imprint of a shoe. Then they’d pick it up several yards later. About a quarter mile from the SUV, they found a tennis shoe lying among the leaves and dirt.
Adrenaline surged in Ethan’s veins. “It’s Rachel’s,” he said hoarsely. He scraped the dirt from the sides and the sole with shaking hands. It was definitely hers. His mom had bought them on one of her many shopping trips for Rachel.
“She kept going,” Garrett said.
Sam directed the flashlight beam along the path where the imprint of one tennis shoe and one bare foot led farther into the woods.
“Atta girl,” Sam murmured.
They hurried forward, keeping the flashlights aimed at the ground as they followed the footprints.
Eventually they came to a stop at a riverbank. The soil was disturbed like someone had fallen, and the incline was eaten away.
Ethan slid down the embankment to study the area closer to the river’s edge. There were distinct footprints, and closer to the overhang, there was a hollowed-out area that looked very much like someone had huddled there.
Rachel’s prints ended here, but the larger boot prints circled and overlapped before finally paralleling the shore west.
His brothers scanned the area beside him with frowns on their faces.
“What do you make of it, Sam?” Garrett asked.
Sam stared at Ethan, and it infuriated him that Sam was holding back.
“Just say it,” Ethan bit out. “We’re wasting time.”
“There are two possibilities,” Sam said slowly. “The smaller prints lead here and none lead away. The boot prints arrive here and they leave again in the other direction. Either Rachel lost them here or they caught up to her here and she didn’t leave on her own.”
Ethan sucked in his breath. He might be looking at where Rachel had died. He shook his head. Fuck no. He refused to believe that. If Rachel got away the first time, she could do it again. She was smart, and she was a fighter.
Garrett turned to survey the river.
“She could have gone into the water. She’s listened in on enough of our powwows to have picked up any number of evasion tactics. Hell, we used to sit around drinking beer and telling combat stories. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that she hit the water and stayed there so she wouldn’t leave tracks.”
Excitement curled in Ethan’s stomach. He had to believe that. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
“So we split up,” Sam said. “I’ll go upriver. You two head down. If she headed downriver, she would have hit the lake. I’ll radio Sean and have a search party scour the riverbanks upriver and also search the lake for any sign of her. If she’s out here, we’ll find her.”
Their radios crackled, and Sean’s voice bled into the night air.
“Sam, you read me?”
Sam picked up his radio. Ethan gripped his, but held back the urge to demand if Sean had news.
“Yeah, I read you, go ahead,” Sam replied.
“We just got a 911 call . . . from your house. Woman. Terrified. Babbling about men trying to kill her. Dispatch didn’t get her name before the line went dead, but I’m betting it’s Rachel. I’m on my way over now.”
No longer able to keep silent, Ethan keyed the mic and stuck the radio to his mouth.
“We’re on our way.”
Before his brothers could react, Ethan whirled and sprinted back the way they’d come. His brothers followed close behind. They crashed through underbrush like a herd of elephants. Limbs and bushes slapped Ethan in the face, but he batted them aside and kept going.
When they got back to the wrecked SUV, there was no sign of Sean. Ethan wasn’t waiting around. He jumped into Sam’s truck and cranked the engine. He was already backing down the trail when his brothers jumped into the backseat.
“Son of a bitch, Ethan, are you trying to kill us?” Garrett yelled.
Sam leaned up over the front seat, and Ethan heard the click of a gun clip. “Calm your ass down and get us there in one piece. We won’t do Rachel any good if we’re wrapped around another goddamn tree.”
“How the hell did she get back to your house?” Ethan demanded as he careened back onto the highway. “We found her footprints on the riverbank. They ended there.”
“I’d say our girl got smart and headed downriver to the lake,” Garrett said with a note of pride.
Ethan gripped the steering wheel and ignored the pounding in his head. Sean had slapped a haphazard bandage over his brow to stop the bleeding, and it