by Jae
“Ma’am, if your son is using a fake ID, it’s not our fault. You can’t—”
“Shut up. When did Danny’s bus leave?”
“I think he took the five fifty.”
Kelsey groaned. Danny had an eight-hour head start. No chance of chasing down the bus to stop it.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Rue whirled around without giving the two men another glance. The crowd of travelers parted to let her through as she stormed away from the ticket booth.
The tiny hairs on Kelsey’s arms prickled, and she rubbed her hands across them, willing them not to lengthen into fur. “Rue, wait!” She hurried after her.
Rue didn’t wait. She marched back to the Mercedes and kicked one of the tires. “Damn. I should have known he’d run off to New York City.”
“Why?” Kelsey skidded to a stop next to her, keeping a careful distance as the cloud of emotions wafting up from Rue hit her nose. “What’s in New York?”
Eyes narrowed to slivers of ice, Rue unlocked the car and sank heavily onto the leather seat.
When Kelsey got in on the passenger side and gazed at her, Rue started the car and then turned her head to look at Kelsey. Her voice hoarse, she said, “Paula.”
Chapter 14
“Paula?” Kelsey repeated. “But I thought...”
Rue glanced at her, then back at the road as she sped away from the parking lot. “What?”
Kelsey bit her lip, but there was no way she could refuse to answer. “I thought she was dead.”
“Dead?” Rue arched one eyebrow. “Did Danny tell you that?”
“No, I just thought...” Kelsey rubbed her temple with the hand that wasn’t busy holding on to the seat. Stupid, stupid, stupid. That’s why Griffin should have sent a more experienced investigator. She’d made a stupid assumption. Just because Rue acted as if Paula were dead didn’t mean she actually was. “No one ever talked about her, and Mrs. Mangiardi indicated you’re not dating, so I assumed...”
“That I’m grieving?” Rue snorted. “I’m not. Paula’s alive and kicking.”
The bitter smell drifting over from Rue’s skin belied her words.
She’s grieving, but not because Paula is dead. Guess the relationship didn’t end so well. “I’m sorry for asking. You’re obviously still—”
“No,” Rue said more loudly than necessary. “We split up more than two years ago. I got over it a long time ago.”
Liar, Kelsey thought but said nothing.
It explained a lot about Danny, though. When Rue and Paula separated, Danny had lost his alpha pair—both of them, because Rue had probably buried herself in her work and started spending even less time at home. Part of his rebellious behavior was just a young Syak searching for his place in a pack without proper leadership.
“Paula lives in New York?” Kelsey asked. By now, she probably had an e-mail from Griffin, telling her the very same thing. But her laptop was back at Rue’s house and of no use to her now. It was also too late to regret not getting a smartphone. She’d told Jorie she didn’t need it, and she certainly didn’t want her parents to e-mail her at all hours.
Rue gave a curt nod.
“And you’re sure Danny has run off to see her? There’s no place else in New York he’d go?” If she could somehow let Jorie and Griffin know where Danny was heading, they could intercept the boy before he ever made it to Paula’s place.
“You don’t have kids, do you?” Rue asked instead of answering.
The unexpected question made Kelsey flush. “No.” While she would have loved to start a family, she hadn’t been in a relationship in years. Being courted by the pack’s alpha had made sure that no one else dared show any interest in her, and Kelsey knew she wasn’t cut out to be a single parent. A child needed the bonds of a pack, not just one parent.
“If you did, you’d know how good children can be at playing their parents against each other. I was always the bad guy—the parent who grounded him, reminded him to be home on time, and made sure he’d done his homework. Paula was the fun parent who spoiled him. So now that I want to send him to boarding school, he’ll run straight to Paula to complain about me.”
Kelsey turned her head and studied Rue’s tense features. She seems so tough, but this actually hurts her. Compassion took tentative roots in Kelsey. She reached out to touch Rue’s shoulder, but then she stopped herself before she actually made contact. Circumstances had forced her to temporarily partner up with Rue in her search for Danny, but that didn’t mean Rue was an ally. They both wanted to find Danny, but for very different reasons.
