8
Terry was worried when he reached across the bed and found the other side cold and empty. Clyde had said he would come after the shift, but the sun was well up and there was no sign of him. Driving into town, he wondered whether he’d done something wrong. Everything had been going so well. Was it possible they’d had their first fight and he hadn’t even noticed?
Spotting Clyde’s truck parked outside the store, Terry felt instantly relieved. For some reason, Clyde must have decided to sleep in his office. He decided to bring him some warm rolls and coffee from the bakery, just in case he really had done something to offend.
Clyde was in the back when Terry came through the front door, clutching a paper bag and two cups that were so hot he was tempted to magically lower the temperature before the tips of his fingers got fried. Terry could hear a scuffling in the office and found Clyde applying a bag of ice to the side of his face. A livid purple bruise spread from the corner of his eye to his chin, puckered with small red wounds.
“What the hell happened?” asked Terry, dropping the bag and spilling a cup of coffee all over the desk. “Shit. Let me see that.”
He pulled Clyde’s hand away and inspected the right side of his face. “Quite the love bite.”
Clyde grunted and returned the ice pack to his cheek. “It didn’t go that well. The pack’s starting to turn on itself and I’ve only got two days to figure out what’s going on.”
“How are you supposed to do that?” asked Terry. “The whole town’s been over every inch of the county and there’s no sign of them. How do they expect you to have any better luck?”
“They don’t,” said Clyde sadly. “This is just a way for Luke to keep the peace. I’ve been given the chance to do some digging so that when I fail, holding you responsible will somehow feel like the only logical conclusion. They know I’ll turn to you for help, so I think this is more a test of your powers than of my sleuthing abilities.”
Terry understood but rubbed his eyes in frustration. “I can’t just magically make them reappear,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Well then how does it work?” asked Clyde, his own frustration starting to boil. “Don’t you have some kind of crystal ball you can use or something?”
“Look,” said Terry patiently, “we need to put our heads together on this. I can take a walk around and try to pick up their last imprint. I need something personal to each of them, something they cared about. That kind of object should still carry a fragment of their aura and will tell me what to look for. In the meantime, you need to talk to their families, try to understand exactly what they were up to right before they disappeared.”
“I can go over to Hilary’s and ask her to lend me Mike’s fly-fishing rod. He loved that thing more than his wife, so it should still have his scent or whatever all over it. As far as I know, the only thing Drake cared about was his car. It’s still parked out back of the gas station if you want to go take a look.”
As Clyde locked up the store and hurried over to Mike’s house, Terry made his way to the gas pumps. The Chevy was parked forlornly to the side, with the front window down and the doors unlocked. He slipped behind the wheel and was immediately engulfed with what it was to be Drake Andrews. Long afternoons spent tinkering with the engine, lonely nights feeling alienated from his peers because of his monthly shifting. Wanting a girlfriend but being too scared to ask one out on a date. When he was satisfied that he could recognize the boy’s imprint, Terry got out of the car and went back to the store.
Clyde was waiting with the fishing rod and thrust it impatiently into Terry’s hands. “Here, Hilary let me have this but she wants it back,” he said. “She said he’d be wanting it when he returns, and acted like Mike had just stepped out for a coffee. Broke my heart.”
Terry ran his fingers along the shaft of the rod, closing his eyes and murmuring softly to himself. After several minutes, he handed it back to Clyde and smiled reassuringly.
“I’ve got it, we’re good to go,” he said. “Get the rod back to Hilary and find out if she knows any more than what she already told the Sherriff. Ask Drake’s parents where he was going that afternoon, and whether he was planning to meet up with anyone. I’ll catch up with you at the gathering place at the end of the day, alright?”
“What are you going to do?” asked Clyde.
“Find them,” Terry replied firmly. He put his arms around Clyde and held him close, listening to the double-beat of his anxious heart.
“I love you,” he whispered. “You just need to keep the faith.”