Chapter 20
"We're looking for a needle in a haystack, and we don't even know if we've got the right haystack!"
Kara was irritable, and it was wearing on Craig, but he let her vent and replied only with a grunt as they walked. Her son had been lost for more than a full day now—how could she not be irritable? She was surely as miserable as he. He would not blame her if she suddenly broke down and screamed; a part of himself wanted to do exactly that.
Officer Garrenton offered Kara a sympathetic glance as they made their way through the rain and the people moving along Pike Place, the road that bisected much of the market from north to south, its southern end elbowing east into Pike Street just outside the Fish Market where they had begun their search an hour ago. They were approaching the Fish Market again, coming near enough to see a small crowd of people disperse as the workers closed up shop for the day. It was five o'clock, and most of the market's shops would be shutting their doors about now. Zach was not among the crowd.
Craig stifled a yawn. In spite of his best efforts to delay it, exhaustion was beginning to overtake him. He couldn't stay awake forever.
They had searched through Down Under, La Salle, the Main Arcade, and the North Arcade, the four main buildings on west side of Pike Place Market, without uncovering any hint that Zach had ever been there. They had asked some shopkeepers whether they had seen a boy like Zach wandering around, but none had noticed him. Most had told the police as much already.
As they arrived at the Fish Market, Officer Garrenton brought them to a halt. "Have you had anything to eat today?" she asked them both.
Craig suddenly realized how hungry he was. He had hardly even thought about food since Zach had turned up missing yesterday. "Not much," he admitted. "We've been…preoccupied."
"I don't want anything," Kara said darkly, "except to find Zach. Let's keep looking."
"Yes, but you need to keep your strength up," Officer Garrenton counseled. "It won't do any good if you collapse from hunger while—"
"Wait," Kara exclaimed, looking past the officer and into the Corner Market building. "Craig, we took him to that diner in there. Maybe he remembered and went there to hide!"
She was grasping at straws, and this was the third establishment she had noted as a place Zach might have remembered, but Craig did not dare try to dissuade her. Besides, he had no better ideas himself about where to search for the youngster. "All right, let's take a look," he agreed, though with little hope.
They crossed the street, entered the building, and found the diner. The waitress, sweeping the floor, looked up as they entered. "We just closed," she informed them.
Officer Garrenton stepped to the center of the diner and displayed a picture of Zach, the picture Agent Nyler had distributed to the police and FBI. "We're looking for this boy. He's missing, last seen running through the Main Arcade. Has he come by here?"
The waitress shook her head. "Some officers came by a couple hours ago, asking the same thing. They still haven't found him?"
"Not yet," Officer Garrenton told her. "Thank you." She turned to leave, Craig following suit. Kara sighed and glanced around the room once before joining them.
She suddenly jerked back around, eyes locking onto a chair at the table where she and Craig had sat with Zach that day when they had brought him here. "Craig!" She strode briskly to the chair and picked up a photograph left on the seat. "Craig, he was here! He was—"
Emotion choked off her voice. She handed the photograph to Craig. In the picture sat Zach, age eight or nine, on his cot inside Dr. Lerwick's house in Edmonds, staring blankly at the camera, a book in his hand. Craig got the clear impression that Zach was annoyed at having had his reading interrupted. The youngster had shown Craig that look a time or two.
"How did this get here?" Craig inquired.
"I don't know," the waitress responded, bewildered. "It wasn't there a few minutes ago." She spun to face the kitchen. "Becky? Do you know where this picture came from?"
Becky, the cook, appeared behind the counter. "A kid came in while you were taking the trash out. He must have left it."
The waitress glared at her. "That's the kid they're looking for! Why didn't you call the police?"
"I didn't know that was him! I barely even looked at him. I was…busy."
"He's still in the market!" Kara declared, spinning to look in every direction at once. "Craig, remember at Mount Rainier, how we talked about leaving a trail? He's doing it! He wants us to find him!"
"How long ago was he here?" Officer Garrenton probed.
The cook shrugged. "Maybe ten, fifteen minutes ago."
Craig's eyes shone with hope. "Agent Nyler was right—he was hiding out…at least until he got hungry." He tapped the empty fries basket left on the table. Fries—Zach's favorite. "But where did he go now?"
"Why doesn't he just stop and ask somebody—anybody—for help?" Kara wondered aloud. "Do you think he'll go home?"
"Sure, if he could find his way there," Craig replied. "He's not very good with directions." For a long second, he worked the problem. "Maybe he's still in this building. Let's split up and look, and meet back here."
Kara and Officer Garrenton sped away to check the downstairs shops. Craig took the stairs to the second level. There wasn't much up there; he scanned it quickly and then stepped outside to First Avenue, where he looked left and right, searching for Zach in the rush hour throng. The youngster was nowhere to be seen.
He returned to the diner, where Kara and Officer Garrenton stood waiting for him.
"What now?" Kara frowned.
"I'll radio Agent Nyler," Officer Garrenton offered, "and have him send as many people as he can manage. But," she added, "it will take a few minutes. He's got them spread all across downtown." She took a few steps out into an open space at the center of the building and called in her request.
"He's got to be here somewhere," Craig thought aloud. "The problem is, we can't search everywhere at once. We had dozens of officers searching earlier, and they never found him. We'd have to have at least a hundred people who could spread out across—"
A thought struck him. He worked the problem in his mind… Ten minutes, dozens of extra eyes… Ben…
"Craig?" Kara prompted him. "You're thinking something. What is it?"
Craig thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Ben. We can get a hundred people here, Kara, or a lot, anyway! All the people at the prayer vigil—they're only a few minutes from here!"
Kara's eyes lit up. "They can search everywhere at once—people Zach recognizes, people he'll come to… Yes! I love you!" She kissed Craig swiftly on the cheek and drew out her own phone.
"Who are you calling?" Craig inquired.
"Derek and Shanice," she returned, "and then Grover—anyone who can come and help!"
Energized with real hope for the first time all day, Craig dialed Ben's number.
*****