Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Frantic, I toss down the remnants of Linnea’s backpack. “I thought it was a bear!” I shout over the pounding rain, my voice too tight in my throat. “Someone cut this fabric.”
“And they left this here so we’d think she got attacked,” Rowdy replies, shaking his head. “To throw us off.”
Bruneau whines softly as I scan past the scattered items to the woods. A flash of lightning brightens the eerie forest for a split second, but it doesn’t reveal any more clues.
I get to my feet. “Someone took her.” Thunder rumbles from the south.
Rowdy’s face tenses. “We need to alert law enforcement.”
“No. That’ll take too long. If it’s Sons of Eden, we need to go there.” Doesn’t he understand there’s no other option? “Now.”
His eyes flash at my sharp tone. “And get us both killed?”
“If those bastards have her, you know what they’re capable of.”
He grips his waist. “What if it’s not them?”
“Fuck!” He could be right, but the quickest way to find out is to go.
“The first few hours of a search are the most important. We need help. We need a team, resources. And if it is Sons of Eden, we’ll need an army.”
I shake my head. “Not if we have the element of surprise.”
“Damn it, CJ! A multi-agency task force is building a case against Sons of Eden. To bring them down. Dismantle their leadership so they can’t just pop up somewhere else, like they’ve done in the past. So we can free their innocent children from a life of harm. That’s lasting change.”
Is he for real? “So you’re saying you’re willing to sacrifice your daughter’s life for this fucking case?”
The rain drowns out the sound of my pounding heart and heaving breaths as we stare at each other.
“We don’t know for sure if she’s there,” he says.
“Bullshit! We know cult members are willing to kidnap the children who try to leave. McKenzie and Gweneth are proof of that, and I would bet there are others. Which means they must have some powerful ways of keeping track of their flock. And you seem pretty convinced they’re responsible for Samantha Bowen’s murder, which means they’re willing to do terrible things to keep their secrets.
” For one terrifying instant, I’m back in my driveway, running after my sister, but I shake my head to clear it.
Because I’m not that powerless little boy anymore.
“It’s not a stretch to imagine exactly what went down here.
Especially considering Linnea’s phone went dark at almost the exact spot we found that weaving.
Little Elk Creek is an escape route, or it’s a link in it.
Those bastards are already on high alert after our visit and losing McKenzie and Gweneth, then they cross paths with Linnea.
They would for sure interpret her presence in only one way: as a threat. ”
Another flash of lightning. Rowdy’s eyes are steely, his desperation etched into the hard lines of his jaw. Thunder rolls, closer this time.
“Even if all of that is true…” He holds my gaze. “We can’t go in alone.”
I spin away and start walking. “Then maybe there’s no ‘we’.” I’m done talking about it, that’s for fucking sure.
“And what if you get her killed?” he calls out behind me.
Another flash of lighting illuminates the rainy forest ahead. I don’t need him to remind me of the stakes.
Either I come back with Linnea, or I don’t come back at all.