Page 52 of Cowboy Mountain Man

“You’re not here.”

Silence.

Good.

He didn’t expect me to know that.

“I can wait,” I say. “You can’t. Sheriff’s got the access roads covered.”

I don’t know that yet. But I need him thinking about escape instead of Hope.

“You’ve got twenty minutes.”

He ends the call.

I dial Alden. He answers with a sharp breath.

“She’s gone.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry, Harlan.”

“Can you move?”

“Yes.”

“Armed?”

“Yes. One of them took off when I got back up. Other one had her out the rear before I could get around.” I look at the trail leading from my paddock into the woods. “Pike had a key to the ranger cabin.”

“He used to handle maintenance for the county. I remembered that about thirty seconds too late.”

“Hope mentioned the mine.”

Alden goes quiet.

“There are two entrances.”

“And three sheds.”

“Which one?” I close my eyes, trying to hear her voice again. Not panicked. Careful. Giving me something.

“The equipment cases,” I say. “She found them moving goods along the access road. They need a place a vehicle can reach.”

“The lower service shed.”

“Has to be.”

The shed stands outside the old freight entrance, where the road ends. The upper workings can only be reached on foot. Pike needs his stolen equipment close. And he needs Hope somewhere he thinks he can control.

“Call Ellis,” I tell Alden. “Send him the shipping label she found. They can match the cases when they get there.”

“Already done. Deputies are coming up from the logging road.”

“I’m taking the ridge trail.”

“Harlan.”