Chapter 14
E ntering the house behind Joel and Royal, Trina went straight to Ben’s backpack still propped against the wall in the kitchen. Rummaging inside, she found and removed Ben’s favorite video game. She wished more than ever she’d have come here to grab the handheld device yesterday.
She turned as Joel and Royal emerged from the bedrooms. The grim expression on Joel’s face squeezed her chest. “He’s not here?”
“No.” He gestured to the game. “If he had come this far, he’d have surely grabbed the game before leaving, right?”
“Yes.” She’d thought it was possible Ben had decided to climb into his own bed, but clearly that wasn’t the case. Gripping the game tightly, she stared at Joel. “I don’t understand. Royal tracked him here, right?”
“Yes. And I trust my dog.” He nodded at Royal. “He knows Ben’s scent. I need you to call the Cody police, let them know Ben is missing. I’ll keep working with Royal. I’m sure he’ll pick up Ben’s scent.” He glanced around the house. “Maybe Ben came here, but then something scared him off?”
Like the gunman? Swallowing hard, she made the call. The dispatcher promised to send the two officers who worked the night shift. The hour was early enough that the day-shift team hadn’t reported in to work yet.
Joel brushed past her to head outside. “Come, Royal.”
The black lab followed Joel out of the house. She watched as Joel instructed Royal to search for Ben.
Where could Ben have gone? It didn’t make any sense that he’d sneaked out of the house, coming all this way without getting his game or anything else from his backpack. She hurried outside. “Maybe he changed his mind and went back to Mitch’s house.”
Joel nodded. “Maybe. Royal will let us know.”
She tried to quell the surge of panic. This was the second time Ben had gone missing, and Royal had found him the first time. Surely the smart K9 would find him again.
Please, Lord Jesus? Her heart squeezed painfully. Please keep Ben safe in Your care!
Royal swept his nose over the driveway, trotting toward the road. As Joel stayed close to his dog, a terrible thought hit.
What if someone took Ben away in a car?
“Joel?” She hurried down the driveway where Royal sat and let out a sharp bark. His alert! No, please, no! “What if the gunman has him?”
“Good boy, Royal! Good boy!” Joel lavished praise on his K9, glancing up at her with a somber gaze. “I don’t want to think the worst, but we can’t discount that possibility either.”
A red haze of fury clouded her vision. The gunman had her son!
“We have to find him!” Her anger morphed into full-blown panic. “Joel, please! Royal has to keep searching for him!”
Joel nodded. “Search! Search Ben!”
Royal jumped up and went back to work, sniffing the ground and the air to pick up Ben’s scent. He headed along the street, sniffing at one spot in particular.
Her pulse kicked up. Maybe Ben hadn’t been taken away by car. Maybe he’d gone down the driveway, saw something, and went over to explore.
She hoped Ben had just gone back on the trail rather than being taken away by someone who had tried multiple times to kill her.
Unless kidnapping Ben had been the goal all along.
No, please, no. Please, Lord, don’t take Ben away from me.
The sharp wail of sirens filled the air. A Cody police cruiser came around the corner and rolled to a stop at the end of her driveway.
Joel glanced over as the officer slid out of the vehicle. Then he turned his attention back to Royal.
“Are you Ms. Warren?” The officer’s name tag read Simmons.
“Yes.” She fought to maintain control. “My son, Ben, is missing. Joel Sullivan and his K9, Royal, tracked Ben here to my house. We’re staying a few blocks away.
” She didn’t want to get bogged down with the details, but she needed the patrol officer to know the basics about what she’d been going through.
“You may have heard we’ve been targeted by gunfire, and someone tried to start my house on fire.
I’m worried the person who did those things now has Ben.
He—” Her voice hitched. “He’s only eight years old. ”
Simmons nodded. “I’m aware of your case. I asked the dispatch to put a call into Sergeant Howell. When’s the last time you saw Ben?”
“Last night.” She didn’t want to stand there talking, but she forced herself to go along with the questions. “I made up a bedtime story, and he fell asleep, maybe around eight thirty or so.”
“And when did you realize he was missing?” Simmons asked.
“Six twenty. I woke up and went in to check on him. The window was open, and he was gone.”
Simmons arched a brow. “Does Ben often climb out the window?”
“No. But he did try to run away two mornings ago.” It seemed like eons since this nightmare started.
Her tone rose defensively. “He’s still getting used to living with me here in Cody.
He lost his mother, my sister, three months ago.
