Chapter 2

 

Cameron Pope was dreaming of an angel. Reliving the moment in the hotel lobby when he’d first seen her.

She smiled at him and that was all it took. He’d never believed in love at first sight, but it felt like he knew her—had always known her. Through a thousand lifetimes she’d been his.

Now it was his last night on American soil before shipping out for a second tour in Iraq, and all he could think wasThis can’t be happening. It had taken so long to find her, and tomorrow he’d be gone.

One of them moved first. He still didn’t remember if it was him or her, but they were suddenly face-to-face and she was looking at his fatigues and the duffel bag on his shoulder, and a strange look came over her.

What happened next was the stuff miracles were made of.

He could still remember how they fit, body to body, and the tears in her eyes as she came apart in his arms.

And then his phone rang, yanking him from the dream. The scent of her perfume was nothing but a memory as he rolled over in bed. He heard Ghost leap to his feet and the click of toenails on the cold pine floor as he came into the room.

Cameron groaned as the phone continued to ring. “I hear it,” he said, patting the head of his huge German shepherd as he turned on the lamp.

But then he saw his sister’s name pop up on caller ID and frowned. This time of night? It couldn’t be good. When he answered and heard her sobbing, his heart stopped.

“Rachel? Honey? What’s wrong?”

“Danny Biggers was one of the men who escaped from Abercrombie! He broke into our house tonight before Louis got home and took Lili. We called the sheriff. Louis called his dad. Our people are on the mountain with the hounds. You know Danny. He knows the mountains. The law will never find him on their own. Uncle John just found an abandoned car about halfway up the mountain. Biggers is in the woods with my baby.”

Cameron was already out of bed and getting dressed.

“Did Biggers say anything to you?” Cameron asked.

Rachel hiccupped on a sob. “It was weird. When he first saw me, he was shocked. Like he hadn’t expected to see me, and then we fought. He knocked me out. Louis came home from work and found me on the floor and the baby gone. Find my baby, Cameron. You and Ghost. Please find my baby. Louis put the little shirt Lili wore yesterday in our mailbox for you. You’ll need it for Ghost.”

A quiet rage washed through Cameron so fast he had to take a breath before he could speak.

Danny Biggers put a hand to Rachel again? And took the baby? God! Lili. Up the mountain. In the dark. With a man who’d already sold his soul to the devil.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you bad?”

“I’ll be okay. Just find my baby.”

“We’ll find them, Rachel. Ghost and I won’t stop until we do.”

He hung up, buckled on his holster and handgun, shoved his sat phone inside the inner pocket of his black jacket, and then grabbed a backpack from the floor of his closet. It had a first aid kit, extra batteries for the LED lantern, and hiking gear. It was his habit—a holdover from his military days—to always be ready.

Then he looked down at the white dog standing at his feet.

“Ghost. With me.”

Moments later, they were in his Jeep and headed up the mountain. Two miles up, he stopped at Rachel’s mailbox to get his niece’s shirt, and then they were gone. He kept driving until he saw the open doors of an abandoned vehicle and a number of other cars parked nearby.

The searchers were already ahead of him.

He got out of his Jeep with Ghost at his heels, buckled on the backpack, then held the little girl’s shirt beneath his dog’s nose.

“Seek, Ghost! Seek!”

The German shepherd caught the scent, then went nose to ground outside the abandoned car before taking off into the forest with Cameron running behind him without caution, desperate to keep up.

The woods were silent. The air was cold. Cameron couldn’t let himself think about Lili out here with Danny Biggers. He’d raped Rachel and gone to prison for it. How the hell did he get out? Why come all the way back here just to kidnap Rachel’s daughter years later?

But there were no answers. Only questions, and none of it mattered right now but finding Lili. Cameron just kept moving upward, running as fast as he could through the brush to keep Ghost in sight.

He heard the hounds long before he saw the LED-powered lanterns the searchers were carrying. The hounds were in the woods, but he could tell by the occasional bay that they had yet to strike a trail.

He could see Ghost a few yards ahead of him, moving at a lope through the trees, and then all of a sudden Ghost whined and took off running.

“Jesus,” Cameron whispered, and kicked into high speed, desperate to keep the dog in sight.

They were behind the searchers, then running through them. There was no time to talk. To explain. He just kept running. He couldn’t afford to lose sight of Ghost.

***

Lights were bobbing through the trees on Pope Mountain like drunken fireflies in the dark as the searchers moved upward.

Men’s voices.

Hounds on the hunt.

Two-way radios keyed up and then silenced.

Breath clouded, dissipating as quickly as it had formed, while the men who’d exhaled outran it.

