Free If You See Her by Shiloh Walker Page B

needed to be his priority.
    “Does he have any idea where Brody might have gone?”
    “No.” Remy paused and then added, “They don’t talk much. I can tell you that Brody doesn’t have many friends—he’s too quiet, too withdrawn lately. If he’d taken his four-wheeler, I’d have a better idea where to look, but he’s on foot.”
    “We keep looking, then.” Parking the truck, he turned it off and climbed out.
    “Maybe we should just let him come home when he’s ready.”
    “No.” Ezra wasn’t about to ignore that bad itchy feeling in his gut. It was the sort of feeling that had him wishing he had his gun—except it had been locked up in his house and while it could probably be repaired, it sure as hell wasn’t usable right now. “Look, I’m picking up Lena, running her over to Law’s place, then I’ll head back out. I’ll keep looking for him.”
    “You don’t need to, King. You’re already—”
    “I’ll keep looking,” Ezra interrupted. “And you need to do the same. Too much weird shit going on around here for that kid to be out there by himself. Night’s moving in, Jennings. We want him found
—tonight
. Call in favors if you need to, see if Nielson can send some of his guys out.”
    There was another moment of silence and then Remy started to curse, long and low. The phone abruptly went dead and Ezra shoved it into his pocket as he headed for the house.
    He’d take care of Lena, first … then worry about the kid some more.
    He’d forgotten how dark it got in the woods.
    Stumbling along, Brody shoved his hands inside hispockets and focused on the faint flicker of lights ahead. He wasn’t sure whose house it was, but he didn’t care.
    It wasn’t
his
house and that was all that mattered.
    Whoever it was, he’d ask to use the phone and he’d call Uncle Remy.
    A chill raced through him as he thought what might come after that, but he had to do it. Wasn’t like …
    Somebody moved out from behind a tree.
    Brody’s brain shut down.
    In the dim, pre-dusk light, with his aching head and heavy heart, he could almost think he’d fallen into a nightmare.
    The man wore camo, from head to toe, and not just his body, but everywhere. Even the guy’s face was covered, his eyes shielded behind some sort of goggles that made him look alien.
    Brody might have been cool with that.
    Except the man held a gun in his hand. And as he stared at Brody, he cocked his head to the side, staring at him like he was some sort of lab specimen. Staring at him … like he had already ceased to exist for this freak.
    Brody could hear his own breath wheezing out of him, felt the cold trickle of sweat roll down his spine. Blood roared in his ears. Terror gripped him hard and tight, and suddenly, the anger he felt at his dad evaporated—he wanted his dad.
    Desperately.
    Swallowing, too scared to move, but knowing he needed to, he stared at the man.
    With a stillness and silence that barely seemed human, the man tilted his head … and slowly lifted that gun.
    Brody darted behind one of the trees and took off running. Branches grabbed at him. Roots seemed to snake up out of the ground and grab at his feet. He stumbled, tripped, and each time, he shoved upright and kept on running.
* * *
     
    Stupid little fuck
 …
    Irritated, he melted back into the woods.
    He’d had some interesting plans for the night, but now, he’d have to rethink things.
    He had wanted to go and watch her a little more.
    Watch her
closer
even … perhaps let her know he was there.
    He supposed he could have dealt with the boy, but that wasn’t in the plans.
    He had to keep to his plan. When you veered from the plan, things got fucked up.
    Shooting one look over his shoulder toward the house, he began the long walk through the trees.
    It wasn’t a problem to wait.
    He was, after all, a patient man.
    “Have you tried calling her?”
    Roz nibbled on her thumbnail and debated whether or not to answer him. Finally she sighed and