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  Riley ran to them and wrapped her arms around Kasey, too.

  The truck was in bad shape. It was little wonder anyone could have survived that crash. The big truck sat twisted, cocked to one side, half-covered by the rushing current. Several trees were injured witnesses. Oaks and pines, with fresh wounds that shredded their bark, recorded the path the truck had taken off the road and into the water.

  The smell of fresh pine burned Kasey’s nose. She dropped to her knees and snapped more pictures. The lights of the emergency vehicles bounced around the terrain.

  It looked like Officer Thomas’s call had expanded the team to find Jake. Kasey leveled her camera on two divers as they marked off a grid in the water. A land and water grid search ensued to find her son. Men and women, some in uniforms, others in jeans, combed the edges of the waterway. Please find him on land. In the water, that would be...no, that can’t be an option.

  Officers and volunteer firefighters fanned out into the woods.

  Had the car seat been thrown from the truck? Swept away by the current? Did Jake crawl to safety? He could. He’s a tough little boy.

  So many questions. So much to process. So much going on.

  She clung to her camera, not sure what to pray for first.

  Kasey watched as almost fifty volunteers gave up their Saturday night to search for Jake, walking, step-by-step in unison, through the thick swampy underbrush and vines.

  Please let him be safe.

  Men erected huge generator-run work lights to enable the team to continue the investigation in the dark, if needed. A tropical storm was supposed to push through on Monday. With Saturday nearly gone, they were running out of time and time was precious in these first few hours.

  They wouldn’t let Kasey into the woods. It was numbing to stand by. Helpless. Clinging to the camera brought comfort, but she only took a few pictures. She lowered herself to the curb praying for news—whispering promises to God, and anyone else who might matter, that she’d do anything in exchange for Jake’s safe return. Nick was gone. She couldn’t process that now. Not with Jake missing.

  Please don’t take Jake, too.

  Voices rose and people gathered near the bright yellow tape at the tree line.

  Kasey grabbed Riley’s arm. “Please let it be good news.”

  Von sprinted toward the commotion.

  Kasey and Riley clung to one another in hope.

  Von joined the small group of men.

  The minutes ticked by as they waited.

  Kasey and Riley jumped to their feet when they saw Von heading in their direction.

  “Anything?” Kasey pleaded.

  “It’s all hands on deck. Even the neighboring counties have sent in their best to help,” Von said, trying to reassure her. “They found shell casings. They could be connected to the accident. There were also marks in the mud on the bank but it’s hard to know what made them.” He grabbed for his hat as a gust of wind lifted the bill. “The wind is picking up.” He tugged it lower on his head.

  Kasey spun away.

  Von put his hand on her shoulder. “It takes time, and with the storm coming, they don’t have much of it. They’re collecting everything in the grid to insure no evidence is overlooked.”

  “Jake!” Kasey screamed into the woods. “It’s okay. Where are you?” Her whole body trembled as she choked on the words.

  Von stepped behind her. “It’s getting late. Let’s get you home. They’ll call us if something turns up.”

  “I’m not leaving.” Kasey folded her arms across her chest. “He’s out there. He needs me.”

  Von and Riley exchanged a glance. Von moved closer to Kasey. “Things are going to go even slower as it gets darker. You need your rest to keep up your strength.”

  “Jake!” She shouted over the rail. “Jake, where are you? It’s Mommy.” Tears blinded her and choked her voice. “Jake. I’m here.” The plea carried across the riverbank.

  Men paused and heads turned in her direction.

  Riley wrapped her arms around Kasey. “Come on, honey.”

  “I can’t leave him.” Her voice faded to a hushed stillness.

  “We’ll come back first thing in the morning.”

  Von guided Kasey and Riley to the truck. “Once they finish collecting the evidence you’ll be able to get closer. They’ve put an Amber alert out, too. He’ll turn up.”

  Kasey followed blindly a few steps, and then stopped. “No. I can’t. You go. I’ll be fine.”

