Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ty took the mug that Cash handed him and took a gulp of coffee before handing it back.
“You need to come down for a while, Ty.”
“Not happening.”
“For fuck’s sake, squirt. I’m not saying we call off the search, I’m saying you need to take a break. You’ve been running around up here for over twelve hours. The guys have sectioned out the whole area. They’re all up there – searching by quadrants.”
Ty shook his head. “You know damn well I’m not leaving till we find her.”
Cash closed his eyes. “I do. Here.” He handed Ty the mug again.
Ty took another swig before handing it back. “I fucked up, Cash.”
“Nope. Don’t go there, Ty. It doesn’t matter how we got here, all that matters is finding her and bringing her home.”
Ty met his gaze and held it. The way he said it made Ty think of the way they talked about bringing fallen teammates home. “You don’t think …?” He couldn’t make himself ask the question.
Cash shook his head. “She’s going to make it. I know it. Don’t doubt it.”
“I don’t. I can’t. If I let myself think that … that she …”
“So don’t think it.” Cash held his hand up when his radio crackled, and Ty held his breath.
“We made it clear to the tree line,” Travis reported. “Nothing but bare mountainside from here on up. We’re going to head back down.”
“Roger that.”
Ty pressed the balls of his hands to his forehead. “I shouldn’t have shouted for her. I should have kept quiet, but I just had to …”
Cash grasped his shoulder. “For all you know, shouting might have saved her. If he thought he had her all alone up here with no one coming after them …”
Ty shuddered. He couldn’t think about what might have happened – what might still be happening to her.
Kolby came over to join them. They’d set up a staging point where the trail split. Some of the guys had taken the left-hand fork. Cash had pointed out that Carey could have planted Shay’s necklace with the hope of sending them in the wrong direction.
Cash handed him the mug.
“Are we heading back out?” he asked Ty.
“Yeah.”
Cash’s radio crackled again. “Alma. We reached the tree line. On our way back down.”
Ty turned to go back up the right-hand trail. He didn’t want to be here when Alma returned. When she and Davin showed up, there was no mistaking that she was no longer in civilian mode. She was no longer Alexis, the woman he’d met in Summer Lake, she was Alma – the woman Cash and the guys had worked with on several ops over the years – and who’d earned their respect and admiration.
“Keep your radio on,” Cash called after them.
Kolby grasped his shoulder as they walked, shining the flashlight into the forest with his other hand. “Alma doesn’t blame you, you know.”
“I don’t care – I blame myself.”
“We’ll find her.”
Ty nodded. He had to believe that they would. He just couldn’t allow himself to think about what state she’d be in when they did.
~ ~ ~
Shayna leaned her head back against the tree and closed her eyes. She’d tried to get up and walk but had failed miserably. She’d fallen again – on her arm, since she couldn’t hold it out to protect herself.
She’d tried crawling, but that was next to impossible since she couldn’t put weight on her arm or her knee. She knew that she needed to get back down the mountain, so she’d resorted to lying on her side and rolling. It hurt like hell when she rolled over her arm, but she’d made a little progress. The trees were so close together that she had to reposition herself each time so that she could slowly make her way downhill. At the rate she was going, it’d take her days to get back to the road.
She’d panicked when she heard movement behind her a little while ago. It could be an animal looking for its next meal – were there really wolves and bears in the mountains? Ty had told her that they lived around here, but he also made sure that she wasn’t out here by herself to encounter them.
She’d sat for a while, listening intently, but the sound hadn’t come again. That made her think it must be Carey – he was following her, stalking her. Worse still, was he using her as bait, wanting Ty to come and find her so that he could … No, she couldn’t let her mind go there.
She stared into the darkness. She didn’t know what time it was, but surely it must be nearly morning. The night seemed to have lasted forever. She was exhausted. She’d managed to sit herself up against this tree to rest for a while. She knew she needed to keep rolling her way downwards, and she would – after she rested for a while. She closed her eyes – it wasn’t as though she’d be able to sleep, she just needed to rest. It was so dark in the forest that closing her eyes didn’t make much difference. She felt her head nod and sank into the blackness that rushed up to meet her.
