Page 174 of Saving the Halfback

I knew it made sense, but it still hurt. I wanted to be out there now more than anything. He took Gracie, that had me seeing red. “Nolan should go,” I said. “He should be there for Lachlan. He can help calm him down.” I begged Nolan with my eyes, but I could see without him saying a word what the answer would be. He wasn’t going to leave me.

“There’s a lot of volunteers around here. The school was released early, so most the teachers are here and a lot of locals. The police force is changing tactics as well. They are going to focus their search on Grace now, not Ken—er—Ed. I’ll call if anything changes.”

As soon as Chase hung up, the first tear fell. Nolan grabbed me and pulled me into him. “I feel useless. This is all because of me.”

“Don’t blame yourself for his choices.” Nolan wiped my tear away with the pad of his thumb, then pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “They will find her.”

“I really want you to go. Grace is in more danger than me right now. Even if they don’t let you join the search, someone needs to be there for Lachlan.”

“Chase will take care of Lachlan.” Nolan opened a map app on his phone and switched it to satellite, so we could see all the houses and roads as they appeared through satellite images. “I don’t know the area too well, but…you know Ed.” He looked at me. “You don’t have to be there to be useful. You spent the last three years with this guy. You knew his mannerisms to the point you reacted whenever you saw them in other people without thought. Maybe we can drop some pins on the map and send them to Chase.”

“Thank you, Nolan. That’s a really good idea.”

He leaned over and kissed my cheek once before returning to his phone. “Okay, where should we start?”

We began pouring over the maps as I told Nolan who Ed was, what he was like. He rarely ever went into town, and it was always work related. So, we marked off any sites around the feed co-op and farm supply stores. Chase had messaged Nolan, stating they were searching the trails first, but that just didn’t seem right to me. Ed wasn’t one to go on trails; he’d feel trapped there.

Mom came out not long after, sitting down and handing us sandwiches and bottles of water. “Both of you have barely eaten a thing. I want you to force these down.” She sat with us long enough to watch us scarf down the food, then left.

Mom had seen the alarm. She said she had been on the phone with my dad and some of the women involved in the search. I could tell she wanted to join as well, but when I told her she should go, she refused. Another person out of the search because of me. Instead, Mom was making lunch and baking food for all the search volunteers.

Once Nolan and I had finished eating, we followed her inside and took up a spot on the couch to resume pouring over the map. My eyes were starting to blur. Time moved so slowly, and sitting around, feeling useless, made it worse.

The knock on the door caused us to jump. No one we knew would’ve knocked—they’d just come right in. Mom was the first to get there and answer it. Nolan got up quickly, squaring his shoulders, bracing himself, as he stood behind my mother, acting like her backup.

We relaxed when the door opened, and the police officer stood on the porch. “Hey, folks,” he said. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up that they are pulling us from here. The jacket of the little girl was found, so they need everyone over there to search the field.”

“Yes, of course. Go,” my mom said quickly. He nodded to her.

“What field?” I asked.

“Over near Morrison Road,” he said before giving a final incline of his head and leaving.

Mom closed the door and looked over at me. “They are looking in the wrong spots,” I told her. “That’s Dad’s land over there, and he wouldn’t have left her in an open field.”

Mom nodded. “I’ll call your father, then get this food loaded up in the car,” she said, walking to the kitchen.

I turned to Nolan. “Give me your phone.” Using both thumbs, I searched the area, and my suspicion was confirmed. I called Chase’s phone. “What’s wrong?” He answered franticallyon the first ring, because that’s where we were at this point—any call would mean bad news.

“Where are you guys searching?” I asked.

“Ethan just picked us up. We are heading to the field over on—”

“Morrison Road?”

There was a slight pause. “Yeah.”

I nodded at Nolan. “Okay, there are four grain bins farther up from the crossroads. Dad owns all that land and the bins. Ed worked the land often. Also when you get close to Road 129, there’s an old cattle farm that shut down, but the barns are still intact. It’s abandoned.” Shit, I should’ve told the police officer this when he was here. “Does Ethan…does he still have the rifle?”

“Yes, B. I have it under the seat,” Ethan said.

I took a deep breath. This was it. This had to be it. They were so close to Gracie now; they were going to find her and shoot Ed. Grace would be safe. “Is Lachlan there?”

“Um, sort of.” Chase hesitated. “He’s in the back of the truck.”

“What? Like the bed of the truck?” I clarified.

“Yeah. It was for our own safety.”

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