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  The man’s chest rose and fell, the sound of his breath loud enough to hear now that she was in the room. “Hey!” she shouted, stooping cautiously to give his shoulder a shake. “Are you awake?”

  No response. She bent over and placed a finger on his neck. His pulse was rapid but strong. This guy was unconscious and under the influence of something stronger than alcohol. She rolled him to his side, leaving him there to protect his airway in case he should vomit. “We’d better get an ambulance,” she called to Brody.

  Taking a moment to scan the room, Mattie spotted the poker setup immediately. A poker table and chairs dominated the center of the living room, chips stacked neatly in a rack on the tabletop. She identified the thick, pungent odor of stale marijuana smoke mingled with cigarettes in the air. Even the walls were dingy and yellow from exposure. Rust-colored draperies sagged at the grungy windows.

  Robo was getting a nose full, his head bobbing as he sampled the air. As soon as Mattie released him from his stay, he made a beeline for a scarred and battered old credenza that stood against the back wall, its top cluttered with bottles labeled with any type of hard liquor you could imagine. As he sniffed the doors in front, he jostled one of them, and it popped free from its magnetic catch and slowly drifted open. Robo sat and gave Mattie the look that said he’d found something.

  Keeping one eye on the unconscious man, she moved to the credenza and peered inside without touching anything. There in plain sight she found a large bag of cannabis, its bits of green leaves and stems easily recognizable. She didn’t need a scale to know that the stuff weighed well over the two-ounce limit allowed for an adult to possess at any one time. Beside the weed sat a baggie half full of white crystal shards—obviously meth. Mattie wouldn’t be able to prove it yet, but she suspected Wolford not only provided a high-stakes poker game here at his house but also sold drugs and alcohol. One-stop shopping. Mattie felt a slow burn of anger start to flicker as she thought of Burt Banks and his involvement in this operation, spending his paycheck while his wife struggled to support their family. And was Banks really here Tuesday, or was this crook Wolford lying, just because he could?

  Asking Robo to heel, she left the evidence he had found in the credenza and moved back to the porch, where Brody and Wolford were waiting. As soon as she stepped outside, she gave Robo another command. “Watch him!”

  Robo went into guard-dog stance, an alert position with unblinking eyes fixed on Wolford. The man scowled.

  “That guy’s out on something more than alcohol,” Mattie told Brody. “And Robo hit on a cabinet inside. We’re going to need a warrant.”

  *

  Cole drove to the elementary school and parked out front. No Sophie waiting on the steps. He found her teacher still in her classroom. Mrs. Stanford was a small woman with droopy eyes and cheeks, although he didn’t think it nice to point that out, so he’d never mentioned it to Sophie.

  Cole got right to the point. “Is Sophie still at school?”

  The teacher looked startled. “Why, no. I put Sophie onto the bus myself. She wasn’t feeling very well the last hour of school. Looks like she’s got the sniffles. I was on bus duty, and she walked out there with me. I’m positive she got onto the bus.”

  Cole searched for possibilities. “She’s not at home. Can we contact the bus driver? Make sure she didn’t miss her stop. I don’t know . . . if she didn’t feel well, maybe she fell asleep in the back of the bus or something.” Like that was going to happen. Theirs was the first stop.

  “By all means.” Mrs. Stanford went to her desk and opened a drawer. Taking out her cell phone, she swiped and tapped the screen and then held it to her ear. Impatient, Cole clenched his jaw.

  “Hello, Clara? This is Mavis. Did Sophie Walker get off the bus at her house this afternoon? She did?” A pause while she listened. “Just a minute.”

  Taking the phone away from her ear, Mrs. Stanford spoke to Cole. “Sophie got off at the top of your lane and was walking home when the bus driver pulled away.”

  “Let me talk to her,” Cole said, reaching for the phone.

  Mrs. Stanford gave it to him.

  “This is Sophie’s dad,” he said. “Was there anyone waiting in the lane for her? Maybe a white Honda sedan?” He’d described Mrs. Gibbs’s car on the off chance that the housekeeper had returned home early and met Sophie’s bus, although he believed that if Mrs. Gibbs had changed her plans, she would’ve called him.

