She had listened to me. Good. She was safe. But I had to get to her.
“Come on, Teddy,” I muttered to myself.
I heard another motor and thought the return was awfully fast.
Almost too fast.
I scanned the horizon, searching for the boat, and when I saw it, a smile spread across my face. Teddy wasn’t behind the wheel; Sam and Eli were rushing through the water to get me.
I waved my arms until they steered the boat in my direction, and before long, they were parked beside the building.
“What happened to you?” Sam asked as I climbed aboard the boat.
“I could ask you the same question,” I said. “Where’s your truck?”
“It’s just on the other side of this mess.”
“In the mountains?”
“Yes.”
“Good, take me there. I need to find Emmy,” I said.
Sam steered the boat away from the building and toward the higher ground.
“Care to tell me what happened? One minute you were behind me, the next you were gone,” I said.
“We got separated at one point, and when I drove over the dam, I knew it wouldn’t be long before it gave out. So we swung by the dock and picked up the boat because I knew Teddy would need help with the rescue efforts. Didn’t think I’d be rescuing my own brother, though.”
“Where’s Mason?”
“He’s helping the medics with injuries.”
“Good. Take me to your truck,” I said. “I have to save Emmy.”
Ooo000ooo
I drove Sam’s truck along the mountain road that Emmy most likely traveled to get to safety. I told Sam and Eli to go back on the boat - Liberty needed them. Normally I’d be out there with them, but I had Emmy to save first.
Please let her be safe, I prayed to myself. Please let her be safe. Please let me find her.
I rounded the corner and the view from the mountains was astounding. Up ahead, there was a lookout point. I knew it well - it offered a beautiful view of the town. I wondered what there was to see now.
My truck, for one thing, I thought, frowning. Someone was standing next to it, but it wasn’t Emmy.
I skidded to a stop right behind it, not caring if I was blocking the road. I was out of the truck before it even came to a full stop.
“Emmy!” I cried out, running to the driver’s side. The truck was empty.
The elderly woman was staring at me. She was wringing her hands, and she looked scared and confused.
“Do you know where the driver of this truck went?”
“Who?” the woman asked.
“The driver. Her name is Emmy.”
“Emmy? I don’t know no Emmy,” the woman said, shaking her head.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
“Well, she drove me. Said we were picking up my grandkids,” the woman told me. She frowned. “Where did she go?”
“Yes, where did she go?”
“Who?”
“The driver of this truck, the woman who drove you here.”
“Oh, yes. Emilia. What a beautiful name,” she commented, a smile on her face.
“Emilia, yes. Where did she go?”
The woman pondered my question for a few moments, then her face lit up. She held up her finger and said, “That’s right. She left with a man.”
“A man?”
“Yes, they went that way,” she said, pointing in the direction I was headed. “Do you think they went to pick up my grandkids and bring them here? I really need to make them lunch…”
A car headed toward Liberty slowed down to drive around my truck, and I rushed to the passengers, calling to them. “Hey! You can’t go that way. There’s nothing left down there,” I said. “It’s all under water.”
The driver rolled down his window. “I’m a medic and she’s a nurse,” he said. “We’re headed down to help.”
“There’s nothing that way. I’d head back where you came from and call the sheriff’s office, see where they’re meeting.”
“Thanks, man,” the guy said, waving.
“Wait a second. This woman needs to be taken to safety,” I told them. “Can you see to it that she’s taken care of?”
“Of course,” the medic said. The woman next to him got out of the car. She had a friendly face and was probably not much younger than the elderly woman herself. She walked over to her and started talking to her.
“Thanks, I have to go,” I said. Emmy was last seen with a man. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
I hopped back into Sam’s truck and went in the direction the woman had pointed.
He has her, I thought to myself. That bastard has her.
And I was going to get her back.
Ooo000ooo
I’d driven a few miles down the road when I caught sight of something off to the side. I slowed down, unsure if what I was seeing was right. A black car was at the bottom of a ravine. It had driven off the road and hit a tree head on.
The car was a black BMW, just the type of car someone like Antonio would drive.
I stopped alongside the road and made sure I had a gun on my hip before getting out of the truck.
My heart stopped when I saw the wreckage. There was no movement, nothing from the car. I rushed toward it and stopped at the passenger side, glancing inside.
The driver was unconscious or dead - I couldn’t tell which. Nor did I care.
Because Emmy was in the backseat.
“Emmy, it’s me. Can you hear me?”
A muffled voiced answered. “Graham, is that you?”
“Yes, baby. It’s me. I’m going to get you out of there.”
I tried to open the back door, but it wouldn’t budge. So I went for the passenger side in the front and it opened. I climbed into the mangled car and leaned into the backseat.
“Can you remove your seatbelt?” I asked her.
She didn’t answer. I leaned closer until I found the buckle and released it. Emmy’s eyes opened briefly.
“The baby… I don’t know if—”
“Shh, it’s going to be okay. One thing at a time,” I said. “We have to get you out first.”
I managed to get her free from the seatbelt and carefully moved her to the front seat with me, then out of the car. She laid on the ground, in my lap, her eyes opening and closing. She kept trying to speak, but she made little sense.
There was some blood on her forehead, dripping into her eyes. I wiped that away as I reached for my phone.
“We’re going to get help for you,” I said softly. I dialed 9-1-1 but found the signal was busy. I tried again. Busy signal.
Dammit. They were overwhelmed right now. A town the size of Liberty wasn’t used to disasters like this. They were unprepared for it.
I heard the sound of a car and looked around. The medic and his wife were heading in our direction. They were both medical professionals and could help Emmy.
They slowed down when they saw my truck, and I called out to them. The woman was out of the car and hurrying toward us, followed by the man.
“Help is here,” I whispered to Emmy. “You’re going to be okay.”
“What happened?” the nurse asked as she reached my side. “Is anyone else in the car?”