Brody raised an eyebrow as she disconnected the call.
“Dr. Walker,” Mattie said, her words clipped as she marked the evidence bags with the date, time, and location. “His youngest, Sophie, is missing. Got off the bus, no one else at the property at the time, not there when Walker arrived. I need to go.”
Brody’s blue eyes became icy while she summed it up, telling her that he was thinking of Candace Banks too. “Right. I’ll finish up here and take Wolford in and book him. You take Robo and go.”
Mattie turned to leave, stripping off the latex gloves she’d worn to handle the bags of narcotics. “I’ll call the sheriff and notify him.”
“Ten-four. We’ll be in touch.”
Tucking her gloves into another bag, Mattie jogged to her SUV and climbed in. Robo stood to greet her, opening his mouth in a happy grin and waving his tail. His presence gave her comfort while she told herself to calm down.
Missing children are most often found safe and unharmed.
Soon enough, Mattie was on her way to Timber Creek. She drove through the outskirts of Hightower, and when she reached the highway, she accelerated well over the speed limit, lights flashing. She lifted her transmitter from its cradle and keyed on her radio to check in with Rainbow. “K-9 One to base, do you copy?”
Rainbow answered immediately. “Affirmative. Go ahead, K-9 One.”
“I’m en route to Timber Creek Veterinary Clinic, ETA twenty minutes. Report of a missing child at that location.”
“Oh, no!”
“Is the sheriff in?”
“Yes. He’s on another line.”
“Have him call me on my cell phone.”
“Copy that. Drive safely, Mattie.”
Rainbow . . . dependable despite her quirks.
While she waited for the call, she tried to compose herself and think of options. Children typically had special places to hide, often places their parents were completely unaware of. Sophie might be on the property. She could’ve come home from school tired, gone to her special place, and fallen asleep. In that case, Robo would find her.
And of course—whenever a child disappeared, it was usually because an estranged parent took them.
Why didn’t I think of that sooner?
Cole’s ex, Olivia. She could’ve happened to come back, found Sophie at home alone, and decided to give Cole a scare. And if that was the case, surely Sophie would be perfectly safe with her mother.
Her cell phone rang, announcing the sheriff’s call. “What’s this about Sophie Walker?”
Mattie relayed what she knew.
“I’ll go there immediately,” McCoy said.
Cole was part of the sheriff’s posse in Timber Creek County, and he’d responded to the sheriff’s request to help out many a time, so the fact that McCoy would drop everything and respond to Cole’s need didn’t surprise her.
“Could you make sure we don’t let a lot of traffic in and out of that area until Robo and I get a chance to search?”
When he heard the word “search,” Robo poked his nose through the heavy-gauge wire mesh that separated his compartment from the rest of the vehicle. Although tempted to put her hand through the screen to pet him, Mattie kept both hands on the wheel.
“We’ll stay out of your scent trails as much as we can. I’ll see you there.”
After disconnecting the call, Mattie drove hard through the forest and over the pass that stood between her and Timber Creek. Most cars pulled over and let her pass as soon as the drivers noticed her flashing lights, but occasionally she hit the siren briefly when someone needed an extra nudge to move over. She was able to increase her speed as she drew near her destination, following the flat stretch of asphalt that ran between lush meadows.
As she drove through town, she whooped the siren once when she thought a pickup was going to pull out in front of her. The driver jammed to a stop and watched her roll by. A fast mile out the other side of town and she finally arrived at the lane that led to Cole’s place. Since she needed a scent article, she drove on to the house, where Cole’s truck and McCoy’s Jeep were parked. Both men waited on the front porch.
She ratcheted on her parking brake, exited the vehicle, and strode up the sidewalk. As she approached, she could see the worry lines etched on Cole’s brow. He held the scent article he’d sealed inside a gallon-size zip-lock bag—a small pink T-shirt, wrinkled and worn. With Cole, she didn’t have to ask if it had been retrieved from the laundry basket rather than from a drawer, freshly laundered. He knew what she needed.
“Good,” she said, taking the bag. She studied his intense brown eyes, dark with concern. She’d never felt more like reaching out to touch him. But she had to hold back. “Have you heard from anyone?”
“No. I tried getting hold of parents, but I couldn’t get through to everyone. I left messages.”
“I spoke with the bus driver,” McCoy said. “She noticed only one vehicle that was nearby when she let Sophie off the bus. A silver Jeep-like SUV.” He gave Mattie a knowing look, sending her a message.
Her heart sank as she received it. The description matches the vehicle we’ve issued the BOLO on. The Nissan Pathfinder registered to Merton Heath, the registered sex offender. The pedophile.
She looked at Cole. “You’ve searched the house thoroughly?”
“I have.”
“How about the clinic and the outbuildings?”
“I’ve been out there twice.”
She decided to express the thought that she’d had earlier. “Did you think of Olivia?”
Her meaning dawned in Cole’s eyes. “You think she might have taken her?”
“I don’t know, but it’s common for an ex-spouse to be involved when a child goes missing.” Mattie raised the bag to indicate the tee. “Let me and Robo search. Maybe he can find her.”
She hurried back to her Explorer, where Robo stood, looking out the window. As she opened the back, she told him, “Wait.”
He rocked back on his haunches momentarily but then pounced forward on his front paws, excited to get out. He thinks it’s time to play with the other dogs. “You’re going to work, Robo. Let’s get ready to work.”
Taking out his collapsible bowl, she filled it with a splash of fresh water from the jug she kept stored in his supplies. He slurped it up and allowed her to put on his tracking harness. From that point on, he was all business. No more play postures. Mattie invited him out of the car, keeping up a continuous line of encouragement to rev him up. With him dancing at her side in heel position while looking up into her eyes, she took him out into the lane.
Robo sniffed the scent article thoroughly. “Search,” she told him, using a large sweeping gesture to indicate the area. He took off, nose to the ground, and she jogged after him.
At first he quartered the area in large sweeps, roaming back and forth, but then he moved into the lane. Mattie wondered if he’d found scent from Sophie catching the bus this morning or a trail she’d left this afternoon. She decided not to worry about it and stuck with him. He led her down the lane toward the highway.
Midway down, he stopped suddenly and sniffed an area carefully. He left the lane, moving off to the side into the grass, nose down. Mattie followed, searching the area, and spotted tire tracks left in the grass perpendicular to the lane, like a car had driven off it to turn around. With sinking heart, she thought of the silver Pathfinder driven by Merton Heath and wondered if the wheels were set at the same width.
Even as the thought came into her mind, Robo took off again and locked onto a scent trail, going back into the lane and heading for the highway. As they approached, she heard the hollow echo of a vehicle coming from the east. “Robo, wait!”