“If a tiger or Rabids had gotten to him, there’d be evidence,” I said, which meant that he must have untied the goat and then gone into hiding somewhere, which also didn’t sound like something he’d do. I’d never known Kitten to sneak around or be manipulative. He did what he thought was right, stubbornly, obstinately, and he didn’t try to hide it from anyone. “I’m going to look for him,” I said.
“We can form a search party,” Larry said.
“I’m not waiting on a search party. I’m going alone. Right now.” I needed to find Kitten before the trail went cold, the sooner the better.
“I don’t think that’s wise,” Larry said.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “You didn’t care before when I went off on my own to find Marion, so what’s changed?”
“We don’t know for certain that he’s missing. He might be hiding in the stables or somewhere else on the premises.”
I held up the shirt. “He would have known that I’d go searching for him. He wouldn’t have left this behind on purpose to throw me off or potentially endanger me. That’s not how Kitten operates.”
“You sure about that, kid?” Larry cocked his head. “Maybe he’s just trying to get your attention.”
“I’d bet my life,” I snarled. My worthless fucking life.
Larry nodded. “All right, but take a radio so we can let you know if we find him. And report back if you encounter anything suspicious. Keep in mind, he might be injured. He might also be… sick.”
“He’s not,” I said sharply. Wherever he was, he was okay. Any other possibility than that was not worth considering. I had to stay strong, stay focused, and find him.
“I want to talk to Donnie in private,” I said and strode a few paces away. He joined me there, looking torn. “Are you telling the truth?” I asked because I didn’t have time to waste on bullshit, and I needed as much information as possible.
“Yeah, man. That’s never happened to me before, where I just fell asleep on the job like that, and for so long.”
“Do you think you were drugged?” I asked. The coincidence was simply too great.
“I don’t think so. I filled my thermos myself. Black coffee, like always. I didn’t see anyone touch it.”
“What time did you wake up?”
“Just before dawn when I had to open the gates for Jeremiah to leave.”
Jeremiah.
I glanced at the tire treads in the ground, deep ruts that had disturbed the vegetation and crushed the sharpened stumps before disappearing behind the tree line, the same path created by the vehicle when he’d arrived. He must have taken the same route back into Rabid Country.
“Was he alone?” I asked Donnie.
“I didn’t see anyone with him.”
“Did you get a look inside his rig?”
“No.” Donnie frowned, clearly picking up on what I was putting down.
“And the goat was already gone?”
“Yeah. At first, I thought maybe the tiger might have taken it in the night, so I went down there to see what was what. That’s when I noticed the rope had been untied, and I found the shirt. I radioed in and waited for relief to come, then I met Larry at the armory.”
I didn’t think he was lying, but I also didn’t know him well enough to be sure. Hadn’t he once said that he followed orders without question? Several possibilities unfolded, and none of them made any sense.
“Go assemble that search party,” I said to Larry once Donnie had rejoined him. “I need to talk to my family, alone.”
Larry nodded, and he and Donnie left. The rest of us huddled together, all of us some mixture of distraught and confused.
“Something’s not right,” I said. “Macon, I want you at that search party. Gizmo, you man the radios, ours and theirs too, record whatever information you can. Artemis and Teresa, scout the town and search our house for any sign of Kitten or any clues as to where he went. Talk to Marion too. Maybe she has some idea of what’s going on.”
They all nodded. Then Teresa, amidst a fresh round of sobs, said, “That man… that man in the uniform… he took him.”
