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“We gotta find him.” Marco waved toward the road. “Come on, this way! Hurry!”
Alex moved to Deborah’s side. “A search party. Now that’s my idea of a party game. Perfect for a law enforcement theme.”
“I doubt it’ll take all four of us.” Deborah quickened her step so she was even with Daniel and Marco. Alex kept pace with her, not taking the hint. His nearness made her feel off balance. It seemed as if the only way she could deal with men was professionally or drunk. Sober and in social situations, she hadn’t a clue.
She was thirty-one. Damaged goods. Too old to be healed. She would never have a normal relationship with a man. The thought churned inside her.
Just one drink.
* * *
Daniel studied the line of vehicles that stretched about a mile along the dirt road that led to Ray’s house. He’d parked the Cherokee nearly halfway to the highway, to give the vast bevy of older aunts and uncles ysus familiascloser access to the house. The back passenger-side door stood open a crack. Benny’s clothes and tennis shoes lay scattered on the ground.
It didn’t mean a thing. Benny might have seen a raccoon or an armadillo and run after it without giving the open door or his errand a second thought. Animals he’d never seen in the city fascinated him.
On the road, just before the vehicle, footprints marred a patch of dirt. Flies buzzed around a piece of fajita meat and a half-eaten tortilla.
Benny had an insatiable appetite.
Daniel rubbed his temple, trying to assuage a headache that had shadowed him for two days. He glanced at Deborah and Alex. Their expressions mirrored his concern. “Benny! Benny, where are you?”
No answer.
Maybe he’d fallen and gotten his clothes dirty. He’d be afraid that Daniel would get mad. Had he run away rather than face Daniel? Surely not. He tried never to show Benny anger. The child shut down at the first sign of it.
Daniel studied the tall grass and straggly live oaks that lined the road. “Benny, come on. You’re going to miss the cake!”
No answer.
“See. He’s not here.” Marco plucked at Daniel’s sleeve. “Where’d he go?”
Daniel squatted next to him. “He has to be around here somewhere. He couldn’t sleep last night, with all the excitement. Maybe he laid down somewhere and zonked out.”
Marco frowned. “Ray said we could feed the horses carrots after we changed. He wouldn’t sleep before that.”
“He was very tired.” Daniel tried to keep his tone light. Marco was right. The horses fascinated Benny. He’d never seen a real one before coming to stay with Daniel. “Deborah, why don’t you and Alex take a look around the barn and the outbuildings? Marco and I’ll walk toward the highway, see if Benny took off after a possum or something.”
For a second Deborah looked as if she might object, but then she shrugged and started in the direction of the barn. Daniel didn’t try to fathom the grin on Alex’s face as he strode after her.
“Let’s go!” Marco started toward the long line of cars.
“First I want to look around here.” Daniel opened the hatch and tugged forward a large toolbox. Sweat formed above his dress shirt collar. The nausea that had started the previous day built to a crescendo. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and swallowed the bile in his throat. “Benny! Benny, where are you? Answer me. Come on, buddy, you’re not in trouble.”
Still nothing. Marco shifted from one foot to the other. “He’s not here,tío. I told you, I called him already. He didn’t answer.”
“He might’ve been sleeping and not heard you.” He turned his back on Marco and grabbed a pair of gloves from the toolbox that served as his evidence kit. He slapped them on, snapping the fingers.
As an investigator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Daniel was trained to work worst-case scenarios. Bad stuff happened to people all the time. He never kidded himself that it couldn’t or wouldn’t happen to the people he loved.
With missing people, every second counted. This could be a case of a messy little boy leaving his stuff all over the ground and running off to play. Or simply running away. Daniel had seen no signs of that coming. Benny had actually seemed happy today, acting like a normal kid.
The other alternative gnawed at him. Somebody had snatched Benny. If it were the latter, this was a crime scene. Technically, it belonged to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, but he could have a quick look around.
Knowing Marco was watching him, Daniel kept his expression neutral. Using a flashlight, he examined the front seat. Nothing. No apparent blood.
He examined the clothes on the ground. Marco immediately knelt next to him. Again, nothing that appeared to be blood. Together, they studied the grass and the stunted bushes. The road itself was hard as concrete. Even in the fall, San Antonio heat baked the earth every afternoon.
He stared at the cars. Only one spot stood open in the line Someone had gone home before the party had started. A wet patch of oil represented the only obvious sign a car had been parked there. He studied the ground inch by inch. Something shiny and round caught his gaze.
