Chapter 5
FIVE
MAX
My phone vibrated beside me, and I glanced over, irritated. I was halfway through reading a dramatic battle scene, and the last thing I needed was an interruption. Unfortunately, when I saw that the caller was Connor, I knew I had to pick up. He didn’t call just to chat.
If he got in touch, it meant that something was wrong.
Reluctantly, I turned off my e-reader and answered the phone. “Hello.”
“I’m letting you know that we need you on standby,” he said gruffly. “Bailey activated the distress function on her personal locator beacon a few minutes ago, and she hasn’t responded to any attempts to contact her.”
My pulse picked up, and I stood and walked around the sofa. I kept my emergency kit in a backpack near the door, and I double-checked it was there before heading to the kitchen to fill a water bottle.
“Bailey knows the forest well. Do you think she might have been injured?” I asked.
That was the only reason I could think of why she might not respond. I didn’t want to jump to worst-case scenarios, but if anything minor had happened, she probably would have ignored her discomfort and gotten herself down the hill before contacting anyone.
“I’d say it’s likely,” Connor confirmed. “We can’t know for sure until we find her, though. We have her location, and Asher, Liam, and I are going there now. Can you wait for us at the clinic?”
“No, I’ll come with you.” I slid my water bottle into the side of the backpack and opened it to check that all of my basic field supplies were still inside. “You might need immediate medical intervention.”
“Asher is a paramedic,” he pointed out. “And I have first aid training. We’ll be fine.”
“I’m coming. I’ll meet you at the start of the trail.” I hung up before he could protest.
I hurried into my bedroom, changed out of the sweatpants I’d put on after getting home from the family brunch, and slipped into a pair of hiking pants instead.
I swapped my ankle socks for thick walking socks and stuffed my feet into the boots I rarely wore.
I enjoyed going for long walks around Destiny Falls, but I didn’t tend to stray far off the main paths, so running shoes were usually sufficient.
I tossed a couple of granola bars into the side pocket of my backpack, locked the house, and drove my minivan to the parking lot behind Destiny Fibers.
Asher’s vehicle was already parked there, and he and Liam were waiting nearby. Asher wore a backpack similar to mine, and Liam was carrying a lightweight stretcher. I had a feeling we’d need it because if Bailey was capable of walking out, I was sure she’d have done it.
“You don’t need to come,” Asher called as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and closed the van’s door. “I’ve got medical supplies with me.”
“Hopefully I’m surplus to needs, but I’d rather be there just in case.” I’d be grateful if Bailey was in good health when we found her, but a gnawing worry in the pit of my gut reminded me that was unlikely.
Liam glanced over as Connor’s all-terrain vehicle pulled into the lot. “It’ll be good to have you along. Just keep pace.”
“I will.”
The last thing I intended was to slow them down if Bailey needed help.
Connor joined us and led the group up the trail. I fell into step at the rear, and as the others charged forward, I was grateful for the walking and road cycling I did in my free time. If not for that, I doubted I’d have been able to keep up.
After all, Connor spent most days in the forest, Liam stuck to a strict training regime as part of his job as a firefighter, and Asher was an avid mountain cyclist. They were all more fit and active than me.
As I stepped over a root, Connor paused up ahead. He was carrying some kind of device that I assumed was receiving a signal from Bailey’s locator beacon.
“I think she’s near the old hut,” he said. “We’ll check there before going off the trail.”
I gritted my teeth. If he had a GPS location, surely he could lead us straight to her. Perhaps it was too risky to push through the forest when we didn’t know what we might come across.
A fantail swooped onto a branch nearby. Usually, I’d stop to watch it for a while, but this certainly wasn’t the time to pause and enjoy nature.
Eventually, Connor turned left, and we followed him down a poorly maintained side trail. It didn’t take long to reach the hut he’d mentioned.
“Bailey!” he called as we approached.
There was no reply.
He paused and held up his finger for us to be silent. We all stopped, unspeaking, and I strained my ears but didn’t hear anything. Connor started toward the cabin, then swore.
“The floor has been torn out,” he said, holding onto the doorframe and looking inside. “No sign of Bailey, but someone has been here recently. The soil wasn’t disturbed long ago.”
My insides clenched at the implication. I highly doubted that Bailey had been the one to damage the hut. If she was nearby and the vandals had been here recently, it was possible she’d come across them.
Was this more than a broken ankle from tripping on a tree root?
Or maybe they’d chased her, and she was hiding from them, hence being too scared to respond to any other form of contact in case they heard her.
“I don’t like this,” Asher said, echoing my thoughts. “Connor, we need to get to Bailey now.”
Connor backtracked away from the hut and turned 180 degrees, shielding his eyes from the sun, and then he pointed. “The leaf litter over there is disturbed, and it’s the same direction the signal is coming from.”
I checked the ground and saw that he was right, although I doubted I’d have noticed anything without him pointing it out.
He led us into the trees. It felt like we were going too slow.
I wanted to tell him to run but knew he wouldn’t.
If he did and he tripped and injured himself, then we’d have two people to get safely back to town.
The trees weren’t too close together for the most part, so when a bright pink backpack appeared ahead, it was hard to miss.
“That’s Bailey’s,” I said, in case they weren’t already aware. “I’ve seen her with it.”
On those videos I’d never admit to having watched.
“Fuck.” Asher moved sideways to get a better look around Connor. “Do you see—”
I did.
My stomach dropped.
Oh no.
Oh God, no.
On the other side of the backpack lay the slumped body of a dark-haired woman.
Bailey.