by Kait Nolan
“Won’t hurt to have another pair of eyes,” Xander said easily.
He escorted them to the kitchen and put on the kettle himself. “You sit on down. I’m gonna make you some tea.”
Tea. Flynn should have thought of that. Pru’s throat was raw. It would do her good if they could get it down her.
“When did you last see Ari?” Xander asked.
Pru scooped a hand through her hair. “I…about an hour and a half ago? Maybe two hours? She was trying to pick an outfit for the first day of school. I went up to talk to her about half an hour ago, but she wasn’t in her room or anywhere else in the house, and the window in Kennedy’s room was open to the old bodock. You know how much she glommed onto that story of Kennedy using it to sneak out.”
“That she did. Did she take her phone?”
“It’s still on her dresser,” Pru said.
Kennedy burst into the room. “I came as soon as I could.” She wrapped her arms around her sister. “What happened?”
“We were just getting to that,” Xander said. “Why do you think she ran away as opposed just going off hiking without telling you?”
“She’s always really good about asking permission for things,” Pru said.
“Her backpack is gone,” Flynn added. “Along with the entire bag of clementines, a box of granola bars, and part of the new case of bottled water.”
“You’re sure that’s not just up in her room?” Kennedy asked. “Foster kids often hoard food. I’ve never known Ari to do that, but you never know.”
“I—” Pru paused. “I don’t know. We didn’t check. Her room looks like a bomb went off.”
“Ransacked?” Xander’s voice sharpened.
“Teenage girl,” Pru corrected. “She wasn’t taken. She ran.”
“Why would she run?” Kennedy asked.
Pru closed her eyes, her face twisting in pain, and the guilt nearly buckled Flynn’s knees.
He laid a hand on her shoulder, almost surprised when Pru’s hand came up to cover his. “Lydia Coogan was here.”
The tension in the room ratcheted up exponentially. For the first time in their long friendship, Flynn saw an ugly suspicion darken Kennedy’s gaze as she stared him down, waiting for the explanation he’d give almost anything not to tell.
“She knows that we lied, and she’s planning to seek an injunction to have Ari removed from the house.”
Xander swore, low and vicious.
“How?” Kennedy demanded. “How could she possibly find out? I covered for you.”
“Someone pointed her to Darcy.”
“Oh shit. Because your stalker is the best character reference for an adoption.”
“I don’t know who thought she’d be a good reference. Either way, she had proof I wasn’t in Ireland when Pru was.”
Xander folded his massive arms, his gray eyes cold. “I told you. I told you both this was a bad idea.”
Flynn’s temper spiked. Recriminations helped absolutely nothing. They were wasting time. Ari was out there somewhere, on her own. “You feel free to kick my ass six ways from Sunday as soon as this is all over. I guarantee you absolutely nothing you can say or do is worse than what I’m saying to myself. But right now, Ari’s out there, on her own, thinking God knows what. I don’t matter. She does.”
Kennedy put a restraining hand on Xander’s arm. “This woman said that in front of Ari? That she was going to take her away?”
Pru shook her head. “No. But you know how she eavesdrops. If she heard that…”
“She’d run,” Kennedy concurred. “It’s what I’d have done. Leave on my own terms. It’s what I did do before I came to Mom.”
Clyde knocked on the back door. At Xander’s gesture, he came on into the kitchen. “I didn’t find any sign, Sheriff.”
Xander inhaled a slow breath and scrubbed both hands over his face. “All right. What was she wearing?”
“I don’t know if she left in the same thing she had on earlier,” Pru said.
“What was that?”
“Blue jean shorts. That Volunteers t-shirt Logan brought her, I think. But she’d been changing outfits.”
“Run up to her room and see if you can sort out whether that’s there,” Xander ordered.
“I’ll go with you,” Kennedy said.
