“Not a lot. Usually Corey will call me, and we’ll talk. Mrs. Scott lives next door to Corey and keeps an eye out for the child. All I really know is that Corey is gone and a deputy sheriff is at Ned’s house.” No doubt Ned had gone out to get some more liquor.
“So he was staying home alone?”
“Most likely.” His own feelings warred inside him—from anger at himself for not going earlier, to fear. Apprehension won out. Why didn’t Corey call him again instead of running away? What if he couldn’t find the boy? “I don’t know anything else. Mrs. Scott didn’t go into a lot of details. The neighbors are forming a search party to help the deputy. We can join them.” Hopefully he’d find out more when he arrived in Dry Gulch. Better yet, maybe Corey was already home and safe.
Nearing the town, Nick slanted another glance toward Darcy, her hands clasped together as though she were praying. It wouldn’t help. He’d tried that. Nick had given up on the Lord answering his prayers. At least Ned so far hadn’t physically harmed Corey, but neglect of a child was a form of abuse. Corey hungered for love and acceptance.
“We’re almost there. Ned and I have exchanged a few words concerning Corey, but nothing will keep me away. I promised Doug, Corey’s older brother, that I would watch out for him. I just wanted to let you know things could get tense.”
“Does Ned know about what Doug asked you to do?”
Nick turned down a street on the outskirts of Dry Gulch, a town about the size of Haven. “Yes, and he isn’t too happy about that.” He pulled behind a long line of cars crammed into every parking spot available. A few floodlights illuminated the area as though it were daytime. “It looks like a lot of people are here. Good. Corey could be in town somewhere, in the woods or on a ranch nearby. Lots of hiding places, and with the darkness he’ll be harder to find.”
“So you think he’s hiding, not taken by someone?” Darcy asked as she opened the passenger door.
“More likely hiding or running away.” He hoped. The alternative was even worse. When he hopped down and looked over the hood of his truck at Darcy, he was glad she’d come with him. Although he barely knew Darcy, her presence comforted him. Her immediate response to his news earlier had been to help. There was more to her than too many clothes and shoes. She might come from money, but she didn’t act like a spoiled socialite.
He waited for her to join him and then he made his way toward the group of people on the front lawn of Corey’s home. Mrs. Scott stood near Ned, talking to him as more neighbors joined the throng. The furious expression on Ned’s face alerted Nick that the man probably hadn’t been the one who’d called the sheriff’s office.
Mrs. Scott saw him and came toward Nick. “We’ve searched the neighborhood and there wasn’t any sign of Corey. We’re reorganizing to cover the areas away from here. The sheriff is arriving soon and some more deputies. They’re bringing in a couple of tracking dogs too. Five to six inches of snow are predicted tonight. We need to find him before he freezes.”
“What happened?” Nick stared at Ned.
“After you called me earlier to check on Ned and Corey, which I did, I left Corey’s house because Ned woke up and assured me he was fine. He practically kicked me out. I decided then to make some cookies to share with Corey and Ned as an excuse to check on them after an hour and a half. When I went over to the house, Ned finally opened the door. He looked like he had just woken up, so he’d probably continued to drink after I left. At least that’s how he smelled. He invited me in while he called Corey. The boy never came. I helped Ned search his house to make sure Corey wasn’t hiding. That man was getting madder by the second. I discovered just a few minutes ago Ned went to the store not long after I left the first time.”
Nick swung his attention to Mrs. Scott. “The liquor store?”
Mrs. Scott nodded.
“Are you the one who called the sheriff?”
“Yes. Ned didn’t want to. He was sure Corey would show up. By that time it was getting dark. I went home and called.”
Nick nodded toward Darcy. “Mrs. Scott, this is Darcy—a friend who heard about Corey and wanted to help.”
Darcy shook Mrs. Scott’s hand. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. Where do you think Corey would have gone?”
“He isn’t at any of his friends’ houses. The deputy checked those first, so I don’t know.” Mrs. Scott patted Nick’s arm. “If anyone can find him, it’s you. I don’t know any of his favorite haunts and neither does his father.” Anger infused the last sentence. “I declare I haven’t seen a man quite like that one.”
A conversation Nick had had with Corey last month came to the foreground of his thoughts. The child had been so mad at his father for forgetting to pick him up at his friend’s house. He’d ended up walking home. Since it was getting dark, he had used the woods as a shortcut and stumbled upon a thicket—a great hiding place, according to Corey. “There are a few places that Corey and I have talked about. A couple we’ve been to. But one he said was his secret fort. He told me the general location in the woods. I think we should look there first.” Nick didn’t want to stand around while the deputies organized the search.
Mrs. Scott’s mouth pinched into a frown. “But it’s so dark at this time of night. How are you going to look there?”
“I have some flashlights, one in my glove compartment and another in my toolbox. That’s all I need.” He turned to Darcy and added, “But you might want to stay here—”
“I’m game. It’s getting colder.” Darcy shivered. “I won’t be surprised if there’s snow in the next hour or two. We need to find Corey.”
“Mrs. Scott, please tell the deputy where we’re going and that we could use more people. It’s the wooded area behind the elementary school.” It would be better if Nick didn’t go near Ned at the moment. He threw one last look at the man, who was still frowning as if this whole affair was an inconvenience. Although Nick’s and Corey’s situations were different, Nick knew the emotional whirlwind the boy was going through and how alone the child must feel.
“Will do, but, dearie,” Mrs. Scott said, peering at Darcy’s high heels, “you can’t go in those shoes.”
Darcy grinned. “I’m going to change.”
As Nick and Darcy headed for his pickup, she said, “I think you and Mrs. Scott are right—Corey’s dad has been drinking a lot. His eyes are bloodshot, his hands are shaking and his skin is pasty. In my job I’ve encountered enough alcoholics to know when I see one.”
Nick opened the passenger door. “It’s been getting worse. That may be what made Corey leave.” When his own dad drank, all Nick had wanted to do as a child was hide. He shut the truck door, made his way to the driver’s side and switched on the engine, throwing a glance at Darcy. “What’s your job?”
For a long moment Darcy didn’t answer. Nick turned the truck around and headed the way they had come. Still no reply.
He was about to tell her to forget the question when she murmured, “I’m a lawyer—for Legal Aid.”
Surprise flitted through him. He wasn’t sure what he’d pictured her doing. When he thought about it, the fact that she