“So it’s not the first time he’s done this?” Kelsey asked.
“After the police caught him spraying graffiti all over the neighbor’s garage, Danny tried to get on the bus to New York, but they wouldn’t sell him a ticket because he’s underage. I thought he’d learned his lesson, but instead, he got a fake ID. I don’t even want to think about how he got it and what else he did with it.” Rue rubbed her temple with the heel of her hand. “God, what am I going to do with him? No matter what I do—grounding him, sending him to therapy, trying to send him to boarding school—nothing works. Things just get worse.”
Raising any teenager was hard enough, but a human trying to raise a Syak... Rue was clearly in over her head. Kelsey’s hand hovered over Rue’s arm, but she finally pulled it away.
Without slowing the car, Rue turned left and stopped the car in front of a building where two police cruisers were parked.
The police station. Kelsey raked her teeth against the inside of her bottom lip. Involving human law enforcement would make it harder to get their paws on Danny first, but she couldn’t give Rue any legitimate reason for not going to the police.
If she was honest, she had to admit that she was thinking about calling in the cavalry too. With the Saru involved, it would be just a matter of time before they found Danny.
But if she handed over the case to the Saru, she lost all control. Danny would be whisked away to some unknown place, and if the Saru thought Rue was a danger to him or other Wrasa, they would kill her. She would discuss it with Jorie and Griffin later, but for now, she would try to handle things on her own.
When they entered the police station, a stocky sergeant sent them a beseeching gaze. An elderly woman in front of his desk kept prattling on and on about something her neighbor had done.
Rue paced back and forth behind them until the desk sergeant finally managed to hand the woman off to one of his colleagues and waved at them to step closer. “Hello, Ms. Harding. What can I do for you?”
He knows her?
“My son is on a bus to New York City,” Rue said, her voice loud as if to drive home the urgency of the situation. “You have to intercept the bus.”
The sergeant lifted both hands. “Hold on. I’ll get Dave.”
When he walked away, Kelsey wandered over to the back wall and sank onto one of the plastic chairs.
Rue followed her, but instead of sitting down, she paced.
Step, step, step, turn.
Step, step, step, turn.
Kelsey had counted five hundred and three steps when, finally, a plain-clothes detective smelling of stale coffee ducked through the doorway and walked up to them. “Ms. Harding.” He gave Rue a nod and then turned to Kelsey. “I’m Detective Schaeffer.” He shook their hands, engulfing Kelsey’s fingers in his oversized hand, before he led them to his desk and pulled over two chairs for them. “Can I offer you some coffee?”
“No, thanks,” Rue said to Kelsey’s secret relief. Rue was already hyperactive enough without caffeine.
Kelsey shook her head too.
“Sergeant Wilkes said this is about Daniel?” Detective Schaeffer folded his large frame into his desk chair, looking like a parent squeezing into his child’s chair during back-to-school night. “Did he get himself into trouble again? I thought he had learned his lesson after we arrested him for spraying graffiti a few weeks ago.”
They don’t understand. He
wasn’t spraying graffiti just for the fun of it. He was marking his territory the way many young Syak do. But at least Syak teenagers who had grown up among other wolf-shifters knew better than to leave their signs on the homes of humans.
“Apparently not,” Rue said. “He ran away from home this morning.”
The desk chair creaked as the detective leaned forward. “Who was the last person who saw him?”
Heart pounding, Kelsey raised her hand. “That would be me, sir.”
“And you are...?”
“Kelsey Forrester, Danny’s tutor.” Now she was glad she had used a false last name on her résumé. “Danny went into his room after Rue...Ms. Harding left for work at five a.m. I thought he was sleeping, but at noon, I discovered that Danny was gone.”
“You mean he was up all night and only went to bed at five in the morning? And why are you, Ms. Forrester, in the Hardings’ house that early in the morning?” Schaeffer’s bushy eyebrows crept up his forehead like two hairy caterpillars.
Heat rose up Kelsey’s neck and into her cheeks. Oh, Great Hunter. Now he thinks I’m sleeping with Rue and we’re letting Danny do whatever he wants.
