Buddy reached one creek crossing that branched out over a large area. Josiah and his dog navigated to the other side by using downed logs and stepping-stones.
Buddy was following Seth’s scent from an article of clothing while Sadie was following Foster’s. So far the two dogs were going the same direction.
Using an SAR satellite phone, Josiah called in to headquarters. “We’ve come about three miles from the drop-off site. It looks like Foster and Seth crossed a creek here. We’ll pick up their scent on the other side.”
“The other teams are calling in, too. So far nothing.” Ella’s voice sounded strained.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes, just a media circus here. Thankfully David is the spokesperson.”
“I’ll check in later.”
“Be careful. No sightings of Foster or the car he stole at the parking lot in Girdwood, but the police have confirmed from video feeds that Foster took the vehicle. No sign of Seth in the tapes.”
He gritted his teeth, hoping the boy was still alive. “How’s Robbie?”
“Asleep right now in the tent. Take care and don’t worry. David and Bree are keeping a good eye on us.”
“Okay. Bye.” As he put his phone into his backpack, visions of them kissing last night appeared in his mind. He was starting to care about her more and more with each day they spent together.
Josiah stepped up to the water. The morning had barely started to warm up. “I’ll go first,” he said to Alex. “Make sure we can get across.”
As he hopped from one rock to another, he slipped and his leg went down into the icy water. He sucked in a deep breath and yanked his foot free. Buddy sat on the other side of the stream, waiting only yards away.
When he reached the other side, Josiah waved to Alex. His sister crossed the creek, learning from his misstep to go another route. As she and Sadie joined him, he said to Buddy, “Search.” There weren’t too many ways to cross the creek, so he hoped they’d pick up the scent quickly.
His German shepherd sniffed the ground until Josiah finally said, “Looks like Buddy hasn’t picked up the scent yet. I’m heading this way.”
“I’ll go the opposite direction,” Alex said.
Josiah only went five yards before Buddy picked up the trail. He gave a loud whistle to indicate that Alex should join him. When she did, Sadie also found Foster’s scent.
“What made Foster deviate from the trail?” Josiah looked around at the dense underbrush and forest surrounding the area. “Maybe there was someone he wanted to avoid.”
“Whatever the reason, this is the way we go. They’re still together.”
“This doesn’t make sense. Why is Foster even bringing Seth here? This isn’t isolated.”
“This is pure speculation,” Alex said, “but he used to think of his girlfriend’s son as his own. What if he’s trying to do stuff he would have done with a son?”
For the next hour, he and Alex went along the trail part of the way then off it then back on the path. When the vegetation thickened, Josiah suddenly veered away from Alex.
“Seth is going this way.” He glanced back at his sister.
She took several more steps before Sadie dived into the thicket, as though Foster was chasing after Seth. Off the trail Alex and Josiah came together about forty yards into the thick woods, following the course of a creek upstream.
Josiah let Buddy off the leash so he could go faster through the brush. A couple of minutes later, his German shepherd barked, followed by Sadie. Although Foster had been sighted in Girdwood, Josiah removed his gun. As a soldier he’d learned it was better to be prepared rather than surprised.
He forged through the vegetation, spotting a small green tent nestled among the trees. Alex and he exchanged looks. He motioned for her to stay in case Foster had somehow returned. Taking off his backpack, Josiah left it next to Alex and crept forward, always keeping his eyes open for a bear.
When he reached the tent, he didn’t go in through the front but uprooted one of the stakes on the side and lifted the tarp. Inside, Josiah saw Seth, who was terrified. The boy’s mouth had duct tape over it, and his feet and hands were bound, but he was alive.
“I’m here to rescue you, Seth. Your parents have been worried sick.” Buddy barked again and Josiah added, “That’s my dog. He found you. I’m going to come in through the opening and untie you. Okay?”
The child’s eyes were still round as saucers, but he nodded and struggled to sit up.
Josiah called out to Alex, “I found Seth alive. Call base and let them know.”
* * *
Later that evening, Ella entered the den, tired but so glad that Seth was back with his parents, dehydrated but unharmed. “Where’s Alex?”
“She went to bed. She has to get up early for a meeting at the store.” With feet propped up on the coffee table in front of the navy blue leather couch, he nursed a tall glass of iced tea while watching TV. He turned the sound down and patted the cushion next to him. “Sit. Relax. It’s been a long day.”
“Alex is okay that you aren’t going into work tomorrow?” She sat at the opposite end of the sofa from Josiah. Getting any closer was just too dangerous. She still couldn’t get their kiss out of her thoughts.
Josiah chuckled. “She’s fine. Besides, I have a long list of suppliers I’ll be contacting tomorrow. I often work from here. That’s the beauty of my job. I don’t always have to go into the office.”
“I was hoping the police would have found Foster by now.”
