AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, just a gut feeling. I might be overreacting, but in case I'm not…you got a decent flashlight?”
“Yeah, in the back.” Atticus gave the tech system an order to call Jasper. It repeated the command, then began to ring.
“Let me out here. I'll take a flashlight and look around while you find somewhere to park.” Thane twisted in his seat, eyed the pile of equipment on the backseats. Oh yeah, Atticus knew how to be prepared. He reached over and snagged one of the heavy rucksacks, began to rummage through. Flashlight, extra batteries, flares, first aid kit, water, chocolate, thermal sheet, radio…the whole kit and kaboodle.
“Atticus? You got her?” A male voice crackled through the speakers.
“Just got here. I'm kicking Thane out on the track leading up to the spot, but he thinks we should bring you in. We're sending the drone up as a precaution. Anarchy's with Bodie?”
“The girls are hunkered down with Alicia. The girl who stays with her usually couldn't come, so we loaded Alicia up and took her to Braun's. I left Liam with them. Loki and Saul are with me, and we're about ten minutes out. Figured you'd need us,” Jasper told him. “No point being miles away if you decided to call us in. We're on your heels, brother.”
“The track isn't vehicle friendly,” Atticus advised, his eyes scanning the landscape. “I've got the kits. I'll wait for you where the signal died, and we can start from there.”
“Why are we starting below where the phone signal was last located?” Someone asked from Jasper's end of the line.
Thane answered. “You're not. I am. You guys work your way down, I'll head up. We need to cover as much ground as possible. If Connie is up on that ridge, she’s in danger. She's angry, possibly intoxicated. Temper doesn't sit still. Anger makes you want to move, it energizes.” He gave Atticus a nod. “What channel on the radio?”
“They're all synced. Hit the button and we'll have you. You okay hiking around with that leg?”
He shoved the door open, unfastening his belt. “I've put it through worse.” His boots hit the ground and he turned to grab his jacket and the rucksack. “We'll find her, Atticus.”
Thane closed the door, stepped back as the truck continued on its way up the incline. Taking a moment to gauge the terrain, he slipped into his jacket, removed the flashlight from the rucksack, then slung the bag over his shoulder. He flicked the powerful beam on, casting light over the dark edges of the track, then started following it up.
Ahead, the truck's taillights disappeared around a corner.
Where would a woman like Connie go when she was wounded? he mused, sweeping the flashlight from side to side. At a guess, she wasn't in a dominant mood. Dommes didn't hide, they attacked when they were hurt. They took the offensive position, but Connie had slunk off into the middle of nowhere. She wanted to curl up and nurse her wounds, away from those who had caused them.
It didn't mean she wasn't angry. Far from it. A furious submissive could be as difficult to handle as a raging Domme, maybe more so if someone wasn't expecting her to have claws.
“Connie!” Thane shouted, cocking his head as his voice echoed off the rocky terrain. Well, the acoustics were good, that was something. “Connie!”
An owl hooted. A gust of wind swirled past. But he didn't hear a response.
He continued up, sweeping the flashlight from left to right, left to right. Using the bright beam to light up the areas on either side of the track. It wasn't long before he heard the growl of an engine behind him, approaching steadily. He stepped to the side, out of the way, and waited for the big silver Dodge pickup to pull up alongside him. The window rolled down, and he found himself meeting a pair of pale, ice-blue eyes.
“Thane? Jasper.” The white-blond driver didn't hold his gaze for long. He was too busy scanning the wilderness behind him. “Thanks for coming out. Any sign of her?”
He shook his head. “Atticus is up ahead somewhere. Nothing on the radio to say he's found her up there. We need to spread out and cover ground.”
“We're on it.” Jasper jerked a thumb at the dark-haired silhouette beside him. “This is Loki.” The thumb jabbed toward the backseat. “Saul. You want me to kick Saul out here, give you a hand searching this area?”
“No, I'm good. Thanks.”
“Okay then. Let's go find ourselves a psychologist.” Jasper nodded sharply, then drove off at the same steady pace Atticus had. The track was getting rougher the higher it went, and it would play hell on the vehicles, no matter their speed.
Psychologist. Thane rubbed his hand over his face as he started walking again, shouting Connie's name again. Well, no wonder she thought she was expected to deal with her misery on her own. “Come on, sugar, you've got us all worried.”
Within thirty minutes, he started hearing more calls, and saw beams of light scattered over the dark hillside. Another ten minutes after that, the radio crackled in his rucksack. He swung it off his shoulder and dropped it on the ground, rooting through supplies until he found the communicator. “Atticus? Jasper?”
Static crackled again. “Got the phone. Halfway down the hillside under a bush. Covered in teeth marks and drool. Looks like a coyote's had it.”
Thane stared in disbelief at the radio in his hand. A coyote?Was the wildlife in this region more technologically advanced than he'd assumed? He pressed the button. “Any other trace of her?”
“Nothing. No trace at all.” Okay, that sounded like Jasper, he thought, concentrating on the voice beneath the static.
“Nothing here.” Atticus checked in.
“Sorry, guys. No sign of her.”
