The dogs could feel the urgency. Creed knew Grace definitely sensed his anxiety. It reminded him to stay positive, not only for Brodie and Jason, but for the dogs, too.
As he finished securing Grace’s vest and leash, she subjected him to a full facial tongue-bath.
“I’m okay,” he whispered to her with his back to the others. Between Grace and Brodie, he’d need to learn to hide his emotions better.
Already on the ground, Scout did a hotdog twirl that signaled his impatience. He could almost hear the dog telling Jason, Come on. Come on. Let’s go.
He let Grace and Scout exchange greetings, then he squatted in front of the Jack Russell. “Grace, this is Will.” He held open the plastic bag, inviting her to sniff what was inside.
Immediately, her nose twitched. Her small head dived into the bag, and he simply pulled the opening wider. He heard her snuffling and snorting as the bag moved around. When her head popped out, she was ready to go, waiting for his command.
Before he passed the bag over to Jason, he held it up for her to see, then he said, “Grace, find Will.”
He kept her on a long lead. There were too many vehicles and people to let her run loose. There were no sidewalks, so they had to stay in the street. Creed expected to start at the Ramsey’s, but Grace bypassed their circle driveway and headed for the rosebushes at the far corner of their property line. Her nose skimmed over the leaves, careful not to get close to the thorns. She sniffed the pine straw underneath.
Inhale. Snort. Sniff.
She threw back her head, testing the air. She wasn’t interested in the rest of the plants and weaved around them. She skipped across the street, ignoring a state trooper who stopped to watch.
Out of the corner of his eye, Creed saw Norwich waving for other law enforcement officers to step back or move out of their way. He was grateful to have someone experienced like Norwich to lead the efforts. Already she had deputies stopping and assessing vehicles before allowing them into the neighborhood. Highway traffic had been stopped as well. Blockades rerouted to detours well out of sight to avoid on-lookers.
Creed had been on dozens of searches for missing people, but the ones looking for children were different. There was a tension, an anxiousness that filled the air like a heavy fog physically weighing on their shoulders. In the beginning, optimism and adrenaline would help drive them.
Just when Creed expected to cross another street to get closer to where the school bus usually picked up Will, Grace turned. No hesitation. Her head bobbed, then wagged side to side, pulling in air, separating scent and following the particles she knew only as “Will.”
This time, nose in the air, she wanted to run. She tugged and pulled, but settled to a steady lope as Creed picked up his pace beside her. But again, instead of going anywhere near the highway or the school bus pickup, Grace took them in the opposite direction. She was heading to the trees.
A couple of the construction site lots had pallets of supplies stacked and sitting in the dirt. The plastic wrap covering them had torn and flapped. Grace slowed. Creed took note. He glanced back at Brodie, who followed ten paces behind. She nodded and scribbled in a small notebook. But even as the two of them evaluated the various housing materials strewn across the front yards, Grace decided there was nothing here.
She bounded to where the landscape was torn up and where a massive bulldozer sat. Deep tread marks crisscrossed, making it difficult to keep a steady footing. Creed slowed Grace down. There had been enough rain that morning, the clay now caked his hiking boots. None of it affected Grace.
He expected her to lead him to the woods beyond the gaping hole left by the bulldozer. Nose still in the air, Grace didn’t go any farther than the huge yellow machine, stopping between the blade and the crawler tracking.
As she turned to catch his eyes, Creed saw another set up footprints. Footprints half his size.