All of a sudden there was the sound of someone coming up behind them—of dry leaves crunching and breaking twigs, and then something white moved between them and disappeared into the forest in front of them. A ghost on the mountain?

Before they could react, the black shadow of a man shot through the line of searchers and disappeared into the night.

A sheriff’s deputy shouted as he reached for his gun, “What the hell was that? Was that our man?”

Before the deputy could get the pistol out of his holster, Marcus Glass grabbed his arm. “No. He’s one of us. That’s Cameron Pope, and it appears his dog, Ghost, has struck a trail,” Glass said.

“But the dog isn’t barking like your hounds,” the officer said. “It isn’t making a sound.”

“Because it’s not a hound, and the man we’re after won’t even know Ghost is there until it’s too late. We run now. Ghost will find them. Cameron will need us,” Glass said, and took off through the trees after them with the searchers at his heels.

***

Nothing was going according to Danny Biggers’s plan. When he’d told his old girlfriend Lindy that the prison break was going to happen, she’d told him to call her if he made it out. She’d have a job for him that would get him the money he needed to disappear.

And then he’d made the escape, and the first thing he did was break into an old couple’s home, tie them up, steal their car and the money they had on hand, and trade his prison duds for some of the old man’s clothes. On the way out, he took their phone and called Lindy. He could tell by the sound of her voice she was surprised he’d made it out, but she made good on her promise and gave him the info on the job.

It was the last thing he expected to come out of her mouth, and he was so shocked he almost rejected the job, but then she told him what they’d pay him to do it, and he caved. Kidnap a little kid. Take it over the cutback on Pope Mountain to a bar called Fuzzy Fridays. She’d be waiting with ten thousand dollars, and he’d be on his way.

When she gave him the family’s name and directions to the house, he realized it was on the actual mountain. The home was the residence of a man named Louis Glass. Except Rachel Pope had been there. And it was her kid he snatched. What were the odds that would happen? That he would come face-to-face with the woman whose testimony had put him in jail?

But he had not completely followed through on his orders. He did not kill the woman to get the child like he’d been told. Instead, he left Rachel unconscious, hoping it would give him time to get over the mountain before she came to and before Louis Glass came home.

Only he hadn’t counted on all the shit with the kid.

She’d done nothing but scream since he’d picked her up. He’d planned on giving her a bottle loaded with something to put her to sleep, but she wouldn’t take the bottle, so he’d dumped a bag of cookies in her lap and stomped the accelerator. Finally, she began eating on the cookies, snuffling and hiccupping through tears.

“Want a drink, baby? Want some milk with your cookies?” he asked.

She nodded, so he pulled over on the side of the mountain road, unscrewed the top off the bottle, and poured some of the drugged milk into an empty Styrofoam cup he’d picked up off the floorboard. She drank until she was full and handed it back.

“Get your blanket and lie down now,” he said.

Tears rolled. “Want Mama.”

“Okay, then. You lie down and close your eyes and we’ll find Mama.”

And with all the innocence of the toddler she was, she did as she was told. Within a few minutes, the drugs kicked in, and she went limp.

He felt for a pulse to make sure she was still breathing, and then nodded with satisfaction. All he had to do was get over the mountain to Fuzzy Fridays, meet up with Lindy, and get his money. He didn’t know what they wanted with the kid, and he didn’t care. His cut would be enough to help him disappear.

He put the car in gear and floored it, but he didn’t get far before the engine began missing. His gut knotted. Then something blew beneath the hood—a mini-explosion that scared the shit out of him enough that he almost wrecked. He steered the smoking car to the side of the road, letting it roll to a stop. And when smoke began pouring into the interior of the car, he started cursing and pounding his fists on the steering wheel.

He tried to call Lindy, but couldn’t get a signal. He didn’t know if the smoke was coming from wiring, or if the car was about to explode, but he had to get out. He grabbed the kid and her blanket, dug a flashlight from the console, then clutched her limp body tight against him.

He stared up the road and then into the trees, debating which route to take, then opted for the route with the most cover, jumped the ditch with the deadweight of the kid in his arms, and disappeared into the forest. When the blanket snagged on a bramble, he yanked it free and kept moving.

After the first minutes of frustration and panic subsided, Biggers was finally able to focus on the child in his arms. Even though there was a three-quarter moon, the forest was so thick that very little light came through the treetops, leaving him with little more than a faded and blurry view of her features.

The air was cold, and the higher up he went, the colder it got. It was quiet. Too quiet. No night birds calling. No sound of foxes. It was too cold to worry about snakes this time of year, but the abundance of black bears was a threat, and it was too early for them to have gone into hibernation.

