She was about to lock the front door when Jack came roaring down the street. He pulled into the driveway and got out of the truck. "Can we take your car? The truck is low on gas. Besides, both it and my SUV are too distinctive. We'll never get close to him in either of them. Your sedan is more likely to blend in."
"Sure thing." She tossed him her keys and then crossed her arms around her waist. "You drive. I'm still a bit shaken."
Jack immediately looked concerned and ran his big hands up and down her arms, their heat soothing the chill of her fear for Ricky. "He didn't try to hurt you or anything?"
"Oh, no, it wasn't like that at all."
She hated that she couldn't stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks. Jack muttered a curse and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe them away. Then he wrapped her in his arms and gathered her in against his chest. His voice was a deep rumble against her cheek. "Like I said, whatever happened wasn't your fault. He's been like a firecracker with a smoldering fuse for a couple of days. It was only a matter of time before something set him off."
She sniffled a little, still fighting the tears. "I graded his homework and showed it to him. He did a great job, and I told him that if he kept this up, he'd be back on grade level in no time and maybe even ahead."
"And that upset him?"
She frowned and replayed the scene in her head. "No, it was after that. I told him staying in one school for an entire year would make a huge difference. That's when he shut down and left."
"Yeah, that might have done it." She felt Jack sigh before he continued. "I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing he's been bouncing around from school to school a lot. Sometimes a parent's job situation makes that necessary. With strong family support, the kids do just fine. But in cases like Ricky's where the family most likely is the problem, he's going to be reluctant to make friends or strong connections with anyone because he knows he's not there to stay. The whole idea of remaining in one place for an entire school year is foreign to him."
Her heart sank. He was right, of course. She should've remembered her own suspicions on that subject. "So what do we do now?"
"First, I'm going to call him. I didn't want to try until I knew exactly what had happened."
He gave her one last squeeze before reaching for his phone while still keeping one arm around her shoulders. It was hard not to hold her breath as he punched in Ricky's number and waited to see if he answered. She counted off the rings. One … two … three times before it went to voicemail. Disappointment tasted bitter, but she had to admire how calm Jack sounded when he spoke.
"Okay, kid, I know there's a problem, but I can't help you if you won't talk to me. If you'll recall, the deal on getting you a phone was that you'd answer when I called. I'll be waiting."
He disconnected the call. "Let's go look for him."
-
Jack kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel when all he wanted to do was haul Caitlyn back into his arms. He wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to comfort her or if he was the one who needed her touch to help keep him grounded while they searched for that damned kid. The reasons behind the urge to reach out to her didn't matter. Right now he couldn't afford to surrender to that particular temptation. What he might need or want wasn't important. Ricky was the one at risk right now.
"Did you notice which way he went when he took off?"
"He ran to the end of the block and then turned right."
Jack stopped at the intersection to scan the road in both directions before making the turn. As he pulled forward, he made note of the fact that Caitlyn sounded far more calm than she had when he'd first gotten home. It was a good thing one of them was. "Don't worry. We'll find him."
"I hope so, Jack."
A few seconds later, she turned to face him. "I knew I couldn't catch him on foot. Maybe I should've jumped in my car and gone after him right away rather than wait for you."
Okay, so those scared eyes meant maybe she wasn't all that calm. His hand was off the wheel and holding hers before he'd even made the conscious decision to reach out to comfort her. "Don't second-guess yourself, Caitlyn. You did the right thing. Ricky is my responsibility. I knew he was struggling to deal with something and didn't warn you when I should have."
She entwined her fingers with his. "Your mother did say that Ricky came home upset after seeing a friend on Saturday. Some kind of bad news. Any idea what it was about?"
"No, but I have my suspicions. It's just a gut feeling. Nothing I can prove for sure, and the stubborn idiot sure isn't talking."
"You think the guy who put Ricky in the hospital is still out there, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do. For some reason the kid wants both the police and me to think it was a random attack. I think it was more personal than that. But with no witnesses and Ricky not cooperating, there's no way to track the culprit down."
"And the police haven't had any luck finding Ricky's family?"
His chest ached with fear for the kid and a whole shitload of frustration. "No. There's no missing person's report that fits his description. As far as the police can tell, no one is even looking for him. Their best guess is that he's a runaway and probably had good reason to take to the streets. I talked to his caseworker, too. Mrs. Harkens said she'd exhausted all of her resources with no luck. If Ricky's records are in the system, she can't find them. I'd feel a hell of a lot better if we knew for sure what was going on, but we don't even know if the name he gave us is real."
Caitlyn squeezed his hand. "You've done a lot more for him than anyone else would have, Jack. He's a smart kid. Once he calms down, he'll remember that and call you."
"God, I hope so."
He kept driving. After a bit, Caitlyn asked, "Where are we headed?"
"The first day I met Ricky, I took a chance and followed the bus he took to see where it let him off. He doesn't know I did that, but I was worried about him. Most kids living on the streets have a territory where they hang out most of the time. At least it's a place to start."
When they reached the corner where the bus had dropped Ricky off, Jack pulled over to the curb and parked. He needed to be out and moving, doing more than driving in circles. "Let's get out and walk around for a little while."
Once again, he took Caitlyn's hand in his as they headed down the sidewalk. They paused at each corner to look up and down the streets. No sign of Ricky. Jack wished like hell he'd gotten a better look at the other kids that first day, but wishing didn't change the fact that he knew nothing about any of Ricky's friends. He wasn't sure he'd recognize any of them even if they did cross paths.
Their failure made him want to punch something. "Damn, this isn't getting us anywhere. We might as well turn back."
Caitlyn tugged him around the corner into a narrow alley that ran between a couple of small stores. "Let's go this way and then circle back."
They'd gone only a short distance down the vacant alley when Jack's cellphone rang. One glance at the screen unknotted a little of the fear lodged in his chest. He wrapped his arm around Caitlyn's shoulders and pulled her close. "It's him."
Then he slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call. "Ricky, tell me you're okay and then tell me where you are."
While he listened to what the kid had to say, Jack offered Caitlyn a reassuring smile. "Hang tight. I'm coming. Just so you know, Caitlyn is with me, so order enough for three. Do you have enough cash with you?"
He waited for Ricky to answer and then said, "Okay, we'll be there inside of fifteen minutes."
The boy had one more thing to say, which made Jack happier. "Yeah, I'll tell her."
It was tempting to keep Ricky on the line until they reached him, but Jack disconnected the call anyway. This was going to be a show of trust on both sides. For his part, he'd make good on his own promise to meet Ricky at the fish-and-chips place where they'd eaten that first day. The kid would either be there or he wouldn't, but Jack's gut feeling was that the boy would be waiting at a picnic table with three orders of fish.
"Where is he?"
"That same day that I followed his bus, I took him to a fish-and-chips place down by the water. He's waiting for us there. By the way, he said he was sorry for taking off on you."