Page 56 of Shades of Mercy

“Whoa, kiddo. Slow down. Sips.”

After lowering the bottle, Jacob swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, leaving a streak of dirt.

“Care if I sit under the rock with you?” Jag asked. He was getting pummeled with rain.

Jacob nodded.

Taking cover, Jag shook the water from his hat and hooked it on his bent knee.

“I got lost.”

Jag looked down at the kid. “These mountains can be a bit tricky.”

After taking a sip of the water, Jacob said, “Is Mommy mad at me?”

“Why would she be mad, son?”

“Because I ran away. He’s not my dad,” Jacob said with a puffed-out bottom lip.

“Jonah isn’t your father?” Jag’s instincts were raw.

Jacob shook his head and he trembled.

Jag didn’t like what he saw.

He remembered the stuffed animal in his pocket. Digging it out, he laid it on the kid’s lap. His eyes brightened somewhat. “Your mom thought you might be missing that.” As Jag looked closer at the boy, he started getting more suspicious as alarm bells began ringing in his ears. “You’re pretty brave for a kid your age. How old are you?”

There was that hesitation again. “Six,” he said into the stuffed toy.

So he wasn’t eight. “Where do you live, Jacob?”

“I’m not allowed to talk to strangers and tell them things.”

“Is that what your mom told you?” Jag asked.

The boy seemed scared. “No. He did.”

“Don’t worry. You’re not in any trouble,” Jag assured Jacob, doubting that was his real name.

The rain subsided to a drizzle, and Jag knew they needed to take advantage of the weather.

“I bet you like adventure, don’t you?” Jag said.

He nodded.

“Who’s your favorite superhero?”

“I don’t have one,” Jacob said quietly.

“My favorite is Spider-Man. I wish I could shoot webs out of the tips of my fingers.”

“I like Batman,” he finally said.

“Cool choice. Here’s what I need you to do for me. For the next few hours, I want you to be as brave as Batman. We’re going to get you off this mountain.”

“I want Mommy.”

“Every Batman needs one of these.” Jag pulled a compass from his jacket pocket. “My dad gave me this when I was a kid. He said a man, or Batman, can never go wrong if he uses his compass.