  Von stepped closer. “Kasey, it would help if we knew what Jake’s wearing. If I take you home, do you think you can sort through his clothes and figure it out?”

  She nodded.

  “And a picture. They’d like to put a report in the paper and on the news to see if anyone has seen him.”

  “He’s alive. I know he is,” she said again.

  Riley held Kasey’s hands. “This could help us find him faster.”

  Kasey tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked back over her shoulder. Von and Riley led her to the Yukon to head back home.

  “Don’t be afraid, baby,” Kasey whispered into the dark as they drove away.

  * * * *

  Kasey froze in the doorway to Jake’s bedroom. The familiar smell of his favorite fruit loop cereal overwhelmed her. The room was in disarray from the random attention that only a three-year-old could give to so many interests. On the floor, trucks and tractors corralled a herd of plastic horses and longhorn cattle alongside blocks and a superhero.

  Jake’s Spiderman shirt was on top of the dresser. She reached for it and held the worn cotton to her cheek. Nick probably had to scrape it off him to get him into something clean for their road trip this morning. The short-sleeve camouflage t-shirt, his second favorite, wasn’t there. She sat in the middle of the toys with the Spiderman shirt in her lap. This was the world at Jake’s level. It had to be so scary in the dark, in the woods. Her heart ached. She closed her eyes tight, hoping that when she opened them she’d see Jake sitting amongst the chaos with his tiny fingers curled around one of the action figures.

  She dragged herself to her feet and walked back into the harsh reality with Jake’s shirt clutched to her chest. The late night show echoed in the room around her. The shutters slammed against the house as Von secured the old home for the storm.

  “The wind is really kicking up out there,” Von said as he stepped back inside and pushed the front door closed behind him.

  Kasey told Von what she thought Jake was wearing and gave him a picture they could use. He gave her a hug for reassurance, kissed Riley goodbye, then left to take the information and picture back to the police and identify the body.

  Riley walked Von to the door. “Are you going to be okay.”

  He pulled her close and whispered into her hair. “It’s Nick’s truck. It’s just protocol, but I couldn’t let Kasey go through that. It’ll be bad enough for me. He was like my brother.”

  “I know. I love you, Von. Thanks for being here through all of this,” Riley said.

  He hugged her close. “I’ll call after I check in up there.”

  “Be careful with the storm.”

  “I will. I’ll stay up there if I have to. I know you girls will be safe here together.” He squeezed her hand and left.

  Riley waved one last time from the door as Von pulled away.

  Kasey curled up on the couch next to Riley and cried into the sweet smell of Jake’s shirt.

  Riley held Kasey’s hand. “We’ll get through this. Somehow.”

  * * * *

  A stiff-haired news anchor leaned into the camera to make his point about how serious the weather had become. School closings crawled across the screen in preparation for the dangerous storm.

  Graphics from prior storms popped in time to the ominous music in the background. A swirling icon exploded across the television screen.

  “The National Hurricane Center has upgraded Tropical Storm Ernesto to a hurricane. This storm is slogging north along t
he I-95 corridor dropping inches of rain in its wake. Flooding is the biggest concern. Meteorologist Wendy Raines will have an update after the next commercial break. Stay with us for up-to-the-minute coverage.”

  These newsy folks loved a good storm.

  The storm headlined all three local channels along with the Rolly accident. Kasey hated that the weather might shift attention away from finding her son.

  She sat forward and turned up the volume as Jake’s picture filled the right side of the screen. That was fast. The local newscasters recounted the accident. A list describing Jake, right down to the camouflage t-shirt and his trigger thumb on his left hand, preceded requests for information that might give them a lead. Jake’s wide smile and laughing blue eyes broke her heart again.

  Kasey flipped from channel to channel, reliving the moment when that officer had shown up and given her the news for what seemed like the hundredth time. She wanted to be at the accident site—to at least do something besides wait.

  I have the right to be there, don’t I? It’s my family—my tragedy, for God’s sake.

