Reece side-eyed her. “Unimportant. He’s sober, and we need all the help we can get. Let’s go over who’s covering what territory.”
Neve’s mouth thinned into a tight line, and the daggers in her eyes gave away her thoughts even though she bottled them up.
As Reece pulled out the map, a huffing, puffing Ursula burst into the parking lot. “I’m here to help.”
Noah reacted, not thinking, and charged toward her. “You’re the one who did this!” Shane caught him by the shoulder and hauled him backward.
Her eyes flew wide. “You think I-I …” She flung her hand toward the back door. “How could you believe I’m capable of doing such a terrible thing?”
“Because you’re the one who’s been leaving notes on our cars,” he bellowed.
Confusion knotted her features. “Notes? Whose cars? What are you talking about?”
Doubt crept into his whirring mind. Ursula was a decent actress and an accomplished manipulator, but was she talented enough to fake surprise this easily? She hadn’t even fallen back on her wobbly lip or other usual facial props. More importantly, was she capable of setting a fire?
Shane stepped between them, facing off against Noah. “I don’t think she did it,” he said in a low voice.
Noah butted his chest against Shane’s, but he didn’t budge the deputy. “Then you’d better go arrest Bruno Keating and put the fucker behind bars, where he belongs!”
Shane held his ground. “Noah, go look for your girl. That’s your only job right now. You let me worry about mine.”
Neve’s small hand pressed against Noah’s bicep. “Noah, this isn’t helping Hailey. She needs us working together so we can find her.”
Reece lifted his chin in Ursula’s direction. “Thanks, Urse. We could use the extra help.”
Wide, wary eyes watched Noah as he shoved his hands through his hair. Neve was right. He needed to pull himself together.
With a curt nod, he let her lead him away.
Hailey’s teeth clacked togetheras she pulled more sappy boughs over herself. She couldn’t swallow to coat her parched throat, and her head pounded. She lay curled in a ball beneath a stand of enormous pines reaching toward a jet-black sky. Looking upward was like peeking through an aperture because the treetops blocked most of her view. The few stars she spied were dim pinpricks, offering no illumination. The moon was either a sliver or slung so low it cast no light to help her find her way—if she could even figure out where that path lay.
“You’re supposed to stay in one spot so searchers can find you, dummy,” she murmured, her breath billowing white in front of her face. “Then again, no one knows that you left or where you went. Double dummy.”
Yeah, she was a complete and utter idiot. She had run off willy-nilly without any direction, without paying attention to her surroundings, and without alerting anyone about the fire. Without leaving word behind. Without pausing to grab her phone or extra clothing.
In her panic over Chance, she’d lost her mind and lit out. She couldn’t stand the thought of him shivering and alone in the dark, so she’d gone after him, only to end up in the very same condition without having saved him. He was probably curled up somewhere just like her. Her heart contracted as she thought of him lying out there somewhere, scared and cold.
She fought her rising anxiety. One side of her brain told her to get up and move or she’d die where she lay. The other side warned her to stay put. But she was so damn cold—she could barely feel her feet. She kept her fingers tucked inside her coat, but they throbbed every time they warmed up. What were those survival tips Noah had taught her when they’d been stuck together in his truck? Her brain blanked out most thought except the feel of his warm body beside hers.
She was clueless when it came to surviving in these conditions. It might be spring, but at ten thousand feet, the temperature was cold enough to kill her—one more reminder that she was no mountain girl.
Noah.
If only she could will him here right this instant. His face floated in front of her, and she imagined his arms surrounding her, holding her close, keeping her warm and safe. She loved him so much. A smile curved her lips, and she drifted.
Her eyes snapped open.Get up! Don’t fall asleep! Find Noah!She possessed a slim sliver of wits—enough to know going to sleep was bad.
Struggling mightily, she pulled herself upward, leaning against a tree trunk for support as she hauled up one leg, then the other. She panted from the exertion. Looking around, she tried to get her bearings, but the trees and the dark obscured her vision. She cinched her arms around her body as she tried to hold in heat.
Think, Hailey, think!
If she could find the main road … When had she left it and where?Retrace your steps. But it was dark, and she’d already tried that once, or was it twice? She was getting herself more lost.
Rustling beyond the trees jolted her fully upright. What if a predator was watching her, stalking her? Oh God, she didn’t want to die from being ripped to shreds!
Another thought pierced her muddled mind.
“Chance? Is that you, buddy? Come here, boy.”
