Page 10 of Everlasting Promises

I brush away the scattered cookie crumbs, then trace my finger over the curve of her face, swallowing the lump that always forms in my throat. She had a beautiful soul and such a fun spirit. She taught me to let go and have fun, to break out of the mold my parents had created. She helped me understand that things didn’t need to be so serious all the time. I had a lot of love for her—I still do. We were as close as two friends could be. Tahlia and I had something special. A connection that transcended explanation.

People often speculated if we were a couple. They couldn’t understand how we could be so close and remain platonic. She had boyfriends, and I had girlfriends, and through it all, our friendship stayed true and strong—it never deviated. I loved her … dearly, but not inthatway. Never likethat.

I would do anything for her, as she would for me. Anything to make her happy. And in the end, I did my best to fulfill her dream. My mind skips back to the look on her pretty face when I?—

My phone lights up with my boss’s number, interrupting the memory, and I place the album on the coffee table so I can answer the call immediately. Something must be wrong if he’s calling on our day off. I press the green button. “Taylor.”

“We need you and Rex out at the Bosworth Trails. A four-year-old girl has wandered off. Her mom can’t find her. We’ve told the officers at the scene to block off the area for you guys.”

“On it.” I end the call, head to my bedroom, and shove my feet into my sneakers. Rex follows me, sensing my urgency. “We have work to do, buddy.” I rub the top of his head and down his flank. His tail swishes eagerly, and I quickly grab my tac vest from the hook beside the front door. “C’mon. Let’s go, boy.” Hefollows me out of the house, jumps into the back of our cruiser, and within a few minutes, I pull onto the street.

I park the cruiser amid several police vehicles and civilian cars and head straight to the officer who looks to be in charge. Holding out my hand, I introduce myself. “Sergeant Taylor, Sir. I have Officer Rex in the cruiser, ready to search.”

He nods once as he shakes my hand. “Thanks for coming out so quickly. We need to find her before it gets dark. She went missing at thirteen hundred hours. Mom searched for her and didn’t call us until fourteen-thirty, when she realized she wouldn’t find her on her own.” He points toward a distraught woman. “She has some of her daughter’s clothes waiting for Rex.”

“Thanks.” I glance at my watch. Fifteen-thirty-five stares up at me. That’s two and a half hours. I glance around. She could be anywhere. Not an impossible task to find her, so long as a stranger hasn’t taken her, but it won’t be quick.

I grab Rex, then attach his vest and lead. As soon as his vest is secured, his demeanor changes and he’s ready to work. With his intensive training and years of experience, he knows exactly why we’re here.

“Ma’am. I’m Sergeant Taylor, and this is Officer Rex.” I point my chin downward. “We’re here to help locate your daughter.”

Her tear-filled eyes drop to Rex. “Oh, thank goodness. We were at the playground. I’ve been working so much and wanted to treat Mia to an afternoon off prekindergarten so we could spend the afternoon together. I should have just left her in school where she belongs,” she tells me on a shaky breath. “I turned my back for only a minute to grab her water bottle from my purse, and when I turned around, she was gone,” she says through violent sobs.

I give her a reassuring smile. “We’ll start looking for her immediately. I believe you have some of her clothing for Rex.”

She nods quickly and races to her car, returning with a dress. “It got sticky with ice cream, so I changed her into shorts and a T-shirt.” She passes it to me, then rubs her hands up and down her arms.

“Can you show me the last place you saw your daughter, please?”

“Sure.” She leads us to a small climbing frame. “She climbs everything at home, so I like to bring her here,” she says shakily, wrapping her arms around her body.

“I bet she loves it.” I smile softly. “Okay, I’m going to let Rex familiarize himself with Mia’s scent, and then we’ll start our search. Stay strong.”

She nods and I crouch down to Rex, holding out Mia’s dress. He takes a good sniff. “Find Mia, Rex.”

I stand, and Rex drops his nose to the ground. He leads me around the playground, circles back to the climbing frame, then seems to catch a scent and he’s off. With his nose to the ground and his tail swinging side to side, he leads me away from the playground and to the area where several park trails begin. He doesn’t pause, obviously locating Mia’s scent. Additional officers follow us at a distance, keeping out of Rex’s path, but ready to step in when needed.

Rex quickly weaves through the long grass as he follows Mia’s trail. He pauses for a moment and looks around with his tongue hanging out, then drops his nose again. My heart and feet pick up speed to keep up with him as he works.

He lives for this stuff, and he’s incredible at what he does. Together, we’ve found dozens of missing people of all ages.

We leg it over the terrain for forty minutes, Rex still going strong and my adrenaline running high. The temperature has been mild, but as the sun drops closer to the horizon, the warmth of the day is waning. Children are small, and they haveless tolerance for temperature fluctuations. We need to find her—soon. Rex pauses every now and then, but moves on quickly.

As we clear the crest of a low hill, my heart sinks when I spot a craggy outcrop.Shit, I hope she didn’t climb those. The jagged rocks would have been an enormous temptation to Mia with her penchant for climbing.

Rex doesn’t slow, and my heart pounds a heavy staccato against my ribs as he heads straight for the boulders. He sniffs around the base of the outcrop, then walks around the area for a bit, his ears twitching. This isn’t promising.

Picking up her scent again, he climbs over the rocks, then sits and barks, indicating he’s found her. I peek inside the crevice between two large boulders and, sure enough, little Mia is curled into a tight ball, asleep—oblivious to the worry she’s caused.

Relief fills me, and a gush of air escapes my tight lungs as I drop to my haunches to praise Rex. “Good boy. You found Mia. Great job, Rex.”

I rub each side of his neck vigorously, and he soaks up my attention. His tail thumps against the rocks, and his tongue swipes up the side of my face. I stand and he leaps up, resting his paws on my pecs as I scratch down his sides. He loses his footing on the uneven terrain and slips, dropping to all four paws heavily and scratching my pecs on the way down.Ouch!I rub my chest with the heel of my hand, certain he’s left scratch marks.

I keep Rex close as the officers who were following move forward to collect the sleeping child. They bring her to Rex so he can sniff her, concluding his search. His rump tips side to side, and he licks her arm. He looks up at me expectantly, because he knows his job is now complete and he’s ready for his reward.

“Great job, Officer Rex!” the other officers praise him, and he rejoices, spinning around, his butt moving so fast with hiswagging tail that I’m surprised he doesn’t knock himself over. Finding what he was searching for is the best game to him.

I drag his toy out of my pocket and hold it alongside his nose, and like the good boy he is, he sits on his rump and waits for my command. As the officers head back toward the playground, I give him the command to play, and he immediately snaps his jaws, grabbing the rope roughly so we can play a game of tug-of-war as an additional reward. He shakes his head back and forth with a playful growl, pulling on the rope with all his might.

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