“I can be brave like Ralf,” Emmie told herself—and Charlie. “I can go down the river and find the Daddy-man. I know I can.”
And taking a deep breath, she plunged into the tangled, swampy woods.
Chapter Fourteen
Brandi woke up with the feeling that something was wrong.
What’s going on? she thought sleepily, rolling over into the thin stream of sunlight beaming through the double wide’s smudged bedroom window. Why is it so quiet in here?
It was a Saturday morning which meant that Emmie was allowed to watch as many cartoons as she could stand. Brandi monitored her TV consumption strictly the rest of the week. But on Saturday, Emmie got to get up early and go sit in front of the big TV that her Grandpa Bud usually watched sports on. She could drink in all the loud, colorful cartoons and kids’ shows she wanted.
But this morning it was strangely quiet.
Is Emmie sleeping in? Brandi immediately rejected the idea. The only time her daughter wasn’t up with the dawn was when she was sick. Uh-oh—that must be it.
Feeling worried, she pulled on her robe and went quickly into her daughter’s room.
“Emmie-bear, aren’t you feeling we…” Her words trailed off when she saw that Emmie’s bed was empty. Could she be playing quietly in the living room without turning on the TV? Maybe she was reading a book? That was certainly possible—Brandi had done everything she could to instill her love of reading in her child and it seemed to be paying off.
Walking quietly down the hallway, she peeked around the corner, hoping to catch Emmie engrossed in a book—a sight which always made her happy and gave her a little tingle of pride in her smart girl.
But Emmie wasn’t in the living room. And strangely enough, neither was Charlie.
Frowning, Brandi searched the rest of the trailer and couldn’t find either one of them. Her heart was galloping in her chest as she found herself back in the living room. Where could Emmie be?
Then her eyes happened to catch something she’d missed before. The front door of the trailer was open—not a lot—only a crack. But it was clearly open with none of the locks engaged. Had her mother come in late last night as usual and forgot to lock the door because she was drunk? Unfortunately, it was entirely possible.
Heart pounding in her throat, Brandi walked outside and looked around the trailer.
“Emmie?” she called, her voice breaking a little. “Emmie, are you out here?” Raising her voice she called, “Emmaline Clair Dixon, you get over here right now!”
Nothing.
Brandi’s legs felt weak and her stomach was as heavy as lead. A thousand thoughts started crowding into her mind.
What if Emmie had been kidnapped? What if some horrible perverted child snatcher had been watching her? What if he’d seen that the door was unlocked and come in and grabbed her right out of her bed? Or what if…
That was when she saw the small prints around the muddy trickle of water that run out of the swampy, tangled woods. The woods which were said to have a gator pond in the middle.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, falling to her knees beside the tracks. “Oh my God, no! Emmie…Emmie!”
* * * * *
Slade was jerked awake in the darkness of his suite by the feelings of sheer terror and dread pouring through the link.
“What the fuck?” he growled, sitting straight up in bed. Today wasn’t a workday for him so he hadn’t bothered to set a daylight alarm, preferring to sleep as long as he could instead. At least in his sleep he wasn’t tormented by feelings of loss and his never-ending longing for Brandi.
But now her extreme fear and anxiety woke him as surely as if she’d shouted in his ear. Was she hurt? Was someone attacking her again? His first instinct was to jump in a shuttle and fly to Earth at once but Slade told himself he needed to be cautious—he didn’t want to butt in if she didn’t want him.
Closing his eyes—though it was still totally dark in his bedroom—he listened hard, trying to concentrate on what was going on.
“Emmie! Where is she? I think she went in the woods! Have to find her—oh my God, how long as she been gone? How may hours? What if a snake bit her? What if a gator got her? Oh please, God, please—not my Emmie! Please, don’t take her—please!”
The frantic mix of frightened thoughts and jumbled prayers got Slade out of bed at once. A feeling of protectiveness washed over him when he thought of the sweet little girl in danger—a feeling that he had to go and get her, had to save her any way he could. He had to go down to Earth. Brandi might not want him around but it sounded like maybe she needed him, whether she liked it or not.