Every Precious Thing

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

“Here comes another one,” Pep said, checking the rearview mirror of Dev’s Cherokee.

Barney watched the car go by on their left. “No, not them.”

The two men had left Braden forty-five minutes earlier. Barney had made it clear he was less than keen on the idea of Pep driving. In his opinion, Pep should have stayed at the motel. Barney had said he could do this on his own, but Pep wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Maybe we left too late,” Barney said, worried.

“We didn’t,” Pep said. He’d been the one who talked to Logan right before they hit the road, and knew that Logan was somehow able to track the other car.

When he was given the go signal, the other car apparently had been fifteen minutes behind them. Keeping their speed just below the sixty-five-miles-per-hour limit, Pep figured that the others would probably pass him and Barney somewhere in the next fifteen to twenty minutes.

He’d made sure Barney started checking early in case his calculation was wrong, and so that Barney could get some practice at not being obvious when he looked at the other cars. The old doc was getting better at it, but he still needed to refine his method.

“Act like you’re talking to me,” Pep suggested.

“That’s what I’m doing,” Barney said.

“Then actually do it. Say something.” Pep glanced at the mirror again. A blue minivan was pulling out to go around them. “Try it on this one.”

Barney shifted once more in his seat. “So, um, it’s…pretty…hot outside.” As soon as the van passed, he added, “Not them.” He turned back to the front.

“You know what?” Pep said. “Just keep looking at me even if there aren’t any cars. It’ll seem more natural that way. We can talk about whatever you want.”

“I don’t want to talk about anything. I want to find Harp.”

“Let’s talk about that, then.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Barney said. He looked at Pep, exasperated. “He’s gone. If I hadn’t fallen asleep, maybe none of this would have happened.”

“And how, exactly, would your staying awake have kept him from being taken?”

“I…I…I would have known sooner. Maybe we could have done something.”

“Like what?” Pep checked the mirror. Two more cars were coming.

“I don’t know!”

“Exactly. We’re doing everything we can to-”

“Harp!” Barney shouted.

He started to raise his hand to point, but Pep quickly grabbed it and pushed it back down.

“Which car?” Pep asked.

“The second one. The gray one. See? That’s him in the back on the left. I’d recognize his hair anywhere.”

Pep let the other car pull ahead, then he started to gradually increase the Cherokee’s speed. It was okay if the sedan pulled away a little. He knew which one it was now and would catch up.

“I counted four people inside,” Pep said. “How about you?”

“Yes, four. Two in front, two in back.” Barney leaned forward anxiously. “Hurry up, we’re going to lose them.”

“No, we’re not.” Pep grabbed his phone, put it on speaker, and conferenced in both Logan and Dev. “They just went by us.”

“Did you see my dad?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, he’s in the backseat.”

“Did he look okay?”

“He was sitting up, but staring out the other window. I couldn’t see his face very well,” Barney said.

“Were his eyes at least open?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, where are you guys?”

“About fifty miles west of Braden,” Pep said.

“How about you, Dev?” Logan asked.

“I should hit Braden in about fifteen minutes,” Dev announced. “Making pretty good time so far.”

“We’re about ten minutes behind you,” Logan said. “Stay on them, Pep. Don’t let them out of your sight.”