AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No one in the crowd heard you calling for him? No one stopped to help you?” Aaron asked.
Tina burst into tears. “He’s deaf. We didn’t call out for him because he can’t hear.”
Aaron’s heart sank. This was going to make searching for a lost child even more difficult. And then it hit him. Cameron was already in town, and he’d brought Ghost to the PD, and Aaron knew all about Cameron’s run up the mountain with Ghost when his niece was kidnapped.
“Yancy! Radio the station. Ask if Cameron and Ghost are still there. If they are, get them here, ASAP.”
Yancy’s eyes widened. “Yes! Good thinking, Pope,” Yancy said, and moved a few feet away to radio in, while Aaron kept questioning the parents.
“Do you have something with you that belongs to Mickey?” Aaron asked.
Randy gave Tina a frantic look. “I don’t know, do we?”
“I don’t think…” and then she stopped and began digging in the tote bag over her shoulder and pulled outa little baseball cap. “He was wearing it earlier. Would this work?” she asked.
Aaron took it. “Yes, ma’am. Do you have a recent photo of your son?”
“Yes, several we took just today,” she said, and pulled up the photos on her phone. “It’s a clear shot of his face and what he’s wearing,” she said and then started crying again, remembering the yellow shirt and red shorts she’d put on him this morning thinking he’d be easy to see in the crowd if they should get separated.
Aaron took her phone, sent a copy of the photo to his own phone, and then handed it back.
At that moment, Yancy returned.
“They’re on the way. The chief is coming with them,” he said.
“What’s happening?” Tina asked. “When are you going to start looking for Mickey? What if someone took him? He will be terrified.”
“Since your son is unable to hear us calling his name, we have a tracker on the way who doesn’t need to hear Mickey. He’ll find him with his nose,” Aaron said. They all turned at the sound of an approaching police siren. “And they’re already here.”
Cameron leaped out of the patrol car and opened the back door as the chief approached.
“Who are we looking for?” Sonny asked.
“Chief, this is Randy and Tina Cotton. They’ve lost their son, Mickey. He’s six, and he’s deaf. I thought we’dhave a far better chance finding him with Ghost than a search team looking for a child who can’t hear.”
“Good call,” Sonny said.
“Is that them?” Randy asked as he saw a tall man approaching with a huge dog on a leash. He looked at Aaron, and then he looked back at the man.
“Is he your brother?” Randy asked.
“A cousin,” and then Cameron and Ghost arrived. “Cameron, this is Randy and Tina Cotton. They lost their son, Mickey, in the crowd down in the crafters’ area by the snow cone stand. He’s six, and he’s deaf. This is Mickey’s cap. This is what he looks like,” Aaron said, and showed him the photo.
“Send the photo to my phone. You and Yancy run interference for me and Ghost. If Ghost suddenly takes off running, it’s likely to freak a bunch of tourists into thinking he’s going to attack them,” Cameron said.
“Will do,” they echoed.
Cameron took a firm grip on the leash, looped it around his wrist, and took off at a lope toward the crafters’ area.
Sonny had the parents copy the boy’s photo to his cell phone, then got back into the squad car and sent a group text with the photo attached to every officer out on patrol and radioed into dispatch for all officers on duty to be on the lookout for that child.
Aaron and Yancy took off in their patrol car, heading toward the crafts area of town, while keeping Cameron and Ghost in sight. Once they reached the area, they got out and followed him on foot.
When Cameron reached the snow cone stand, the line of customers was long, and they looked askance at the size of the dog he had with him.
“We’re searching for a missing child. This is his picture. Have you seen him?”
The people gathered around, all looking then shaking their heads. At that point, Cameron pointed to Ghost.
