Blood will tell

Chapter 3 Against her will

When the text lit up his phone, Nick was doing his homework. Or, to be more accurate, he had his history textbook open while he watched YouTube music videos on his laptop.

     The text was from Mitchell Wiggins, Nick's team leader in the Portland County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team.

     Homework now completely forgotten, Nick texted Ruby McClure. "Any chances I can get a ride?" He, Ruby, and a girl named Alexis Frost had all joined SAR at the same time and become friends. Ruby was the only one with a car. Once you were notified, SAR gave you just an hour to get your gear and assemble at the sheriff's office. On a Sunday night, TriMet buses were few and far between.

     Ruby texted back a second later. "Sorry. At the chamber music concert with parents. Already cutting it close."

     Nick jumped to his feet. He needed to change into outdoor gear and grab his SAR backpack and red helmet. And to persuade his mom to let him borrow her car. There was no sense in asking to use his brother's car. If Nick needed to borrow the car to drive to the emergency room or he would die from a collapsed lung or something. Kyle would probably still say no.

     Every time he was called out on a SAR mission, he felt closer to his dad, a soldier who had died a hero in Iraq when Nick was only four. His mom was dead set against him ever joining up, but she had agreed to let him be apart of SAR.

     What he hadn't told her was that SAR was a stepping stone, a place to acquire skills that would come in handy once he turned eighteen and could enlist. In liberal grams, but SAR would teach Nick how to track, use knives, give first aid, survive in the wilderness, navigate with a topo map and GPS, and even collect crime scene evidence. He figured that any and all of those would look good to a recruiter.

    Ninety minutes later, Nick and twelve other members of SAR's Alpha team clambered out of the sheriff's white fifteen-passenger can and into the parking lot of a large apartment complex. Jon Partridge, an adult adviser, had driven them to this spot in outer Southeast, past used car lots, strip joints, and fast-food places Nick had never heard of.

   In the two months since Nick had joined SAR, he had taken part in five searches for lost hikers and hunters, and two for crime scene evidence. But this was the first time he had been called out for an urban search. When it came to finding people, SAR usually concentrated on the great outdoors. But law enforcement could also mobilize them to search for the vulnerable who might have wandered away: the disabled, the elderly, and children.

     Chris Nagl, a sheriff's deputy, was already waiting for them aside from Chris and Jon, everyone else standing in the darkened parking lot was a teenager. Most of the other teens were certifieds who had been called out on dozens of searches. Nick, Ruby, and Alexis were allowed to participate in searches, but before they were certified, included mandatory classes every Wednesday evening and practice outings one weekend a month.

     "How could you even remember which apartment was yours?" Alexis asked, turning in a slow circle. The low light made her high cheekbones even more pronounced. Nick tore his gaze away and saw what she meant. They were each with three apartments above and three below. All the apartments had dark-gray doors, and matching white drapes hung in every window.

   "There are myriad minor differences." Ruby's breath clouded the air in front of her fox-like face. "There's the cardinal orientation, the possessions stored on the porches, the door decorations..."

   Nick and Alexis exchanged a look that mingled exasperation, amusement and an odd kind of pride. Ruby didn't notice.

   Mitchell Wiggins called out, "Huddle up, team!" His long pale hands waved them in. He was already wearing the yellow climbing helmet that marked him as team leader. "Today we will be conducting a hasty search for a seven-year-old girl named Mariana Chavez, who went to play with another child in this complex nearly four hours ago. But the other family wasn't home and she never returned to her own apartment."

     Next to Nick, Alexis shivered.

     "We'll go door-to-door first," Mitchell continued. "Then we'll clear the grounds. If that fails, we'll check nearby houses, walk roadsides, and clear fields. Remember, we are not only looking for the girl, but we're also looking for any sort of evidence as to her whereabouts."

     If Mariana were an adult, this might turn out to be what was known in SAR circles as "a bastard search," when you went looking for someone who had never really been lost at all. But it wasn't nearly as likely that a missing little kid was a false alarm.

     "Mariana has shoulder-length black hair," Mitchell continued. "She's wearing black pants, a pink top, a dark blue puffer jacket, and a red-and-black rain boots that look like ladybugs. She is in good health and normally not much of a risk taker."

     Nick reviewed what they had learned in class about "lost person behavior." Seven was old enough to travel quite a bit farther than even a slightly younger child. But seven was still young enough to be impulsive, or to give in to a desire to explore. Mariana was old enough to have been taught to avoid strangers and yet too young to realize that some strangers meant no harm. So this girl might even hear them calling her name and choose to stay hidden and quiet. Sometimes little kids even fell asleep and slept so deeply they didn't hear searchers calling for them.

     Mitchel scanned the circle of volunteers. "Temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing tonight, so if she's out here, it's important we find her." 

     Nick thought of the two nearby freeways. Somebody could have snatched Mariana and be hundred miles away by now.

     "Does anyone have any questions?" Mitchell asked. Alexis raised her hand. "What about Mariana's dad? Could he have taken her?"

     Chris answered. "Good question, Alexis. We always have to consider if it's custody situation. But in this case I've spoken to him. He's in Ohio, and he hasn't seen his daughter for two years."

     When no one else spoke up, Mitchell said, "Some of these people are probably sleeping. Remember, not everyone is going to react well to being woken up, especially if they hear someone pounding on the door and yelling 'Sheriff's Office!' Just say you're with Search and Rescue and keep it at that. Most people will want to help if they know you're looking for a lost child."

     Chris cleared his throat. "Of course it's possible that someone who lives in these apartments took Mariana. That's why you need to keep your eyes and ears open as you go door-to-door. But do not intervene. Just observe and report back to Base. And whatever you do, don't go inside, even if they invite you in. If you see anything that makes you the  least bit suspicious, don't let on. Just get out of there, come back to Base, and let us know. If someone is holding this little girl against her will, we don't need to give them another hostage."

     

*1,234 words.... wow. well I hope you are enjoying this book and that you have a good day... or night... afternoon?*