“I thought women weren’t supposed to gossip about their sex lives,” he said, rolling to his back and lacing his hands under his head. It pulled at his flesh and defined some of his muscles. The scar that twisted down his side did nothing to mar his perfection. Rather it drew her eye more to the beauty of his shape.
It also distracted. She fished the phone out of her purse just as it went to voicemail. Before she could redial, it was ringing again.
She answered with a laugh. “Holy having a cow, Melanie, are you that impatient to hear the details?”
“Renny, he’s gone.” Said in a voice tight with fear.
The world stopped spinning, and Renny’s whole bearing froze as she made sense of the words.
As if from a distance, she heard herself say, “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“Luke. He’s missing. The twins say the dinosaur got him.”
“No.” Renny whispered the word through numb lips. All of her went limp, including her fingers, which released the phone. Her knees decided to no longer support her, dumping her to the floor, where she hit hard. But the pain of impact was nothing compared to that gripping her heart.
Chapter Seventeen
As soon as Renny said, “What do you mean he’s gone?” Caleb was moving, yet his fastest speed wasn’t fast enough to catch her before she collapsed. He dropped to the floor beside Renny, drawing her into his lap even as he dove for the phone.
He tucked it to his ear as he held a sobbing Renny close. “Tell me what’s happened.”
It didn’t take long. Through hiccupping sobs, Melanie let him know what had happened. In a nutshell, Luke was gone.
Taken.
Because I wasn’t there to protect him.
It didn’t take any kind of medical degree in psychology to see Renny blamed herself for Luke’s disappearance. There was plenty of blame to go around, starting with his own.
Damn me for not remaining more vigilant. He’d let his guard down after a week of no sightings. He, Wes, and even Daryl had done some more patrols, but found nothing. Not a single whiff of its unique aroma, not a peep from anyone in town. They’d wondered if the creature had moved on or was dead. Or perhaps it hadn’t posed a threat at all.
In his cocoon of happiness, he’d allowed himself to relax, and now, because of his mistake, his son had paid the price.
Unfair!
Caleb slammed the steering wheel as he was forced to stop for a red light. He might have run it, but he somehow doubted the car would win in the battle for space against the rather large dump truck.
“This is all my fault.” He growled. “I should have waited until later to show you the place and gone to grab Luke. The blame for this is on me. If I had been there for him, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“You don’t know that.”
Yeah, he did, because if he had been the one watching Luke and the twins, he would have never let those boys out of his sight. However, it hadn’t been fucking Caleb on guard but Andrew. A man with no predator sense, an idiot who would probably die quickly if he had to survive in the wild. Because I’d kill him.
The weak bastard didn’t pay attention to those he guarded. Andrew let himself be distracted.
Like I was distracted. Point the finger in the right place.
“This isn’t your fault,” Renny said, linking her fingers through his where they rested on the car’s stick shift.
“Feels like it is.”
“We might be worrying for nothing. Maybe Luke just wandered a little too far into the swamp while playing a game of hide-and-seek.”
Since she didn’t seem to believe her own reassurance, he chose to drive faster and soon drew the car up to the front of the Bittech building.
On the patterned cement outside the main doors, Melanie, with her hands latched to the twins, paced.
Relinquishing her grip on his hand, Renny barely waited for the car to stop before she was tumbling out. “What happened?”
“Andrew was around back with the boys. He says his phone rang, and he turned around to talk to whoever it was for only a second. Which is a second too long,” Melanie grumbled. “He knows how quick the boys are. The next thing Andrew knew, the twins came screaming out of the woods, talking about the dino again.”
“I might have to kill your husband,” Caleb announced.
“Get in line.” A scowl marred Melanie’s features. “I already told him I’d yank his guts out if anything happens to Luke.”
“I’ll hold him down for you,” Caleb offered.
“No need, Wes already offered.”
“Where is Wes?” Renny asked, looking from side to side.
“Looking for Luke, of course.”
“Andrew, too?”
Disdain wouldn’t allow itself to be contained. Caleb snorted. “Doubtful.”
Melanie’s lips turned even lower. “He’s inside calling some people to get a search party going.”
“He’s a bear. He should have been able to sniff out his trail.” Renny took the words right out of his mouth.
If Caleb hadn’t once seen Andrew’s puny brown bear, he might have accused him of being a koala. Then again, that was insulting vicious koalas everywhere.
“Where was Luke last seen?” Caleb asked.