Page 19 of Snowbound Threat

Pops said, “Sure thing, son. You need anything from the house?”

“A bulletproof vest. My rifle out of the closet and two extra boxes of ammo. A couple of bottles of water, some protein bars, and my winter coat.” That should do it if he ended up being out here all night.

“Sounds like you’re going to war.”

Caleb said, “I might be. If that’s what it takes to get the preacher back.”

“Need some help?”

“Yeah, I need you to stay with Tessa until I’m back.”

“Good enough. See you soon.” Pops ended the call.

Tessa put her hands on her hips. “I don’t need babysitting.”

Caleb waved her on. “Let’s get moving.”

He knew they weren’t going to agree on what happened next. But if she wanted him to find her father, she was going to have to live with how he chose to do that.

Even if it meant going without her.

Until he had resolved the past, he couldn’t make a future.

Chapter Eight

Tessa glanced at the older Rourke male. “Thanks for coming out to pick me up.”

Whether she wanted to be going home or not was a different story. But Caleb, the federal agent on his case, wasn’t willing to allow her to slow him down. Considering he was going after her father, maybe she didn’t have much to argue about.

But that didn’t mean she liked it. She was a woman, which meant that even if logic dictated one thing she reserved the right to feel differently about it. Or to just be irritated for no reason at all.

“You warm enough?” Pops reached out a hand in front of the vent, feeling the heat pumping out.

She still shivered, gathering her coat tighter around her. But out in the cool winter air hadn’t bothered her at the time. Not even when she’d been sliding down the hill. Now the adrenaline had worn off and she’d overexerted herself with all that walking after, she couldn’t seem to get warm.

Pops reached over and patted her knee. “Caleb will find your dad.”

“I hope so.” She motioned to the next corner up ahead on the highway. “It’s just around the bend where we found his car.”And it was where she’d left hers, the spot he was taking her to. Because there was no point in him driving her home if she was stranded there with her car on the side of the highway behind her father’s.

As soon as they rounded the bend she spotted a Sheriff’s Department SUV behind where her car was parked. Up in front of her dad’s car, a tow truck had winched up the front end so that it was raised up off the ground.

As soon as Pops pulled over by the sheriff’s department vehicle she climbed out and rushed over to the deputy. “You’re taking my dad’s car already?” At least they hadn’t started to load hers onto the tow truck.

“Can’t stay here.” Deputy Simmons stuck his thumbs in his belt, the quintessential Montana law man with a handlebar mustache, dark blue eyes and a belly that hung over his belt. In high school when he had won several state championship sprint races, so everyone knew that if you ran from Simmons he would definitely catch you.

Criminals were just asking to get caught if they tried to run from him.

She said, “Are you taking it somewhere that it can get tested for forensics?”

Simmons frowned, his nose red from the cold and a beanie pulled down to his eyebrows and over the tips of his ears. “Why would we do that?”

Tessa put her hands on her hips. “Because my father was kidnapped out of his car.” She pointed to the woods where she and Caleb had gone, catching herself before she said his name. “There’s blood…and broken branches. He ran from whoever was here and we couldn’t find him in the woods.”

The tracks that Caleb had noticed earlier were now buried under the tow truck tires. All the evidence Caleb had seen thatcaused him to rush off into the woods…and the police were just going to ignore it? Unbelievable.

She couldn’t even tell Simmons that it was Caleb who was out there. That would’ve explained so much. Not that the deputy would appreciate where she was coming from.

“The sheriff mentioned he was missing.” Simmons glanced at Pops who had come over to stand beside Tessa, then said to her, “But there’s no evidence that he was kidnapped.”