Page 60 of Take My Kiss
Sam left the house this morning without telling anyone, so I’m out looking for him. I need you to go and be with Amelia and Lily, please. She’s freaking out, and I don’t want her to be alone.
Pulling up to the fishing shed, I notice the doors are wide open, and the moment I park, I hop out.
“Sam?”
When I peek inside, I frown at where the canoe should be.
How the hell did he pull that off the rack by himself and drag it to the water?
Walking toward the river, I cup my mouth and call out his name. The air is still and quiet.
Not even the birds are awake.
“Where the hell are you?” I murmur, squinting so I can look out across the water.
My phone rings, and Bellamy’s photo pops up on my screen.
“Hey.”
“What’s goin’ on?” she murmurs, half-asleep.
I repeat what I wrote in my message and give her more context about him wanting to go fishing today and about the canoe being gone now.
“Did you call Bodie?”
“Of course, and texted. Gonna call Dad next.”
“I can ask Hunt to come out. He’s a great distance swimmer.”
Her middle school ex-boyfriend turned best friend turned only-god-knows-what lives a few miles from the ranch.
“Sure, wouldn’t hurt. I’m ’bout to walk around and see if I can spot the canoe.”
If I try to go into the water now to look for him, I could end up in the wrong area. The river splits about half a mile down from here with a few narrower spots that flow into another river.
Once we hang up, I call Dad.
“I’ll be right there,” he says after I explain everything. “Gonna call the sheriff on my way.”
My heart’s racing so hard, I can feel my pulse throbbing in my neck. As I continue calling his name, I use my phone camera to zoom over the water.
“Colt!” Huntley shouts, running up behind me less than ten minutes later. “Thought ya might need some binoculars.”
“Thanks.” I quickly grab them and adjust the settings.
Then, I see it.
“Fuck, there it is.” I point forty-five degrees to the right. “It’s just floatin’. No fishin’ poles or paddles.”
“Do you see Sam inside?”
Blood rushes to my ears. “No.”
He kicks off his shoes and rips off his shirt, then sprints down the grassy area in only his shorts before merging into the water.
Watching him through the binoculars, he keeps a good pace in the right direction. The canoe drifted a good fifteen-hundred feet, so Huntley has a ways to go before he reaches it.
Dad’s truck pulls up, and a few minutes later, Sheriff Brown arrives.
