Flash Point - Savannah Kade Page 0,27

tapped at Leo, suddenly excited. “I heard it! I think it sounds like help.”

She could totally be making that up though. It was so easy to hear what you wanted to. It might have come from a bird or an animal. But Leo seemed to believe her and there was something about him trusting her that felt a little too good.

“Which direction?” he asked, clearly not having heard anything.

Pointing toward the right of the path they'd been on, she watched as Leo called out again, throwing his voice the best he could. “Hello? Jason? Dalton?”

Together they waited through a roll of thunder and then he called again. Jo was afraid the kid might have called back but the booming sky ate the sound. Just in case this day couldn’t be awful enough.

But when they heard no reply, they realized it was time to move on again. Again, it felt good when Leo turned and stepped off path heading in the direction she pointed. The walk, however, was going to suck.

The paths were bad enough, but breaking covered ground was going to be worse. Jo kept moving, happily letting Leo take point. Though she’d heard the sound, he knew the woods far better than she, and it was no hardship to have someone else push through the dense underbrush and figure out where she should be stepping.

Despite the long day, Jo had energy to burn. Her mother had often referred to her as a shark—in an unkind way—that she’d always needed to keep moving forward in order to stay alive. It had been hell at her private boarding school, where girls were expected to wear skirts and sit quietly with their knees and hands tucked together. At least now her physical energy was useful.

Unfortunately, Leo had to crash through the underbrush, which covered any sounds they might have picked up. But they stayed aimed in the right direction.

About fifty yards later, he stopped and motioned for the two of them to stand still and listen together. When they didn’t hear anything, he quietly told her what to call out, and they yelled together for the Ryder boys with their voices in unison.

She hated to admit it, but they worked together pretty well, despite the fact that Leo didn't completely trust her.

When no reply came, she began to lose hope. They were closer to where she’d heard the sound, it should have been here. Anyone who could have called back should have. Jo wondered if she'd lead them off trail on a wild goose chase, or maybe even a wild mongoose chase. She sighed and told herself she hadn’t been in town long enough to learn if there were mongoose. But she should have learned more about the local wildlife and now she didn’t know what they might encounter.

They headed onward, but Leo stopped more frequently now. This time when they called out for the kids together, she didn't hear anything, but Leo did. Maybe his head was just aimed the right way, or his hood had funneled the sound to his ears. He looked at her excitedly and this time he yelled louder, stronger, enunciating every sound. “Jason? Dalton?”

And they waited.

Chapter Seventeen

“I'm going down,” Jo told him, though Leo shook his head. They’d spent almost ten minutes walking back and forth, finally deciding the descent should happen at this point. It was a shitty section of mud that would likely slide out from under whoever went down, and it was sadly the best option they had.

Jo sounded like she wouldn’t take an argument from him, but he was in charge. And descending was the more dangerous position. They also didn't know what they might find when they hit the bottom—other than Jason Ryder.

At least they'd gotten close enough that the kid had begun talking back. He’d told them how he was stuck on a rock in the middle of rushing water at the bottom of a ravine. It appeared there was a full creek running at the bottom, not just a trickle of runoff. With the rain coming down all day, the boy was plausibly in the middle of a strong current that would only rise, which meant they had to get him out as soon as possible.

“I should go down. It might be dangerous.” Leo told her.

“It’s going to be dangerous no matter what.” Her reply was quick and harsh. “Are you suggesting it’s too dangerous for me, but not for you?”

“For anyone.” He was quick, too, but it was