Because even though Pepper just came out of surgery for a bullet to her gut, I trust she has the strength to let me do this right now. I trust that she can let me be vulnerable and there will be no shame in it at all.
I don’t know how long I stay that way but Pepper continually pets me in reassurance. Finally, I raise my head and blink away the last of the wetness so I can see her clearly. Her eyes aren’t filled with pity but rather solidarity to my pain. She uses her fingertips to dry my cheeks.
“We’ll find her,” she tells me with confidence.
“Of course, we will,” I agree and ignore that dark piece inside of me that acknowledges this could have a bad ending.
The curtain to the room opens, and I expect her family but instead it’s one of the plainclothes detectives.
Nordstrom I think was his last name.
“Mr. Bay,” he says cutting his gaze from me to Pepper and back again. “We have a lead on Ms. Martin. Several people have called into the tip line. I need you to come with me.”
I look back at Pepper and she beams at me. “See…it’s all going to be okay.”
Bending over, I brush my lips against her forehead. “I’ll call your mom as soon as I know something.”
Pepper nods and I follow Detective Nordstrom out with a renewed hope that I’ll have my daughter back safe and sound again.Chapter 31LegendDetective Nordstrom leads the way with long purposeful strides. I wish he’d break into a run because time’s a wasting but I follow him right out the front of the hospital to an unmarked patrol car.
He points at the passenger door. “Get in.”
We’re not even out of the hospital parking lot when he says, “Lida’s stolen a car.”
I turn to look at him. “Okay.”
“She took it while the owner was using an ATM machine and he’d left it running. He said she had a baby with her.”
I exhale loudly. “Thank fuck.”
“A squad car spotted her up about fifteen minutes ago headed west,” he continues on and it’s at this point that I notice his voice has become more grave. “They’re in pursuit.”
“Wait…what does ‘pursuit’ mean?” I ask as I turn more in my seat to face him. “Like high-speed chase? Because she has Charlie in that car without a car seat. You cannot do anything that would make her wreck.”
“We’re not,” he assures me hastily. “They’re staying back so she doesn’t feel threatened.”
“So they’re just following her?” I ask.
“It’s all we can do at this point,” he points out. “If she didn’t have Charlie in the car, we’d do something to physically disable her car or run her off the road, but that’s not an option, obviously.”
“Jesus,” I mutter.
Nordstrom’s cell phone rings and he pulls it out of his front suit pocket. When he puts it up to his ear, he says, “Nordstrom.”
He listens for a few moments to whoever is on the other line and merely says, “On our way.”
When he hangs up, he flips a switch on the dashboard and a siren comes on. I look back and lights mounted under the back glass are flashing. I assume he’s got lights on the front grill too. I know something for sure has happened when he guns it and the sedan leaps forward.
“What is it?” I ask him.
“Lida took Old US 80 south of Arlington,” he says.
This is not familiar to me at all. “I’m new to the area. What does that mean?”
“It means there’s a steel truss bridge there that spans the Gila River. The highway patrol waited until she was on the bridge and put a moving roadblock on the other end. Phoenix PD are behind her. She’s stopped on the bridge right now, effectively trapped.”
Trapped.
That should give me room to celebrate but instead I feel bad about this. If Lida was crazy enough to shoot Pepper and beat Lucy to unconsciousness, there is no telling what she would do knowing that she is facing a long time in prison for her crimes.
Nordstrom’s phone rings again and he barks his last name when it’s connected. I know it’s about Lida and I watch him expectantly.
“We’re twenty minutes out,” he says and hangs up.
“What is it?” I ask him, panic starting to well up within me. What I wouldn’t give to have Pepper by my side right now, but I’ll just have to hold on to that feeling that coursed through me when she told me she loved me.
“She’s out of the car and has Charlie in her arms,” he says gruffly and shoots me a glance that is way too grim in my opinion. “She’s standing at the railing and threatening to jump.”
“Fuck,” I yell as I slam my hand down onto his dashboard. It doesn’t faze Nordstrom. “Can they grab her or something? Shoot her without hitting Charlie? How do they stop her from jumping?”