“Not just you,” Colt said, donning a Kevlar vest. “Where you go, I go.”
“You can rest assured,” Emmett said, “that the task force will be on standby. We won’t be seen, but we will be in the vicinity.”
That gave Colt a measure of comfort. He’d elected to call in the task force rather than the DEA because he wasn’t sure if there were more moles within the agency.
But if this was a setup by Shadow, things could go south before backup arrived. He grabbed two extra 9 mm magazines and stuffed them into the pockets of his tactical cargo pants.
Seeing Maren struggle with the sleeve of her task force windbreaker, he moved to help her.
She jerked away. “I’ve got it.”
He frowned and lifted his hands. “Just trying to be helpful.”
Her face softened. “I’m sorry. It’s just all the anxiety. What is Opal doing in the middle of a national forest? Has she been sleeping in the elements? What about the baby? Has she been eating? Does she have water?”
Aware of Emmett, Colt restrained himself from taking Maren into his arms. “Opal reached out. That has to be enough for now. All the questions will be answered in due time.”
Holding his gaze, Maren nodded. “It’s all so maddening.”
He understood. The waiting, hoping and praying. Having to accept that sometimes God said no, or not right now, stretched a person’s faith.
“Let’s get the dogs and head out,” he said, hoping if they were on the move maybe Maren would feel better.
She gave him a grateful smile. “That seems to be our MO, doesn’t it?”
He gave her a half laugh. “Seems so.”
After retrieving Rusk and Haven and securing them in the back compartment, he drove as fast as he dared to the trailhead on the edge of the national forest halfway between Denver and Colorado Springs, just outside the small town of Manitou Springs. The ultra-prominent Pikes Peak was one of the highest and most popular summits along the Rocky Mountains. At the base, timber stretched as far as the eye could see, climbing up the mountain and interspersed with craggy rocks and pink-hued, jutting formations of granite.
They left the SUV in the gravel parking lot and hiked on foot until they came to where the hiking trail veered to the left, heading up the mountain.
Maren surveyed the area and turned to Colt. “My sister has to be somewhere on the valley floor. Give me at least a fifteen-minute head start before you follow.”
They’d agreed on the way over that he would trail behind her and Haven. Making sure that they were within a mile’s distance of each other so that they could be heard over the wireless comms.
She and Haven trekked into the forest off the trail.
Rusk whined and stared up at Colt.
He smoothed a hand over the dog’s sleek head. “I know. We’ll have their backs. Just from a distance.”
He prayed that would be enough.
* * *
Maren and Haven picked their way through the underbrush, trying to discern any sort of path her sister might have taken. Haven’s ears twitched and her body quivered as she strained at the lead, pulling Maren forward until they came to a small grove. Maren’s breath caught and held in her chest. A small tent had been erected beneath the canopy of two trees that had grown into each other.
“Opal,” Maren called out. There was no movement inside the tent.
“What did you find?” Colt’s voice sounded in her ear.
In a low voice, Maren replied, “A tent. I’m going to approach and look inside.”
With every fiber of her being, she braced herself. What if Opal was— No, she couldn’t even let her mind go there. Her sister had to be alive. But she could be ill or injured. Maren decisively unzipped the tent and pulled the flap back. Inside was an empty sleeping bag, a half-used case of water and a stack of boxes filled with various kinds of protein bars. Where was her sister?
Feeling a tug on Haven’s leash, Maren backed out of the tent to focus on the Doberman staring at a clump of trees.
“Opal, are you there?”