  “No one was waiting, Dr. Walker,” the bus driver said. “Sophie waved to me and started off down the lane.”

  Fear circled Cole’s heart and tightened his chest. “Did you see anyone at all turn into the lane?”

  “No. What’s going on?”

  “You didn’t see someone turn into the lane in your rearview mirror?”

  “No. There was no one behind me when I stopped. I always check. There was a silver Jeep-like car coming down the highway in front of me, and the driver slowed down as it approached. I watched my rearview mirror and saw it keep going down the road toward Timber Creek after I pulled my stop sign back in.”

  “Did you recognize the Jeep?” Cole asked, his mind filing through his family’s friends, trying to identify someone who might’ve picked up Sophie, taken her for an after-school ice cream or something. No one came to mind.

  “No.”

  “Did you recognize the driver?”

  “I’m not sure I even looked at the driver. I saw that the car was obeying bus safety law, and that’s all I paid attention to,” Clara said, concern evident. “What’s going on, Dr. Walker? Is Sophie okay?”

  “She’s not at home, and I’m trying to find her.” Cole noticed that his own voice sounded perfectly calm even as his thoughts jumped to Candace Banks and to his friend’s daughter, Grace Hartman. Both girls now dead.

  “Oh, dear. I can assure you that she was well on her way down the lane when I drove away, and I saw no other cars coming or going. I’m sure she’s fine. She must be at your home someplace.”

  With a surge of irritation that the woman could sound so sure of something she knew nothing about, Cole ended the conversation and handed the phone back to Mrs. Stanford.

  Worry consumed the teacher’s face. “Do you need my help?”

  “I’ll go back home and look for her again,” Cole said, not knowing what else to do.

  “Call me when you find her,” she said, writing down a number on a sticky note that had red apples stamped on it. “Here’s my cell phone number.”

  Cole hurried from the building and got back into his truck. Belle had claimed the front passenger seat, and Bruno stood in the back seat with his paws braced on the forward console, ducking his head so that he could peer out the windshield.

  “Get back, Bruno,” Cole said, pushing him out of the way. Bruno settled into the back seat behind Belle and watched out the window while Cole drove the few minutes it took to get back to his turnoff.

  He drove down the lane slowly, scanning the open grassy area. Cedars lined both sides of the lane closer to the house, and pine trees and lilac bushes surrounded the backyard. Cole rolled down his window and shouted Sophie’s name, even though he didn’t see any sign of her. After parking in front, he hastened out of the truck, leaving the door open so the dogs could bail out. He jogged to the backyard, Belle and Bruno trotting behind.

  “Sophie!” Still no answer.

  Taking his house key out of his pocket, he let himself in the back door, the dogs following. Calling Sophie’s name, he searched through the house. His chest felt as hollow and empty as the house appeared to be.

  Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he quick-dialed the first person who came to mind. One he knew would do anything she could to help him find Sophie as soon as possible. Now and with no questions asked.

  Mattie.

  Chapter 15

  When Mattie’s cell phone rang, she and Robo had finished searching the premises for more narcotics, and she was starting to bag the evidence. The drug stash
had been limited to that inside the credenza, and the rest of the place was clean. Clean of drugs, that is; the house was actually filthy. So much so that she’d taken Robo out and secured him safely in his compartment when he’d finished his work. She didn’t want him to have to lie on that floor in a down-stay to wait for her.

  Caller ID told her it was Cole calling, and she swiped the symbol to accept the call. “This is Mattie.”

  “Mattie, thank God you answered. I need your help.”

  She’d never heard such stress in Cole’s voice. He was usually so calm and in control. “What is it, Cole?”

  “Sophie’s missing.”

  Her heart stuttered. “Tell me what you mean by missing.”

  “She’s not here at the house. I . . . I was late to meet her bus, but I expected she’d be here or in the clinic. She’s not. I can’t find her anywhere.”

  “And Mrs. Gibbs? Angela?” While she spoke, Mattie hurried to bag the rest of the evidence. Brody came in from checking on Wolford, who was under arrest and waiting in the cruiser.

