Chapter 19

 

Kate swiped away the tears pouring down her cheeks. She hated to cry, but she couldn’t seem to stop. Every time she thought she had a handle on herself, another wave would smack her in the gut and send her spiraling.

She was so mad at Caleb, but she was mad at herself, too. Maybe she could have handled things differently. Maybe she shouldn’t have pushed as hard as she did. She just wanted to know more about the man she was falling more in love with every day.

Now that she had her answers, she didn’t feel satisfied; all she felt was sick.

Everyone left him whether by choice or death, it’s all he knew, so instead of allowing the chance for it to ever happen to him again, he pushed her away, cut ties before he could let himself get hurt. But didn’t he realize that she didn’t want to hurt him. All she wanted was to love him and for him to let her.

He wasn’t a jerk. He was an idiot who was too dumb to see what was right in front of him. She wasn’t going anywhere. He could push all he wanted, but she would be there every step, showing him, proving to him that she was there to stay and that time started now.

She grabbed her keys and ran out the door. The sun had barely made its ascent into the horizon, but Kate didn’t care. She would sit on the steps of his store and wait for him until the sun came up and he appeared.

Which was exactly what she did. Except he never showed. Not even by the time his store was set to open. Nobody showed up. Even if Caleb was mad at her, it wouldn’t stop him from coming to work. Something was wrong, and as soon as she recognized it, a horrible feeling twisted her stomach into knots.

Luckily Brianne was working today, so Kate called into her that she had to go then she raced over to Caleb’s place. She pulled up, and his car was there, but no matter how many times she knocked and pounded on his door, he never answered. She turned the knob, hoping he was like every other person in Red Maple Falls who left their door unlocked. When the knob turned, she shoved it open and ran up the stairs.

“Caleb!” she yelled as she ran through the living room and right to the bedroom. His bed was unmade, his phone sat on top of the disheveled comforter. The clothes he’d worn yesterday thrown in a pile on the floor like he changed out of them so fast he hadn’t thought about tossing them in the hamper that was just on the other side of the room.

She hurried back downstairs and came to a screeching halt at the landing. His bike that usually sat in this very spot was missing. Even if he went out for a ride, he would’ve been back in time to open his store.

Kate grabbed onto the banister and lowered herself onto the stairs as horrible pictures unfolded in her mind. What if he’d had an accident? What if he’d hit his head? Or taken a tumble down one of the hills?

Her heart slammed against her chest, making it impossible to breathe. She struggled, taking in short desperate gasps, trying to control her erratic heartbeat.

“Calm down,” she muttered to herself as she focused on air going in and out of her lungs. “It could be nothing. You could be overreacting,” she continued to talk to herself. “But what if you’re not? What if he’s hurt?” She didn’t need to ask herself twice. In her gut, she already knew the answer.

But where was he? If he was on the trail, it covered over twenty miles of single track that looped in and out of the woods. She thought about hitting the trails herself, but what if he was unconscious? Or couldn’t walk? What good would she do?

And what if a bear or a mountain lion came upon him before she did? The likelihood was slim, but rational thought had vanished around the time she realized he was missing.

Missing.

Afraid to waste another second, she jumped up from the stairs and got back in her car, heading to the one person who would be able to help her.

***

Hot searing pain exploded in Caleb’s leg, shooting through his thigh and radiating right in his groin. “Fuck me!” he cried out as he collapsed back on the ground. At this rate, he was going to die out here and never get the chance to tell Kate he was sorry. That he was an idiot. That she was nothing like Gia, but that scared him more, because maybe she was too good for him.

Even if she was, he wasn’t letting go. Not this time because he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to be the man she deserved. If only he survived long enough to do so.

Walking was out of the question, but maybe he could crawl. He shifted his weight and got on one knee but the minute he went to bend the other, pain rendered him useless, dropping his pathetic body to the ground.

