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Then he realized Ghost had disappeared. Shit! He’d keyed in on Biggers, too.
Cameron shot forward with renewed speed, dodging low-hanging limbs, ignoring the briars tugging at his clothes and the brush slapping at his face. His gaze was focused on the dark before him, desperate for another flash of light or anything to tell him where they were.
And then he heard the screams.
***
One second Biggers was upright and walking, and then something hit him in the back so hard it sent him to his knees. He heard growling only seconds before it began ripping at his legs, tearing clothing and flesh, and trying to rip the coat off his back.
All he could think was “Bear!” He was going to die!
He dropped the kid and began trying to crawl away, hoping the animal would take her instead, but it had a death grip on him and wouldn’t let go. He began screaming—and screaming—and screaming, fearing the sound of his own voice would be the last thing he’d hear.
He was wrong.
Suddenly, a man was behind him shouting, “Stay, Ghost! Stay!”
As quickly as the animal had taken him down, the weight of it was gone. Danny thought he’d just been rescued, and then someone grabbed him and rolled him over. He opened his eyes to the giant shadow of a man looming over him, shining a flashlight into his face. And then the man pulled a gun and Danny started begging.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! For the love of…”
One shot rang out, followed by a second.
***
The searchers heard.
The first shot stopped them in their tracks.
Cameron! It meant he’d found something.
Then the second shot followed.
He’d found her alive! They let out a whoop and started running.
***
“Ghost! With Lili! Stay!” Cameron said, and shed his backpack as Ghost immediately dropped beside the toddler and began licking her face. Cameron was so focused on disabling Biggers that at first he didn’t realize Lili was unconscious. He pulled a coil of nylon climbing rope from his pack, and while Biggers was bawling and begging for help, Cameron dragged him to his feet.
“Help me,” Danny wailed. “I’m bleeding bad.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you, and if you’ve hurt Lili, I’ll kill you anyway,” Cameron said. He tied Biggers upright and standing to a tree, his face smashed sideways against the trunk as Cameron kept winding the rope around and around him until he was tied so tight the bark was cutting into his face.
As soon as Biggers was secure, Cameron ran to Lili.
Danny couldn’t move his head, but from the corner of his eye, he saw the man scoop the kid up in his arms, and then when the man turned on him, he finally saw his face.
Oh God. It’s Rachel’s brother.
“She’s unconscious! What the fuck did you do to her?” Cameron shouted.
“Nothing. Nothing, I swear. It’s just something to make her sleep. I didn’t hurt her. I didn’t do anything to her,” Danny whined.
Cameron unzipped his jacket enough to get Lili swaddled inside before zipping it up around her. Her body was like ice, her breathing too soft…too faint. Two tours in Iraq had not scared him as bad as the fear running through him now. He left Biggers’s flashlight shining straight at the tree where he was tied, took a lantern from his backpack, then slung the backpack over his shoulder.
“Ghost. With me!” Cameron said, and headed back down the mountain, walking as fast as he dared, cradling Lili against him.
“Don’t leave me! The bears will smell the blood!” Danny screamed.
