by Kris Bryant
They were maneuvering around the awkwardness, and Sarah said a little prayer of thanks that Natalie trusted her this early into their relationship.
She did. She looked for you. It was sweet.
Smiley face. Okay. I have to go. I’ll call you later.
Please do.
And just like that, all was right in the world. Lunch was a quick bagel from the café as the afternoon flew by. Harley had asked if she could stay in aftercare to talk about Halloween with her two new best friends. Sarah agreed and told her she would pick her up at five. She would spend the afternoon researching how to start her own firm, since staying in Spruce Mountain was sounding like a pretty good idea. Harley was making friends at school, and even though Sarah had a job, it wasn’t going to pay for her own place and all their living expenses.
Mary tapped her on her shoulder. “We’re closing in five minutes.”
Sarah looked at her in surprise. It was almost five? “Where did the day go?”
“Are you finding what you’re looking for?”
“Definitely. It’s overwhelming, but I made some progress. Thanks for your help.” Sarah packed up her bag and walked the short distance to the school. The afternoon was cold, and she was thankful she’d made Harley take her heavier coat today, after much protest. She walked into the front office, and the only remaining receptionist looked up.
“Ms. Eastman. Did Harley forget something?”
“No. I’m here to pick her up.” Her heart picked up speed at the seconds that ticked in the silence between them.
“Let me call Mrs. Norton down at aftercare. One moment please.” The receptionist turned in her chair and phoned the room.
Sarah drummed her nails on the counter with impatience. A flutter of fear settled in her chest alongside her racing heart. “What’s going on?”
“Come with me, Ms. Eastman.” The receptionist’s heels on the floor echoed in the empty hall. Sarah followed her closely and met Mrs. Norton in the hallway outside Harley’s classroom.
“Sarah, hi. I’m sorry, but Harley isn’t here.”
“What do you mean she isn’t here?” Sarah stared at Mrs. Norton’s trembling lips, and that was when the panic settled into her bones. Her daughter was missing. “How long has she been missing?”
“It was crazy at dismissal time. Matthew got sick, and while I was tending to him, Harley said you were here, and I let her go. I just did.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s take a minute. I’m going to call my aunt. Maybe Harley walked home.” When her aunt answered, Sarah kept her voice even and calm. “Aunt Judy, are you home? Harley isn’t at school and we’re trying to find her.”
“What do you mean?” Aunt Judy’s voice rose in fear.
“Is she home with you?”
“No. I haven’t seen her since this morning. She’s not at school?”
“I’m here now, and they said she’s already left.”
“Shit. I’m on my way. You’d better call Natalie. She’ll know what to do,” Judy said.
Sarah shook her head at the two women staring at her. “Good idea. I’ll do that.” Sarah hung up the phone and dialed Nat’s number.
“Sheriff Strand.”
“Nat. It’s Sarah. I need you. Harley’s missing.”
Chapter Thirteen
Natalie had handled missing-children cases before with a hundred percent success rate. Children got lost in the woods every year. They had a system of what to do first and who to call. Hearing the raw panic in Sarah’s voice made Natalie forget everything for about five seconds until her training kicked in. “Where are you?”
“At the school.”
“I’ll be right there.” She took a deep breath and called Faith, keeping the information off the radio for now. “Sarah’s daughter Harley left school unattended. I’m headed there now to see if we can pull up video. Have everyone on standby if we need to start a search.”
She hung up and briskly walked to her car. Not sweet Harley. Not her. Natalie had a protocol to follow, and her mind immediately went to Francine. It was too coincidental that the one day she showed up, Harley ended up missing. She flipped on her lights and drove as fast and as carefully as she could. She was at the school in less than two minutes.
“I don’t know what to do.” Sarah walked into Natalie’s arms and cried the moment Natalie pulled her close.
Natalie held Sarah to offer comfort in a moment of free-falling. She dried her tears and looked into her eyes. “We’re going to find her. She couldn’t have gotten far. What time does school let out?”
