The Better to Bite (Howl #1)(30)

The first twenty-four hours are crucial. Dad had told me that. That was why he’d gotten me to search for Caitlin so soon after her disappearance. But this girl Sissy…she’d been missing for so long now.

“Two of her friends confirmed she was at the party.” Now Mr. Knoxley was talking again. “We think she fled when the sheriff arrived. She’d promised her parents that she’d stay home all weekend.”

So she’d slipped away when the sirens started screaming because she hadn’t wanted to get busted.

“She actually doesn’t live very far the Peters’ house,” my dad said. “So she probably expected just a quick walk through the woods to her place.”

“But we think she became lost.” Mr. Knoxley leaned forward as he said this part.

Lost.

“I’ve got teams searching the woods for her now.” My dad nodded. “They’ve brought in the dogs, and they’re trying to catch her scent.”

“The weather has been mild,” Mr. Knoxley added nearly a second later, “so there is no reason to suspect that any sort of foul play has befallen Sissy.”

I wasn’t so sure. “There are wolves out there, Mr. Knoxley. A wolf tried to attack me the night of the accident.”

His skin paled a bit.

I glanced at my dad. “What do you want me to do?”

He spared a glance at the principal. “I need to talk to my daughter alone now, Justin.”

“But, I—”

“Alone.”

Mr. Knoxley’s spine snapped straight up, and he hurriedly shuffled for the exit.

As soon as he was gone, my dad reached into his pocket. He pulled out a picture.

I need your help, baby.

The past and the present blurred.

“I told Mr. Knoxley that I wanted to question you and some of the other kids who were at the party—to see if you might remember Sissy leaving Brent’s house.”

But he’d lied. Dad was a good liar.

He handed me the picture and said the magic words that he knew would unlock the key in my mind. “This is Sissy Hamilton, and she’s lost.”

It’s different for me every time. The things I see…they can scare me. No, terrify me. When I saw the pictures of those hikers, I’d immediately glimpsed their bones. With Caitlin, I’d seen the building she was being held inside, and the face of the man before her, the man with the bloody knife.

But with Sissy, I just saw tree tops. Big, green tree tops.

“Take me to the woods,” I told my dad. “And I’ll take you to her.” Because once I was out there, I’d be pulled to her like a magnet.

“Is she alive?” He asked me bluntly.

I wanted to give him hope. I couldn’t. “I don’t know.”

He nodded, then he took my hand and pulled me to my feet. He opened the door, and Mr. Knoxley hovered near the entrance. “Did you find—”

“My daughter thinks she remembers seeing some old paths in the woods when she hiked to Brent’s house. We’re gonna take a drive and explore that area.”

“But surely the rangers can—”

“I want to help,” I broke in, aware that I had to be careful. Dad wouldn’t have asked me to do this if he didn’t need me. I was his last resort, and I knew it. “I know what it’s like to be in those woods, and I just—I want to help.” Mostly truth.

And what was Mr. Knoxley going to do? Refuse a teen girl who had tears in her eyes? Cause I even did the tear bit. Plus my dad, with his badge, stood right beside me.

Mr. Knoxley was smart. He simply stepped back.

I saw the other kids in his office then. Jenny. Troy. A couple of girls I didn’t know. They must’ve all been waiting for their turn to talk to the principal—and to tell what they knew about Sissy’s last moments at the party. A watchful deputy waited by them.

My dad nodded to the guy and led me outside. The sunlight hit me, hot and bright, but he didn’t speak until we were in his car.

Same scene…different place.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“I can find her.” Faster than any rangers or dogs or…anything.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet." This time, it couldn’t end the same way.

It couldn’t.

The last time I’d found a lost girl for my dad…I’d screamed and screamed until my voice broke—and my dad had killed the man who stood over Caitlin Crenshaw’s broken body.

***

My dad had created a base camp at the Hamilton house. He’d been busy. There were already volunteers around, and I could see the dogs—trackers. I also caught sight of a woman, crying, as she clutched a photo in her hands.

Had to be Sissy’s mom.

“Stay with me,” my dad ordered softly. “It will be over soon.”

I climbed out of the car. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. I wanted them to forget me as soon as they could.

“Anna?”

Apparently, I wasn’t gonna be that forgettable.

I looked up and found Rafe jogging toward me. “What are you doing here?” He asked, frowning.

My dad stepped in front of me. “Anna’s here to help with the search, same as you, son.”