Bad Boy Blues(40)

But he’s not there.

“Art!” I call out again. “Where are you?”

I keep going further, even though I’ve never known him to go this far out. Doris once told me that he’s shy. He never goes to places he doesn’t recognize. When I first started babysitting him, she said, He’s a fairly easy kid. You won’t have any problems with him.

And I never have.

But now I’ve lost him somehow.

I keep calling out his name but I still don’t get an answer.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” I mutter, bending, placing my hands on my knees.

Where did he go?

“Art!” I shriek like a madwoman. “Come back here!”

Then suddenly, someone’s shaking me.

“What’s happening? I could hear you from the house,” Tina asks, gripping my arms.

I see her through the sheen of tears.

“I c-can’t find Art. I can’t…” I wheeze. “I can’t find him. Oh my God, I’ve lost him, Tina. I’ve lost him.”

“Okay, calm down. Relax. We’re gonna look for him together. He must be somewhere around here,” Tina says.

I nod. “O-okay.”

Then a long shadow approaches us and my focus shifts.

It’s Zach. He’s striding over, his steps long and determined.

I don’t know what happens to me but I let go of Tina and my legs start moving. I run toward him, like I ran yesterday when he ruined my date.

I almost smash into him but he stops me, steadies me with his hands and stares at me with a frown. “What happened?”

I clutch his wrists. “Doris, one of the maids, s-she has a grandkid, Art. I was supposed to watch him. I-I always watch him. He was playing outside and I was keeping an eye on him but then I forgot because I had to… I had to make cupcakes for his bake sale. And when I went to find him he wasn’t there. I d-don’t know where he went, Zach. I think I lost him. I don’t –”

He squeezes my biceps. “Hey, he’s okay. He’s fine. I’ll find him.”

I look at his face, all focused and harsh. And he’s leaning over me with his entire body. He’s hiding the sun behind his massive shoulders and corded back.

And I know why I ran to him just now.

Zach is big and strong and… and he’s capable. He knows this place. I know he’ll find Art.

I know it.

“He’s a good kid. He’s just so small and tiny and what if he’s hurt? I don’t… He just vanished. How can he vanish, Zach?”

He stiffens at my words, his fingers becoming rigid on my flesh. Before I can ask him what’s going on, he lets me go and takes off running toward the woods.

I follow.

It’s hard to keep up with him. My feet are screaming with pain and his strides are long. But I keep going. I think Tina’s behind me, but I can’t be sure.

We go deep into the woods, deeper than ever, before Zach comes to a stop and kneels on the ground.

Here, the ground is covered with dead, dried leaves and the trees form a canopy up above. There’s very little sunlight and everything is colder.

I don’t like it.

As I get closer to Zach, I realize he’s looking down at something.

It’s a hole in the ground.

I fall on my knees beside him, the leaves crunching beneath my knees. But I don’t care about that because it’s a ten-foot drop and Art is at the bottom of it.

“Art!” I scream, almost toppling in myself.

But Zach pulls me from the edge, with his arms around my waist.

“No, no, no. I have to go get him. It’s my fault. I wasn’t doing my job. I’ve got to –”

He squeezes my waist, kneeling beside me. “No, I’ll go get him.”

I fist his t-shirt. “Why isn’t he moving? Tell me why he’s not moving.”

Zach frames my face with his hands and applies pressure, making me look at him. “Because he’s unconscious. It’s a high drop. He’s fine.”

“B-but –”

“He’s breathing, Blue. I checked.”

My watery eyes run over his face. Frantically. Crazily. Like I can’t get enough of his sharp, angled features. Like I’ll never get enough.

“J-just bring him back. Please,” I whisper, water clogging my eyes and my throat.

His nostrils flare as he studies my features, and he nods. “You stay where you are.”

I nod back.

He lets me go, and gets to work.

His hands pat the ground, as if looking for something under the leaves. A few pats later, he finds it.

It’s a long thick root, buried under the fallen foliage, connected to a huge tree that I didn’t even notice until now. The root is thick and sturdy and looks to be going down into the hole.

As Zach grips it, probably trying to use it as a rope, I hear thudding footsteps approaching.

Tina’s kneeling beside me. “Are you okay? Did we find him?”

“Yeah. He’s in there.” I motion with my chin.

Zach turns his focus on Tina. “I want you to go and get me a rope. And bring a staff member back with you.”

Nodding, Tina squeezes my shoulders. “I’ll be right back.”

With that, she whirls around and runs back.