18. Chapter Eighteen Joe
Chapter Eighteen: Joe
T he moment that Flo calls to tell me Cody’s gone missing from the beach, my mind goes blank. She wouldn’t call me about something like this unless it was important. Unless she already tried everything she could to try and track him down. Unless she was genuinely worried that something serious had happened.
The panic that rushes in is like an icy, devastating wave, causing every logical thought to fly out the window.
It’s not like Cody to wander off. Between him and Eli, he’s definitely the more well-behaved one. Which isn’t to say that I think Eli would ever run away from his grandma’s watchful eye, but he would definitely be the one to push the boundaries.
So, basically, nothing about this makes sense.
I barely say goodbye to Poppy before I’m in my truck, tearing down the road toward Mermaid Shores’ Main Street. My hands are white-knuckled on the wheel, my pulse pounding in my ears. All I can think is that Cody has to be okay.
Even though I know it’s illogical, the paranoid part of my brain can’t help thinking that this has something to do with the new lack of privacy I’ve experienced due to my closeness with Poppy. But just because my face has appeared in a national tabloid magazine doesn’t mean that someone decided to hunt down one of my children and… what? Kidnap them?
Nothing is making sense.
In the brief phone call, Flo explained that they’d gone to the beach for the day—one of the last days before tourist season starts in full force—which I already knew. We thought it would be good for the boys to get some sun and sand, especially since they’ve been so restless with school ending next week.
It’s not like Cody to wander off without saying something. He’s always the one who sticks close, always the cautious one. He’s always cared about following the rules. Sometimes, he’s even given me a run for my money in terms of being a polite, law-abiding citizen. But he’s also only nine years old. Even though I’ve taught him about stranger danger, he’s not immune to being lured away by someone with foul intentions.
I slam my foot on the gas, pushing the truck to the speed limit’s edge as I navigate through Mermaid Shores’ winding, narrow streets. The closer I get to the beach, the deeper my thoughts spiral. Maybe it’s a kidnapping, or maybe it’s something even worse. Did he get lost in the sand dunes, caught in a riptide, or dragged out by the waves?
A dozen worst-case scenarios pile up in my mind, each more terrifying than the last.
When I finally pull into a parking spot at the beach’s main entry point, my heart is a jackhammer. Flo and Eli are waiting at the end of the boardwalk. Eli is clutching his grandma’s hand, his face pale with worry. I barely manage to remember to put the truck in park before I’m leaping out and striding toward them.
“Where did you see him last?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intend. Flo, ever the calm one, pulls Eli a little closer, her own face creased with worry despite her steady voice.
“By the dunes,” she says. “We were flying the kite, and I asked Eli to hold it for a minute while I adjusted the string. Cody was right there, just a few feet away. When I looked back, he was gone.”
I close my eyes for a second, willing myself to stay calm. I can’t break down. Not in front of Eli. He already looks worried enough. He probably knows his brother even better than I do, which means he also knows that it’s not like Cody to just abandon us.
“How long has it been?” I ask, my throat tight.
“About forty minutes,” Flo says quietly, glancing down at her watch. I can hear the guilt in her voice and see it in her eyes, and I know I need to tell her it’s not her fault. But right now, I don’t have the energy to reassure anyone.
“Alright,” I say, running a hand over my face. “I’ll start looking around town. Flo, take Eli home—”
“No, Dad!” Eli’s voice is pleading, and he grabs my hand, his grip tight. “I want to help look for him. Please, don’t make me leave.”
I look down at him, my heart twisting. Eli’s usually the bold one, always trying to act older than his age. But right now, he’s just a scared kid who doesn’t understand why his little brother is nowhere to be found. Maybe keeping him with me will help him feel less afraid. It might help me, too, knowing he’s close.
“Okay,” I say, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You can stay. But you have to stick with me, understand? No running off.”
He nods, his face set with a determination that mirrors my own. Flo touches my arm, her eyes meeting mine, and I see my same fear and worry reflected back at me.
