bungee cords would just hold while they were on the highway …
She heard someone talking and realized it was Jay.
“Mr. Sustern, it’s Jay Rogers. Sorry to give you such short notice, but I’m still not up to par and won’t be coming in to work this evening … Yes, sir, I agree. I sure wouldn’t want anyone else to catch what I’ve got. I’m glad you understand. I hope to be in tomorrow at four. Yes, sir, I will. Thanks.”
The truck door opened, and a few seconds later the engine was running. Jay backed out and turned left.
Abby lay on the floor of the truck bed and held tightly to the chair, which was fastened securely to both sides, and tried not to roll with each turn. The last thing she needed was to make a thumping noise that might make Jay stop and take a look. The ride was hot and bumpy, and her arms were getting tired from gripping the chair.
She thought about what they were about to do. So many things could happen. So much could go wrong. She could even be wrong—again. Mama would probably ground her for the rest of her life for going along with Jay’s plan to steal Ella.
It would be worth it if they were right. Her mind flashed back to the last image she had of Riley Jo, holding the baby doll that was half as big as she was, an elfin grin on her face.
Lord, when I left for Staci’s that day, I promised Riley Jo I would see her tomorrow. I broke that promise. I can’t change what happened to her. And I can’t bring Daddy back. But with Your help, I can change the course of her future.
Abby was taking a leap of faith into the dark unknown. What happened next was out of her hands. Out of her sight. No matter what happened, she would never agree with Mama and Hawk that the God she had given her heart to would turn a deaf ear to her prayers.
Abby glanced at her watch as the truck slowed and came to a complete stop. Thirty-two minutes. She didn’t move—or breathe—and listened intently.
Jay got out, his footsteps moving away from the truck. She waited half a minute and then crawled out from under the tarp. She peeked over the side of the truck bed and saw Jay walk into the woods.
Abby hopped out of the truck and followed him, stepping gingerly and surreptitiously in his footsteps on the muddy ground, glad she had thought to wear her jeans and Nikes instead of shorts and sandals.
The path was narrow, and she had to push overhanging brush out of the way to keep going. More than once a branch snapped back and whipped her bare arms or her face, and she couldn’t see in front of her to be sure she was going the right way.
Terror seized her. What if she got lost out here by herself? No one would ever find her. Or even think to look for her here. She would make a tasty meal for a feral hog. Or a black bear. Or a mountain lion.
Abby shuddered and picked up her pace. Even if Jay found Ella, what would he do to keep her on a path like this one all the way back to his truck? A girl raised in these woods would likely have an advantage and know how to run into the trees and disappear.
Did he plan to intimidate her? Threaten her? Get rough with her? Abby couldn’t see kindhearted Jay strong-arming a child for any reason. And yet, at the very least he would have to scare her into going with him.
Abby hated this! Getting Ella to the sheriff would probably be traumatic for all of them. And if the DNA test proved that she was Riley Jo, what then? It would break Abby’s heart—and her mother’s—if her sister begged to go home to the couple who had raised her, rejecting the family that had mourned her. Ella would probably end up with neither family and in a foster home until the court could sort it out.
Abby was hit with the gravity of what she was about to do. Their lives would never be the same. And what of Jay? Would there be an investigation into what happened the day he accidentally shot her father? And what if they were wrong about Ella’s true identity? Jay would end up in jail for kidnapping, and Abby