I sighed. “I know I’m being a big baby, but Max isn’t really survival material. Being out there all alone must be terrifying for him. He’s a city boy.”
“I see.” Jack nodded, glancing over. “I get the feeling you’re close.”
“We are.” A lump grew in my throat, and I fell silent.
“This shit is harder when it’s personal. I get it.” He gave me a sympathetic smile. “And you’re not being a baby. You’re worried. Anyone would be when someone they care about is missing. Being a cop doesn’t change that.”
“Thanks. I’m grateful for TEXSAR’s support. The group that showed up was bigger than I expected.”
He grunted. “They’re good people. They mobilize fast when needed. Many of our volunteers were once victims of disasters themselves. They were inspired to join our organization because of the help they received. Plenty of them have suffered personal tragedies but wanted to find a way to help others. To give back.”
“That’s commendable.”
“It is. Every time they show up, it restores my faith in humanity.” He laughed gruffly.
“Yeah. Sometimes it feels like the world is nothing but evil.” I couldn’t help thinking of River. I didn’t actually think he was evil. But because of his selfish actions, this entire nightmare was his fault. He might as well have been evil because the end result was the same.
“I hear you. But there are more good people in this world than bad. It doesn’t always feel that way, but it’s true.”
“I know you’re right.” I exhaled.
His radio squawked, and someone rattled off some sort of coded message. I didn’t catch what they said, but Jack stopped walking and quickly grabbed his radio off his hip. “Say again,” he rasped.
I also stopped walking, trying to read his expression.
He listened to the voice on the radio, and he met my gaze. “The bird thinks they’ve spotted him,” he said breathlessly.
The blood rushed through my ears so loudly I couldn’t hear anything else he said to me. I shook my head, trying to clear it, and rasped, “Is he okay?” I braced myself for whatever was about to come out of his mouth. I felt sick as I waited.
A muscle worked in Jack’s cheek. “He’s alive.”
Something about his voice didn’t reassure me. “What’s wrong?”
Jack gritted his teeth and started walking fast. “Come on. They’re about a mile up ahead.”
He obviously wasn’t telling me something, which did nothing to calm me. Panic raced through me as I sprinted ahead of him. All I could think about was getting to Max. I jumped over sagebrush and stumbledover rocks, but nothing stopped me from barreling forward in the direction of the chopper. At long last, we reached the others. As I approached the landed helicopter, I was breathing like a racehorse. Jack was right behind me.
My eyes searched frantically for a glimpse of Max. “Where is he?” Panting, I approached the helicopter. “Is he in the chopper already?” I couldn’t see him inside or out. Feeling confused, I walked around the machine and stopped dead in my tracks. About thirty feet away, there was a gaping hole in the earth. Horrified by what I was seeing, I stared wide-eyed.
Jack reached me, breathing hard. “It’s a sinkhole.”
“What the hell?” Stomach churning, I approached the hole. There was a red pickup truck and a group of men parked a safe distance from the hole. “Max is in there?” I mumbled. “He… he’sinsidethere?”
One of the men turned and nodded. “We’re working on getting him out, but the ground is very unstable.”
“Max?” I yelled, scrambling toward the hole. Three men rushed to grab me before I could reach it. I struggled in their grip, growling, “Let go of me.”
Jack arrived at my elbow. “Royce, calm down. If you get too close, you could cause the ground to collapse onto Max.”
Frantic, I asked, “Get him out of there. Jesus, you need to get him out.” I didn’t think I’d ever been as afraid as I was in that moment. I tried to shove their hands off me and move forward, but they held tight.
“Royce, listen to me,” Jack rasped. “You need to calm down. He’s okay at the moment, but he needs to stay calm.Youneed to be calm for him, or he’ll panic.”
Gritting my teeth, I tried to control the tsunami of terror swamping me. Jack was right. I needed to calm the hell down. “Okay. Okay.”
“You sure you’re good?” Jack studied me, a line between his brows. “If you’ll calm down, we can walk a little closer. But you have to give me your word you’re not going to try to jump in there with him.”
“I’ll be calm.” I jerked my arm away from one of the men restraining me. My heart was beating so hard it was difficult to breathe. “Let me go to him. Please.” I really hoped they listened because I was a hair away from punching and kicking my way to Max.
