“What is a young kid doing walking down a country road all alone?” As soon as Emma stopped, Cassie hopped from the car.
“Wait. Don’t get out.”
“It’s a kid, Emma.” She ignored her friend’s protests and walked to intercept the child. Not very old. A little boy. He wore a red-and-blue Spiderman suit and had a small bag tucked over his shoulder. His mouth formed into an O when he saw Cassie, then he grinned. Wow, he’d be a heartbreaker once he was older, although right now, he couldn’t be more than five or six. Certainly not old enough to wander down the road on his own.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m running away from home,” the boy said.
“Why?”
He wasn’t crying and didn’t seem unhappy. In fact, excitement pulsated from him as if he were on a grand adventure.
“Daddy read me a story about a boy who ran away. I decided to see if I had the same adventures as Sam.”
“Oh.” Cassie restrained her burst of humor. He didn’t appear tired or dirty, so he couldn’t have wandered far. “Does your daddy know you’ve run away?”
“He was busy in his office.”
“Okay. I’m Cassie. What’s your name?”
“Dillion.”
“Hello, Dillion. It’s very hot. Would you like to have a cookie and a cold drink?”
He cocked his head and studied her before giving a decisive nod. “The boy in the story met a lady and had cookies.”
“Right.” The boy had to live on this road. She’d ring Matthew—no, wait. “Is your daddy’s name Matthew?”
“Yes.”
Good. At least she knew where he came from and he hadn’t walked far. She’d give Matthew a call and drop Dillion back after his cookies.
“Come on,” she said. “We’ll give you a ride home.”
“I’m not allowed to ride in cars with strangers,” Dillion said.
“That’s good advice,” she agreed. “How about I walk back to my house with you? It’s right next door to your house.”
“I only live with Daddy sometimes.”
Ah, so that explained things. Matthew shared custody of Dillion. He seemed like a good father if he read stories to his son. He was probably frantic. Back at the vehicle, Emma seemed relieved.
“This is Dillion, and he lives next door,” Cassie explained. “He’s run away from home.”
Emma gawked at her.
“We’re going to have cookies,” Dillion told Emma.
“Let me grab my phone. Dillion, quite rightly, doesn’t want to get into a car with a stranger. I’ll walk back to the house with him and ring Matthew so he doesn’t worry.”
“Oh, but—”
“It’s not far. We’ll be ten minutes tops.”
Emma scanned the road behind them. “All right,” she said, her tone grim. “See you soon.”
Weird. Emma was behaving plain weird. Probably the strain of the fire.
Cassie rifled through her handbag and found the business card she placed in the side pocket.
“Hello? Matthew? This is Cassie Miller-Pope. I have something that belongs to you.”
“Pardon?” His tone was frosty and unwelcoming.
“I found your son on the side of the road, not far from my place. He said he was running away from home.”