“Three thirty,” Mrs. Norton said.
“We need to look at all the video from all the cameras to see if we can locate her. So, you think she left at three thirty or around dismissal time?”
Mrs. Norton nodded. “Yes. Matthew was sick, and she said her mom was here.”
Natalie turned to Sarah. “Call Francine. See if she’s with her. Maybe she took her out for ice cream or early dinner.” While Sarah made the call, Natalie asked to see all recordings on all the cameras at dismissal. Principal Mickey Greer showed up right as they pulled up the videos. She shook his hand and told him everything she knew.
“Whatever you need.” He nodded at her.
Mickey and Natalie had history that wasn’t pretty when they were teenagers, but they had grown to respect one another since she returned home. People grew up and out of their former shells, so she left the past where it was. “Pull up the camera at the front of the school and the parking lot. Check cars. Sarah, what kind of car was Francine driving?”
“Could this be a kidnapping? Do we need to call the FBI?” Mickey asked.
“Let’s look at the video first. Any luck, Sarah?”
“I can’t reach her. It’s going to voice mail.”
“Did she say what conference and where?” Natalie bit the inside of her cheeks as she waited for Sarah to dig in her brain for the information.
“I honestly didn’t pay attention.”
Natalie clicked her radio. “Faith. Find any medical conventions happening in Portland. Sports medicine, if it’s specialized. Have Joshua drive around and look for any child in a purple coat, jeans, and pink shirt who is unattended anywhere. I’ll text you a photo in a minute.” She waited for Faith to confirm before returning her attention to the cameras. She reached back and held Sarah’s hand. “We’ll find her.”
They pulled up videos from all the exits and watched. When they found her on the camera, the energy changed from fear to excitement. “Pull up the playground.” They watched as she approached a cat near the edge of the woods and followed it in.
Sarah reached out at the camera. “No, baby. That’s not Salem.”
“You have a cat?” Natalie asked.
“Francine has a black cat named Salem, and it was very hard for Harley to say good-bye. She probably thinks that stray cat is him.” Sarah groaned.
“We have a starting point.” Natalie told Mickey to keep watching the monitor and stepped away to call in reinforcements. School was going to be base camp because it had plenty of room and lights. Faith called in the volunteers, and within twenty minutes, Natalie was organizing a search. Several teachers who were familiar with the outskirts of the woods started searching. “Nobody leaves by themselves. It’s getting dark, and I don’t want to have to add names to the list. Everyone has a picture of the child. Grab a radio and check in.”
“I need to get out there, Natalie. I need to find her.”
Sarah looked so helpless and vulnerable. It crushed Natalie’s soul to see her so broken. “You need to stay here, because when they find her, she’s going to want you right away. You don’t know these woods, Sarah. I can’t have you getting lost, too. I’m only letting the people who have experience doing this out there. It’s already dusk, and the woods are bad enough in daylight.”
“Anything yet?”
Judy and Bob showed up, along with four veterans from the lodge. Judy hugged Sarah and looked at Natalie hopefully.
“Nothing yet, but we can use all the help we can get. Grab a flashlight and a walkie and help if you can.” She eyed the oldest, who probably hovered around seventy, and asked him to stay with Judy and Sarah while they went out. “I need somebody who can be my point of contact with the mother. Will you be that person?” He nodded, and she handed him a walkie.
Natalie figured they had at least two dozen people out in the dark looking for Harley. Faith had the exact count. Everyone knew it wasn’t safe to be in the woods at night, so the teachers pulled back and patrolled the town instead. Sawyer sent over a team of search and rescue to continue looking in the forest. They were trained for those maneuvers. The temperature was forecast to drop dangerously low. Natalie contacted Oregon’s highway patrol and asked for the K-9 units. They were in northern Oregon looking for lost hikers, but a unit would be there in the morning.
“Judy, maybe somebody should be at home in case she shows up there. Even though she doesn’t know the town, she’ll recognize familiar places,” Natalie said.
