“What the hell are we gonna do?” Priscilla asked. “This was how we were gonna find her. Now what? We’re shit out of luck.”
“Get in the car. I have another plan,” he announced.
Chapter Six
MAX
The church was a bust. I knew it would be before we even stepped foot into that building. What I couldn’t figure out is why, once again, Cora’s trail went cold. But, at the very least, we knew she made it to the city and that she was more than likely alive. I breathed a big damn sigh of relief over that one.
I drove us to a nearby gas station to fill up the tank, and so we could regroup.
“We’re gonna have to search for her on foot,” I announced.
“On foot?” Priscilla asked. “Like walking?”
“No, like figure skating.”
“Have you seen this city? It looks like a broken-down, eighteen-murders-a-day ghetto. Would you go walking around in a ghetto at night?”
“It’s mostly damaged and neglected, is all. You’re not gonna run into any crackheads, I promise you.”
“Why are we walking, though? We’ll make better time in the car.”
“This is the only proper way to track someone. But in order to cover more area, we’re gonna have to break up into groups.”
Priscilla gasped. “You’re kidding me.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Breaking up into groups sounds an awful lot like a fancy way of saying split up,” Daggett commented, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose.
“Split up, group up, whatever. Does it really make a difference?”
“That’s usually how people start getting picked off one by one.”
“That’s not gonna happen, all right? We’re in no immediate danger.”
“Says you, but you’re forgetting we still don’t know where Cora is or if someone has her. They could be watching us right now as we speak, just waiting for us to pull a stupid stunt like this.”
“It’s not a stupid stunt. We break off into groups of two, one group searches to the east and the other to the west. We move out just a few miles, clear the area, and then we meet back here. I’ve already talked to the cashier inside and he said we can park the car here until we get back. This way, we can completely rule out one portion of the city. All right?”
No one said anything. Good.
“How’s your tracking, Daggett?”
“Better than yours,” he answered casually, and then caught himself and his eyes went still as he swallowed. “I mean, it’s pretty good.”
“Yeah, uh-huh.” I should have slapped him around for a bit. “You and Priscilla will take the west, Dana and I will take the east.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Priscilla exclaimed. “You want me to go with him?”
“Yeah. You got a problem with that?”
“We’ll probably get lost and freeze to death.”
Daggett moved in close to her side and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.”
“Christ, maybe hypothermia is the better option.” She pulled his hand off of her shoulder and stepped two feet away from him. “Why can’t I just come with you?”
“I don’t want anyone going alone,” I answered.
“Then swap Dana for me.”
“I want Dana with me.” I popped open the trunk to my car and threw a gray hoodie into Daggett’s arms. “That’s Cora’s. Get familiar with the scent and then try to track it.”
“Got it,” he replied.
Priscilla scoffed. “Something tells me you have a Bachelor’s in sniffing women’s clothes.” She aggressively rubbed her hands against the sleeves of her coat and shivered. “What exactly am I even going to do?” Priscilla asked. “I can’t track shit. I don’t have canine senses or whatever.”
“You do know how to look for someone, right? You possess eyes?” She used those very same eyes to dramatically roll them at me. I really didn’t give a damn. “Don’t go too far, and just sweep the area. If you find a shoe, a scent, or even a damn piece of gum you think she spit out, meet us back here and report. Once we can clear this part of town, we can move forward.” I turned to Dana and said, “You ready?”
She nodded.
“Perfect.”
As we walked away, I could hear Priscilla and Daggett already bitching at each other. Their search area was more city-based, but ours was toward the rim where the forest was. It’s possible that if someone was chasing Cora, she’d escape to the woods for safety. It’s what I’d do.
My pace as we headed to the forest must have been too fast, because Dana was trailing behind me by a few steps. Very quietly, I heard her say, “Again, I’m sorry. I really thought I could help you back there. Back at the church, I mean.”
I let her catch up to me. “You’re helping me now. That’s what matters.”
“You came all this way, and I just—”
“Hey,” I said and stopped walking. She immediately stopped as well. “I couldn’t track her either. If you’re gonna beat yourself up over this, then I have to beat myself up as well. You want me to beat myself up?”
Dana shook her head. “No.”
“So how about you don’t blame yourself and then I won’t feel obligated to blame myself either?”
I think she found some bit of relief over what I said, because she smiled. We resumed walking. I was trying to get even the faintest scent of Cora, but so far there was nothing.
“It’s kind of fitting how you’re back here looking for her,” Dana said softly. “A little over a year ago, Cora was doing the same thing—looking for you, I mean. She was just as determined and shaky around the edges as you are now.” Very fondly, she added, “I should have known you guys were in love right then.”
