It didn’t take long for Jason to find the old dirt road. Creed watched the Jeep bump and wind its way along the trees. Clouds blocked the moon. A fog had set in, hugging the ground. A rumble of thunder threatened in the distance.
Headlights followed Jason’s. Norwich. Creed could see she brought with her only Deputy Trevor.
When he called the sheriff, he used his cell phone instead of the radio. It was simply easier for him to explain all the details, but Norwich’s voice seemed strained, extra anxious. She thanked him for keeping this off the radio, then asked him and Brodie to continue to stay off. There was something in her tone that troubled him.
Jason barely stopped the Jeep, and Taylor was out the passenger door and headed straight for Norwich. Jason came over to Ryder and Brodie.
“I didn’t tell her,” he said in a low voice with his back to Taylor. “But when Norwich followed us, she figured something was up.”
He looked from Brodie to Creed. “What did you find?”
“I think Grace alerted to more fresh fertilizer. They obviously laid sod in the last week.”
Jason’s eyes stayed on Creed’s, waiting and expecting more.
Creed ran a hand over his jaw and let out a sigh of frustration. “I might not have used the boy’s name when I asked Grace to continue the search.”
He hated admitting it to himself, let alone everyone else.
“I called Dr. Avelyn,” Creed said, wanting to get back to business. “She can meet you at the Waffle House on Avalon. You won’t have to go all the way back to our place. She’ll bring her first aid kit. Take a good look at Hank.” He didn’t want to tell Brodie that Hank was finished for this search, even if Dr. Avelyn didn’t find any more broken glass in his paw. Creed wouldn’t risk him getting an infection.
“You guys get yourselves something to eat. Feed the dogs. I’ll join you when we finish here.”
“Wait. You’re staying?” Brodie asked. The look she gave him was one of concern. There was no mistaking this time,
“I just want to make certain Grace is finished”
When he glanced over, Taylor was headed back to join them. Norwich was on her cell phone. Deputy Trevor waited. The sheriff must have been convincing that there was no new information. Taylor looked disappointed and frustrated, but not terrified that her boy could be buried under freshly laid sod.
Jason and Brodie carried Hank to the back of the Jeep, where he would settle in next to Scout.
“I know she’s not telling me everything.”
Creed startled at Taylor’s voice. He thought she had gone back to the Jeep and didn’t realize she was standing behind him.
“You never dream that cops would be looking for your little boy in Dumpsters and ditches.” Her eyes were scanning the woods. “You can’t imagine him being lost and frightened or...or taken.”
She rubbed her shoulders. He could see she was shivering.
Her eyes came back around and caught his, holding him there as if to seal the promise she was about to ask for. “Please bring him home. I know you’ve done it before. I don’t deserve rescuing. But Will does.”
Then she turned and walked back to the Jeep.
He watched them leave. Norwich watched them leave, too, then she tucked away her cell phone and came over.
“I just talked to Maggie O’Dell,” she told him. “She’s been following a serial killer all the way from Washington, D.C.”
“I talked to her earlier today.” It was now long past midnight. “Actually, yesterday.”
“She thinks he might be involved in all this.”
“I thought he targeted homeless people?”
“She just found out his mother is Isadora Ramsey. She’s on her way to talk to her. Seems like an odd coincidence that this guy gets to Pensacola right about the time Will went missing.”
“Did she mention if he was driving a blue pickup?”
He turned and switched on his flashlight. Off to the side of where the sheriff’s SUV headlights marked, he shot a stream of light across the pickup tucked close to the trees.
“I don’t like this,” Norwich said. “I don’t like this at all.”
When he glanced back, he saw Deputy Trevor coming over to join them. Only now, Creed noticed the deputy was carrying a shovel in each hand.