Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
I snatch my radio up, pausing midstep. "This is 133."
"You got cell reception out there?"
I drag my cell phone out of my pocket to check. I've got signal, but I'm not counting on the single bar being enough for whatever he needs. "Anyone got cell service?" I call to the crew.
"Fuck no," Evan mutters.
"Nope," Devon says.
"I've got a bar," Tony says.
"I've got signal," Bodie Jinks says.
"What the fuck?" Evan scowls at him. "How the fuck do you have signal?"
"Told you dicks that you needed to switch providers. You didn't listen." He shrugs, jogging over to me. "What do you need?"
"Hold that thought." I lift the radio again. "We've got signal, IC."
"Standby for a call."
"Negative. Call 139."
"Copy. Calling 139."
I hook the radio to my belt again, waiting for Bodie's phone to ring. Easton doesn't keep me waiting long. Within thirty seconds, the phone lights up, vibrating in Bodie's hand. He holds it out to me.
"Hey. What's up?" I ask, holding it to my ear.
"I found a campsite I need you to check out," Easton says. "It's about half a mile from your current position."
"How the fuck do you know our current position?" I ask, brows furrowed.
"Look up."
I tip my head back, glancing up at the sky.
The drone swoops down, the hum growing louder as it hovers several feet above us over the creek we've been following.
"Follow the creek to the west," Easton instructs. "The campsite is right where it swells."
"You think it's something?"
He hesitates. "Possibly. You said he camps in this area a lot."
When I asked Nina, this is the area she directed us to search.
"What'd you find?"
"Looks like a backpack was left behind. There's a physics textbook sticking out of it. Dillon checked with Garrett. Nate is in advanced physics this year."
"Shit. We're on the way."
"Call me when you get there," Easton orders before hanging up on me.
I pass Bodie's phone back to him before glancing at the crew. "There's a campsite half a mile to the west. Easton thinks it may be something."
"Then let's fucking go," Evan mutters, already striding that way.
I fall in behind him, with everyone else spreading out in a line. No one says anything as we hurry in that direction, keeping our eyes peeled along the way. I'm too goddamn afraid to hope, but it sprouts anyway. I need something to take back to Nina. Anything to give her a little hope that her brother is coming home safely. Without it, she may crack.
We find the campsite exactly where Easton said we would fifteen minutes later. It's fresh, as if whoever stayed here left only recently. Food trash litters the area, meaning it hasn't been picked over by predators and opportunistic forest animals yet.
Tony spots the backpack on the ground before anyone else and slips on a glove before snatching it off the ground. He yanks the book out. "It's definitely a physics textbook," he mutters, holding it up for everyone to see.
"Christ," I mutter, my heart slamming against my fucking ribcage when he flips it open, and I see Nate's name scrawled in the upper right corner. He was out here. At some point in the last few days, he was here.
Bodie holds out his phone without me even saying a word. "It's already unlocked and dialing."
I grab the phone.
"What do you have?" Easton asks as soon as he answers.
"It's his," I say.
"Thank fuck," Easton breathes. "I'll call Dillon."
Yeah. Thank fuck.
Now…where the fuck is he?
It takes us an hour and a half to get back to the command post. And another hour for me to get back to Nina.
"Your brother was in the woods at some point this weekend, baby," I murmur as soon as I set eyes on her.
A shudder rips through her as her eyes fall closed. A soft cry escapes her lips, breaking my heart. I pull her up against my chest, burying my face in her hair as she trembles like a little leaf in a windstorm.
Giant jerks his chin in a nod, silently letting me know that he and Callum are about to make themselves scarce.
"Thank you," I murmur to him.
He shoots me a grin.
I bundle Nina out to the truck and then help her inside.
"I love you," I whisper as I buckle her in. I've been waiting to say that shit for two days now, but I've been holding off, trying to give her time. I promised that I'd move slow with her. None of this has been slow. And yet…I can't help but say it now. She needs to hear it. She needs to know I'll comb through the woods every fucking day if that's what it takes to find her brother for her.
She clings to me for a long moment, trembling in my arms. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Emmett," she whispers.
I press my lips to her forehead before pulling back.