Missing Ch. 71-80

I looked at the map of our track on the phone. "Stop in Chippewa Falls. I'll unload my motorcycle and drive to Miesville on my own while you take Angela home. I can leave my bike there and borrow a car. Then I pick my parents up at the airport and drive them up." I looked at the timing on the map program. "Think you can handle her until the cavalry arrives?"

"I'll have to," he said. We stopped at a Wal-Mart in Wasau; I went inside while Clyde fed her a bottle.

I bought half a cart of baby stuff. I restocked the diaper bag, then put the rest on top of his gun bags in the back. "You wouldn't believe how expensive diapers are," I said as I got in. Clyde had just finished burping her, and she was falling asleep. I buckled her up in the car seat, and we got back on the road.

Angela was still sleeping when we got to Chippewa Falls. I kissed her chubby cheek goodbye, then unloaded my Harley. "Turn your phone off," I told Clyde as I put my helmet on.

"Why?"

"I'm calling Alpha Leo to let him know I'm coming, and I don't want him ordering you to come along."

"Got it," he said. He gave me a deep kiss, full of longing, then got back in and drove away.

I watched him disappear before calling Leo. "It's Bonnie," I told him. "I'll be at your house a little after five."

"Come straight to the hospital in Hastings," Leo replied. "Adrienne has to stay another night, so we're here with her. We can take care of the transfer in the room, then go out to eat. Can Clyde talk?"

"Clyde's not coming with me, Leo. I'm riding my motorcycle in. Clyde has some things he has to do."

"What kind of things?"

"I can't say over the phone, sir."

He didn't respond. "We'll talk when you arrive, Bonnie. Ride safe."

"Thank you, sir." I fired up my Harley and headed west on Interstate 94.

Leo called me ninety minutes later. I answered using the Bluetooth headset built into my helmet. "Bonnie," I said.

"Where are you?"

"I just crossed into Minnesota on 94. Maybe a half-hour more?"

He paused before responding. "Don't come to the house or the hospital. Do you know where Vermillion Falls is in Hastings?"

It was a gem of a waterfall with a 35-foot drop, right in the middle of the town. You'd never know it while driving by on the four-lane highway, but there was a nice viewing area across from the old mill. "Yeah, you turn across from Applebees as soon as you cross the river."

"Meet me there. Alone, and don't tell anyone about this. I have to go." He hung up, leaving me to wonder why we needed all the secrecy.

Rush hour traffic wasn't bad, so I made it to our meeting place on time. Leo's SUV was in the lot, but he wasn't. I followed the trail down to the viewing area, freezing when the breeze brought their scent.

Leo was standing by the waterfall with a crying toddler, bouncing him in his arms as he tried to calm the were-coyote child down.