Page 102 of Nash Falls

A voice called out, “Walter?”

Nash ran out from behind the tree, climbed into the passenger seat, and looked at Shock.

“You tossed your phone, right?” said Shock.

“Down a storm drain.”

Shock drove off at a sedate pace and then glanced at the bag Nash had set on the floorboard.

“When did you pack that?”

“Right before we saw Maggie online. I had this feeling of doom.” He unzippered the bag and pulled out the gun and knife. “My dad’s.”

“Smart move.”

“Where are we going?”

“Someplace safe.”

“Shock, you said you saw the video? How so fast?”

“I set a tickler on Maggie’s Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat pages for any activity.”

“Why would you think to do that?”

“I’m in the security business, Walter. A kid disappears, you always check their social media platforms.”

“They must have forced her to say those things. But at least this shows she’s still alive.”

Shock gave him a funny look. “Maybe.”

“What do you mean,maybe?”

“You said Judith called the cops?”

“She believed Maggie,” Nash said simply. “I was starting to tell her about my working with the FBI and that being the reason that Maggie was taken. But before I could tell her we got a call from a neighbor whose daughter is one of Maggie’s best friends. She told her mom about the video, and her mother phoned Judith. Judith then thought I was about to confess to her that Maggie fled because I molested her.” Nash shook his head. “She’s known me for over twenty years. I’ve never done anything remotely like that, always been the calm, good guy, and she just believes that of me.”

“Well, in Judith’s defense, it was her daughter sayin’ it, Walter.”

“I know, I know,” Nash said miserably. He stared out the windshield with a hopeless expression. “How the hell do I get out of this, Shock?”

“We’ll think of a way. But for now I want you to get in the back of the van and pull that blanket over you, just in case the police stop me.”

“Why would they stop you?”

“Because this here is America and I’m a big, scary Black dude drivin’ around in the middle of the night in a van, Walter. Trust me, that’s enough.”

Nash climbed into the back and covered himself with the blanket.

Shock drove on into an ever deepening darkness.

The next evening Judith answered the knock at her front door to see Rhett standing there.

Tears streaming down her face, she hugged him. “Oh, God, Rhett, my whole life has just… disintegrated.”

“I know, I know, babe. I wanted to come last night when you called, but I figured what with the police and all I should give you all some space.”

She nodded and led him inside. They sat in the family room.