Tuesday, December 5
After midnight
No one had tried to stop Taylor. They didn’t even notice her. She walked in the direction she’d seen the CSU van drive. The streets were clogged with response vehicles and law enforcement officers. It had to be midnight and almost every house in the neighborhood still had lights on inside.
K9s alerted. Dumpster.
She wouldn’t let her mind go there. They had found something, but it was only evidence. Will was okay. He’d just gotten lost. Maybe he’d tried to ride his bike to...where? He had to know her house on the beach was an impossible ride from here. And yet, it was Taylor’s first thought when she heard he was missing.
He rode his bike. A man in a blue pickup scared him. He could be hiding. Yes, he was hiding somewhere.
She rubbed her arms. Even with the sweatshirt, she felt the chill, and she winced at the thought of Will huddled and cold, not wanting to go back to Dora’s house.
Regret tied knots in her stomach. All of this was her fault. For leaving him in the first place.
Buddy, just be safe.
She turned a corner and followed the beams from spotlights. A block away, there was a park area. In the far corner, she could see figures climbing over the top of a Dumpster. A wall of trees grew close behind it, the spotlights shooting high enough she could see the branches swaying. Back here, the sound of birds and insects drowned out the human voices calling to each other.
The dogs spotted her first. Of course, they did. Scout and Hank knew her. Grace, she’d met only once. But all three heads jerked in her direction, anxious and excited before their owners noticed and looked over.
She didn’t care that she might not be allowed. What could the sheriff do? Arrest her?
She was too far away to hear their exchanges. All the light was on the Dumpster, so it was too dark to see their expressions.
Jason left the group. He stopped to attach a leash to Scout, and the two of them started toward her. She hadn’t spoken to him since she rudely told him she didn’t need him. Watching his steady gait, an easy air of confidence and competence, she realized she’d have a slew of things to regret by the time all this was over.
Scout greeted her first. She offered her hand. He licked and nudged it. Jason tipped back his ball cap, a familiar gesture she recognized. She’d seen him do it many times when he greeted friends, a polite courtesy, a way of giving them his eyes and his attention.
She wanted to know what they had found. But at the same time, she didn’t want to know. She was suddenly standing on a fine line that separated hope from despair. Did she want to breech that? Was she strong enough?
“We don’t know yet,” Jason said as if he could read the anxiety vibrating off her body. “We found his bicycle back behind the Dumpster.”
“Someone tried to throw it away?”
He shook his head. “It was carefully tucked into a narrow gap.”
“I don’t understand what that means.”
“Sheriff!” One of the crime lab technicians yelled to Norwich, and everyone stopped. All movement came to a halt. Even the dogs went still.
Taylor held her breath. A few minutes ago, she was prepared to walk right up to them. Demand what they knew. What they were seeing. But now? She doubted her knees would hold up that far.
Norwich and the technician were silhouetted against the beam of light. Their heads came together in conversation. There were no gestures. No body language for Taylor to read. Then Norwich turned, said something to Ryder and Brodie and started toward Taylor and Jason.
This was news she had to deliver herself.
The sheriff’s face was shadowed. It was impossible to see her expression. By the time she got close enough to speak, Taylor felt a sheen of cold sweat sliding down her back.
“He’s not in there,” Norwich said, hurrying to close the distance between them.
“Oh, thank God!” Jason’s arm looped around Taylor’s waist before she realized she was falling. He held her against him, keeping her upright.
“They’re still checking to see if any of Will’s belongings may have gotten tossed inside. So far, it looks like the dogs alerted to Will’s bicycle.”
The relief lasted only a few minutes. Taylor found her footing and asked, “Why would he leave his bicycle like that?”
She looked from Norwich to Jason, then pushed away from him enough so she could watch his face and Norwich’s when she asked, “Do you think someone took him?”
“At this point,” Norwich said, “We have to consider every possibility.”
“The man in the blue pickup.”
Before the sheriff could answer, her radio came alive.
Taylor didn’t recognize any of the codes they used. She wished she hadn’t been able to understand the rest of it. Wished the words had been garbled or the static so pronounced she might have mistaken what was said. But that wasn’t the case. The voice came strong and clear.
“We have an alligator sighting in the area,” a man said.
Even Norwich’s eyes went wide when the voice added. “And it was dragging something large.”