#TeaserTuesday: Rising Sun

This Lord Have Mercy: Part Three post contains spoilers, so I've split it under a cut. Proceed with caution if you haven't read Part Two yet, or, better yet, go grab a copy! 

Kindle/Paperback

Nook

Kobo  

It had been a long time since he’d looked at Ava and seen the little girl with pigtails who’d once begged him for a ride on the back of his bike, but that was how he saw her now.

She stood wearing Remy’s backpack, and holding his jacket folded over her crossed arms, covering her stomach like a shield. She held her head high, chin level, and her cheeks and eyes were dry. The look she gave Vince was nearly contemptuous. “Right,” Ghost heard her saying, as he approached. “But he wouldn’t have left on his own. Not like this.”

“Still,” Vince said. “I don’t think it’s time to panic.”

Ava glanced meaningfully at the officers gathered around them, and her lip curled faintly in disgust. “This isn’t panicking?”

How had the little girl he brought home from the hospital become this calm, collected grown woman all of a sudden? One who should have been collapsed in a heap by all rights right now.

“The kid didn’t run off,” Ghost said, and Vince drew back when he slotted into place beside her. Ghost put an arm across Ava’s shoulders, and they were as unyielding as iron. Fine tremors moved through her, the only sign that she was about to vibrate out of her skin.

“He…” Vince made a face. “He might have. Sometimes children–”

“Cut the shit,” Ghost said. “We’re not talking about children, we’re talking about Remy, and Remy wouldn’t walk outta this school for anyone except his mom or dad, and we know they didn’t take him, and they sure as shit wouldn’t have left his stuff behind.”

Vince sighed, and scrubbed at his jaw. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.” One of his officers leaned in to whisper something to him, and he nodded. To them, he said, “I’ve got officers doing a walk-through of every classroom and the grounds. The dogs ought to be here within the hour.”

As if on cue, the sound of canine toenails scrabbling over terrazzo echoed around the corner.

“Don’t bother,” Ghost said, turning to see Michael and two of his uncle’s best trackers heading their way. The Blueticks were hooked together by a harness, and Michael held both chains in one gloved hand. Long ears swung like pendulums and the dogs snuffled noisily along the floor. “We’ve got that covered.”

“Jesus,” Vince said, “that’s not sanctioned.”

“You gonna stop me?”

“What do you think?”