Hannah Alexander - A Killing Frost

According to the things she’d heard from Mom and Dad, it was possible Deb could have a concussion. Clancy had smacked her so hard, she’d had slurred speech afterward. Someone with a concussion shouldn’t be left alone.

Aunt Renee said that even the most evil people in the world had souls, and only God could tell who would and who would not choose life with Him.

Doriann groaned. “God, do I have to?”

She stared at the barn, listened again for sinister sounds in the woods. Nothing.

She stepped into the clearing and walked toward the barn.

Tyrell waited long enough for Renee to have laid bare her deepest worries to their mother over the phone, then he called the hospital and asked for Fran Mercer to be paged.

Mom answered in less than a minute, which meant she had been waiting for his call. She knew him well.

“First of all, how’s Dad?” he asked.

“He’s awake and feeling feisty enough to start asking why I’m hanging around. He wants to go home in the morning and check on the crops.”

“Tell him I’m taking good care of the ranch, and I hope you’ve convinced him that coming home tomorrow isn’t possible.”

“Dr. George will talk to him later. Right now I’m more worried about my kids. Renee told me about her conversation with you.”

“Oh? The whole conversation?”

“That’s right. I finagled it out of her. She isn’t handling this crisis well. She thinks that you think Doriann won’t make it out of this alive.”

“That isn’t what I said.”

“I explained that to her.”

“Thank you.”

“But she’s teetering right now, Tyrell. Don’t take away what hope she has.”

Tyrell was silent. He couldn’t help wondering if there would be any hope. What were Doriann’s chances?

Apparently, Fran Mercer read her son’s mind. “I believe in miracles. If there’s a possibility that Doriann’s been taken to River Dance, then I can’t help feeling that is something to give us hope, for whatever reason it’s happening. I think you could help.”

“In what way?”

“I need you out there looking for her.”

“I’m not an FBI agent, Mom, and they aren’t going to let a private citizen interfere in their investigation.”

“You know central Missouri better than any FBI agent alive, and you know the people who live here. You know where all the hidden roads are, you’ve helped find the pot fields and the meth labs, you’ve hunted, fished, tracked right alongside your father all your life. If your father was able, he’d be out there looking for that truck.”

“The time I spent on meth lab busts was for the police, not the Feds. They won’t allow-”

“I’m not saying you should ask permission.”

Tyrell frowned. His law-abiding mother was suggesting-

“You wouldn’t want the FBI to allow you access to the investigation, even if they would allow it,” Mom said. “If you were working under the authority of the federal police, then they would be liable for any mistakes you might make. It could jeopardize evidence.”

Wow, Mom. “And you know this because…?”

“I read. You should try it more often. I’ve told Renee to have a talk with one of the agents working with Heather and Mark, explain about all the experience you’ve had. That way, in case they do happen across you in the course of searching for my granddaughter, they might suddenly develop a case of specified blindness, but under no circumstances should any of you request special permission to work with them.”

“Mom, I’m not a professional tracker.”

“You’re better than anybody I’ve ever known, except maybe Jama.”

Now, that smarted. Mom really thought Jama was the better tracker?

“She has that typical female ability to see the big picture, whereas you have a gift of focus,” Mom explained.

“Can’t see the forest for the trees?” Dad had told him that before.

“The two of you make a great team.”

“You can’t expect me to drag Jama into a dangerous situation like this, and even if certain agents might be persuaded to turn a blind eye to a lone man searching for his niece, they’re not going to allow a couple of us-”

“Last I looked, this is a free country, and they can’t place crime scene tape around the whole Missouri River Valley. If a private citizen wants to drive Highway 94, nobody’s going to stop him.”

Tyrell sighed. He got the message.

“Honey,” Mom said, “this is Doriann we’re talking about. Now, I have the utmost respect for these specialized, brilliant, dedicated agents, but they don’t know Doriann, they don’t know you, and they don’t know the lay of the land. They may not think they need our help, but if they receive it, that gives Doriann better odds. Right now, if I were a betting woman, I’d be betting on you.”

“Renee’s behind this.”

“Yes, and I’m behind her. You’ve already made some calls. Make some more.”

“But we don’t even know-”

“Tyrell.”

“Yes, Mother. I’ll call everyone I know, although I’m pretty sure the local grapevine will have alerted anyone who has a telephone or computer.”

“Good. It may not make any difference, but you’ll feel better if you do. Now let’s talk about your sisters,” Mom said.

“I know this is rough on them.”

“Renee was up late last night with Ajay because he was running a fever, then the baby woke her early this morning. She was so tired she fell asleep for a few minutes late this afternoon. She told me that when she woke up, she heard Doriann’s voice in her head, a carryover from a dream. Doriann was yelling at Ajay for getting into her things, and then seconds later she was laughing at something the baby did.”

Tyrell could imagine his niece’s voice, her laughter. He recalled the last time she’d gone fishing with him, and the day she’d visited him at work, riding with him on the tractor to inspect a stand of corn or row of soybeans. Her questions were exhausting. Her vitality and fascination made his job much more fun than usual.

His memories caused his vision to blur. He blinked hard and cleared his throat. “I think I’ll take a drive while there’s still light to see.”

“Good. One more thing. I’m worried about Renee. Mark and Heather sound better to me on the phone than Renee does.”

“She’s tired. The nightmare looms larger.”

“I know Renee’s kids drive Doriann nuts sometimes, but they love her, and she loves them. Renee mentioned she felt she should have spent more time with Doriann one-on-one, but-”

“Mom, she isn’t Doriann’s-”

“She thinks that if she’d disciplined her own children a little more, Doriann wouldn’t have skipped out today.”

“That’s ridiculous. Renee does everything right. She spends more time with Doriann than Mark and Heather do.” Homeschooling her own children plus her strong-willed niece was a heavy load.

Too late, he heard the heaviness of his mother’s sudden silence, and he realized his last words had revealed his thoughts far too clearly. Mom had easily picked up on them.

“Tyrell-”

“Sorry. Forget I said that. Mark and Heather had no way of knowing that on this particular day, some crazy people were going to abduct their daughter.”

“We just need to focus on getting Doriann home,” Mom said. “Mark and Heather don’t need the guilt, either. If the worst should happen and we don’t get Doriann back, Mark and Heather are going to be-”

“I would never lay the blame on them.”

“But you already have, don’t you see? Mark and Heather know you disapprove of their casual parenting attitudes. Your attitude and words have shown that clearly in the past.”

Tyrell closed his eyes at the sharpness in her words. They dug deeply.