Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

W himpering infiltrated Connor's sleep. Turning on his side, he saw Duke sitting by the bed with his head resting on it.

He shoved himself up onto his elbow where he slept on the floor, to see past the hound to where Zoe slept. She might be asleep, but she wasn't resting. Her body kept moving and occasional moans escaped her.

Was it pain? Or was it dark memories of her accident making her to toss and turn as much as her leg would let her?

The woman needed to sleep in order to heal.

Grabbing the pillow and quilt he'd brought from the extra bedroom in the back to make his bed on the floor, he pointed to Duke's bed near the wood burning stove. "Bed."

The dog trotted to his bed, did two circles then curled up facing Zoe.

Carefully, Connor set his pillow next to Zoe's. He spread the quilt over the one already on her, then climbed into the bed, lying on his side facing her. Just like he had the night before, he pulled her up against his body, smoothing her hair off her face.

"It's okay, Zoe," he murmured softly. "You're safe here with me."

She snuggled into his chest, clutching his t-shirt with her left hand. Slowly he rubbed his hand up and down her back until she relaxed, her breathing becoming even.

"That's a girl. You rest tonight and tomorrow we'll try to figure out what happened to you and who wanted you dead." His gut told him that the sooner they figured out the answers to those questions, the sooner they'd be able to figure out how to keep her safe.

After he'd returned from exercising Duke, Zoe had already been asleep, so he'd tried his laptop once more, but the wi-fi connection was still down. Normally, he wouldn't be the least bit phased by being off the grid. Most weeks he didn't get online, preferring to pick up his news by radio. He tended to just get the news, especially weather and farm reports out here, not opinion pieces disguised to be news by one-sided broadcasters on either side. Today, it frustrated him. The one time he needed to get information, being off-grid sucked.

What was he going to do when Zoe remembered who her attacker was? It wasn't like he was a cop. And thanks to his incarceration, he couldn't even carry a weapon to put the son-of-a-bitch down. In his opinion, anyone who would hurt a woman deserved whatever justice came their way. If the person attempting to kill her knew she was still alive, would they come after her? What if she went home? Would there be someone in her life to keep her safe? A spouse? She did remember being in a marriage ceremony. What about her family? Do they know she's missing? Would they protect her?

Yawning, he tucked the quilt up over Zoe's shoulders and rested his arm over her to keep her pressed close.

"Sleep good, Zoe. Tomorrow we're going to have to figure out your past even if it makes your head hurt. We only have until the snow melts to figure this problem out."

?

"Want to stop for breakfast?" Matt asked from the driver's seat. "There's a Bob Evans at the next exit."

Luke stilled his hands on his laptop to meet his eyes in the rearview mirror. "Why didn't you eat before we left?"

"Because unlike you, I don't get up and immediately eat. Coffee is all I can manage first thing out of bed. Especially at two in the fricking morning."

Katie laughed beside her husband. "That's because you wake up grumpier than a bear with a splinter in its paw. He growls until he hits the second cup of coffee for the day."

"Tell me about it," Luke said as his brother switched lanes to take the exit ramp. Breakfast sounded great to him now, too. "Whenever mom sent me in to wake him up, he'd punch me. I learned to get just close enough that I was out of arm's reach and yell real loud, then run."

"He's mellowed since then," Katie said, laying her hand on his neck and smiling tenderly at him.

"Probably because of Polly and Penny," Dave said from beside Luke.

"Yeah, our nieces have him wrapped around their little fingers," Luke laughed.

"Wait until you have kids," Matt said. "Trust me, you want to give them the world and protect them from it at the same time."

Luke nodded and closed his laptop. It was something he was both excited and scared about. He and Abby hadn't told anyone about her pregnancy. They wanted to keep it a secret until she hit the fourth of fifth month to be sure nothing bad would happen early. They'd already lost a baby in the second month and Abby was very fearful it would happen again. Luckily, she'd hit sixteen weeks or four months next week, which was another reason he wanted her safely at home, not driving icy, snow-covered roads into the mountains of eastern Kentucky and western Virgina.

Who knew he'd become that overprotective husband and father, like his dad and brothers? But then again, maybe it had always been in his DNA, he just needed the right woman to bring it out. He smiled inside. Abby was definitely the right woman. She always would be.

Matt pulled the SUV into the parking space and turned off the engine. It was five minutes before six in the morning and they'd been in the car for almost four hours. They'd packed hiking gear, medical supplies and weapons. Not knowing what kind of mess Zoe was in, they tried to plan for every scenario.

