Page 7 of Back To Our Beginning

“I don’t know.” Maddie sounded defeated. She turned to look at the older woman, who was holding her rifle like she was ready to go to battle. “Mrs. Owens, when was the last time you saw Eli?”

“Not since yesterday. He was playing with that red fire engine truck of his. He runs it around the front yard. I ain’t seen him since.”

Maddie turned to me. “I gave that to him. It’s still lying in the front of the house.”

Of course she’d given it to him.

We both turned to look at the house in question.

“What are you going to do?” Mrs. Owens asked Maddie.

“I’m going to go check on Eli.”

I nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Maddie—”

“I mean it, Beau.” Her voice was steel. “I know what I’m doing. This is my job, and it’s not the first time I’ve been in these kinds of situations.”

“Situations where some abusive asshole might have a gun for all you know, and might blow your brains out? Those kinds of situations?” I was beyond pissed.

“There has been a time or two when I haven’t known what I’ve been walking into, but I didn’t have the probable cause for law enforcement. So, yes, I’ve gone in to check in on a child. That’s my job, Beau. My job is to ensure the welfare of children who can’t take care of themselves. I have the training to do this. I have met with Colleen and Bruce a few times. It’s my job to make sure that Eli is okay.”

“And I’ll go with you.” I kept my voice as reasonable as possible.

“Having you with me will just escalate things. It will ensure things turn into a shitshow.”

She took a step toward the house. I touched her wrist and she turned around. “Eli Jackson’s six years old. He’s the smallest boy in his class, Beau.”

Fuck. Suddenly, I could picture the kid.

I nodded. “You call out my name, and I’ll break the door down to get to you. You got it?”

Her expression softened for half a second before she pulled free. “I’ll be fine.”

This wasn’t the girl I’d left behind.

Nope.

This woman scared the hell out of me.

* * *

I watched as Maddie stepped over the broken step and knocked on the front door. I was vibrating with frustration that I couldn’t be beside her. This whole situation sucked. But I needed to just think of her as another Marine.

She knocked on the door and a woman I assumed was Colleen Jackson opened it. I winced when I saw her black eye. She looked both pissed off and scared.

Maddie must have said something, but I couldn’t hear her since she was facing away from me, but I could hear Colleen just fine.

“We don’t need you here. Everything’s fine. Anyways, Eli’s not here. He ran away.”

That set me off. This woman was saying her six-year-old son had run away, and she hadn’t reported it?

I watched as Colleen listened to Maddie reply.

“Kid’s always running off. What the hell am I supposed to do?”