“We’ll find him,” she says softly. “He couldn’t have gone far. It’s a small town, and the folks here know better than to just look the other way if they see a lone kid wandering around.”
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. I want to believe her. It’s true. I live about twenty minutes inland, but I’ve done enough business in Mermaid Shores that plenty of the locals know me. If not by face, then by name. They know I have my two boys. Chances are that if the right person stumbles across Cody, they could figure out who his father is.
I’m definitely not going to wait around for someone else to be a Good Samaritan, though.
“Alright,” I say, turning back toward the parking lot. “Let’s drive around town, maybe check the residential areas. Flo, can you stay here down by the beach, just in case he shows up?”
“Of course.” Her voice wavers, which is unlike her. Even at the worst of times, my mom has always been the picture of unflappable grace.
I usher Eli into the truck, and we start our search.
First, I drive through the neighborhood closest to the beach, hoping maybe Cody just got turned around and wandered into the wrong place. This area is full of local businesses, tiny bed-and-breakfasts, and quaint beachside townhouses that are usually empty during the offseason. Eli stares out the window, uncharacteristically silent, scanning the sidewalks and milling crowds.
We pass kids playing with beach balls, tourists taking photos, and locals setting up the final necessities for the incoming busy season. The whole world seems to be moving forward, blissfully unaware that my entire life is unraveling.
“Cody wouldn’t just leave, Dad,” Eli says suddenly, his voice trembling.
I reach over and squeeze his hand. “I know, buddy. We’ll find him. We just have to keep looking.”
But as the minutes tick by, the knots in my stomach tighten. Cody is just a little kid. He’s always been the cautious one, the one who worries about strangers, who is terrified of getting lost. So many times throughout his life, he’s been the boy who hides behind my legs whenever someone new appears.
Except for when he met Poppy. He seemed to feel safe around her right away, happily chatting with her alongside Eli when I wasn’t even around to make the introduction.
I really can’t think about that right now, though. Whatever unfinished business I left behind at Poppy’s cottage needs to be dealt with another time.
I push down the rising panic, keeping my voice steady for Eli’s sake.
“Let’s try the arcade,” I say, trying to keep my mind occupied with practical thoughts. Cody loves the old-school arcade on the boardwalk, with the bright neon lights and the claw machines packed with stuffed animals.
Eli nods, his eyes a little brighter. “Maybe he went there! He likes that place.”
I steer the truck toward the boardwalk, not caring when I choose a parking spot that I’m definitely not supposed to be in. I’ll take a parking ticket anytime if it’ll get me closer to finding my son.
Hand in hand, we rush through the dense throng of people and step inside the darkened arcade. The noise hits me—a cacophony of bells, dings, and cheerful music. Children and teenagers are laughing, cheering, and running all around. For a second, I allow myself to hope. Maybe he’s in here, just playing a game and totally unaware of the chaos he’s caused.
“Cody!” I call out, weaving through the rows of machines. “Cody, are you here?”
Eli trails behind me, calling his brother’s name in a high-pitched and shaky voice. We search every corner of the place, check behind the machines, and ask the employees if they’ve seen a kid matching Cody’s description.
But they all shake their heads, offering sympathetic smiles and promising to keep an eye out.
By the time we leave the arcade, my heart is pounding even harder than before. I check the clock on my phone, one hand pressed firmly to my chest as if that will prevent it from bursting free.
It’s been over an hour now, and there’s still no sign of him.
We walk back to the truck, the weight of my panic pressing down on me. I can see the fear in Eli’s eyes, and can feel the way he clutches my hand a little tighter like he’s afraid I might disappear, too. I pause and kneel down beside the truck, pulling him into a hug and trying to hide the trembling in my own hands.
“Daddy, what if we can’t find him?” he whispers, his voice muffled against my shoulder.
“We’ll find him,” I say firmly. It doesn’t matter if I’m having a hard time believing it. Eli needs to hear it. “We just need to keep looking.”
