Florida Panhandle
Creed hadn’t been to bed yet. None of them had. They took turns watching over the new dogs. He’d just finished his shift and was headed to Hannah’s kitchen when his phone rang in his back pocket. A generic ringtone. It wasn’t Maggie’s. It wasn’t Dr. Avelyn’s either. The veterinarian was still here somewhere. He had kept an earbud in all night, and now he tapped it without pulling out the phone.
“This is Creed.”
“Sorry to bother you so early in the day.”
Sheriff Norwich. She sounded almost as exhausted as he felt.
“Not a problem.” Anger had kept him awake. Caffeine fueled him. No reason to stop now.
“Caleb Monroe didn’t show up for school. I practically had to bully the principal to check.”
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to call you. I ran into that man named Sully on Saturday night. He’s not sure, but he wanted us to know there was a teenaged boy about three weeks ago. Ran away from a beating he took from his father. He thinks it could have been Caleb. Sully let him stay for a few nights.”
“Really? Why didn’t he mention it when we found the boy’s jacket?”
“He said he hadn’t seen him again. But I’m guessing you the know the real answer. None of these folks want law enforcement combing through their makeshift homes.”
“Why did he tell you now?”
“I helped him out. I think he felt he was returning the favor.”
“Is it possible they’re hiding him again? Could he have been trying to tell you that in a nonchalant way?”
“I guess I never thought of that. Considering the circumstances, I think he was being straight with me.”
“You don’t care to tell me what those circumstances were?”
“There were some guys hassling him behind the Red Roof Inn.”
“Drug dealers?”
“No. Assholes.”
She surprised him with a laugh.
“Well, my people are trying to get the boy’s cell phone data, but for some reason, that’s taking longer than I’d like. Of course, it’s difficult to press for warrants when the parents are now saying he’s no longer missing. And one of them never believed he was missing.”
She was quiet for a while, then added, “Something’s not right. I feel it in my bones.”
“We’ll help any way possible, Sheriff.”
“I appreciate that. I wanted to get on your schedule. Late this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning. I’m just not sure where to start a new search.”
“We can give his neighborhood a shot. It might only take us to all the places he frequented, but it also could find something your deputies might not find on a door-to-door search.”
“That sounds good. Should I try to get another article of clothing? I gave them back Caleb’s jacket that the homeless man was wearing.”
“No, need. I have the sweatshirt they gave us. It’s bagged and still in my Jeep.”
“Okay. Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
“No problem.”
He rubbed at his bristled jaw. He definitely wasn’t in search-ready condition. Which meant he needed to grab some sleep, except his stomach suddenly insisted on breakfast first.
Opening the back door to the kitchen, the scent of bacon instantly revived him. Hunter and Lady scrambled across the floor, hind ends swaying along with their tails.
Hannah had taken her boys to school, then had errands to run. Yet, she left homemade breakfast sandwiches, wrapped individually and ready to pop into the microwave. Creed knew she hadn’t gotten much sleep either, but she still managed to take care of them all.
He bypassed the coffee. Put a couple of the sandwiches into the microwave. Hannah’s creations included homemade biscuits with egg and bacon stuffed in-between. When the microwaved pinged, he was practically drooling.
“Hey.” Brodie appeared. “I thought I heard the back door.” Hank and Kitten followed. “How are they doing?”
She meant the Afghanistan dogs.
“Good,” he managed around a mouthful. Swallowed then added, “The spaniel’s a bit scrawny and scuffed up, but nothing we can’t take care of. I think Dr. Avelyn was expecting them to be in worse shape.”
Brodie went to the refrigerator and took out a breakfast sandwich for herself. He wished she’d take out three. She was still so thin. But he stopped from saying anything.
“Did you get any sleep?” he asked instead.
She shook her head.
Last night was the first time she’d spent the entire night here alone. He didn’t want to make a big deal of it. A glance at her eyes didn’t give him a clue. His sister had become an unwitting expert in hiding her emotions.
“I stayed up reading. Hannah kept me up-to-date.”
He thought about kidding her that she finally had her phone with her, but any amount of humor had been drained and replaced with a simmering anger. His mind continued to batter him with a compilation of greatest hits from his own time in Afghanistan. He hoped some sleep would turn it off, but feared it might only turn up the volume.
They ate in comfortable silence, the dogs and Kitten lounging around their feet.
“You never talk about it,” Brodie said.
“Afghanistan?”
She nodded. “Why did you go?”
There wasn’t a way to tell her without her suspecting why he needed to escape. It was right after their father had committed suicide. Right after Creed had found him lying on his sofa with a football game blaring in the background. He had told her about it as simply as he could without any graphic description. Her pained expression on her face—a face she’d trained to show very little emotion—had nearly broken his heart. Though she agreed she wasn’t to blame, it was obvious that she did, in fact, blame herself.
“Joining the Marines sounded like an exciting adventure.” That was partially true. He forced himself to meet her eyes to show her that morsel of truth. “I can’t complain. It taught me a lot. How to take care of myself. Becoming a K9 handler saved me in more ways than I can count.”
They both got quiet again. Creed finished his second biscuit. Contemplated a third. As if reading his mind, Brodie went to the refrigerator, pulled out two more, and put them in the microwave.
“You’re worried about the dogs that were left behind.” It wasn’t a question. She looked back at him and didn’t wait for his response. “You never gave up on bringing me home. I’m betting you’ll bring these dogs home, too.”
“You think so?”
“Yup. In case you haven’t heard, I’ve been winning a lot of my bets.”