Page 20 of My Mountain Man Boss
Suzie shakes her head. “No one. I’m spread too thin. She volunteered to go on her own.”
“Shit.”
I grab the last high vis jacket off the hook and check the radio. “You shouldn’t have let her go alone.”
Suzie puts her hands on her hips. She’s a formidable woman, and she knows her job, but I’m not being rational. Amy is out there alone in the wet and the cold, and if anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.
“She’s experienced and well trained, Landon.”
I pull waterproof trousers over my boots and grab a ready-to-go backpack.
“She shouldn’t be out there.”
It comes out as a growl, and Suzie’s eyes widen in surprise. Then she smiles and a knowing look crosses her face. “Go find your woman, Landon. I was going to send you that way anyway.”
I storm out of the headquarters with one thought in mind. I have to find Amy and make sure she’s safe. I won’t rest until I have her safely with me.
10
AMY
The rain is relentless. It comes down in hard sheets that pummel the hood of my jacket. The beam of my flashlight moves from side to side as I sweep the path looking for signs of the missing hiker. There’s a steep drop to my left, and every few feet I stop and sweep the flashlight over the edge, looking for evidence that someone is down there. So far nothing.
I’m glad. I hope the poor guy is huddled somewhere sheltering from the rain and not stuck halfway down a ravine.
My thoughts turn to Landon and the painful squeezing of my chest whenever I think about leaving here.
Maybe Mom’s right. Maybe I’m running. But I’ve run my entire life. I don’t know how to stay.
The path narrows with a large boulder on the left and I press against it, picking my way carefully through the path that’s turned to mud.
It’s madness to be out here in this weather, but I think about the young man who’s probably scared and maybe injured.
My foot slips on a tree root slick with rainwater. I stick my arm out to catch myself, and my flashlight goes skittering overthe boulder and drops down the other side. The light tumbles end over end as it falls down the ravine, then winks out.
“Shit.”
Pitch black engulfs me so suddenly I can’t see the path in front of me.
I stay still, not daring to move. If I slip on the trail, I could go the same way as the flashlight: into the ravine.
My heart thunders in my chest, keeping the same beat as the rain pummeling my jacket. I reach for the radio and unclip it from my jacket. My fingers are stiff from the cold and slippery wet. I fumble the radio and it drops out of my hands, smashing onto the boulder.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
I feel in the dark for the radio and find the orange light still winking, but when I push the button, nothing happens. It’s dead.
Panic rises in my stomach. I can’t risk going back in the dark, but if I stay out here, I’ll be cold and hypothermic before sunrise.
I sling the backpack off my shoulder and retrieve the only other light source I have. My phone.
Thick drops of rain fall onto the screen, and I shield it as best I can with my body. If it gets too wet, it will die too.
There are no bars of signal, but I try Search and Rescue HQ anyway.
Nothing.
I type a quick text to Suzie and hit send in case it gets through. At least it will be in my outbox and will send if I pick up a signal.
