Page 54 of Bidding on a Second Chance
Lucy reached Wilhelmina, and her hands moved as she related the story.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Wilhelmina said as Piper neared. With a sympathetic smile, she took to the mic again. “Is Bryce Wells in the room? Anyone seen him and the puppy?”
Louder conversations quieted to a murmur out of respect for the announcement, but no one spoke over the noise to point out her nephew.
Piper rubbed her hand over her stomach. He had to be here. She couldn’t have lost him.
God, please, have mercy.
Emmanuel. God with us, through it all.
Wilhelmina lifted her hand high above her head and snapped. “Excuse me, everyone. We need to find Bryce Wells. Has anyone seen him?”
The increased urgency in Wilhelmina’s voice finally hushed the conversations. Faces turned first toward the mic, and then this way and that.
“Anyone? Bryce, are you here?”
Everyone in attendance began to look around. Cody and the other officers rose. After a brief discussion, Cody jogged from the room while a man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties approached Piper.
If only he were Graham.
Lucy wrapped an arm around her, as if sensing she was about to crumple.
Piper hadn’t imagined this scenario or how it would play out, but apparently, she was about to find out, one step at a time. Though she longed for Graham, she thanked God for Lucy and the man who came to a stop before her.
“I’m Officer Hughes. Off duty, but …” Hughes shrugged, took his phone from his pocket, and tapped on the screen a couple of times before focusing a concerned but steady gaze on Piper. “When did you see him last?”
Piper drew a ragged breath. “When he took Teddy outside. It was an hour ago. With the event, I … I …” Distracted by the auction and Graham, she’d let Bryce either wander off or … worse.
Lucy seemed to sense Piper dropping toward an emotional black hole. She squeezed Piper’s shoulders. “We thought he was in the room, playing with the other kids and the puppy. He left school once a couple of months ago and went and got himself a cupcake.” She dipped her face to speak directly to Piper. “It’s probably something equally harmless this time.”
Piper kept her head tilted down, and her tears fell to the gym floor. She should’ve been more vigilant. Should’ve known better.
Hughes’ voice rumbled, overpowering her thoughts. “Did anything happen that might have prompted him to wander off?”
She’d taken Bryce to see his father. He’d been excited on the way there. Ryan had talked with him about how he hadn’t played in the state game. Piper had listened and thought he’d done a wonderful job encouraging Bryce to follow through on his place on the team, his obvious skill.
“He found out his dad lied to him.” It sounded terrible when she said it. He’d been quiet on the way home, hadn’t he? She’d been distracted by thoughts of Graham most of the day. “I thought he was okay, but maybe …” Maybe he’d run away over it. He was the boy who’d skipped school for a cupcake on a whim. What would he do over a disappointment like the one he’d gotten today?
“Does he have a cell phone on him?”
“No. He’s only ten.”
“What was he wearing the last time you saw him?”
Piper described Bryce’s coat and Teddy. “You don’t think he could’ve gone far …?”
“Your number?”
Piper recited it, and Hughes typed on his phone.
After a couple more questions, he stepped back. “I’ll call it in. I’ll ask an officer to meet you at your house to check if he’s there. Call his friends’ parents too.”
Piper nodded, numb. Most of Bryce’s friends and their families milled about in the gymnasium, and her house was too far from the high school for Bryce to have walked there. Still, the tasks would help her feel less useless.
Hughes gave a tight smile. “We’ll find him. If he turns up or you think of anything else, call the precinct.”
As he strode away, Lucy rubbed her back. “I’ll drive you.”
