“Gone? I don’t understand, Mr. Howard. Why would she leave?” Cody asked, his eyes welling up more as the tears began to flow.
“I sure am sorry, Cody. I don’t know what got into her. Maybe she’ll be back after she cools off. But the way she bolted out of here, I don’t expect her back anytime soon.”
Cody couldn’t believe it. She just up and ran off without a word, no goodbye or nothing, he thought as he stretched out his hand to shake Mr. Howard’s hand. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate everything you done for me. I’ll go see if I can find her.” Cody started down the stairs toward his truck.
“All right, Cody, but I doubt you’re gonna find her when she don’t wanna be found. Best let her cool off a bit. If I hear from her, I’ll let ya know,” Mr. Howard said as he held up his hand and waved goodbye. “Bye now. Be careful.”
As she drove off, Skye had no idea where she was headed; she just kept driving, and before she knew it, she was in New York City. She drove around the city that first night and then Sunday night parked and locked her doors and fell asleep. As the days passed into weeks, she found a job as an executive assistant to an art dealer named Parker Johnson. It wasn’t long after that she found out she was pregnant. She had been attending college while working and had gotten herself a cheap little place above the gallery where she worked. When the day came that she went into labor, Parker was there. He got her to the hospital and helped her through the entire delivery. As her son grew older, she graduated from college with a degree in Art History, and her relationship with Parker developed into something more than boss and assistant. They soon moved in together, and well, it was like her fairy tale until yesterday when he shot Camden and pointed the gun at her.
It had been weeks, and still, Cody had no idea where Skye was or even why she left. He tried to fill in his time by working at the ranch and getting drunk at the Bent Nickel, but when he was alone, lying in his bed staring at the ceiling, all he could think about was Skye. She was his everything, and she ripped his heart to shreds and left them lying on the bunkhouse floor at the Triple H. Cody made sure he stopped over a few times a week to check on Ross Howard and to also see if he had heard from Skye, but it was always the same answer. “Cody, ain’t heard a thang. She’ll call when she’s ready. She’s a stubborn one, always has been.”
Cody would sit with Mr. Howard, and they would chat, and Cody would help him around the ranch. Ross Howard was an Army veteran who served during Operation Desert Storm in the Special Forces. Ross would tell Cody of his crazy antics when he was a young soldier full of life and how he met Skye’s momma at the Post exchange. She was a cashier, and from the moment he set eyes on Jessie Webber, he knew she was his one and only. He just had to convince Jessie. Jessie Webber was a stubborn one, and Ross Howard would often tell Cody how much Skye reminded him of his beloved Jessie.
Cody loved his stories, so when he stopped by Ross Howard’s place that December it was to tell him good-bye. He was leaving for Fort Benning to train as an infantryman, and then onto Airborne school, then if he got through all that, he would go to Ranger school. If Cody was lucky, maybe he could become part of the Ninth Special Forces, same as Ross Howard. Cody hated to leave Ross without help around the ranch, so Cody hired one of his buddies, and Cody would pay him, that was the deal, and his friend was not to reveal it to Ross. Ross was to think that he was there just to help and wanted nothing in return.
Cody left right after the first of the year, and from that day until the day he came back, he paid for Ross Howard’s ranch hand. Not a day went by for him that he didn’t think of Skye Howard, where she was, or what she was doing and why she left. He tried to keep himself busy, but nothing ever seemed to help. He volunteered for optional duties and took every mission he could just to keep his mind busy. Then, on his last mission in Afghanistan, he was injured when the Ninth was ambushed, and their squad leader, Chief Warrant Officer Raleigh Fitzgerald, and Sergeant First Class Jared Thompson were captured. Cody was injured pretty badly and was medivaced to the rear and then transported to Wiesbaden, Germany, then to Walter Reed Medical Center. He had taken several shots to his legs and a shot to his neck. One of the bullets nicked the femoral artery, and he had lost a lot of blood. The shots also broke his legs in several places, so he required many months of physical therapy and recovery.
Once Cody was able, he was medically retired from the Army. His next stop was home, and his first stop was the Triple H Ranch. Cody had told Bubba Jenkins to keep his arrival a secret; he wanted to surprise Ross. He just hoped he didn’t give the old man a heart attack when he came knocking at his door. It had been ten years since he’d left, and he had never missed paying Bubba a paycheck or helping to pay for repairs at the ranch.
As Skye thumbed through the phone book, she finally found an agency that was only a couple of miles away from the motel. Opens at nine a.m., she thought. Well, I don’t have much of a choice. I gotta ditch this Jeep. Parker will be looking for it if he remembers I have GPS on it. Then it hit her she needed to turn the GPS off on her phone. Grabbing her cell, she put in her pin, and there was a ton of texts from Parker.
Parker: Skye, please come home. I’m sorry. 5:55 p.m.
Parker: Skye, answer please. 6:36 p.m.
Parker: Skye, I am sorry. You scared me, I didn’t know it was you. 7:15 p.m.
Parker: Skye, it was all an accident. I didn’t mean it, baby, please come home. 7:26 p.m.
Parker: Skye, I am worried about you, baby, please call me or text me. 8:08 p.m.
Parker: Skye, please, I didn’t mean it. 8:45 p.m.
Parker: Skye, damnit fuckin’ call me. 9:22 p.m.
Parker: Skye, you fuckin’ ungrateful bitch! Fucking call me. 10:15 p.m.
Parker: Skye, when I fucking find you, and I will, I fucking swear I am gonna fuckin’ kill you and that fucking brat of yours. I fucking made you, I can fucking break you. 10:36 p.m.
Parker: You fucking whore, I know where you are right now, and I am gonna fucking kill you when I fucking find you. 11:07 p.m.
Parker: I am sorry, Skye baby, please, I didn’t mean it. I am just upset and worried about you. 11:37 p.m.
Parker: God damnit, Skye, I swear I will fuckin’ kill you, but first I am gonna make you watch as I kill that little bastard boy of yours. You think you can just run away. I fucking own you. 12:06 a.m.
Skye quickly turned off the GPS and the location on her cell and got up to make sure the doors were secure. She moved the small table in front of the door just to give herself added security, as much as it would do. Then she turned off the light and curled into the bed next to Tyler, who had been sleeping for quite some time. When she got in, Tyler turned to her and cuddled up next to her, then she finally closed her eyes.
When morning finally came, she was already up and showered. Tyler was still asleep, but she had been up and down the entire night. Every sound she heard outside or in the room woke her. Her brain was in overdrive, and she jumped when her phone alarm started to buzz. She quickly switched it off and went over to the small coffee maker and brewed a cup. She would need the caffeine today if they were going to make it to Iowa by dinner time. Tapping on Google search, she looked for a place in Iowa they could sleep for the night. As she looked at the map app on her phone and then to the search engine, she found Webster City, Iowa. It wasn’t a big town but had a hotel right off the interstate that she and Tyler could stay for the night, then start the final leg of the trip to Crawford the next day. They would be in Crawford by dinner time tomorrow. She hadn’t called her daddy yet, as she worried that Parker was watching her calls too. She’d have to get a pre-paid cell at a gas station along the way so she could let her dad know they were on their way.