Rue sent him a cool glance, letting him know he was out of line. “Room and board is part of Ms. Forrester’s employment contract. And normally, Danny is sound asleep at five in the morning.”
“Then what happened today?” Schaeffer asked.
Rue hesitated.
“Ms. Harding, I need to know if your son had a reason to run away or if anyone else was involved.”
Rue froze with her hand tangled in her hair. Slowly, she dropped her hand into her lap. “We had a fight. And now he has run off to Paula.”
“Are you sure? I assume you checked his usual hangouts here in Clearfield?”
Rue’s full lips compressed to a thin line. “After going through this twice, I know the drill, Detective. We even spoke to his friends. He’s not in Clearfield. Some damn clerk at the bus terminal sold him a ticket to New York.” Rue pressed her hands to her thighs and leaned forward. “I want you to contact the FBI, the state police, or whoever else has jurisdiction. Put out an AMBER alert, and do whatever is necessary to stop that bus!”
“Whoa!” Schaeffer held up both hands, palms out. “Hold your horses. If he ran away, we’re not dealing with a kidnapping. Daniel is fourteen and, if I remember correctly, doesn’t need any medication, so he’s not a critical missing.”
Not critical? Kelsey wanted to shout. He’s a shape-shifter about to undergo his First Change!
“He’s deaf, goddammit!” Rue clenched her fist as if she wanted to smash it onto the detective’s desk.
“That doesn’t make him helpless, ma’am,” Schaeffer said.
Kelsey had to agree. Her brother had hated it whenever people thought his deafness made him weak and helpless.
“I never said he’s helpless, but he’s more vulnerable. Someone could kidnap him before he ever makes it to New York, or he could be run over by a car he never hears coming.”
Goose bumps broke out on Kelsey’s arms even though she knew that Danny’s excellent peripheral vision and his sense of smell would help prevent what Rue had described.
Detective Schaeffer rubbed one of his thick eyebrows, stroking against the direction of growth, which made the brow look like a bristling animal. “Let’s not assume the worst, ma’am. Danny is smart, and we’ll get him off that bus before anything happens.”
At that promise, the nervous energy emanating from Rue lessened for the first time in hours. She took the form Detective Schaeffer handed her.
Kelsey leaned toward her and watched her fill in the information—Danny’s name, age, description, health, and the circumstances of his disappearance. Every time Rue turned one page and found another, her hand clamped more tightly around the pen. Finally, she was done and slid the missing-persons report across the desk.
“Do you have a recent photo?” Schaeffer asked.
Rue opened her wallet and pulled out a photo. She trailed her fingertips over Danny’s face, hesitating before she handed over the picture.
The affection in the gesture made Kelsey swallow against the lump in her throat.
“That was taken last Christmas,” Rue said.
When the detective pinned the photo to the form, Kelsey saw that it was a photo of Danny unwrapping a silver wristwatch. Instead of smiling, Danny scowled into the camera.
“All right,” the detective said. “I’ll arrange for the local police to pick up Daniel at the next stop. You should go home.”
Rue shook her head. “I can’t just go home and sit around.”
“Ms. Harding, please, go home and stay by the phone, just in case Daniel calls. I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything.”
“Call my cell.” Rue placed her card on the desk.
“I will.” With that, Detective Schaeffer ushered them out of the police station.
* * *
Rue’s cell rang just as they pulled into the circular driveway of the Hardings’ home.
Kelsey jumped.
“Did you find him?” Rue said into the phone instead of a greeting.
“Um...” Detective Schaeffer cleared his throat. “Not yet. His bus had just pulled out of Washington, DC, when I called. Just missed them by two minutes.”
“Damn.” Rue thumped her fist against the steering wheel. “What’s the next stop?”
“One more quick stop in Newark, New Jersey, but they’ll be in New York thirty minutes after that,” Schaeffer said. “The bus should get there by nine tonight. I’ll go ahead and call the NYPD. At least that way, your… Danny’s other mother can meet them and pick Danny up and we won’t have to scare the other passengers half to death when we drag Daniel off the bus.”
