Paul left the computer and went to the icebox, pulling out a beer to draw across his forehead. He sighed as the meager cold from the bottle gave a burst of relief from the heat, grateful that the recently placed chunk of ice in the ancient icebox had chilled the bottle enough to be enjoyed.
He paced the small kitchen area, finally abandoning it for the bigger living space. The place had a musty smell to it, and the layer of dust over everything confirmed the fact that no one had lived there for a while. He grabbed a towel and brushed away the dust and the bugs from a large overstuffed chair. As he sat down, he sank deep into the chair's inner recesses as it gave far more than the original maker ever intended, nearly swallowing him up.
Paul grunted at the absurdity of his situation and took a long sip from the beer bottle in his hand, noting how the ample cushions of the chair yielded to his every ache and pain. He found himself growing drowsy until he thought of Peter once again.
Kermit's e-mail echoed through his thoughts like repeating gunfire. 'Shot by a murder suspect.'
"My God, Peter, you know better," he chided as if Peter could hear him.
It had only been six months since Peter had nearly lost his life in another shooting incident. Paul gritted his teeth as he thought about how close Peter had been to dying that time. Too damned close.
Paul took another long swallow from his beer. He was a seasoned soldier who had seen many fall in battle over the course of his life, but Peter was a cop. A cop who had already seen more injuries than most had over the course of an entire career. A cop who had saved countless lives with his courageous actions. And he was a cop who was also Paul's son.
"Dammit," he muttered aloud.
Fingers rasped through the stubble of his chin as his gaze wandered over to his suitcase still sitting beside his computer. He glanced out the window beside him, checking once again for possible intruders. He was weary of the entire process.
Paul thought about Rykker, wondering how his friend was coming along with the task of identifying and eliminating the possible threats against Paul's life and those he loved. He briefly considered firing up the computer again, but discarded it as a bad idea. If Rykker had made any headway, Kermit would have let him know in his last message.
The small leather suitcase served as a visual reminder of his constant need to be ready for travel at a moment's notice and he detested its presence with a passion. It felt like he'd been on the run for decades and he was sick of it.
His life lacked any sort of direction. All he lived for were the abbreviated messages from home and when they came with bad news, there was nothing he could do to help them. It was worse than being in prison. At least there, he would be allowed visitors on a regular basis. He felt like he was afloat on a sailboat on a windless sea, adrift in the doldrums of life without a sail or a rudder to set his course.
He slapped at the arm of his chair in frustration, only to begin coughing with the cloud of dust the motion stirred into the air. Another sip of his beer helped quiet the cough, but not the ache of his heart.
The letters hidden in the flash bag inside the lining of his suitcase, which were set to self-destruct if they should fall into the wrong hands, crossed his thoughts. Thinking of the letters caused Peter to spring to the forefront of his mind again.
Paul ran a hand through his hair as he worked to control his pent-up frustration, and then associated his current level of frustration to what he had felt when he and Kermit were searching the countryside for Carolyn and Peter, so many years before.
He closed his eyes, lost in the memory again, as his head rested against the chair's pillowy support. He wasn't fully awake, but not quite sleeping, caught in that limbo in between, still searching for his lost children.
oOoOoOoOo
The predawn sky started to rumble with thunder, but it felt too cold for rain. Paul stomped his feet as he looked at his watch with his flashlight and then swept the area with the light, looking for any clue to show them which way Carolyn or Peter had gone.
He briefly considered trying the walkie-talkies again, but the reception was poor in their area. Maybe if they could head to higher ground, he could find out how the search was progressing for the others. Right then, it seemed like all the two of them were doing was spinning their wheels.
The thought of spinning wheels made him dizzy, and that reminded him of his throbbing head which played to the beat of his churning stomach, but he couldn't be bothered with insignificant physical complaints. They had to find those kids.
"Peter! Carolyn!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the silent gully below them.
