Dane set the piece of wood down next to him and kept both hands between his knees. He leaned back on the bench. “It’s okay, William. You can come out.” He didn’t yell. He just spoke loudly enough to be heard in the woods behind him. He didn’t even turn around to look. “I’m not here to hurt you.” Dane heard nothing—no response—no movement. “My name is Dane—like a Great Dane—you know—like the dog? I’m a police officer and I’m here to take you home.” Still nothing. Not a sound. Dane leaned forward a little and pushed some leaves around on the sidewalk with his foot. “I know your brother told you to wait here for him, William. I know you don’t know me, and you’re just doing what your brother asked you to do, but you can come out now. You did good, William. Arnold would be proud of you for waiting this long—real proud—but you don’t have to wait anymore. He’s not coming, son.” Dane took out the photo of William and his parents. He held it over his head so it could be seen by anyone looking and then set it down next to him on the bench. “William, I know you lost your folks last year. I know how much that hurts. I also know you’re scared of letting Arnie down because he’s all you’ve got, but you’re not going to let anyone down. I promise. You know if he was coming he’d be here by now, but he’s not, so you’re gonna have to trust me. I only want to get you home safe.”
This time Dane thought he heard something rustling around in the woods. He looked but didn’t see anything. It might have been just the wind or a squirrel, but he directed his attention toward it. “I can protect you, son. I can—”
“Is he dead?” William said from the side of the bench opposite the way Dane was looking. For the second time that night, Dane about jumped out of his skin. William stood next to the bench with his hands buried in the front pocket of a gray hoodie. He was just skin and bones. The hood of William’s sweatshirt was down, and Dane saw in person for the first time the face of the boy he’d been looking at in that photo. He was thinner and taller now, and his cheeks were hollow and sunken, but they were still covered in freckles like the younger, happier version of the kid in the picture. He eyes were still just as gray and distant. Dane felt the need to reach out and hug the boy. He was just a few years older than Joy. He fought the urge and instead just answered the boy’s question honestly. “Yes, William, your brother is dead. I’m sorry.”
If William was surprised, he didn’t act like it. “Did you kill him?”
Dane was surprised by the question. “What? No. No, William, I didn’t kill him. I work for the people who are trying to find out who did. I’ve been trying to find you ever since it happened.”
“Was it because we won the money?” The boy’s abnormal sense of calm was unnerving, but Dane continued to sit and clutch at the bench wood between his knees. He kept his answers short and honest.
“Yes, William, it was because of the money, but it’s not your fault. You have to understand that. None of this is your fault. But right now we should get you somewhere safe.”
William stood there with his hands buried deep in his pockets and studied Dane’s face. Maybe he was looking for a lie, but Dane thought he was most likely looking for a friend.
“What do you say, kid? Can we get out of here? You’ve got to be starving. We can go and get something to eat first. Does that sound good? We can go anywhere you want.”
William picked up the photograph from the bench and sat down next to Dane. “I miss my mom.”
“I imagine you do, son. Why don’t we get you out of here, and we can talk about it?”
William stuck the picture in the pocket of his hoodie and said nothing.
Dane grabbed his phone from his jacket. “I need to let some people know I found you, okay?” He began to lift himself off the bench.
“Do you see that flamingo over there?”
Dane eased back down and looked over at the wading pond. “I see a bunch of them, William.”
“Seven over from the right. The really tall one with the yellow dots by his beak. See him?”
Dane counted seven over from the right. “Yeah, I see him.”
“That one,” William said, “has been bothering that female next to him for hours, but she already has a partner. Any second now he’s going to make his move and—wait, watch.”
Dane watched the taller bird close in on an identical-looking pink bird to its right, if closing in meant taking a single step. But just as it took that step, a third identical-looking bird flapped its wings and cawed in protest. The rest of them followed suit and the taller bird backed away to the edge of the pond. William shifted on the bench. “Did you know that flamingos mate for life? Once they find a partner, it’s them two until the very end. They never leave each other. And if one of them dies, the other one lives alone until it dies, too.”
Dane stared at the birds. “No. I didn’t know that.”
William looked up at Dane but didn’t look him directly in the eye. “That’s pretty cool, right?”
Dane’s heart felt as if it doubled in size and no longer fit in his chest. “Yeah, it is. It’s very cool.”
William stood up and motioned for Dane to do the same. “We can go now,” he said.
Dane nodded and stood. He let William lead the way.
* * *
Dane and Roselita stood in the parking lot of the Black Mountain Safari Zoo as James Edwin locked it back down. William sat in the back of Roselita’s car looking at the photo of his family. There were still no tears. They shook Edwin’s hand and thanked him, and then watched the big man get into his truck and leave the parking lot. When he was gone, Dane pulled out his phone. “I’ll call August and let him know we found the kid and we’re bringing him in.”
Roselita looked at William in the back of the car and, for the first time, she didn’t argue with Dane. She just stood and watched him tap in a number and turn his back to her.
“I’m sorry about this, Kirby.”
“Sorry about what, Rose? Hold on a sec—”
Roselita brought the handle of her gun down hard on the back of Dane’s head and he went sprawling to the pavement. The phone flew from his hand and spun like a top on the asphalt. Roselita walked over and picked it up. “For that,” she said, and began to drag Dane’s unconscious body toward the Infiniti. It took some work, but she managed to get him in the car. William watched from the back seat but made no attempt to get out. He just watched—expressionless, as if he’d always known it was going to go this way. When Roselita loaded Dane into the car, William simply moved over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dane came to in a room he didn’t recognize. There was a lot of red—the walls, the plush chair in the corner, the shag rug, all red. His head was killing him and he didn’t need to touch it to know there was a goose egg on the back of his skull rising like a biscuit in the oven. He tried to touch it anyway. He couldn’t. His hands were bound. He tried wriggling free, but his hands were zip-tied behind his back and he’d been sitting on them long enough in an awkward position that they’d both fallen asleep. It was starting to come back to him. He got hit—hard—who—“Rose?”