He couldn’t walk, and he couldn’t crawl, but maybe he could drag himself. He lifted up on his elbows and used them to pull his mangled body, but since he hadn’t eaten anything since god knows when and being completely out of water, his strength was dwindling. He made it all of twenty feet before he collapsed onto the ground again.

He propped himself up against a tree and closed his eyes, bringing Kate’s face into full view. He focused on her porcelain skin, the bluish green color of her eyes, those perfect lips that could breathe life right into him. He could almost feel them move against his skin as she worked her way down his body. He let every other thought float away as he imagined her lips all over him. The way she kissed away any building tension.

He thought of only Kate and her beautiful mouth until the pain was no longer front and center in his mind.

***

Kate barely had her car in park before she threw the door open and jumped out, making a bee-line for the front door of the Red Maple Falls police station.

Kate stepped inside the small building. The walls were a rich golden yellow that were accented by polished oak desks and moldings. Martha, the dispatcher and Matt’s assistant, glanced up from the computer and gave Kate a wave.

“What do we owe the pleasure?” she asked.

“Is my brother here? I need my brother.” Kate hurried toward Matt’s office, but when she peeked through the door he wasn’t there.

“Honey, are you okay?” Martha asked as Kate moved passed her and toward the hallway that lead to the bathroom and break room. “Kate, sweetie?”

“What’s going on?” Kate heard Matt’s voice and spun toward him.

“Matt!”

He must’ve seen the panic on her face because he ran to her side. “What’s wrong?”

“Caleb is hurt.”

“What do you mean he’s hurt? What happened? Where is he?”

Matt rested a hand on her arm, and the familiar touch sent a spiral of emotions coursing through her. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes and she tried to hold them back, tried to answer Matt’s questions, but she couldn’t get words around the big, hot lump in her throat.

“He’s hurt,” she said again.

Matt guided her to a chair and urged her to sit. He said something to Martha, and she disappeared. He took her hands and squeezed them tightly just like he did when they were kids and she was too worked up to speak. “Easy now,” he said. “Breathe.”

She took a deep breath and let the action work its way through her system to calm her. One more breath and she was finally able to speak. “We need to find him.”

“Find him? If you don’t know where he is, how do you know he’s hurt?”

“He didn’t show up to open his store today. He would never not show up.”

“Maybe he got confused and thought Hunter was supposed to open today.”

“No,” Kate said, the panic rising in her voice again. Matt squeezed her hands again, and she took another breath. “I know Caleb was supposed to be there.”

“Maybe he mixed up the days. Have you tried calling him?”

Annoyed that Matt would even ask a stupid question like that she ripped her hands out of his hold. “Of course I called him. What do you think I am? An idiot?”

“I’m just getting information. Have you gone by his place?”

“Yes, his car was there, so was his phone, his bike wasn’t. That’s why I think he’s hurt. His clothes from yesterday were thrown on the floor like he took them off in a hurry and then went on his bike.”

“Why would he be in a hurry?”

“We had a bit of a disagreement last night, and he took off. Whenever he needs to clear his head, he hits the trails. I’m telling you; he went out on his bike and something happened. I’ve wasted enough time playing twenty questions. He’s missing and I need to find him. The only question left to ask here is are you going to help me or not?”

“I can’t consider him a missing person until it’s been a full twenty-four hours. It’s protocol.”

“Screw protocol! I’m not asking you to follow protocol. I’m asking my brother to help me find the man that I love who might be in danger. And if that’s not enough then don’t consider it a missing person and consider it a rescue mission.”

Matt stared at her for a long hard second when Martha approached them with a glass of water.

Matt mumbled something incoherent then turned to Martha. “Call the hospital see if anyone is there that fits Caleb James description. If not, we need to get together a search team. Call everyone you can think of. Tell them to meet me at the trail head on White Pines Road in an hour.”

“I’m on it.” She turned to Kate and handed her the water then rested a gentle hand on her face. “We’ll find him, dear.”

There was a gentle tenderness in her eyes that made Kate believe her. She just hoped when they did find him, they weren’t too late.