He stopped long enough to shift Lili’s weight, then aimed his flashlight into the trees and kept moving upward. If he could get to the switchback before daylight, he would be able to get a cell signal and call Lindy. She could come get them, and they’d be home free.

***

Cameron was on autopilot, moving without thinking—heart hammering in his chest, muscles burning from extreme exertion, sweat pouring down his face despite the cold.

Ghost was his touchstone. He kept his focus on the glimpses of the dog weaving through the trees. All he could think was Stay with him. Don’t lose him. Lose Ghost, and you lose Lili.

He’d rather die.

And then all of a sudden, he caught a glimpse of light. One single flash in the trees ahead and then gone. He’d outrun the line of searchers. The only person ahead of him had to be Biggers.

Then he realized Ghost had disappeared. Shit! He’d keyed in on Biggers, too.

Cameron shot forward with renewed speed, dodging low-hanging limbs, ignoring the briars tugging at his clothes and the brush slapping at his face. His gaze was focused on the dark before him, desperate for another flash of light or anything to tell him where they were.

And then he heard the screams.

***

One second Biggers was upright and walking, and then something hit him in the back so hard it sent him to his knees. He heard growling only seconds before it began ripping at his legs, tearing clothing and flesh, and trying to rip the coat off his back.

All he could think was “Bear!” He was going to die!

He dropped the kid and began trying to crawl away, hoping the animal would take her instead, but it had a death grip on him and wouldn’t let go. He began screaming—and screaming—and screaming, fearing the sound of his own voice would be the last thing he’d hear.

He was wrong.

Suddenly, a man was behind him shouting, “Stay, Ghost! Stay!”

As quickly as the animal had taken him down, the weight of it was gone. Danny thought he’d just been rescued, and then someone grabbed him and rolled him over. He opened his eyes to the giant shadow of a man looming over him, shining a flashlight into his face. And then the man pulled a gun and Danny started begging.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! For the love of…”

One shot rang out, followed by a second.

***

The searchers heard.

The first shot stopped them in their tracks.

Cameron! It meant he’d found something.

Then the second shot followed.

He’d found her alive! They let out a whoop and started running.

***

“Ghost! With Lili! Stay!” Cameron said, and shed his backpack as Ghost immediately dropped beside the toddler and began licking her face. Cameron was so focused on disabling Biggers that at first he didn’t realize Lili was unconscious. He pulled a coil of nylon climbing rope from his pack, and while Biggers was bawling and begging for help, Cameron dragged him to his feet.

“Help me,” Danny wailed. “I’m bleeding bad.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you, and if you’ve hurt Lili, I’ll kill you anyway,” Cameron said. He tied Biggers upright and standing to a tree, his face smashed sideways against the trunk as Cameron kept winding the rope around and around him until he was tied so tight the bark was cutting into his face.

As soon as Biggers was secure, Cameron ran to Lili.

Danny couldn’t move his head, but from the corner of his eye, he saw the man scoop the kid up in his arms, and then when the man turned on him, he finally saw his face.

Oh God. It’s Rachel’s brother.

“She’s unconscious! What the fuck did you do to her?” Cameron shouted.

“Nothing. Nothing, I swear. It’s just something to make her sleep. I didn’t hurt her. I didn’t do anything to her,” Danny whined.

Cameron unzipped his jacket enough to get Lili swaddled inside before zipping it up around her. Her body was like ice, her breathing too soft…too faint. Two tours in Iraq had not scared him as bad as the fear running through him now. He left Biggers’s flashlight shining straight at the tree where he was tied, took a lantern from his backpack, then slung the backpack over his shoulder.

“Ghost. With me!” Cameron said, and headed back down the mountain, walking as fast as he dared, cradling Lili against him.

“Don’t leave me! The bears will smell the blood!” Danny screamed.

Biggers was still screaming and begging for help as Cameron and Ghost disappeared into the forest.

***

The searchers were on the run when Ghost shot out of the trees, running toward them. When they saw the dog without Cameron, they froze. Where was he?

They were aiming their flashlights into the darkness just as Cameron appeared, cradling a small body beneath his jacket, with the top of her head just below his chin.

“Who’s in charge?” Cameron asked.

Sheriff Woodley stepped out of the crowd.

“Biggers doped her,” Cameron said. “She’s barely breathing and hypothermic. Send an ambulance up the mountain. Tell them I’m headed down. I’ll meet them on the road.”

“Where’s Biggers?” Woodley asked.

“Tied to a tree. You can’t miss him. He’s screaming for help. Something about blood and bears. Oh…and you’ll need an ambulance for him, too. Ghost beat me to him.”

