Page 7 of SEAL's Angel
“Not really, no. But I spoke to your daughter for a bit.”
“You should have asked me first. Not that I would have said no, but I would have wanted to be there with her. She’s only nine.”
“Her babysitter…” He took out his pad and looked at something. “Janey…was with her. I didn’t scare her. I just asked if she had any ideas about where Chase might be.”
Dawn hadn’t thought to ask Cindy. God, she was a terrible mother. As soon as she’d gotten home, she’d asked Janey to take Cindy upstairs so she could call their friends and try to figure out where her little boy had gone. She didn’t even think it would upset Cindy, and that she’d want to be near Dawn. Tears threatened to fall, but she blinked them back. She needed to be strong, to hold it together. The tears would have to wait. After they brought Chase home, she’d let herself cry.
“Did she know anything?”
“It might be something. Cindy said all of Chase’s friends were going camping with their fathers this weekend, and he was upset because he couldn’t go. Did you know anything about that?”
Had Chase mentioned it? She would have remembered, right? But she’d been extra busy at work and exhausted when she got home. Maybe she hadn’t paid attention. Oh God, was this her fault somehow? “I honestly don’t remember. You must think I’m a horrible mother.”
“Not at all. You’re a single mom with the weight of the world on your shoulders. Cindy said that Chase and Joey had a fight. Apparently, Joey told him he couldn’t go camping because his dad was dead.”
“Oh, no. My poor baby, why didn’t he tell me?” Dawn’s heart ached for her son. How could Joey be so cruel? They were best friends. Dammit.
“I don’t know. But if I had to take a guess, it’s because he’s eleven. He might think he has to be the man of the house now that your husband is deceased.”
Dawn pushed her hands through her hair. Did Chase feel that way? Crap on a cracker. She’d tried so hard to keep their life the same as it had been before Bob died. Apparently, she’d failed miserably.
Spencer’s radio squawked, and he walked into the kitchen. Didn’t he want her to know what was going on? Not that she’d be able to figure it out if he’d stayed close. The voice over the radio sounded so garbled, she couldn’t figure out a damn thing they were saying. But she’d had enough waiting. At her wit’s end, she stood to follow him into the kitchen and find out what was happening. She heard him say, “Ten-four.”
Spencer stepped back into the living room. “Dispatch said there was no sign of your son at the bus station. They’re making the rounds near his school and the playground.”
“So what happens next?” Dawn dropped back onto the couch.
“We’ll keep searching. It didn’t look like anything was missing from Chase’s room. Do you want to check? But it didn’t look like he’d grabbed anything to take with him. Or have you checked it already?”
“I didn’t. I guess I should have. Does this mean I’m no longer a suspect?” Dawn’s voice shook, filled with so many emotions—hurt, worry, fear, and anger.
“You were never a suspect, Mrs. Randolph. There are standard questions we always ask in missing persons cases and a few extras when we’re dealing with children.”
Closing her eyes, Dawn took a deep breath and tried to calm her raging emotions.
“Mrs. Randolph?”
“Sorry. Let me go check his room. You can come, too.”
After a thorough search, Dawn didn’t know if anything was missing. Nothing obvious, anyway. And when she’d dropped Cindy and Chase at school that morning, he’d only had his backpack. If he’d taken anything extra, it would have had to be small.
“Just a few more questions, okay?” Spencer asked gently.
Dawn wondered how many missing persons cases he’d handled. The town was small when compared to a city like Denver. She couldn’t remember any missing child cases in the ten years they’d lived there.
“Okay. Whatever will help find Chase.”
“I’m going to need the contact information for Joey Barlow if you have it. Do you know his parents?”
“Yes, I do.” Dawn pulled the cell phone out of her pocket and scrolled through the contacts until she got to Anne and John Barlow, Joey’s parents, then handed her phone to Spencer.
“Thank you. I am going to talk to Joey about the argument he had with Chase. Have they been friends long?”
“Yes, they’ve been best friends since kindergarten. I don’t think they ever had a fight before. Or if they did, it wasn’t bad enough for them to stop talking to each other.”
“They’re getting older. Hormones don’t help. Believe me. It’s probably just a misunderstanding. Did Chase and your husband go camping a lot?”
“All the time. Sometimes just the two of them, other times we’d all go. Sometimes all the dads would get together and go as a group—just fathers and sons.” Tears filled Dawn’s eyes as she remembered how excited he would get. “Chase loved it. He called it ‘man time’ and it would crack Bob up. He hasn’t mentioned camping at all since…” How did she not realize how much he missed camping with his dad? It had been almost two years, and she’d never thought about it.
