Brett Battles - Every Precious Thing

“Hey,” Dev answered. “Everything okay?

“Well, I guess. Yeah,” Logan said.

“Did you find her?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And?”

Instead of answering, Logan asked, “What happened there?”

“Nothing happened here.”

“What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”

“She hasn’t shown up.”

“At all?”

“Haven’t seen her or her car.”

That was definitely not what Logan had expected. He took a moment, then said, “Head back to Tusayan. Same gas station as before. I’ll be waiting there. But keep your eyes open. Maybe she’s just been waiting for you to come back out.”

“You going to be there alone ?”

“Undetermined at this point.”

“All right. See you in a bit,” Dev said.

As soon as the line went dead, Logan called Ruth.

“I’ve got someone in my office,” she said quickly before Logan could speak.

“Anyone I know?”

“As a matter of fact.”

“Oh, God, it’s Jon, isn’t it?” Jon Jordan was the head of Forbus International, and the man responsible for blaming Carl’s death on Logan.

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Well, please don’t tell him hi for me.”

“I think that’s a sound plan.”

Before she could say good-bye, he said, “Ruth, I need you to check on that cell phone that was in the car following me earlier. I have to know where it is.”

“That might be a little difficult.”

“Please, Ruth.”

“I’ll tell you what. Let me finish up here, and I’ll give you a call back.”

“How long?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry. Talk to you soon.” She hung up.

Logan set the phone in his lap and looked out the window, his mind willing Ruth to hurry.

“Something wrong?” Diana asked. She was sitting in back with him while Sara sat up front with Richard.

“I’m…not sure.”

“Not sure about what?”

“It’s probably nothing.”

“Oh, I see. Now you don’t want to share.”

He was tempted to remind her she wasn’t sharing, either, but instead he said, “The woman who was following us. My friend never saw her.”

She became instantly concerned. “You don’t think she could have followed us to the cabin, do you?”

“If she had, she’d have probably tried to take us by now, don’t you think?”

“What woman are you guys talking about?” Sara asked, looking back.

“There are four people, actually,” Logan explained. “Three men and a woman. They tried to kill my friend and me last night. The woman seems to be the one in charge.”

“What’s she look like?”

The fear Logan had seen on Sara’s face back in the woods had returned, only it seemed even more intense now.

“She’s maybe forty. Short blonde hair. Fit.”

Sara stopped breathing.

“We don’t know if it’s her,” Diana said, trying to calm her sister down. She glanced at Logan. “It’ll be better if we drop you outside of town. Shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to walk to the gas station.”

Logan wanted to ask who it was they thought the woman might be, but his phone rang. Ruth.

“Well, that was almost awkward,” Ruth said.

“How’s Jon?”

“The same.”

“Still a dick, then.”

“Pretty much.”

“Can you tell me where the other phone is?”

“I’m pulling it up now.”

He waited.

“Whoa,” she said. “Um, okay. I’m looking at the phone you’re calling on and the other three on the map. I see the one that was out on its own is with you now.”

“Yeah, that’s not the one I’m interested in.”

“The other one’s heading south from the canyon.”

“You mean the one that was following me?”

“No. That one’s clear back on I-40, heading west.”

Logan was surprised. “Toward California?”

“Not there yet, but that direction.”

“Okay, thanks.” He disconnected the call.

Why had Dr. Paskota backed off? It didn’t make sense. If Logan had been in her place, he would have stuck with the tracking device, knowing it was his best lead to find Diana or Sara. In fact, the only reason that could have gotten him to back off was if either woman had been located elsewhere. But they were here, with Logan.

Wait . There was one other possibility.

Emily.

If Dr. Paskota knew where she was, then she wouldn’t need Diana or Sara.

“Are you going to tell us what’s going or not?” Diana asked.

Ignoring her, he called information, and had them connect him to Callie’s law firm. A few seconds later, he was put through to her office.

“Logan, where have you been?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

“Sorry, I’ll explain later,” he said quickly. “Right now, I need you to have Alan and Emily-”

“Logan,” she cut in. “Harp’s missing.”

He thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “I’m sorry?”

“Your father is missing.”

“What happened?”

“You need to call Barney. He can give you the details. Do you need his number?”

“Please.”

She read it off to him, then asked, “What was that about Alan?”

“Get them out of Riverside. Someplace safe that only you know about. Don’t tell anyone.”

“My God, what’s going on?”

“Maybe nothing. I’m probably being overly cautious. Just do it, okay?”

He hung up, and immediately started dialing Barney’s number.

“You think Alan and Emily are in trouble?” Sara asked.

Logan held up a finger. “Give me a minute.” He put the phone up to his ear and listened to it ring.

A click, and then Barney said, “Hello?”

“It’s Logan. What’s going on?”

“Oh, Logan. Finally,” Barney said. He told him what had happened.

“You checked everywhere?”

“Yes. He’s not here.”

“Stay by your phone.”

One of Logan’s strongest points was his calm in the face of chaos and danger, but he’d never been in a situation like this that involved his father. He had to force the pounding in his head to relax, and cage his emotions so they wouldn’t overtake him.

He called Ruth back, and had her do a similar check on Harp’s phone. It was sixty miles east of Braden, seemingly stationary, just off the interstate. But that wasn’t the worst part.

The phone in Paskota’s car-Logan’s phone-was traveling down the freeway off-ramp at the very same exit where Harp’s phone was located.

“No,” Richard said. “There’s no way to know that for sure. We stick to the plan, leave him here, and get you someplace safe.”

“But what if he’s right?” Sara asked.

They were parked behind the Grand Canyon Camper Village at the north end of Tusayan. Dev had pulled up several minutes earlier, but sat waiting in the El Camino. Logan had spent the time laying out what he had in mind. Now it was up to them to decide. He already knew what he would have to do, one way or another.

“And what if he’s wrong?” Sara’s brother retorted. “Or maybe it’s a trap just to get you.”

“Richard! I’m not the point, remember? Emily is. They’re not going to use her to get to me.” She paused before speaking in a softer voice. “If he’s wrong, then we’ll know soon enough, and we can still disappear.”

Richard clenched his jaw. “I don’t like it.” He looked at Diana. “You don’t like it, either, do you?”

Diana closed her eyes and massaged her right temple. When she opened them again, she gave her brother a halfhearted smile. “It doesn’t matter what we think. It’s up to Sara. But if it were my call, I’d probably say we have no choice.”

“To get out of here,” Richard stated.