~ ~ ~
By the time dawn broke, Ty felt like he might go out of his mind. Yeah, he was tired, but he’d gone for days without sleep on deployments. Spending one night searching the forest was nothing – not physically. It was the pain that filled his chest that was eating him alive. He had to find her.
He could feel Kolby’s silent support propping him up as they made their way back down through the last stretch of trees – and he needed it. They were almost back to where Deacon was now manning the command post he’d set up where the trail split. They’d been all the way up to the tree line and back down again and seen no sign of Shay or Carey or anyone else. The only sign that they weren’t completely alone was the occasional report that came in over the radios that Cash had supplied them and everyone else with.
Each time his radio crackled, Ty held his breath. But each time he was disappointed by another report. It was as if Shay and Carey had disappeared. Not that that was hard to do out here.
Ty tensed when he saw Alma and Davin standing with Deacon. He stopped when she looked up and saw him. There was no mistaking the pain and anger in her expression as she strode toward him.
“I’m sorry. I …” Those were the only words he got out before she stunned him into silence by wrapping her arms around him.
“We’re going to find her, Ty,” she said as she hugged him fiercely. “We’re going to find her, and she’s going to be all right. That’s the only acceptable outcome.”
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean against her for a moment. When he straightened up, he felt as though some of her strength and determination had seeped into him. He nodded.
“I …”
“There’s no time and no need for blame or guilt. You’re not the only one who could have done things differently. I dropped the ball.” She gave him a tight smile. “I’ll beat myself up later – I don’t blame you. Are we clear?”
He sucked in a deep breath as he nodded. “Clear – and I don’t blame you, either.”
“Thank you. Do you know Lucky?”
He frowned, not understanding the question.
“Lucky – Evan Penny – he was on the teams when Cash and Mav were. He’s coming. His lady, Dee, let us use her plane; that’s how we got here so quickly.” She scowled. “I should have taken things more slowly. All I could think of was getting here and finding Shay. If I’d taken the time, I would have asked Lucky to come with us.”
Ty waited; he knew she must have a point, but he wasn’t getting it. This Lucky guy might be a former SEAL, but there were already more than half a dozen of them searching the mountainside for Shay. He didn’t get why Alma thought he might be the one to make a difference – until she explained.
“He was a K-9 handler. He’s bringing Echo with him.”
Ty closed his eyes as a wave of relief rushed through him. He’d envied the guys on the SEAL teams who worked with the dogs. Whether they were referred to as MPCs, Multi-Purpose Canines, or CADs, Combat Assault Dogs, Ty considered them to be among the most capable, and loyal of all SEALs.
“How long will it take?”
Alma didn’t manage to hide her frustration. “It’ll be another few hours – we had to send the plane back for him.” She held his gaze. “When they arrive, you’ll go with them.”
He didn’t need her to tell him that – there’d be no stopping him. Then it hit him. “Where are you going?”
She pursed her lips. “I’m going to find Carey Duncan.”
Did she think that he would’ve left Shayna? Did she think that Shay …?
She shook her head. “She’s alive, Ty. I know she is, but he’s a coward, and he’s going to try to save himself. He stands more of a chance of getting away on his own.”
Ty looked up into the trees. “He might already be gone.”
She nodded. “He might, but no matter where he is, I won’t stop until I find him.”
From the way she said it, Ty knew that if she didn’t find him on the mountain, she’d dedicate her life to hunting him down.
~ ~ ~
When Shayna opened her eyes again, the sky was starting to get light. She winced when she moved her head and a lightning bolt of pain shot down her neck. Her arm throbbed, her knee and ankle were swollen, she licked her lips – she was thirsty. But she was still alive. She’d made it through the night. She looked around. The trees all looked the same in every direction. She didn’t know how far she’d come last night, but it felt like she was still a long way up the mountainside.
Tears rolled silently down her face as she steeled herself. She needed to keep moving. She knew that there were thousands and thousands of acres of forest up here. If she wanted anyone to find her, she needed to do her part by trying to get to a place they might be looking.
