wasn’t quite right, that . . .” Her brain lit up again, this time with flashes of red and yellow; emergency colors. “Oh, man.”
“What?”
“Trouble. I said Telos helps people in trouble.” She started into the woods, aiming herself directly toward the fjord.
“What does that mean? Where are you going?” Gunnar stomped a path through the leaves behind her.
Katy turned to face him. “Think about it. Three young boys, eager to see a superhero-like bald eagle who shows up when something goes wrong.”
Gunnar’s eyes lit up. “So they try to make something go wrong.”
She nodded, her pulse sending a terrified beat through her body. “And then something goes wrong.”
Their eyes met, and she let herself soak up his strength, his concern, his essence. They were stronger together, and if any two people could save these kids, Katy knew she and Gunnar were the two. They had to find them. Now.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Okay, if you were nine and wanted to attract the attention of magical bald eagle, what would you do?” Gunnar stared at Katy like the answer might write itself on her forehead. She was just so damn good at figuring things out.
“Keep in mind that this particular nine-year-old really fears the unknown.” She restarted her trek through the brush, sweeping her head from side to side as she walked. “Ethan! Owen! Shiloh!” she called as she walked.
“Shiloh?” Gunnar repeated. “Ethan? Owen? You guys okay?”
They paused, listened. Not so much as a crackling leaf broke the silence. “Let’s just keep moving toward the fjord,” Katy said. “Ethan and Owen know that area well, so they might go there.”
“Makes sense.” A little thrill rushed through him, a twinge of admiration for this woman who’d pretty much taken charge of his life in the past several weeks. He watched her stride ahead, voice strong and determined, and though he knew this was not the moment to indulge his attraction, something inside said that moment sure as hell better come soon. Katy MacBain was the find of a lifetime—likely many lifetimes—and the sooner he made her his, the better his life would be.
Desire acknowledged, he tucked it away and got back to business. These kids might have created a world of trouble for themselves, and the sooner they discovered that trouble, the better. Swinging his head from side to side, he scanned the area like Katy, taking in as many details of the landscape as his eyes would allow.
Minutes passed, taking them farther and farther from the trail. Just as Gunnar was about to suggest they circle back and reorient themselves, something at the corner of his eye snatched his attention. He glanced back and saw the pattern, a swath of broken bush limbs, snapped on both sides like something, or someone, had charged right through. “Over here,” he called and darted toward the bushes.
“You see something?” Katy’s two feet made the sound of ten as she scurried in his direction.
“I think they went this way.”
Gunnar sprinted past the bushes, then slammed on the brakes. Just on the other side lay a yellow nylon rope, one end tied to the base of one of the bushes. The other end disappeared over the side of a steep slope. “Oh, no,” he said, before he caught himself.
“What? What? Tell me what you see,” Katy yelled from several feet back.
“It’s okay,” he said. “They’ve definitely been this way.”
She skidded up behind him and peered over his shoulder. “Does that rope go over the ravine? Oh my God.”
Gunnar held up a cautioning hand and inched toward the edge of the slope. “It’s not a ravine. It’s not that steep.” Holding on to the rope, he stepped as close as he could and looked over, then let loose a huge breath, panic mixed with relief. “There they are,” he said.
“You see them? They’re okay?” Katy rushed up behind him, eager to see for herself.
“Whoa, easy,” he said quietly. Down below, he counted three small heads, all alert and looking up at him. “You guys okay?” he called, but their mix of nods and waves didn’t quite offer confirmation.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Katy breathed. She leaned against him, just the tiniest bit, and he steadied his feet to let her stay that way for a second. “How are we going to get down there?”
Gunnar took his own deep breath. Time to be the fire chief, the head rescuer, the example-setter. He took a couple of steps back from the edge, inching her back as he went, then turned to face her. The