you for a man who is afraid of a little dog. Tom and Jerry are people dogs."
"Tom and Jerry? These dogs don't seem very friendly."
"Malerie's been missing for three hours now. She didn’t take her phone. She knows better than to leave the house without it.” Billy is all business, apparently forgetting about the dogs.
"Maybe she went for a walk. Does she ever do that?" I study the utter blackness of the night past the perimeter of the house. Even I'd hesitate to walk into the woods here in the mountains.
"Sometimes she jogs, but she's been too injured by the gunshot wound to do so."
"Do you think there is a chance she left with someone?"
Billy inclines his head toward the sitting dogs. "Tom and Jerry would have alerted me if anyone else had been around the house or Malerie." He points at the backpack in Ace's hand. "You brought something?"
I unzip the pack and walk to the porch. "I brought these because I didn't know how the cell phone reception would be out here."
Billy looks curiously at the flashlight and walkie-talkie I hand him. Curious like it's something foreign to him.
I can't wait for him to acclimate himself to the fact that I'm telling him what to do. "I want us to draw a map and take quadrants. I'll call out coordinates periodically and … do you know how to use a GPS?"
He shakes his head and I take a few minutes to show him the readout.
"I'd like for you to always start at the farthest point and zigzag your way toward the house. This way we won't miss her if she comes back. I'll take the outer perimeter of each quadrant. I need to know the exact time you noticed her missing so I can estimate how far she could have gotten.” I check my watch.
"It was after dinner. Maybe six-thirty," he answers.
"Let's spread this out on a table and get a quick plan together." I don't wait to be invited into the house, but once inside I look around back at him for guidance. Billy turns to the right and leads the way. There's a small table and I lay out a large piece of architect paper with a grid background. I instruct him to draw the outline of the property, marking the location of the house. Then I add the GPS coordinates of the location of the house. I'd already marked the location of the road on the way there. I make several marks to show Billy where to begin and give him a notepad with instructions.
We step outside and Billy puts a hand on my arm. "Take Tom with you," he says.
I eye the leather lead he shoves toward me. The dog on the other end looks as unhappy as I am about the prospect. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm used to seeing a dog with a certain amount of tail-wagging enthusiasm. "Don't need it."
"You don't know this area, and Tom does. There's coyotes and things out there you don't want to run into." Billy forces the lead into my hand. The moon is a large glowing disc but does little to aid in seeing more than a few feet ahead. I walk a few yards and the dog keeps pace with me.
The woods breathe with sounds I don’t recognize and the farther I go, sweeping my flashlight in a wide arc, the more I'm glad for the company of the dog.
Tom leads the way through brush and I'm surprised at how thick it's gotten. Masses of fallen dry leaves crunch with each step. I stop at intervals to study my map with the flashlight that had seemed weightless at the onset of the search and now feels like a cumbersome brick to maneuver.
I've made a full circle of my area and sweat trickles down my back. The dog’s ears prick up, and he growls. I'm almost certain I hear the muffled pounding of feet so I click the button on the flashlight. It's way too loud in the stillness of the night. I stop moving, breathing, thinking, and just listen.
A movement from the corner of my eye bleeds into my subconscious. Awareness of the company of another heartbeat, another being, another life. Tom stands silently by my side so I'm not prepared for the pull of the leash when he rockets forward.
We're at the heels of a figure that
"Tom and Jerry? These dogs don't seem very friendly."
"Malerie's been missing for three hours now. She didn’t take her phone. She knows better than to leave the house without it.” Billy is all business, apparently forgetting about the dogs.
"Maybe she went for a walk. Does she ever do that?" I study the utter blackness of the night past the perimeter of the house. Even I'd hesitate to walk into the woods here in the mountains.
"Sometimes she jogs, but she's been too injured by the gunshot wound to do so."
"Do you think there is a chance she left with someone?"
Billy inclines his head toward the sitting dogs. "Tom and Jerry would have alerted me if anyone else had been around the house or Malerie." He points at the backpack in Ace's hand. "You brought something?"
I unzip the pack and walk to the porch. "I brought these because I didn't know how the cell phone reception would be out here."
Billy looks curiously at the flashlight and walkie-talkie I hand him. Curious like it's something foreign to him.
I can't wait for him to acclimate himself to the fact that I'm telling him what to do. "I want us to draw a map and take quadrants. I'll call out coordinates periodically and … do you know how to use a GPS?"
He shakes his head and I take a few minutes to show him the readout.
"I'd like for you to always start at the farthest point and zigzag your way toward the house. This way we won't miss her if she comes back. I'll take the outer perimeter of each quadrant. I need to know the exact time you noticed her missing so I can estimate how far she could have gotten.” I check my watch.
"It was after dinner. Maybe six-thirty," he answers.
"Let's spread this out on a table and get a quick plan together." I don't wait to be invited into the house, but once inside I look around back at him for guidance. Billy turns to the right and leads the way. There's a small table and I lay out a large piece of architect paper with a grid background. I instruct him to draw the outline of the property, marking the location of the house. Then I add the GPS coordinates of the location of the house. I'd already marked the location of the road on the way there. I make several marks to show Billy where to begin and give him a notepad with instructions.
We step outside and Billy puts a hand on my arm. "Take Tom with you," he says.
I eye the leather lead he shoves toward me. The dog on the other end looks as unhappy as I am about the prospect. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm used to seeing a dog with a certain amount of tail-wagging enthusiasm. "Don't need it."
"You don't know this area, and Tom does. There's coyotes and things out there you don't want to run into." Billy forces the lead into my hand. The moon is a large glowing disc but does little to aid in seeing more than a few feet ahead. I walk a few yards and the dog keeps pace with me.
The woods breathe with sounds I don’t recognize and the farther I go, sweeping my flashlight in a wide arc, the more I'm glad for the company of the dog.
Tom leads the way through brush and I'm surprised at how thick it's gotten. Masses of fallen dry leaves crunch with each step. I stop at intervals to study my map with the flashlight that had seemed weightless at the onset of the search and now feels like a cumbersome brick to maneuver.
I've made a full circle of my area and sweat trickles down my back. The dog’s ears prick up, and he growls. I'm almost certain I hear the muffled pounding of feet so I click the button on the flashlight. It's way too loud in the stillness of the night. I stop moving, breathing, thinking, and just listen.
A movement from the corner of my eye bleeds into my subconscious. Awareness of the company of another heartbeat, another being, another life. Tom stands silently by my side so I'm not prepared for the pull of the leash when he rockets forward.
We're at the heels of a figure that
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