Chapter Thirty-Six
While Toddand his men zoomed off with their sirens blaring to check out a lead, Grady rounded up his family at the diner to organize thesearch.
The atmosphere was tense as they walked in. Conversation stopped and the locals eyed them withsuspicion.
Pastor Patterson and his wife sat in a booth, surrounded by a circle of church members who alternately prayed and comfortedthem.
Grady took a deep breath and sliced through the crowd toward them. He held out his hand and said, “Grady Hart. I’m here to help you find yourdaughter.”
“Is it true?” Pastor Patterson said. “You’re Jessie’s biological father and you’re suing us for custody ofJessie?”
The crowd drew in a collective breath, and an uneasy hush fell across the entirediner.
“I’m here to help find Jessie.” Grady kept his hand extended. “Right now, there’s a scared little girl out there, lonely and lost. I don’t want to think about the monster who has his hands onher.”
“We must keep praying,” Mrs. Patterson blubbered, fanning herself. “Ask God to put a hedge of protection around our littleJessie.”
“Mark Patterson.” The pastor reluctantly shook Grady’s hand. “You haven’t answered my question. Are you Jessie’s biologicalfather?”
“I might be,” Grady said. “But right now, we need to find her. What I want to know is where Betsy is. Is she at home or at the church, or is she alsomissing?”
“Betsy!” Mrs. Patterson clapped a hand on her chest. “Why, Jessie brought her to church and she was playing with the other dogs. Mark, we plumb forgot about her. Maybe she’s still back at thechurch.”
“She’s not there,” one of the praying church members said. “The police already came through and searched the property. Everyone took their dogs, and I thought you guys took Betsy homealready.”
“Damn!” Grady said. “If the dogs were there, it means they trust or know the kidnapper. Otherwise, how could he or she have pulled itoff?”
“Right, I’m sure Betsy would have barked up a storm,” Pastor Patterson said. “What do we donow?”
“We organize search parties,” Grady said. “Let’s divide the town into sectors. We go door-to-door asking residents if they saw either Jessie, Betsy, or little Ginger. We have pictures of Ginger from the website and also Betsy from when she waslost.”
“Let’s do it.” The pastor stood and put on his suit jacket. “Everyone keep praying, but I’m going with Mr.Hart.”
Grady and the pastor quickly organized his family and the congregation. Everyone was equipped with pictures of Jessie, Linx, Betsy, Cedar, and little Ginger. The pastor had ready-made maps he used for soul-winning and he passed them out to theteam.
After adding their cell phone numbers to a group chat, the civilian search party spread out from the diner and headed to their assigned sector. Grady fetched Sam from Dale, who had, along with Connor and Brian, recovered all of the missing dogs by luring them with beefjerky.
“Where are we going to search?” Mark asked Grady. “I checked with the neighbors and they haven’t seen Betsyeither.”
“I’m going to the campground and find out if anyone has seenBetsy.”
“Shouldn’t we look for Jessie instead of Betsy?” The pastor lookedperplexed.
“The police are all looking for Jessie, but I have a hunch.” Grady opened the door of his pickup and Sam jumped in. “I may be wrong, but Linx told me once that Jessie said she wanted to live with Betsy in a fairy wagon deep in thewoods.”
Grady started the truck and drove to the Kingman CampingArea.
They fanned out, asking campers if they’d seen Jessie, Betsy, and Ginger, but the police had already been there, and no one claimed to have seen the three ofthem.
“It’s no use,” Mark said. “I doubt the kidnapper would have taken them here with so manywitnesses.”
“I wish Linx had told me more,” Grady said. It was getting dark, so he flicked on his flashlight. “I must be missingsomething.”
“You think Jessie followed Betsy to a hiding place? But what about the missing puppy and the bandana on thefence?”
“That could have been left there from before, when Jessie opened all of the gates,” Grady said. “But you have a point. Who opened the gates and let the dogs out, and who took thepuppy?”
“Linx must have.” Mark’s jaw stiffened and he grabbed Grady too hard, whirling him around. “We trusted her with Jessie. Never thought she’d hurther.”
