“He can’t have gone far,” Arthur says as we hurry across the street once the coast is clear. “Not in this rain.”
I shoot Arthur a glance, and I can tell we both don’t fully believe that statement.
Over the next twenty minutes, Arthur and I rush through the neighborhood, scanning every nook and cranny for Miles. We knock on doors, check under cars, scream Miles name until our throats are raw.
This is familiar, I realize as we search. Too familiar.
Once, two years ago when I first hired Miles‘ babysitter in Bo’Arrocan, he pulled a similar stunt. He hated her at first, and got so upset when I left him with her one night that he ran off and she couldn’t catch him. He thought he could find me if he ran far enough, but he just wound up getting lost.
The police had to put an amber alert out, and we searched for hours. Finally, we found him crouched behind a dumpster outside a nearby business… laughing.
He thought we were playing hide and seek.
Suddenly, I stop, my eyes widening. I begin to turn around frantically, trying to discern where I might hide if I were Miles.
Arthur skids to a halt beside me, the rain plastering his dark hair to his forehead. “Iris, what are you doing?” he shouts over the noise.
“If you were a five year old boy, where would you hide during hide and seek?” I ask.
Arthur furrows his brow, but I don’t have time to explain. He looks around, then points to a nearby trail leading into a small park nearby. We begin rushing in that direction, and all the while, I’m cursing beneath the sound of the rain.
“I’m a horrible mother!” I grit out, pushing soaked strands of hair out of my eyes as we run. “This happened once before, and I should have known it would happen again!”
Arthur frowns. “What do you mean!”
Stomach clenching, I explain the situation with the babysitter. His face goes pale as I speak. “I thought he liked Cliff and Augustine enough to stay with them, but I was wrong,” I say, my voice trembling. “And I couldn’t bring him to that exhibition, but I had to go–I needed the money! I thought it would be for his own good!” Suddenly, Arthur turns to me, his chest heaving. “You need the money that badly? Iris, why didn’t you tell me?”
I hesitate, suddenly realizing what I’ve just admitted to. “I”
“I could have helped you!” Arthur goes on, shaking his head. “If you needed the money that badly, I would have given it to you!”
“But I don’t want your money!” I snarl back, my voice harsher than I intend. My hands clench into fists at my sides as I whirl to face him. “If I let you help me financially, then you’d just use it against me down the road! You’d try to take Miles or force me to get back together with you!”
Arthur pauses, his mouth hanging open. A look of hurt that I’ve never seen before crosses his face, and something about it makes a pang shoot through my chest. It’s only now that I realize that it’s not just rain that’s coating my cheeks, but tears, too.
Suddenly, the sound of a cry rips through the park.
“Mommy!”
Chapter 79
“Miles!” I scream.
+25 BONUS
Arthur and I both turn, racing toward the sound. We follow it down the park trail and toward the sound of rushing water. My heart leaps into my throat as we come to an abrupt halt alongside a low, concrete wall. Below, dark, muddy water is rushing through a flume.
And that’s precisely where the screaming is coming from,
Gasping, we lean over the wall to see a fallen free wedged in between the concrete walls of the flume. And on it, shivering and barely hanging on, is Miles‘ small form.
Chapter 80
