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“Follow those tracks with the cops,” I said. “Some of them are wider. Makes me think they had a side-by-side or an XTV.”
“Where are you going?”
I straddled my ATV. “To find my wife.”
He put his hand on the handlebar. “Stop. You’re losing it. Take a minute to calm down.”
I glared up at my big brother and resisted the urge to punch him. “Donottell me to calm down. What if it was Alice out there? Or your kids?”
His face paled and he swallowed thickly. “You really love her, don’t you?”
“Of course I fucking do. You’re not the only one who gets to fall in love. The rest of us are allowed to have feelings too. I’m going to look for her. I’m going to find her.”
“In 30,000 square miles of wilderness?” he protested.
I tugged my helmet down and secured the strap. “She couldn’t have gone that far. She could be hurt. Or worse. I gotta go.”
“But—”
I held a hand up. “Stay here. Do your CEO thing. Organize everyone. But I’m not standing around. Adele is getting me a plane.”
I revved the engine. “At least one of my siblings is useful,” I muttered, peeling out. This area was filled with old trails and washed-out roads. I would drive every fucking one until I found my wife.
Over tree roots, through streams, and around boulders, I drove and drove, constantly calling out. If she’d run, she would have headed east. The wildflower meadow was west, and she would want cover. Plus, she was smart enough to know to head toward the main roads.
The forest was a blur as I drove through, each bump and jump jolting my racing heart. Fear gripped every cell in my body, but I didn’t let it slow me down. She was here. I knew it.
My wife was smart and strategic. She wasn’t the type to get caught by a bunch of goons. What would she do?
I followed a decent-sized stream for a while, hoping to find one of the main rivers, and came across a huge outcropping of rocks. I killed the engine and took a water break, then climbed onto one of the boulders to get a better look.
“Hazel,” I bellowed, my voice carrying through the trees.
Again and again, I called, knowing it was fruitless but desperate to try anyway.
I dropped to the rock beneath me, wrapped my arms around my knees, and buried my head, fighting back tears. This is what true failure felt like. Letting the person I loved down. Not being there to protect her.
But then I heard it. A voice, a sound, in the distance.
I picked my head up and listened.
When I heard the faint sound again, I stood, calling her name over and over. And there it was. Closer. Clearer. “Remy!”
I jumped off the rocks and sprinted toward where the sound was coming from, yelling the entire time.
I followed the sound about a quarter of a mile until I saw her. She was standing on a tree stump, covered in dirt, but she was alive and staring right at me.
“Remy,” she said softly as I raced for her.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, hauling her into my arms. “What happened? I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry,” I said into her hair as I crushed her to my chest. Her tiny body clung to me, and relief washed through me. She was here. She was alive and hadn’t been kidnapped. I may be a complete failure as a husband, but I had found her.
“You found me,” she said.
With my hands on her upper arms, I pulled back and studied her. “I would never stop looking. Ever. I’d live in these woods and search every day until I found you.”
“I love you,” she rasped, burying her face in my chest.
My heart stuttered at her words. Words I had never known I needed so badly. They burrowed themselves deep inside my brain, and an awareness settled over me. She loved me. We loved each other.
