“Have you found him?” a woman asked as she hurried out of the building. “I’m Anna Schrieber, Mikey’s teacher. He was in class all day, and we were shocked when we found out he wasn’t on the bus. We’re always so careful to watch the kids when they get out of school.” She was most definitely worried.
“No. He hasn’t been located yet. Have you been through the building to make sure he isn’t still inside?” Grant asked as he led Dexter inside.
The principal joined her. “We did. Each room was checked methodically, and then the rooms were locked once they were searched.”
“Then let’s look again. I brought some of Mikey’s clothes, and we’ll see if Dexter can help us. He is quite good.” Grant let the dog sniff the shirt, and the three of them started at the far end of the building and worked their way back to the front, goinginside each room. Dexter sat next to Mikey’s desk, and Grant looked through it but found nothing out of the ordinary. “How do you make sure each student gets on the right bus?”
“I know my kids, and I see them every day, Sometimes they get excited as they leave school, but we all watch the yard, checking for strangers and anyone who might be lurking around. It’s not perfect; we know that. Parents pick up their kids sometimes, or maybe an uncle or sibling will meet them. We try our best.” She was quite visibly upset. “Mikey is a good boy, and he loves it here in school. Very bright.”
“Do you have cameras outside the school?”
“Yes,” the principal answered. “I made copies of all the video feeds from this afternoon and put them on a flash drive for you. I haven’t had a chance to look them over, but I knew you would want them.” He handed him the drive as he and Dexter continued their room-by-room search, with no results. The principal joined them, and they checked the administrative offices as well as the janitorial rooms and mechanical areas with no luck. Clearly Mikey was not there, and they were at a loss as to what happened. “Please let me know if you find anything,” the principal said. “All of us here are praying for him.”
“Thank you for your help.” Grant wasn’t sure if he was going to get any more information here, and he was anxious to see what the video showed. He got Dexter in the SUV and praised him before checking in with the rest of the team.
There had been no sightings or any further information on Mikey’s whereabouts. His mother had found nothing, and neither had his friends. Grant’s biggest hope lay in the flash drive in his pocket. That video had to hold some sort of clue as to what happened.
Grant checked in with the officers at the house, who described very upset and worried parents, but no other developments. “No contact at all?”
“None,” Shiela told him. “I’m sitting with the family, trying to see if they can help us.”
“Okay. I have video from outside the school. Heading back to the station to review it. Thanks for staying with the family. I’ll be in touch if I have anything.” He contacted Carter, who met him, and they headed for his computer domain… okay, it was his desk crammed with screens.
Dexter lay on the floor as Grant handed Carter the drive. “Let’s start with the main exit. This is Mikey. He’s seven years old, and his dad told me he was wearing jeans and a train shirt with a train hat. Apparently it’s his favorite.” One of the pictures he’d been given showed Mikey wearing the hat, so that should help.
“All right. We know he was in the school and left for the bus.” Carter pulled up the first feed and found the time school ended. Kids hurried out the doors, and Grant could almost hear their laughter and excitement.
“There he is,” Grant said, pointing. “What is he looking at?” Grant drew closer to the monitor as Mikey walked to the side and out of the frame. “What’s over there?”
“We can try the side door camera,” Carter offered, but they had no luck. Mikey never appeared in-frame, so they tried another angle. “There he is. He’s supposed to be at the bus, yet here he is leaving school grounds.”
“It’s like he’s walking home, but why? It makes no sense that he would walk instead of taking the bus.” They kept watching until Mikey disappeared from the feed. “This is not good. Can you zoom in?” Carter did. “See, he has his backpack on, and he’s also carrying a piece of paper.”
“I’ll continue looking through this. You get out there and see if you can follow his path home. Maybe you and Dexter can come up with something. I’ll let you know if I find anything.” Carter went back to the images as Grant called Dexter. They returnedto the school, left the SUV in the lot, and headed out on foot, following the way Mikey had gone.
Grant’s phone rang, and he snatched it out of his pocket. “Did you have any luck?” Marty asked quietly. “Apparently Cameron knows the boy that’s missing. The group home called because Cameron went to his house to play a few times, and they had been called in case Mikey went there.”
“No luck yet. I’m running something down at the moment. I’m afraid it’s going to be a late night.”
“Come here after you’re done. No matter how late it is,” Marty said. He sounded frazzled and stretched thin.
“I’ll try,” Grant agreed and ended the call as he and Dexter stepped off school grounds. From the video, it seemed that Mikey had walked east on Walnut Street, so they followed that way. He let Dexter smell the shirt once more to remind him of who they were looking for.
Dexter walked slowly, scenting from side to side. A squirrel rustled up a tree nearby, but he paid no attention, just looking and sniffing the air the way he had been taught. About a block from the school, Dexter sat down near a hedge, mouth open, panting because it was a little warm.
“Do you have something?” Grant asked and checked around the hedge. A few pages were caught in the leaves. Grant pulled on gloves and gently extracted them. Some were schoolwork, but another was a handprinted note. Grant got on the radio.
“I have something. A note, and I think it was written by whoever took Mikey Deaver. It reads that his mom said to walk home and that she would meet him.” Grant put the page in an evidence bag and did the same with the other pages he’d found. Then they continued maybe half a block east before Dexter got agitated and stretched himself up on a fence. Grant followed the line of sight to a blue backpack with a train on it. It had to be Mikey’s.
GRANT WASexhausted, and Dexter fell asleep in the back of the SUV after they scoured the neighborhood where the backpack had been found, going house to house to see if anyone had seen Mikey Deaver. It appeared the backpack had been tossed away, but it was treated carefully in case there was any trace of who might have taken Mikey on it. So far they had few answers, and he considered just going home, but when he passed Marty’s house, all the lights were still on, so he stopped.
“I know it’s late and—” he began when Marty opened the door, but before he could finish, Marty had tugged him inside and held him as though the world were going to end at any moment. Grant returned the hug, the sense of duty and procedure falling away as the weight of what he had been doing crashed down on him.
“I have something for you to eat, and I made Dexter some chicken and rice. I know you both must be hungry.” He kissed him and then held him again, which felt amazing. It had been a long time since someone had been there just to give support and pure comfort. His nerves were rattled, and he wanted nothing more than to find this little boy.
“You should be in bed,” Grant told him softly.
“I’ve been running down some issues for clients. I finally got everything cleared up.” He pulled away and headed to the kitchen. Grant took off his gear and set it on the bench near the door once he made sure it was locked. Then he pulled off his boots and sighed. Finally, he loosened his collar and let Dexter off harness.
