up there since? We didn’t get through.”
“The plows are going through within the hour. If your family missed their turn, there is another one a quarter mile up. Could they have taken that?”
“Anything is possible.”
Walt ran a hand through his hair.
“I know you’re frustrated. We’re using every resource right now. All emergency vehicles are out in the storm. Power is out everywhere, people have been stranded in cars overnight. We’re hoping the snow slows down before sunset. If not, then first thing in the morning we’ll start again, get a bird in the air and see if we can find them from above.”
Walt thought of Trent, his resources. “How many choppers do you have?”
“Two.”
“I can get more.”
“We might not need them.”
Might wasn’t good enough.
He put a phone call in to his friend.
Both Dakota and JoAnne huddled in the front of the car when they turned on the car to heat it up. The sun might have been up, but the temperature was still bitter cold. Dakota had managed maybe an hour of sleep in the night. JoAnne did marginally better.
About the time the engine warmed enough to blow hot air, Dakota would blow the horn a few times. Three short, three long, three short. If there was one prepper code known, it was SOS. She only did it while the engine ran, afraid she’d kill the battery and they’d lose their ability to warm the interior of the car.
For the first time since Dakota had met JoAnne, the woman appeared her age. The makeup was long gone, her hair flat from the couple of trips outside the car to relieve herself.
When their teeth finally stopped chattering, JoAnn followed her blank stare with a shudder. “I really hope Walt doesn’t tell his father that we’re missing.”
“Your son is smarter than that.”
JoAnne sipped water and continued to stare out the window. “He was such a bright child growing up. Walter and I knew he’d be a wonderful physician.”
“He is. Monica has told me plenty of stories. It takes a special human being to give of themselves as much as he does.”
JoAnne actually cracked a smile, but kept her thoughts to herself.
“He thinks he disappointed you and your husband.”
She snapped out of her trance. “What?”
Dakota wasn’t sure if she should be saying any of this, but what could it hurt? “He didn’t follow your husband into cardiology.”
JoAnne’s lips formed an O. She sighed. “Well. I suppose at first we might have been. But Walter and I knew by the way he craved travel and excitement that taking over the practice wasn’t something Walt would do. We’re not disappointed. Though I can see why he might think that. We worry that his quest to save the world will put him in danger.”
Dakota rubbed their baby through her own skin. “I worry about that a little, too. I have to believe that he’ll make the right choices when he’s playing doctor.”