Page 12 of Still Afraid

“That’s all on Poirot. If he hadn’t found her doll first, it could have gone much differently and would have taken longer to find her.”

“But Poirot couldn’t climb the tree.”

“True.” Josh nodded to the side. “How are the numbers?”

“Three fatalities. Still have a dozen unaccounted for. Cell service is a little sketchy since at least one tower got taken out, so it’s possible some of those people just can’t be reached.”

Garson handed Josh a printout of names, ages, and last known locations. Of the dozen, five were a family—mother, father, and three children. Josh prayed they were simply without a cell signal.

A rustling noise behind him distracted Josh from the list. He turned and saw nothing. Maybe the wildlife was coming back out after the storm.

Poirot ran into the command center, followed by Chloe. She gave Josh a soft smile, and he lifted his arm, inviting her to come close.

She tucked herself against him. As he settled his arm around her, she asked the same questions he had.

With twelve people still missing, their job was not done yet. The family and three other people had been staying at the campground. The remaining four were from the surrounding area. Garson reported that several houses had been flattened.

He said, “It’s late. Your team should get some rest, and then you can go back out. I’m hoping by then we can have scent items to help Poirot find them.”

Josh nodded. “Yes, sir. We’ll let Lance know.”

They left the tent, and Josh scanned for Lance. Instead, he made eye contact with another familiar face. He tapped Chloe’s arm. “Look who’s here.”

Josh waved.

“Aaron?” Chloe darted to her youngest brother. What was Aaron doing here? Last they’d heard from him, he was living closer to Chattanooga.

Aaron waved to Josh and opened his arms to his sister. “Chloe!”

She wrapped her brother in a tight hug.

Aaron looked like Gabe, except the lines on his face were much deeper, having chosen a more difficult path in life than his law enforcement brother. Chloe prayed for him all the time—praying against the addiction and worldly influences in his life.

He released his sister and shook hands with Josh, who pulled him into a hug. Aaron reeked of alcohol and possibly other substances.

“What are you doing here?” Chloe asked.

“Me and a couple of buddies were camping up here.”

“Are you all okay?”

“Yeah, our campsite wasn’t in the path. Everything was blown all over the place, but I think we found all our stuff.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Chloe gripped Josh’s hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze. He imagined the million questions firing off in his head about what Aaron was doing were in Chloe’s as well. Based on the way Aaron smelled, Josh guessed the “getting his life on the right track” plan was not working out as well as they had hoped.

Aaron said, “I’m totally fine. No need to worry about me.”

“You should call Mom and tell her you’re safe.”

“She doesn’t even know I’m here. No need to make her worry about something that isn’t even an issue.”

“She’d still like to hear from you.”

“No, she wouldn’t. Don’t fool yourself. She wants to hear from Gabe and Lydia about their perfect lives.”

“That’s not true.”

Josh clasped Aaron’s shoulder. “Your mom loves you more fiercely than you can ever comprehend. She always wants to hear from you.”