  An Amber alert had been broadcast, and she’d been ordered to sit tight until the FBI arrived in the morning.

  Overnight Ernesto picked up significant wind speed. A dangerous category three, sustained winds were expected to increase with gusts over 130 miles per hour by later in the day.

  Kasey watched the investigation unfold on the television between storm warnings. Von had gone back to the crash site. He called to give Kasey and Riley updates every couple of hours through the night—but minutes slinked by. They hadn’t heard anything in a while.

  Ernesto was relentless in his path of destruction. Once the full brunt of the storm hit, there’d be no way anyone could search for Jake. Precious evidence would wash away under Ernesto’s powerful force.

  Kasey drifted in and out of a restless sleep, arousing to the familiar sound of her son’s name. She’d slept but hadn’t rested. She sat up to listen again to what she’d already memorized. No changes, but then she expected that. Loneliness consumed her. How can I face this without Nick by my side?

  Riley came from the kitchen with juice. “Here girl. You need to keep your strength up.”

  Kasey took a sip from the glass and placed it on the table. “I hoped I’d wake up to find this was all a bad dream. Nothing new?”

  “Afraid not. The Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team will be here soon.”

  “I know.” Kasey dropped her head into her hands. then pushed herself to her feet. She forced herself to get up and go out to the front porch. She sat on the steps. The rain pounded on the metal roof. A toy car lay abandoned nearby. Kasey picked it up and pushed it back and forth. The wooden deck was scarred from the many hours Jake had raced his cars along these planks.

  Two dark nondescript sedans filed into the driveway. She squeezed the tiny car into her palm. Her nails pinched into her skin as she pushed against the handrail to stand.

  Riley burst through the screen door and stood behind Kasey, one arm wrapped around her friend’s shoulders.

  “Please, Lord, give me the strength.” Kasey grabbed Riley’s hand. “This is too much.”

  “It’s okay. They’ll help us. That’s why they’re here.”

  The southeast region specialists from the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team, better known as CARD, blew in with as much gusto as Ernesto. They gathered their information with an eagerness that left Kasey dazed and exhausted. The questions from the team were so in-depth that she began to doubt her ability to answer the easiest of them about her own family. Now the big guns were involved. Their special workforce had been successful in a high percentage of cases similar to this.

  Riley escorted the last of the federal agents out the door less than an hour after they’d arrived.

  “Lord.” Riley leaned back against the closed door. “That’s way more difficult than they make it look on television.”

  “You’re telling me.” Kasey tucked her feet underneath her on the couch.

  The phone rang again, and it felt like each ring sucked a little more life out of her.

  “I’ve got it. Don’t move.” Riley ran to the kitchen to answer the phone. She’d been fielding calls all morning. There were twice as many from concerned friends and media than updates from Von and the police.

  Kasey sprawled out on the couch and pulled a pillow over her head. Thank goodness Riley was there to field the calls. Kasey couldn’t bear to give any more reality to this situation. If she kept it to herself, maybe it would all go away and Nick and Jake would be back.

  Dutch pushed the pillow off her face, nudged his wet nose into the crook of her neck, then licked away her tears.

  “Kasey!” Riley lunged into the room with the phone in her hand. “It’s Von. They’ve found the car seat.”

  Kasey jumped to her feet and ran to Riley’s side. “Jake? Did they find him?” She wrapped her hands around Riley’s arm and tipped her head toward the phone, struggling to hear the conversation.

  Riley took down the details then hung up the phone. “They recovered a car seat downstream. It’s Jake’s. That State Fair belt buckle of Nick’s is still hanging from the bracket.”

  “He has to be nearby. Come on. We’ve got to be there when they find him.”

  “Not so fast. They don’t know anything more yet. Von will keep us posted.” Riley led Kasey back to the couch and sat down next to her. “The best thing we can do right now is remain calm and let them do their jobs.”