“He’ll be found. His photo has been plastered all over town, as well as the description of the car he’s driving. Roadblocks have been set up, and all ways to leave the area are under surveillance. He took a child. A lot of people are eager to bring him in. You and Robbie will be home in no time.”
Home. The house she lived in now was the first place she’d called that since she’d left her childhood home and married Keith. Sometimes she prayed that she could go back to Georgia and see her parents, but that wouldn’t be smart. “I hope so. I hate being an imposition on you and Alex.”
“I’ve told you a thousand times. You aren’t.”
She relaxed against the couch and sighed. “I’m bone tired, but I wouldn’t have traded seeing Seth reunited with his parents for anything. The other day I had a taste of what it feels like to have your child missing. A parent’s worst nightmare.”
“If it wasn’t for Buddy and Sadie, I’m not sure he would have been found before his dehydration became serious. The Lord was with us today.”
“Foster must be crazy. I can’t believe he brought Seth all the way out there and then left him. What if a bear had come upon the child?”
“Thankfully one didn’t. Thomas thinks that Foster is falling apart, which will probably cause him to make a mistake. After Thomas talked with Seth, he told me that Foster had wanted to share a camping trip with the child. Foster had kept saying how he’d promised him one, and finally they could go. I think Alex had it right that Foster thought of Seth as the son who was taken away from him.”
“What if he goes after another child?”
“That’s definitely a possibility. That’s why the news is making it clear to parents to watch their children, especially young boys.” Josiah angled himself on the couch toward Ella. “When Thomas went through Foster’s apartment, they found a closet with walls plastered with pictures of his ex-girlfriend’s son.”
“When did this happen?”
“Right after they identified him, they went through it from top to bottom, trying to find a lead.”
She straightened. “That was days ago. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
A tic in his jaw jerked. His hand on the couch fisted.
“What are you not telling me?”
Silence.
“I’m not leaving until you tell me. What are you hiding from me?”
“In my defense, I didn’t hear this from Thomas until late Sunday night after you had gone to sleep. Thomas called to give me an update on the investigation and told me then about the closet...” He uncurled his hand then balled it again. “He had taken a few photos of Robbie, and they were posted over the other boy.”
Ella heard his words, but it took a moment for their meaning to register in her mind. She bolted to her feet and rotated toward him. “You should have woken me up and told me this right away!”
“Sunday was the first time you’d gotten a good night’s rest. You had been functioning on minimal sleep for days.”
“Then yesterday.”
“There was never a right moment. I wasn’t going to dampen our outing to Fairbanks, then the truck Foster had stolen was found.”
“I can think of a few.” Ella began to pace. “How many pictures? Where were they taken?”
“There were four. Taken at the day camp, and his friends were in them, so they could have been shot because of one of them. Remember Michael is similar to Robbie and Seth in size and coloring.”
She stopped and faced him, her arms ramrod straight at her sides. “And yet, Foster came to my house and peeped into Robbie’s bedroom. I would say that meant he’d singled out Robbie.”
“With all that’s been going on with Seth, I didn’t want to add to your worry.”
“I’m a grown woman who’s been on her own for years. I can take care of myself.” Had she been lured into a false sense of safety when she of all people should realize no one was ever totally safe? She got up and started pacing, wound too tight to sit and relax.
“You don’t always have to do everything by yourself.” He rose and blocked her path. “I’ve learned the hard way there are some things I can’t control. In fact, a good part of life is out of my control. But I can control how I react, what I think.”
She began to go around Josiah, but suddenly the fight drained out of her. “I know, and I’m working on it, but with all that’s happened lately, past fears have a hold on me.”
He clasped her hand, threading his fingers through hers. “What fears?”
For a moment she contemplated telling him about Keith, but the words clogged her throat and she couldn’t. “One I need to put to rest,” she finally murmured, lowering her gaze.
He lifted her chin until she looked in his eyes. “We all have fears we need to put to rest. Easy to say. Hard to do.”
What are yours? she wondered. She exhaled and stepped back, her hand slipping from his. “I’m trying not to worry all the time. To give those concerns to the Lord and trust more, but it’s a constant battle.”
“Faith can be.” Josiah took his seat on the couch.
Ella remained standing in front of the fireplace. “Please let me know if you hear something else from Thomas right away. I’m not as fragile as you think I am.”
“On the contrary, I think you’re a strong woman. You help others. You’re raising a wonderful son by yourself. There are many qualities about you that I admire.”
The heat of a blush slowly swept over her face. If he only knew about her past. It had taken her years to get away from Keith. She’d kept thinking things would change, and when she realized they wouldn’t, she’d discovered how controlling her ex-husband really was.
Needing to turn the conversation away from her, she searched for a topic. When she spied Josiah yawning, she said, “I can’t believe you aren’t asleep after the day you’ve had, hiking for miles, carrying Seth to the helicopter pickup site. Why are you still up?”
“I wanted to watch the news. See if anything has happened.”
“Doesn’t Thomas keep you updated?”
