Page 680 of Love Bites

My cheeks flared with heat. I knew both Billy Bob and Sheriff Taylor could hear her. “Uhm, sure.”

I got Michele’s number and hung up with Ruth. My call went straight to voicemail. “It could be nothing,” I said, trying to convince myself.

Billy Bob stood up behind me and kneaded my shoulders. “We should look for them.”

“Agreed,” Sheriff Taylor said. “We shouldn’t take any chances.”

I reached up and clutched Billy Bob’s hand on my shoulder. “What if they have him? They said they needed a third sacrifice before the full moon, and since I escaped…” Was this my fault? Had they taken Jo Jo because they couldn’t have me?

Deputy Farrady knocked on the sheriff’s door then poked his head in the room. “Brady Corman is here. He says he found Jo Jo’s car abandoned on the side of the road between their house and town.”

Out in the main room, Brady looked almost wild with panic.

“Is he drinking again?” I heard Tyler Thompson ask.

Brady turned on him, his amber eyes dilated with fear. “No, I’m not fucking drinking, you jackass. My son has been taken.”

“Now, Brady,” the sheriff said. “We don’t know that for sure. Calm down, and we’ll get to the bottom of this. We were just getting ready to go look for him.”

Brady’s dark brown hair pitched into his face as he opened his hand and stared down at his palm. He held a set of car keys and an eight-point star, this one made of metal. His voice was hollow as he spoke. “I found his truck pulled off to the side of the road. The driver’s side door was open, the keys were still in the ignition, his phone was plugged into his charger, and this star was in the middle of his seat.” He slapped the keys and the star onto Farraday’s desk. “Someone’s taken my boy.”

His eyes were sunken and weary as he spun around. Willy Boden held out a Styrofoam cup. “Here,” she said, holding the steaming cup out to him. “Would you like some coffee?”

“I’d really like a shot of whiskey,” Brady said. “But that won’t bring my son home.”

She set the cup down and nodded. “Okay.”

I knew she was trying to be kind, and I’m glad she hadn’t gotten mad when he didn’t respond well to her gesture. Brady had already lost his wife to the same hunters who’d kidnapped me the year before, and he’d barely survived her loss. If something happened to Jo Jo, it would kill him.

“Ms. Boden has offered her assistance in this matter. She has contacts with the FBI,” Sheriff Taylor said.

That explained her presence. I wondered how much she knew about what was going on in our town. She was security for the Tri-Council. If her brother was the killer, she could be helping him hide his tracks.

Brady blinked then looked at me. “We have to find my kid.”

It was ten in the morning now. Dusk would hit around eight-thirty. Impulsively, I casually put my hand over the metal star, took it up, and placed it into my pocket. It was as if I needed to possess the damn thing, the same way I had with the wooden one. Holding the new one made me realize how much I’d lost when I’d left the other behind in the killer’s truck.

I put my hand on Brady’s shoulder. “We only have ten hours before the full moon, so we better organize search parties. We can start in Tiller Woods, but really, we should search anywhere there’s a lot of unsettled acres.” Men needed to “do” things when they were worried. It made them feel like they had some control in an uncontrollable situation.

Brady nodded fiercely, ready to go. However, Deputy Farraday, Connelly, and Thompson all stared at the sheriff, waiting for his orders.

He snapped his fingers. “You heard Miss Trimmel. Do you have to be told twice? Call the town together, and let’s get search parties going.”

Brady slumped against the desk, bumping the coffee. It spilled. “Shit,” he said jumping up.

“I got it,” Willy said. She grabbed a box of tissue from Farraday’s desk and started pulling out wads of it to soak of the spill.

The heavy scent of the black coffee permeated the air. Brady looked up at me. “I can’t do this again.”

I took his hand. “You won’t have to. We’re going to find him, Brady. We’re going to find him and bring him home.”

Deputy Connelly carried over his tablet. On the screen was a topographical map of Peculiar and the surrounding area. He held it out for Brady. “Where did you find his truck?”

My phone rang again. It was Ruth. I picked up the call.

“I can’t find Michele.”

Those four words chilled me to the bone. “Where did she say she was going?”

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