Lowell. We can’t rush him. The boy could get hurt. If this guy came all this way to take his son away from his ex-wife, he isn’t going to give up easily.”
“He’ll never give up.”
Grady looked over his shoulder to see that Gina approached them.
“I thought you promised to stay in the vehicle. It’s not safe here.”
She shook her head. “He’s got Zack. My child isn’t safe with him.”
The panicked look on her face tore at Grady. It sent him a painful reminder of what he’d lost. Only he never deserved to have a family in the first place.
“You’ve got to let me go up there, Reed. Make a trade. Eric wants me. He wants to punish me. Please, Reed,” she pleaded. “Eric knows he’s going back to prison. So he has nothing to lose.” She wiped the tears that escaped her eyes. “I can’t let him hurt Zack. I can’t.”
When she started to walk into the clearing, Grady grabbed her right arm as another rifle shot rang out. He pulled her back against the rock wall and shielded her. Grady had to work to get his breathing and heart rate under control. That was too close. This lunatic was playing for keeps. “Lady, you’ve got to stop with the crazy stunts,” he growled.
She tossed him a stubborn look. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters without my son.”
“What do you think will happen to Zack if you get yourself killed? You need to let the sheriff handle this.”
“Okay, but you don’t understand. I can’t leave my son up there.” She nodded to the ridge. “I promised Zack. I promised him I wouldn’t let his dad hurt us again. Please, you’ve got to help me.”
He hated that this woman got to him. As much as Grady wanted to, it was impossible to walk away from this. He turned to Reed Larkin. “What’s your next move, Sheriff?”
“I wish I had an answer. I can’t take a chance that he’ll harm the boy.” Larkin gave him a hard look. “You know the area, Fletcher. Is there a back way in?”
Grady nodded, remembering the summers he’d tracked after old Fletch. “You can come in along Miner’s Ridge. It’s pretty narrow, and it’ll take about fifteen minutes, but if Lowell is focused on watching for his ex-wife, we might be able to catch him by surprise. Give me a little time to scope the area.”
Grady started to walk back to his truck to arm himself when Larkin stopped him. “I can’t ask you to do this.”
“You didn’t. I volunteered.”
“Then I’ll need to deputize you first. Do you have a problem with that? I can’t let a civilian get involved.”
Grady paused as he looked at this woman still gripping that floppy-eared rabbit. Suddenly memories of his past life flashed before him, the picture of the stuffed animals that lined the shelf in his infant son’s room. Toys the baby never got the chance to see or play with. He quickly shook it away. “Do what you need to do.”
After the sheriff had sworn him in, Grady hurried back to his vehicle and opened the door. Immediately the shepherd stood in the backseat. Scout hesitated. The dog hadn’t worked since Afghanistan when he’d been injured. Yet since they’d returned home, Grady had adopted Scout, hoping to get involved in some search-and-rescue operations. It was a good time to test him.
“Come on, boy. We’ve got a kid to find.” The shepherd jumped out of the backseat and waited for his next command.
Grady reached back inside the vehicle, took the Glock from under the driver’s seat and tucked the gun in the waistband of his jeans against his back. He was going to be prepared for anything.
Reed appeared. “I see you don’t need me to issue you a weapon.” The sheriff looked concerned. “I’m going to send one of my men with you.”
“No. Alone. I’ll move faster and with less chance of being seen.” He stared at the sheriff. “You have to trust me on this.”
“Okay.” Reed Larkin handed him a small radio. “Here, you’ll need this to communicate with us.”
Grady took it, then walked over to Gina Williams, seeing the fear on her face. “I’ll do everything I can to bring the boy back. So don’t try anything stupid, or the sheriff will send you back to town. Let us handle this.”
She nodded. “Just hurry. Please!”
Grady settled her in the truck and then he went to the sheriff. Grady knew these mountains. His grandpa had taken him around every mine and cliff along this face of the mountain range. He glanced at his dog. “Come on, boy, let’s find Zack.” He prayed that his words would come true. Maybe this time he would be there when someone’s child needed him.
Gina watched as Grady and Scout started up the back side of the mountain. She began to pray that they would be able to get to her son before any harm came to him. She closed her eyes and could feel her ex-husband’s slap across her face just as if it were happening again.
But it never stopped at just a slap. There were also those closed fists that slammed into her body. A tear dropped to her cheek and she quickly wiped it away.
No! She wasn’t going to let Eric win again. She was going to make a life for her son here in Destiny. Zack was going to have a happy childhood. She wasn’t going to let Eric hurt her little boy again. Even if she had to stop him herself.
“Gina.”
She opened her eyes to see Reed standing next to the truck. “I wish I could tell you everything is going to be all right, but I can’t. Only you know your ex. Has he ever hurt his son?”
“He hadn’t until the last time. That’s when Eric learned that he could inflict more pain on me by making Zack his target.”
Reed’s nostrils flared. “I swear, Gina, we’ll do everything possible to get Zack away from him. Grady Fletcher is retired army. He’s served overseas and is combat trained.” The radio squawked. “That’s Fletcher.”
He pulled the radio out and spoke into it. “Larkin, here.”
“I’ve reached the mine. He could be inside, or Zack could be there. Since I can’t see Lowell, I don’t know. You need to draw him out.”
“Roger.” The sheriff looked at Gina. “We need to draw Eric out in the open.”
“Use me,” she said, and started out of the truck. “I can distract him.” She wanted Grady Fletcher to get a good shot at him.
“Give me a few minutes,” the sheriff said, then signed off. “Gina, don’t do anything foolish. Your ex isn’t worried about leaving here. He wants revenge on you.”
“I don’t care. Zack is the only thing that matters.”
“But he needs his mother, too.”
“Just not a mother who’s let him down so many times,” she breathed. “But not this time, not any more.”
Grady was pressed flat against the rock wall as he moved toward his target.