When they’d left the room, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed. “Essie, I need you to put out an immediate BOLO statewide for Ariana Rosas. Hispanic female, aged thirteen, approximately 5’3”, 110 pounds. Black hair down to her shoulder blades, brown eyes. Runaway. I—Yes, I know, Essie. That’s not pertinent to this BOLO. She was last seen wearing denim shorts and a UT Volunteers t-shirt—orange with white text. She has, at most, a two-hour head start. Probably less. She’s believed to have a backpack with her.”
“It’s blue,” Flynn offered, feeling sick as Xander nodded and continued.
“We’re going to do a broader sweep here, then I’ll get the release signed to put her into NCIC. This close to the state line, she could hit North Carolina, Virginia, or Kentucky, if she managed to hitchhike.”
Hitchhiking. Mary, Mother of God. Flynn hadn’t thought he could feel sicker than he already did. What kind of lunatic might she encounter if she tried to do that? She could get hurt. Or worse. Feeling absolutely useless and twitching with the need to move, he curled his hands to fists.
Xander talked a few more minutes, giving instructions regarding the mobilization of resources, as he finished making the tea he’d started. “Do you know if Chris is in town? No, no, I’ll call her myself.” He hung up the phone and gave Flynn a long, indecipherable look.
What could Flynn say? I’m sorry was paltry and wholly inadequate. I’m sorry didn’t undo any of this. He had no excuse, no justification. Under the circumstances, the fact that he loved Pru and Ari both meant nothing. He’d stayed intending to make their lives better, not cause them more pain.
“We’re going to find her.” Xander’s tone was hard. So was his expression. But Flynn took some comfort in the other man’s conviction. Xander loved this child, too, and he wouldn’t rest until she was home. For however much longer that lasted.
They both looked up as Pru and Kennedy came back into the room.
“The UT t-shirt isn’t in her room, and it looks like maybe she took a few other jeans and t-shirts, along with one of her hoodies. And her piggy bank was empty,” Pru reported.
“The food and water weren’t up there, so it looks like she took those with her,” Kennedy added.
“That’s good. We don’t have immediate concerns about dehydration. You said she left her phone. Any other electronic devices?” Xander asked.
“No. We’d been talking about getting her a Kindle with all the Percy Jackson books for her birthday, but that’s not for another three months.” Pru knit her hands.
“That’s fine. Cell reception is often spotty up here anyway. Is she on social media?”
A brief look of horror crossed her face. “I…don’t know. That’s a thing a parent should know.” Her voice shot up half an octave.
“Kacy would probably know if she were,” Flynn said.
“I’ll call and get up with her mom,” Kennedy said. She gave Pru’s arm a squeeze before walking out of the room.
“Okay. It’s okay. Now I’ve got to make some more phone calls, get some things organized. You’re gonna sit right down here and drink your tea.” Xander brought a mug over to the table.
“I don’t want tea,” she snapped. “I want my daughter!”
“I know it. But you’re gonna need your voice to call for her when we get out searching here in a little bit. So drink your tea and soothe your throat.”
She looked so brittle, Flynn was afraid to touch her, even in comfort. But she sat and began to sip at the tea. He parked himself at the kitchen window, watching the yard so he didn’t say something to make the whole situation worse. Within half an hour, the drive was as full of vehicles as it normally was for one of their Friday night j
am sessions. But there was no celebratory air here. Flynn’s heart squeezed as he recognized Porter and Logan; Kennedy’s boss, Denver; Ford McIntosh, and half a dozen other friends he’d made through his time here. Some kind of command center was being set up on the porch.
“Glad you could make it.” Xander’s voice brought Flynn around to see a woman and a dog standing in the kitchen doorway.
The woman crossed to him, offering her hand. “Of course. I’m just relieved I was in town.”
“Chris, this is my sister-in-law, Pru and her fiancé, Flynn Bohannon.”
Chris nodded and shook Pru’s hand, as Xander continued introductions. “This is Chris Sargent and Dash, from the Stone County Search and Rescue team. They’re going to help us figure out which way to look.”
“Search and rescue?” Pru’s face went impossibly paler. “I thought they only came out for extreme circumstances.”
