A Forever Christmas - By Marie Ferrarella Page 0,55

her by sounding as stern as he did. Her reaction was also a surprise, because something inside of her rose up in semirebellion.

Angel’s eyes met his. “And you actually think I’ll stay there?” she asked him, amused.

Gabe sighed. The woman was getting bolder. And more stubborn. He supposed that was a good sign.

“Okay,” he relented, “you can come—but you have to follow orders. There’s got to be structure in the search.” He wasn’t going to be flexible about that. Under no circumstances was he going to allow her to go off on her own. He decided his best bet was just to level with her. “Look, I don’t think I could stand it if you got lost out there somewhere, understood?”

Angel continued looking at him, but the rebellious feeling disappeared. Instead, another overwhelming feeling bubbled up within her like some awe-inspiring fountain. This had to be love. There was no other word for it and she’d been feeling it a lot lately.

After a beat, she nodded solemnly in response to his question.

“Understood,” she echoed, then added a coda she figured he’d be okay with. “Two sets of eyes are better than one, right?”

Gabe laughed and nodded. “Right. Atta girl,” he said with approval. “All right, we’ve got Mrs. Lake squared away with Miss Joan, let’s get going.”

She flashed him a smile. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Yeah,” he conceded. “Your plan.”

And she damn well knew it, he thought. Not that he could fault her. Not for having feelings of empathy. She was just putting herself in Diane Lake’s shoes and imagining what she would have felt if it was her little boy who’d gone missing.

* * *

SIX HOURS LATER, Rick decided to temporarily call off the search, at least until morning when they had more light—and more volunteers. He’d put a call into the county for bloodhounds and the dogs would be arriving with their handlers by seven.

Everyone could do with a few hours’ rest.

“We can get started again at seven,” he said over the two-way radio to his deputies and the other volunteers. Each group of searchers had been outfitted with the radio so they could stay in touch, and alert the others if they found Jason.

“Read you loud and clear, Sheriff,” Gabe said over his own unit. Finished, he released the button that ended not only the exchange between Rick and the other groups, but the high-pitched squawking sound the unit was emitting, as well.

He didn’t need to look at Angel to know that, although she was beat, she still wanted to continue. But pushing on, exhausted, wouldn’t help.

Braced for an argument, he already began forming his rebuttal.

“A little rest might do us all some good, and besides—” He didn’t get a chance to finish because Angel had her hand up and was motioning for him to be quiet. “Look, Angel, I know that you—”

“Shh!” Cocked her head a little more, straining to listen. “Don’t you hear that?”

He listened—and heard nothing. “Hear what?” he pressed.

“That,” she emphasized impatiently. How could he not hear that? “Someone’s crying.” And with that, she hurried off in the direction of the crying she claimed to be hearing.

“I still don’t—Angel, damn it,” he cried, stunned to see her take off like that after he’d strictly told her not to. “Don’t go running off,” he ordered, raising his voice so she could hear.

“Then follow me!” she shot over her shoulder. The next moment, she was picking up her pace, running in the general direction of the crying sound.

He was more worried than angry now. She didn’t know this terrain, and not only could she get lost, but she could also wind up going over a ledge. Some paths ended abruptly out here.

Just like the one the day he first met her.

Remembering, his anxiety level tripled.

“Angel, you can’t just—” Whatever else he was going to say was forgotten as, still chasing after her, Gabe thought he could make out the sound. “You’re right. It is crying,” he realized. They’d managed to locate Jason, even in the dark.

He slowed his pace just an iota in order to switch on the two-way radio. Calling Rick over the device, Gabe followed up his salutation by declaring with no small excitement, “I think we might have found him!”

Rick immediately ordered him to “Forward your position!”

Trying to keep Angel within his line of sight, Gabe rattled off his coordinates, estimating them as closely as possible. He looked down at the radio for a split second. When he looked up, Angel