Bob spoke up. “You stay here. I’ll go home and look around. She might be scared or hiding.”
Thank God, because his pacing was driving Natalie crazy. His anxiety wasn’t helping the situation at all. It was time for one of them to go. Natalie looked at her watch. It was almost seven, and the temperature had dropped several degrees when the sun set. Every time she looked at Sarah, her heart broke a little more. She had to get out there and help find Harley. When Gravy’s showed up with warm food for the volunteers, Natalie decided to make her move. “Things are under control here. I’m going to grab a few things I have at the house and join the search. Call me on the walkie if you need me, but I need you to stay here, Sarah. Promise me.” She touched her cheek. As soon as she got the promising nod, she stood and checked in with Faith. “I’ll be back.”
It took a bit to maneuver out of the parking lot, but she got home within a few minutes. Ghost Dog greeted her happily but paused when he seemed to sense her anxiety. “Hey, buddy. I’m sorry you’ve been cooped up all afternoon. We have to hurry though. Harley is missing. You know, Sarah’s daughter. Let’s go outside, and then I’ll feed you.” She clicked his leash and led him around the yard until he did his business.
While he wolfed down his food, she slipped into warmer weatherproof pants, changed into a warm sweater, and put on her orange safety coat with reflective striping and LED lights. She wore her snake-proof boots because they were warm, almost too warm, and would protect her ankles and shins from undergrowth in the dark. She raced out to the shed, grabbed her headlamp, gloves, and her emergency backpack. She checked her watch. It had been twelve minutes since she got home. Every minute counted when a child was missing. She had to join the search. She couldn’t stand around and delegate. Harley was out there alone, and these woods were dark, tricky, and thick. And it was cold.
She turned, and panic set in again. The back door was wide open. She forgot to close it in her haste. “Oh, no!” She raced into the house and yelled and whistled. The house was quiet. Ghost Dog was gone.
* * *
“Sheriff. Come in, Sheriff.”
Natalie clicked her radio on. She and Matt Miller, a volunteer fire fighter from Sawyer, had been out for two hours. They had paired up with ten other volunteers who knew the area well and could cover a lot of ground. The search was slow and frustrating. The moon offered very little help, and as much as Natalie didn’t want to give up, it was getting too dangerous for the volunteers to be out. She couldn’t handle anyone else getting lost. Harley and now Ghost Dog. Her heart couldn’t take more. “Sheriff, here. What’s going on, Faith?”
“Francine Morris is here.”
Her exhaustion evaporated, replaced by anger, jealousy, and fear. Fear that she had something to do with Harley’s disappearance. Jealousy because, even though they were no longer a family, Francine was still an anchor in their lives. And anger. If Francine had anything to do with Harley’s disappearance, then she feared what she would do to her. As an officer of the law, she had a responsibility to protect and serve, and that was going to be hard. She took a deep breath. “We’ll work our way back.” She whistled to Matt. “I’ve got to get back to base.” She practically growled.
“You should probably call it, Sheriff.”
Natalie bent over as the realization struck her. She wanted to puke. How could she call off a search when a little girl was out there in the cold—scared, all alone? This was the part of her job she hated. These decisions were rare, but they happened. “You’re right. It’s too dangerous.” She had Dr. Martin at base camp to treat minor injuries among the volunteers, and he was having a hard time keeping up, according to Faith. “Five more minutes. Then I’ll call it.” She couldn’t imagine what Sarah was thinking or going through. She and Matt resumed their path, yelling out Harley’s name. The darkness was punctuated with beams of light from the dozen volunteers who were skirting the area with them. Natalie’s radio hissed to life.
“Sheriff.”
“Strand here.”
“The volunteers by Hunter’s Ridge have a lead.”
Natalie held her breath as she waited for the news. A lead meant they had a direction. They could turn their efforts and send more volunteers to the ridge to cover more ground. Maybe calling it now for the night was a mistake. “Go ahead.” She heard static and an exhale of breath.
“They found a shoe.”
