Derrick climbed from Rafe’s car, tired to his core. They’d found Jennifer Boatwright and her boyfriend exactly where Pamela Dobbins said they’d be, shacked up in a hotel room, waiting for her to get there with money for them to head to Oklahoma. Instead, they were currently ensconced at the Santa Lucia police station, waiting for Jennifer’s aunt and uncle to arrive.
Rafe had turned the case over to the Santa Lucia police since they’d been found in their jurisdiction. Derrick didn’t blame him. If given the choice, he’d have done the same. There’d still be tons of paperwork to go through, but at least the girl had been found safe and sound, even if she wasn’t happy.
“Why is it I don’t feel much like celebrating? We found the missing girl, everybody’s going to end up going home healthy and happy at the end of the day, but I feel kind of deflated.”
Derrick agreed with Rafe’s sentiments. Sometimes he wondered if it was worth all the effort. He’d gone toe to toe with actual kidnappers, murderers, and the scum of the earth, and got a sense of satisfaction. Of a job well done. Cases like this one? Teenagers too young to realize they were making a huge mistake because they allowed their hormones and teen lust to overrule their common sense. There was young love—and then there was sheer stupidity.
“Maybe it’s because there’s no sense of catching the bad guy. Jennifer thought she was in love, and was being unfairly persecuted by her mother and the rest of the world. She still doesn’t get it, that she disrupted the police, her family’s friends and neighbors, and had an entire community looking for her. All she cared about were her own selfish desires, and her feelings overruling her brain.”
“It burns me, how much time and money we’ve wasted. People searching for her, thinking she might be hurt or worse. Officers who should have been assisting the county’s citizens, having to be pulled off helping folks who really needed it, to deal with a selfish, immature child.”
“Speaking of children, I’d better call mine. He’s avoided me all day.”
“Like that, huh?”
“I’m a horrible father,” Derrick echoed his son’s words, and felt a surge of guilt, wondering if maybe there was a kernel of truth. “And honestly, if we hadn’t been dealing with this missing girl case, I’d have probably found a way to work anyway, even if it was paperwork. I’m still trying to get the hang of having a nine-year-old.”
“I’m sure you’re doing better than you think. Everyone I know says it’s a balancing act, work and family.”
Derrick gave a halfhearted laugh. “I’m just hoping there’s a safety net.”
Opening the door, they stepped inside. Sally Anne greeted Rafe with a hug, and she smiled at Derrick. “Sounds like y’all saved the day.”
“Depends on who you ask.” Rafe smiled at her and headed down the hall. Derrick pulled out his phone and decided to try and get in touch with Ian. Maybe he’d feel better if he knew he’d be home soon, and there’d be no more work for the rest of their stay. Tomorrow, the furniture should arrive, and they’d get to spend one night in their new house before heading back to Austin.
The phone rang and rang, eventually switching to voice mail, and Derrick disconnected without leaving a message. Hopefully, he’d only be here a few more minutes, and he’d be able to head back to the B&B.
After all the drama of dealing with the missing Boatwright girl, he’d be happy to spend some time with his son. Even if said son was royally ticked at him.
Daisy tracked through the woods, knowing the downpour would have washed away any footprints that might have been left. She hadn’t wanted to admit it in front of Miss Edna, who already felt guilty enough, but she was worried. It wasn’t like Ian to disappear. At least, Derrick had never mentioned his son doing something so irresponsible.
“Where are you, Ian?”
The rain poured down in torrents, and she was soaked to the bone, chill bumps rising on her skin. It had been warm this afternoon, but the temperature dropped when the storm rolled in, and being drenched made her even colder. There wasn’t anything to make her believe Ian was in these woods, except her gut. Exploring them would have been almost irresistible for a boy Ian’s age, especially one who’d grown up in the city.
Brushing aside the foliage, she traipsed deeper, calling out Ian’s name every few minutes. She hoped against hope she’d find him, but wasn’t going to count on it happening. The forested area behind the B&B was huge. Miss Edna owned a good chunk of the property, all the way to the creek to the north, and several acres to the east and west. The old Victorian was pretty much the southernmost point of the property, and Miss Edna, along with her family, hadn’t wanted the land commercialized or developed. Instead, they preferred it to be left to its natural beauty.
“Ian, can you hear me?”
