Page 81 of Midnight Creed

“Doesn’t the FBI have to be requested by local law enforcement?” Jason asked.

“Yes. But not if there’s evidence a child has been kidnapped and possibly or potentially taken across state lines.”

“Does she have evidence?” Creed asked.

“No, not that she’s presented.”

“So, are you thinking she’s a control freak? Or does she have something to hide?”

“Maybe both. Right now, I can’t care about pissing contests.” She handed Creed a plastic bag. “Taylor had an old pair of Will’s sneakers in her car. I’m hoping you can do your thing without access to his bedroom.”

“How long has it been since he’s worn these?”

“She said she just bought him a new pair over the weekend.”

“These will work.”

“I need to get my deputies started with a door-to-door canvasing.”

“We’ll start at his house,” Creed told her. “We’re going to run two dog teams with Brodie coordinating. Kids have higher metabolisms, so they shed more skin rafts. But since this is his neighborhood, there’ll be a lot of his scent. It’ll be difficult to determine whether it’s from today or yesterday or even last week.”

“Sounds like you can’t just follow his route from this morning?”

“Afraid not. But if he hasn’t been here all weekend, today’s scent will be fresh.”

“A thunderstorm went through early this morning,” she said, her eyes flashed the question.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. It might actually play in our favor.” He didn’t mind her going through the list, even though she already knew the answers.

“We’re checking to see if he took his bicycle,” she continued. “That could make a difference, right?”

“A little, yes. But the dogs will still be able to follow. If he got into a vehicle, though, the scent would stop there.”

Norwich took in a deep breath. Her eyes darted around to take in the other houses on the street. “I’m hoping one of these neighbors has a security camera that’ll show us exactly what happened. The Ramsey’s camera will only show him leaving.”

From what Creed could see, the massive house that blocked everyone’s view of the entrance was still under construction, with Tyvek walls and hollow window wells. When Norwich looked back at him, he could see she might be thinking the same thing he was. There would be no security footage of the school bus pickup.

“All this construction,” Norwich waved her hand. “Do me a favor and have your dogs do a quick check of the Dumpsters. I counted three. There may be more.” Then she locked eyes with Creed and asked, “They can do that, right? Or is it too confusing?”

She was delicately asking if the dogs could switch from search and rescue of a missing person to recovery of a body.

“Grace can,” he assured her. Sometimes Grace found things he didn’t ask her to find. She was a multi-task dog and couldn’t help it if other scents she was trained to find happened to show up on the trail. And if he asked, she could easily go from search and rescue to recovery.

“We’re long past two hours.” Norwich didn’t take her eyes from his.

“I know.”

She gave him a quick nod.

He didn’t dare glance at Brodie or Jason, but could feel them watching, wondering. Maybe he should have prepared them better. He already knew if they didn’t find a missing child within the first two or three hours, the likelihood of finding him alive decreased with each passing hour.

“You all have radios?” Norwich asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jason answered.

She told them what frequency to use. “I’ll assign Deputy Trevor as your liaison. He’s worked with K9s before. Of course, if you find something you aren’t comfortable advertising over the radio, call or text me directly. I have my cell phone.” She waved to another police cruiser as it turned onto their street.

“Sheriff, I know this isn’t the best time, but I have to ask, what about Caleb Monroe? This morning we talked about a new search for him?”