  “Mrs. Gibbs is in Willow Springs. Angie stayed for a meeting at school.”

  The image of Candace Banks laid out peacefully with her hands folded across her chest flashed into Mattie’s mind, and she fought back panic. “She didn’t miss the bus?”

  “No. I talked to the bus driver. She said Sophie was walking down the lane as she pulled away.”

  “I’m in Hightower. It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get to your place. Hang on, and we’ll see if Robo can follow her tracks.”

  “I’ll take Bruno out and try.”

  “I don’t want you to do that. It’s important to keep the scent trail as clean as possible. Let me come into the area to search first.” She thought of something else. “Have you called the parents of Sophie’s friends yet?”

  “No. I’ll do that right now.” The eagerness in his voice almost broke her heart. He was grasping the lifeline she’d thrown him. She imagined she could take her panicky feeling, multiply it by a hundred, and it wouldn’t come close to what Cole Walker felt.

  “Someone’s mom might have come by and taken her home with her or something,” Mattie said. The odds of that were slim, and she might be grasping too. Parents typically called other parents for permission, or at least to keep them informed. “Keep the dogs in the house and stay by the home phone in case someone calls. I’ll be there soon. Call me if she turns up.”

  Brody raised an eyebrow as she disconnected the call.

  “Dr. Walker,” Mattie said, her words clipped as she marked the evidence bags with the date, time, and location. “His youngest, Sophie, is missing. Got off the bus, no one else at the property at the time, not there when Walker arrived. I need to go.”

  Brody’s blue eyes became icy while she summed it up, telling her that he was thinking of Candace Banks too. “Right. I’ll finish up here and take Wolford in and book him. You take Robo and go.”

  Mattie turned to leave, stripping off the latex gloves she’d worn to handle the bags of narcotics. “I’ll call the sheriff and notify him.”

  “Ten-four. We’ll be in touch.”

  Tucking her gloves into another bag, Mattie jogged to her SUV and climbed in. Robo stood to greet her, opening his mouth in a happy grin and waving his tail. His presence gave her comfort while she told herself to calm down.

  Missing children are most often found safe and unharmed.

  Soon enough, Mattie was on her way to Timber Creek. She drove through the outskirts of Hightower, and when she reached the highway, she accelerated well over the speed limit, lights flashing. She lifted her transmitter from its cradle and keyed on her radio to check in with Rainbow. “K-9 One to base, do you copy?”

  Rainbow answered immediately. “Affirmative. Go ahead, K-9 One.”

  “I’m en route to Timber Creek Veterinary Clinic, ETA twenty minutes. Report of a missing child at that location.”

  “Oh, no!”

  “Is the sheriff in?”

  “Yes. He’s on another line.”

  “Have him call me on my cell phone.”

  “Copy that. Drive safely, Mattie.”

  Rainbow . . . dependable despite her quirks.

  While she waited for the call, she tried to compose herself and think of options. Children typically had special places to hide, often places their parents were completely unaware of. Sophie might be on the property. She could’ve come home from school tired, gone to her special place, and fallen asleep. In that case, Robo would find her.

  And of course—whenever a child disappeared, it was usually because an estranged parent took them.

  Why didn’t I think of that sooner?

  Cole’s ex, Olivia. She could’ve happened to come back, found Sophie at home alone, and decided to give Cole a scare. And if that was the case, surely Sophie would be perfectly safe with her mother.

  Her cell phone rang, announcing the sheriff’s call. “What’s this about Sophie Walker?”

  Mattie relayed what she knew.

  “I’ll go there immediately,” McCoy said.

  Cole was part of the sheriff’s posse in Timber Creek County, and he’d responded to the sheriff’s request to help out many a time, so the fact that McCoy would drop everything and respond to Cole’s need didn’t surprise her.

  “Could you make sure we don’t let a lot of traffic in and out of that area until Robo and I get a chance to search?”

  When he heard the word “search,” Robo poked his nose through the heavy-gauge wire mesh that separated his compartment from the rest of the vehicle. Although tempted to put her hand through the screen to pet him, Mattie kept both hands on the wheel.

