“Bruno.” They were Theo’s best friends, all on the track team with him. “They usually go to track together.”
Mr. Max nodded. “They said he was being pissy and wanted to be alone. Their words, not mine.”
“They’re right. He has been pissy.” She sighed. “We got into a huge fight last night about his English grade.”
“Did he storm off?”
“If slamming his bedroom door and blasting his music at a hundred and ten decibels counts as storming off, then yes. That’s what he did.”
“But he didn’t leave?”
She shook her head. “He knows I’d freak. He might be angry, but he’s not cruel.” She picked up the knife and started absently cutting a sheet of fondant. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself from breaking down. “You think he ran off?”
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Where might he go?”
She swallowed. “I already called the parents of his friends. They’re all on the lookout for him, so if he stopped by, they’d call me.” Still, she grabbed her cell phone just in case. And then, because it had been at least ten minutes, she dialed Theo’s number.
“Voice mail,” she said as she thumbed it off. No point in leaving another message after the last five. She sighed, willing Theo to call. To her surprise, a ring tone did sound, but it wasn’t hers. It was Mr. Max’s. He whipped his phone out with practiced ease.
“What have you found?” he said, his voice more brusque than she’d ever heard before.
She waited, watching his face as his expression tightened. When he noticed her watching him, he flashed her a quick smile. It wasn’t reassuring. Especially with his next words.
“You’re sure? Definitely Theo?”
Hope sparked blindingly fierce, but his expression wasn’t happy. If anything, it was grimmer.
She couldn’t keep quiet. “Have they found him? Is he okay?”
He didn’t answer her. “Any point in sticking around there longer?” Pause. “Okay. I’ll meet you at the boy’s home. We’ll regroup there.” He snapped the phone shut and then turned to her. But he didn’t speak. Instead, he just tightened his mouth into a frown.
“What?” she demanded after five long seconds of nothing.
He pushed up from his stool and seemed to prowl closer. It was a weird thing to think, especially for a man his size, but his movements were so smooth and fluid, she straightened up in instinctive alarm.
“What do you know?” she said, her voice low and angry.
His gaze sharpened at her tone, and he stopped moving. Stilled like an animal caught in the glare of a flashlight. And then he straightened. His shoulders rolled back, his jaw tightened, and his expression flattened. He’d obviously come to some sort of conclusion, but what kind, she had no clue. So she held her breath and waited for whatever he needed to say.
“I’m not just someone who runs a camp for kids.”
Her gut cramped tight, but she kept breathing. Her voice even came out in some semblance of normal. “What else do you do?”
“I run a private investigation company. We’re small potatoes, mostly. Just me and sometimes a few others.”
“What do you investigate?” If he said missing or abducted children, she was going to lose it right here next to a fondant castle wall.
“Nothing all that exciting. But when I heard that Theo was having troubles, I called a friend of mine. He was in the area, anyway, and he’s the best tracker I know.”
“Tracker? Like a moose or bear hunter?”
He made a choking sound, quickly recovered, then he shook his head. “Well, he can track animals, but… Look, I just asked him to poke around the school, okay? He knows Theo’s scent.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He grimaced. “It’s a figure of speech. He helps out at the camp and he knows Theo.”
“So what did he find out?”
