Page 65 of Rescued Dreams
This wasn’t just about hanging out. There was something else his cousin had in mind.
“The cops have suspects, but they can’t move on them until there’s enough probable cause to get an arrest warrant.” Kane headed for the highway, a couple of miles over from Ridge’s neighborhood. “So we’re gonna see if we can’t get them some intel to run on.”
“You’re friends with cops now?” Ridge glanced over at his cousin, a notoriously solitary guy. Kane was the kind of person who had a small number of super-deep friendships. Once a person was “in,” they were there for life, and that connection was soul deep.
Ridge was the same way because it was who they were. It was also who Grandpa had been.
Kane chuckled. “I commiserated with them over the red tape they’re under. Kind of like military rules. Suggested I might be able to provide some assistance.”
“You’re a confidential informant now?” Ridge shook his head. “I thought you were gonna be a firefighter?”
Kane drummed his hands against the steering wheel. “I’m waiting for God to show us what we’re supposed to be doing. We have options, but what’s the answer?”
“Maybe it’s not so much what you’re doing but who you are. Could be there are plenty of paths, and there might not be one that’s the most perfect life you could live.”
Kane shrugged. “So focus on who I am, not who I’m supposed to be? At least that gives me something to do while I’m waiting.”
“That could be the entire point of waiting.”
“Even though we don’t like it.”
Ridge chuckled. “I’m glad it’s not just me.”
“You seem like you’re making headway. I mean, she’s staying at your house and not in that shed she lives in.”
Ridge had to admit that was true. “I hope it sticks. It feels…fragile. And there’s nothing about Amelia that’s fragile. But I’m just hoping I don’t do anything to mess it up.”
“Making sure she’s safe is going to help. So that’s what we’re gonna do. Plus, it’ll make you feel better.” Kane pulled into the parking lot of a roadhouse with a line of motorcycles in front. More motorcycles than Ridge had seen in the dealership the one time he’d gone to look.
With the twins in his life, he didn’t want to take that risk. But one day he was going to get one.
Now he wanted to know what Amelia thought of bikes.
“Coming here will make me feel better?”
Kane said, “Let’s go. Quit being terrified that something is going to happen to her. She’s protected right now. We need to see if her brother is in there and ask a few of his friends where to find him if he isn’t.”
Ridge got out of the car without telling Kane he was right. Fact was, he’d hit the nail on the head with that one. Despite being exhausted, Ridge would likely have lain on the couch, worrying what was going to happen to Amelia next instead of sleeping. Either way, he’d wind up more exhausted. So they may as well do something.
A couple spilled out of the front door of the roadhouse, their boots clicking on the worn wood beams. The stumbling pair both wore jeans and button-down shirts. The woman had tucked her fitted shirt into tight jeans. She giggled, hanging on to the man, whose shirt remained untucked. He grinned, barely noticing Ridge and Kane coming in.
After sidestepping the two, who continued on down the porch steps, Ridge and Kane went inside. Music blared from speakers set high on the walls, an old classic rock song no one could argue with. The place was packed, an ocean of denim and leather. The sound of clinking glasses rang around him, and patches of floor were sticky when he stepped on them.
Kane headed for the bar, and Ridge followed him. He knew they looked similar enough to be mistaken for brothers, and that was fine by him. Kane ordered two beers, and they grabbed stools at the bar.
Kane turned slightly toward Ridge. “If I sit like this, I can see all the way from the front door to the pool tables.”
“I can see the hallway to the restroom and who is coming and going. Who are we watching for?”
Kane unlocked his phone and showed Ridge a photo. “This is the prison-system image the police have. Truth is, they don’t know what he looks like now. He could have a beard, and different clothes can be a disguise of their own.”
“Elam Hilden.”
Long blond hair about the same length as Amelia’s fell over the man’s shoulders, but that was where their similarities ended. Amelia’s eyes had life in them. She knew how to hope and that dreams could be rescued from where they were buried and brought back to life. He kept praying she would one day understand that it was the power of God that resurrected things, but she hadn’t embraced it yet.
“He could’ve cut his hair easily enough, but he’s kept it this long.” Ridge studied the image and the man’s dead eyes. The set of his jaw and what looked like the corner of a tattoo at his collar. “Why do you think he’ll be here?”
“It would take too long to explain. He might be. It’s not a sure thing until it is.” Kane took a sip of his drink.
