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“No.”
“Is there a jealous boyfriend after you?”
She shakes her head. “No. It’s nothing like that. I’m not in danger. And I’m not a danger to you. I swear.”
“Then why won’t you tell me?”
“I will, when we have more time. Right now, you need to go to work. Then you have your brother’s wedding. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“You still haven’t changed your mind about coming to Romeo’s wedding with me?”
“I’m not crashing a wedding,” she says firmly, “It’s a family event. I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”
“Fine,” I grumble. “But you’d better be naked.”
Eight
Hamlet
BeforeIevenreachthe office, my handheld radio crackles to life. Then I hear my eldest brother’s voice.
“Hamlet?”
He only says my name, but I’m so close to my siblings that it’s more than enough. I know immediately that something is wrong.
“I’m here, Will. What’s the situation?”
“Lost child near Bat Creek.”
I get the rest of the details from Will and drive to meet the child’s mother at her campsite. The child had wandered off sometime in the evening.
Mothers are difficult. They’re used to being the ones in control, so they never want to do what they’re told—especially when it comes to their children.
This woman is no exception. Maternal instincts kick in, and she wants to search for the little boy herself.
“I have to look for Colter,” she wails.
“My brother will find him,” I assure her. “Theo is working with a K-9-unit, Bear. There’s not a better team anywhere in the Appalachian Mountains. They’re the best of the best.”
The woman begins to pace. A few minutes later, she’s doubled over, sobbing. “How could he have just wandered off? I should look for him. Ihaveto look for him. I’m his mother!”
The last thing we need is two missing persons, and that’s exactly what we’ll have if this woman wanders into the woods on her own. I adopt my most soothing voice. “If you leave the campsite, you won’t be here when he returns.”
“What if a bear got him?” the woman sobs. “Or a mountain lion. Or a rattlesnake. Or an alligator.”
“There are no alligators or mountain lions here,” I promise. “And the bears and rattlesnakes are far more scared of Colter than he is of them.”
It’s the truth, and I’m not the least bit worried about wildlife. There hasn’t been a bear attack in years, and snakebites are rare.
What I’m worried about is the creek. It’s not far off the trail, and it’s shallow. People love to splash in the water, especially kids. But they don’t realize that the current is fast—fast enough to knock a grown man off his feet and sweep him into deeper water if he’s not careful. A little boy doesn’t stand a chance.
I keep those thoughts to myself, murmuring reassurances to the woman every couple of minutes.
Finally, my radio crackles to life with Will’s voice again.
“Ham, Theo found him. He’s okay. ETA to the campground is twenty-five minutes.”
The mom falls to the ground. “He’s okay,” she sobs.
