“I’m already in the truck. I’ll call Del and explain what happened.”
“I hope he’s not pissed.”
“Me too. I think he might understand. I heard that they had some drama when Lily came into their lives, involving her ex-husband. Deceased ex-husband actually.”
Julián could hear the gravel Chris kicked up as he left the ranch. “You just look for her on your end. I’ll call Ace and see if he can help locate her. She should have her cell phone with her. If the GPS is turned on, then he should be able to locate her. I’ll call you when I know something.”
“I hope we don’t pass each other in the dark with no cell phone signals.”
“Me too, man. I’m outside of Carlsbad on Highway 285 right now, which is the road she’ll likely take north once she hits Fort Stockton. Did she take her trailer with her?”
“Yes, it’s gone too.”
“That will make her easier to spot. You’ll have to hope for a cell phone signal and just flash your lights three times when you spot me. You’ll recognize me because the truck is a new fire-engine red Silverado dually. I’m pulling a black and red custom-painted luxury horse trailer that has a double strip of red lights that runs the entire top perimeter of the trailer. It’s like a rock concert on wheels. You won’t miss me unless you’re just not looking. You would not believe the features this rig has got.”
“Does everything but wind your watch and kiss your ass?”
Julián was relieved that Chris sounded a little calmer. “Exactly. Kind of puts a whole new spin on how she must’ve felt driving her old truck and trailer. I’ll check in with you after I talk to Ace.”
* * * *
Gwen perched on the fender of her horse trailer and watched the colors change in the western sky as the sun set behind the mountains, shifting from fiery orange, then red and blue, then waning to pink. No woman in her right mind hitchhiked at night in West Texas. And no traveler in their right mind picked up a hitchhiker at night in West Texas. She’d just lost at least ten hours of driving time. At the rate she was going, she wouldn’t make it. Of course, she could call Roger once she got into an area that had cellular service and explain her circumstances. He’d probably up the ante though. She cringed, wondering if it involved public humiliation.
If I’d left it all alone, accepted the loss, and moved on, at least Zephyr wouldn’t be under a death threat. She’d be with someone who’d care for her and maybe love her as much as I do.
To the desolate, windswept landscape she called out, “Can anybody tell me how I can be on the road ten years and never once run out of gas, but when I make an emergency road trip through West Texas, I forget to fill up my gas tank every chance I get? Anybody?”
Her choices were spending the night in the bunk of her horse trailer, like she’d done in Big Bend at Christmastime, or walk back to Fort Stockton, which had to be at least twenty to twenty-five miles back the way she’d come from, or walk to Pecos, where she’d been heading, which was slightly farther since she was at the halfway point.
“Wild boars, snakes, feral dogs, chupacabra,” she muttered to herself. “Well, at least you have your handgun. Julián and Chris would have a hissy fit if they knew you were considering walking back to Fort Stockton in the dark. You’d deserve the spanking they’d both give you, and not the fun kind, either.” She looked down at the ring, their gift, which she wore on her left index finger, and imagined how worried they must be right then. “What would they tell you to do?”
They’d tell me to stay put and wait for morning. Maybe help will come. Or a serial killer.
Shaking off morbid thoughts, she got her cooler from the bench seat in the truck and nibbled on a turkey sandwich as she watched the sunset colors finally fade to twilight. Closing her eyes, she took another bite and smiled, remembering the way Julián had fed her a turkey sandwich while she was blindfolded. She clearly recalled what had come after too, and a heavy sigh left her.
She missed them. Would they be happy when she returned? Would they question the means she’d had to employ to get Zephyr back? Could she even stomach the task? Was Zephyr worth it? Her stomach rolled at the thought of what Roger was asking, and she ran out into the scrub brush and brought her supper right back up.
“Well, that answers that question,” she muttered as she dug a bottle of water out of the cooler to rinse her mouth with, then went in search of her toothbrush and toothpaste. Once that little task was accomplished, she pulled the sleeping bag from the passenger floorboard of her truck and opened the door that led into the bunk space at the head of the trailer. At least she’d realized what was happening when her truck started sputtering near a rest stop and not just on the side of the road. With the way she was parked, no one could see her very well from the highway unless they pulled over too.