Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,4
and reached for her hand.
“Do you want me to go with you? I will.”
“Yes, would you?”
“Of course,” Beth said. “I’ll always have your back.”
Trish laid her head on her mother’s shoulder. “I’m scared, Mama. The more time passes...”
“I know. And I can only imagine what Baxter and Macie are thinking, so let’s stay positive until life gives us a reason not to, okay?”
Trish nodded. “Help me find something to wear. It’s supposed to be colder tonight.”
And with that, mother and daughter got up to pick out something to wear for the weather, and the occasion, unaware that Baxter and Macie Dawson had enlisted more help to find their son.
* * *
Charlie was packed and standing in the kitchen of his apartment eating a salami-and-dill-pickle sandwich. The sandwich made him think of Annie. She loved salami, but the kind with the black peppercorns. And she liked mustard and onions on her sandwich, not pickles.
God, he missed her...her and her onion breath, and the laugh when she kissed him afterward. It was getting harder and harder to remember her from before, for what the early-onset Alzheimer’s she now suffered from had done to her...to them.
He finished off the sandwich and the glass of sweet tea, and then put the glass in the sink and the napkin that had served as a plate in the trash, and wondered what the hell was holding Wyrick up.
No sooner had he thought it than his phone signaled a text. It was her.
Chopper is ready now. I’m en route. Pack your iPad and a power pack. I uploaded info to it that you’re going to want, but you’re not going to have wifi there, so read on the way.
He sighed, then went back to his office, picked up the iPad and dug a couple of power packs out of a drawer and put them in his bag, along with his regular cell phone, then gathered up his things and headed out the door.
Dallas was experiencing its first cold spell, which wasn’t that unusual for October, but Big Bend National Park was at the southern end of the state of Texas, bordering Mexico. It had a far different weather pattern than the northern part of the state.
He wondered if the weather was going to impact his search, then knew it would all hinge on how far up they’d hiked before Tony Dawson went missing. The nights would be cold. The weather during the day would vary with regard to warmth. But he’d find all that out when he got there, and right now, his biggest issue was traffic to get to the airport.
It was at its usual breakneck pace, and Charlie was already thinking about the upcoming trip and the job ahead. He didn’t have any preconceived notions about what he’d find, but he’d been doing this for a long time, and his instincts were telling him there was more to those boys’ story than what they’d admitted. What didn’t make sense was why they’d keep anything a secret when their friend was missing. Getting so drunk they didn’t remember much was possible, but why keep it a secret when a friend’s life was at stake?
* * *
Wyrick changed clothes in the office before heading to the hangar where she kept her chopper. Benny had it fueled up and ready, and now all she had to do was get there. But when she left the building and headed for her Mercedes, she caught a glimpse of Darrell Boyington sitting in a black Lexus at the back of the parking lot.
What the hell is he trying to prove?
But getting Charlie to the Chisos Mountain Lodge was uppermost in her thoughts, and she forgot about Boyington as she jumped in the Mercedes and sped out of the parking lot.
She was on the freeway before she happened to glance up in the rearview mirror and see a black Lexus about thirty yards behind her.
Boyington?
It had been a while since she’d been tailed by people hired by Universal Theorem, but she could spot a tail within seconds. She was accustomed to UT’s interests in her whereabouts, but knowing it was someone Charlie turned away was a little creepy, and yet there he was. She didn’t have time to deal with him, and she didn’t want to lead him all the way to the location of her hangar. The less people knew about her personal business, the better.
Thinking she would lose him in the traffic, she accelerated, but so did he. When the