But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

“Hey, Clint, it’s Lindsey,” said our daytime dispatcher. “I’m sorry to call you so early, but we just got a call from a man on Jezebel Drive and I think it might be important. He said he was letting his dog out to pee and he saw a bunch of buzzards in the sky.”

“Oh, shit,” I said, dropping my fork and leaning back in my chair.

“Mommy, Daddy’s a bad boy,” Grace said nonchalantly, shoveling a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

“What’s his address and name?” I asked. “I’ll meet with him right away.”

“He doesn’t want to be contacted,” Lindsey said. “He said the birds were circling the trees on the west side of the street. He said you can’t miss it.”

I thanked her and quickly stood.

“What’s going on?” Susan asked.

My mom leaned forward, hungry for information. She loved juicy gossip.

“There’re buzzards circling the woods behind my old house.” I used to live on Jezebel Drive. In fact, I had spent my most memorable birthday in that house—only, it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. “I think it’s Ty.”

“Daddy, you got a tie!”

I smiled and leaned to kiss Grace’s forehead. Next, I kissed Susan and told her she was right.

“About what?” she asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Yesterday, you told me you had a feeling it would be a long day for me.” I smiled. “Thanks for that.”

She put a hand to my face. “Hold on, I’m coming with you.”

I walked outside to wait for Susan to join me, but then immediately turned around. I had forgotten about the cold front. While it had only dropped down into the forties, I was having none of it. I hurried upstairs to grab a jacket. My mind was racing, wondering at the possibilities that awaited me out in that field. I was hoping I’d respond and find a dead cow or coyote or some other animal. I did not want to find Ty. Although Amy had predicted this, I wasn’t ready to give up on the man.

Susan was ready by the time I hit the landing and we both jumped in my truck. It had rained last night and I didn’t want to get my Tahoe stuck in the mud. As for my truck, I’d yet to find a hole it couldn’t climb out of.

Once I left our street, I headed north until we reached the center of town, where I made a left turn onto West Coconut. I could see the buzzards long before we reached the end of the street.

“Damn, Sue, that doesn’t look good.”

She just nodded and stared in awe at the dark cloud of wings that blanketed a large patch of blue sky to the west.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

“Sue, they’re circling!” I said.

She glanced sideways at me, not understanding my excitement. “Yeah—and?”

“If they’re circling, that could mean he’s still alive!” I was nearly shouting. “They didn’t start eating him yet! They’re waiting for him to die.”

I wanted to rush toward the back of the street, but I had a personal rule against speeding through neighborhoods. There was no emergency that was worth the life of an innocent child.

The street was less than a mile long, but it seemed like it took forever for us to reach the end of it and turn onto Jezebel. I drove north until we were directly in line with where I thought the buzzards to be. The trees that lined the street to the west now obscured the birds from view, but I had made a mental note of where we needed to go.

“You know what,” Susan said, pointing in a northerly direction, “there’s a pumping station back there. The access road is at the end of Jezebel. If we drive down that road, it’ll get us parallel to where the buzzards are.”

She was right. I hadn’t thought of that road. I continued driving toward the end of Jezebel, passing my old house as I drove. Susan turned her head just as I did.

“I remember that old place,” she said somberly. “That’s where I thought I lost you before I even had you.”

I only nodded. I had a one-track mind at the moment—and that was finding Ty alive so I could rush out an ambulance and get him some help. After stumbling around in the forest for four or five days, he would definitely be in need of medical attention. He was probably dehydrated and suffering from fatigue.

I turned onto the pump access road and stopped when we reached a gate.

“I’ve got it,” Susan said, leaping from my truck and rushing to enter the code into the padlock.

I glanced to the south as I waited. I could see the edge of the circling buzzards now. I nodded. The location made sense. From Ty’s camp in the woods behind his house, all he’d have to do was head due north to reach this area. He must’ve run to his camp when his mother fell and hit her head, and then he’d started roaming through the trees.

Susan was back in a jiffy and I gunned the engine. Mud shot from my rear tires as I accelerated through the opening. There were no kids or traffic on this muddy road, so there was no need to watch my speed.

Susan clung to the grab handle near her head as the truck jostled violently with every bump it hit. She shot me a hard look. “I’d like to make it there with all of my teeth intact.”

I mumbled an apology, but didn’t slow down. We were almost there. When trying to save a life, every second counted. We hadn’t quite pulled even with the buzzards when I ran out of real estate. I smashed the brakes and