Courage Under Fire

Scotty sniffed the ground. And hurried through the building.

Lani lagged behind.

“You’re here to find the kid?” said the teenager.

“Yes,” she planted her feet. “Did you see anything?”

“No, I was in another building. All I know is that kid loves animals. I can’t help but think he was chasing after a barn cat or became fascinated by a squirrel outside.”

But where was he now? She didn’t even want to think about what could have happened to Brendan if he had wandered off the grounds.

Noah exited the stables and headed toward another building with Scotty sniffing the ground.

An idea flashed through Lani’s brain. She called to Noah that she would return quickly. She headed down the hill toward the patrol car. She swung open the back door and put a leash on Oscar. He ruffled his ears while he licked her face. “Time for some on-the-job training. Let’s use your cuteness to draw out a little boy.”

Oscar leaped down to the ground. They headed back toward the stables. Her theory could be totally off base. Something sinister could have happened to Brendan. He could be miles from here by now. If he’d wandered out into the street, someone in a car could have picked him up.

She shuddered at the thought. Brendan was the age of some of the kids in one of the martial arts classes she taught.

Oh God, let there be a happy ending to all this.

She hurried across the arena just as another patrol car with another search dog pulled up. She waved at the officer as he unloaded his dog. She caught up with Noah and Scotty inside a different barn that was filled with hay.

“Scotty loses the scent inside here.” The barn appeared to be used mostly for storage of farm-type equipment, hay and other bags of feed.

“You think he’s still on the grounds somewhere?” she asked.

“Yeah, but there are a thousand places where he could be. What if he’s fallen and hurt himself.” Noah’s jaw tensed. “I hate when bad things happen to kids.”

“Let’s pray this isn’t one of those cases.”

Noah pointed at Oscar who tugged on his leash.

“The teenager feeding the horses said that Brendan loves animals. If he’s hiding because he thinks he’s in trouble, maybe a puppy will be enough to lure him out.”

Scotty gave a soft alert to a smell by the door. They hurried outside and back around the grounds before returning to the storage barn. The barking and baying of the other search dog reached her ears. That dog wasn’t headed in this direction. Either the other dog or Scotty had picked up on a false scent.

Scotty circled again, nose to the ground. Oscar nipped at the twirling dust in the sunbeams. Maybe the pup was too big of a goofball to be K-9 material. She suppressed a smile at the puppy’s antics.

Lani studied the barn, which had a loft on one end where bales of hay and bags of feed were stored. Scotty kept coming back to this barn for a reason.

“I checked up there. I didn’t see anything,” Noah said.

She handed Noah Oscar’s leash. “Hand him up to me when I get up there.” Even though the responding officer had said a search had been done, there were a thousand cubbyholes a kid could hide. And Brendan wouldn’t be able to hear people calling for him.

“I’m going to search that loft.” She climbed up the ladder. The platform was so stuffed with supplies she had to maneuver over the tops of the bags of feed to get to the corner. Lani sat down on a hay bale.

“Anything?” Noah’s voice came from below along with Oscar’s yipping and barking.

Lani sat very still as her eyes scanned every inch of the dark space. Gradually, her eyes adjusted to the light. Again, she studied the shadows until her gaze landed about a foot from the far corner of the loft where what looked like tarps were tossed in a pile. Beneath the tarps she was able to discern the tips of a child’s fingers. Though she could not see a face or eyes she sensed that she was being watched.

Lani spoke. “Noah, can you get Oscar up here? And then run and get Brendan’s mom. I found him.”

“Sure.”

Shuffling sounds came from down below while Lani remained very still. To move toward the child might terrify him even more. She listened to her own heartbeat drumming in her ears. Oscar’s yipping grew louder. She turned to see Noah’s head as he placed the puppy on a pile of feed bags.

Oscar made his way across the treacherous landscape while Noah remained at the top of the ladder. Oscar wagged his tail as he drew closer to Lani. She gathered the pup in her arms before setting him down, and Noah left to fetch the anxious mother. Judging from the position of the fingers, Brendan was lying on his belly peeking out from beneath the tarp.

Oscar sniffed around, stepped over a pile of hoes and rakes and headed toward the tarps.

The puppy sat down then looked over at Lani. Lani gave him the hand signal to lie down. Oscar complied.

The seconds ticked by.

Slowly, little fingers came out from underneath the tarp and touched Oscar’s belly. Dragging his belly, Oscar moved closer toward the tarps and stuck his head in.

A giggle came out from beneath the tarp.

Tension left Lani’s body like a hundred birds taking flight. Though Oscar had broken the ice, she doubted that Brendan would trust her, a stranger. And she didn’t know sign language. Hopefully, Noah would be back with Brendan’s mom soon.

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