  “We’ll stay out of your scent trails as much as we can. I’ll see you there.”

  After disconnecting the call, Mattie drove hard through the forest and over the pass that stood between her and Timber Creek. Most cars pulled over and let her pass as soon as the drivers noticed her flashing lights, but occasionally she hit the siren briefly when someone needed an extra nudge to move over. She was able to increase her speed as she drew near her destination, following the flat stretch of asphalt that ran between lush meadows.

  As she drove through town, she whooped the siren once when she thought a pickup was going to pull out in front of her. The driver jammed to a stop and watched her roll by. A fast mile out the other side of town and she finally arrived at the lane that led to Cole’s place. Since she needed a scent article, she drove on to the house, where Cole’s truck and McCoy’s Jeep were parked. Both men waited on the front porch.

  She ratcheted on her parking brake, exited the vehicle, and strode up the sidewalk. As she approached, she could see the worry lines etched on Cole’s brow. He held the scent article he’d sealed inside a gallon-size zip-lock bag—a small pink T-shirt, wrinkled and worn. With Cole, she didn’t have to ask if it had been retrieved from the laundry basket rather than from a drawer, freshly laundered. He knew what she needed.

  “Good,” she said, taking the bag. She studied his intense brown eyes, dark with concern. She’d never felt more like reaching out to touch him. But she had to hold back. “Have you heard from anyone?”

  “No. I tried getting hold of parents, but I couldn’t get through to everyone. I left messages.”

  “I spoke with the bus driver,” McCoy said. “She noticed only one vehicle that was nearby when she let Sophie off the bus. A silver Jeep-like SUV.” He gave Mattie a knowing look, sending her a message.

  Her heart sank as she received it. The description matches the vehicle we’ve issued the BOLO on. The Nissan Pathfinder registered to Merton Heath, the registered sex offender. The pedophile.

  She looked at Cole. “You’ve searched the house thoroughly?”

  “I have.”

  “How about the clinic and the outbuildings?”

  “I’ve been out there twice.”

  She decided to express the thought that she’d had earlier. “Did you think of Olivia?”

&n
bsp; Her meaning dawned in Cole’s eyes. “You think she might have taken her?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s common for an ex-spouse to be involved when a child goes missing.” Mattie raised the bag to indicate the tee. “Let me and Robo search. Maybe he can find her.”

  She hurried back to her Explorer, where Robo stood, looking out the window. As she opened the back, she told him, “Wait.”

  He rocked back on his haunches momentarily but then pounced forward on his front paws, excited to get out. He thinks it’s time to play with the other dogs. “You’re going to work, Robo. Let’s get ready to work.”

  Taking out his collapsible bowl, she filled it with a splash of fresh water from the jug she kept stored in his supplies. He slurped it up and allowed her to put on his tracking harness. From that point on, he was all business. No more play postures. Mattie invited him out of the car, keeping up a continuous line of encouragement to rev him up. With him dancing at her side in heel position while looking up into her eyes, she took him out into the lane.

  Robo sniffed the scent article thoroughly. “Search,” she told him, using a large sweeping gesture to indicate the area. He took off, nose to the ground, and she jogged after him.

  At first he quartered the area in large sweeps, roaming back and forth, but then he moved into the lane. Mattie wondered if he’d found scent from Sophie catching the bus this morning or a trail she’d left this afternoon. She decided not to worry about it and stuck with him. He led her down the lane toward the highway.

  Midway down, he stopped suddenly and sniffed an area carefully. He left the lane, moving off to the side into the grass, nose down. Mattie followed, searching the area, and spotted tire tracks left in the grass perpendicular to the lane, like a car had driven off it to turn around. With sinking heart, she thought of the silver Pathfinder driven by Merton Heath and wondered if the wheels were set at the same width.

  Even as the thought came into her mind, Robo took off again and locked onto a scent trail, going back into the lane and heading for the highway. As they approached, she heard the hollow echo of a vehicle coming from the east. “Robo, wait!”