Chapter 30

30

GIDEON

I had a whole week to fish. I stopped at the bait store in the little village of Starbury, which was also the name of the small grocery store, and everything else you needed to buy. There were only two stores in town: an old movie theater, a hamburger stand, and a gas station. Grandpa left me the cabin, where I lived with him my entire life. I loved fishing with Grandpa; he could sit and fish all day and only say two words.

I heard a child scream and turned around. A little girl ran across the street while a man further down the street chased after her. I turned and looked at the woman at the counter, and then Bear jumped out the window of my truck. “Wilma, I’m going to leave these here.” I set my stuff on the counter and went outside.

“Bear, sit,” I said; he didn’t want to, but he sat.

When the girl ran past me, I caught her. She kicked and screamed .

“Shhh, I want you to be quiet. I’m going to help you.” I took her inside, and Bear followed. Wilma hid her behind the counter. I could hear her sniffing. I looked around and saw Bear with the girl. I stepped outside.

When the man ran up to me, he stopped. “I lost my daughter; have you seen her? She has blonde hair and green eyes.”

“No, but I’ll call the police,” I said, pretending to call nine-one-one.

“No, don’t bother with the cops. I’ll find her myself.”

“I already called, and they’ll be here any minute.”

I saw him looking around, and then he ran across the street. “They’ll be here any minute now. Where should I send them?” I shouted at him. He didn’t answer; he just kept running.

I walked back into the store and bent to speak to the girl. She looked to be about seven. “What’s going on?”

“That man took me from my mom, and I have to call her. She’s going to be scared to death. She’s always scared to death ever since my Daddy died.”

“Here, we’ll use my phone. What is your Mom’s number?”

“Let me see your phone,” she said, crying, and wiping her sleeve across her face. She took my phone out of my hand, she was looking through my contacts, and I felt she was hunting for the name Mom in them. “I can’t find her name anywhere,” she said, becoming upset. He’ll come back here and get me.”

“Do you know where you live? If you tell me where you live and give me your Mom’s name, maybe we can find her phone number,” I said.

“He’s coming back,” Wilma said, glancing out the window. Bear growled. That’s when we heard the sirens. Someone must have called the police about something. “Now he’s running away. Are you going to find her mommy? If so, I would get the heck out of here.”

I looked at the girl, who was shaking in her shoes. “Do you know where your Mom is?”

“She was at the motel, and that man hit her in the face and grabbed me. Maybe he killed her,” she said, her eyes huge in her face. She was crying so hard she started hiccupping.

“I wouldn’t worry about your Mom being dead. I’m sure if he hit her once in the face, it didn’t kill her. It might have knocked her out. What’s her name?”

“Her real name or her fake name?” I looked at the girl. Her mother had a fake name, and I wondered why. This sounded like it was more than just someone kidnapping a young girl. I had a feeling I wouldn’t get much fishing done this week.

I looked at Wilma. “We can’t tell anyone about this girl. Something fishy is going on,” I’ve known Wilma since I was a baby. I’ve lived here with Grandpa my entire life, and she knew everything there was to know about me. She knew I’d take care of this girl.

Everyone in town has known me since my mother dropped me off with my Pop; my grandma died years before that. Pop died last year at the age of ninety-two. I would give anything to see him again.

“Gideon, take her where that man can’t find her,” Wilma said, looking at the girl. Do you have a fake name too?”

“Yes, my fake name is Tina Turner. My Mom laughed when she named me. She said I was a famous singer.”

I chuckled. “What’s your real name? ”

My name is Haley Reeves. My Mama is Riley Reeves. Her fake name is Ava Turner. We’ve been hiding from my Grandfather. We lived with him when my Dad died. My Grandpa won’t let us leave; he’s everyone’s big boss.”

“If my Mom were a man, she would beat him up; he always slaps her when she argues with him. He’s very, very mean. You don’t want to make him mad, or he will kill you.”

I shook my head when Wilma was going to ask her a question. “How about we get out of here before he comes back? Wilma, this doesn’t go any further than the three of us. If her Mom happens to come here, have her call me. We’ll be looking for her.”

I paid for my food and fishing supplies, and then we left. Bear sat with Haley in the back seat. I made sure no one was outside. I needed my computer, it was packed in my bag. “Do you know what your Dad’s name was?” I asked.

“Yeah, my Dad’s name was Gavin; he didn’t have a fake name.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes, I’m hungry. What is your dog’s name?”

“His name is Bear. How about we go to my cabin, and I cook us something.”

“I’m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.”

“My name is Gideon Archer, so now we are not strangers. We need to find your Mom. So she can be safe. Tell me about your Grandpa.”

