“Heidi, the bus driver did a head count. Taylor was there. Now he’s gone.”

“No.”

It was all she could say.

“He ran away, Heidi. When they stopped at the pond.”

“No.”

“They just did a roll call. Taylor wasn’t there. Dylan said he and the other kids saw him sticking his thumb out on the road. The driver made him come back. But he must have snuck off again.”

“No. I’m sure he’s there.”

“Heidi… he had a hammer in his backpack.”

“No.”

“Dylan saw him put it in there. That’s why he insisted on taking the backpack. Dylan didn’t want to tattle.”

She wrenched around to look behind at nothing.

“Put me down,” she said.

As the plane came around to the south and outer Farmstead appeared beneath, Jack Bristol reached across and squeezed her hand.

“Soon as I can.”

CHAPTER 36

As the little yellow plane zooms over rooftops, she slides off the horse to the pavement and drives her shotgun butt through the window of Dollar Heaven. The glass shatters. Her free hand swirls with the alarm, seems to be conducting it, invoking someone or something.

He watches her roam the aisles. In quick succession, she plays with dolls, stuffs her rough feet into hot-pink flip-flops, tries gum and spits it out in surprise. She puts on a Disney princess mask before she shoves a shelf over, then another, until they all go down like dominoes.

She wears the flip-flops and the mask outside.

The horse spooks but she settles it.

She cracks the shotgun, loads two shells from her dress pocket, climbs aboard, and they ride on.

CHAPTER 37

It was all the sheriff could do not to shove the door open and jump. When she saw Bristol was heading toward the Mississippi, she hollered, “No! Not in Iowa!” She pointed at the road scrolling under them. “Put me down right there!”

“No can do, ma’am.”

“Land it.”

“I got a big belly full of juice.”

“I don’t care. That’s Hefty Road. Put me down.”

“Not safe or legal.”

Rhino filled her other ear. “Sheriff, I’ve got alarms going off at two Rickreiner properties. Babette is on my other line. Your permission to ignore?”

“Ignore.”

“OK, I’ve got everybody moving, and I’ve just put out a three-state Amber Alert. Denise is on her way in to help. Take your time and be safe. We’re all on it.”

“Stay on the line, Rhino.”

She ordered Bristol, “Land it on the road.”

“I’d lose my license. I can only do that in an emergency.”

“This is an emergency.”

“An airplane emergency, ma’am. Problem with the plane.”

She pointed at a cabled lever on her side of the cockpit. “What’s that?”

“That stiffens up my rudder flap in high winds.”

She kicked it clean of the dashboard.

“It looks broken. Land the plane.”