Then he pulled his sat phone out of his pack and handed it to Marcus.

“Call Rachel and Louis. Tell them I found Lili. Tell them to get to the hospital in Jubilee.”

“Will do, Cam. Good job,” Marcus said.

“Ghost, home! With me,” Cameron snapped. He made a sharp turn to the north and headed for the main road with Ghost leading the way.

Part of the searchers followed Cameron out of the forest, while the rest of them led the sheriff and his officers to Danny Biggers.

***

The ambulance driver and the EMTs were getting ready to leave Rachel and Louis’s house when they got the call. Instead of going back to Jubilee, they headed up the mountain at the same time Marcus was calling his son.

Still in a panic about the ambulance’s hasty exit, and not knowing what was going on, Louis answered with a shaking voice and put the call on speaker so Rachel could hear.

“Hello?”

“Son…Cameron and Ghost found them. He’s headed to the road with Lili now to meet the ambulance. He said to tell you and Rachel to get down to the hospital. They’ll be bringing her in to the ER.”

Louis’s gut knotted. “Is she hurt?’

“Biggers drugged her. She’s not breathing so good, and she’s suffering from hypothermia,” Marcus said.

“Ah, Jesus.” Louis groaned. “Thank you, Dad. Thank everyone! We’ll be leaving now,” he said and hung up, then grabbed Rachel’s arm. “Sit still, baby. I’ll get your coat and purse,” he said.

They left the house minutes later, flying down the blacktop, desperate to get into town.

***

The urgency to get Lili to the ambulance was paramount, but her breathing was so shallow Cameron was afraid to run with her, so he lengthened his stride, turning his body to use as a shield as they moved through the brush. He didn’t know if she could hear him, but he wanted her to hear a familiar voice—to let her know she was safe.

“Hey, baby girl. It’s Uncle Cam. Remember how we go outside to look at the moon? When everything around us is dark except the stars and the big moon up in the sky? If you were awake, you could see how big it is tonight. Almost full. Only a little piece is missing. Looks like someone took a big bite out of it. Was it you? Did you take a bite of that moon? Like you always take a bite of my cookie?”

And so it went, with Cameron talking and walking, until all of a sudden they were out of the trees, crossing the ditch, and moving up onto the blacktop road. The moment his feet hit the surface, Cameron lengthened his stride and started down the mountain, with Ghost still trotting at his side.

The faint sounds of sirens were echoing all around him, so he knew the ambulances were coming, but it was hard to tell how far away they were. He knew some of the searchers were still behind him, but he didn’t bother to look back. They were all on the same journey—to hand Lili over to a medical team. He and Ghost had done their part by finding her. It was up to God and the doctors to make her better again.

Cameron kept patting Lili’s back and stroking her little head. “I hear sirens, Lili. They’re bringing angels to take you to Mama and Daddy. Don’t be scared, baby girl. You don’t have to be scared anymore.”

And then Ghost began to whine.

Moments later Cameron caught a glimpse of flashing lights about a mile down the mountain and then they disappeared around a curve. A huge sense of relief washed through him. He knew that curve. The ambulance was almost here.

It was like getting his second wind. Adrenaline kicked in as he glanced down at the top of Lili’s head. She was warmer now, lying close against his body, and she was still breathing. He had to believe she was going to be okay.

All of a sudden, the sound of sirens turned into a scream as the flashing red and blue lights appeared, coming toward him at breakneck speed. Cameron immediately moved to the side of the road and held up his hand. The driver killed the sirens as the ambulance pulled up in front of him.

Cameron swiftly moved to the back of the vehicle as the driver jumped out and both EMTs came out on the other side. He knew them all. He’d gone to school with the EMTs, Fagan Jennings and Billy Jackson. And he’d known the drive, B. J. Kelly, for a good twenty years. He’d never been so glad to see them in his life.

Kelly opened the back doors. Fagan climbed in, and Billy took Lili from Cameron’s arms and passed her off to Fagan.

“Jesus, Cameron. You guys pulled off a small miracle here tonight finding her so fast,” Fagan said, then realized the little girl wasn’t just sleeping. “What happened to her? She’s unconscious! Has she been injured?”

“Biggers drugged her. I don’t know what with. Her breathing is shallow, and she was hypothermic when I got to her. She’s not allergic to anything we know of, and her parents will be waiting for you in the ER when you arrive. That’s all I know,” Cameron said.

He watched Billy Jackson climb inside. His last glimpse of Lili was Fagan putting a stethoscope on Lili’s chest and Billy buckling her onto the gurney. And then B. J. Kelly closed the back doors and climbed up into the cab, turned the ambulance around, then gunned it back down the mountain as loud and fast as they had arrived.

