Little Girl Gone (An Afton Tangler Thriller #1)(100)

“It can’t be done,” he said. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to work. My feet are too clumpy and I don’t know the first thing about climbing. We have to wait for the snowplows to do their thing up top and then we’ll come back tomorrow.” He started to tromp back toward the car. “I should have known this was a terrible idea. It’s snowing like a bastard and we’re barely going to make it back across the river. Hell, we might have to ditch in Hudson for the night.”

“Can’t you call Don Jasper and have him drop some FBI commandos in here or something?” Afton asked. “I mean, where are the guys in the black helicopters when you need them?” She was only half serious. Decided she had to do something to cajole Max out of his angry funk.

“That only happens in the movies,” Max said. “Besides, I already tried calling and couldn’t get a connection.” He shrugged. “Sorry. That’s all she wrote.”

Afton walked to the rear of the Navigator and lifted the hatch. She dug around for a minute and pulled out a twist of rope.

“Oh no,” Max said. “You’re not going to try to scale that hill by yourself.”

She pulled out a set of crampons and an ice ax.

He rubbed the back of his hand against his cheek. “On the other hand, maybe you are.”

Afton slipped the crampons over her boots and snugged the straps tight. “I’m going up,” she told him in a matter-of-fact voice. “I’m going to take a look around and try to determine if the Darden baby is in that farmhouse. I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

“You’re going to climb that big cliff. That’s pretty stupid right there.”

“No,” she said. “It’s risky. There’s a difference between stupidity and risk.”

“Now you tell me.” Max stood back and watched as she continued to gear up.

When Afton was ready, she mustered a small smile. “Okay. Ready.”

“I’m gonna drive back to that last farm we passed and call the cops in Hudson,” Max told her. “They’re the closest, so they can get here the fastest.”

“If that farm even has a land line.”

Max ignored her. “I’ll have Hudson PD contact WisDOT and try to get the road up top plowed as soon as possible. Then we’ll come in full force with the cavalry.”

“Okay,” Afton said. “Sounds like a plan.”

“And I have to call Thacker and Jasper, too.”

“Oops.”

“I’ll probably be forty or fifty minutes behind you, an hour at most,” Max said. He gazed at her and turned even more serious. “Listen, you go in, grab that little baby if you find her, and then get the hell out of there. Wrap her up like a burrito in a dozen blankets and head out the front road. You got that? That’s where we’ll be coming in.”

Afton nodded. “Got it.” She was suddenly scared. And she knew that Max knew she was scared. “You think the baby’s there, too, don’t you?”

“I do, yeah. I hate to admit it, but you’ve got me convinced.”

“Good,” Afton said. “Anything else?”

“Ah, just one more thing.”

“What?” Was he going to tell her to be careful?

Max handed her his Glock. “Try not to shoot yourself.”





43


WE can’t leave,” Ronnie said.

Shake sat up in bed, instantly alert. “What’s wrong?” Oh no, had Ronnie chickened out? Had he changed his mind? Had Marjorie gotten to him? Had she bickered and harassed and browbeat him to death?

“We’re in the middle of a real badass snowstorm,” Ronnie said. “Our driveway’s completely drifted and the Interstate’s closed.”

“Oh.” Shake glanced out the window at the snow and then relaxed against her pillows. Ronnie hadn’t changed his mind after all. He was just being cautious about their safety. For some reason, this small gesture made her heart swell. Ronnie being thoughtful and mature. It was a whole new side to him. “So when do you think we can get out of here?”

“I don’t know.” His eyes bounced down to where the baby lay sleeping in her crib. “Maybe tomorrow. It depends on when our snowplow guy shows up.”

Shake gave a little shudder. “It scares me to spend one more night under this roof.”

“We’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of that.”

“Your mother wants to get rid of our baby. Give it away or maybe even sell it.”

“There’s no way I’m gonna let that happen,” Ronnie said. He gazed at Shake and offered her an encouraging smile. He thought how funny it was that Shake had never played into his rape fantasies. Of course, that first time at Club Paradise, she’d pretty much attacked him. Pulled him into the dancers’ dressing room and whispered into his ear how hunky he was. Said she wanted to be his girlfriend. He’d never forgotten that. Those might have been the kindest words that were ever spoken to him. Now something inside him made him want to protect Shake and the baby. Create a little bubble of safety for them. This feeling was new to him and he decided to proceed cautiously.

“I’m still worried,” Shake said. “Your mother is getting freakier and freakier.” She didn’t want to bring up the subject of this past Tuesday night, when Ronnie had slipped out with his mother. Didn’t want to pry too much. She might lift a rock and find something ugly and dirty wiggling around underneath it.