CHAPTER 16
The gas pedal wouldn’t press any further. Each speed bump the old man hit caused the truck to bottom out, sending loose items flying through the cab. Chapstick, pennies, an empty coffee cup. Everything rattled in chaos. He leaned from the window and hollered, praying she would hear.
“Lily!” The wind whipped the top of his bald head and dried his eyes. But rather than slow for a response, he kept on the accelerator. His gut told him where she was.
A photograph of his partner Craig, cradling Lily against his chest the day their son brought her home from the hospital, blew from between the console and passenger seat, then stuck to the dash before it could get sucked out the window. The man looked at his granddaughter’s innocent face and prayed she’d still be alive when he found her.
***
The day had been warm, but when the sun hid behind a cloud, the early fall air sent a shiver through Lily, reminding her it was toward the end of the year rather than the middle. Not