When no one answered, Daisy faltered, her shoe stuck in the clumpy mud. Rivulets of water snaked along the ground, making walking tricky. She wasn’t ready to give up yet, though. Ian was here; she knew it. But it was getting darker, the sun blotted out by the ominous-looking clouds.
Derrick, where are you?
Knowing she should call Derrick, she reached into her pocket and patted it. She bit back a curse when she realized in her rush to get inside to Miss Edna, she’d tossed her phone onto the front seat of the car when she’d parked.
“Great, just great. Now I can’t even call Derrick. He’s going to have a conniption when he finds out his son’s missing.” Taking a deep breath, she yelled as loud as she could. “Ian? Can you hear me?”
“Help!”
She stopped in her tracks, hearing the voice cry out in response. It had to be Ian!
“Ian, call out again, as loud as you can!”
“Daisy, help me!”
It was hard to tell with the rain pouring down, but it sounded like his voice came from her right. Taking a deep breath, she turned and headed in that direction, skirting around fallen branches and small bushes blocking her path. The sharp crackle of lightning lit the sky, followed by an enormous boom of thunder, almost directly overhead. The rain intensified, dumping bucketsful onto the already saturated earth.
“Ian, I’m coming. Stay where you are.” She shouted the words louder, praying he could hear her above Mother Nature’s thunderstorm display. What a time for Texas weather to turn cranky. Couldn’t it have waited until she found Ian?
“Daisy! Where are you?”
Ian’s voice sounded closer, a little louder, and if she wasn’t mistaken, coming from straight ahead. She stumbled over a buried root, and barely kept herself upright, grabbing onto the side of a tree. Rubbing her palm against the leg of her jeans, she walked forward, following the sounds.
“Keep talking, Ian. Are you okay?” It was hard keeping her voice raised with every word, but she’d do whatever it took to find Ian. The underlying panic in his voice let her know he was scared. Not that she blamed him; she would be too, if she took the time to think about the fact she was in the middle of a thunderstorm, surrounded by animals. She knew there were snakes and deer, and she’d heard there were a few feral hogs in the area. Which wouldn’t be the best thing to run into, especially under these conditions.
“Daisy! Be careful. There’s a monster under my tree!”
Under his tree. Guess that means he had to climb. But monster? Uh oh.
“What kind of monster?”
“A giant pig thing. It has sharp tusks in its mouth.”
“I’m coming. Keep talking to me, Ian. You said you’re up in a tree?”
“Yeah, I had to run to get away from this pig thing.”
Daisy knew he meant a feral hog and felt a wave of thankfulness he’d gotten away from it. Feral hogs were fast, and they could be vicious when confronted. Ian didn’t know how lucky he’d been.
“It’s called a feral hog. Do you like ham? Because feral pigs taste like ham.”
“Yuck. I don’t want to eat him. I just want him to go away.” His voice was getting louder. She hadn’t even had to yell for him to hear her, so he had to be close. The rain had started lessening, though it was still dark as dusk.
Looking around, she picked up a dead branch lying on the ground. A couple of feet and she found another. Now all she had to figure out was how to get a feral hog to lose interest in a lone boy up a tree. No biggie.
“Is it still there?”
“Yes. I think it hears you because it stood up. What are we going to do?”
“You’re not going to do anything except stay up in the tree. When I chase it away, be ready to climb down as fast as you can.”
“Um, Daisy? I can’t climb down. I don’t know how to climb a tree.”
Daisy stopped dead still, and closed her eyes, counting to ten. The whole situation just needed that little tidbit, didn’t it?
“Don’t worry, big guy, we’ll figure it out once the hog’s gone, ‘kay?”
Tightening her grip on the two branches, she moved forward, listening intently. It wasn’t long, probably less than a minute, before she heard snuffling sounds coming from almost straight in front of her. Great, she was close.
“Daisy?” Fear tinged Ian’s voice, and she had to answer.
“I’m still here, buddy. Look to your left. I’m in front of you.” She watched him searching frantically for her, watched his little body slump in relief when he spotted her.
“I see you.”
“Great. Keep really still and quiet. I’ll get you down. I promise.”
She watched him wrap his arms tighter around the tree and nod.
Now all she had to do was scare off a feral hog, coax a terrified boy out of a tree, and get him back to the bed and breakfast in one piece.
Piece of cake.