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It didn't feel right, leaving like this. Ellis, for his part, seemed relieved, all smiles and good-natured jokes while they waited for the plane that would take them back to Anchorage. Before the state troopers left to coordinate the search, they had called an air cargo service out of Fairbanks with a plane big enough for all of Bree’s dogs.
It was over. Time to go home and let the authorities handle it. Bree’s part in the search was done.
She knew she should be relieved, but instead couldn't shake a creeping sense of unease.
Ellis had promised they would keep looking from home. They’d plaster the city with missing person flyers and contact anyone who knew Dr. Will. They’d even contact the press. But was that enough?
It all felt like a step backward. Like they were abandoning him. He'd been to Solitaire recently. It was likely the last place he was seen alive before his disappearance. She could almost sense him here, the big man with the quick smile that never reached his eyes.
Her dogs were restless, too. Norte sat next to her, his bi-colored eyes alert, ears pricked. Moonbeam and Diggy both whined softly. Aleu, who had finally stopped trying to chew off her cone of shame, limped in uneasy circles around her team like a herding dog keeping her flock in line. Bree had tried to get her to settle, but she wasn’t having it, especially since Bree, herself, couldn’t chill out.
Going home was for the best. Her dogs needed to rest and recuperate. Ellis claimed he was healed, but she’d seen the exhaustion in him this morning, noticed it dragging him down throughout the day. He needed rest, too, but he would push himself to keep up with her.
Yes, they all needed to go home. She’d been foolish to think she could find Dr. Will out here by herself. Like Freya had said: she was only one person. There was no way she alone could cover the vast stretches of land needed to perform a thorough search.
At least now the authorities were listening. Freya would be back first thing tomorrow morning with her Search and Rescue team. Sergeant Strickland would be back, too. Someone else was finally looking.
And still…
As a red and white de Havilland Otter descended to the runway, its thick tires skidding on the ice, Bree stared out past it, past the icy river, to the snow-capped mountains beyond.
Dr. Will wasright there.
Nearby.
Somewhere.
She couldn’t explain how knew it, but she was as sure of the knowledge as she was her own name.
No, they couldn’t leave. Not yet. She had to keep looking. She’d never forgive herself if she stopped now.
“We can’t leave.”
Ellis, who had been talking to Nate, stopped mid-sentence and frowned over at her. “What?”
“I’m not leaving yet.”
His frown deepened. The expression didn’t suit him. “We decided—”
“No, you decided, and I was just going along.” Mind made up, she spun on her heel and started gathering the gear. She’d need to resupply at the local general store, but she could be ready to head back out before dusk. She’d have to leave Aleu behind again and—
Ellis caught her hand as she passed. “Bree, wait. You heard the state troopers. They want us out of it. It’s too dangerous.”
She shook him off. “Everything in me is screaming that I need to stay here, so I’m staying. I’ll help the troopers search. You go, take Aleu home to the kennel. My neighbor will look after her and then you’re free to do whatever you like. Go back to California.”
As soon as the words left her lips, she bit down on her tongue. She shouldn’t have said that. Shouldn’t have revealed how much his plans to leave hurt her. They’d made no promises to each other last night. They’d had sex. It was good. He owed her nothing. She owed him nothing. It was all how she wanted it…
So why did the thought of him going back to L.A. leave an empty, aching pit in the center of her chest?
Ellis opened his mouth but couldn’t seem to find a response and pressed his lips together in a line of pure frustration.
“Shit,” Damian said loudly enough that the curse bounced off the curved walls of the hangar. Everyone turned toward him, but his attention was on the Otter that had just landed. Bree followed his gaze out the ice-crusted window. The pilot was in a hurry, slipping on the runway as he unloaded a large white dog from the cargo hold of his plane.
“Hey!” the Otter pilot shouted. “I got a sick dog here. I need help!”
Damian was already opening the door, snow swirling inside on a burst of frigid air. “I’m a vet. What happened?”
“Don’t know,” the pilot responded as he ran toward the hangar.