Without additional warning, his horizon shifted and he dropped to the ground. The next thing he knew, Kermit was waving a broken ammonia capsule under his nose. He pushed Kermit's hand away and coughed, closing his eyes against the pain and nausea
until it passed. When he opened them again, he saw Kermit watching him closely.
"Wipe that look off your face. I'm fine," he muttered as he forced himself upright.
Kermit rocked back on his heels and stared at him for a long moment before he bent to help Paul stand. Paul faltered for a moment before he regained his balance, bringing a muddied glove to his forehead.
"Sure, you were just checking the trail more closely for clues. A bit too closely, if you ask me, but that's just my opinion."
Paul growled in Kermit's direction, but didn't meet his gaze. His vision was still slightly doubled after passing out and a set of uncoordinated eyes made it very difficult to out-stare a subordinate in a face-to-face showdown.
"You need to head back," Kermit said softly, "I can do this on my own."
Paul jerked the hand he held at his temple away from his face, ignoring the wave of dizziness the movement brought with it. Instead, he shoved both hands into the pockets of his jacket and took a few steps away from Kermit. "The only way I'm leaving before we find Peter and Carolyn is in a body bag, you got that?"
Kermit grunted sarcastically. "Yeah, I got that."
Kermit looked down at the map he was still holding in one hand. "Well, since you're fine, let me show you something."
The younger man extended the map, shining his flashlight on the laminated paper. Paul's anger dissipated as he leaned over to see what Kermit had to share. "The topographical map of the area I brought with me also shows some caves ahead. We need to veer off to the left, and then follow the natural rise of this ridge."
Paul nodded. "Yeah, and there are some sheer cliffs a little further up. If you aren't careful, one false step and – " Paul fell silent, his mind conjuring images of Peter and Carolyn lying at the bottom of one of those cliffs.
"No, they're too smart for that," Kermit corrected him without looking away from his map, then Kermit glanced up, squinting as he tried to visualize the area ahead.
Paul couldn't keep from worrying. "I still can't believe they got this far out here. This is one hell of a long shot."
Kermit smiled as he studied the map again. "I live for long shots. Besides, the other teams are already searching their areas. We've covered all the ground in our grid except this section."
Paul gave up and nodded. His voice held little conviction as he muttered, "Lead on."
The promises Paul had made to Annie and Kelly now seemed to ring hollow. And as hard as he tried not to give into despair, it was growing inside of him like a mutant weed.
"Hey, is this Carolyn's?" Kermit asked as he held a small slipper up for Paul to see.
"How the hell did you find that?" Paul asked, taking the shoe into his hand.
Despair suddenly blossomed into hope as he recognized Carolyn's shoe. He held the pink house shoe as if it were made of glass, like Cinderella's fabled slipper.
Kermit smiled. The ex-merc's demeanor brightened with their discovery as he met Paul's awed gaze. "I'm part bloodhound, you know."
He paused for effect before continuing, "You mean I've never told you of my embarrassing canine family line?" Kermit asked, shining the flashlight ahead of them. "It's something Mother doesn't like for us to mention very often."
Paul ignored the quip as his gaze swept around them. Carolyn had passed by this very point, hopefully with Peter. As the realization sunk in, both of them began to yell for Peter and Carolyn, but they were met with the same awful silence they'd dealt with all night long.
The sky flashed white as a huge bolt of lightning temporarily blinded them. It was immediately followed by a deafening clap of thunder, and then heavy drops of rain began to pelt both men.
"I see your usual good luck has abandoned us this time," Kermit said as he wiped at the rain on his face, and then tucked his maps inside his backpack. "Okay, we do this the hard way."
Wordlessly, Paul followed him in the darkness, and prayed they would come across the two kids very soon. Darkness, numbing cold, and now heavy rain. The risk of exposure to the elements had just tripled for Peter and Carolyn. It was going to be a long time before the first rays of morning could break through to warm the day.
oOoOoOoOo