Flash Point - Savannah Kade Page 0,25

she said, “No. But I've worked with a few and I've tried to pick up everything I can. And whatever is here, it's above my pay grade.”

He was opening his mouth again to say he was sorry he was being a bear, when she waved her open hand in a gesture to indicate everything. “The rain has taken out anything we might have found. So if there was a sign it's not here now.”

Unfortunately, Leo agreed with her. He meant to say so, but he wasn't quite sure how to get words to work properly. All his frustrations about the search and the way the boys had gone missing in the first place were overshadowing the fact that he'd found Jo to be more than competent, and even decent company while he was becoming less so.

He was carrying this stupid, heavy satellite phone, too. And he was getting tempted to use it, because he should have heard something from someone by now. That the boys had wandered home, or someone had seen something. But he was guessing everyone was socked in by the weather.

“Do we need to go back?” Jo asked.

“No!” He snapped the word far too harshly only a mere five seconds after making a vow to be less irritable. “We're not tapping out on this!”

Or at least he wasn’t. But he wasn’t allowed to search by himself. That would be stupid, and he prided himself on not being stupid.

Jo lifted her hands as if to surrender and backed off. Her flashlight still in one gloved hand even though the daylight had filtered in a little. It was two pm., this was probably the best they would get all day. But Jo wasn’t backing down. “I wasn't suggesting that we quit. I was suggesting that there might be enough good weather coming in that you could set up a Command Central and operate a full-scale search. Someone else might know where these caves are.”

Leo took a deep breath. Ivy might have found someone who knew better than old man Gentson where the caves were. But the sat phone hadn’t beeped at him, nor had his cell. If anyone had found anything that would help, they weren’t using the proper channels to get that information to him and Jo.

Maybe it was time to stop. His irritation wasn't serving anyone. And most importantly, not Jason and Dalton Ryder. Leaning over for a moment, Leo braced his hands on his knees and sucked a few deep breaths into his lungs. The cold seared his tissues from the inside out and it was probably what he deserved.

When he stood up straight, he looked to Jo calmly. “I’m sorry. I’m being an ass. As I've already mentioned, this one hits a little too close to home.”

Though she nodded, she showed no real emotional response and he wondered what it would take to see a true spark in a woman so controlled.

“There's more bad weather coming in.” He added that to see how she would take it.

When she simply nodded again, it was at least with the added understanding. It wasn't just that the boys were missing, it wasn't just that there was no trail and no sign, and it wasn't just that this whole shitshow reminded him of losing his younger brother—it was that the situation was about to get worse.

There was nothing he could do to bring in the larger search group, like they both wanted. It was just a nasty trick of fate. The weather prevented the searchers and at the same time it made the boys’ chances of survival much lower. A double whammy that was likely to leave him with no wins in this case.

But he was finding that something in him believed Jo Huston when she told him she wasn't giving up—cushy Boston upbringing or not. She'd not complained once. She had all her gear with her and on properly. She was still here when eight of the others had been sent back. And she'd been smart enough to contact Ivy and get the information she hadn't known for herself.

“Let's keep going.” He turned away and pushed along the trail.

They weren't doing grid searches anymore. Since they’d left the comfort of the truck and the stilted conversation, they were moving from one point to another … checking all the places they hoped the boys might hide.

Leo first had them check a spot that had originally been in Bland and Stanford’s section, but they’d lost Bland before they checked it.