“Cole’s headed north,” Sloan called after him, but she didn’t have to. Evan already knew.
Ten minutes later Evan found Cole. “Hey! You’re drivin’!” Evan pulled up next to the metahuman and stopped the car abruptly, throwing it into park. “I’m a better shot anyway,” Evan jumped out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition. Cole hurried into the driver’s side while Evan ran and slipped across the hood to clamor into the passenger side.
Cole had already sprinted seven miles trying to keep sight of the coydog, but however hard he ran, he couldn’t get more than a glimpse of Maze far in the distance.
“Where did you last see him?”
“He’s a good three miles ahead of us, that way,” Cole nodded his head toward a cluster of palms far in the distance. Both boys squinted into the dazzling Egyptian morning light. Their vision far surpassed that of a human’s but neither of them could see anything resembling the silhouette of the determined coydog.
“Just stay northbound,” Evan mumbled as he double-checked the tranquilizing gun in his hands.
Cole glanced over at what Evan was doing and shook his head in amazement.
“Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“What do you mean?” Evan’s voice had taken on a robotic tone. He was trying desperately not to get too emotionally caught up in what they were about to do. Over the past three months, life had been very different. His family’s resentment seemed to grow. Evan felt like an outsider in his family.
“I mean, have you ever heard of an animal chasing blindly after their master across miles and miles of terrain.”
“I’ve read of several accounts, yes. And he’s not just an animal, he’s a pack animal. As a canine, he has a strong sense of loyalty to the being he chose as his alpha. He’s always accepted the rest of us as part of Meg’s pack. The only other person I’ve seen him act subservient to is Creed. I don’t think he would be as depressed if Creed were here. I think he saw them as the alpha pair.”
Evan remembered a little too late to be careful about what he said regarding Creed and Meg, but when he glanced over trying to gauge how far he’d put his foot in his mouth, he saw no hint of pain in Cole’s face.
“I don’t think Creed’s going to come home until he’s found Meg,” Cole said matter-of-factly.
“You’re probably right. Last time Alik and Farrow checked in, they hinted at his distancing himself more and more as time’s worn on.”
“Sounds as though the Maze and Creed have something in common.”
“Good point. How much longer will Creed be able to stand being apart from her? I wonder if we’ll lose him like we’re losing Maze.”
“Maze is going to get sick and maybe not pull out of it if we can’t get him to eat more and stop running off.”
“Farrow did mention Creed was working himself to exhaustion—not resting or eating.”
Cole was shaking his head. “Listen, Evan. I love Meg, too. I’ve had to learn to love her like a friend—a sister—but it’s still love. I have kept a positive attitude about us locating her and bringing her home for the past three and a half months, but I have to be honest, it’s getting harder and harder to believe.”
“She’s my sister. No matter what everyone seems to think, I miss her terribly.”
“Do you really? You sure as heck didn’t want to join the search for her.”
Evan felt a familiar gut-wrenching wave of nausea. “I have work I have to do, Cole. I know you don’t understand.”
“Whatever, Evan.” Cole stared straight ahead, concentrating on the road more than he needed to avoiding eye contact with Evan.
Evan bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood and redoubled his efforts to find the heartbroken coydog.
“Just drop it. We need to focus on Maze,” Cole mumbled.
“There he is,” Evan pointed up to the top of the hill. Maze was still galloping at near full-speed, running parallel to the highway.
Cole stopped himself, as he was about to insist on an apology from Evan, to follow his gaze instead.
“What do you want to do?”
“Speed up to pass him by at least a mile. We’ll park and run the terrain on foot. I’m hoping we’ll be there waiting for him when he comes along and we can subdue him.”
Without another word, Cole accelerated to 80mph. Evan watched the coydog while he could out the back glass.
“Okay, stop. My calculations will be correct if we start running now.”
“If you say so,” Cole grumbled, pulling over and putting the car in park. He pocketed the keys and together the boys ran full-speed the mile perpendicular to the highway. Just when they arrived at Evan’s estimated point of intersection, they saw Maze lope tiredly up and over the sandy hill in front of them. The boys were standing up-wind so Maze hadn’t had warning that they were there until it was too late.
“Maze!” Evan called. “Come here, boy.”
Maze stopped running and stayed in place, prancing anxiously.