Page 12 of Refuge for Cherilyn

The mother shook her head. “No. I’m talking about driving to within a block of their house, letting you and your sister out, and letting you walk from there while I watch from a distance until you’re in the house.”

“You have to come with us!” Maya whispered loudly. “You can’t just leave us! We want to be with you. I love Grammy and Poppy, but I don’t want to be with them. I want to be with you.”

“If that’s what I decide we have to do, that’s what we’ll do. But we’re not to that point quite yet. As soon as it quits this damn raining, I’ll find us some food, I promise.” She didn’t know how, but she’d keep that promise. She wasn’t going to let her children starve.

The rain finally stopped about nine thirty that night, and she sneaked down from the cave, through the dense brush, and to the back of the lodge. There was no one around but, sure enough, in the trash bin was a bag with leftover food neatly wrapped inside. Cherilyn didn’t even bother to look to see what it was. She just took it and hustled back up the hill.

Twenty minutes later, both girls were back to sleep after having a piece of pizza and a dinner roll apiece. Cherilyn ate one piece of pizza too, and left the dinner rolls. There were still two, and the girls could have them for breakfast. She wasn’t important. It was far more important for them to eat.

Every time she stood up, her pants almost dropped, and she knew she was losing weight. Even when she did manage to eat, the tension and fear made her almost nauseous, and she hated that worse. She’d rather not eat than to waste food on herself that would just come up. The girls needed it too badly.

When she finally settled down to sleep, she listened to the leaves rustling outside and the drips of water that hit the leaf litter on the ground. There had been a time when sleeping in a cave like that with the wind blowing and the smell of rain in the air would’ve been a dream come true. Instead, in her situation, it was a nightmare. Something had to happen fast, and she made the decision.

The next morning, she’d talk to the girls, and that evening as it got dark, she’d drive down her parents’ alley, drop them off, and drive away as soon as they were in the back door. Where she’d go, she didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. He’d eventually find her, she was sure.

Then a jolt of white-hot fear seared through her mind. What if he took one or both of the girls and held them until she showed up? She’d gladly step in if he’d let them go, but she knew the truth.

He’d kill all three of them, and probably laugh about it. They meant nothing to him. They were meaningless, unless she managed to tell someone about what she’d seen. She fantasized about seeing him dragged away in handcuffs, but she knew better.

Even if it happened, she’d already be dead.

* * *

The first thinghe noticed when he woke was the absence of the sound of rain. That was a good sign.

As Shaw dressed, he thought about what the employees at the lodge had told him. If he was going to find her, he was going to have to be stealthy. If she’d avoided detection for three weeks by anyone other than two women who took out the trash, she could probably keep doing it. Finding her shouldn’t be that hard, but he wondered what he’d find when he did.

Once he was on the road, he hit his hands-free, spoke into it, and waited. “Hey there! How ya doin’?” a deep Texas drawl asked in greeting, and it made Shaw smile. He had always heard that you could take the boy out of Texas, but you couldn’t take Texas out of the boy. It was obviously true. Aaron had been in Kentucky long enough to lose that Lone Star twang, but it was still there.

“Good, good. You okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Sheriff’s got me doing funeral detail today. You got anything new?”

Shaw filled Aaron in on what he’d learned. “And I’m headed there now.”

“Prepared?”

“Yeah. As prepared as I can be, I guess. And before you say it, I remember what you said. And I’m prepared.”

“Okay. As long as you’re prepared. Let me know what happens, right?”

“Sure. No problem. Wanna do lunch?”

“Turn down food? Not this boy! Just let me know. The funeral detail should be finished by eleven.”

“Roger that. I’ll give you a call. Later.”

“Yeah, later. Be safe out there.”

“You too.” Shaw hit the button on the steering wheel to end the call and gave some thought to what he was about to do. It was wet out from the previous day, and the forest floor would be slick, but the damp leaves would also muffle his footsteps and make it easier to come up on her without alerting her to his presence. That was the best he could hope for.

The temptation was there to park down in the lower lot by her car, but he knew that was probably just a smoke screen. She most likely was staying in the same spot, just trying to throw off anyone who might be looking for her. Instead, he parked up by the lodge, walked down the back side of the building, checked around the trash bin, and watched for footprints. Sure enough, there were signs that the leaves had been disturbed behind it, so he stepped carefully into the tree cover and kept his eyes on the ground. To the untrained eye, it might’ve seemed there was no path, but he could plainly see it, and he followed it slowly, cautiously, hoping he’d see her before she saw him.

It took him twenty-five minutes or so before he heard them?voices, and they sounded like children. One was speaking at a low level, but the other one was loud, and he figured that was the younger girl. The one thing he didn’t hear was an adult voice. Shaw crept silently up the trail, watching closely, until he topped a small rise. Crouching down, he watched.

Two girls sat in front of a small cave. The larger one was trying to brush the smaller one’s hair, and the younger girl was fighting her sister’s every attempt. “Be still, Lara! Your hair looks like a hornet’s nest.” Lara, the older girl had said?these were definitely her kids.

“NO! I NA WANNA HAIR!” She waved her hands about, batting at the older girl. “STAHHPPPP!”

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