Calder ... I brought my fist to my mouth and bit into my knuckle, my heart bleeding beats like it was being ripped from my chest.
Obey.
Save Rachel.
Spinning, I rushed back to my sister. She was shaking.
“Lara—”
“It’s okay,” I told her, burying my own sob. “Just follow me. We have a shelter lower on the ridge. We’ll be safe there.”
Taking her hand, I followed the path Calder had marked with single broken branches on trees.
Who had fired that shot? Was it Calder?Every step, every crunch of the underbrush, morphed into that lethal sound. The kind of situation that would force him to draw his weapon wouldn’t be a good one; he avoided that kind of force whenever possible. But the alternative, that it wasn’t him ...
My heart stopped just as the pattern of the tarp materialized ahead.
Obey. Save Rachel. Call Callum.Calder’s words drove me forward, and I led my sister into our shelter.
“Lara ...” She looked up at me in a daze as I guided her down to the sleeping pad. “You went to Calder?”
The vise around my throat tightened. “I didn’t know where else to go,” I told her even though what I really meant washe was the only one that I could think of.
The only one I’d ever thought of.
“Lara . . .”
“Shh,” I cooed and rested her head on Calder’s pillow. When she was steady, I pressed my fingers to her neck and checked her pulse. Slow and stable.
Reaching for the sat phone, I called the only programmed number.
“Everyone okay?” Callum’s weathered voice answered.
“It’s Lara,” I replied, somehow knowing it was an answer to his question.If Calder was okay, I wouldn’t be calling.
“Your sister?”
“She’s with me. They gave her some kind of sedative”—I looked over my shoulder—“so she’s sleeping right now.” It was a miracle we’d made it here before the drugs had taken full effect.
“Okay. Police and park rangers are on their way. Unless the campsite is compromised, don’t move.”
“But Calder—”
“Don’t worry about Calder. He’ll survive.”
Survive.
The sentiment was meant to be calming. A relief. But all I felt was nauseous. All Calder had ever done was survive. The wilderness. The solitude. The loss. The responsibility. And he’d done it alone.
“I have the sat phone with me. If anyone gets close to the camp, call me,” I clipped. “I’m going to look for Calder.”
“Lara—” Two gunshots tumbled in tandem down the ridge.
“I’m going.” Those words ended the call.
I hung up on Callum and crouched by my sister’s side.
“Rach, I’m going to find Calder. Just rest here, okay?”