“Normally yes, but I happened to be in town, and I’m happy to help,” Chris said easily. “I’ll need you to find something Ari has worn recently that hasn’t been washed. Dirty socks or pajamas. Something she’d have worn close to the skin.”
This Flynn could handle. “She brought laundry down this morning. I don’t think it got started yet.” He bolted for the laundry room and dug through her hamper. Thank God, they’d started on guest sheets first. Back in the kitchen he held out the white, pink, and gold fabric with Princess of Sassytown printed on the side. “They’re the socks she wore horseback riding the other day.”
“Good. That’s great. It’ll be exactly what we need.” The dog sitting beside her practically vibrated with bright-eyed excitement, but he didn’t move other than to look to Chris for orders. “Dash will use this to catch Ari’s scent and will figure out which way she went. As she lives here and has spent a lot of time around the yard, he may criss-cross a bit, but we’ll find her trail. Just be patient.”
“Go do your thing. Thanks for coming, Chris,” Xander said.
The woman nodded, then she and Dash headed outside.
“What do we do in the meantime?” Flynn demanded.
“You get prepped for a hike. Proper boots and packs. We don’t know how long we’ll be out.”
But Flynn knew. He’d stay out as long as it took.
Chapter Fourteen
THE SUN SLID BEHIND the ridge that gave the town its name, and Pru knew full dark wasn’t far behind. “Ari!”
She heard the faint echo of the call from half a dozen other voices spread out across their sector. Her feet ached and exhaustion dragged at her frame, but she kept going. She’d keep going until she held Ari in her arms again. An hour before, Dash had found the peel from a clementine—the first and only proof Ari had actually headed out cross country instead of going for the road. The only comfort there was that they didn’t have the danger of some human predator picking her up trying to hitchhike. One thirteen-year-old girl couldn’t cover that much territory in six hours, so she had to be in the geographic area. But on foot, with night falling, the mountains Pru had run tame in as a child felt like a whole other country.
Was Ari scared? Her trail had led them in a southerly direction, skirting town. Where was she going? Did she even have a plan? How much of one could she really have come up with in the half hour she had to slip out of the house? She was resourceful, but she hadn’t had the same kind of hard life before coming to Joan that many fosters had. She hadn’t had to learn to survive. Certainly not any kind of wilderness survival.
“Ari!” Flynn’s voice carried from somewhere up ahead. She could barely see him in the dimming light.
“He’s not handling this well,” Kennedy murmured.
“No.” Pru had watched him retreat over the course of the day, and she hadn’t been able to do anything about it. No amount of comforting was going to help him until they had Ari back. And then there’d be a showdown with a judge. “He blames himself.”
“Do you?”
Pru looked to her sister, wondering if she blamed her friend. “No, not at all. I agreed to all of this. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me for wanting one last thing for me before the adoption.” She looked back to the trail. “I feel like I’m being punished.” And didn’t she deserve that for being so selfish?
Kennedy stopped in her tracks, reaching out to grab her by the arm. “Pru.” Absolute horror was etched on her face. “No one expected you to stop living your own life when you decided to adopt Ari. Of course, you deserve someone.”
She’d believed she did deserve someone. It was the thing that had pushed her so far out of character as to pursue Flynn. “But at this cost?” She’d been thinking about it all afternoon as they searched, between bouts of panic over whether her child was safe. No amount of logic would change the fact that, if she hadn’t broken out of the pigeon hole everyone kept her in, none of this would have happened. “If anything’s happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“We’re going to find her, and she’s going to be fine.” Kennedy’s voice held a savage edge, as if daring the Universe to contradict her.
“And the rest?” Finding her didn’t mean they got to keep her. And because of their deception and Kennedy’s collusion, it wasn’t as if Lydia Coogan would look at any member of their family as an option.
“We’ll deal with the rest as it comes. As a family. A united front.”
Pru didn’t know if that would be enough.
