THIS MUST BE THE MONTHfor missing children.
And finding a child who had vanished was more urgent than a conversation with Steven, eager as he was to talk to the man.
Brad ended his exchange with the dispatcher on the radio, put his phone on hands-free, and called Natalie again.
She answered on the first ring.
After he identified himself, he got straight to business. “Any sign of Steven?”
“No. I’m in my room, and I have a clear view of the yard behind the house. He hasn’t come back yet.”
“Slight change in plans. I just had a call about a missing child. That has to take precedence. I may not get to your place until later in the afternoon. I’d still like you to wait and let me talk to Steven first about his nighttime excursions on the property. It ties into the other questions I have for him.”
“About Micah’s death?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been thinking about that since your first call. You must be mistaken, Brad. If he knew anything about what happened to Micah, he would have told us.”
Not if he’d killed the man.
But he couldn’t drop that bombshell on Natalie over the phone.
“You know him better than I do.” He kept his tone conversational. “But I’m obligated to investigate any evidence that turns up.”
“I understand. That’s your job. I’m sure he’ll have an explanation for whatever you found, though.”
Yes, he would—especially if he had time to conjure one up.
That was why it was important to catch him by surprise.
“Let’s hope we can clear it up later this afternoon. Would you hold off talking to him about your concerns until after he and I chat?”
“It will be a bit awkward. But I suppose I could go to the study and work. He never interrupts if I shut the door, and it would be far less suspicious than me hiding in my room all afternoon.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
The instant they said their goodbyes, he hit the siren and picked up speed.
Hopefully the missing six-year-old would be found safe and unharmed fast so he could move on to Natalie’s.
And as long as she didn’t alert her cousin to the fact that he was on the sheriff’s radar, there shouldn’t be any imminent danger on the Boyer property.
PULLING HIS GUN HAD BEEN A MISTAKE.
And now he’d have to deal with it.
Stifling a curse as Cara gaped at him from ten feet away, Steven tried to work through the muddle in his brain.
Failed.
There was no simple fix for this problem.
With Micah, he’d had time to plan. Working on the fly had never been his strong suit.
“W-what’s going on?”
At Cara’s question, he closed the distance between them. “Shut up and let me think. Don’t get any ideas about screaming, either. Natalie won’t hear you inside the house, and I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. With all the hunting that goes on around here, one more shot won’t even be noticed.”
