And don’t come back until you can show some respect for the other volunteers,” she said.
“That scumbag doesn’t give a crap about finding Katie. He’s probably the one responsible for the two of them missing,” Drew muttered.
“Screw you, dude. You’re tripping if you think that,” Julian said.
“Stop this right now. Both of you,” a man’s voice shouted.
Chip Hicks stood in front of Drew now, his hand on the kid’s chest. Chip Hicks, the beloved social studies teacher and girls’ softball coach. The baseball player from Shepherd’s Bay who starred at UMaine before playing two years in the minors.
He went on. “This is not about the two of you. We came here to find two beloved girls in our community. So show some respect for the parents of these kids, you hear?”
“Dude started in on me as soon as I got out of the car,” Julian complained, pointing at Drew. At least a dozen stacked bangles hung from his wrist.
“I don’t care who’s to blame. Let’s work together and put all our energies into finding Willow and Katie. That’s what’s most important here,” Chip Hicks responded.
Why did it bother Isla that he chose to say Willow’s name first? Her reaction felt stupid and petty, although now she missed her daughter so much that it physically hurt to hear her name. Like being in the midst of a bad flu, when every single inch of one’s body ached. She had to find her daughter. It didn’t matter who got top billing. Willow would most likely gain her fair share of attention throughout the course of her life.
The presence of Chip Hicks in this search party made her feel better. As a teacher and coach, he had plenty of experience taking charge in tense situations. Revered by the locals for his storied athletic past and his deep connection to Shepherd’s Bay, Hicks commanded a certain amount of respect in town. His father had been a high school principal, and the middle school had been named after his grandfather. Chip Hicks was the walking embodiment of Shepherd’s Bay and a great source of pride to the locals. So why in the world was he still single?
“How you holding out, Isla?” Chip asked her after he had diffused the tension between the boys, and he and Isla were out of earshot of the others.
“I’m barely holding it together, to tell you the truth.”
“Well, hang tough. We’ll find them.”
“Thanks for all you’ve done for the girls, Chip.”
“Hey, these kids are my life. I love them like they’re my own.” He hugged her. “Now let’s get cooking.”
Dense woods rolled across the landscape in front of her. Off in the distance, she could see the mountain that put Shepherd’s Bay in its shadow. It wasn’t much more than a hill, really, at twenty-five hundred feet, and Isla had hiked it so many times, she knew just about every inch of it.
Chip took charge and began directing people where to go. He assigned everyone in the parking lot to one of several groups and exchanged phone numbers with the group leaders in case they came across something in the woods. He had made sure that the Briggses and McCallisters were in separate groups.
Before her own group entered the woods, Isla glanced over and saw Felicia shuffling forward, her arms wrapped around her thin frame. Past Felicia, she saw Julian, who was staring at his phone as he trudged ahead, as if this was all a major inconvenience for him. Why had Katie been taking pictures with Julian when she’d been dating Drew since her freshman year? It didn’t look good. Besides, Julian acted like a privileged and spoiled kid. She guessed he must have been a handful to raise. Was he involved in the girls’ disappearance, like Drew had claimed? She needed to know more about Julian, although she needed to come by this information in a way that it never got back to his mother. She couldn’t afford to lose business over rumors and innuendo.
But first she needed to find Katie. It was all she could do to keep her emotions in check. Everything else came secondary to finding her. And Isla knew in her heart that Katie was alive. The strongest attachment a mother could experience was to her child.
The ocean’s roar receded behind her as she walked farther into the woods. She looked back one last time, hoping to see Ray pull up in his truck, before disappearing into the dense growth of trees.