Charlie Dodge?”
“This is Charlie.”
“Mr. Dodge, we got an SOS from a chopper pilot named Jade Wyrick. She was in distress and going down, and said to notify you as next of kin.”
Charlie’s mind went blank. She was his last anchor to sanity and this couldn’t be happening. He’d just lost Annie. He couldn’t lose her, too.
“No,” Charlie groaned, and dropped to his knees. “Where did it happen? Where did she go down?”
“We haven’t found the crash site yet. Her voice was breaking up during her last communication and we aren’t certain of her final location.”
He rocked back on his heels as if he’d been sucker punched.
“Are you saying she isn’t dead?”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to give you that impression. But the last thing we heard clearly from her was to notify you it was happening, and that you were her next of kin.”
All of a sudden, his world rocked back in place. He was on his feet and reaching for a pen and paper.
“I’m flying down. Can you tell me where they’re setting up the search?”
“Yes, but—”
“Just tell me,” Charlie said, and then took down all of the information she could give him, along with some contact numbers for rangers, and then disconnected and ran to his office to do an online search for charter pilots.
He called two before he found one who was available—a pilot named Billy Wright, who also ran a flight school.
“When do you need to go?” Billy asked.
“Now,” Charlie said. “It would take me about thirty minutes to get to your location.”
“I’ll fuel up. We can leave as soon as you get here.”
“I’m on the way,” Charlie said, and ran to change. He couldn’t believe this nightmare was happening, or that the search for her would be in another national park.
He grabbed his camping pack, dumped the tent, added clothes, shoved a couple of bottles of water and some protein bars in beside the gear, and left on the run.
Once he got out on the freeway, he thought of Benny waiting for her at the hangar. But when he called that number, the man who answered wasn’t Benny.
“Hello.”
“Uh, hello... I need to speak to Benny,” Charlie said.
“Who’s calling?”
“This is Charlie Dodge. It’s important that I speak to him. Who is this?”
“I’m Officer DuPlane, Dallas PD. Benny Garcia was found badly beaten and unconscious at this location, and has been taken to a hospital. How do you know him?”
Charlie’s gut knotted. This didn’t feel like a coincidence. “Through Jade Wyrick, who owns that hangar and the Bell Jet chopper she keeps in it. Benny is her mechanic. I’m a private investigator, and Jade works for me. I was just notified that her chopper crashed today. I needed to let Benny know, but now I obviously can’t. I’m on my way to the crash site. I don’t know anything more. Sorry.”
He disconnected to concentrate on his driving and arrived at the flight school in just under thirty minutes.
A short, stocky man in his late forties was standing in the doorway of the office when Charlie parked and got out.
“I’m Charlie Dodge. Are you Billy?”
“Yes, sir. Pay the lady in the office and we’ll be good to go.”
Charlie hurried inside, then came out running.
“This way,” Billy said, and then led the way out to the chopper sitting on a helipad.
Charlie handed him the coordinates, and within minutes, they were in the air and flying south.
It felt like an eternity trying to get there, and every minute that passed, Charlie kept thinking of the few times he’d seen her smile, the love affair she had with Snickers candy bars and Pepsi, the things she did to make his life easier, the true brilliance of her mind, and her unwavering loyalty.
He kept picturing her alive somewhere and waiting for him to find her. She knew he wouldn’t quit until he did, but he didn’t know if he’d find her in time.
When they finally began approaching their destination, Billy pointed.
“We’re almost there. Are you gonna need a ride back?”
“I don’t know,” Charlie said. “It all depends.”
“You’ve got my number. I’ll make time to pick you up if you need it,” Billy said.
“Thanks. I’ll call if I do.”
As soon as they landed, Charlie was out and running toward the command post, and stopped the first ranger he saw.
“I’m Charlie Dodge. The pilot of the downed chopper works for me. Are searchers already out?”
“Yes, sir. There are three different teams. They left about twenty minutes ago.”
Charlie groaned. “I’m going in. What are