Cameron could still see taillights when the second ambulance appeared on the way up to get Biggers. As soon as it passed him, he dropped to his knees and put his arms around Ghost’s neck.

“You did it, Ghost! You found Lili. You are such a good boy.”

Ghost whined and licked Cameron’s chin. When Cameron stood, the dog moved a few steps ahead to lead the way until they reached where he’d parked.

A county officer was standing guard at Biggers’s vehicle.

“Waiting for a tow?” Cameron asked.

The officer nodded. “Yes. Taking it in to the forensics lab. Good job finding the kid.”

“Team effort,” Cameron said, then opened the passenger door to his Jeep. Ghost jumped in, settling in his spot as Cameron closed the door and circled the vehicle to get in.

The relief of sitting down, and knowing they had accomplished what they set out to do, was huge. It felt like he’d lived a lifetime from Rachel’s phone call to handing Lili over to the EMTs, but when he glanced at the time, he was shocked. Less than four hours had passed. It would be dawn soon. He shuddered, thinking what might have happened but for Ghost.

He laid a hand on the big dog’s head.

Ghost looked up at him and then began licking his paws.

Cameron sighed. He wanted to go straight to Jubilee, but his face was burning from the cuts and scratches of running through the woods, and he needed to get Ghost home. He passed the mailbox where Rachel had left her baby’s shirt, then another two miles down before turning up his drive.

Seeing the porch light still burning and the lights he’d left on was the only welcome he was going to get. There was no one waiting for him except the angel in his dreams.

Ghost sat up in the seat as Cameron pulled up beneath the carport. “Hey, buddy, we’re home,” he said.

He opened the door and got out, expecting Ghost to leap across the seats and follow, but instead he just sat, whining.

Cameron frowned and then circled the Jeep and opened the other door. Ghost still hadn’t moved, and then Cameron saw all the blood on the seat and the floor, and dark stains on the white hair on one of Ghost’s front paws.

“Aw, man…what did you do?” he muttered, then slid his arms beneath his dog, lifted him out and carried him into the house through the side door, and laid him on the kitchen floor.

It didn’t take long to find the deep cut on the paw pad. Cameron ran back to the Jeep to get his backpack and rifle, then knelt beside Ghost and pulled out the first aid kit. After sluicing the cut with water to remove debris, he applied antiseptic cream.

Ghost yelped once, then continued to state his objections with soft, intermittent whines until Cameron began wrapping the injured paw with gauze.

When he finished, Ghost tried to lick it again, but Cameron put his hand over the bandage. “No, Ghost. No licking.”

The dog looked up. Cameron cupped Ghost’s jaw, gazing down into the deep black eyes of the animal before him, and then leaned down—foreheads touching.

“Thank you for your sacrifice, buddy. You ran hurt. You didn’t stop because of what I asked of you. You have more courage than most men I know. No chewing your bandage off, okay? Now let’s get you some food and water.”

He carried Ghost to his food and water bowl, then went to clean up the mess he’d left on the kitchen floor while Ghost ate. Cameron knew he’d gotten scratched, but he had no idea it was so bad until he saw himself in a mirror. It looked like he’d gone four rounds with a bobcat and lost the fight. Still, there was nothing to be done but wash up and apply antiseptic. He would heal. He wasn’t as certain about Lili.

Anxious to get to Jubilee, he stripped, washed his face and hands, applied antiseptic to the scratches that made them burn like hell, then quickly dressed in clean clothes before going back to check on Ghost.

The big dog had finished his food and had found his way to his bed by the fireplace, near the warmth from dying embers. But to Cameron’s dismay, the bandage he’d put on Ghost was blood-soaked. The cut was worse than he’d thought. He couldn’t leave him like this. He had to get him to the vet.

“Okay, buddy, this isn’t good. I’ve gotta go check on Lili and then you’re going to see Sam. You like Sam, remember?”

Cameron ran out to the Jeep, pulled an old blanket off the back floorboard, grabbed a handful of wet wipes to clean up all the blood, then put the blanket down in the front seat and ran back inside.

Ghost whined again when Cameron carried him out to the Jeep. Then Cameron went back to get his coat and locked the door behind him as he left.

Night was already fading, giving hints to the arrival of another day as Cameron passed the city limits of Jubilee. Streetlights were still burning. Delivery vans were already making rounds.

On a good day, Cameron would be running errands and checking on family who had their own shops here. But not this morning. The charm of the mountain village that had become a thriving tourist destination was lost on him today. The only things on his mind were Lili and Ghost.