* * *
“So, you left Spruce Mountain and drove straight to the Marriott in Portland?” Natalie asked.
“I have no idea why I’m being questioned. I came up here the second I got Sarah’s message,” Francine said.
Natalie studied Francine’s body language. She exhibited all the signs of somebody who was innocent, but Natalie wasn’t taking any chances. She was tired and being extra careful. Everyone was tired. It was midnight, and Harley had been missing for almost nine hours.
“I’m just trying to figure out your timeline. I’m not an important doctor or anything, but I check my phone a lot during the day, and I’m wondering why it took you all day and most of the evening to get back to Sarah,” Natalie said.
Francine rubbed her hands up and down her pants and stood. She was tall, but Natalie was taller. “Who listens to voice mail anymore?”
“Um, doctors with patients and an answering service?” Natalie knew she needed to keep it professional and reined in her emotions, so she redirected. “I get that you didn’t listen to it, but you literally just spent last night with your family.”
“As my ex-wife so righteously pointed out, I’m no longer a member of the family. I didn’t want to talk to her, so I didn’t take her calls or listen to her messages.”
“How many times does Sarah have to call you before you take it seriously?”
“It’s not a crime to not answer a phone, Sheriff.”
Point to Francine. Natalie took a step back and rubbed her hands over her face. “I know you don’t like me questioning you, but I’m trying to rule you out, not blame you for anything.”
“I gain nothing by taking Harley.”
“That’s pretty low.”
Francine sat back down. “I mean, I wouldn’t take her to get back at Sarah. I was an asshole when we were married, and truth be told, I’m glad we’re not anymore. I’m not a family-oriented person. I wouldn’t want to take Harley. I love her, but I would never destroy Sarah by taking her. I want to find her as much as you all do.”
Natalie never told Francine about the video. She assumed somebody had told her, but maybe they hadn’t. She asked again about her timeline and went through her day. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, so she released her but told her to stay close. She asked for Oregon Highway Patrol’s help in confirming Francine’s story. Their resources were better.
When she wrapped up, she went to find Sarah, who looked exhausted. “You should try to get some sleep. There are cots in the administration office.”
Sarah walked into Na
talie’s arms. “Please don’t make me go. I need to stay here in case they find her.”
“When they find her,” Natalie said. She tilted Sarah’s chin so she could look at her eyes. “We will find her.” Finding her shoe meant that she was more than likely lost. It meant that somebody hadn’t taken her. She was close. Natalie could feel it. They were going to find her, and she was going to be okay.
“Everyone is so kind for helping us. We’ve only been in town for a short while, and so many people are here to help.”
Natalie wiped the tears from Sarah’s cheeks. “That’s why living in a small town is a good thing. Everybody cares. Now please get some rest.”
“You need to rest, too.” Natalie didn’t argue. She walked Sarah to Mickey’s office and sat with her on the couch. Within a matter of seconds, Sarah was asleep, her head on Natalie’s shoulder. The last thing Natalie remembered was reaching for Sarah’s hand and entwining their fingers to ensure Sarah felt safe.
* * *
“Natalie. Natalie. Wake up.”
Natalie woke to Betty shaking her gently. “What’s going on? What time is it?” Sarah had slipped down. Her head was in Natalie’s lap, which prevented Natalie from jumping up at whatever news Betty had.
“Nothing new, but volunteers are starting to gather because it’ll be light in about an hour. I wanted to let you both rest as long as possible.”
Natalie tucked a piece of hair behind Sarah’s ear. She looked so peaceful, and as much as it pained her to wake her, she knew Sarah would want to be at the front lines waiting for news. “Sarah. Wake up. It’s time to get up.”
Sarah bolted up. “What? What’s happening? Have they found her? What time is it?” She stood and stumbled. Betty grabbed her before she fell.
“No news yet. The other deputies are patrolling the town quickly before they join in the search. We have a lot more volunteers, Sheriff. Sawyer’s here, and the highway patrol is twenty minutes out.”