“Good girl,” he said. “That’s a wonderful help.” His eyes turned into rat eyes. Squished and dark. He stood up and looked at Gloria.

“Filthy homeless beggar sleeping under the old stone bridge,” she said. “Luring in kids. Nice, he says. How can my own son be so gullible?”

“It’s going to be okay, Mrs. Janes. We’ll find him.”

“What was he thinking?”

The tie man scritched his chin. “Hard to say, but could be the age, ma’am. They imagine it as an adventure. A few more hours in the woods, cold and hungry, and the charm’ll be gone.”

He went outside then. He talked to a mustache man on the porch, and came back in. Telly followed behind him.

“You got to be kidding me,” Telly said. “What’s this, Glow? What’s this he’s saying?”

“Oh, Telly. I always told Rowan to be careful around those people. Out in the woods of all places. Time and time again. Sure, you said the same yourself. If you don’t got a home, you shouldn’t be allowed to wander around. Should be against the law. You can’t trust them. You too, Maisy. I told you too.”

Her fingers patted my head. Worming through my hair all tickly.

“I never went there,” Telly said. He looked white. “When I was out today. I came just shy of it. Reached the creek, but didn’t follow it to the bridge. I can’t believe it.” Gloria had her arm wrapped around his. “We’re going to get him back, Glow. I promise you that.”

“I know, I know.” She was smiling a sad-smile. “I don’t know where we went wrong, but we’re a team now, Tel. You and me. We got to stick together.”

The man with the tie nodded. “We have people on it right away. We’re familiar with the bridge. A common spot for vagrants. Especially during summer.”

“What if he’s not there no more? What if that man took him somewhere?”

“We’re setting up for a systematic search at the same time, ma’am. Following a grid to ensure we don’t miss a thing. We’ll be moving shortly. Your boy could have fallen and hurt himself. With the high temperatures we had today there’s risk of dehydration, so we don’t have a moment to lose. Door to door is already in progress, in case anyone’s seen him. Volunteers are here. Lot of folks offering support. You’ve got a good neighborhood, Mr. and Mrs. Janes.”

“We really do.” Gloria sounded wavy.

But I knew she just said a lie. A small lie. She didn’t like our neighborhood. Or our neighbors.

There was lots more barking from outside.

“As you can hear, we’ve got three dogs on site. But with the heavy rain, and now this wind.” He stopped.

“What’re you doing with dogs?”