Page 15 of My Child is Missing

Josie was relieved when the helicopter lifted and began circling again. It was still loud but not deafening. “Not yet,” she said. “I’d like to clear the house.”

He nodded. She motioned for two of the uniformed officers to follow her into the cabin. Once at the front door, they dropped into tactical formation with Josie at the lead. Inside, the cabin was small but new. Had City Council begun selling off portions of the land? Who would buy property or build out here where so many murders had occurred?

Shaking off the questions, she focused on clearing the cabin. The living room bled directly into the kitchen. The furniture was old and mismatched, as if each piece had been bought on a different occasion from a thrift store. There was no television, only a beat-up laptop sitting on one of the couch cushions, open. Its screen glowed with the Netflix menu. A frozen pizza slow-cooked in a toaster oven on the kitchen counter. At the back of the cabin was a small bathroom, with only a standing shower, and two bedrooms. One was clearly Henry Thomas’s sleeping quarters with its full-size bed and rumpled blankets. Josie noted there was only one pillow. A phone, watch, and lamp sat on the bedside table. Along one wall was a dresser, made in a different style and from a different wood than the nightstand. On top was a neatly folded pair of jeans and a tan shirt. The closet was filled with more clothes as well as shoes. In the other bedroom were about a half-dozen cardboard boxes marked “Dad’s stuff.” One of them sat open. A glance inside revealed a pile of foothold traps used for trapping small game. They looked old, the metal rusted. Josie and the other officers found no doors to a cellar or entrances to an attic. Based on the structure of the cabin, there didn’t appear to be an attic, but Josie was certain the place had a crawlspace beneath it.

However, inside the cabin, there was no sign of Kayleigh Patchett.

Josie and the patrol officers exited the cabin. She radioed Noah to come around the front. Seconds later, he was beside her. He looked over at where Henry Thomas stood beside a uniformed officer, watching them with his penetrating gaze.

“The house is clear,” Josie said. “I’m going to follow Blue and Luke inside, for what it’s worth. We need to find the access point to the crawlspace under the cabin.”

“It’s in the back,” Noah said. “I saw it while I was covering the rear of the building.”

Josie swallowed, wondering if that was where they would find Kayleigh and if she would still be alive. She suppressed a shudder thinking of the dark, dank conditions that surely existed beneath the cabin. Josie had never done well with dark, enclosed spaces, not since her childhood.

Noah said, “I’ll handle the crawlspace while you go with Luke and Blue.”

“Thank you,” she said.

His hand brushed hers as they parted, the movement small and quick so that no one else could see. He knew how much anxiety it caused her to be up on this mountain looking for another teenage girl and discussing spaces that made her claustrophobic just thinking about them.

Josie signaled to Luke, who gave a command to Blue. The dog surged up the steps and into the cabin. Josie followed the two of them, watching while Blue explored every inch of the living room and kitchen, then each bedroom, and the bathroom before turning around and heading back outside. Ignoring the other officers and Henry Thomas, Blue sniffed around each one of Thomas’s vehicles before finally coming to rest between them and giving a short bark.

Luke praised Blue, rewarding him with a large rope toy before turning to face Josie.

She said, “What does this mean?”

Wordlessly, Luke dropped to his hands and knees and looked under each car. Josie followed suit, adding her flashlight to his headlamp. Their lights shone on nothing but gravel and some weeds poking up from it. As they stood back up, Luke said, “Check the cars.”

Josie walked toward the patrol cars. A uniformed officer stood next to Thomas, who leaned casually against the side of the police cruiser, arms crossed over his bare chest, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He gave her a small smile that seemed almost smug. Was he gloating because he’d gotten away with something, or was it because he knew they’d find nothing?

“We’d like to search your vehicles,” Josie said.

He waved a hand with a flourish. “Be my guest. They’re both unlocked.”

With a nod, Josie walked back to the cars. She searched the El Camino while one of the uniformed officers searched the Toyota. Kayleigh was not in either one of them.

Luke and Blue waited near the front steps to the cabin. When Josie shook her head to indicate that nothing had been found, Luke’s face fell. As Josie strode toward him, Noah’s voice came over the radio, sounding slightly out of breath. “Crawlspace is clear. No sign of Kayleigh. No freshly overturned earth or anything.”

“Roger,” Josie said into her radio. “The house and vehicles are clear as well.”

“She’s not here,” said Luke.

Josie knelt and scratched behind Blue’s ears. Tail thumping, he dropped his rope toy and licked her cheek. “I’ve never known you to be wrong, boy.”

Luke said, “Blue is damn near perfect, but he’s given false alerts before. Kayleigh was here. That he lost her scent in the driveway tells me that she left here in a vehicle.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” Josie stood up and looked around at the scene. The helicopter had gone, thankfully, searching the rest of the area. From across the driveway, Henry Thomas stared at her, expression placid. His eyes never left her, even when Noah appeared beside her once more, covered in dirt and cobwebs.

Noah pushed a hand through his thick brown hair, dislodging some sort of dust. “Let’s call in the ERT,” he said. “Have them process the house and impound the cars.”

Josie nodded. “I’ll ask Gretchen to go back to the station and get the warrants started. Luke, you and Blue should go home and get some much-deserved rest. One of the marked units can take you back to the Patchetts’ home.”

“You guys were amazing, as always,” Noah added, reaching out to shake Luke’s hand.

Josie watched them go. “How do you want to do this?” she asked Noah.

“I’ll stay here until the ERT arrives with the warrants. Make sure the scene is secure.”

---