  Kasey buried her trembling fingers in her hair. Her heart ached for Nick and worried for Jake. “I’ll never make it through this.”

  Chapter Four

  Sheriff Scott Calvin took the information from the lead officer at the accident site and ran to his car. He’d worked in this county before he became Sheriff of nearby Adams Grove, so when he’d heard about the accident he’d wasted no time volunteering to help.

  The tip was from Penny’s Candy and Soda Shoppe. The popular stop for folks traveling this stretch of highway was located just down the road from the scene of the accident.

  Bells tinkled when he opened the door. He crossed the shiny black-and-white tiled floor and slid onto the stool at the end of the counter.

  Penny smiled when she saw him. “Hey, stranger.” She grabbed a glass and filled it with root beer. “On the house.”

  “You remembered.” He raised the glass and took an exaggerated sip.

  “Of course. How’ve you been? You haven’t been down here in a while.”

  “I’m here about the accident,” he said.

  Penny leaned on the counter. “Heartbreaking,” she said shaking her head. “I still can’t believe it. They were in here, just before....” She pressed her lips together, and closed her eyes for a moment. “That poor woman.”

  “I know. They told me you have the security tape.” He scrubbed the back of his neck. “If it proves that boy was with his dad, it’s like he’s vanished. There’s not a sign of him out there yet.”

  Penny reached under the counter. “I remember the truck. Handsome guy. Cute little boy. I wouldn’t forget them. Here it is.” She handed Scott the tape. “If there’s anything else I can do, let me know. Posters, whatever.”

  He took another sip of his soda, then picked up the tape and stood. “I will.” He tossed a couple of dollars on the counter. “Thanks, Penny.”

  When Sheriff Calvin arrived back at the accident site, the swampy terrain had become slippery and dangerous. One of the rescue volunteers was on his way to the hospital with a possible broken leg. The river rose against the shoreline as the trees leaned over, slapping its surface with their branches. Blinding bands of rain from Hurricane Ernesto increased the risk and finally forced them to halt the search.

  “I don’t have a choice,” the lead officer said to Sheriff Calvin.

  Scott shook his head. “You don’t. You can’t risk any more lives.” He knew this was a hard decision to make, but the risk of more loss of life was t
oo high to ignore.

  He watched as the lead officer went out and made the announcement. Soaked men and women reluctantly filed out of the woods. There was nothing more they could do until Ernesto finished his punishment, but it was hard for anyone to leave knowing there was a child unaccounted for.

  The team was thinking two steps ahead. Thank goodness, because there wouldn’t be much evidence left at the crash site except battered trees, and their story had already been told.

  Scott helped pull together volunteers to work through the night in the safety of the precinct logging each piece of potential evidence from the bags of debris collected at the accident site. Even the smallest item could be critical in locating Jake Rolly. It was a slow and tedious process.

  Ernesto pounded southeastern Virginia through the night, dumping over five inches of rain and toppling trees. Tens of thousands of residents lost power.

  Damaging winds were a problem, but because Ernesto parked himself over the region, flooding had become the top concern. Rivers were expected to crest at new heights, and flash flood warnings crawled across the television screens of those who still had electricity.

  By the end of day on Monday, the lead detective gave a public statement.

  “We are continuing to examine the evidence and are determined to find Jake Rolly,” he said on camera from the police department in Southampton County. “We’ve partnered with neighboring counties, but we need your help. Anyone who has information should contact their local authorities.”

  Assumptions and evidence nipped away at the corners. They would get to the root of what happened eventually. Tomorrow, as soon as the waters subsided, they’d canvas the neighboring shops and residents along Route 58. A small team would search the area one last time, but any evidence was lost to Ernesto.

  Back in Pungo, Von worked his way out from Nick and Kasey’s house, trying to reconstruct Nick’s activities on the morning of the accident.

  The clerk at the corner store nodded and bowed his head. “Yeah, I heard about the accident. Nick came in on Saturday. He’s in here every Saturday.”