Page 73 of Tracking Safety

Jenna walked to the door and peered out. The yard stretched empty, all the way to the tree line. She glanced at the chicken coop, but she didn’t see Liam there.

She stood with her hand on the door frame, trying not to panic.

Had he run?

Or . . . had someone taken him? The thought chilled her to the bone.

No, she couldn’t jump to worst-case scenarios. Maybe he’d slipped back inside. He could be in his room right now.

She excused herself and went upstairs.

His room was empty. So were the bathrooms.

Where had he gone?

She had no idea.

She only knew he was no longer here.

“Jenna,” Luke said behind her in the hallway. “What is it?”

She turned, her heart pounding out of control. “Liam . . . he’s not here.”

Luke blinked, unsure if he’d heard Jenna correctly. “What? Are you sure?”

“He’s not outside or in his room,” Jenna rushed.

“I’ll double-check the rest of the house.” Luke’s mom took off before anyone could respond.

Luke darted out the back door, needing to look for himself.

The screened porch was empty. The yard—empty. The path between the main house and the cottages—empty.

He crossed the open space in long strides, scanning as he went.

He checked the chicken coop first. Liam loved hanging out there.

The door was latched from the outside. He unhooked it and pushed it open.

The hens shuffled and murmured in the dim interior, and a rooster eyed him from the far corner with the usual suspicion.

No Liam.

He latched it again and turned.

Then he checked the kennel.

He wasn’t there either.

Caleb was already crossing from the direction of the cottages, reading Luke’s face. “He’s not in the chicken coup?”

“No. Where’s Wyatt?”

“Up at the cottages with Thunder.”

“Get them both.” Luke looked at the woods, then at the gate at the back of the property. “If Liam went into the trees, Thunder finds him in ten minutes. We don’t, not in this light.”

Caleb followed his gaze. “Don’t you think we would have seen him if he came out this way?”