Josh glanced uncertainly at the sky, which was growing ever darker, then gave a curt nod. “He’d want to help. I know he likes Devon a whole lot. They seemed to have a good time together fishing, guy bonding, even went off …”
Rebecca put a hand on his arm. “What?”
He put the truck in park, turned to Rebecca.
“Becks, when we were fishing, JJ and Devon went off somewhere, someplace JJ calls his secret fort. I didn’t follow, never had, always figured it’s good for kids to have secret places and such, but maybe …”
The thought hit them both at the same time.
Josh picked up the phone and shifted his truck into gear.
“Lissa?” he said into the phone. “Tell JJ to be ready. There’s a kid missing. Devon. I need JJ to show me his hiding place down by the river.”
CHAPTER 40
Rebecca
JJ was waiting outside Aunt Lissa’s when they arrived, his neon-green rain jacket a pop of color against the gray outside.
“Be careful,” Lissa called from the front door, two of her four kids peeking from behind her legs.
“We will,” Josh said as JJ climbed in, buckled up. “Let me know if you hear anything. And maybe call the station, let them know where we’re headed.”
“You got it.”
They roared off, and JJ leaned forward.
”Is Dev okay, Dad? I mean, Aunt Liss said he’s missing, and they showed us that video at school last year, about strangers and kidnapping and stuff, and …”
“We think he’s hiding out, buddy,” Josh said, eyes trained on the road as they made a sharp left and then a right, headed toward the Wahca River.
“In all this rain?” JJ eyed the sky through the windshield. “Isn’t there a hurricane coming? Aunt Lissa wouldn’t even let us go to the tree house.”
“That’s why we have to hurry.” Josh gripped the wheel, turnedinto the small gravel parking area near the trailhead. He picked up the walkie-talkie, explained where they were headed.
“We’ll send a crew over to help,” came a crackly voice in reply. “Over.”
“Thanks for helping, JJ,” Rebecca turned to the boy, gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “No one’s seen him since last Thursday, and we’re hoping maybe he’s taking cover in that fort of yours.”
“Since Thursday?” JJ looked surprised. “Like, all alone at night and everything?”
Rebecca shivered, picturing Devon in the woods alone, in the rain, with only his Bible for comfort. Did he have food? Was he scared?
“We’ll find him,” Josh said, glancing over, and she shook away the tears, balled her hands into fists. She hoped he was right. If they didn’t find … no. She couldn’t think about that.
Then they were parked and heading down the path, rain falling in patches through the canopy of trees overhead. Thunder rumbled, and she ducked instinctively as they raced through the forest, feet kicking up clumps of mud, half-pulled along by JJ.
“It’s not really a fort, Dad. I mean, we call it a fort, but it’s more like a tunnel,” JJ shouted breathlessly as they ran.
“A tunnel?”
“I don’t know what you call it. Like a pipe thing, only bigger.”
They could see the river ahead now. She recognized her usual spot, the big rocks they sometimes used for seats or a picnic. Big splatters of rain pounded against the river surface, churning up the water, and they pressed on, past the rocks, under a large tree branch and left into a clearing.
The rain began to fall in earnest now, and the bitter taste of her morning coffee swam in her throat. Ahead and above, the green trees turned darker, and she had to duck to keep the water fromher eyes. Months of early morning jogging didn’t make her any less out of breath. JJ veered this way and that, and once a bush smacked her full-on in the face, but she kept going.
She could hear Josh’s heavy footsteps behind her, and once she slipped as they rounded a curve, turned back toward the river.
