Rush looked at me. 'You take good care of him, Anita.'

'I will.'

'Nathaniel, you love my boy?'

'Very much.'

'Good. Take care of one another.'

'We will, promise.'

Rush nodded too rapidly and too often. His hand convulsed around Micah's and then he said, 'Send them in. If I don't talk to you again, know I love you and I know that you are good and strong and I'm so happy you have two people who love you; that's more than most people ever get.'

Micah used one hand to touch his father's hair. 'I love you, Dad.' He turned to us. 'Get my mom and Ty.'

Nathaniel and I turned and went for the door. We left Micah with his father, saying the things you say at the end if you get a chance and you really do love each other.

CHAPTER 21

Back in the family waiting room, Micah sat on the small couch staring off into space, clutching our hands. Nicky, Dev, Ares, and Bram were scattered around the room trying to look harmless and failing. The police talked to Ares and Bram, and Dev had gotten some of them laughing a little. Nicky just found a piece of wall and held it up in classic bodyguard pose near our couch. He didn't usually sweat socializing with the police. He expected them to dislike him. Micah had slipped his sunglasses back on, not to hide his eyes, but so we could all pretend there weren't tears sliding slowly down his face. He made no sound, didn't wipe at the tears, and just let them fall. He sat quiet between us, crying silently. The police and our guards obeyed the guy rule: If a man is crying utterly quietly and pretending he's not crying, you pretend, too.

Deputy Al walked into the room. He started talking low-voiced to some of the other cops. Their stoic, sad faces perked up and went serious. Two of them nodded and left the room like they had a purpose.

I asked, 'What's happened?'

Al looked at us. His gaze lingered on Micah, and his face showed sympathy for a moment, and then he fought it off. He walked over to us with his pleasant cop face in place. He hesitated looking down at Micah, his lips going in a thin, tight line as he debated on being a cop or a friend.

'Mike, is there anything I can do?' he asked finally, deciding on friend.

Micah just shook his head, wordless, not even raising his head enough to make eye contact through the dark glasses.

Al took that as the dismissal it was and said, 'Remember the hiker that Gutterman and the rest were looking for?'

'I remember you saying something about other police business.'

'The hiker was missing two days; this is number three, so we called for volunteers who knew the mountains in that area to help the police with the search.'

I nodded. 'I'd think that's standard in a wilderness area. You don't want more civilians getting lost.'

'Exactly, so everyone we took out with us knows what they're doing. The two men who are missing now, honestly, I'd trust them in a wilderness survival emergency more than most police I know. They are both high-priced hunting guides and can do serious hike-in and hike-out camps with pretty inexperienced hunters.'

'Good teachers, then,' I said.

'Yeah.'

Nathaniel asked, 'What happened to them?'

'They're missing,' Al said.

Micah roused himself enough to look up at Al. 'Who is it?'

'Henry Crawford and Little Henry.'

'They're some of the best in the area, or were ten years ago,' Micah said.

'Henry senior is nearly sixty-five, but he can still hike farther with more in a pack than anyone on our force except your dad, and that includes me. Little Henry is just scarier and quieter than he was, but I'd trust both men in any emergency outside a city.'

'Is Little Henry still an EMT?'

'Yeah.'

Micah finally let go of our hands enough to wipe at the drying tears on his face. 'I can't leave the hospital, Al, I'm sorry. Mom and Ty are still in with Dad, and I'm hoping to be able to talk to him again.'

'I wasn't asking you, any of you, but after the two Henrys going missing I don't want more civilians out there.'

'Is this the same place that the earlier people have gone missing?' I asked.

'Close enough,' he said.

'Something really bad has to be out there for them to be missing,' Micah said. He hunched forward, his elbows resting on his knees. He was staring at the floor thinking nothing good. Was he thinking of the wereleopard that attacked him years ago? It had happened in the mountains around here.

'How long have they been missing?' I asked.

'Three hours. Normally, we wouldn't think anything of it, but one minute Henry and Little Henry were within shouting distance of some of the other searchers and the next thing they were just gone.'

'What do you mean, just gone?' I asked.

'Gutterman says they called out, "We found something." But when the men tried to confirm if they'd found the killer, there was no answer.'

'Did you find anything to let you know where they were last?' I asked.

'It is pitch-black up in the mountains. We can't see shit, and the only tracking dogs are scattered looking for a missing kid and an elderly man who wandered away from his home. Kid is three, man has Alzheimer's, and you know how cold it gets at night here.'

'If they don't find shelter they'll die by morning,' Micah said.

'Our missing hikers are both adults in good health, with some wilderness experience. The Henrys could make shelter and survive a night easily.'

'Did you have dogs here searching for the hiker earlier?'

'One, but it was like its nose went dead. The handler had a word for it: nose-deaf. The dog seemed totally confused, as if it didn't know what the hell it was smelling. He said he'd never seen the dog behave like that.'

'Did it act afraid?' I asked.

He shook his head. 'Why?'