Page 138 of Rescued
He’s just as stressed as I am. Arlo is a mess, and Luca keeps calling to check in on us. Sheriff Granger came to the house to take a missing persons report, and he’s got deputies combing over the area, but so far, no luck.
My phone ringing startles me, and I swipe to answer. “Is he home, baby boy?” I ask in place of hello.
“No.” Arlo sounds as wrecked as he has every other time that we’ve talked on the phone. “I don’t understand. Where could he have gone?”
“I don’t know, baby boy.”
My phone beeps, and I pull it away from my ear to check it.
Hunter
We’re heading back to the house for a minute. Theo is having a rough day and wants to take a nap so he feels more rested and can get back to it. We’ve gone from West Maple St. all the way to the edge of town. After I drop him off, I’ll go back out.
I put the phone on speaker quickly. “Hunter is running back to the house for Theo to nap, then he’s going back to looking. They’ve searched a pretty big area.”
Arlo makes a strangled noise. “Where could he have gone?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find him. I promise.”
Every minute that goes by makes me feel more and more like I shouldn’t be making that promise at all. My stress levels are out of control, and even Austin seems to be losing faith.
Hunter’s right, though. He couldn’t have gotten too far away in the time he was gone. But he’s had another three hours since then, and since we don’t know which direction he was going, it makes it all the more tricky.
“How’s Nora doing?”
Arlo takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. “She’s okay. Better than me. I’m glad Luca is here. I’d be a fucking mess if he wasn’t. He’s keeping her entertained.”
“That’s good.” Luca is worth his weight in fucking gold, and I’m so glad he and Arlo have gotten so close. Arlo needs someone like that in his life. Sure, he has me. But I could never replace what Luca offers him. “Does she seem to be worried?”
“Not too bad, but like I said, Luca is keeping her occupied. Wish he could keepmymind off things.”
Austin slows down, then points across the field at something white by the treeline. “What’s that?”
I squint, trying to make it out. “I’m not sure. Hey, baby boy,” I say as Austin pulls off on the side of the road and puts the truck in park, then climbs out. “There’s something along the treeline here. We’re gonna get out and look, okay? I’ll call you back if I find anything.”
“Okay,” he whispers, his voice shaking and thick.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I hang up the phone, jumping down and jogging to catch up to Austin. I scan my surroundings, searching for tracks, but I don’t see any.
“I’m not seeing any sign that anyone’s been here but us,” I say, head on a swivel.
Austin sighs. “Me neither, but let’s still check. If whatever that is belongs to him, he could have come in from a different way. He might not have walked through the field.”
That makes perfect sense, but my head also isn’t on the right way at the moment. I’m a fucking mess. And Arlo being even more of a mess than me is the only reason I’m holding it together as well as I am.
When we make it to the edge of the field, Austin picks up the item, turning it in his hands.
“Fuck,” I breathe.
From the truck, it looked like a piece of clothing.
“It’s a rag of some sort,” he says, stating the obvious.
“Yeah, definitely not anything from my house.”
