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“He’ll stay somewhere public first if he’s got her. Somewhere he can watch people coming and going.” Cody’s tone sharpened. “He won’t take her somewhere that feels dangerous. Not while she’s upset.”

“Bus station?” Miles said.

“Could be. Or somewhere near it.”

“I’m heading there.”

“I’ll call Orsen. If Tanner phoned anyone for cash before he left, it’d be him, but I doubt he did.”

“Alright.”

Miles ended the call and stood. Mrs. Hemsworth tapped lightly on the door frame before stepping inside. “Well?”

Miles turned to face her.

She took one look at the counter and went still. Her eyes landed on the letterhead, then on him. “That did it.”

“Yeah.”

Her lips thinned. “Bloody fools.”

Miles knew she meant the process, not Tanner. “Did he say anything to you recently about going anywhere? Anyone he might call?”

“No.” She looked toward the stairs. “He’d rather struggle than admit he needs help. He shouldn’t still be this scared.”

Miles ran a hand over his face. “He’s young.”

Mrs. Hemsworth’s gaze shifted to the note. She didn’t reach for it. “You know where he’ll go?”

“Not yet.”

“But you will.”

He slipped the note into his pocket and left the CPS letter on the table. “I’m going to find him before someone else does.”

“You’re not bringing a cruiser full of uniforms to my street?”

“No.”

“Good.” She straightened her cardigan. “If you get him back here, I’ll keep an eye from my side. I’ll also have words with him, but that can wait.”

Despite everything, that almost got a smile out of him. “Yeah.”

Mrs. Hemsworth looked past him toward the front door. “Go on, then.”

He was halfway across the porch when Mrs. Hemsworth said, “Miles.” He turned back seeing her face had softened just enough to let her concern show. “Bring them home without making him regret trying to leave.”

Miles held her gaze. “That’s the plan.”

The drive into town felt too short and too long at the same time. He ran through all the possibilities the whole way. If Tanner had enough cash for tickets. If he’d gone straight to the station or walked first to clear his head. If Savannah had started crying before they got there. If Tanner had seen sense and turned around already.

No, that wasn’t fair. Panic had its own way of working, depending on the person. Tanner wasn’t being reckless for the hell of it. He was nineteen and exhausted and carrying old fear in a system that had already taught him once what happened when adults started making decisions around him.

Miles parked away from the front of the station. He sat with the engine off and looked at his reflection in the windshield. No uniform. Good. No radio visible. Good. No backup. Better.

He got out, shut the door quietly, and headed inside with only one clear plan in his head. He was going to bring them back. And he was going to do it without making Tanner feel trapped.

Chapter Twenty-Two