Spliced

Previous day...

“Shit!” Wolf made a wild grab for the potion. He missed. Translucent green liquid trickled through the floorboards. The door opened. A man stepped hesitantly inside Wolf’s cabin. Wolf looked up.

“Can I help you?”

“I hear you’re good at finding people.”

Wolf stood up straighter. Confident. “I am,” he affirmed.

The man gave a nod and his shoulders visibly relaxed. “My daughter.” Pause. “…stepdaughter is missing. She’s only 7.”

“I charge by the hour.” Wolf handed him a sheet containing a list of information and prices. “Where did you last see her?”

“At home,” the man replied.

“We’ll start there.” Wolf grabbed his jacket and headed out the door with the man. The spilt potion lay on the floor completely forgotten.

It took Wolf less than an hour to track the girl down. When he found her she was huddled beneath a tree and she did not want to go back.

“Come on,” Wolf said as softly as he could but it came out as more of a command. “Your family misses you.”

She shook her head and clung harder to the stuffed dog pressed between her chest and her arms.

“You can walk or I’ll carry you?” Wolf said.

She looked up at him with big brown stubborn eyes.

“Fine,” Wolf said. He gently but firmly picked the child up and put her over his shoulder. She struggled initially but quickly gave up as Wolf ignored her.

She hadn’t been far into the forest behind her house. Children usually never did get very far.

“Thank you” said her stepfather as Wolf deposited the child at his feet. The girl wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic. Indeed she shied away, inching closer to Wolf than to her stepfather. The stepfather reached to hug her anyway. Wolf frowned. Did the girl flinch? He must have imagined it.

“Now go inside,” the stepfather commanded.

She didn’t hesitate. ‘Why did she seem so afraid?’ The man handed Wolf a pouch of cash. “I’m so glad you found her. Her mother would have been very upset if she’d come home to find her girl missing again.”

“She’s run away before?” Wolf asked.

“Little brat likes to make her daddy worry.”

There was something about that statement that made Wolf’s hairs stand on edge.

“Thank you,” the man told him. He turned to follow the girl inside.

Wolf nodded, frowned, and turned to walk back to his car. Conflicted thoughts danced around his head. His job was finding people, even those who did not want to be found, and sometimes maybe those that shouldn’t.

He walked slowly. He considered his limited options here. His cell phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He answered it as he got into his car, and in the process, without intending to, he completely forgot about the little girl with the big brown eyes.