Page 6

“Thank you,” I murmured softly. He dipped his head in response.

I tore open the wrapper and took a bite because I wouldn’t pass on any food right now. I wasn’t sure a protein bar would help the headache pounding in my skull, but it would certainly help with how hungry I was.

“His name is Connor.” I took another bite and chewed. “He’s angry with me because of the outcome at court this morning. He’s a good kid. He’s just extremely disappointed.”

“What happened at court?” He glanced in my direction.

“I can’t get into the specific details, but Connor had high hopes of returning to his dad, but his dad struggles with sobriety.”

Soren cursed quietly under his breath and flexed his hands on the steering wheel. I lifted my hand to point toward the ribbon when it came into view.

“There’s the ribbon marker.” He came to a stop, waiting on Travis and Fulton to catch up.

“Which direction did he run?”

“That way.” I motioned to the left with my hand. “He had made it to that tree before I lost sight of him and left to get help. My phone doesn’t have a good signal out here.” Soren squinted at the tree in the distance as Travis and Fulton pulled up alongside us.

“Travis, why don’t you and Fulton take the north side of the fence? We’ll take the south.”

The men nodded, and I spoke up. “His name is Connor. He was wearing a light-blue, thin dress sweater and khaki pants. Please have patience if you find him. He doesn’t handle loud voices well. I’ve known Connor for years. He’s a good kid that has faced a lot of disappointment.”

Soren’s eyes never left my face as I spoke.

“If we find him and run into issues, we’ll touch base,” Fulton said. “Let’s regroup here in two hours if we don’t find him by then. I have a couple of other deputies driving nearby roads to make sure he didn’t decide to walk along the road. They are also checking with neighboring farms. If you find any tracks or anything, let us know and we’ll head that way. 10-4?”

My heart sank at those words. This wasn’t the same as running away in a neighborhood where witnesses could direct us to his last known location or surveillance cameras that could have tracked his path.

Soren nodded, and we took off. He pulled off into the field, and other than two trees, it was all flat pasture that melted into gentle sloping hills. The tall amber-colored grass rippled in the breeze while limestone rocks sprinkled the rolling hills, much like glitter. Connor was nowhere to be seen, and the vastness of the space was overwhelming.

I folded the wrapper of the protein bar I’d eaten and glanced around for somewhere to place it since my slacks didn’t have real pockets. I reached inside the pocket of the hoodie and found paper. I pulled out a small piece of torn notebook paper to see writing scrawled in pen on one side.

2931 > 1

My eyebrows met at the odd notation as I tilted my head to study it. Anyone in their right mind would know 2931 was a greater number than one. Soren reached his large hand over swiftly and snagged it from my fingers. He shoved it into his jacket pocket and kept driving. His unexpected movement caused my heart to race.

“S-Sorry, it was in the pocket of the hoodie. I didn’t mean to pry.” I clasped my hands together in my lap and bit the inside of my cheek. I hoped we’d find Connor soon. Soren let out a pent up slow exhale. I couldn’t tell if it was from annoyance or something else.

“I’m not used to a woman wearing my clothes. I didn’t realize it was still there.”

The comment made my face blush, and I immediately felt as if I was doing something much more intimate than simply wearing a borrowed hoodie for warmth.

He stopped the UTV to reach down between us into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of water.

“Here.” He held the water bottle out toward me as if it were a peace offering. His hazel eyes scanned my face, and he seemed to find what he was looking for. My face flushed deeper at his intense gaze.

“Thank you.” In an attempt to break the awkwardness, after taking a sip, I asked, “Should we ask someone before we trespass through private property? I mean I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to get shot out here.”

My question made the corner of his mouth tug in an almost smile. He began driving again following the fence line. His eyes scanned the rolling hills.

“No, we’re okay. I know the owner,” he said after a pause.

“Oh, I guess that’s easy to do when there aren’t many neighbors.”

He nodded in acknowledgment. Maybe it was my crappy day, but I was feeling feisty, or as my best friend Talia would say, “spicy.” I was stuck with him for who knows how long. What could it hurt to talk instead of simply sitting here worrying the whole time? I could at least see if there was a personality underneath his intense, brooding, grumpy demeanor as I searched the landscape for any sign of Connor. At this point, I might be delusional from lack of sleep, but at the very least this would help me stay more alert.

“So what do you do? Of course, ya know, when you’re not helping search for a runaway child?”

He quirked an eyebrow but kept driving.