Page 99 of The Fragile Ones
Katie climbed up on the frame of the metal trailer and untied a portion of the blue tarp. The knots were thick and complex, it took her a few minutes before succeeding. Flipping back the heavy tarp, she spied inside. There was nothing except maintenance items to clean and work on the boat. Looking to the corners, she made sure that there wasn’t anything that might hold a child.
Katie searched two more boats but to no avail. There was no sign of criminal activity or that a child might have been held on one of them. She took another last look to see if any of the boats was Chief Osborne’s, but none of them matched the photograph back at the house.
As Katie reached the end of the row of boats, she saw McGaven coming around the corner. At the same moment she noticed a large kennel just to his left, housing a German shepherd poking his head out. The big dog moved forward a couple of steps, sniffing the air outside of the doghouse. It obviously hadn’t heard them enter with the blasting wind and rain, but had sensed their presence and scent all the same.
Waving her hands, she got her partner’s attention and pointed at the doghouse—McGaven nodded. Both of them turned and ran back to the entrance as the German shepherd charged, barking and snapping at their heels. Close to one hundred pounds, he had trouble with traction on the wet pavement, giving Katie and McGaven enough time to hit the fence and climb.
Katie reached the top and swung her leg over just as the dog hit the fence line. She jumped down, coming face to face with the dog—the chain-link the only barrier, his teeth bared and bark incessant.
The rain poured into overflowing puddles, causing large splashes beneath their feet as they ran to the Jeep and clambered inside, out of the elements.
Breathing heavily, Katie said, “Don’t think our guy was there or anything else.”
“Big dog,” McGaven huffed. “Big bark. Could have been a snack.” The Jeep steamed up from their heavy breath as well as Cisco’s continued panting.
Katie quickly engaged the defroster. “Next?” She was disappointed, and felt her energy dwindle as well as her sharpness.
A familiar chirp alerted Katie that her cell had picked up a signal. She looked at it and saw a voicemail from her uncle. She played it on speaker:
“Got your message. Everything is flooding here and I’ve enacted the county emergency alert protocol, calling for some evacuations in certain areas. I can’t send anyone until tomorrow. Chad is trying to get to Highway 9 to remove the trees for access. I also got a weird call patched through from dispatch from Matt Gardner that one of his team was missing. They were supposed to shoot at Rock Creek today, but he left and never returned. I hope you’re able to hear this message…”The message became garbled and filled with static, finally ending.
Katie looked at McGaven. “Chad is on his way, but I’m concerned for his safety in the weather and this town.”
“The sheriff didn’t say who was missing from the film crew?”
“I’ll try to leave him another voicemail and see if he could text back or leave another message. The signal is spotty but at least messages eventually get through.”
Katie’s anxiety just took another leap—her chest was heavy, her legs weary, and she still didn’t know where to find the abducted girl. There was more added to the mix with a missing person from the film crew, and Chad trying to clear the road.
Time was running out. The weather was going to be the biggest obstacle if it flooded the town completely.
“What now?” asked McGaven.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Wednesday 1430 hours
It didn’t take Chad and John long to load up the gear into one SUV and a large truck. John had invited another person who was not only qualified to help, but loved Katie as much as a sister—her army friend Lizzy. John called her from the number she had slipped him, and she jumped at the opportunity to do something useful to help a friend.
John and Lizzy were in his truck and Chad drove his large Jeep with a winch on the front. They made good time getting to the first tree down on Highway 9. The three of them worked to get the smaller branches cut and cleared before attempting to break down the large tree trunk.
The rain and wind had died a little, making it easier to do their job.
“You okay?” asked Chad.
“Piece of cake,” said Lizzy as she revved the chainsaw and began cutting.
They worked for an hour before they could move most of the limbs and pieces. Chad’s Jeep did much of the heavy lifting and they managed to make a space big enough to drive through.
“The day is about gone,” said John. “We have little light to work by except headlights and it’s going to slow us down.”
“I know, but let’s get to the next one,” pushed Chad as he got back into the SUV.
“Let’s go,” said Lizzy heading to the truck.
“Okay,” said John.
The rain picked up momentum again, drowning everything and rushing down the highway. It would be like fighting waves as they took apart the trees.
