Maggie asked.
“Is Jacoby up here? We were playing hide-and-seek and he told me to count to two hundred because he had a really good hiding spot, but I’ve been looking and looking and I can’t find him.”
Alarm crawled into Justin’s throat, making it impossible to speak. Gut instinct told him this wasn’t good.
Stay calm. Just stay calm.
Maggie looked at her daughter. “When did you last see him?”
“A while ago,” Anna said. “When we came inside to go to the bathroom.”
“Isn’t Jack with him?” Racy asked.
“Nope. He kept giving away our hiding spots, so we put him inside. He’s lying under the pool table.”
Justin swung around to look out the windows. The sun was gone and it was growing darker by the minute. He looked at his watch. Had he really been talking for forty-five minutes?
Talking— Dammit, had Jacoby overheard their conversation?
“We’ll all look for him.” Racy stood. “Justin, check with Gage and Landon. Maybe Jacoby is with them looking at the motorcycle.”
A silent prayer winged its way heavenward as Justin headed for the stairs. He burst into the garage, his stomach dropping to his feet at finding only the two men there. He quickly relayed what had happened. Gage grabbed a couple of flashlights from a nearby workbench. The three men went outside to search the woods while the women searched the house.
Justin stomped through the woods calling out his son’s name, but all he heard was Gage and Landon doing the same. There was no sign of Jacoby. They met back at the stone patio outside the lower-level family room.
“Where the hell could he be?” Justin spat out the words, shoving the panic down hard into his gut. “Where could he have gone?”
“His pillowcase is missing,” Racy said, stepping outside to join them. “He left it near the front door when we came in.”
Locking his knees to keep himself standing, Justin pulled in a deep breath through his nose.
Jacoby had run away. But where? And why?
“Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” Gage spoke with quiet authority. “Maggie will stay here with Anna in case he comes back. Justin, go to the cabin. Maybe he went there. Racy, Landon and I will take separate vehicles and check in town, covering the diner, the library and the playgrounds.”
“Do you really think he’s made it to town?” Landon asked.
“It’s been roughly thirty minutes since Anna last saw him, closer to an hour since Justin watched the kids through the window,” Gage said. “We’ll meet at my office. If anyone finds him, call me, and I’ll call Justin.”
Landon and Racy left, but Justin grabbed hold of Gage. “You haven’t asked me about my meeting with Richard Ellsworth.”
“I figured we’d talk about that after Maggie and Landon headed home. Do you think he might have something to do with Jacoby taking off? Does Jacoby know they want custody of him?”
“He might have overheard us talking about it.”
Justin told his brother-in-law what he’d shared with Racy and Maggie. “I thought the kids were still outside, but maybe Jacoby came back in and heard me.”
“And he’s gone to find him?”
The thought of his little boy out in the dark was killing him. That he might be trying to get to his grandfather made him feel like someone had ripped open his chest and torn out his heart. “I don’t know. Should I check at the Destiny Inn, too?”
“Not yet. Chances are Jacoby hasn’t gotten that far, but I’ll cover that end of town. We don’t want to give Ellsworth any reason to doubt your ability to care for your son.”
“Any more than I doubt it myself?”
“Don’t worry.” Gage clapped him on the back. “We’ll find him.”
Justin raced to his truck and headed home. The cabin was dark, but he forced himself to go inside and check anyway. No Jacoby, but there was something missing. The new bike. He got back in his truck and headed into town, calling Gage in the process.
“He wasn’t at the cabin,” he said when his brother-in-law answered. “But the bike and helmet the Ellsworths gave him are gone. He must’ve come back for it.”
“Racy and Landon are still looking. I’ll head for the inn,” Gage replied. “Racy said you might want to check my mother’s house next.”
“Your mother’s?”
“I guess Racy and Jacoby were there earlier today visiting Gina. Your boy seems quite attached to my sister.”
“Would he even remember how to get there?” Justin asked.
“In a town the size of Destiny? Besides, he could ask anyone for directions.”
Justin remained