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I never knew he was here. He is a part of me. My blood. The physical manifestation of my love for Carra.
He needs to be okay. We need to find him. NOW.
But first, “Both of you, sit down. I’m going to get Max so he can help us start looking.”
Max trots to the door from his place by the cars when I wave him over. He reads my body language and immediately goes on high alert, his hand going for his gun inside his jacket. “What’s wrong?”
“Finn,” I force an agonizing breath around the knot in my throat before I can finish, “Our son, has gone missing. Lost for two hours at least.”
He curses low under his breath as I motion for him to follow me into the house. The only thing keeping me going is the need to find him. The need to make sure my son is okay.
Marcus is off the phone now. Worry etched in his angular face.
I plead, “Tell us exactly what happened.”
Nikki holds her face in her hands, then sniffs a few times as she dries her tears. “School is off today for a teacher workday, so the kids slept late. After they got up, I was baking cupcakes, Marcus was working on the lights along the sidewalk out front, and the kids were decorating for the birthday and playing outside in the back yard. I realized I hadn’t seen him in a while, so I started looking—” She chokes up.
Marcus leans down and hugs his wife with a fierce grip, “We’ll find him.” He turns back to us. “That’s when Nikki realized Finn was gone. That was about two hours ago. We’ve canvassed the neighborhood. At first, I was sure he would just be at a neighbor’s house. But we’ve talked to everyone.”
My mind is racing, but I can’t quite function just yet. The thought of not getting to know my own son, the thought of losing him before I can even...
Stop that! Carra needs you! Yoursonneeds you.
“Is there anywhere else he likes to go?” Max asks. And I couldn’t be happier that he is here. Someone needs to not be emotionally involved in this. We need clear heads and that is hard when your kids are part of the equation.
Ariel speaks up when no one else does. “What about the skate park?” My eyes fly to her, a glimmer of hope lighting up inside me.
Marcus grimaces. “I didn’t think of that. He does like that, and I’ve taken him there a few times recently. It’s not far.”
“Give me the address, and I’m on it,” Max replies.
A few seconds later, he’s out the door. I pull Carra to her feet and into a hug. That shred of hope is enough to clear the despair-induced fog that had enveloped me. I know we can’t count on luck alone, so my mind races with solutions and possibilities. Good and... not so good.
“We can start searching in a larger and larger grid pattern. He’s probably on foot unless...”
Against me, Carra jolts. “Don’t, Kieran. Don’t even say that. He's just walked off. I'm sure he’s doing what boys do, digging in a pile of dirt, or hunting bugs, or something.” Her eyes look at me pleadingly, willing me to give her the same ray of hope Ariel’s suggestion had given me.
And though I know chances are slim, I relent. Because Carra needs this from me, and I need her to not break down so that I can do my best.
I won’t be of any help at all if she falls, if she crashes and burns. If she needs me to hold her up. Because I won’t let her fall, but if I have to be here holding her, I can’t be out there looking for our boy.
And I need to find our boy as soon as possible. Because if someone knows what is out there waiting in the shadows, preying on little boys, is me. And I’ll tear down the world to bring my baby boy home to Carra.
“You’re right. I wandered off plenty when I was his age.”
“Me too,” Marcus agrees. “My parents called the cops as well one time. I was in a tree, two houses down from ours, watching the girls swim in the neighborhood pool. Boys will be boys.”
I think we all know that boys might be boys and wander off, and we need to keep our hopes up, but we are also aware that the world today is darker and more dangerous than ever.
I make sure that Nikki and Marcus know how to reach us and Max. I feel the shaky tremors as I hold Carra’s hand on our way to the car, and I’m not sure if they are hers or mine.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
“This could be related to the crime ring,” Max says quietly, watching Carra to ensure she doesn’t hear him. “I didn’t want to say it in front of her.”
She’s buying a bottle of water from a street vendor, asking if he’s seen Finn while she’s there.
“Thank you for not telling her that. Things are bad enough as is.”
