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Fear tickled the back of Josie’s neck. She knew that Blue had both an active alert, which involved barking, and a passive alert, which involved simply stopping and laying down next to his find. She was pretty sure Luke used the passive alert for cadavers. But as their flashlights crisscrossed over Luke’s back, Josie saw that Blue was standing beside him, drinking from the collapsible water bowl.
“You guys okay?” Luke asked as they drew up beside him.
“Yeah,” Josie said. “How’s Blue?”
Luke knelt and took up the bowl, tucking it back inside his backpack. “He’s fine. We’re good to go.”
Noah pointed his flashlight ahead of them. “Look.”
From between two birch trees, Josie saw the light pass over a slash of yellow. “Is that the road?”
“Looks that way,” said Luke.
“That’s got to be Kelleher Road,” said Noah. “I’ll call it in.”
He got on the radio as Luke murmured instructions to Blue, who took off at an easy jog once more, after Kayleigh Patchett’s scent. In seconds they were in the middle of Kelleher Road. Looking to her right, toward the stretch of road that led back into town, Josie saw headlights in the distance as well as the red and blue flash of a Denton PD cruiser’s emergency lights. The headlights blinked twice.
Noah said, “They see us. They’ll hold position there.”
Josie expected Blue to stop along the road. Surely he would lose Kayleigh’s scent here. Her abductor could have been parked along this deserted stretch of road, brought her back to his vehicle, stuffed her inside and taken off. Instead, Blue kept going, plunging into the trees on the other side of the road.
She and Noah had no time to talk or even think as they followed Luke and Blue through what was now full darkness. Soon, thethwap-thwapof helicopter rotors filled the night air, faint at first, then louder.
“Looks like the state police sent their helicopter,” said Noah.
Josie nodded, saving her breath. They were both soaked through with sweat and out of breath by the time Luke paused the search again to give Blue some rest and more water. The helicopter was nearby, circling their position. The glow of its spotlight gave the area around them a dull glow.
Noah had to raise his voice to be heard over the rotors. “How many miles do you think we’ve gone?”
Luke shrugged. “Hard to say.”
“The distance between the Patchetts’ house and Kelleher Road was three miles, so we’ve gone at least that far,” Josie said.
“How far can Blue reasonably go, Luke?” asked Noah.
From under his headlamp, he smiled. “Oh, a good, long way provided we stop for rest and water.” He bent and scratched behind Blue’s ears. “I’ll let you know when he’s ready to quit if we haven’t found Kayleigh Patchett by then.”
They were off again, this time climbing. It was getting harder for Josie to catch her breath. Her jeans, soaked with perspiration, chafed against her thighs. Blisters had started forming on her toes. Her lower back and feet ached. There was something else, too. Something she couldn’t quite identify. A feeling of unease that had nothing to do with the case. But there wasn’t time for her brain to examine it.
Until Luke and Blue stopped abruptly. Pushing his body in front of Blue, Luke waited until Josie and Noah had drawn close enough for them to hear him hiss over his shoulder. “There’s a man up ahead!”
Heart pounding, Josie unsnapped her holster and pulled out her gun, positioning the flashlight under the barrel. Noah did the same. She pushed past Luke and Blue. “Get behind a tree,” she told Luke.
She wondered if this was the abductor or if it was some random person just wandering around in the woods. Surely, whoever it was, he’d heard them. They hadn’t made any effort to conceal their approach. Between their flashlights and the nearby helicopter, they weren’t exactly quiet. She and Noah fell instantly into formation, him panning the left side of the forest ahead while Josie took the right.
“Denton Police,” Josie called out, trying to yell loud enough to be heard over the helicopter. “Please come out where we can see you.”
No movement or sound came from ahead of them.
“There!” Noah said, stopping. “Right there.”
His flashlight beam froze on the shape of a man leaning his back against a rock face. His chin dipped downward. One of his feet was tucked up behind him, the sole against the wall.
Josie’s heart gave a little stutter and then kicked into overdrive, a racehorse galloping in her chest. She lowered her weapon. “Noah,” she croaked. “That’s the Standing Man.”
She couldn’t see his face clearly, but she heard the confusion in his voice. “What?”
“It’s not a real man. It’s a rock formation. If you approach from this direction, it looks like a man leaning against the wall.”
