She glared at the downpour, measuring its progress. They had maybe fifteen minutes. Then, they were going to get drenched.

“Mom, what are we going to do?” Leo squeaked.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said, the first thing which came to her.

He looked up at her, deep green eyes wide. “How are we going to get to…Aunt Gertrude’s?” He sniffled. “I wish we were home, on the Chesapeake.”

She pulled Leo to her and hugged him. “So do I, son.” She stared at the water. “So…do…I.” She knew she needed to comfort her son, but what could she say? She’d tried never to lie to Leo. She scrunched down next him. “Mr. Salazar knows where we were headed. When we don’t come back in time, he’d send someone to go look for us. We simply need to wait.”

“You think so?” Leo sniffed.

“I do,” Erin answered, hoping she wasn’t lying to him. “But for now, since your dad’s not here, I need you to be a big guy for me. You think you can do that?”

He gave a slow nod and stuck out his chest. “I’ll try.”

Erin hugged him again. “That’s my big boy.” Still low next to him, she pointed out over the water. “See that line?”

“You mean that dark row?”

“Yeah, that’s a storm.”

“It is?” The fear was back in his voice.

“Yeah, and it’s coming this way.” She patted him on the chest. “The good news is it doesn’t look like there is any thunderstorm with it.” She pointed again. “No lightning.”

“O-kay,” he swallowed the two syllables.

“It means we’re going to get wet. But hey, didn’t we just spend the last few hours getting wet?”

He nodded.

“I think we can stand a little rain. What do you think?”

He looked at the approaching curtain of rain and then at his mom. “I guess so.” He sniffed again. “But mom, I’m scared.”

She hugged him tight. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” She hoped she wasn’t lying. “Hey, I just thought of something. Remember the cave we passed on our way to the waterfall. The one you wanted to explore, but I wouldn’t let you.” She glanced at the curtain of rain, then back at her son. “I think now would be a great time to check out the cave. What do you say?”

“Okay,” he gulped.

“If we hurry, we’ll might even be able to beat the rain.” She grabbed the picnic basket and the preserver. “I’ll race you.”

As they trotted down the trail they’d left a few minutes ago, she cast one last glance over her shoulder. But no one will be able to see us hiding in the cave…if they come looking for us.

Chapter 38

            The rain pounding on the roof of the car woke him. Darrell had no idea how long he’d been out. He shook his head and it all came back to him, like a slowly evolving video. The black SUV on his tail. Their hell-bent speed. Then the Cadillac pulled up alongside him. The car cut in front and Darrell had to jerk his car onto the shoulder. He lost control and swerved off the road.

            He felt his forehead. It hurt, bad. He must’ve hit it on the steering wheel. At least, the airbag hadn’t deployed. The car was still drivable, he thought. The Taurus hadn’t conked out, the engine idled quietly. Darrell decided he better get out to assess the damage. He put the car in park. When he was about the turn off the ignition, he hesitated. What if it didn’t restart? He let it alone.

            He pulled the handle to open his door, but it only moved about an inch and then stopped. He buzzed the window down and the rain sluiced inside. Darrell did his best to ignore it and looked out and down. He saw the edge of the ditch about a foot deep next to his car, his door.

Yanking his head in, he raised the window back up. No need to get any more wet than he had to. He climbed over the console and practically stumbled into the passenger’s seat, Erin’s seat. At least, she hadn’t been with him. The speed and the near collision would’ve infuriated her…and terrified her. Hell, it terrified him. He hoped she and Leo were having a great time out on the water. The rain pounded on the steel frame of the roof. He prayed they weren’t dealing with this storm out over Lake Michigan.

Putting his shoulder against the passenger door, it opened partway and Darrell could feel it pushing against the mud on the ground. He squeezed through the opening and out the door. His feet squelched in the mud. In seconds, the hard rain drenched him, his clothes soaked. At least, it wasn’t cold. Rain had cooled it a little, but the temperature still hovered in the high seventies, he guessed. Since he was out and soaked, he forced himself to struggle in the mud and check out the car. His feet getting sucked into the muck, he tromped his way around most of the frame. The Taurus appeared to be okay, though some parts of the body were so mud-splattered he couldn’t be sure. He’d driven off the road and over the shoulder but the culvert must have caught the car, the sloppy mud cutting the speed before he could run into anything else.