Jackson sucked in a deep breath and held it. She could almost see him forcing himself to keep in the moment. This had to be difficult. After all, this wasn’t a stranger he was searching for but his baby brother. He said, “Let’s keep looking. See if there’s anything else we can find to take to the police.”
That got her attention. “You don’t think we’ll find the boys?”
“I want to believe we will.”
“Why don’t you?” She glanced around. “We know they were here.”
“But these coals are stone cold. If they left voluntarily, why wouldn’t they have gone home? Dylan liked camping here, but he wasn’t an avid camper. One night. Maybe two. Then he’d want his own bed.”
She turned in a circle. “It does look like it’s been a few days. I don’t see any fresh footprints.”
“I’m praying, I really am. But I feel something evil happened here.”
She flicked her gaze away from him. “My friend Shannon talks about prayer. Gus prays. But I wish I knew for sure it helped.”
He sprang to his feet and took her hands. “It does help. I don’t always get the answer I want. But knowing someone is there for me, it gives me peace.”
Her chest tightened. She grabbed her inhaler and took a puff. “When I lost the baby?—”
He sucked in a deep breath, but she continued.
“—I thought my life was over. I’d lost you. My friends. And then the life we’d created. Getting up in the morning was a challenge. I would have given so much to know God was there. But He never showed Himself.”
Jackson wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry you went through that alone. And I’m sorry I handled it so badly. But God was there. I promise He was.”
She started to wrap her arms around his waist, then stopped herself. Had she forgotten how he’d betrayed her when she’d needed him most? Men couldn’t be trusted. At some point, they always put themselves ahead of those who cared about them.
She pulled back, and the hurt look on Jackson’s face made her pause. “I need a little space here.”
He backed away. “I can give you that.”
She looked around. “I never planned to come back to Renegade.”
He started picking his way through the brush. “No?”
“Nope. I had severed ties and never looked back.”
“Break any hearts when you came back?”
“No.” She snickered. “I don’t mean to laugh, but there was this guy I dated for about two months. He was into weapons. You seemed shocked by the gun, but what if I told you I also have a crossbow?”
He spun and stared at her. “You do not.”
“I do.” She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “He showed me how to shoot. Turned out I liked the crossbow better than him.”
He laughed out loud at that one. “Poor guy. I can almost pity him.”
Deliberately, she increased the distance between them and began to explore the area on the other side of where the campfire had been. She approached the rough-hewn entrance of a cave. There were clear signs that people had been there recently.
“Look at this.” She pointed at the ground. “Some candy-bar wrappers. The animals haven’t gotten to them yet. And it looks like the ground has been disturbed.” Then she peered closer. “Jackson!”
He followed her finger. She pointed to the cave floor. Several dark splotches were in the dirt. A few inches farther, the same liquid had pooled up. “There’s blood on the ground,” she told him. “At least, I think that’s what that is.”
He paled. Sinking into a squat, he pulled a white napkin from his pocket and dabbed a corner into the small pool. It soaked into the paper. When he drew it back, the corner of the napkin was red.
“It’s blood all right. But whose?”
She shook her head, unable to speak. Deep inside, she hadn’t allowed herself to truly believe the boys might have been harmed. But now she had to acknowledge the very real possibility that someone had taken Dylan and Reggie.
