Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Warner – What Hurts The Most
Drew and Justin stopped by to leave us supplies for roasting marshmallows around the campfire, so Vince and I got one going, while Joey bounced around the camp, straightening up and getting ready for the next day.
But where was Cody? “Joey? Have you seen Cody?” He would know if anyone did, besides me.
“Uh…” He looked around as if Cody would materialize out of thin air, or maybe to better remember where he’d last seen his friend. “He went to the potty, but that was a long time ago. Before Mr. Drew brought the marshy-mellows.”
“Hmm…” Okay. Maybe he needed extra time in the facilities, so I didn’t worry too much.
But it kept getting later and later. I finally put my roasting stick on the picnic table.
After eating three of them alone, I needed to find my boy.
“I’m going to see if I can find Cody. If he shows up, tell him I said to stay here. ”
“Okay, Daddy Warner.” Joey stuffed his mouth with another marshmallow, followed by a piece of chocolate.
Vince had given up on telling him he was doing it wrong.
Apparently, he didn’t care for the graham crackers.
He was still enjoying it and having fun getting sticky marshmallow all over his face, but it made me miss Cody even more.
First, I went to the bath house, but he wasn’t there, so I walked around, visiting all the other sites, but no one had seen him.
I was getting extremely worried, but I’d only covered about half the campground.
The rest of our people were camping in the other direction, so after checking in to be sure he hadn’t returned, and he had not, I headed to the other side, where I hadn’t already been.
It was nearly ten o’clock, and I didn’t want to wake anyone who might already be sleeping, but I had to find him.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I was sure my blood pressure was up.
Something was wrong. Cody didn’t simply disappear without a trace. Did something bad happen?
Finally, I stopped at the site where Quinn and Royce were set up with the other pups and waved at everyone. “Hey. Have any of you seen Cody in the last couple of hours?”
Royce paled. He tilted his head and his eyes looked incredibly sad. “Uh…I have. About two hours ago. I let him borrow my car, and I’ve kind of been wondering when he was coming back.”
“What the hell?”
Royce bit his lip. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry.” I backtracked immediately, not wanting to make him feel bad. “I’m not mad at you at all. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Quinn crossed his arms and leaned back in his folding camp chair with a scowl. “What exactly is going on, Warner?”
“He hasn’t checked in. Didn’t tell me where he was going. Hell, he didn’t tell me he was going at all.” Totally exasperated now, I threw my hands in the air.
Quinn stood and put his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t panic. Not yet.”
“He hasn’t been answering his phone.” I shook my head and held the phone up.
Royce pulled his out, too. “Let me text him. I’ll let you know if he replies.”
“Thank you. Quinn? You have my number?”
Quinn nodded. They all looked very concerned. I was too.
I shot off a text of my own.