Endangered Read Free

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to help me take my mind off of it again.”

 
    TWO
     
     
    F orty-eight hours and still no sign of Colton Talbot. The community searched, the police talked to everyone who’d seen him the day he disappeared, and the only clue they had was the boy’s cell phone. Nick had helped in the search efforts, had assisted the detective in every way he could, but ineptitude began to erode his confidence. This wasn’t an official BAU investigation; in fact, it wasn’t even in the FBI’s jurisdiction, and Nick thought that maybe if it was, perhaps he could do more.
    ASAC Campbell, however, was growing anxious to have his SSA back in Washington. While Kate and Dwight continued, in their best efforts, to cover for him, Nick knew he would have to return soon. Tensions between the two had only recently begun to ease and pulling at that thread was a bad idea.
    Rachel walked in the kitchen and spotted Nick scrolling through his cell phone while he sipped on a cup of coffee. “Morning.” The energy to speak more than a few words was beyond her capacity. What had been a dim light of hope at the discovery of Colton’s cell phone was diminishing with each passing hour and Rachel simply had no desire to make any efforts at conversation.
    “Good morning.” Nick had also grown uncomfortable as time dragged on. They both looked to him for answers, and yet he had none. “Can I get you a coffee?” His offer was in vain as she’d already made her way to the coffee pot.
    “Thanks, I got it.”
    He looked through the kitchen window into the front yard, imagining that the two Talbot boys probably often played catch with each other, as boys do. There had been times he envied those of his friends who’d had families and children. This was not one of them. He would not ask if Rachel slept; he knew she hadn’t. He would not ask how she was doing, for it was obvious she was not doing well. Instead, the silence would fall over them, further extinguishing the optimism that had briefly filled this home.
    Rachel’s cell phone rang from its cradled position on the kitchen desk. She made her way over without haste. “Hello?”
    Nick cast his eyes in her direction; waiting, listening.
    She raised her head, a luster in her eyes flickered, and began to nod. “Thank you, detective. We’ll be down as soon as possible.” She ended the call and returned Nick’s glance. The slightest hint of promise sounded in her voice. “That was Detective Mason. She said forensics came back on the phone and she wants us to come down as soon as we can.”
    “Okay. That’s good. That’s very good.” Nick rose from the table. “Where’s Jake?”
    “He’s in the shower. I’ll go tell him.”
    “What about Scott?”
    “I’d prefer if he stayed here with my mother.”
    “Of course.” Nick watched Rachel make her way upstairs. He tempered his enthusiasm because any number of things could have shown up on that phone. The family had already given their prints to the police, so they’d be able to discount them. The detective had also already accessed the phone itself, with the help of the parents, who knew the passcode. Nothing out of the ordinary had been discovered, nor had they discovered anything on Colton’s laptop in his room. They’d all but ruled out an internet predator. What concerned him was that the detective wanted the family to come down, meaning that something fairly significant was discovered. Perhaps they’d taken prints and had a hit. That would be the best-case scenario because at least they would have someone to go after. If they found foreign prints with no hits in the system, then they’d have to begin ruling out Colton’s friends, teachers, classmates. It would drag things out substantially and that was the worst possible outcome.
     
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    Their arrival at the Springfield District Police station was heralded by several local reporters. The story had drawn interest in the community, as