"I'll go see if they're open yet," Luke said, hopping out of the car and jogging over to the door. He waved them over.

"Now that we're here," Matt said as the trio joined him inside the just-opening-for-business restaurant, "I could go for some sausage gravy and biscuits."

"Won't be as good as mom's." As the oldest of the Edgars siblings, Dave was the self-proclaimed official biscuit and gravy expert of the family. Which was fine with Luke. He preferred plain sausage and biscuits—no gravy thank you.

"Yeah, but it'll be close," Matt said as they followed the waitress to a booth. "Mom uses their sausage."

After they gave their order to the waitress for drinks and food—everybody knew exactly what they wanted without looking over the menu—Luke placed his laptop on the table and opened up the map to where he and Abby had tracked Zoe's phone the night before and turned it for all of them to see.

"We stay on twenty-three all the way to Norton, Virginia. From there we pick up state route six-nineteen due south."

"Why would your cousin get off the main highway and take some secondary route?" Katie asked as the waitress set three cups for coffee in front of the men and a large glass of orange juice in front of her. She also set the pot of coffee on the table.

"Your food will be ready in a minute," she said. "Anything else you need right now?"

"Can we get some sausage sandwiches to go?" Matt asked, then looked at the others who all chuckled. "You don't know how long we're going to be out there looking for her."

"Will half a dozen be enough?" the waitress asked with a smile.

"That's plenty," Katie said with a grin, laying her hand over her husband's and giving it a squeeze.

"Getting back to Zoe's route," Luke said drawing them to the open laptop once again. "Like I told you last night on the group call, we tracked her movements for the past week or so, at least since she bought this new phone, and after she was in Roanoke for several hours before heading west on interstate eighty-one. She picks up US route fifty-eight from there, still moving west to Gate City. That's when she made the call to me."

"She could've kept going west on fifty-eight until it met up with US twenty-three which comes through Norton and on up into Columbus," Matt said.

"She could've," Luke agreed. "But she didn't. Instead, she picked up Virgina route seventy-one then several more Virginia state roads until she's on six-nineteen headed to Norton."

"Seems like she wanted a more direct route with less traffic," Dave said.

"Or maybe she thought she was being tailed," Katie said. "It's what I'd do."

The others all considered her words, exchanging looks.

"With Zoe, it's a possibility," Matt said finally. "Given her undercover work."

"Getting off the traffic-heavy routes would give her a chance to either shake the tail or identify who was following her," Dave said.

"Where did the phone tracking stop?" Matt asked.

Luke pointed to a spot on the map where route six-nineteen hooked in a sharp curve. "Right around this spot."

"The weather was going bad that night," Dave said.

Matt nodded. "Rain, ice, then the blizzard hit."

"You think she went off the road? May be injured and that's why you asked me to come on this trip? In case we what? Find her injured in her car?" Katie asked, then looked at each of them. "You realize, if she's injured and been out in those elements the past—what? Seventy-two hours—" Katie paused not really wanting to finish that dower thought.

"Yes," her husband said, laying his hand on hers. "But if there's a chance to find her, we have to take the risk."

"Because she's family." Katie nodded, her expression grim, but compassionate. "You know, until I met you and the rest of the Edgars clan, I had a warped image of what family meant. But since I've become part of your family, I understand it. When one is hurt, missing or in need, we go after them, no matter what. I have one more question."

All three men focused their attention on her.

"We have medical supplies and repelling rope, as well as other equipment needed for a mountain rescue, because you believe Zoe was in some sort of accident." She fixed her gaze on each of them, coming to a stop to stare at her husband. "But why are we all armed like a SWAT team going on a raid?"

Matt glanced at Luke then back at his wife. "Because growing up with Zoe, we've come to expect things to go bad."

"And the fact she's been working undercover for some three-letter agency for years, we have to assume she's still doing that," Dave added.

"So, it's better to be armed, than go in blind," Katie finished and they all nodded.

The door to the restaurant opened and a couple entered. The lone waitress led them in the directions of the booths beyond them and Luke automatically closed the laptop. Call him paranoid, but years of working in DHS and now for the Edgars Investigative Services, he didn't like prying eyes, even innocent ones, seeing what was on his laptop.

Zoe may have driven off the mountain due to bad weather. But given her previous cases and the mysterious way she hadn't wanted to talk on the phone, he wasn't taking any chances she hadn't disappeared under nefarious circumstances. No reason for anyone to innocently pass on information about where they were heading.