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Coop glanced at Travis, and Roberts followed his gaze.
“In there.” Travis nodded his head toward the fire, devastation filling him again.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Roberts’s oath was uncharacteristically vehement.
Jake gave a sharp bark as though objecting to the angry tone. Travis had forgotten about the dog. His left leg and one side of his chest crusted with blood, Jake watched them from where the north corner of the shack used to be.
His wounds still needed to be tended. “Come here, Jake. It’s okay.” Travis patted the side of his thigh, trying to coax the dog closer. As soon as he stepped toward the animal, Jake turned and trotted from sight behind the smoldering timbers.
Travis let him go. Wounded, weak from blood loss, and probably scared, the dog had a right to be leery. Chasing him would only make him run farther and bleed out faster. Travis frowned. He would have to get ahold of Jake before he left. They couldn’t leave him out here to die.
He turned back to the fire, only half listening as Coop filled in Roberts, Luke, and MacGyver on the details of the long night. Travis ignored Coop’s whispered conversation regarding his concern for Travis’s state of mind. He didn’t give two shits. They’d been here before. Only it was Travis worrying about his best friend after the love of Coop’s life was reported killed in a drone strike in Syria.
Twice more, Jake appeared in the same spot and barked, both times retreating as soon as Travis moved in his direction.What the hell got into that dog?
Roberts was obviously anxious to get his prisoner back to town. Brody needed medical care, and the FBI agent was probably still hoping to get more names from the man. The clearing surrounding the shack would keep the fire from spreading into the timber, eventually burning out. Luke said Roberts had radioed for four-wheel drive transportation for Carmen’s and Halstead’s bodies and anyone who wasn’t ready to leave on the helo. Luke and Coop opted to wait, allowing more room in the helo for an unconscious passenger in the cargo hold. No one asked Travis, but he wasn’t going anywhere until he located Jordan’s remains.
He watched the chopper lift off and head for town. As the drone of the rotors died away, Jake’s yipping again captured his attention. The dog seemed bright-eyed and alert, bouncing from one front foot to another as he barked. He apparently felt better after resting, but Travis wasn’t in the mood to play.
“Looks like the mutt needs some first aid,” Luke said.
“Brody grazed him, and he’s lost a fair amount of blood. He should be down for the count, but the damn dog doesn’t have enough sense to quit.” Travis stepped toward Jake again, and the dog darted around the burned-out structure. “Damn it! I can’t leave him out here.”
Coop walked toward him. “We won’t leave until Jake is ready.”
“He’ll settle down.” Luke stood with his hands on his hips.
Thirty seconds later, Jake bounded to within three feet of Travis but bolted again as soon as Travis moved. “What the hell?” As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he stopped and darted a glance at Coop.
His friend was staring at him, the same dumbstruck expression on his face as Travis no doubt wore. “Do you think...?” Coop’s question trailed off.
“Think what?” Luke joined them.
“Wait a damn minute!” Travis sprinted toward the back of the ruins, afraid to voice the idea that roared through his brain. As soon as Jake saw him, he barked, whirled, and raced straight toward the trees several yards away. Coop and Luke caught up to Travis as he studied the ground.
Flames still crackled at the base of blackened timbers and lapped at a stack of wood a foot or so from where the cabin’s back wall had stood. Snowflakes began to fall, sticking to Travis’s eyelashes as he scoured the sandy loam. When he spotted the recent tracks of Jordan’s small hiking boots between the flames and the wood stack, he sucked in his first full breath since the fire started.
A smile stole over his lips. Turning toward Coop, Travis raised a hand above his head.“She got out! She’s alive!”
Coop gave awhoop, and the sharp crack of their palms meeting in a high five echoed through the clearing.
Chapter Twenty-One
Toiling uphill in loosedirt covered with a dusting of wet snow was a bitch. Jordan second-guessed her decision to ascend, but it was too late to backtrack. Another forty-five minutes would bring her to the base of rimrocks towering at least a hundred feet above the ground. Where there were cliff faces, there would be caves or niches big enough to hide her. Dad always warned her to stay away from them on their hikes, especially in late fall or early spring. Mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, and even bear sought shelter there as well.
