Joy (Hell's Handlers MC 7)

“No answer?”

Shaking her head, Toni tapped out a text with the same message she’d left by voice.

“Okay…” Shell glanced in the rearview mirror before focusing on the road again. “Shit! It’s starting to snow. I’m just going to keep going forward, slowly. I think there are bathrooms up ahead. Maybe she’s in there. You scan and keep calling. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Toni said, phone already to her ear. Once again, five rings and the voicemail message. “Fuck! Do you think something happened?”

When Shell didn’t respond, Toni’s stomach rolled. The chances of something happening to the girl were high. Especially now that the snow was falling in a thick white blanket.

“Shit, it’s really getting heavy.”

“You doing okay?” Toni asked.

With her hands clenched on the steering wheel so hard, her knuckles had whitened, Shell leaned forward for a better view. “Yeah. It’s just us on the road, and I’m going so slow. Once we find her, we may have some trouble getting out of here, though.”

Toni didn’t say anything. They could cross that bridge when they got there. At least at that point, they’d all be in the car with heat and the ability to dry off.

Five minutes later, they’d probably only gone a few hundred feet. The snow was so thick, seeing beyond the curtain of white had grown near impossible. Any other time, Toni would have enjoyed the breathtaking and beautiful scene, but now all she saw was a dangerous barrier to finding Lindsey.

Both women leaned as far toward the windshield as they could manage. With her eyes squinted as though that would magically help her see through the veil of falling snow, Toni scanned every inch of the park. Shell did the same, as best she could while trying to stay on the rapidly disappearing road.

Something flickered at the very edge of Toni’s peripheral vision. “Stop!” she yelled. Shell instantly slammed on the breaks, causing the car to skid forward about ten feet. “Go back a bit. I think I saw something!”

Shell put the car in reverse and rolled at a snail’s pace. “Tell me when.”

“Stop, stop, stop!”

Practically mashing her face against the window, Toni squinted. “I swear I saw something.”

“Take your time Toni. And take a deep breath. You’re breathing like you ran here from the diner.”

She was. Her heart slammed against her rib cage and her skin felt too tight for her body. As best she could, she ignored the discomfort and forced herself to calm. This wasn’t about her. It was about finding Lindsey and ensuring her safety from here on out.

Toni held her breath as she continued to search through the snow. The rapid rise and fall of her chest, combined with the sound of her own breathing caused too much of a distraction. “There!” she yelled as she made out the form of a person. “There’s someone out there. It’s gotta be her.” She whacked her forehead on the window as she tried to get a closer look. “I think she’s sitting on a picnic table or something.”

Shell threw the car in park. “Okay, let’s go. I’m gonna leave the car on with the heat cranked.”

“Good idea,” Toni replied as she opened her door. “Fuck! I didn’t even think to grab my jacket and it’s freezing.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think of it either. We won’t be long at all.”

The cold hit Toni like a slap to the face. Didn’t matter that she’d just been toasty in the car; none of the warmth lingered when she stepped out of the vehicle. Almost instantly, snow soaked into her long-sleeved T-shirt. Within seconds she was the kind of cold that reached her bones and brought on full-body shivers.

“God, I hope she’s dressed for this weather,” Shell said as she scurried around the car to Toni’s side. She grabbed Toni’s hand. “Stay close. Last thing we need is to lose sight of each other.”

Hand in hand, they jogged forward.

“Why isn’t she running to us?” Shell asked.

“Not sure.”

“This feels wrong.”

Without voicing it, Toni agreed. But they’d come this far and would not be leaving without Lindsey.

“Lindsey?” Toni called when they were within twenty feet. The girl sat on top of a picnic table, huddled in on herself. With her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around her shins, it was easy to see she was dressed in a similarly inappropriate manner as Toni and Shell. The girl must be a block of ice. She’d probably need a trip to the hospital to check for hypothermia and frostbite.

“Lindsey?” Toni called as they drew even closer to her.

The girl lifted her head from her knees. Tracks of tears were easy to see, streaming down her face. “I’m sorry,” she said on a broken sob.

“It’s okay, sweetie. We’re just glad we found you.” Toni let go of Shell’s hand and took one tentative step forward, bringing her within touching distance of Lindsey. The teen’s gaze darted around as though skittish. Despite her urge to lurch forward and gather the frozen child in her arms, Toni resisted. Scaring the girl into running would be disastrous. “Come on, we have the car just over there. It’s still running and toasty warm. We’ll get you to the diner and get some food and hot chocolate in you. How does that sound?” She held out her hand.