‘It’s Granger!’
Cooper held the satellite phone away from him, looking to Rosedale who shrugged. He cut him a stare. Not appreciating being left to deal with the man.
‘Cooper, goddammit, answer me!’
Hearing Granger loud and clear, Cooper said, ‘I can’t hear you Granger.’
‘Don’t be a jackass, I can hear you and I sure as hell have no doubt you can hear me.’
‘You’re cutting out, sorry Granger, I’ll have to call you back.’
‘Don’t you dare put…’
Cooper switched off the phone. Closed his eyes. Caught his breath. The pressure he felt was intense. Almost physically so. Sweat was running down his face and down his neck and down his back and it was hot but he was shivering and it was like he’d just stepped into a goddamn cooler.
Sitting on the hood of the Toyota, he went into his pocket and pulled out some pills. He couldn’t care less about being discreet. It took too much time. And time was something he didn’t have. He threw them into his mouth. Swallowed. ‘What are we going to do? What’s the plan?’
‘Well first, Thomas, you need to get off your sorry butt, and stop taking…’
Cooper bolted off the hood before Rosedale had finished. Lunged. Sent him flying off balance and down into the muddy waters of the road. Leaning over him, Cooper grabbed hold of his shirt to the sound of ripping cotton. Dragged him up. Banged him. Snagged his back hard against the side of the car.
His eyes were bloodshot and his words were snarled as he panted hard into Rosedale’s face. He pushed his weight against him. Keeping him up against the Toyota. ‘I’m so tired, so sick of your jackass remarks, Rosedale. You gotta get off my case, you hear me. Get off my back because you’re pushing me, man, and I don’t need this crap now. We haven’t got time. Each minute that passes is a minute more she’s gone so what I need, all I need is for you to help me find her. Okay? You listening to me? I need you to help me find Ellie.’
‘Maddie… You mean find Maddie?’
‘Yeah, of course I mean Maddie.’
‘You said…’
He stopped. ‘What?… I said what? Don’t play your games with me, what did I say?’
Rosedale looked at him with the same kind of pity he saw at funerals. Cooper wiped the dry spit from around his mouth. ‘Look, I’m desperate here. I need you, okay. I need you to help me find her… please. I’m begging you Rosedale.’
‘Thomas… I hear you. I’m going to help you. In fact I’m going to do more than that. I’m going to promise that we’ll bring her back safely.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah.’
Cooper’s shoulders slumped. He had to dig deep to stop his feelings overwhelming him. He looked at Rosedale. Brushed down his ripped shirt. Tried to sound apologetic. ‘Sorry, about that. I’ll get you another one.’
‘No need. Never liked it anyway.’
Cooper stared at Rosedale, or maybe it was Rosedale staring at him. He wasn’t sure. But for a moment it felt like there was an understanding between them.
Getting into the car, Rosedale started the engine. ‘We go down to the village. Speak to the locals. We can pay them to come and help search the area. It’s light so it’ll give us a great chance of finding her if she did wander off and get lost. Maddie isn’t stupid. She’s highly trained and knows exactly what she’s doing. If she’s hurt or lost she’ll know what to do. If she’s somewhere nearby, we’ll find her.’
‘And if she’s been taken by some of the militia groups around here, which we know there are a whole heap of. What then?’
‘Then, Thomas, we pray.’