The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor(73)

“Be careful,” Jake told him, but Luke heard the worry in the older man’s voice. It was his grandson out there.

Somehow he and Jake had managed to find the one camping area Luke didn’t remember venturing near when he was growing up. None of this was familiar, and even if it had been, the overgrown trees and brush obscuring the path would have erased any memories. Cash raced ahead, then came back for him, as if afraid he was going to lose Luke on their outing. Try as he might, he couldn’t forget Simon was Holly’s son. He’d promised her Simon would be safe, that he’d look after him. That he wouldn’t let anything happen.

He was zero for three.

He should have listened to her and put a tracking device on the kid. “Simon? Charlie!” Luke called occasionally, aiming his voice in different directions in case they’d ventured off the path. “Kyle!” Please answer. Someone please answer me.

There was a slight clearing over the next slope, and for an instant, he thought he saw movement. He pulled out the phone, clicked it open to update Jake as he called, “Simon? Charlie? That you?”

Leaves rustled. Cash barked. Branches snapped and he heard the distinctive sound of huffing as Charlie crested the hill and catapulted into his arms. “Hey, it’s okay.” He hauled her up and felt his heart tip as the little girl wrapped her arms tight around his neck, her legs looping around his waist as she trembled. Thank goodness she was safe. “Charlie, you’re okay. I’ve got you.” He pressed a hand against the back of her head. “Where’s Simon? Is he with you?”

She shook her head and looked at him, big brown eyes wide amid dirt-stained cheeks. “Kyle,” she panted, pointing behind them from the direction she’d come. “We followed Kyle and...”

“Simon’s with Kyle?”

“I don’t know. Simon went around the back of the cabin to see what Kyle was doing inside, but then he came running out and yelled at me to find you. He looked scared, Sheriff Luke. I’m sorry I ran away, but Simon told me to.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You did the right thing.” To calm himself as much as Charlie, he gave her a big bear hug before lowering her to the ground. “I need you to keep going right on this path, okay? It’ll take you back to camp—”

“I’m going with you.” She captured his hand and dragged him back over the hill. “Faster, please. Kyle scares me. He scares Simon, too, even though he won’t admit it.”

They’d no sooner reached the clearing than he saw Kyle near the trees, dragging Simon along the ground. “He fell,” Kyle called as Luke ran forward. “I swear he fell, Sheriff. I didn’t mean to scare him so bad.” Charlie stayed glued to Luke’s side, one hand deep in Cash’s neck as she eyed Kyle.

Luke stopped breathing. Blood coursed down the front of Simon’s face from the gash across his forehead. His glasses were gone and there was a large welt across his nose. He was sickly pale. He reached out his hand to check Simon’s pulse. Only when he felt a steady beat under his fingers could he breathe again. “Okay. Kyle, you head back to camp, tell Jake what’s going on. Charlie, you stay with me.”

The fact Kyle didn’t hesitate to go racing back to camp told Luke there was a lot more to the story than the kid was willing to admit, but Luke’s first concern had to be Simon.

“Is he going to be okay?” Charlie asked as Luke bent down and hefted Simon into his arms. He cradled the boy’s head against his shoulder, trying not to jostle him too much as he double-timed it to camp. “There’s blood.”

“Head wounds bleed a lot.” Luke tried not to focus on the blood or the deadweight in his arms. Tried not to remember the last time... “We’ll get him to the emergency room...”

“Shouldn’t we call 911?” Charlie asked as she ran to keep up with him. It was then Luke noticed she had a hand locked around Simon’s ankle. “Mom always says to call 911 when there’s blood.”

“It’ll be faster if I drive him,” Luke said. He should have chosen somewhere closer to the road. EMTs wouldn’t be able to maneuver around those roads very easily, and the time they wasted waiting for the ambulance would be just that: wasted. “You’re being very brave, Charlie.”

“Sidekicks are always brave.” Luke glanced down as Charlie lifted her chin. “We’re the backup.”

“Well, Simon’s lucky to have you.” If only Simon had been as lucky to have Luke. His previous conversation with Holly took on a new light. He’d sworn never to break another promise, never to let anyone else down. But history had a vicious sense of irony where Luke was concerned. He’d been too late to save Carter.