Page 21 of Hunted

“Hey, Bert?”

Because Bert was retired, one benefit was that Dominic could reach him at any time.

“Big man’s callingme?” he said in a half-joking tone. “I’m not in trouble, am I, Dominic?”

“Not at all,” Dominic assured the older man. “And I’m sorry to intrude. I was wondering if you or Esme had seen Abigail?”

He heard some chattering on the other end of the line as Dominic lightly set the breakfast in the passenger seat and started to drive through town.

“Hey, sweetheart! Have you seen Abigail?” Bert said, trying to muffle the receiver somewhat.

“We just saw her last night!” Esme answered.

“No, I mean this morning,” Bert said. “Mr. Riverson called and he’s looking for her.”

“Oh no!” Esme said. “Is she okay?”

“You know what?” Dominic said, still a little unused to being called Mr. Riverson. “I think I have an idea of where she might be. I’ll call you back if I don’t find her there.”

“Keep us updated!” Bert said before hanging up.

Of course, he was going to try the one place in town she’d actually been, but he figured he’d call and ask first. He pulled up to the territory park to find it full of children. He worked most weekends, so he was unused to other people’s differing schedules. It was odd that they were out and about so early, though.

The park was sizable for being in such a small community. Covering the territory took a lot of time, but eventually, he found her seated at a picnic table with Isolde, Gavin, and Samara, three of the pack’s troubled children. Samara and Isolde’s parents worked long hours and labored very hard while Gavin had a hard life at home.

“That’s pretty advanced math for you guys,” Abigail said. “When I was five, I was still learning how to count.”

Dominic chuckled. She was good with kids, but she really didn’t hold anything back.

He knew Samara had been appointed a babysitter for the two of them and that the three of them were all struggling in school. Gavin and Isolde had trouble paying attention, and Samara was late often.

He knew all this because he listened. Sometimes, people thought he didn’t. But he heard everything they said at every pack meeting. He really didn’t like to eavesdrop, but he also greatly cared for the community.

But he’d never seen any of their teachers relate to them quite so well. The way she treated them almost as equals, never talking down to them or making them feel incapable of anything.

He marveled as she helped Samara with her homework while keeping a close eye on Gavin and Isolde, making sure they never felt left out. This was the problem with absent parents of kindergartners. They needed to be involved in their lives because there wasn’t homework so young, and kids that age were still cultivating the skills they needed to be independent.

“I like recess and talking to my friends,” Gavin said, in response to her question. Dominic found himself zoning out, just admiring how beautiful Abigail looked in the morning light.

“Whatever makes you happy,” Abigail said, smiling warmly.

At that age, it was probably incredibly important to not correct them—to encourage their creativity over everything. Abigail was doing such a good job of making them both feel validated. He couldn’t help but admire her skill and patience.

That was when they moved the conversation to the playground. Dominic was surprised they hadn’t noticed him yet, but he tailed them anyway.

He was extremely irritated at first. But now, he enjoyed observing her skills in action. She had mentioned her teaching at length, and he knew how important it was to her.

Also, he was considering something.

They were having trouble keeping teachers for the pack. Just next school year, which was coming up, he knew of two teachers who would be leaving the school.

She sat on the bench and watched the three children playing. He could tell that her thoughts were zooming out, as though she was lost in thought.

He wondered if she was in pain as she fidgeted with the cast on her arm.

This was really too much. She was playing surrogate parent for these three children—another unpaid babysitter in their lives. Was she doing this out of a feeling of obligation, or had she really developed a connection with them this quickly?

“Hey!”

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