Page 44 of Wait for Me

He turned around to see what Marie was doing. She was checking out some Matryoshka nesting dolls on a glass counter.

Logan smiled.

He turned around to ask Jonas if he wanted one—

And he wasn’t there at the rock barrel.

Neither were Abdul and his entourage.

What on earth?

“Jonas?” Logan’s head snapped this way and that as he scanned the shop. He could not see anyone wearing hijabs over their heads. Neither did he see the two men.

Marie was at his side in almost a flash. “What’s going on? Where’s Jonas?”

“I don’t know. He was here a minute ago and I looked back and he’s gone.”

Marie’s eyes grew fierce. “This store has two entrances. You take that one, and I take this. You have your cell phone?”

Logan nodded. “Meet you back here at the rock barrel in five minutes?”

“Or we call 911.”

Logan prayed it wouldn’t get to that. He rushed through the crowd, calling out his son’s name, hoping he didn’t look like a madman.

Her remembered Marie’s fierce look. And he felt like a failure. He couldn’t even keep an eye on his son for a minute.

“Jonas!” He heard Marie’s voice from the other end of the store, and he understood what she might be feeling. There was no time for etiquette when a five-year-old child was missing.

Logan waved to a couple of store sales clerks to ask if they had seen Jonas. He wished he had taken a photo of his boy before they left the ship, so that he could have shown these people what his son looked like.

“Blonde, big eyes, blue striped tee-shirt, hiking pants, bright yellow hiking boots.” It was all the information Logan could give.

They shook their heads. “Only when we saw you come in with him.”

Logan had no time to rehash that he only turned around for a split second. Maybe even less time than that.

Between the two of them, they had covered the shop. Logan was at one of the entrances now.

Lord Jesus, help me find my son.

Help us find our son!

Outside on the sidewalk, Logan wished he had put a GPS tracker on his son. He saw a bench. He asked the two tourists sitting there if they could get up.

“My five-year-old son vanished from the store and we’re looking for him,” he explained as he leapt on the vacated bench, quickly scanning the crowd along the boardwalk by the river.

And there he was.

Surrounded by Abdul’s mother and their group.

Logan jumped off the bench. “Thank you!”

He ran as he called Marie—who suddenly appeared by his side before the call went through.

“He’s down there,” Logan said, trying to remain calm. “With Abdul’s family.”

“Thank God!” Marie kept up with Logan as they rushed down the boardwalk.

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