“Excuse me,” Jeremy said, clearing his throat.
Jeremy never interrupted during these meetings, nor did I. So I knew whatever he had to say must be an emergency.
“I’m so sorry,” Jeremy repeated. “There’s a phone call for you, Macon, and you need to take it.”
Chills swept over me, and I swallowed hard. “Who is it?”
“It’s the bakery. You need to answer the phone. Mrs. Roth? Come on, let me get you some coffee.”
“Oh, I hope everything’s okay,” the older woman said, wiping her tears. “It’s Dakota’s shop, right? She has the best bakery.”
The big small town that is Boulder… Everybody knows everybody else’s business, I thought. I made my way to the phone after giving Miss Roth another hug and a tissue and frowned when I heard Pop’s voice on the other line.
“What is it?” I asked, my heart racing. Flashbacks hit me, and I pushed them out. This was not about me or my insecurities and memories.
“It’s Dakota. You need to get here.”
“What’s wrong?” I growled.
“She’s on the phone with the police right now. The school called. It’s Joshua. Someone took him.”
My mind went fuzzy, and I tried to catch up. “What?”
“I don’t have any answers. I’m just listening to this secondhand. She doesn’t even know I’m calling you. I figured she’d call you next, but you just need to be here, okay?”
I was already slipping into my jacket and grabbing my things before she finished speaking. “I’m on my way. Tell her I’m on my way.”
“Okay. Just get here. She’s so scared.”
I didn’t tell her that I was scared, too. Though that had to be obvious in my voice. I couldn’t process any of it. Because that little boy had to be okay. And if he wasn’t? I was going to kill Adam with my bare hands.
I gritted my teeth and looked at Jeremy, who stood in the doorway. “Someone’s taken Joshua. Or he left school without telling anyone. We don’t know. I need to get to Dakota.”
Jeremy’s face lost its color. “Go. I’ve got this. Tell us if you need anything. Do you need me to call your brothers? Hell. Do you need me to drive?”
My hands shook, and I took a deep breath, counted to ten, then remembered what I needed to do to calm myself. “No, I’ve got this. I’ll call in the cavalry on the way. Just take care of Mama Cat and her babies for me, and our patients.”
At that, my heart broke again. The kitties needed Joshua, just like I did. Just like Dakota did.
We needed to find him.
“You’ve got it. Call me if you have an update. Or…fuck, I’ll call Cross. Don’t even worry about this place. We’ve got it handled.”
I nodded, knowing the practice was in safe hands…and I ran.
My heart raced as I did my best not to drive off the road on my way to the Boulder Bean. I used my Bluetooth to call my family, my hands shaking as I made my way to Dakota.
Cross answered after the first ring. “Hey, Macon. What’s up?”
“It’s Dakota. And Joshua. I’m on my way to her now. I don’t know what happened, but I guess the school said they can’t find Joshua.”
“What the hell?” Cross sputtered.
“Can you call the family? The girls. I don’t know who Dakota’s calling; she didn’t even call me. Pop did.”
“I hope to hell that’s not bitterness in your voice.”
“You know what? I didn’t even have a little bit. Because I know she’s not thinking about a phone tree or calling me. She’s thinking about her son. Pop got me, and I’ll get to her.”
“And I’ll get the troops. You get to Dakota, see what you can do. And keep me updated if you can. If not? We’ll meet you at the shop, or at her home later. Whatever it ends up being. Macon? You’ve got this?”
“I don’t know if I do. If something happens to that little kid, Cross...” I let the words dangle, bile filling my throat.
“He’s fine. He’s probably just hiding in the playground or something.”
“Joshua knows to be on alert. He knows I’m staying at the house because there are dangers out there. He wouldn’t just run off.”
That had been a tough conversation that I hadn’t been a part of, I’d stood at the door, waiting for Joshua to nod his head with wide eyes as his mom filled him in. In the end, we’d tried to make it an adventure for him, an extended sleepover where I would be around. But he always knew not to talk to strangers or go off with random people. He would never hurt his mother like this on purpose.
“Breathe, you’ve got this. And we’ve got you. You guys are not alone.”
“Thanks, Cross,” I whispered, and then my brother hung up, presumably to call the rest of our group.
My hands were slick as I turned the steering wheel and parked around the block from the Boulder Bean. When I walked in, it was to chaos.
“Ma’am, we’re going to need you to go home. We’re issuing an Amber Alert. But you need to be home near the phone in case someone calls or he shows up. As soon as we have more information, we’ll contact you.”
“Dakota?” I asked, pushing through the others.
The authorities looked at me, but I ignored them, my attention on Dakota.
Relief and fear crawled over her face, and she ran to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. She leaned into me for a bare instant, just enough for me to squeeze her tightly before she pulled back, rolled her shoulders, and looked like the woman I had first met. The one with immense strength and
