Abby reached the top and climbed out, Jay on her heels.
“How do we get off the property?” Jay said.
“Go due south.” Otha pointed to her left. “You’ll come to a stone well. Keep goin’ straight, on past them pear trees, till you come to the fence. Look for a big hole in the barbed wire. Slip through there and run like lightnin’, else you’re gonna end up full o’ buckshot. The minute Isaiah sees y’all escaped, he’s gonna hightail it after you with his shotgun—and he’ll be fightin’ mad. Now git! I gotta make up a story ’bout how you got out and hope he don’t take it out on me.”
Ella looked up at Otha with the saddest eyes Abby had ever seen.
“I’m scared,” Ella whimpered, tears trickling down her cheeks.
Otha’s face softened. She bent down and wiped Ella’s tears with the hem of her long dress. “Things ain’t always been easy, but I wantcha to know I care ’bout you. I wantcha to git better ’n you had here. What these folks say explains why your pa ain’t never had no use for you. But you got real kin that wants you. You’re gonna be okay. But you gotta go right now.”
Jay opened the door and stuck his head out. He looked both ways. “The coast is clear. Come on!”
Ella threw her arms around Otha and clung to her, Abby not missing the angst in either.
“Thank you,” Abby said. “This can’t be easy for you.”
“Just git Ella outta here and keep her safe. Go on now, child!”
Abby took Ella’s hand, pulled her gently away from Otha, and then prodded her up the wood steps to the outside door.
Jay immediately grabbed Abby’s other hand, and the three of them ran south past the stone well and into an orchard of pear trees. Now if they could just find that hole in the fence …
Chapter 27
Kate stood at the front door, the sound of a helicopter in the distance making her almost sick to her stomach with déjà vu. She wondered if she would have the strength to go on if Abby was found dead—or never found at all.
She spotted a familiar silver Lexus pulling up the driveway. Not now! I’m trying to hold it together. She was tempted to close the door and pretend she wasn’t home, but the driver had already spotted her and waved.
A few seconds later, Elliot Stafford got out of the car, dressed in navy shorts and a white golf shirt, and walked up on the porch.
“I hope I’m not intruding.” He met her gaze with eyes the color of bluish steel—a striking complement to his full head of salt-and-pepper hair. “I went over to the office to say hello and saw the closed sign on the door. Is anything wrong?”
Everything is wrong. A glint of sunlight bounced off the tiny silver cross pinned to his collar. “It’s sweet of you to be concerned,” Kate said. “I closed the office so I could deal with a personal matter.”
Elliot’s dark eyebrows came together. “I was just surprised no one was over there covering for you. I know how crazy the office can get on Friday afternoons. Would you like me to sit in for you? I could take messages. I’d be glad to do it.”
Elliot’s sensitivity was always comforting, like a pair of warm hands massaging her shoulders. Much more of this and she was going to cry.
“Thanks. But it’ll be fine. Guests can use the answering machine.” Kate swallowed hard and avoided eye contact. “I’ll check it later. I’m sure there’s nothing that can’t wait until …” She choked on the words and couldn’t find her voice.
Elliot gently took her wrist. “Kate … what is it? What’s wrong? Let me help.”
“Abby’s missing!” Kate blurted out, then started to cry, trying in vain to stop the deluge.
In the next second, Elliot’s arms were around her, her face buried in his chest. “It’s all right,” he said in barely more than a whisper. “Let it out. You’ve needed to do this for a long, long time.”
Kate felt as if a fifty-foot wall of water had crushed over the side of her heart. It was all she could do to remain standing. She sobbed and sobbed until she finally felt the pressure subside, then wiggled out of Elliot’s arms, wishing she could hide.
“I’m sure that was more than you bargained for,” she said, reluctant to look at him.