Pete trotted over with his Kong, now licked clean of peanut butter and covered in slobber. He dropped it at Shane’s feet and Benny attacked it immediately, followed by his littermates.
“I need to talk to the boss,” Shane told Alex. “I’ll let you clean that up.” He pointed his chin at the slimy Kong.
“Thanks, brother,” Alex answered with a bright smile. “You’re on kennel KP.”
Shane laughed as he and Pete went inside and headed for Kyle’s office.
“Hey, boss, Got a minute? Whoa, what’s wrong?” Shane stopped dead in Kyle’s doorway. All thoughts of what he wanted to talk about fled his mind when he saw the look on the Pup’s face. Kyle waved him in and pointed at his phone on the desk.
“George, I’ve got Shane Foti in here with me now. Please repeat what you just told me.”
Shane closed the door behind him after Pete scooted in. Kyle could only be talking to George Williams, the sergeant in charge of Lyons’ law enforcement. George was not only Alex’s father-in-law, he was good friends with just about everyone at Watchdog.
There was a pause at the other end, then George’s voice came through the speaker, grim and clipped. “We’ve issued anall-points bulletin. Kevin Taylor is missing from the elementary school.”
Shane felt adrenaline hit his system. April’s Kevin? “What the fuck, George?”
“He got into a fight on the playground during an afternoon break and was sent to the principal’s office. Principal lectured him, sent him back to class. Apparently, he never showed up. His teacher and then the detention monitor assumed he was sent home. He’s been missing for just over two hours.” George blew out an angry-sounding breath. “The principal waited until school was almost out to call April, asking her to come in to discuss Kevin’s suspension. They talked, then April went to pull Kevin out of detention and he was gone. That was ten minutes ago. School security’s combing the building, but I doubt he’s there.”
Shane fought back his worry, replacing it with anger. “Sounds like he took off after the principal lectured him.”Probably for the tenth time this weekhe thought. It was well known among April’s friends that Kevin could be a handful and was often in trouble at school. Shane had a slightly different take on it. He remembered well how her whole family was treated when they were growing up. Bile pooled in his stomach along with guilt.
“My thoughts exactly,” George said. “He rode his bike to school and he hasn’t shown up back at the coffee shop, which is only a ten-minute ride away and where he’s supposed to go after school, and he didn’t go home. April checked the front and back porch cameras. Kid might have been afraid of getting in trouble and took off. I’ve got a patrol car cruising the surrounding streets. No sign.”
“Hemighthave been afraid,” Kyle said. “Though the kid is pretty resilient. He’s used to being in trouble and it doesn’t faze him.”
“A suspension, though, is next level,” George said. “And with a two-hour head start on a bike, we’re expanding the search. Considering he’s April’s kid, I thought I’d reach out to you guys as well.”
Kyle stood up. “All hands on deck here. We’ll fan out from Watchdog, head toward Lyons. George, any leads on someone taking him?” He looked at Shane. “We all know their family’s had enemies in the past.”
Yeah, including my own father. The thought threatened to bring the bile up from Shane’s stomach.
“We’re looking into that?—”
A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. The door opened a crack and Jodie, Watchdog’s receptionist peeked in. She had a funny smile on her face as she spotted Shane. “Oh, good, I was coming in to ask Kyle if he knew where you were. You have a visitor waiting for you in reception.”
“Tell them to keep waiting. I’ve got a lost kid to find.”
Jodie stepped into the office. “Any chance it’s Kevin?”
“Uh, yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because he just showed up in the lobby wanting to talk to you.”
“What?” Relief so sudden and so complete washed over Shane, threatening to make his knees buckle.
“He says he needs to talk to you, Shane.”
“Kevin’s been found,” Kyle told George in the meantime. “Apparently, he’s standing in my lobby right now.”
“I’m right here, Mr. McGuire.” Kevin appeared behind Jodie. His eyes went straight to Pete standing beside Shane and a huge smile spread across his face. He dashed past Jodie and went to his knees beside the dog. He started to reach out to pet him, then stopped and looked up at Shane. “Can I pet him, or is he on duty?”
This kid. Sometimes, he was so damn conscientious.
“Well, Pete was just about to go on duty, because Sargent George called asking for help to find a missing kid. Any idea who that could have been?”
Kevin’s eyes went round. “Oops.”
“Yeah, oops. Your mom’s been worried sick.”