“We never knew Grandpa until he made us move into his house. When he came to our house, mama said we were staying where we were, and he hit her. He’s a bad man,” she said.

As soon as we arrived at the cabin, I opened the windows and doors. Then, I started the fire and cooked us some bacon and eggs. After dinner, we fished. I was surprised Haley could fish. She was the first one to catch a fish. She even advised me what to fish with instead of worms.

“I don’t want to eat my fish; I always let them go,” she said, looking at her fish.

“That’s what we will do. We’ll let them go. Where did you learn so much about fishing?”

“From my Mom. She used to fish all the time and win trophies, too. She hasn’t fished since we went to Grandpa’s.”

After she went to sleep, I took out my computer and looked up Gavin Reeves; I had a feeling it wouldn’t be good. Gavin’s father, Jonah Reeves, ran the cartel in Chicago. Gavin moved away from him when he was eighteen. He married Riley Dean, and they lived in Oklahoma. They had one daughter, Haley Reeves. Gavin was shot and killed as he and his wife were having dinner.

I wonder who killed Gavin. Wow, so she’s trying to get them away from the cartel boss, and he’s trying to take her daughter from her. I picked up my phone and called River.

“I thought you were on vacation,” River said.

“I am on vacation, but I ran into a little girl who was running from a man. Her grandpa is Jonah Reeves; he’s high up in the cartel in Chicago. “We have to make sure the guy doesn’t get Haley.”

“How did you manage all this on your first vacation day?”

“She was running across the street screaming. I hope he doesn’t go back and get her mother. Could you check to see if you can find Ava Turner, her fake name, or Riley Reeves? I have to find Haley’s mom before they kill her.”

“Gideon, it’s a miracle that you found that girl when you did. Does she know where her mother was when that man showed up?”

“She said they were at a motel. I have a feeling the mom will return to the grandfather’s home and demand her daughter back. She won’t know I have her with me.”

“Why don’t I get the girl and bring her here, and then you can find her mom? I’ll bring Kat with me. We’ll take a road trip. I wonder what state Haley and her mom were in when he took her.”

“I don’t know, but I’ll have to go to Chicago to see if Haley’s mother is there. It would be great if you could pick Haley up. Can you get here early in the morning?”

“Yes, we’ll see you in the morning.”

“Great. I’ll see you then,” I said before hanging up. I decided to stay up for a while to make sure no one came sniffing around. I slept on the rocker on the front porch. Bear slept with Haley.

I had breakfast and coffee made when River and Kat showed up. I didn’t say anything about her being as big as a house. She still had two months to go before the twins were here.

“Hi, let’s have breakfast, and you can meet Haley.”

“It’s beautiful here,” Kat said. She stretched her back as she looked around.

We walked inside, and Haley was talking to Bear. He sat and listened as if he understood her every word.

“Haley, this is River and Kat. You’ll stay with them while I find your mom and bring her home to you.”

“We can’t go home because Grandpa will find us, and he’ll beat my Mom up again,” she said with a quiver in her voice.

“You don’t have to go home. You can stay with me. But right now you can stay with River and Kat. I’ll bring your Mom to you.”

“Do you have a dog?” She asked, looking at Kat.

“Yes, we have two. Their names are Penny and Sissy. They will love playing with you,” Kat said.

“I can’t stay very long because my Mom will miss me something awful.”

“You can stay with us until Gideon finds your Mommy and brings her to you,” Kat said.

Haley looked at me, and I knew she was scared. “Kat is going to have two babies. Maybe she will let you feel them moving,” I said.

“Oh, how exciting! My grandpa’s cook is having a baby. We weren’t allowed to speak to her, but we would have if Grandpa hadn’t beenin the room. He’s a stupid, mean old man.”

“You no longer have to worry about him; the Golden Team is now your guardian,” I said, giving her some breakfast.

“I need to find Riley before she confronts the grandpa,” I said after breakfast as I walked them to the door. Make sure Haley isn’t seen in the back seat. You might want to go to Walmart or Target and get her some clothes when you get home.”

“Don’t worry about Haley; we will take good care of her. Come on, sweetie, we need to let Gideon find your Mom. Here are all the papers on everything you wanted me to dig up. Kat said, handing over the papers.

Haley ran over and hugged me. “Thank you for saving me, Gideon. Can you please hurry and bring my Mom to me?”

“I’ll do everything possible to bring her to you quickly, sweetheart. ”

“The first thing I would do is go to her Grandpa’s house. If it were me, that’s where I would go looking for Haley,” Kat said.

“I will go there first,” I said, not saying that’s where I was planning to go. Since the baby was almost here, her emotions were more tender—at least, that’s what River told all of us—because he didn’t want to see her crying.