Page 75 of Tracking Safety

“There.” He pointed the area out to Jenna.

She studied it a second before closing her eyes—probably lifting up a prayer.

He hurried to the locked gate and opened it.

If Liam was out here, Luke was going to find him.

CHAPTER 30

Jenna and Luke moved deeper into the woods, the light thinning as the canopy closed overhead. The scent of dead leaves and wet bark rose to meet them.

As the path narrowed, Jenna stayed close behind Luke, her eyes moving across the ground. She scanned the spaces between the trees and the shadows that gathered in the low places where the terrain dipped.

She called Liam’s name again.

Nothing.

Luke stopped and listened.

“Luke.” She hadn’t wanted to say her thought aloud. Hadn’t wanted to put voice into and release it into reality. But she had no choice. “What if Liam didn’t come out here on his own?”

He turned toward her, his expression guarded. “He went over the fence.”

“I know.” She chose her next words carefully. “But what if someone was already out here? What if he was followed, or—” She stopped herself. “I just think we shouldn’t rule it out.”

“He’s eight years old, and his life has been turned upside down.” Luke’s jaw tightened. “He came out here because he needed space. I know my son.”

She flinched at his use of “my son.” The words hurt.

Was that what Luke had intended?

She wasn’t sure.

They kept moving.

The path curved left and descended, the ground going soft beneath their feet. Jenna watched her footing and tried not to let her fear grow larger.

This was her fault.

The thought had been sitting at the edge of her mind since she’d stood in that doorway and counted heads and come up one short. She’d known since breakfast that Liam was struggling with her reappearance. She’d seen it and told herself to give him time.

Now he was somewhere in these woods, possibly lost, possibly running away, possibly taken.

She should have tried harder this morning. She should have found a way to reach him that didn’t depend on him being ready. She should never have come back without a better plan for how to handle exactly this.

She should have⁠—

“Jenna.”

She looked up.

Luke had stopped on the path. He turned toward her, something shifting in his expression. His resistance was gone, replaced by something quieter and more direct.

He reached out and took her by both arms. His grip wasn’t tight but just enough to hold her attention.

She went still.

His eyes met hers. “Stop blaming yourself.”