“Fuck protocol. Donotcall the cops.” Jayden stepped away, talking into his phone.
“Where do you think he’s taken Zak?” Sarah took Tammy’s hand. “I’ll help you look. Caleb has gone home with Melanie.”
“Okay, thank you.” She tried to think straight. Where would Gary take Zak? To a park? To the beach? To a diner? It could be all of those places. But what if he was already heading back to Wyoming? What if he’d made a plan to take Zak away forever, to never let her know where they were?
I might never see him again.
“We’ll find him.” Sarah held Tammy’s hand between both of hers. “We will. And I’ll start by calling all the moms at the school. I’ve got most of their numbers. They can spread the word, then if they spot him, they’ll get back to me.”
“Yes, good idea.” Tammy stared across the street, at a large acacia tree. Had Gary been hanging around lately, watching her, watching Zak?
Watching her with Jayden?
On several occasions, she’d had the feeling of being watched, stalked almost. The hairs on the back of her neck tingling, a sensation she couldn’t quite get rid of. Maybe Gary had found her and had been biding his time before snatching Zak.
He knew taking Zak would hurt her more than any beating.
“I’ll have to call the sheriff if he’s not found within an hour.” Mrs. Levy folded her arms. “I can give you that amount of time as he’s with one of his parents, but your … friend”—she nodded at Jayden who was slipping his cell away—“will have to accept I need to call the authorities to report this very soon.”
“Yes, whatever.” Tammy was barely listening.
“You’ve got cameras,” Jayden said to Mrs. Levy. “Can you go and see if Zak left in a vehicle? That would be really useful.”
“Er, yes, of course, I’ll do that.”
“Thank you, and call Tammy when you’ve found out.” Jayden was all business. The cogs of his mind had seemed to click into problem-solving mode.
Tammy was grateful for that. She could barely think straight.
Mrs. Levy rushed back into the school as though glad to have a task.
Sarah was on her phone, calling the other moms.
Tammy wiped at her cheeks. She was crying and hadn’teven noticed.
“Hey. Hey.” Jayden pulled her close, his thick arms giving her strength. “We’ll find him. He couldn’t have gone far.”
“Every minute we’re standing here, he could be going further away from me.”
“Barbarians are watching the roads now. More are off to scour parks and local diners. We’ll find him.” He paused. “There’s no way your bastard ex will have Zak for more than an hour, I promise you that.”
“You can’t promise that.” She looked up at him. “What if he hurts him?”
“Why would he do that? It’s his son.”
“To hurt me. And he’s hurt him before … you know that.”
“I’m gonna kill this goddamn son of a bitch.” Jayden’s nostrils flared. A muscle flexed in his cheek.
There was a sudden rumble, deep and resonating. Tammy turned to look over her shoulder.
Two big black bikes with riders atop.
“Wyatt and Carter,” Jayden said. “They’re gonna help me look around this area.”
“I’m going to start at the skate park. He might have asked to go there.”
“No, we’ll look there,” Jayden said sternly. “You need to go home.”