Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Huck yanked his phone free of his back pocket and reached Monty.
“Hey, Huck.” The sound of wind blowing almost drowned out Monty’s voice.
Huck leaned against the counter. “What’s going on? We have missing kids?”
“Yes,” Monty said. “We started a search two hours ago when the parents notified us. We’re over near Sorry Sal Mountain.”
“How many do we have missing?” Huck walked to the window and stared at the pouring rain.
“Five. They were supposed to stay close to the road. Spent last night out here and all day gathering and building fires, but they should’ve been home by nine tonight.” Wilderness badges and the procedures for getting them were common in Washington State.
“All girls?”
“Yeah, all around the age of sixteen. I have everybody out searching.”
Huck looked at Laurel. “I’ll grab Aeneas and join you.”
Monty sighed. “We received orders that you are on leave. I wanted to call you, but I don’t want to get you fired.”
Huck figured there was a pretty damn good chance he was going to get fired anyway. “Tell me where you’re searching.”
Monty listed the grids.
It was a good search pattern. “No sight of them so far at all?”
“No. We found the area where they camped, but no trace of them after that.”
Huck thought through what he knew of the area. “What time did the storm come in?”
“About that time,” Monty said. “It would have been easy to become disoriented and lose sight of the road. We did find their vehicle, and it appears fine.”
“Did the girls have a radio?”
Monty groaned. “Yes, and we found it in the vehicle.”
“They forgot to take the radio?” Huck snapped.
Monty sighed loudly, competing with the wind in the background. “Yeah, they forgot the radio, but they all had cell phones.”
“They don’t have service out there,” Huck burst out.
Monty snorted. “There’s some service, but you’re right, we haven’t been able to ping anybody’s phone.”
Damn kids thought they could do anything with a cell phone in one hand. “I’m headed out. Don’t argue with me. I’ll update you on my way.”
“Okay. Thanks, Huck,” Monty said.
Huck clicked off and whistled for Aeneas. “Come on, bud. We have search and rescue to do.”
Laurel stood hesitantly by the sofa. “I’ll go with you.”
“No, you stay here. You shouldn’t be out searching.”
“I’m an FBI agent, Huck.”
He nodded. “I’m well aware, but this is search and rescue.”
The woman had had a long day, and whether she realized it or not, she was pregnant, and it did take a toll. Sure, she could fight if necessary, but right now, it wasn’t. He’d go much faster just with Aeneas. His gaze cut to the open laptop on the counter where Rachel Raprenzi’s show streamed out live as she stood under an umbrella next to several emergency vehicles. “Rachel’s out there?”
“Of course she is,” Laurel said, watching the screen. “That woman is everywhere.”
“Unfortunately. Lock the door behind me and keep your gun with you.” With that, he opened the door and ran into the rain. The temperature was dropping, and who knew how far the girls might have gotten in the three hours they’d been lost.
He had to hurry.
* * *
Laurel settled back on Huck’s sofa and ate a very late dinner of scrambled eggs, glued to Rachel Raprenzi’s live show. Somehow Rachel had planted herself next to dispatch and stood close enough to hear the radio communication.
Laurel’s phone dinged from her handbag, and she yanked it out, not recognizing the caller. “Agent Snow,” she said.
“Agent Snow, hello. It’s Tim Kohnex.”
She jerked, the hair on her arms raising. “Mr. Kohnex, how did you obtain my personal cell phone number?”
“The wind spoke to me,” he said, his voice a low, calm drum.
She looked out at the pelting rain. “You’re telling me that the wind whispered the digits of my phone number to you?”
“Yes,” he said. “I know you don’t believe, but sometimes fate intervenes. I had to call you. I knew you’d be up. I’ve been watching Rachel Raprenzi and the search going on. I saw that Huck Rivers is in the woods.”
“This is getting downright annoying. Mr. Kohnex, I’m going to tell you once. Do not ever call me on my private phone.”
“He’s in danger,” Kohnex said.
Laurel paused, standing to walk to the kitchen. “Who, Huck?”
“Yes. Everybody you care about is in danger, and I feel you’re going to lose him.”
She took a steady breath and pressed her hand on the counter. The cool marble calmed her. “If you know something about Captain Rivers, you need to tell me right now.”
“Just what I’ve heard. Just what I’ve felt and sensed. Just what fate wants me to know,” Kohnex said urgently.
Laurel pinched the bridge of her nose. “So you have no concrete evidence.”
Kohnex chuckled, the sound slightly hysterical. “There is nothing concrete. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I can see it. I can smell it coming for you, for him, I don’t know, for all of you. Please listen to me.”