Page 2 of Lost Lake
“What were you doing on this road?”
Lucy’s freckled face flashed in his mind. Fiery red pigtails. Wide grin.
Air locked in his lungs.
Stop thinking. Move.
He bolted outside and wrenched open the sliding door. The child’s car seat was gone. Floofy Bear lay slumped on the bench seat, abandoned.
“No.” A sickening weight settled low in his gut. “She would never leave her favorite bear.”
He tore through the bus. Three suitcases. A box of toys. Too much for a short visit.
She’d been running.
From what?
Not Lucy’s father. He wasn’t in the picture. Never had been.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Too close.
Cold dread slid through him.
He pulled out his phone and called Nolan, their team leader, to ask if his fiancée, Mina Park, the local sheriff, found anything. “You hear anything from Mina?”
“No. You find them?”
“Not them, but Kenna’s bus crashed in a ravine. Sirens are closing in on the lake.”
“I’ll call Mina. She might know what’s going on. Hang tight.”
Gabe shoved the phone into his pocket and clawed his way back up the ravine. He charged to the overlook. Flashing lightspainted the fog an eerie blue glow, and sirens wailed just down the road.
The sound of distress. Trouble needing intervention.
Patrol cars stopped near the beach. Deputies sprinted downhill, flashlights slashing across sand and water. Someone waved frantically then pointed at the water.
Gabe ran to the edge of the lot and zoomed in with his phone’s camera. The image blurred with fog and motion.
His phone rang. “Nolan.”
“Mina said they found a body floating in the lake. A man dragged it to shore. It’s too late.”
Something icy gripped Gabe from the inside. “Male or female?”
“She doesn’t know yet.”
He started toward the beach, every muscle shaking. “The child?”
A pause.
Nolan cleared his throat. “Empty car seat on the dock.”
Gabe’s legs gave out. He hit the ground, his palms striking dirt, lungs burning for air that wouldn’t come.
Kenna. Lucy.
He’d promised to protect them.
