Chapter 2: Bear
Bear Calloway had been many things in his forty-eight years: a soldier, a mechanic, a father figure to a dozen young men who had needed one, and the president of the Iron Wolves for eleven years. He had sat with friends in hospital rooms and stood beside brides at weddings. But he had never been looked at the way Noah Bennett was looking at him now: as if he were the only solid thing left in a world that had suddenly tilted sideways.
He stayed on one knee, so that his eyes were level with the boy's. He had learned long ago that when a child is frightened, the worst thing an adult can do is tower over them. So he spoke the way he spoke to his own nieces when they had nightmares.
"Start at the beginning, Noah," he said. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
Noah took a shaky breath. "Mom works at the clinic. She works nights. She always comes home before the sun comes up, and she always wakes me up with a kiss on the forehead. But this morning, she didn't come. I waited and waited. Mrs. Alvarez came over and said maybe Mom had to stay late, but then it got dark, and still no Mom."
"Did you try calling her?" Bear asked.
Noah nodded. "Mrs. Alvarez did. It went straight to nothing. Like the phone was off. Mom never turns her phone off. She says it's because the clinic might need her."
Bear glanced up at Sarge, who was already pulling out his own phone, his face grave. Sarge had been Bear's right hand for fifteen years. He stepped away toward the bar, already dialing the clinic.
"What else, Noah?" Bear asked.
Noah's lower lip trembled. "Mom's car is old. She says it coughs when it rains. And last night it rained. What if her car stopped? What if she's out there in the dark all by herself?"
Bear reached out and put one big hand on the boy's shoulder, steady as an anchor. Bear's voice was calm and sure. "Then we're going to find her. That's what we're going to do. But first, I need you to tell me a few more things, so we know where to look. Can you do that for me?"
Noah nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Yes, sir."
"What road does your mom take home from the clinic?"
"Route 9," Noah said. "Past Miller's farm. Past the old bridge. She always says it's the long way, but it's the safe way, because the other road has potholes."
"Good. That's good, Noah. And what does her car look like?"
"It's blue. It's a little car with a dent in the back. The dent is from when she backed into a mailbox. She says the mailbox won."
Bear smiled, just a little, because he wanted the boy to know that it was all right to smile even when you were scared.
"That's a good detail," Bear said. "A blue car with a dent in the back. We'll find it. Now, Noah, I need to ask you something, and I want you to think hard. Did your mom say anything last night before she left? Anything about where she was going, or anyone she was going to see?"
Noah thought, his brow furrowing the way children's brows do when they are concentrating with all their might. "She said Mrs. Alvarez would bring us supper. She said if she was late, not to worry, because sometimes the clinic gets busy. But she also said..." He paused, and his eyes went wide. "She said the car was making a funny noise. She said if it made the noise again, she was going to pull over and call someone."
Bear's jaw tightened, just slightly. A nurse, alone, on a country road at night, with a car that was making a funny noise. He did not let any of that show on his face. Instead, he squeezed Noah's shoulder gently.
"You did exactly right coming here," he said. "Do you know that? A lot of grown-ups wouldn't have been as brave as you were tonight."
Noah looked down at his sneakers. "I was scared," he admitted, very quietly.
"Being scared doesn't mean you're not brave," Bear said. "Being brave means doing the right thing even when you're scared. And that's what you did."
Behind them, Sarge came back from the bar, his face serious. "The clinic says Sarah left at eleven last night," he said quietly. "Her shift ended at eleven. Nobody's seen her since."
Bear nodded once. He turned back to Noah. "Listen to me, son. Here's what's going to happen. My friends and I are going to go out and look for your mom. We're going to check Route 9, every mile of it, until we find her. And while we do that, you are going to stay right here, where it's warm and safe, and Pete is going to make you the best hot cocoa in the state of Montana. Is that a deal?"
Noah's eyes filled with tears again, but he nodded. "Okay," he whispered. "But you'll come back, right? You'll come back and tell me?"
Bear held out his hand, pinky extended. It was a gesture he had learned from his nieces, and it looked almost comical coming from a man his size. "Pinky promise," he said. "I will come back and tell you myself. The Iron Wolves keep their word."
Noah hooked his small pinky around Bear's big one. "Pinky promise," he said.
Bear stood then, slowly, and the whole room seemed to stand with him. Sarge was already pulling on his jacket. Doc was checking his medical bag. Preacher was putting on his gloves. Wrench was heading for the door, keys in hand. Tommy, the youngest rider, had already gone outside to start the bikes.
Bear looked down at Noah one more time. "You sit tight, partner," he said. "We're going to bring your mom home."
And as Bear turned toward the door, Noah watched him go, and for the first time since the sun had come up that morning without his mother in it, he believed that everything might actually be all right.