Page 51 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

“It’s Kyle. He went out with some friends up the miner’s trail this morning and he’s not back yet—”

My heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was just the strain of the run.

Or maybe it was fear.

“I’m on the miner’s trail,” I grunted. “Haven’t seen anyone about here. Not a soul.”

“What are you doing up there?” said Laura suspiciously.

“I’m running,” I said. “I decided to go for a jog. Since it’s obvious you weren’t going to stick around.”

“Lucien, he was due back an hour ago. I can’t get him on his cellphone.”

“They must have gone up to the pass,” I said. Phone reception was impossible from up there. “What time did they leave?”

“Nine. I told them to go up to Riker’s Point and come back.”

I looked at the clock. It was 12.40 now. “I passed that half an hour ago.”

“Oh Jesus,” moaned Laura. “What should I do?”

“They can’t have gone much further,” I reasoned. If Kyle and his friends had been walking, they couldn’t have gone further than seven or eight miles. And since Kyle wasn’t answering his phone, that meant they must be at the pass which stretched across the valley. I was less than a mile off.

“Okay, I know where they’ll be,” I replied. “I’ll run up and send them back.”

“He must have decided to go on further than I told him to. He’s just…he was in a weird mood last night, Lucien. He felt odd about you and David and I knew something was wrong, only I—”

“Look, it’s fine,” I sad. “If they were walking then I should be right behind them. I’ll head on up.”

“I’ll follow you.”

“Don’t follow me,” I said. “There’s no point. You won’t get up here in time.”

“Damn that! That’s my son, Lucien.”

“And I’m going to find him. I promise. Not that my word means much to you,” I growled, as I hung up.

I broke into a faster run now, tearing up the trail. If the boys had set out at nine, that meant they could have gone a lot further. I didn’t tell Laura my suspicions. But deep down, I knew something had happened, and the thought spurred me into action as I sprinted up the valley.

By the time I got to the pass, I could hear voices in the distance. And as I rounded a turn on the trail and began to jog down to the scree slope and the bridge, a small blonde boy stepped out of the treeline.

“Hey! Hey mister!” he said.

“STAY THERE!” I thundered, and sprinted down the hill.

The boy looked to be about Kyle’s age. “Who are you?” I said. “Where’s Kyle?”

The boy looked frightened. It must have been intimidating to see me sprinting down the hillside towards him. For a moment, he looked like he was going to cut and run.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said. “It’s okay, son. Just tell me where he is.”

“We were—” sniffled the boy, “we were playing on the bridge. He fell.”

I felt sick to my stomach, as I stared up at the wooden footbridge which ran across the valley.

“Where is he?”

The boy turned and began to run down the hill.