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Blue whined again, longer this time. He stood up and walked over to Savannah, whimpering as he paced back and forth in front of her. She watched him, her face still guarded.
Josie said, “What’s he doing?”
Luke knelt and held out a hand to Blue. “Come here, boy.”
But the dog didn’t obey. He simply stood in front of Savannah and whined again.
Luke met Josie’s eyes. “He, uh, knows when something is wrong.”
The dog was worried about Savannah. It only confirmed Josie’s uneasy suspicion that something was not right. Josie said, “Savannah, what happened out here today?”
Josie, Luke, and Blue all watched as tears silently streamed down the girl’s cheeks. Positioning herself directly in front of Savannah, Josie squatted so they were eye to eye. “Savannah?”
No answer, only more tears and a slight quiver of her lower lip.
Josie softened her tone and tried a different question. “Savannah, where’s your sister? Where is Kayleigh?”
Her words were a sudden screech, pushed out on the edge of a sob. “He took her!” she cried. “He took her away!”
SIX
Josie’s entire body stiffened. The dam of her emotions broken, Savannah fell forward and threw her arms around Josie’s neck. Her small body shook in Josie’s embrace. Tears soaked through the shoulder of Josie’s T-shirt. Stroking Savannah’s hair, Josie whispered soothing words into her ear. “Okay, Savannah. I’m glad you told me that. I’m here to help. I’m going to try to find Kayleigh, okay? I’ll do everything I can to try to find her. So will my team.”
Another sob, followed by another shriek. “You can’t!” Savannah wailed. “You can’t find her. She’s gone. Once the Woodsman takes you, he never brings you back!”
Luke said, “What did she say?”
Josie wasn’t sure she had heard correctly. “Savannah, I need you to calm down. We need to talk about this. What did you just say?”
Savannah pulled back, looking into Josie’s eyes. Her nose was bright red, eyes glassy. Gulping a breath, she said, “The Woodsman. He took Kayleigh and once he takes you, he never brings you back.”
Luke said, “Who is the Woodsman?”
“It’s not important,” Josie mumbled. She was less concerned with the lore of the Woodsman than she was with the fact that Kayleigh Patchett had been abducted.
“It is important!” Savannah insisted. “He took her!”
“Josie?” said Luke quietly. “Who is the Woodsman?”
Josie shook her head. “It’s nothing. Just a story going around school.”
Beneath Josie’s hands, Savannah’s thin shoulders trembled. “It’s not just a story! It’s not! He took my sister.”
Josie looked at her earnest face. She tried to quell her own panic. If what Savannah said was correct, and the sisters had encountered a man who kidnapped Kayleigh, the police had already lost precious hours trying to locate her. Taking a deep breath, Josie said, “Savannah, I believe you that something happened to Kayleigh. My team is back at your house. Not far from here. If you tell me what happened, I can radio to them and have them start looking for Kayleigh right away.”
Again, Savannah looked all around them, as if she expected someone—the Woodsman?—to jump out from behind a tree at any moment. Blue whimpered again. One of Josie’s hands let go of Savannah’s shoulder and patted the gun at her waist, reassured that it was still there.
Josie added, “I promise you are safe with me, Luke, and his dog, Blue. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
Savannah gripped one of Josie’s wrists with both hands. They were cold and clammy, in spite of the warm May evening. “The Woodsman took my sister.”
“A man took your sister?”
Savannah nodded.
“What did he look like?”
“I don’t know.”
