Seeing Miss Edna’s name on the caller ID, Derrick answered after the first ring.
“Williamson.”
“It’s Edna from the Creekside Inn.”
Immediately, he could tell she was stressed, and it sounded like she’d been crying.
“What’s wrong? Is Ian okay?” Adrenaline shot through him, his heartbeat skyrocketing as worst-case scenarios raced through his mind.
“I’m so sorry. He’s missing.” Her words rushed together in panic, the deep gravely sound of her voice almost indistinguishable, blocked by tears.
“Missing. How long has he been gone?” Grabbing his hat off the table, he started for the door, but before he’d taken more than two steps, Antonio blocked his path. When he tried to move around him, he shifted, refusing to let him pass.
“I don’t know. It’s all my fault. I made lunch and left it for him on the table. I wasn’t paying enough attention. If anything’s happened to him, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“I’m on my way. Don’t do anything until I get there. Call me back if he shows up.” Disconnecting the call, he stared at Antonio. “Move.”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Ian’s missing, and you’re keeping me from finding him. Now get out of my way.”
“I’m going with you.”
Derrick gave him a long stare, followed by a stiff nod. “Let’s go.”
Within minutes, Derrick pulled up in front of the B&B and raced up the front step, Antonio on his heels. Miss Edna sat in the lobby, her eyes red-rimmed. She looked up when they entered and immediately burst into tears again.
“Mr. Williamson, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. Nothing like this has ever happened here before.”
Antonio pushed past Derrick and knelt down in front of Miss Edna, gently clasping her hand between his. He was showing a lot more patience than Derrick felt, because inside he alternated between terrified and hot burning rage.
“Tell me what happened. When did you first notice Ian missing?”
“I made lunch for him. The last guest left earlier this morning, and I’d stripped the beds and gathered the towels. After I laid out the food, I went and put on a load of laundry, and did chores. When I came back downstairs, I noticed the plate still on the table untouched. I looked for Ian, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.”
“Where did you look for him?” Antonio kept his voice low, soft. Derrick had seen him in the field before, but it always surprised him how the agent seemed to know exactly what approach to take to get people to open up to him. It didn’t hurt that Antonio knew the inn’s owner personally.
“Everywhere. I even climbed the stairs to the attic and checked up there. Daisy even went outside and looked around and couldn’t find him.”
Derrick had been so caught up in getting to his son, he hadn’t even noticed Daisy’s car parked out front.
“Where’s Daisy?”
Miss Edna’s voice quivered, “She went into the woods looking for him.”
Fear shot straight to Derrick’s heart at the thought of his son alone in the woods. Ian hadn’t spent much time in the great outdoors, having been born and bred in the city. His ex hated nature, and everything to do with dirt and bugs. He’d scoffed at her nonsense but let her have her way with keeping him isolated in the city. Was he going to pay for his pettiness now at his son’s expense?
“That’s good, Miss Edna.” Antonio glanced at Derrick, motioning with his head toward the opening to the kitchen. Derrick gave him a brief nod and walked into the other room. Antonio asked the older woman a few more questions before joining him.
“Would Ian go into the words alone?”
“I don’t know. If you’d asked me that twenty-four hours ago, I’d have said no. He knows better, and I gave him specific instructions to stay inside the B&B. But he’s unhappy with me, so who knows what he’d do.”
“Miss Edna said she called Daisy around four, and she came right over. That means she’s been out there looking for him a little over an hour. It might be taking her a while because of the rain.”
Derrick started for the door in the sunroom, the one that led outside. “I’m going to look for them.”
“Wait.” Antonio followed him as far as the door, holding it open for Derrick. “I’m going to call the family, get them here as quickly as possible. We’ll find him.”
Something inside Derrick uncoiled at the other man’s words. Knowing he had friends who had his back, no matter what. The Boudreaus had become his surrogate family without him even realizing it, making him an unofficial part of their clan.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be right behind you. Go. Find your son.”
Derrick took off across the backyard of the B&B, heading straight into the woods. The rain has lessened, but it hadn’t stopped. The ground beneath his feet acted like quicksand, his feet disappearing into the sticky muck. Water sloshed against his legs, yet he pushed on. Ian was out here somewhere, and he had to find him.
