Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,62
put in, making the men frown.
“Then, we’ve got a problem,” Jim finished the thought. “I’ll go check out that feed mill right now. I was going to wait until dark, but if Calum’s there, he doesn’t have time for us to sit around waiting for dark.” Jim stood and reached for his wallet. He dug out a few bills, which would more than cover their lunch tab, and put them on the table.
Helen stood also. “I’m going with you.”
“No—”
“He might be hurt,” she insisted, not letting him finish what he was going to say. “I’m going with you, and that’s that.”
Damn. Her little chin was lifted in a stubborn, adorable line. She was going to insist, and he’d be a cad to leave her behind. Still, he had to try.
“Sweetheart, this could be very dangerous. And besides, we don’t have a car. I can run, but you need some kind of transport.” He hoped she would leave it at that and accept his decision, but the set of her jaw told him his hope was in vain.
“Then, we’ll get a car, and I’ll drive.” She looked at the Alpha. “Surely, there’s a car rental place here somewhere, isn’t there?”
Joe pulled out his phone and started tapping. “I’ll have a car out front for you in ten minutes. Thanks, Helen. If he is hurt, I’d be grateful for your help, but I also don’t want to put you in unnecessary danger. You stay in the car unless and until Jim finds Calum. Understood?”
Helen nodded. “I promise,” she told the Alpha. “I just… I feel like I need to be there.”
Helen didn’t know why she’d said that, but once the words were out of her mouth, she realized the truth of them. She had a feeling she just had to stay with Jim and be there, with him, when he explored the site of the old feed mill.
“I’ve got the sheriff, the deputies and anyone else who’s good at tracking out looking for this kid. I’ll keep you posted on our progress, if we have any. Likewise, if you need backup, we’ll all be out in the field, all around town and the perimeter. All you have to do is call, and whoever is closest will come,” Joe said, looking from her to Jim.
Jim nodded. “Thank you, Alpha. We’ll call if we need assistance. With any luck, Calum will turn up on his own, no harm done.”
Joe left the table, grabbing a few people on his way out the door, who left with him. Probably trackers who would help with the search.
“You don’t really believe he’s going to show up on his own,” Helen said quietly, gathering her things.
Jim shook his head. “Probably not,” he admitted.
“Do you think he’s at the mill?” Helen asked as they walked out of the restaurant. They waited on the sidewalk for the promised car.
“Only one way to find out,” he told her. He looked preoccupied, as if he was already thinking through the actions he would take when they got where they were going.
A minute later, a young man drove up in a rental car. He hopped out and held the keys up, looking at them. “You called for a car?”
Helen stepped forward and took the keys from the youngster. “Do you know a young man named Calum Ingles?” she asked, on a hunch.
“Cal? Sure. He’s a lot of fun. Why?”
Jim stepped closer. “Does he ever go out toward the old feed mill on the edge of town?” Jim took a rather obvious sniff of the kid. “I know I caught your scent out that way. Yours and a lot of other young pups.”
The kid looked as if he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “It’s just a place we go, you know? There are cool obstacles we can try without everyone watching and criticizing when we screw up. We have our own competitions.”
“You have an obstacle course out there? Outdoors or inside one of the old buildings?” Jim asked, his tone patient. “I won’t get you in any trouble. I just really need to know.”
The boy seemed hesitant but relented. “You know how there are a bunch of silos, and they have these conveyor things? We start the course through the rusty hole in the half-collapsed silo then run up the conveyors to the top and then down into the mill building, itself. There’s a lot of machinery in there that we go up over, jump and slide under, that kind of