Page 18 of Lion Conquers All
“The Moss Point blind. Do you know how to get there?” Aarav said, urgency seeping into his calm demeanor.
“Not off the top of my head. But all the maps are at my house. I could find it.”
“Good. I need you to get your things and meet me at your house, right now. Connie I apologize for—”
Connie shook her head. “It’s a missing boy. No apologies necessary. The class was nearly over anyway. I’ll dismiss and come with you, just in case you get there and need medical help.”
“Are you sure?” Aarav met her gaze and Connie felt her cheeks warm.
Good grief. Couldn’t she look directly at the man without turning red?Apparently not.
“Yes, better safe than sorry. Give me five minutes to dismiss class and then I’ll be right behind you.”
Gaven and Aarav left through the front door.
Connie returned to the gym to all the parents and teachers waiting patiently to be filled in. Nothing in Mystery stayed a secret. And there was no reason not to share about a missing boy. Maybe someone else had seen Sam.
“Sam Roberts is missing and apparently he’s dating Gretchen Hardisty without either of their parents’ knowledge. Gretchen is out at one of her mother’s blinds taking photographs and isn’t answering her phone. Has anyone seen or heard from either of them in the last forty-eight hours?”
A lot of shaking heads and whisperedno’smade Connie’s heart drop in her chest. She hadn’t expected anyone to say yes, but it would’ve been nice.
“We are going to call class early. You all put the work in and I’m proud of you. Certificates for your CPR and First Aid training will be printed on Monday and available to pick up at the sheriff’s office. I’ll make sure Patsy has them. Thank you again. Congrats!”
A few shallow cheers and gratitudes went up, mostly thanking her for teaching the class. Everyone shuffled out of the gym. Within a few moments, Katherine strolled in, followed by her husband and mate, Knox. Ava and Ryder were right behind them.
“Class go okay? I saw Aarav here a couple of times.”
“There’s a boy missing. The Roberts’ son—Sam.”
“Oh, no. Should we call Col and have him—”
“No. Please. Don’t do anything. You have to let the town handle this. It’s dangerous for everyone if you get involved.”
“Connie, we can help.” Ryder stepped closer and Connie instinctively stepped back, keeping the distance between them the same. It wasn’t that she was particularly uncomfortable around Ryder. It was something she did around all men. She tried to stop it. Most of the time if she was prepared, she’d catch herself before she acted like a complete scaredy cat.
“Connie. I—” Ryder met her gaze and then froze. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine.” She grit her teeth and wished she was better at hiding her problems. She hated that she wasn’t. She hated it every time someone noticed her backing off or avoiding people. Questions came soon after. Questions were the worst.
Too many questions into her past were dangerous. She didn’t want to be moved. The Marshalls reminded her yearly to keep her past in her past.
She loved this place. Loved the people. She even liked the crazy Reylean alien people too. She didn’t want them to get hurt or attract attention to themselves. That was the only reason she was so hard on them.
“That’s bullshit, hon. You’re not fine.” Ava said, the woman’s voice was almost a low growl. “But we have a missing boy to help find. So tell us what we can do.”
“Be prepared to come help search if the sheriff organizes search parties. We’ll need all the eyes we can get. I’ve been in these search and rescue groups before. I really hope we don’t get to that point. Hopefully we will get up to Moss Point and wherever Gretchen’s mom set up the blind and they will both be there being stupid kids.”
“You know we can do more,” Knox said, staying next to Katherine. His voice was low and his expression one of confusion.
“There will be a lot of scared parents with guns on the mountain soon, looking for both of them, helping their neighbors find their missing kid. None of you would be safe. None of you are ever safe when you...change, or, anyway…I have to go.” She grabbed her purse and forced herself to walk past the group of people she knew were her friends. People she trusted probably more than a lot of people in town.
She hurried out the side door, threw her bag in the passenger seat and climbed into her truck.
The Hardisty’s house wasn’t too far. Just a few minutes south and west of town. There was a bridge a couple miles south of their place that Gretchen was likely using to access the edge of the national park.
Connie parked next to Aarav’s patrol car and walked up to the front door. It opened before she could knock. Aarav’s face greeted her. Of course he’d probably heard her car and then her walk up onto the porch. Reyleans could hear everything, even in human form, they had special abilities. Too bad they couldn’t smell better as a human too. Maybe some of those wolves would be really useful on the search and rescue team.
Lions didn’t really track by scent, did they?
