red mark on it. “We should go this way. We know that area pretty well.”
Craig couldn’t come up with a single valid reason to tell him no, but the way Cap moved in to select part of the search grid put him on high alert. Even his fellow rangers took whatever assignment he handed out. This guy was beyond enough.
“Great,” he said, managing a smile that didn’t quite make it. “Appreciate the help. Be sure to grab one of the emergency kits to take with you, and a radio. The search team frequency is already set. And get back here by dark. We don’t need to be searching for you, too.”
He watched the three men pick up the packs containing everything from survival blankets to first-aid equipment and food, then head out to the south.
He heard footsteps behind him and pivoted to see Lucy. “Sheriff’s bringing in some people, too. Buddy, huh?”
“And his best friend Cap.”
Lucy’s face settled into a frown. “Nothing yet?”
“Not a damn thing. I can’t imagine where she would have gone. If she’s got the sense I thought she had, she should be back here by now.”
“People get lost,” she said soothingly.
“Not this woman. Army trained.”
“Oh.” Lucy’s frown deepened. “What do you want to do?”
“I want to follow those three guys. Cap was a little too eager to pick a sector.”
“He picked one?” Lucy evidently caught the possible ramifications of that. “Okay, you go. I’ll stay here to hold down the fort for you. Bring her back, Craig.”
“I sure as hell will if I can find her.” Unfortunately, he had plenty of experience that told him how long that could take. “Listen, I’m going to switch to another frequency if those guys do anything suspicious. You monitor it?”
“You bet. Use the auto distress call so I don’t miss it.”
He nodded, zipped his jacket and picked up one of the emergency kits. Then, after a moment’s hesitation he added his shotgun, slinging it on his shoulder. He was already wearing his pistol, but they had AR-15s.
“Good idea,” Lucy said. “You want me to get somebody to follow you?”
He shook his head. “I can deal with them if I need to. I’d be more worried if we didn’t do a good enough search because another one of us went haring off after these guys.”
“I know. But when the sheriff’s people get here, don’t be surprised if I send one of them along. Mark your trail.”
“Always.”
Then he was off, not wanting to lose track of Buddy and company in the darkening, dense forest.
* * *
Sky had begun to feel chilled, probably because she wasn’t moving much. She pulled a power bar out of her sweater pocket and took another bite before wrapping up the rest to save for later. She was getting thirsty, too, but dragging herself to the water seemed insane. Her plastic canteen had shattered in the fall.
Every time she moved, grinding pain nearly paralyzed her. Even with the splint reaching down beneath her heel, she hadn’t been able to completely insulate her lower leg against all movement. Sometimes when she slid along, it was tolerable agony. Other times...well, she had nearly blacked out briefly a couple of times.
At least her thirstiness wasn’t extreme, which meant she wasn’t bleeding internally. She’d been worried about that, but apparently, other than her leg, all she had was a bad goose egg on her head and a bunch of bruises. All things considered, she’d been lucky for a damn fool.
If everything weren’t so wet, she would have tried to gather wood and tinder for a fire, hoping to be able to strike a spark with her palette knife and rock. But if there was anything dry on this mountain after yesterday, she couldn’t find it. So that meant finding a way to insulate herself against the cold.
So far she’d had little luck. The stream was still engorged with runoff, but checking around persuaded her that it had probably scoured its banks pretty well yesterday. She’d been lucky to find sticks for a splint caught in cracks among a few rocks. Something as light as pine needles wouldn’t have made it, most likely, and if any leafy branches had fallen down here, they seemed to be long gone.
Conserving body heat had become her only priority. She had to get through this night. She was sure the rangers had begun to search for her, but she couldn’t afford to believe they’d find her tonight. Maybe tomorrow if she was lucky, but probably not