Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
He fired up his truck and turned around. She glanced in her rearview mirror as she drove down the dirt road, the large black truck looming behind her, and she wondered for a brief moment if she’d fallen asleep the night before and still hadn’t woken up.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cami’s open-concept condo was tidy and serene, the exact opposite of his grandpop’s house, the one he’d been stuck inside for the last few days, and Rex took a deep breath of the clean, vanilla-scented air. “This is nice,” he said and then barely held back a cringe at the fact that he’d sounded like she’d invited him there for a date.
She gave him a nervous glance and a small tip of her lips before closing the door behind them. He felt awkward, too, even though he was in her home for a specific reason and by her invitation. But the feeling that he didn’t belong there was strong and born of the history between them. Get over it. She asked you for help, and you’re going to give it your best.
He had this other feeling, though, too—the sense that he’d become embroiled in something that wasn’t going to be easy to walk away from and of which there might not be a clear conclusion.
He followed her from the living room to the kitchen area off to the left, where there was a laptop open on the table. Cami leaned over it and clicked over the keys for a moment before standing up and stepping aside. “There,” she said, sweeping her hand toward it. “See, I’m pretty sure I was right about it being a live video. I couldn’t see the moon during the night, but now it’s there, outside the window.”
“May I?” he asked, nodding to the chair.
“Yeah, of course. Please.”
He picked up the computer and then moved it in front of the chair so he could sit down and study it closely. It was as Cami had described. The space was dim, though a murky light glowed in a corner and the moon shone through the window. It was a mostly barren room that looked like a cabin of some sort with wood floors and planked walls. There was one window with white curtains that had been parted and, just like she’d said, thick black bars that appeared to be made of iron. A bed was against the opposite wall with nothing but a mattress and a thin blanket crumpled at the end. And that’s where the young boy sat against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest. He was awake, even though it was nighttime.
Rex’s heart gave a strong knock as his eyes held on the boy. He looked so small and alone, his posture speaking of his fear and isolation. He made the video larger and homed in on the kid’s face. He did see the resemblance to Cami. It was in the eyes and the nose and the shape of her face. Though he reminded himself that a resemblance alone didn’t prove anything. This might turn out to be some sort of shakedown, using a child who had a similar bone structure.
The who, how, and what of that possible scenario could come later, though. For now, he was simply gathering information. The kid was wearing a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee that didn’t look like one of those purposeful ones, but rather a more threadbare rip that had been caused by time and wear. They were also too big and too long, the cuffs covering half his shoes, even though his knees were pulled up.
And from what he could see of his shoes, they looked cheap and well worn too. He noticed that the boy’s toe was coming through the nylon at the top of one shoe.
He had on a T-shirt and a zip-up sweatshirt and, while the pants appeared too big, the zip-up sweatshirt’s sleeves were an inch too short on the boy’s skinny wrists.
It was possible kidnappers had given this kid clothes to wear, but it was more likely the outfit he was wearing was what he’d had on when he was taken.
So, the kid was probably poor, wearing hand-me-down clothes that were both too large and too small and overly used.
Not the type of clothes adoring adoptive parents who’d waited years for a baby would put their son in. No, a kid like that would at least—even if he wasn’t wearing the most stylish brands—have clothes that fit.
Rex attempted to download the video to the desktop but was unable to. “I tried that too,” Cami said. “But it wouldn’t let me. I was hoping you’d know what to do. I did record some of it on my phone just so I had evidence, but I couldn’t save it to my computer.”