She Came From the Shadows (James and Tera: book 2)

14

When we got to Sage's house, there was a cop car outside. It was the car that belonged to Sheriff Brady, the town's long-serving lawman. He and a few deputies stood outside taking notes while Sage's mom sat on the steps, her hands covering her face.

We made our way up to the porch, and when his mom noticed us she immediately stood and rushed to us, putting both her arms around us and bursting into tears. "Please tell me you know where he is." She pleaded.

She stepped back and kept her hands around both of us, looking at us. Our expressions must have gave an answer, because she looked down in disappointment, returning to her seat on the steps.

"Listen Beth, we'll find him." The sheriff reassured her. "We've got the best hounds in the county on our side."

Sage's mom suddenly looked even more upset after that. "You know your dogs aren't even properly trained. They couldn't find a trail to even find one another if they got lost."

Sad, but true, the sheriff couldn't track very accurately with his dogs. One time there was a drug dealer cutting through town. Brady got word and decided to attempt to apprehend the suspect. The suspect had crashed his car and made way into the woods. The dogs took hours to hunt him before realizing he had circled back into town and had escaped already.

A car had pulled up. Kai's car, along with Terry. They both got out and made their way towards the porch. Kai was the first to speak. "We came as soon as we could." He told us. "We're planning a search party."

The sheriff stepped in. "Your assistance is appreciated, kids, but we've got this."

"What, with those old mutts you call tracking hounds?" Terry said with a bit of snark.

"Watch it, son." Brady warned. Regardless of his skills in tracking, he was an old man of the law, and he was a good one, which is rare, but if he needed to teach someone, especially teenagers, respect, then he would do so.

"All we're saying is that we can find him." Kai explained. "Get the town to keep watch, and have some of his closest friends look for him, since we know most of his spots."

Kai was right. We needed to be the ones to look for him. We knew where he could possibly be, so we could probably find him faster.

Brady pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. When he got done with a few drags he finally came to the agreement. "We'll give it a shot. You kids try and find him, and we'll do the same. If we can't find him, we'll put out a missing person report."

Tera looked at his mom. "Is his phone anywhere?" She asked.

She nodded. "He left it on the kitchen counter. I looked through it to make sure he didn't have anyone come and pick him up, but it's nothing that we can use to help find him."

I looked down at her, and I felt the same. I was worried too. "We'll find him." I told her.

Tera and I walked off towards the car. Kai and Terry followed. We formed a circle and planned on what to do. Tera and I would search the outskirts of town, and they would search in town. Shops, diners, bars, and knock on some doors to ask around for him.

Once Tera and I got in the car and started on the drive around town, it was quiet. All we would do is say whether or not he was somewhere nearby. Eventually we had circled the entire outskirts of town without a trace of him.

It was getting late, and the sun was turning orange. Sage's mom had said he had been gone since late last night. He could be anywhere by now. Maybe he's hurt or scared, or maybe he's going through more of his inner conflicts.

We had stopped at Terry's house. Maybe he was at the campfire spot we usually hang out at. Terry's parents weren't home, and they wouldn't mind us checking up back here. We parked in the driveway and walked towards the campsite, only to find it empty.