Daisy was out here, too. She hadn’t hesitated, hadn’t pushed the responsibility for finding Ian onto someone else. Instead, she’d pushed everything aside to look for his son. And he loved her for it. No, he realized, he was qualifying his feelings, making it sound like he only loved her because she sacrificed to find Ian. He loved her.
“Ian!” He called out, listening intently, hoping to hear something. “Daisy, can you hear me?”
Silence greeted him. Inside the forested area, the depth of darkness shrouding the area surprised him. The overcast sky from the earlier thunderstorm kept everything dark and gloomy, and he prayed Ian wasn’t scared.
He jogged through the underbrush, though it was slow going, and he doubted he was the most graceful runner, but it got the job done. Moving forward, he looked for anything, any sign of clue which direction his son might have gone. If he was lucky, Daisy had found him, and they were on their way back.
A loud squeal rent the air coming from his right, the sound chilling him to the bone. It was an animalistic cry, high pitched and filled with pain.
Heart in his throat, he raced toward the sound, praying it hadn’t come from his son.
Daisy eased forward, keeping the feral hog in her sight. The thing looked huge, though she supposed if she wasn’t hyped up on adrenaline, it wasn’t much bigger than a large dog. On the plus side, she figured it wasn’t a momma, because she hadn’t spotted hide nor hair of babies.
Balancing on the balls of her feet, she hefted one of the branches into the bushes, making as much noise as possible. The hog spun toward the noise, grunting and taking a few steps forward. Unfortunately, it didn’t leave, instead freezing in place, its whole body quivering.
Breathing out slowly, she tossed the other branch like a javelin, arcing it through the air, and it flew into the same patch of bushes she’d hit before, shaking the leaves enough the hog darted toward it, barreling through them and making enough noise it hopefully scared away anything else that might have been hiding in the area.
“Daisy, is it gone?”
“Hang on a second, Ian. We need to make sure.”
She looked around the forest floor, and while she didn’t see any more branches large enough to use as a weapon, she did spot a fairly good size rock. Picking it up, she hefted it in her hand and smiled. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to use it, but you never know.
Moving cautiously, she finally stood directly beneath the tree where Ian was and looked up. Ian clung to the branches like a monkey, his arms and legs wrapped around it.
“Ian, I want you to loosen your grip on the tree, and—”
“Daisy, look out!”
She spun at his yell and found herself face to snout with the feral hog. It shook its head, knocking loose the dead branch attached to one tusk. When it spotted her, it snorted out an ugly sound that sent chills down her spine. Unless she could shimmy up the tree where Ian clung, there wasn’t a chance she’d be able to outrun the beast.
There was only one thing she could do, the only option she had left. Pulling back her right arm, she channeled her inner softball pitcher and let the rock rip. It landed with a loud thunk—right between the hog’s eyes.
The most horrendous sound came from the beast she’d ever heard. On the plus side, it spun and raced away, leaving muddy tracks in its wake. Slumping against the tree trunk, she let out a shaky laugh.
“Daisy, you did it!”
“Sure did. You ready to come down.”
“Yes.”
“Ian! Daisy! Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Dad!” Ian yelled. “We’re over here.”
Within a couple of minutes, Derrick burst through the underbrush and trees, skidding to a halt when he spotted her. She knew she had a goofy grin on her face, but it didn’t matter. She’d never been so happy to see anybody in her whole life.
“Daisy, sweetheart, are you okay?”
“I am now.” She flung herself into his arms and felt his arms wrap around her, her body trembling. Ian was safe, and they could all head back to the B&B. Wait, Ian! He was still up in the tree.
“Can somebody get me? I’m stuck.”
Derrick glanced up and grinned, spotting his son several feet up. He winked at Daisy.
“You can do it. I’ll be here to catch you if you fall.”
And that was one of the reasons why she loved him. He was solid and steady, dependable, and he’d always be there for those he cared about. It was a heady thought because she was part of that inner circle. She knew they had a long way to go, and secrets to reveal before she could open fully to him and admit her feelings.
All she could hope was once he knew the truth, she wouldn’t find herself out in the cold. Again.