Page 38 of Reckoning

“Mr. Bandy, it’s me, Briar. The town was just hit by a tornado. It’s a mess all over. Tate got hit in the back and the leg by some flying glass, but he’s finally on his way to ER. I think he’s going to be okay, but because we were stuck in the storm shelter until the storm passed, he lost a lot of blood.”

“Dear God, child. Are you okay too?”

“Yes, but only thanks to Tate.” She drew a shaky breath, determined not to cry and scare them worse. “The bottom line is he got hurt saving me. I was kind of trapped in my house, trying to find a place to shelter, when part of a tree came through the sliding doors into our kitchen, only feet from where I was standing. Tate had already had one of his visions and was driving into the storm to come get me. I didn’t know any of this, but he was almost at my house when the tree thing happened. Seconds later, he called me, telling me to get to the front porch. He came to save me, and that’s how he got hurt.”

Abel had the phone on speaker, holding Lilith close as they listened in horror to the unfolding story. “You can’t blame yourself for Tate’s choice. That’s who he is, sweetheart. And that’s what men do when the people they love are in danger, okay? We would have expected nothing less,” Lilith said.

She sighed. “Yes, okay…I get that. He’s been showing us all his life what he was meant to do, and who he is meant to be. He did get us to your house and into your storm shelter, and only then told me he thought he was bleeding and to look for the flashlight. I found it and saw the wounds. I made him lie facedown on a blanket on the floor because the glass was protruding and clearly visible. We couldn’t remove it because he would have bled even more. I used my T-shirt for a tourniquet to tie off the bleeding on his leg. But I couldn’t do anything about his shoulder.”

“What a nightmare for the both of you, and I’m so sorry we weren’t there to help. Where were your parents?” Abel asked.

“Mom has been in Savannah nearly a week. She and Dad have been fighting. It’s all they do. She’s been staying with her parents. Dad left early this morning to go talk to her.”

“How is Tate now?” Abel asked.

“I have to get to the hospital for an update, so I don’t know, but as time passed, he kind of kept going in and out of consciousness. I think he was going into shock from the blood loss, but it did slow down a lot after I applied the tourniquet. We had no other option but to wait until the storm passed. Your house and truck are basically okay, I think. Power is out in town and so is cell service. Like I said, the ambulance just came and took him to the hospital. I’m going there now, and I will be with him. I won’t leave him alone.”

Lilith took the phone. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll pack up right now and head that way.”

“Yes, ma’am. Tate will likely rest easier once you two are back. I don’t know how much damage happened in the area. You should maybe make sure the roads are passable before you start home,” she said.

“Yes, you’re right. I will, but either way, we’ll go as far as we can and then, if we have to, come the rest of the way home in daylight tomorrow,” Abel said.

“I’m so sorry to mess up your anniversary. Had it not been for Tate, I don’t think I would have survived.”

“Just take a breath, honey,” Lilith said. “You’re alive, and thanks to you, Tate will be okay. We’ll get there as soon as possible, and thank you for the call.”

“Safe travels,” Briar said, and hung up, then dialed yet another number and waited for it to be answered.

* * *

Roger was at the halfway point on his trip and had just stopped in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to refuel and get some snacks for the road when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but answered anyway. “Hello?”

“Daddy, it’s me. I’m calling from the landline in Tate’s house. The town just got hit by a tornado and cell service and power is out. Our house has considerable damage. We all had enough warning time to get to shelters, but I couldn’t get into our basement because somebody locked the door, and the extra set of keys that hangs on the hook in the kitchen wasn’t there either. Before I could think what to do next, a huge tree limb came through the sliding doors. I hit the floor behind the island and wound up having to crawl out from under limbs across a floor covered in broken glass, while the rain, wind, and hail kept blasting inside. It’s a miracle I wasn’t cut to shreds. Did you lock that door?”

Roger was aghast at what she was telling him and horrified by the cold accusation in her voice. “No, I didn’t lock it. It’s never locked. Darling, I am so sorry you were alone when this happened. Are you okay?”

“Yes, thanks to Tate. He had a vision of what was happening to me and was already coming up our street when the tree landed in the kitchen. He called me and told me to get to the front porch. He was already turning up the driveway by then, and jumped out of the truck running. He pulled me off the porch, and as we were running to the truck, he was hit in the back by flying debris. He got a huge shard of glass in the back of his leg and another one in his shoulder, and never said a word about it until he got us back to his house and into their aboveground shelter. Only then did he tell me that he thought he was bleeding.”

Roger groaned. “Dear lord! That’s terrible. I’m so sorry that happened. Where is he now?”

“The ambulance just left. He’s on his way to the hospital and so am I. I’ll stay with him until his parents get home. They went to St. Louis for their wedding anniversary. Needless to say, their trip has been cut short.”

Roger sighed. As was his. “I had just stopped to refuel. I’m coming home. We’ll figure it out.”

“No, Daddy. You can figure it out. I’ll be at the hospital with Tate. I want you to know, whatever was left of the trust I had in you or my mother just blew away with that storm. You have chosen her first despite the chaos she continues to cause and, every time, leave me to wade through the morass on my own. Whatever is in that basement that required locked doors is clearly more important than me and my welfare.”

She hung up, then left the house, taking care to close the door behind her. As soon as she got to the sidewalk, she started running.

* * *

Roger was furious. The only person who would have locked that door and taken the extra keys with her was Mariah, and he was sick to his stomach at what Briar had endured. It hurt his heart to hear his daughter’s words, but she’d told her truth.

Once again, the boy they didn’t want in their family just saved her life. Mariah locked that door, and he was about to find out why. He quickly refueled, then turned the car around and headed home, but instead of trying to call Mariah again, he called her parents.

His wife had been playing hard to get with him, and he would have bet his last dollar that she’d lied about why she was there. He was about to blow her cover.

* * *