Rue didn’t look as if she cared about scaring the other passengers, but she nodded anyway. “All right. I’ll take the next flight to New York and pick him up from Paula’s.” When she finished the call, she immediately pressed two buttons on her speed dial. “Reva? Can you check if there are any flights to New York leaving soon?”
“Tonight?”
“Yes,” Rue snapped, then, visibly reining herself in, added, “Please.”
The keyboard rattled as Rue’s personal assistant typed in some information. Seconds later, Reva Mulvey said, “One is sold out. The other one...” More rattling on the keyboard. “It’s scheduled for takeoff at eight, but it’s got a three-hour stopover in Charlotte, so you won’t get into JFK before two a.m. I could check to see if—”
“Don’t bother,” Rue said. “I’ll drive up. At least then I won’t have to bother with a cab or a rental car.”
“Is this about the deal with—?”
“No. I don’t have time to explain right now,” Rue said. “I’ll call you later.” She snapped the phone shut, then exhaled sharply and sat still for a moment. Finally, she turned toward Kelsey. “The police will intercept Danny when he gets off the bus in New York. I need to grab a few things and drive up there.” Without waiting for a reply from Kelsey, Rue got out of the car and rushed toward the house.
Kelsey followed.
Steps thumped over the maple stairs as Rue sprinted upstairs. Then Kelsey heard the zipper of what she assumed was a duffle bag.
Kelsey hurried to her room. With one hand, she threw a few clothes and toiletries into her traveling bag while she dialed Jorie’s number with the other.
After three rings, the answering machine clicked on.
Just as Kelsey was about to leave a rushed message about Danny’s running off to New York, steps approached. She gritted her teeth and quickly pressed the end button.
Moments later, a knock sounded on the door.
“Yes?”
Mrs. Mangiardi stuck her head into the room. Her face was pale beneath her olive complexion. “Did something happen? I heard Rue cursing.”
“Danny ran away to New York.” Kelsey threw her cell phone charger into the bag and zipped it closed. “The police will intercept his bus
, but we need to go to New York to get him.”
Mrs. Mangiardi clutched her hands to her chest as if to protect her heart. “Oh, bloody hell, that boy.” She shook her head, her dark eyes full of concern.
The spicy scent alerted Kelsey to Rue’s presence moments before Rue appeared in the doorway and squeezed the housekeeper’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Elena. I’ll bring him home safely.” She glanced at Kelsey. “Want me to take you back to your car?”
“Why?” Kelsey asked. “I thought you didn’t want to wait for my car to catch up?”
“I don’t.”
“I thought we agreed that I could come with you to search for Danny.”
“That was before I knew he was heading to New York.” Rue hugged Mrs. Mangiardi. The housekeeper clung to her the way Kelsey’s mother had clung to Kelsey after Garrick’s death. “Would you mind staying over here and keeping an eye on the phone, in case Danny calls?”
“Of course I will, dear. Please drive carefully.”
One last squeeze to the older woman’s shoulder and then Rue picked up her duffle bag and marched out the door.
Kelsey hurried after her. “Let me come with you. I could still help you look for Danny.” This time, Kelsey couldn’t afford to give in to Rue’s authority. Getting dragged off the bus by the police would make Danny’s adrenaline spike. If the cocktail of hormones in his body reached a critical level, she needed to be close, not states away.
“I don’t need help,” Rue said as she opened the trunk of her car.
Quickly, Kelsey placed her bag next to Rue’s. “But if you need to drive back with a sulking Danny in the backseat, someone to keep an eye on him might be good, right?”
Instead of closing the trunk, Rue turned and folded her arms across her chest. Her gaze drilled into Kelsey. “Why are you doing this? You’ve been his tutor for just two days, and you barely know Danny. What’s in it for you?”
“Peace of mind,” Kelsey said. “The thought of a deaf boy traipsing all over the country alone...” She didn’t need to fake her shiver. “Please, let me go with you and help.”
When Rue glanced down, Kelsey noticed that she’d put her hand on Rue’s arm. She jerked her hand away.