Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
MAC
I had executed dozens of searches in the time since I’d first been certified as a wilderness responder. Some fake—done merely for the sake of training—and some real, but I’d never had this excruciating weight pressing on my chest with any of the others.
I trudged through the brush, my eyes sweeping in a methodical pattern—never straying too far ahead—to ensure I thoroughly covered the ground I was working. Besides finding my niece and bringing her home, all I could think about was that if I’d pushed and fought harder for the search and rescue team I knew Havenbrook desperately needed, we’d be better equipped to find Ella. Instead, we were relying on the piss-poor knowledge of the well-meaning but average Joes and Janes of town.
And me. They were all relying on me.
I had never seen Rory so shaken up. Our momma had run out to be with her so Nash could help search, leaving Gran home with Daddy. This was the last thing he needed to be stressing about at this point in his recovery, which meant I wanted to get this done as soon as possible for more than one reason.
“C’mon, Ella. Gimme a sign,” I said quietly. Then I called out her name, the sound echoing back to me as others in the search party yelled for Ella from their locations.
Ella and I had practiced wilderness survival enough times that I hoped my niece remembered everything she was supposed to do. Stay in one spot when she realized she was lost and couldn’t find her way out. Keep her eyes and ears open. Listen for a search party. And utilize whatever she had to make her survival certain and her rescue as easy as possible.
If this were one of our training exercises, I would have told her to put on that ugly cap her momma had gotten her because it was bright and would be a beacon in the otherwise brown of our surroundings. And, though it might be cold initially, to take off her sweater and reverse it with her coat, layering the more brightly colored piece of clothing on top. A red, flashing sweater was a hell of a lot easier to spot than something as dark as a nighttime sky.
The chopper swept by overhead, the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the blades a welcome interruption to my thoughts. Though I wasn’t sure how much Hudson would be able to see from above, just knowing he was there when I needed him to be—despite being required elsewhere—was a comfort I desperately needed right now.
After covering another twenty yards, I called out, “Ella! Ella !”
A muffled shout met my ears, and I whipped my head in the direction I swore I’d heard the distant voice come from. “Ella?”
I didn’t receive a response, but I changed my course, my eyes sharp as I moved toward the source of the noise. After another ten yards, I called out for my niece again.
“Mac!” This time, there was no mistaking the faraway quality of my niece’s voice as she yelled in response.
I took off at a sprint, my walkie-talkie gripped in hand as I checked my coordinates to rattle them off. “I have ears on Ella. I’m moving northwest, about thirty yards beyond the creek.”
“Headed your way.” Hudson’s voice came over the line immediately, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t near dark yet—thank God—but all the looming trees, dead as they may be, cloaked the forest, making it difficult for the sun to reach. Now that Hudson knew the approximate location, he could fly low enough and sweep a spotlight over the area, hopefully making it easier for us to spot Ella.
I holstered my walkie-talkie and called out, “Keep talkin’ to me, bug! Where you at?”
“Here!” Ella called, her voice quavering but getting clearer with every step I took. “Mac, I’m here!”
If I hadn’t been the one leading this rescue, I might’ve broken down right then at the fear and uncertainty I heard in my niece’s voice. But since I was the one leading, the one everyone was counting on, I powered through, playing what felt like a life-or-death game of Marco Polo with Ella until suddenly I spotted her.
Ella stood ten yards away, banging a large stick against a huge tree trunk, her eyes squeezed shut tight while she yelled herself hoarse. Not only was she trying to make as much noise as possible, but the smart girl had done exactly what I had hoped she would. Her sweater was stretched tight over the bulkiness of her coat, and the ugly-as-hell bright-green hat was perched on her head.
“Ella!”
Her eyes popped open, and elation spread across her face. She dropped the stick and sprinted straight toward me, not stopping until she nearly bowled me over. I dropped to one knee and wrapped my arms around my niece, squeezing her as tight as I dared as Ella nearly choked me with her grip.
Without letting go, I brought my walkie up to my mouth. “I’ve got her. Someone let Rory know I’ve got her.”
Whoops went up all around me, the sounds echoing in the wilderness as well as through the walkie-talkies. The chopper got louder and louder until suddenly the spotlight was right on me, and though I couldn’t see Hudson, I knew he could see me.
I closed my eyes and smiled up into the sky and the blanket of branches I had no idea how he’d found me through. Sending up every ounce of thanks I could without saying a word.
Tucking my face into Ella’s neck, I alternated between whispering, “Oh, thank God. Thank God ,” and, “What in the hell were you thinkin ’?” as I rocked her in my arms, smoothing a hand over her back.
Eventually, I pulled back, my hands on Ella’s shoulders as I looked her over, scanning her little body for any injuries. I liked to think Ella knew enough to avoid any, but accidents happened, and she’d been out there for going on five hours.
“I’m ok-k-kay,” she said through her rattling teeth.
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t get used to that.” I squeezed Ella’s upper arms before pulling out a blanket from the rescue pack and wrapping it around her. “Your momma’s gonna kill you.”
Ella’s shoulders slumped, and she frowned. “Has she been worried?”
“ Everyone’s been worried, you goof. Seriously, bug, what were you thinkin’ ?”
In the blink of an eye, Ella’s face morphed into a scowl. “That jerk, Tommy. He bet me I wasn’t brave enough to go into the woods by myself.”
“Well, you sure showed him,” I said dryly, standing and guiding Ella in the direction of the school, tucking her into my side. “It’s a good thing he didn’t bet you that you couldn’t find your way out yourself, ’cause you would’ve lost that one.”
Ella ducked her head sheepishly, and then she beamed up at me. “But I did what you taught me!” She gestured to her hat and the sweater she wore outside her coat.
I looked down at my niece, a smile on my face. I wasn’t sure I’d ever stop smiling today. “I know you did. Just like we talked about.” I squeezed the little hand on which I currently had a death grip. “I’m proud of you.”
“I knew you’d find me.”
“Oh yeah? How’d you know that?”
Ella stared up at me with love and so much admiration in her gaze, it nearly knocked me right on my ass. “Because I can always count on you.”