Chapter 9

Dan’s POV.

It had been exactly one month and two days since Casey had been kidnapped. Myself and the police and the rest of Casey’s family had searched absolutely everywhere for her. Today was the last search the police would conduct for Casey, apparently they couldn't waste anymore time on her. I knew they had no hope, you could see it in their eyes every time we came home after the searches and I hate how they pitied me.

One of the officers had even said, “Just get over her, mate. There’s plenty of other fish in the sea.”

I had stood there gaping at him, how he could just brush off my love for Casey. It was unbelievable.

As I wolfed down my breakfast, I realised it was only 6:00am. Dad was snoring lightly in the bedroom and Mum had already left for work. She hadn’t been able to attend most of the searches because she had to work at the beauty boutique in town, but she often went over to the Blair’s residence after work and have a drink with Jillian.

Dad usually came and participated in the search, but I decided I wouldn’t wake him up. He needed a rest. My eyes skimmed over the counter and I realise that I had dropped a lot of crumbs from my chocolate croissant. I cleared them up and noticed a white post-it note taped to the cupboard.

Good luck with the search today, Dan. Don’t lose hope, Love Mum xoxo.

My mouth twitched into a smile. Always like Mum to brighten my day when I’m feeling down.

As I walked out of the house, I stared at my beaten up old commodore. It had cost me $500 and it was pretty unreliable. As soon as I found Casey, I decided I would buy a new car. It is probably such an embarrassment to be seen in this car with me. That is, if I found her. I shook my head angrily, refusing to think any more morbid thoughts.

The car’s engine roared to life and I let out a sigh of relief, glad that it had started. Thoughts rushed through my head as I carefully backed of the driveway. Where could Casey be? I missed her more than anything in the world. Casey had no idea I had feelings for her but I had planned to confess to her as soon as I found her. We were going to be searching in the woods today, but I doubted that we would find anything there.

***

I drummed my fingers nervously on the steering wheel as I approached the entrance to the woods. Jillian was standing beside her car, talking to a policeman. There were also about ten other policemen and a couple were studying a map. I cut the engine and started jogging towards Jillian.

"Good morning, Dan," she smiled warmly and kissed my cheek.

"Hi Jillian, any news?" I asked her.

She shook her head and her eyes misted over. I walked back over to my car, feeling guilty that I had made Jillian upset. Just then, a whistle sounded – the signal for the search to begin.

I trekked into the forest with a small group of policemen. We searched the ground, in the bushes and even up the trees. Anything to find a lead on Casey. Just then, I saw something glinting on the muddy ground a few hundred metres away. I jogged over to the item and I gasped when I realised what it was.

Casey’s name engraved bracelet.

For the rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon, we pursued our search for Casey. As the sun set I could hear the policemen around me murmuring to each other.

"It’s time to end the search, it’s just about dark," the chief announced and the other policemen shook their heads.

Jillian was standing by herself and it looked like she was crying. I went over to her and embraced her, my hand rubbing circles in her back. She sobbed into my shoulder and we stood like that for a few minutes. She silently pulled away and I kissed her cheek in goodbye.

"Don’t lose hope, Jill," I whispered softly into her ear.

She gave a small smile and mumbled, "I’m trying, Dan. I really am."

I silently walked over to my car, clutching Casey’s bracelet. I turned on the engine and sped away from the search site.

When I arrived home, Dad was sitting in his usual spot in front of the TV. He looked up at me, a hopeful look in his eyes. He knew how I felt about Casey and he could tell how upset I was that she was gone. I silently shook my head no and he went back to watching the TV.

When I got into my room, I flopped down on my bed. A single tear rolled down my cheek. Even though the police would not be searching for Casey any more, I refused to stop searching for her. Where on earth could she be?

She was obviously in the woods somewhere, as i had found her bracelet. A pang of guilt struck me as i realised i should have handed in the bracelet to the police.

I lay down on my bed and glanced over to my bedside cupboard where a couple of books laid. It also had a photo frame of me and my mates when we younger, in a fort we had made out of an old abandoned house in the woods.

Thats it!

The police had made no mention of searching that area and we hadn't even gone near it when i had been present on the searches. The part of woods with the house in it was more north and it would be at least a few kilometres from the nearest housing state.Maybe there was a chance she was there. I knew it would be slim but it was worth a try.

I decided I was going to hold my own search tomorrow and make the police join me. As I drifted off to sleep, a calm feeling swept over me. Maybe Casey wouldn’t be in that house, but it may just bring us one more step closer to finding her.