Dorning drove wordlessly, Natalie by his side. They slowly cruised down a street they had already traveled three times that night.
Natalie finally found the courage to say what she knew they were both thinking.
“Doctor, maybe we should call the police.”
Dorning shook his head firmly.
“No. Not yet. I don’t want the police involved if we can avoid it.”
“But we’ve been looking for him for over an hour.”
“And we will keep looking for him until we find him.”
“But what if he was . . .” She couldn’t speak the word.
“What? Abducted? Unlikely. There’s never been a stranger abduction in the professor’s neighborhood. That’s much too improbable to seriously consider.”
“Then where is he?”
“Lost. But he won’t be once we find him. That’s what we’re out here trying to do.”
“What if he’s hurt somewhere by the side of the road?”
“Entirely possible. Or the bicycle malfunctioned and he was forced to walk home. He might even be waiting for us there right now. Let’s check one more time.”
He swung the car down their street.
“I should have just waited for him at home,” Natalie said.
“No. I needed another pair of eyes, especially in this gloom.”
Natalie wrung her hands in her lap, wishing the doctor would just call the police. As concerned as he said he was for the boy’s well-being, she couldn’t understand why he didn’t immediately involve the authorities.
Dorning’s head suddenly swung to the left, and he hit the brakes. The car slid on the impacted gravel, sending some flying.
“What is it, Doctor? Do you see him?”
“I thought I saw something. Wait right here. I’m going to take a closer look.” He got out of the car.
She ignored his demand and followed him to a spot near the side of the road.
In the dim moonlight, they both stared down at the mangled remains of Miguel’s bicycle.
Natalie put a hand to her throat. “Oh, Doctor!” she said softly. “Maybe you shouldn’t have bought him that bicycle, after all.”
Dorning rubbed his forehead in disbelief, ignoring the suggestion he was somehow at fault.
He carefully lifted the bike up with both hands for a closer look. “This should not have happened. Statistically, this simply should not have happened. Recreational bicycling is much safer than skateboarding or those scooters all the kids have nowadays. Much safer.” He dropped the bike and turned completely around, scanning the area. “He must be here somewhere; help me find him. He probably would have headed straight home if he wasn’t too hurt.”
They searched frantically through the tall grass. Headlights appeared down the road, and a noisy pickup truck pulled up behind Dorning’s car.
“Hey!” the driver called out to them. “You aren’t looking for a kid on a bike, are you?”
“Yes! Is he with you?” Dorning crashed through the grass to the vehicle and looked inside. He didn’t see the boy.
“No, I took him to the medical clinic. He had a bad accident, but I think he’s going to be all right. I see you found the bike, or what’s left of it.”
Natalie closed her eyes in relief, able to breathe again.
Dorning froze at the man’s words. It was moment before he could respond. “You took him to a clinic? Which one, the small one outside of town?”
“That’s the one.”
Dorning felt his face redden. “Why, how dare you! Only I can take him to the clinic!”
The driver’s expression turned dark. “Hey listen, pal, even though he was wearing a helmet, he must have hit his head pretty hard. He was saying some really strange things for a kid.”
Dorning paused, stunned by the news. He reached into the truck and grabbed the driver by the arm.
“What kind of things? Tell me quick.”
“Hey, let go! I don’t know. Crazy things about how much the town has grown, and how he knew me twenty years ago, and how he hasn’t used a telephone in years. Just all kinds of odd comments. Will you let go of me? I’m warning you.” Jordan tried to pull his arm out of Dorning’s solid grip.
Dorning finally let go and took a step back. The look on his face was one of surprise.
“It is my fault.” He spoke to himself, too quietly to be heard. “The professor. I don’t know if he ever learned how to ride a bicycle. Why didn’t I think of that before?”
He roused himself and spoke louder. “I must apologize. I was just worried about the boy.”
The driver’s angry expression quickly faded. “Sure. That’s understandable. Apology accepted. I’m Peter Jordan, by the way. I live right here. Good to meet you.” He stuck his hand out for Dorning to shake. “So you’re living in the professor’s old place?”
Dorning ignored the extended hand. “Sorry. No time to chitchat. I must get to the clinic right away. Natalie? Come along.”
She quickly followed him to his car. They sped off into the night, leaving Jordan sitting alone in his truck.
The architect shook his head in disgust as he rubbed his arm where Dorning had grabbed him. “So that’s the thanks I get. Some people.”
Dorning drove hunched close to the steering wheel, wondering what kind of tests the doctors were performing on the boy and what they would think of his handiwork once they found it. He thought hard to come up with an acceptable explanation for what he had done.
The last thing he needed, he knew, was for his mistake of giving Miguel a bicycle to trigger some sort of medical investigation that would point straight to him and reveal the experiment to the world when the world wasn’t ready to accept it.