“When he has the time. I didn’t know about the pictures right away.”
She sat at the other end of the couch. “Probably not a bad idea. I don’t know what I’ll do if Foster isn’t found soon. I can’t keep taking time off, and I need my job.”
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
We’ll? Like a couple? The idea struck panic in her but also gave her a sense of comfort. For the first time in years she actually didn’t feel alone. She’d purposefully held part of herself back from others, and the thought Josiah could break down all her barriers frightened her.
He leaned forward, picked up the remote and turned up the sound. “I figure they’ll lead with Seth’s story.”
But the anchorman cut to a national story first. Ella slid a gaze toward him and found him watching her.
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Maybe we’ll see our pictures on the news. Our fifteen seconds of fame.”
“Maybe you. I seem to remember a reporter sticking a microphone in your face when you hopped down from that helicopter.”
“Earlier today, there was a happy ending to the kidnapping of Seth London. He’s been returned home safely to his parents,” the anchorman said, the picture on the television switching from him to one of Seth’s parents hugging their child.
Then Mr. London made a statement to the press praising the searchers who found Seth.
A video of Josiah as he climbed down from the helicopter came on, followed by him saying, “My dog is the one who found Seth. I was just tagging along.”
Ella smiled. “You’re about as comfortable as I am in the limelight.”
“I’d rather face a grizzly than a reporter.”
She laughed, her earlier tension melting away while David came on the screen and told the reporter about his dedicated search and rescue team members. Then a picture of her with Robbie flashed on the TV with a voice saying, “This is one particularly hardworking member, Ella Jackson, with her son, Robbie.”
She heard Josiah chuckling. “And there’s your fifteen seconds of fame.” But it sounded as if he was talking from the end of a long tunnel, his voice echoing off the concrete walls.
Her face—and Robbie’s—was on the evening news. For everyone to see. What if the national news picked up the story? And Keith saw it?
EIGHT
Ella’s face turned as pale as her white shirt, and her eyes grew as large as saucers.
Josiah moved closer to her on the couch. “Ella? Are you okay?” He didn’t understand what was wrong. He laid his hand on her arm and said, “I know you’d rather work behind the scenes, but you are just as important as the people out searching. I’m so glad you got some recognition for your contribution.”
She yanked her arm from his grasp. “I didn’t know they took that photo of me and Robbie. They shouldn’t have.”
The frantic ring to her words worried him. Something else was going on here. “Ella, what’s really wrong? This is good publicity for Northern Frontier Search and Rescue. I won’t be surprised if donations flood the office after this piece.”
Her hands began to tremble, and she hugged herself, tucking her fingers under her arms. “This is not good.” She shot to her feet. “I’ve got to leave Anchorage. I can’t stay. It’s not safe.”
She ran for the hallway. Josiah hurried after her and caught up with her in the foyer.
He held both her hands in his, and waited until she made eye contact to say, “Foster is not going to get to Robbie. You’re safe.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
“Make me understand.” He wanted to hold her until she calmed down, but she strained away from him.
“I need to go home and pack. Leave. Right now.”
“Why, Ella? What are you afraid of? I promise I will never let Foster hurt your son or you.”
She shook her head. “It’s not just Foster I’m afraid of.” Her eyes widened even more. She snapped her mouth closed, swept around and raced up the staircase.
Josiah went after her, taking the steps two at a time. Inside her bedroom, she swung her suitcase up on the bed and hurried toward the closet. He stood in the doorway, watching her, not sure what he should do.
She was worried the piece about Seth’s rescue would be on national TV. Why? Her ex-husband? From the one comment she’d made about him, he hadn’t been a good father to Robbie. Was there more?
Suddenly Ella came to a halt between the closet and bed, a blouse and sweater in her hand. Her gaze fell on him as the clothes floated to the floor. Tears glistened in her eyes, full of fear.
Whatever it was, she was terrified.
He covered the distance to her and embraced her, tugging her against him as though he could somehow erase the panic by holding her. He would do anything to take away that sense of alarm, but at the moment he felt helpless as he listened to her cry against his shoulder.
He stroked her back, her sobs breaking down the wall he hid behind. He closed his eyes and sent a prayer for help to the Lord.
When her tears stopped, he loosened his hold enough to lean away to look at her. “Ella.” He waited until she focused on him. “Tell me what is wrong. If I can help, I will. Please.”
Ella blinked and moved back, swiping at her cheeks. “I’m sorry for that.”
“Don’t be. We all hit a wall at different times in our life.” He, more than most, had realized that the hard way.
“That’s exactly how I feel. For years I’ve held my emotions inside, and suddenly they just needed to be released.”
He drew her to a love seat nearby, sat and pulled her down next to him. “Maybe it’s time you share all these emotions with someone. I get the feeling you haven’t.”
“Not for four years.” She wanted to tell him her story, but she was afraid. And yet, the words tell him bounced around her mind. Could she trust him? She was so tired of going it alone.
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