Mia's stomach dropped out, and her knees felt shaky. Luckily, Carter reached out and steadied her. If he hadn't grabbed her hand, there was a very real chance that she would have fallen over. She focused for the moment on his fingers and the strength in his grip. He was the only solid thing in the world for a moment as worry flooded through her.
“We'll find him, Mia,” Carter promised. “He can't have gone far.”
His promise was sweet to her ears, and she tried to nod in agreement. He still had her hand, and it helped keep the panic from clawing its way up her throat and strangling her.
“Do you know where he might have gone?” the security guard asked. His dark eyes were serious and calm. He didn't look panicked, and that made Mia feel a tiny bit better.
“No.” Mia shook her head. “He wasn't excited about touching the horses since they're so big, but I don't know where he'd go... I'll check the car.”
“Brian, I want the ranch on full alert,” Carter said, still holding her hand. “All hands on deck.”
“Yes, sir.” Brian nodded curtly and grabbed the radio at his shoulder.
Mia didn't wait to hear him call it in. She let go of Carter's hand and ran to her car. She was breathless from sprinting when she got there. It was unlocked.
His school backpack was in there, but not him.
Her hands started shaking, and the world grayed out. She'd never lost one of her kids. She made sure she was always conscious of where they were. She had helped search for runaways, but no one had ever gone missing while under her care. She hated this feeling. She wanted Grayson safe in her arms.
“It's okay, Mia,” Carter told her as he caught up and found her holding onto the car. “We'll find him. He has to be on the ranch somewhere.”
Mia was already imagining the worst. Rattlesnakes, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, kidnappers, open wells, and rabid dogs were all running through her mind. Her heart rate was through the roof, and her whole body wound like a too-tight spring. It took everything she had not to start running around screaming his name.
“Let's check the stables again.” Carter took her arm and calmly led her down the neat stone path to the stables. Mia tried to concentrate on how steadying he felt next to her instead of her own panic. Grayson had to be okay. He had to be.
“I'm so sorry,” Laura told her as they walked in. Her eyes were big and full of worry. “He was just here. He didn't want to touch the horse just yet, so I let him be for a moment. He was just sitting right there on that stool, and I turned around, and...”
“It's okay, Laura,?
? Carter said. He reached out and gave Laura's shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You keep the other two calm while we look around.”
Lily and Alexander looked up from the horse they were grooming. Mia did her best to smile. They didn't realize their brother was really missing, which was good. If they knew, they would only panic too and make things worse.
“I looked everywhere,” Laura whispered. “I told them he probably had to go to the bathroom.”
“We'll find him,” Carter told Laura. He sounded so confident that it had to be true. Mia needed to hear him say it as many times as possible. She was so glad he was staying calm and directing them because she felt like a total mess. His calmness and assured manner was the only thing keeping her from going off the deep end and completely freaking out.
“Where could he have gone?” Mia asked, looking around. The stall doors were all open with the horses out in the pasture, so she knew he wasn't in one of them. Everything was airy and open, which was nice, but it made for no good hiding places.
Carter got a thoughtful look as he glanced around. “Did you check the hayloft?”
“It was the first place I looked,” Laura told him.
“Did you go up there? Or just stick your head up?” Carter asked.
“I just stuck my head up,” Laura replied. Her eyes widened with hope and whatever idea Carter already had.
“Come with me, Mia,” Carter said, tugging on Mia's hand. “I know where I'd go if I were a kid here.”
Mia tried to take deep, steadying breaths, but her lungs weren't working right. The shallow panicky breaths were just too easy. She knew she had to calm down, or else she'd be no good in a search. In her mind, she was already making the phone call to the police, to her boss, and to Margie. What in the world was she going to say?
“This way, Mia,” Carter said softly. She'd frozen in the middle of the barn. He took her hand and tugged gently. She focused on him. He was calm, and she latched onto that, needing his serenity.
Together they went to the hayloft and climbed the ladder. Mia sneezed halfway up. It was dusty and smelled like clean hay. It was a nice scent, just one she wasn't used to.
“There's nobody up here,” she moaned, looking around as she followed Carter up. All she could see was piles and bales of yellow hay everywhere. Panic clawed at her throat again and twisted her stomach into knots. “What if he's hurt?”
Carter walked around a stack of hay. “He's over here,” he called softly.