the first place,” he joked.
“Funny. It doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s too bad Butch isn’t a tracking dog.”
“Not even the smartest dog can track a vehicle.” Josh gazed down to where my hand still rested on the dog’s head, and he smiled.
The rain pelted down, and the lightning flashed around us. The headlights barely made a dent in the gloom, but it was cozy and dry in the SUV.
“Can we ping her cell phone?” I asked.
“You’ve watched too many detective shows.”
“She could have a phone-finding app.”
“I wish my seventy-year-old aunt had a phone-finding app. And we don’t have a signal here anyway.”
“I’m just tossing out ideas.”
“Keep tossing,” he said.
“Or you could come up with something.”
“We could hide her keys someplace she’ll never find them.”
“You should know it wouldn’t be legal.”
“Forget legal. I’m saving her from herself.”
“You can’t save her from herself without having her declared incompetent,” the lawyer in me said.
“She knows too many good lawyers,” he said. “Including you. I’d never get away with it.”
“Plus, you know, she’s not incompetent.”
“She’s sure acting like it tonight.”
I came up with another theory. “Where’s the closest city?”
“You mean a big city?”
“She was talking about going to New York. I think she’s feeling restless.”
“There’s Portland to the south, but it’s not New York.”
“Do they have nice restaurants, entertainment, museums?”
“They have all of that. Not on a grand scale or anything.”
I caught sight of a sign through the rain. It said the main highway was coming up in a few miles. “Turn south.”
“You really think she’d head for Portland? In this?”
“I don’t know. Mostly, I don’t have any better ideas.”
“Fair enough,” Josh said. “I’d be tossing a coin.”
Coming up on the highway, having seen no sign of Madeline either driving or stopped on the road, Josh slowed down to make the turn.
Butch shifted, and I scratched between his ears. He closed his eyes and seemed to revel in the touch. His reaction was surprisingly satisfying.
We headed south, speeding up on the wider road, passing by sparse traffic going the opposite way. A semitruck passed us, its lights bright and its big wheels sending up a wave of water that covered the windshield and obliterated our view.
I tensed.
Butch poked his head up.
“I can’t believe she’s out here,” Josh said.
My phone rang again.
“We’re back in service,” I said as I retrieved it.
I checked the screen, expecting Cecily. But it was Madeline.
“It’s her,” I said to Josh.
“Auntie M?”
I nodded rapidly as I took the call. “Madeline?”
“Well, there you are,” she said. “I’ve been trying to call.”
“We’ve been trying to call you. Where are you?”
“At the Summer Tide.”
I looked at Josh, posing the question to both of them. “What’s the Summer Tide?”
Josh put his foot on the brake.
I leaned forward with the motion, while Butch scrambled to a standing position to stabilize himself.
“It’s lovely,” Madeline said. “I wasn’t expecting this much rain. But I’ve got a table inside. I’m right by the window, and the lightning is putting on quite a show.”
Josh was pulling a U-turn.
I interpreted that to mean my analysis had been dead wrong. “You’re there for dinner?”
“I was hoping you’d come join me.”
I covered the phone. “She’s asking me to join her.”
“Ask her if she’s lost her mind.”
“Josh is with me,” I said to Madeline. “He wants to know if you—”
Josh shot me a look of incredulity.
“—want us both to meet you,” I finished smoothly. I hadn’t been able to resist teasing him now that we knew Madeline was safe.
“Sure,” she said. “The more the merrier. I was out for a little jaunt when the storm picked up. I thought it would have blown through by now.”
“I hope you drove carefully.”
“Don’t be silly. The Challenger corners like it’s on rails. A little rain won’t bother us at all.”
I decided not to share that observation with Josh.
“We’ll be there . . .” I looked to Josh for an estimate.
“Half an hour,” he said.
“In half an hour,” I relayed to Madeline.
“I’ll order us some wine,” she said before signing off.
Josh and I were both silent for a minute.
“She’s safe,” I ventured.
He gripped the steering wheel and shook his head. “The rain’s getting harder.”
Sheets of water were blowing across the road, rippling over the yellow lines. I couldn’t see very far in front of us, but what I could see were muted streetlights and billowing trees. The wind had picked up considerably.
“Should we slow down?” I asked, then I kicked myself for being a back-seat driver. Josh knew what he was doing.
To my surprise, he backed off