Hunter by Adrianne Lemke

I put my arms up in
surrender.
                “He’s
all yours, Detective. If you want to see the shed, it’s open.” The probable
abuser opened his mouth, but I interrupted before he could speak. “Before you
say anything, it was all above-board. Your wife gave permission for me to search
the property for anything that would help find Caleb. She wants to do what she
can to find her son. I’m guessing you aren’t as concerned.”
                I
let Nickels lead me out of the house, and ignored his annoyed glances while
leading him to the shed. I stood silently as he looked around the little room,
and he drew similar conclusions. “Child abuse? Did you find anything else?
Anything that could help us find Caleb?”
                “No.
Wait,” I said, closing my eyes. One of the three people from this house was
about a mile down the block right now, and I hadn’t felt anyone leave the
house. I faltered for a moment. Nickels didn’t know about my abilities. How
could I tell him Caleb was nearby without proof? “I think he left willingly. It
could be we’re not looking at this in the right way. He’s being abused. He’s
not great at school. And, from what we heard, he doesn’t have any close
friends.”
                “All
true, as far as I can tell. You were right, by the way,” Nickels said. I looked
at him curiously. “The father wasn’t acting very concerned. Kept saying he
probably just skipped school, although I could tell the mother didn’t agree.”
                No,
she didn’t. Her footsteps were approaching the backyard now, and her husband’s
weren’t with her. “Mrs. Larson,” I called out right as she appeared around the
corner. “Is there a place nearby where Caleb would go to get away?”
                She
froze when I called her name, and glanced at the house fearfully. “Yes,” she
said softly. “The park. There are woods there, and I think there’s a small
clearing where he sits to think about things.”
                “If
you really want what’s best for Caleb, you need to leave your husband. Your son
won’t stay with you unless you aren’t with him anymore. Think about it,
for his sake and your own,” my voice was soft, but the tone wasn’t, and Nickels
looked up sharply at the harsh emotion I showed.
                I
gestured ahead of me. “Detective, I think we have a park to search.”
                “You
might be right, but…”
                “Not
the time, detective. Trust me on this one. I have a feeling we’ll find him
there.”       
                He
nodded tersely, and we drove down the street to the wooded park. It happened to
be a section of the same woods where Shawn was found, but I didn’t feel any
other footsteps near Caleb to indicate he was in any kind of trouble. When we
got out of the car I kept tabs on the vibrations from Caleb’s footsteps, and
tried to lead Nickels to him. It was a trick to do it without looking like I
knew exactly where I was going.
                Caleb’s
heart rate was high and he was pacing nervously. He made no attempt to run
away, even when I was certain he’d heard us coming. “Caleb!” I called out,
letting him know we were looking for him.
                We
broke through the tree cover into a small clearing, and there was Caleb. He was
just as I pictured him as we walked through the woods: pacing and nervous. What
I didn’t expect was the gun. “Caleb.” I raised my hands to keep him calm when
he swung around to aim the weapon at me. “My name is Jason. I’ve been looking
for you.”
                He
laughed bitterly, “Well, congratulations. You found me. Now what?”
                “Watch
yourself, Jason,” Nickels muttered.
                I
gave him a sideways glance, and kept my hands raised to show I was unarmed.
“Well, that seems to be up