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open, using her shoulder because the door had crumpled slightly from the impact. Her knees were swollen from smashing into the console, and she almost lost her balance as she stood.
    "I don't think you should be moving-"
    Holding on to the car for support, she ignored the man as she moved around the car, toward the opposite side, where Kyle's door stood open.
    No, no, no, no . . .
    "Kyle!"
    In disbelief, she bent inside to look for him. Her eyes scanned the floor, then back to the seat again, as if he might magically reappear. Blood rushed to her head, bringing with it a piercing pain that she ignored.
    Where are you? Kyle . . .
    "Lady . . ." The man from the fire department followed her around the car, seemingly uncertain of what to do or what was going on or why this lady who was covered in blood was suddenly so agitated.
    She cut him off by grabbing his arm, her eyes boring directly into his.
    "You haven't seen him? A little boy . . . brown hair?" The words were tinged with genuine panic. "He was in the car with me!"
    "No, I-"
    "You've got to help me find him! He's only four!"
    She whirled around, the rapid movement almost making her lose her balance. She grabbed hold of the car again. The corners of her vision faded to black as she struggled to keep the dizziness at bay. The scream came out despite the spinning in her mind.
    "Kyle!"
    Pure terror now.
    Concentrating . . . closing one eye to help her focus . . . getting clearer again. The storm was in full fury now. Trees not twenty feet away were difficult to see through the rain. It was absolute darkness in that direction . . . only the path to the highway was clear.
    Oh God.
    The highway . . .
    She could feel her feet slipping in the mud-soaked grass, she could hear herself drawing short, rapid gasps as she staggered toward the road. She fell once, got up again, and kept going. Finally understanding, the man ran after her, catching her before she reached the road. His eyes scanned the area around him.
    "I don't see him. . . ."
    "Kyle!" She screamed it as loud as she could, praying inside as she did it. Despite being nearly drowned out by the storm, the sound prompted Taylor into further action.
    They took off in opposite directions, both shouting Kyle's name independently, both stopping occasionally to listen for sound. The rain, however, was deafening. After a couple of minutes Taylor ran back to his car and made a call to the fire station.
    The two voices-Denise's and Taylor's-were the only human sounds in the swamp. The rain made it impossible for them to hear each other, let alone a child, but they continued anyway. Denise's voice cut sharply, a mother's scream of despair. Taylor took off at a lope, shouting Kyle's name over and over, running a hundred yards up and down the road, firmly caught up in Denise's fear. Eventually two other firemen arrived, flashlights in hand. At the sight of Denise, her hair matted with clots of blood, her shirt stained red, the older one recoiled for a moment before trying and failing to calm her down.
    "You've got to help me find my baby!" Denise sobbed.
    More help was requested, more people arrived within minutes. Six people searching now.
    Still the storm raged furiously. Lightning, thunder . . . winds gusting strongly, enough to bend the searchers over double.
    It was Taylor who found Kyle's blanket, in the swamp about fifty yards from the spot where Denise had crashed, snagged on the underbrush that covered the area.
    "Is this his?" he asked.
    Denise started to cry as soon as it was handed to her.
    But after thirty minutes of searching, Kyle was still nowhere to be seen.

    Chapter 4
    It made no sense to her. One minute he was sleeping soundly in the backseat of her car, and in the next minute he was gone. Just like that. No warning at all, just a split-second decision to jerk the wheel and nothing would ever be the same again. Was that what life came down to?
    Sitting in the back of the ambulance with the doors open while the