Page 44 of Snowbound Threat

“I’ll be there.” Noah paused like he always did, taking a moment to think through what he was going to say, not just blurting out the first thing in his mind the way Caleb did. “Even if it wasn’t connected to my operation, I would still come. I’ll tell my boss I need some time.”

“Tell them you’re going to get a lead.”

Noah chuckled. “Okay, fine. You besafe.” He emphasized that last word. “Keep them safe.”

“Copy that.”

“See you soon.”

Noah hung up.

Caleb sniffed back emotion and rubbed his nose, praying over this whole thing. He took the drive too fast, spraying gravel off the road the way Pops used to ground them for doing. Right now Caleb figured he wouldn’t mind.

He parked off to the side, listening out the window. He could hear Gus barking in the barn where Pops had shut him inside.

Caleb grabbed his gun and phone, and left the sheriff’s truck, opening the door for Gus so the dog could help. He used the mudroom door, trying to sneak in even though it was probably pointless. Surely Edwards knew he was here.

Lord…

The guy was ruthless if he wanted to be, and there might be nothing Caleb could do to save them. Gus might be a decent distraction.

The dog ran ahead of him.

Caleb listened for a split second, then headed in.

Gus barked, standing over a form on the floor. Caleb ran over and crouched beside Pops, who had a bleeding knot on his head.

“Clocked me.” Pops started to sit up.

Caleb set a hand on his chest. “Don’t move just yet. Tell me what happened.”

“He took Tessa.” Pops’ eyes didn’t focus. “Knows he won’t get what he wants. Kessler isn’t going to clean up every loose end. You aren’t going to stop.”

Caleb figured out what all that meant. “He’s going to kill Tessa?” He could’ve killed Pops, and maybe thought he’d left the old man for dead. But it took more than a crack on the head to kill a Rourke man.

Pops nodded, a slight movement. Gus lay down beside him, his muzzle on Pops’ shoulder.

“Where is he taking her?” Caleb pulled out his phone and called the sheriff’s number. Hopefully the guy would answer.

“Out the door,” Pops said. “Next door.”

Okay, he’d have to track them on foot since Pops’ truck, the one Edwards had run off with, was still outside. They were on foot and couldn’t have gone that far.

“I’ll come back.” He put the phone on Pops’ chest on speaker and when the sheriff answered said, “My Grandfather needs medical attention.Now.”

Caleb didn’t wait around for the answer. He launched up and ran for the door, but the front was locked. He stopped without going out and turned back. At the other end of the hall, through the storage room at the back, the door was slightly ajar.

Yeah, they’d come this way.

Thank You.

He kept praying, stepped outside and swept the back of the house with his gun aimed. Watching for a sign of them.

The rear pasture beside the barn was empty, all that grass covered with a layer of frost. Snow in patches from what had fallen overnight. Caleb looked for prints and found an impression of big boots next to a smaller size shoe going toward Tessa’s house.

Thank You.

He repeated it, keeping his thoughts close to the Lord so he didn’t fall into worry or despair. Caleb jumped off the back step and raced along the field toward the tree line to the east, the boundary between Rourke property and the preacher’s family land.