chapter 115
THE WEST POINT police chief was with Morgan when he received the call on his cell phone. He listened intently as Morgan tried unsuccessfully to read his facial expressions in response to the one-sided conversation that seemed to last forever. Morgan had a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer. When the chief finally ended the call, she begged him to tell her what it was about.
“Okay, that was the sheriff. The game warden found Jake’s truck over in a big swampy area along the river.”
“Was he in the truck!” she interrupted.
“No. No, he wasn’t…” he said and then paused, trying to find the best words to articulate the rest of the story.
“Why would…I don’t understand. He’d tell me if he was going huntin’, and I checked, his rifle is in the gun safe, and his hunting clothes are in the garage.”
The police chief exhaled deeply. “Morgan, there’s more.”
Morgan collapsed into a chair, awaiting the news.
“Moon Pie Daniels was driving Jake’s truck. He was coming outta the swamp when the warden stopped him.”
Morgan’s heart nearly stopped. It was her worst fear—the devil himself. That evil man who had been tormenting them had done something horrible to Jake. “So they have him in custody? Is he talkin’? Let me talk to him. Come on, let’s go now!” Morgan jumped up.
“He’s in bad shape. He’d been shot and basically had all but bled out before the game warden got there. He’s barely alive, and the officers on scene don’t think he’s gonna make it.”
Morgan fell back into the chair and blinked several times as she tried to understand what could have happened. “Jake musta shot him! Jake’s still out there somewhere. We gotta go look!” Morgan jumped up again.
“They are…we’re moving everybody we’ve got to that area to search. It’s muddy, so they can follow the truck’s tire tracks. We just seriously narrowed the search area, so we’ll find Jake, okay?”
“I’m going!”
“No. You need to stay here with Katy,” he said, immediately noticing Katy standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Apparently, Katy had been listening. She had tears rolling down her face, and when she saw Morgan stand up and head toward her, she started shaking.
Morgan picked Katy up and hugged her tightly. She surreptitiously wiped her own tears with her sleeve and then brushed back Katy’s blonde hair from her face and said, “Katy, honey, they’re real close to findin’ Daddy. Okay? They think he’s in the woods, and you and I know that’s the best place he could be,” Morgan lied.
The police chief needed to leave to help search, but he didn’t want Morgan following, so he walked to the door and waved at the officer across the street to come inside.
“Katy, honey, look at me. Katy? Say something. Please,” Morgan begged. Then she turned to look at the chief.
The police chief looked Katy in the eye and said, “Katy, you know better than anyone that your dad is a brave man and that he’d do anything for you. Right? Well, right now, he needs something from you. He needs you to help your mom. You gotta be strong for her. Okay? Can you do that for your dad?”
Katy nodded but didn’t say anything. The tears were now pouring down both Katy’s and Morgan’s face. They didn’t realize they were squeezing each other.
“Morgan, I gotta go. I promise to call the second I know anything. When they find him, the officer outside will take you wherever you need to go. In the meantime, stay here. Katy, you take care of your mom. Okay? As soon as I see your dad, I’ll tell him what a big help you’ve been.”
Morgan was now sitting on the stairs, holding Katy. They were both shaking. Morgan reluctantly nodded her head.
As soon as the police chief shut the door, he whispered to the young officer now standing on the front porch, “Do not let her leave without talking to me. This doesn’t look good at all right now, and it’s liable to get much worse.”