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Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, Derek was woken from a dream by the sound of Cate screaming Charlie’s name. The piercing noise shocked Derek out of bed and sent him racing into the hall.
“Cate!” he yelled, tripping down the stairs to the kitchen, his heart pounding in his ears. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t find him! Charlie!” She darted in and out of rooms.
His brain went into cop mode. “What happened?”
“Taco is missing.” She spoke between gasping sobs. “We couldn’t find him anywhere. I said maybe this time Taco was really gone. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay, Cate. Where’s Charlie?”
“I went upstairs to put on a sweater, and when I came back down, he was gone. Charlie’s not in the house!”
“Okay. You stay here. Keep looking. I’ll call for help and go out to search for him.” He grabbed his phone and bolted out the front door, barely registering that he was still in pajama pants and didn’t have a shirt or shoes on.
He sprinted toward the library first, Charlie’s favourite place and also the scariest because it was so close to the waterfront. There was no sign of him. He couldn’t have gotten far. Derek continued around the block yelling Charlie’s name until he came around the corner at the Burger Hut. He stopped in his tracks. Standing at the other end of the block was Kylie, carrying Charlie. Relief poured through him and brought tears to his eyes. He picked up the pace again until he reached them.
“Derek! Thank goodness,” she said. “I found our young friend here running down the street.”
Without a word, he scooped them both up in his shaking arms. Sobs of relief threatened to break him apart. She slipped an arm around him, pressing a steadying hand on his bare back.
“He’s okay,” she whispered.
As his breath steadied, he became aware that he was hugging Kylie in the middle of the sidewalk, in nothing but his pajama pants. He released them both, and she passed a weepy Charlie over to him.
“Thank god you found him. I was scared out of my mind.”
She rested a hand on his arm. “He’s okay, really. He’s not hurt.”
Derek squeezed Charlie close and nodded.
“You two should probably get home and put some clothes on,” she said. “At least some shoes.”
He sniffed as he wiped the tears so he could see clearly. “I’ll see you later.”
He headed home, still clutching Charlie. His breathing slowed, and the adrenaline eased out of his veins. If anything happened to Charlie, Derek would be torn apart.
~ * ~
That afternoon, Derek stopped in at Harrington’s to talk to Kylie. The place was empty except for an older couple sharing cheesecake and coffees.
Kylie’s shining face popped out from behind the curtain to the kitchen. Her smile was bright and wide, and his heart skipped a beat. She came around the bookshelf as he approached.
“Hey,” he said. “I wanted to stop by and say thanks again for this morning, helping catch Charlie.”
“It was nothing, really,” she said. “He literally ran right into me.”
Derek reached for her hand and lead her to a table to sit. “He’s never done that before.”
“He sounded really upset,” she said. “What happened?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Taco is missing, and we can’t find him anywhere in the house. Charlie got really upset. Taco must’ve escaped, in which case he’s probably already been lunch for a neighbourhood cat.”
“Oh no. Poor Charlie.”
“Kylie,” his voice cracked, “can we talk about what’s been going on between us?”