I pull back, giving him a reassuring smile, even though I feel like I’m falling apart inside. I can’t let him see me panic right now.
We start driving around town, checking every place I can think of: the candy store, the rest of the boardwalk that stretches beyond Main Street, even the little ice-cream stand Cody loves on the outskirts of town. With each empty street and each blank face I ask, the fear grows deeper and sharper until it’s a physical ache in my chest. The world feels too big, too chaotic.
Desperately, I start to wonder if I’ll ever see him again.
By the time we make a full loop around Mermaid Shores, it’s been almost two hours since he disappeared. My mind races with every terrible possibility, every worst-case scenario. The longer we search, the harder it is to keep it together.
“Dad, what if he got hurt?” Eli’s voice is barely a whisper, but the fear in his eyes is raw and real.
It’s the first thing Flo suggested, sending me a text letting me know that she’s still down by the beach, calling every local hospital just in case a young boy has been brought in. Both luckily and unluckily, though, there’s been no sign of Cody.
My grip on the steering wheel tightens, and I have to force myself to keep my voice steady. “Eli, don’t think like that, okay? Cody’s smart. He’s careful. He knows not to talk to strangers, and he wouldn’t go far. We’ll find him.”
But as we turn onto another empty street, the certainty in my words feels thin and fragile. Cody has never wandered off like this. Even on all the hundreds of beach days that we’ve been on before. That thought keeps echoing in my mind, louder and louder, until it drowns out everything else.
We circle back to the beach, where Flo is pacing with her arms crossed against her chest, her expression tight with worry. She comes over to the truck as I roll down the window, her eyes flickering with hope and dread.
“Any luck?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
I shake my head, swallowing the knot of fear in my throat. “Nothing. We’ve checked everywhere.”
Flo’s shoulders sag with the same guilt and worry that’s threatening to take me down once and for all. She glances past me at Eli, her gaze softening as she reaches out to touch his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” she says, her voice cracking. “I thought he was right there with us.”
Eli nods. “I know. Me too.” Tears are brimming in his eyes. I pull him into another hug, my heart breaking as he clings to me, his small hands clutching my shirt. He’s scared, and I don’t blame him. I’m terrified, too.
“Ma, maybe we should call the police,” I say, my voice strained. “It’s been a couple of hours, and this isn’t like him.”
She nods, reaching for her phone with trembling hands. As she dials, I try to hold onto hope, to believe that maybe Cody’s just lost somewhere on the sand, waiting for us to find him. But the fear gnaws at me, growing darker and more menacing with each passing minute.
Eli is quiet beside me as Flo steps away to make the call to the local dispatch. I wonder if Nara Fitz and her partner will be responding, still on duty after taking care of Percy. Somehow, that disaster feels like it happened days ago.
As the minutes drag on, the panic presses down harder like a weight I can’t shake off, and all I can do is hope that Cody is somewhere close, safe and waiting for us to bring him home.
With the police alerted to a missing child possibly wandering around town, we split up again. Flo goes back toward the beach with Eli, while I drive back up into the suburban side streets to search every nook and cranny around Mermaid Shores. I cover the back roads and the edges of town where the trees close in and the roads become twisted, half-familiar trails with mystical, sun-dappled energy.
I keep calling Cody’s name, scanning every shadow, every corner, my voice growing hoarse from yelling, and my heart thundering louder with each unanswered call.
After what feels like hours, I find myself back near the beach, climbing up high on a dune overlooking the water. I stare out at the waves and the endless stretch of sand, my chest tightening. The fear has taken root, spreading through me like poison, and I can’t shake the image of Cody, lost and alone, calling for me and wondering why I haven’t come to find him.
I don’t realize I’m crying until I taste the salt on my lips. I close my eyes, letting the wind whip around me, my hands clenched into fists.
With a deep breath, I straighten my spine and wipe the tears from my face. I’m not giving up yet.
“Hold on, Cody,” I whisper to the empty beach. “I’ll find you.”