One problem at a time. It was how she’d gotten through her mother’s death. Compartmentalizing. Facing only what was right in front of her. Right now, that was simply getting through however many hours passed until they found her daughter.
Up ahead, Chris paused and pulled a bowl and water from her pack, pouring some for Dash. The dog eagerly lapped it up. He’d worked as tirelessly as the rest of them.
Kennedy pulled water from her own pack and shoved it at Pru. “Here. Drink.”
Pru didn’t argue, gulping it down. She didn’t dare sit. If she sat, her muscles would seize up. She was that kind of tired.
Xander appeared out of the woods, conferring with Chris in a tone too low for Pru to hear. She asked him something, and when he shook his head, she pulled out another flag, this one a neon green instead of the orange she’d been using for the points where Dash had alerted.
“Something’s up,” Pru said, already heading toward them when Xander broke away. She didn’t like the look on his face.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine.” She’d have said the same through injury or illness, just to keep searching.
“Night’s falling. We have to pull everybody in until morning.”
Panic reached up to claw at her throat. “We have flashlights,” she insisted. “You said the volunteer fire department had those big search lights.”
“They’re vehicle mounted, and we can’t get vehicles down here. It’s not safe for everybody else to be out here after dark.”
“We’re just going to leave the defenseless child out here on her own?” Flynn demanded. “Fuck that.”
“I understand your frustration. I don’t want to go in either. But blundering around in the dark is more likely to lead to injury and muck up any trail she’s left. There’s no sign she’s hurt, and she’s smart enough to find somewhere to stop for the night. There’s no rain in the forecast, and this late in the summer, there’s no concern about hypothermia from exposure. We’ll be back out at first light, with more people to search for a broader range.”
“I’m not going back,” Pru said.
Xander’s expression shifted to one that clearly said be reasonable. “Pru—”
“If you’re going to make me stop searching for the night, fine. I’ll camp out here. I don’t want to waste time having to get all this way in the morning. You said yourself, we can’t get vehicles out here.”
“You’re not packed to camp,” he pointed out.
“Neither is she. My daughter is about to be spending the night on the mountain, alone, in the d
ark. She’s going to be terrified. I’m not going back, Xander.”
He looked to Flynn, who crossed his arms with a belligerent scowl. “I’m staying, too.”
“I’m packed for overnight,” Chris said. “Though I don’t have enough gear for multiple people.”
Xander divided a look between them. “I let you stay out here, you stay put. I don’t want this to turn into multiple missing persons.”
“We won’t be stupid,” Pru promised.
“I’ll have some gear and supplies brought out. We can get a four-wheeler down here.”
It took an hour, by which time Chris had her little one-person tent set up and Dash fed. Xander’s deputy, Clyde Parker, was the one who came with camping gear.
“Where’s Xander?” Pru asked.
“He’s coordinating with the rest of the search team, making a plan for tomorrow.” Clyde swung off the ATV and unhooked the elastic net holding on his cargo. “Got a couple tents, sleeping bags, and food. Crystal’s taken over your kitchen back at the inn and is feeding everybody.”
“That’s kind of her.”
“She sent provisions. There’s an active burn ban, so no fire, but we won’t go hungry.” He hefted one of two coolers off the back.
“We?” Flynn asked.
“I’m camping out here tonight with y’all.”
“To make sure we behave and don’t keep searching?” Pru asked.
“That and to make sure somebody with some more training is on hand, in case anything happens,” he said easily. “Your sisters are en route and should be here sometime tomorrow morning. Kennedy stayed back to talk to them. But she sent this.” Clyde lifted Flynn’s fiddle case. “She thought you might want it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Flynn took it.
They set up their minimalist camp. She and Flynn were sharing a tent and a double sleeping bag. Some thoughtful person had made sure they had air pads so they weren’t sleeping directly on the hard ground. Crystal had packed fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler. Thanks to the cooler and expert packing job, it was all still warm. Though she had no appetite, Pru ate, tasting little, but appreciating the effort that had gone into making sure they were fed something solid.
