through the years most townships had written laws into their civil codes forbidding oil or gas drilling to take place inside city limits. But in the case of Black Arrow, the ordinance hadn’t come into being until after the town had grown around several already producing gas wells. A few weeks ago, a gas company had come in to lay new pipe to an old well, but shortly into the job something had gone wrong and the crew had somehow managed to cave in part of the city’s drainage system along with blocking the flow of natural gas. Jared’s job was to figure out how to get everything open and running as it should be without causing any more loss to city property.
So far he and his crew had slowly uncovered part of the damaged drainage pipes which would eventually be rerouted to miss the gas line. As for the natural gas well itself, it would have to be capped off, then re-drilled from a different direction.
Jared rubbed a thoughtful forefinger against one jaw as he lifted his head and surveyed the mess in front of him. Normally at this time of the day, the place would have been buzzing with workers and machinery, but yesterday’s rain showers had made the ground too muddy to work. And even though it was a sunny afternoon today, he still wasn’t all that certain the ground would be dry enough to work with any sort of heavy equipment tomorrow. Plus the fact that early May in Oklahoma was apt to produce thunderstorms at the drop of a hat. He’d be lucky if it wasn’t raining again tomorrow.
Sighing, he lifted the hard hat from his head and ran a hand through his thick black hair. Being down a day or two wouldn’t prevent him from finishing the job in the amount of time allotted in his contract and he’d already put in a hell of a week. Some rest would be good for him and the crew. He might even call Bram and Logan to see if his brothers wanted to have dinner with him tonight.
A fond smile teased the corners of his mouth. The two of them would probably think he was ill. It wasn’t often he chose to spend the evening with his brothers rather than a female companion. Both Bram and Logan would find it hard to believe their skirt-chasing brother couldn’t think of even one woman in the whole town of Black Arrow that he wanted to spend more than five minutes with.
Jared’s thoughts about juicy steaks and brotherly companionship were suddenly interrupted when he felt something tugging on the hem of his jean leg.
Glancing down, he saw a red speckled pup chewing with delight on his leather workboot. “Well, where did you come from, little guy?”
The sound of Jared’s voice distracted the pup from his chewing. The dog looked up at him, then backed away and let out a croaky bark. Jared squatted on his heels and with an outstretched hand invited the pup to come closer. “Come here, fella. Let’s see if you have a name tag on your collar.”
Wary, but overcome with curiosity, the pup sidled closer, then wiggled with delight the moment Jared ran a friendly hand over his sleek head. Fastened to a black leather collar, a metal disc dangled at the front of the dog’s throat. Jared angled the silver gray disc so that he could read the letters. Fred was written on one side. A local phone number was on the other.
Rising to his full height, which was just shy of six feet, Jared’s gray eyes scanned the open fields around him. The nearest house was at least a quarter mile away. A long distance for a little guy like Fred to travel, he pondered. No doubt someone would be missing the dog soon and be out searching for him.
Jared’s cell phone was lying on the truck seat. The least he could do was call the number on the pup’s collar and inform the owner that the dog was safe.
He opened the truck door to retrieve the telephone, then realized he’d have to look at Fred’s collar again to get the number. Slipping the fliptop phone in his shirt pocket, he turned back to grab the dog, only to find the animal scampering off toward the maze of open trenches.
“Fred! Come back here,” he called.
The dog ignored him, so Jared tried whistling. The sound produced a bark, but the dog still refused to return.
Muttering a curse under his breath and wondering why he was taking the time to bother with the animal, Jared started after him. As soon as Fred spotted his approach, he began to bark with loud enthusiasm into the open trench as though he’d just treed a coon in a hollow log. Only this time the log was a smashed drainpipe.
“Okay, fella, I know you think you’re out on a hunt, but you’ve got to go home, wherever that is,” he said to the dog.
Ignoring him, Fred continued to bark and whine, forcing Jared to jump into the ditch to go after him. It was then he saw the little footprints in the damp earth. Tiny human imprints leading up to the drainage pipe.
If there had been a set of adult tracks alongside, Jared wouldn’t have thought too much about the fact that someone had been out here looking over the excavation site. Working this close to town, he was surprised there hadn’t been more people snooping around the diggings than the two teenage boys he’d chased away last week.
Uneasy at this sudden discovery of another type of visitor, he bent down and peered into the pipe. Nothing but a little mud and water settled at the bottom. He glanced behind him, hoping that the tracks would tell him that the little feet had turned back around and headed away from the work site. They didn’t.
Grim-faced, he jumped out of the ditch and followed the pipe until it ended and the ditch opened up again. The footprints reappeared in the mud, along with the pup’s.
Quickly, Jared followed the tracks until they disappeared into a slim cavity created between a slab of earth and another damaged drainpipe.
Oh no, he thought sickly. Surely the child hadn’t squeezed into such a dark, narrow opening. But from the looks of the tracks in the bottom of the ditch that was exactly what he’d done.
Sensing that Jared was finally on the right track and getting the message, Fred barked excitedly into the small opening while clawing at the damp earth. The dog’s actions said as much or more to Jared than the footprints. His little buddy had disappeared and he’d been waiting around for someone to help him find him.
Not bothering with the telephone number on Fred’s collar, Jared pulled out the cell phone and dialed the sheriff’s office.
“I need to speak to the sheriff,” he quickly told the female dispatcher, adding, “This is his brother, Jared Colton.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Colton, but the sheriff is out on an emergency right now. Would you like to leave a message?”
Jared silently cursed at the rotten timing. “No. I want you to radio him right this minute and tell him I think I have an emergency on my hands. A child has gone into a drainage system west of town.”
“A child? Oh. Okay, give me your location and I’ll radio him at once.”
Jared told her the location of the work site and also supplied her with the number to his cell phone. In just a matter of moments the telephone rang and his brother was on the end of the line.
“Jared, I just got your message. I have half my force out looking for a three-year-old girl right now. She’s been missing for nearly two hours. You think you’ve found her?”
A three-year-old girl! Somehow Jared had expected Fred’s young buddy to be a boy. The idea of a soft, sweet little girl exploring a muddy ditch with an adventurous bird dog had never entered his mind.
“I’m out here at the work site now, Bram, and I’ve found her dog and where she’s been, but not the
