Page 171 of Sugar & Shadows

“The GPS signal dropped. Shit.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means she’s out of service range or…” She sighed. “Or the vehicle stopped transmitting data. But don’t worry. I’ll check road cameras.”

“There are no cameras up there.”

“Shit. We’ve got to mobilize search and rescue support, then,” she said, still typing. “I’ve got a last ping here nineteen minutes ago.”

Nineteen minutes. Jesus, she could be dead by now.

“Where?” I asked as I stepped into my shoes.

“Route 411 access road.”

The snow was falling heavily, making it nearly impossible to even see the road from my living room windows.

“The National Weather Service is reporting poor visibility, wind gusts over forty, and icy conditions.”

“I live here. I know,” I snapped. “Call the police; notify EMS. I’m going out there.”

“On it. Don’t do anything reckless.”

Not possible. I’d do what I had to do, no matter the danger, to find Sabrina. I’d fight Betsy Ross if needed. But I wasn’t even two feet outside my door when Nolan pulled up.

“Anything?” I shouted, stomping toward him.

“No,” he said. “But one of my deputies said he saw her car heading north on 63 a while ago.”

“Meg is tracking her. She was on 411 twenty minutes ago, but the signal’s lost.”

Nolan froze. “Uh, 411?”

I didn’t have time to explain, so I shook my head and yanked open his door. “I’ll drive; you call the fire department. We’ll probably need the snowmobiles.”

“Head to the station first,” he instructed as he rounded the hood. “We’ve got to go in prepared.”

“No,” I said, shifting into drive. “I’m not leaving her out there alone any longer than I have to.”

The snow clung to the windshield as we crawled out of town. I wanted to floor it, to fly there, but the tires were barely gripping the road as it was. I hated every single person who questioned why last year’s snow budget was so high. Every person who needled me into scaling back this year. I would personally slap each and every one who whined about the extra seven dollars on their tax bill.

Beside me, Nolan barked orders into his phone, mobilizing the entire town.

“Mark Fitzgerald is on his way,” he said. “They’re the closest farm and he’s the best snowmobile racer we’ve got. Chief Ashburn has an engine heading that way with rescue sleds, and she sent Jasper ahead with the ambulance. Josh is coming with one of his big UTVs, so he can probably move faster than we can.”

I nodded. Thank fuck for my cousins and my friends and the people of this town. Maybe I wouldn’t slap them all. Because if we were going to find Sabrina in this weather, it would be with the combined power of Maplewood.

As I approached the turn onto old Route 411, I hit the brakes a little too hard and skidded a bit before straightening out.

“Shit, man, don’t kill us.” Nolan clutched the oh-shit handle. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you drive.”

Ignoring him, I followed the somewhat fresh tracks in the snow. She was up here. I knew it. We ascended the curving road slowly, watching for any activity or signs of distress. But all we found was dark forest in every direction. Eventually, after going around a sharp bend, we came upon snowmobiles and a UTV.

Josh waved at us as we inched closer, flashlight in hand. I stopped in the middle of the road and jumped out, then darted for where he stood, scanning the snowbank.

I squinted, my eyes stinging as icy blasts of wind pummeled us. Josh elbowed me and pointed. I was met with endless snow and tree trunks, but then, below the drop-off, was a faint glow of a taillight.

I took off, ignoring Josh and Nolan as they shouted at me.