I’m his guardian.” A flash of impatience hit hard.
“None of that matters now. I need you and the other officers to be out there looking for him!”
Joel crossed over to put his arm around her waist. “Have faith, Trina. Justin and Stone will be here soon. I told them to use Ben’s pillowcase as a scent source and to meet us here. We’ll spread out and search the neighborhood.”
“Thank you.” She was grateful to have two experienced K9s searching for her nephew. But she couldn’t help but think that if the gunman had taken Ben via car, they could be anywhere.
Even another state.
Panic threatened to overwhelm her again. She’d never experienced a fear as raw as this.
Joel turned to Simmons. “Did the other officers who did the canvass after the arson attempt learn anything from Trina’s neighbors?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t hear anything about it during roll call last night.” Simmons looked chagrined as if he wished he knew more. “Sergeant Howell will be here soon. You can ask him.”
Joel turned his gaze to her. “I’m calling Griff. He needs to know about this.”
She nodded. If she could shout the news from the top of the mountain, she would. Every single person in Cody should be searching for her son. That’s how she thought about him, she dimly realized. He was her son. And she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
Joel walked away to make the call. She swung her gaze around the familiar area. If one of her neighbors had found Ben, they’d have taken him inside. Maybe he was right now having breakfast at one of the houses nearby?
On the heels of that thought, though, she realized that was impossible. Her neighbors were close enough to see them standing out there with the police. They’d know she was searching for Ben.
And the scent trail had stopped at the end of the driveway.
The seconds dragged by as Joel spoke to Griff. Justin and Stone showed up just as Joel finished.
“I’m sorry, Trina.” Justin looked upset. “I didn’t hear Ben leave. And neither did Stone.”
“It’s not your fault.” The blame for this rested squarely on the gunman’s shoulders. “But we need to find him.”
“We will.” Justin sounded as determined as Joel. She tried to believe they could do this. That God would protect Ben long enough for them to find him.
“Griff is on his way.” Joel turned to his brother. “We’ll split up the neighborhood. Maybe someone gave Ben a ride to their house.”
“I’ll go east; you head west.” Justin shrugged out of his backpack. “By the way, I brought Royal’s stuffed beaver.”
“Thanks.” Joel gratefully took the toy. “Royal tracked him to the house and down the driveway. Maybe we walk along the road for a while. Could be that Ben changed his mind and decided to backtrack to Mitch’s home after all.”
“I’ll call Mitch’s mother.” She patted her pockets, belatedly realizing she didn’t have her phone. Joel had told her it was important to stay off-grid, so she’d turned it off and left it behind. “Joel, I need your phone.”
He passed the device, then set about revving up his dog. Justin had brought the collapsible water bowl, too, and they took turns giving their dogs the opportunity to drink. She called Mary, Mitch’s mother, who verified Ben was not there with Mitch.
Her heart squeezed with fear as she handed Joel’s phone back.
Justin opened the bag containing the pillowcase Ben had used. “Ben. This is Ben. Search!”
The yellow lab buried his nose in the bag, then began to search. Meanwhile, Joel already had Royal working on the west side of her home.
Feeling entirely helpless and useless, Trina watched the dogs do their thing. But what if that didn’t work? What if the gunman had already taken Ben far away from here?
Would Ben have willingly gotten into a car with a stranger? If so, what else had she failed to teach him?
She jammed her fingers through her hair, desperately trying to think. Maybe she should head over to her neighbors to talk to them. There’s no reason they wouldn’t cooperate with the police, but she couldn’t just stand there doing nothing.
Turning, she was about to cross the lawn when Joel’s sharp tone broke into her intense thoughts.
“Stop, Royal! Heel!” She frowned, wondering what was going on. His black lab spun around and came instantly to his side, sitting and staring up at him expectantly.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Trina hurried forward. “Why did you call him back?”
“Do you smell that?” Joel waved a hand in the air. “Bleach. Someone used bleach on the road.”
Her temper snapped. “So what? I don’t care about bleach.”
He reached for her hand. “The scent of bleach will ruin a dog’s ability to smell anything for at least thirty to forty minutes.”
“We have bleach over here too,” Justin called out.
Joel’s eyes narrowed. “Spilling bleach on the road on both sides of your house wasn’t done by accident.”
She stared at him in horror. “You mean someone purposefully used bleach here to prevent Royal from tracking Ben?”
“That’s my theory.” He rested his hand on Royal’s head. “Justin, what are your thoughts?”