I watched him walk up the stairs. His shoulders slouched forward.
>
He didn’t answer and I felt the pain in my ribs. I wanted to drag him back to the car and take him home. Tuck him into a soft warm bed. Read him stories. Try to build Lego towers with him. Argue over what was going to happen in the next Star Wars movie. But I couldn’t do any of those things. Instead, I was a single twenty-six year old woman who could barely pay her bills.
I had been so desperate I took a job at Catch. I didn’t even have that anymore. I quit after the bar fight. It had been my first and last night moonlighting.
“Good night,” I called after Hunter.
He looked at me over his shoulder and my heart broke a little more.
“Night.” He walked inside.
The door closed and I moved to the driver side of the car. The end of the day shouldn’t be like this for either of us. But there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
I pulled away from the curb feeling as helpless and lost as he did. My stomach rumbled and I knew I needed to at least pick up some dinner. My fridge was empty. I hadn’t been grocery shopping all week.
I stopped at one of my favorite delis and picked up a sandwich and a salad. The lady behind the counter smiled at me as she handed me the order.
I wondered if she thought I was lonely. That on a Friday night I shouldn’t be picking up dinner for one. I sighed and trotted off to my car.
***
I had pulled into the parking garage of my apartment complex when I looked down and saw the number for the children’s home flash on my screen. I scrambled to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Jenni. Julie, are you still out with Hunter?”
It was stupid, but I looked at the empty backseat of my car. “No, I dropped him off twenty minutes ago. I watched him walk inside.”
I heard the alarm in Jenni’s voice. She was the night time coordinator. Over the past year I’d gotten to know her well enough that she trusted the arrangement I had with Hunter.
“He’s not here.”
“What?” I gripped the steering wheel with my free hand. “Where did you look?”
“Everywhere. We’ve asked all the children. Checked the lounges, the dining hall, bathrooms. Nothing. We can’t find him. I’m going to have to call in an Amber Alert immediately.”
“Oh my God.” My stomach plunged to my feet. I thought I was going to be sick.
“Do you have any suggestions? Anything I could tell the police? Did he mention something today?”
I shook my head. “No. He had a great day at school and an even better day at clubs after school. He actually played with the other kids today. He’s making real progress with Kane Hawkins.”
And that was when it hit me.
“Jenni, I’m going to make some calls. I’m going to start looking for him. Promise me you’ll call me when you find him.”
“I will. Thanks, Julie.”
My ignition was still running. I dug through my leather bag and held up the card I had received a week ago. It had all of Hawk’s information on it.
My fingers hesitated for only a second. I had to do this for Hunter.
13
Kane