Page 36 of Rescuer
“Hold that elevator!” A trauma nurse grabbed the front of the gurney.
The nurses at the elevator held it open. Once the area had cleared out, Jackson turned on his heel and headed toward the exit.
“What do you think?” Swanny broke the silence on the way to the ambulance. Leaving this kind of scene always affected them.
“I don’t like it, Swanny. Two kids in a week. That girl Amber brought in and now this. These are children!”
Swanny’s mouth tightened. “Yeah. She was a sophomore, just a year younger than him. Same geographical area, so they’d go to the same school.”
“They probably had classes together. If she had the drug, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think he might have gotten his hands on it too.”
Jackson hopped behind the wheel again. The dark clouds from two hours earlier had dissipated, and the sky stretched above them, a clear blue with fluffy white clouds scattered like cotton balls in the sky. He drove to Station One and reversed the ambulance into the bay, inching it back until the caution sensor lit up.
He turned off the engine and jumped down. Swanny’s door slammed on the other side, and the ambulance vibrated. “Not so hard, Swanny. It’s not good for the door.”
“Sorry. I’m just really angry right now.”
That made two of them.
Between thinking about the kid, this new drug and the havoc it was creating in his city, and his missing brother, Jackson couldn’t quite shake his mood during his shift. As soon as he left work, he wanted to see if he could track down Dylan and Reggie.
“I have an idea,” he told Swanny. “Tell me if this is dumb.”
“Shoot.”
“Dylan’s teacher and I, ah, we know each other.”
“Oh?” Swanny perked up. “Do I smell romance in the air?”
Jackson’s ears grew hot. “Dude, no.”
The memory of kissing Mia beneath the bleachers mugged him. He shook his head. “I just think maybe she and I could work together to see if we can find Dylan.”
“I thought you went to see the police about him.”
He hadn’t told Swanny what had happened. “Yeah, that didn’t go so well. They told us the kids weren’t high priority.”
“No way!” Swanny yelled.
“Keep it down. I’m only telling this to you.” Jackson glanced around. Rubbing the back of his neck, he continued. “Mia has worked with both kids. She knows them. She knows their friends. So instead of relying on the cops to find Dylan, I think I’ll get further if I start searching on my own. You know I’ve worked with SAR. Why not?”
Swanny scratched his chin. “Well, I’m not one to go rogue, but maybe you should. It’s your brother. And buddy, if I can help, say the word. Anything you need, no matter how big, I’m here for you.”
Jackson cleared his throat. “Thanks, bro. Means a lot.”
Before he could talk himself out of it, he sent Mia a text.
Jackson
I want to try and find Dylan. Could we meet up and compare notes? Maybe there’s something we haven’t considered.
He set his phone to vibrate and put it back into his pocket. He had no clue if she’d agree, but he prayed she would. Because if she didn’t, he was out of ideas.
And the longer Dylan was missing, the less likely they’d find him alive.
Mia leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping her coffee, considering the text from Jackson, torn.
She had to help Dylan. She’d known that since the police said he wasn’t a high priority. But she also had to find this foundation.
