Page 62 of Beehives and Broken Heroes

Jo pinched her arm and pointed to her phone. Another text had come through.

Brandon: Where are you?

Jo looked out the window as they passed a mile marker, then whispered, “We just passed mile marker forty-three.”

Allie: Heading into town. Just passed mile marker 43.

Brandon: As soon as you can, get out of that vehicle and you run, and you don’t stop for nothing and no one.

Allie’s stomach twisted with nerves as she turned her phone to Jo. Allie tapped out a message on her phone and turned it for Jo to read: As soon as the car stops, open the door and run for it.

Jo looked about as sick as Allie felt, but she nodded.

Traffic came to a stop ahead of them, but instead of stopping, the driver went into a slow U-turn. Traffic wasn’t bad in the other direction; they could drive off no problem.

The turn was too wide in the SUV, and the driver had to go into reverse.

“Now!” Allie yelled.

Jo yanked on the handle, and the women jumped out of the car and down the embankment beside the road.

“Hey!” one of the men yelled.

Allie didn’t wait to see which one. She grabbed Jo’s hand and dragged her into the woods at the side of the road.

Chapter 20

Atext beeped through to Brandon’s phone. His service must be back. Andy was about to turn off the highway and back onto River Road leading back to the house. He reached for the phone and paused when he noticed that the traffic some yards down the highway heading back to Harvest Ranch was starting to slow.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the highway backed up before,” Cash said.

Andy turned on the radio to WHHR evening show, the night host was talking about the concert. “So, if you’re not already at the fairgrounds to watch River McKenzie’s show, stop what you’re doing and head on over. It’s promising to be . . . Folks, I have a traffic update for you. Looks like River McKenzie is making a huge comeback! So huge traffic’s backed up on the highway all the way past mile marker fifty-three.”

“I’m glad we’re not heading back to town,” Andy said.

“Speak for yourself,” Cash said.

The mile marker closest to the turnoff to his house was fifty-four. Brandon was just glad the traffic wasn’t blocking his road. Andy took the turn onto High Hill Road as Brandon checked his texts. The text read: from Sunshine. His heart thudded hard in his chest. She’d texted him. Finally. If she’d taken much longer, he’d probably have taken matters into his own hands. The text read: Stopped by.

That was it. Two words. And yet enough to turn all the hurt, anger, frustration, fear at a one-eighty.

At the side of the road sat a blue Ford 150.

“That’s Jo’s truck,” Cash said.

Brandon glanced up as Andy slowed his truck to a stop. The men hopped out and looked around.

Cash knelt by the front tires.

Andy stood behind him. “Brandon, two flat tires.”

“The air’s been let out,” Cash said. “Look, the valves are gone.”

Brandon’s stomach did a sharp nosedive.

“Do you think they took them?” Andy ran a hand over the top of his head.

Cash sprang to his feet. “Took them? Wait, what are you talking about? You think someone took the girls?”

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