“They aren’t answering.” Cael jumped in. “Tried ’em both.”
“And we need to find the house Chase was in,” James said. “It’s across the river-”
“I know the river and the bridge,” Cael said.
“But who knows how many houses it could be?” James said.
“Chase knows,” Maggie said. “And I have another theory.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Stuart hung up.
27
When Wyatt said his cell phone wouldn’t power on, Charley offered him hers, their fingers tickling as she passed it to him. When her phone’s signal died in mid-conversation with Detective Bland, Lily passed hers over.
He slipped them both into his pocket.
When they veered off the main road, Charley turned to him, her brows pulling together. The path to the park took an altogether different route.
“Detour,” he said.
When the car reached and crossed the bridge, Charley’s inner warning bells began to toll, and she pulled her hand from underneath Wyatt’s.
“Cold?”
Charley shivered. “No.” She forced herself not to rub her arms.
As Wyatt turned into the drive of a single-story bungalow on the opposite side of the bridge, she knew she’d been had. Behind her, Lily pressed into the seat back but remained mute.
Two figures stood on the porch as the car slowed to a stop twenty feet from the house.
“Now, ladies.” Wyatt put the car into park. “Don’t run when you get out. Casually step out, walk around the car, and I’ll lead you inside.”
His blue eyes sparkled with life and excitement. She sensed no fear, no worry, not even a hint of concern over the distinct change.
“What’s going on, Wyatt?” Charley asked.
“Change of plans.”
“We don’t-”
“No, you don’t change your plans. Get out.” He pointed to her door. “If you don’t, I’ll signal the two on the stairs to shoot.”
She turned to Lily whose wide eyes held unspoken worries. At the same time, they opened their doors and stepped out. The house really did sit on the water’s edge, with a slight embankment that might offer cover if they could reach it.
“Ah ah ahhhhh.” Wyatt waved a finger at them. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Think about what exactly, Wyatt? We’re supposed to be at a park. We’re supposed to be with James and Cael, Maggie, and Detective Bland. We’ve got fifteen minutes, but now we’ll never make it.” She tried to sound angry, but fear overwhelmed her senses and left her with a tinny, less-than-confident warble.
“Oh, it’ll all be over soon.” He gestured to her to move in front of him.
“What if I just want to go back?” Charley asked as Lily walked up to her side.
“Well, see… we won’t be having that now. Move.”
Charley held her ground at the edge of the car. Lily could run if she held them off. Maybe.
“Guess you’re not going to make this easy.” Wyatt pulled his weapon from his harness and fired a shot into the air.
Charley’s ears rang with the sounds of the bullet as it blew through the chamber before Wyatt pointed the gun at Lily.
“Move now, or I shoot your companion.”
Charley grabbed Lily’s hand and walked in front of Wyatt. She looked back over her shoulder with every couple of steps until she reached the house. The two on the porch grabbed her arms as she made her way up the short flight and yanked her forward, pulling her off balance and into their control.
“Hey!” Lily grasped for Charley.
Wyatt raised his arm into the sky and crashed with the full force of the butt of his weapon against Lily’s head.
She fell, face first, down the stairs until she slid to a stop.
Charley’s ear-splitting cry pierced the sky before her own vision went dark.
“Chase.” James whispered over the boy’s sleeping body.
Chase lay across his bed, one hand and a foot draped over the edge, his Superman blanket tucked under his other side. James shook him with a palm on the small of his back.
“Chase, wake up, buddy.” James pulled the covers back from his face. “Chasey. I know it’s late, but we need your help.”
“He’s out for the duration, I’m afraid,” Maggie said from behind James. “Does he always sleep like that?”
“Yes.” James tried again, his gaze on Stuart, who eyed Maggie from the doorway.
“Let’s just pack him in the car, drive to the bridge, and wake him on the way,” Stuart said.
“Still don’t want to hear that other theory?” Maggie smirked at Stuart.
“Cut it out, Maggie. If it were that good, you’d not have been able to keep it to yourself,” James said. “I don’t think we should take him, just find out more about the house.” James rubbed Chase’s back.
“We don’t have a choice but to take him,” Cael said from the end of Chase’s bed. “He’s going to have to direct us, maybe even by way of retracing his escape route through the forest, if he can remember it.”
“We can take two cars, and once we find the house, I can whisk him out,” Stuart said.
“It’s well after midnight, and he’s only a little boy,” Maggie said. “How can he possibly remember and lead us there?”
“He’s a very talented little boy.” James called Chase’s name again.
“You need to wake up mouse-boy?” Sophie said from the door where she’d appeared, unnoticed. She leaned into Stuart.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to-” James started.
She flipped the light on. “Chase!” Sophie called between her hands. “Pancakes!”
Chase’s head popped up. He turned toward James before he hit Cael, moved to Maggie, tilted at Stuart and landed on Sophie. “D’you say pancakes?”
Charley’s head lolled forward as pain radiated from the back. She pulled herself up as straight as she could, though she had no sense of balance. Her eyelids fluttered as her head fell forward again.
“She waking up?” a voice asked.
“No,” a second voice said.
“Why won’t he let us wake her up?” the first asked.
“I don’t know. And we’re not supposed to ask,” the second said. “What about the other one?”
“No idea. Don’t remember her.”
Charley pulled her biceps against her chest wall. Her arms had been tied straight against her body.
She flexed her ankles but couldn’t move them further.