She froze at the sound of movement behind her. She turned around slowly, not knowing what to expect. Would it be Carey, come back to finish her off? A wolf or a bear looking for breakfast? She let out a hysterical sounding laugh when she saw a deer. It startled and bounded off into the trees. Its flight disturbed birds, and all the sounds of the forest changed as they flew up above the treetops.
It hit Shayna that if Carey was still somewhere close, surely he would disturb them, too? Then again, they hadn’t flown away because of her presence. She was tempted to sit and shout for help, but the fear that he might still be around made her opt to keep on making her slow progress downhill. The trouble was, she’d have to pee before she set off again, and that wasn’t going to be easy to do since she only had the use of one arm and couldn’t get to her feet.
By the time she’d managed to take care of business and had pulled her jeans back up again, her hand was shaking as she tried to fasten the zipper – she was exhausted from the effort. She dragged herself back to the tree where she’d spent the night and leaned against it. She’d just take a little breather before she started rolling.
When she leaned back against the bark, her head started to spin. A wave of nausea hit her – maybe she had a concussion? He’d hit her hard enough to knock her out, and then hit her again later. Perhaps she’d be better waiting a while. She closed her eyes again; she’d take a few minutes.
~ ~ ~
It was eleven o’clock in the morning by the time Lucky and Echo made it to the command post. Ty and Kolby were there waiting, as were most of the others.
Travis put his hand on Ty’s shoulder. “It won’t be long now. Echo’s a legend. She’ll find her.”
Ty just nodded as everyone gathered around.
“This is Lucky and Echo,” Cash said without preamble. “She knows Shayna, she’s already got her scent from her backpack.”
Echo let out a low woof that sounded like she meant business. She put her nose to the ground and trotted a little way up the trail that led off to the right. Then she came back and took Lucky’s finger between her teeth and started pulling him in that direction.
“Who’s with me?” Lucky asked as he followed her.
“I am,” Ty hurried after them.
“And me,” Kolby was close on his heels.
Ty looked back; he found it hard to believe that Alma wasn’t coming. Davin was right behind Kolby, but Alma and Cash stood side by side watching them go.
He met Alma’s gaze, and she nodded. When he looked at Cash, he gave him a grim smile.
“Shit!” said Kolby. “If that bastard’s still out here, he’s not going to be around to see the sunset. Not with those two after him.”
“No.” Ty looked over at Davin. “You good with that?”
“I am. I love her for who she is – and that’s who she is. I told her not so long ago that she has to remember she’s back in the civilian world now. The moment we heard about Shay, we promised each other that we’d forget that detail for a while.”
Ty turned when Echo started to bark as she bounded up the trail. Lucky was right behind her, and Ty, Kolby, and Davin soon caught up. They must have jogged for half a mile before Echo took a hard left and disappeared into the trees. She slowed as she made her way into the dense forest.
After a while they came to a small clearing, and Echo came to a halt and sat down, looking up at Lucky and whining.
“What is it?” Ty asked.
Lucky shook his head. “I’d guess that they stopped here for a while.”
Echo barked as if to confirm his words.
“Where did they go, lady?” Lucky asked.
Echo ran to one side of the clearing and barked. Lucky followed her, but she turned around and came back. Putting her nose to the ground, she ran around in circles before taking off in the opposite direction.
“Which way is it?” Kolby asked, sounding frustrated. “This way or that way?”
Echo came back and to Ty’s surprise, this time she took his finger in her teeth and started tugging him to go with her.
He let her lead him, but stopped when he realized that she was leading him downhill. He looked at Lucky.
“This doesn’t make sense. Why would he take her back down when he knew we were out here looking for them?”
“Maybe he left her,” Davin suggested. “Maybe he took off and Shay’s the one who’s heading back down.”
Ty’s hopes soared.
Davin met his gaze. “You and Lucky go with Echo. Kolby and I can head in the other direction. It’s not that I don’t trust Echo,” he told Lucky, “but if they went in different directions, we might just be able to catch up with him.”
