Page 55 of Axe-ing for Trouble
Discomfort rolled over me. This was too intimate. Too much. All the hugs in the world wouldn’t help my brother.
I squeezed my eyes closed, steeling myself. Reminding myself of my mission. Jude was helping me find the phone. Nothing else.
I forced myself to give him a sassy grin. “Didn’t know I was hanging out with an armchair psychiatrist,” I needled. “I think it’d be best if you stuck to lumberjacking.”
His eyes flashed, but rather than get angry about my jab, he grinned. “My job is not lumberjacking.”
Shifting his way, I arched a brow. “So it’s just your hobby?”
“No,” he replied. “My hobby is beating your Ivy League ass in Scrabble. Now lead the way so we can find this phone.”
Chapter17
Jude
“This way.” Mila pointed up the road.
I eased off the gas and pulled onto the shoulder. We were slowly retracing her steps from the trailer park, searching for the exact spot where she’d fallen off the motorcycle. The sun was sinking lower in the sky. Soon, we’d lose the daylight.
We’d been at this since sunrise, and my head was pounding.
But I wouldn’t give up. I was in this now, and there was no going back.
We drove up Route 16, stopping periodically and combing each area. Taking breaks so she could focus on details of that day and so Ripley could stretch her legs.
My gut had twisted painfully at the sight of Mila’s destroyed trailer. Even if it hadn’t been trashed, I couldn’t imagine her living in the dilapidated single-wide for so long.
She hid behind a tough façade, but the fissures and cracks were there if one looked close enough. The pain, the uncertainty, and the fear.
She’d been living in fear for so long, and I wished I could fix it for her. Show her there were other ways to live. Free her from this burden and these threats.
“Can we walk this way a bit?” She pulled the hat down over her hair again. “See how the shoulder slopes and then drops off? This may be the spot.”
We jumped out, and I retrieved two flashlights from the set of tools I kept in my truck for emergencies.
“Be careful,” I cautioned as we walked along the shoulder.
The grassy area was steep, with several large tree roots protruding from the dirt. Running here would be dangerous.
We took our time, scanning the ground, using our flashlights to search every inch of dirt, grass, and rocks.
“Jude,” Mila said, her tone pitching high. “I think this was the spot. See that fallen tree?”
I nodded. At the bottom of the embankment was a large oak that served as a gate to the dense forest behind it.
“Pretty sure I jumped over that when I went into the woods.”
“Let me help you down.”
I held her good hand, and we shuffled down the steep drop toward the forest floor.
“Let’s scan in grid formation from here to the tree. Then we can shift and do the next section.”
She nodded, her gaze already sweeping the area in front of her.
The ground was damp and covered in fallen leaves, sticks, and debris, so it would be slow. But it was the best lead we’d had in hours.
I focused on my section of this area, shuffling my feet to kick up anything that may be covered, all the while saying every prayer I knew that we’d find the damn phone.
