Unfortunately, forcing the issue and dragging her back would waste time they didn’t have.
Forty-three degrees was cold. Especially for a kid who wasn’t dressed for the weather.
“If he’s still with his kidnapper, do you think that—”
“Eva, I don’t have time for a question-and-answer game, okay? If you want to have that, then go back to the head of the trail. I’m sure Slade is there. He can answer every question you want to ask.”
“I can’t go back. Not when Brady is out here somewhere.”
“You’ll be helping him more if you go back. Do you understand that you’re slowing me down?”
“Go as fast as you want. I can keep up.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes.”
“That could be hours. You know that, right?”
She didn’t respond, and he glanced over his shoulder, irritated by her presence. She was a wrench in the works, a roadblock getting in the way of the smooth teamwork that he and Justice usually achieved without effort. “This is your son’s life that we’re talking about, Eva.”
“I know,” she said simply. No dramatics. No tears.
“Then you’ll understand why it’s better for me and Justice to do this alone.”
“Let me ask you something, Austin. Do you have any idea how it feels to wake up in the middle of the night and realize that your child is missing?
“No,” he responded honestly.
“Then you can’t understand why I need to be here.”
“You’re wrong. I can understand. But finding the missing is what Justice and I are trained to do. We put everything we have into it every time. You can trust us with your son’s life.”
“I don’t trust anyone. Especially not when it comes to Brady.”
“This time, you don’t have a choice.”
“Sure I do. I trusted the police to find my parents’ murderer. That hasn’t happened. I trusted Brady’s father to keep his promises. Look where that got me.” She laughed, the sound achingly sad. “Now, I trust God and myself. That’s it.”
“I’m not anyone you’ve dealt with before, Eva. Maybe you should keep that in mind.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“When I’m on search and rescue, every person I’m looking for is my family. I don’t leave family behind. Not ever. As long as there’s a chance of recovering Brady, I’ll be out here searching for him.”
“Who decides when there isn’t a chance?” she asked quietly.
“Time.” He shoved through thick foliage, holding back branches so they didn’t slap her in the face.
“How much time?” Eva persisted.
“I don’t know. Every situation is different.”
“I can’t go home without him.” Her voice quivered, and Austin remembered the softness in her eyes when she’d held her son’s photograph. The lone tear that had slid down her cheek. She was tough, but she was also a mother whose child was missing.
“Then let’s both pray that you don’t have to,” he said, because he wouldn’t promise that he’d find Brady. No matter how much he wanted to. He’d gone down that path before. It had ended in tragedy and heartache.
For a moment, Eva was silent.
Maybe she was waiting for the vows that Austin wouldn’t make, hoping that he’d reassure her, tell her that finding Brady was a certainty.
“Thanks,” she finally said. Nothing else. No begging or pleading for a guarantee.
“For what?”
“For not feeding me a bunch of lies about how certain you are that you’ll find my son.”
“You deserve the truth, and the truth is, I can’t promise a good outcome, but I’m going to do everything that I can to make sure we have one. Come on. Let’s pick up the pace.”
He loosened his hold on the leash, allowing Justice more slack. The bloodhound leaped forward, his paws scrambling in the thick layer of fallen leaves and pine needles. They’d searched this area before, and Justice followed the scent trail easily, baying once and then taking off.
Austin ran behind him, his feet pounding on packed earth and slippery leaves. No thought of Eva and whether or not she could keep up, just focusing on the feel of the lead in his hand, the tug of Justice’s muscular body, the tension that surrounded both of them.
Justice stopped at a small creek, sniffing the ground and moving back and forth across the creek bed. He stopped at a small flag, his tail wagging slightly as he acknowledged the area that they’d searched so intently, the prints that Austin had cast and photographed.
“Seek,” Austin urged, and Justice bent his nose to the ground again, his ears dragging along the wet creek bank.
Nothing.
Another ten minutes. Fifteen.
He pulled Justice up with a quick command, bent to study a small footprint pressed into the earth. Five toes. A little heel.
A little boy walking with his kidnapper or running from him?
Eva crouched beside him, her pants dragging in the mud, her sneakers caked with it. “His feet must be so cold.”
“Kids are pretty hardy.” He tried not to think about the children who hadn’t been. The lifeless bodies he’d found on riverbanks and in deep forests. Tried not to remember little Anna Lynn. Missing for four days before Austin had finally been able to bring her back to her parents. She’d been the daughter of one of his closest friends.
The search hadn’t ended the way he’d wanted it to.
Never again.
That’s what he’d told himself. No more emotional involvement. No more allowing himself to be so personally invested. But how could he not be when a little kid was lost, scared and alone?
He shoved the thoughts away and stood. “He headed downhill from here. We picked up the trail at a creek there. Come on.”
He led the way down the steep hill, Justice panting behind him. He gave the bloodhound a minute to lap water from the cool creek, then pulled the shirt from his pack again.
“Seek!” he commanded.
Justice raised his head, sniffing the air.
“Seek!” Austin encouraged, and Justice ran to the edge of the creek, snuffled at the ground.
Nothing.
“Do you—”
“How about we just let him work?” Austin cut Eva off. He needed to focus. Needed to keep moving. Time was ticking by. Brady was still missing. As much as Austin had tried to play it cool with Eva, he knew how quickly a child could become hypothermic. Especially a wet child. Brady had walked through two creeks and there was a hint of moisture in the cold air. The clouds might open at any moment, pouring down rain or ice.
Please, Lord, help us find him before then.
He let Justice work the area around the creek for fifteen minutes, then led him from the water, Eva pressing in so close that he could hear her soft breath, feel the warmth of her body through layers of cloth. She had a presence about her, and even in silence, she was difficult to ignore.
In the distance a dog barked, and Justice cocked his head to the side, then bent it to the