Kolby met Ty’s gaze, and he nodded. He wanted his brother with him, but he needed Lucky.
~ ~ ~
Shayna felt as though she’d been drifting in and out for hours – it might have been days; she had no idea. She didn’t have a watch – she wished that she’d accepted little Mateo’s offer to lend her his.
She’d been trying to keep going. She knew she’d rolled a few times, but when she looked back, she could still see the tree where she’d been when she woke up this morning. Then again maybe it wasn’t the same tree – they all looked the same.
She blew out a big sigh. She hadn’t even managed to find a tree to lean against after her last roll. It was too hard to sit up. She lay there amongst the twigs and pine needles. She knew she had to keep going, but her head hurt so much, and every time she rolled, she knew she was doing more damage to her arm – it had to be broken.
She closed her eyes when another wave of nausea hit her; she really didn’t want to throw up. She focused on her breath, forcing herself to follow it slowly in and out. Her mind drifted away. She could see Ty’s face; he was smiling at her. He was so gorgeous! Then she saw Alexis and Davin and Booker – her family, she missed them. Then she saw her mom and dad – her real family. They weren’t smiling.
Her dad put his hands on his hips. “Don’t you think about quitting, Shayna Marley Rose. I didn’t raise you to be a quitter.”
Hot tears stung her cheeks. “You quit on me, Dad,” she whispered.
Then her mom’s voice came – sounding as though she were right there. “He didn’t quit on us, Shay. It was his time to go. And I left you when my time came. But it’s not your time yet. You have a whole life ahead of you with your Tyler. And just like everything else – you’re going to have to work for it. You pull yourself together and get back to rolling, you can do it, baby girl.”
She closed her eyes tighter, wanting to stay in the darkness with her parents, but they were almost gone.
She sobbed when her dad’s voice whispered, “Get to work, busy bee.”
She opened her eyes and started rolling. She didn’t care how much it hurt. She didn’t care that she slammed into tree trunks and tore her clothes and her arms as she rolled faster and faster. She was gaining momentum and soon, she couldn’t stop; she’d reached a steep slope, and gravity had taken over.
She hugged her arm tight to her chest and surrendered to the ride. She thought she could hear voices again, someone was shouting – it was Ty. She loved that man with all her heart. And there was barking too – it sounded like Echo, she looked vicious, but she was a big soft furball when you got to know her.
“Echo!”
That was weird, that sounded like Lucky. She liked him well enough, but there were other people whose voices she’d expect to hear in her head before his.
“Shay!” There was Ty again.
“Shayna!” Oh! That was Davin. Maybe Alexis and Booker would shout soon.
But they didn’t. She finally came to a stop when the ground flattened out. Her head was spinning, every bone in her body felt as though it might have been broken on her crazy roll down the side of the mountain but … the voices hadn’t stopped. They were getting closer!
Echo was there, licking her face. Then, Ty was there, sitting beside her. He looked pretty upset – but then she probably looked like a mess.
Lucky appeared and hovered over them. He smiled. He was a good guy. Then it hit her – she wasn’t delirious, she wasn’t hallucinating – they were really here!
“Hi, Ty,” she murmured.
The look of relief that washed over his face erased the last of her doubts – this was real.
“Hey, Shay.”
“How did you …?”
Echo licked her cheek again, and she understood. She had no idea why Echo and Lucky were in Montana, but there was no doubt in her mind that they were the ones who’d found her.
“Thank you, lady.”
Then Davin appeared, and Kolby.
The look on Davin’s face made her want to cry. “I’m okay,” she assured him, and he smiled.
“You will be, when we get you out of here,” said Ty.
Then she was in his arms, he was lifting her, carrying her. Someone was talking on a radio. She heard Alexis’s voice, but she couldn’t see her.
She looked up into Ty’s beautiful blue eyes, and he gave her a grim smile. “I love you, Shay.”
She tried to focus on his handsome face, on the feel of his big strong arms around her, but it was getting dark again. “I love you,” she said and then she sank back into the darkness. It was okay – she was safe now; she was with Ty.