Page 69 of Throw Down

“Like hell.” James righted himself and strode ahead, clapping Derek on the back as he passed.“We’re glued to your ass until we find him.”

The air grew colder as the clock ticked past midnight.They scoured one grid after another, muscles burning as they struggled over the rugged terrain.They didn't speak, eyes and ears attuned to every shadow and rustle of vegetation.

Hours passed.

The sky was beginning to lighten to a pre-dawn gray before Derek was finally convinced to take a break.

He stood at the command tent, clutching a thermos of hot coffee so hard that his knuckles creaked, every inch of his body straining toward the mountains.Sabbath lay at his feet, napping deeply to restore her strength.Volunteers buzzed all around him, but he barely heard them.He was scouring the battered map in his hand, analyzing each sector and extrapolating the most likely places Briar might have gone off road.Each unchecked grid left a heavy weight in his stomach.

He was so absorbed in his calculations, he didn’t even notice Susan’s presence at his side—until she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.She didn’t speak, and he was thankful for that, but she didn’t release him either.Derek remained stiff in her embrace for the longest time, but she wouldn’t let go.She just…hugged him. She hugged him, and he allowed it.He stared dry-eyed at the uncaring wilderness, absorbing his sister’s silent comfort, and prayed for the first time since he was a young boy.

Help me find him, his soul begged.Please, just let him be safe.

But they didn’t find him that morning, or even that afternoon.Hour after hour, they searched, filling the mountains with shouts and whistles and the rumble of ATV engines.Exhausted volunteers were replaced by townsfolk with fresh legs.Clayton Ford offered his drone for aerial footage, and Mabel Stockton sent up pastries and carafes of hot coffee from the diner.Even Wade Guthrie, sober for once, joined in the search.He only met Derek’s eyes briefly.Derek gave him a small nod, and he looked away.They avoided each other after that.

Small town grudges were one thing, Derek thought, but nobody was willing to stay home when one of their own was in danger.Briar had become one of them, and they hadn't even realized it.

The sun beat down on them even through the shelter of a thick evergreen canopy.The moist earth dried and cracked beneath their boots, and Derek’s fear for Briar shifted from hypothermia to near-constant concern of dehydration.

Sabbath led the way, racing nimbly over rocky outcrops with her nose pressed to the ground, almost like she understood who was missing.Her dark coat blended with the shadows, vanishing as she wove between crops of beargrass and Oregon grape.The air was sweet with blooming fireweed.Derek overlooked the pops of vibrant color and focused instead on smaller details: broken twigs, displaced rocks, any signs of passage.

His brothers never left his side, navigating the terrain with silent synchronicity.They never tired. They never complained.James stayed close to Derek, keeping one eye on him and the other on their surroundings.West searched methodically, relaying their coordinates via radio whenever they cleared another grid off the map.For the first time, Derek realized their presence didn’t have to be a burden.It could also be support, a flotation device, if only he let them know when he was drowning.

Sabbath suddenly froze, ears perked up and one paw lifted.She chuffed, barking sharply, and took off through a copse of snowbrush.

“It’s probably just a rabbit trail,” West cautioned, but he followed gamely.

The tree line broke abruptly, opening into a small clearing dominated by a fat stream, swollen from early summer storms.It overflowed its banks, turning a huge swath of grassland into a treacherous bog.On the other side of the clearing was a disused logging road and a path of fresh-looking tire tracks…and at the end of those tracks sat a familiar, mud-spattered Jeep.

Hope and fear squeezed Derek’s heart like a vise.His boots slipped as he raced across the soggy clearing.

“Briar!” he yelled, and beside him, James let out a shrill whistle.“Briar!”

“Derek?” The tone was filled with disbelief.

Briar crawled out from behind the Jeep, wearing a thermal blanket like a cape.His clothes were caked with mud, and his hair stuck out at crazy angles.A thin growth of pale hair covered his jaw.He looked like a wild man.

Derek had never seen someone so beautiful.

He was at Briar’s side in an instant, dropping to his knees in the mud.He clasped Briar’s face between his hands, stroking his drawn cheeks and tracing the hollows beneath his eyes.He was rumpled and wrecked, but he was safe.

It was the first prayer to ever come true for Derek.

“Baby.” Derek’s voice cracked, and Briar’s eyes widened in shock.He jerked out of Derek’s grip, glancing wildly at James and West who were watching from a distance.

Derek didn’t let him get far.He grabbed Briar by his thin shoulders and held him close, burying his face in his crazy thatch of hair to hide his stinging eyes.He couldn't catch his breath; it kept hitching in his throat.

“Derek?” Briar’s hands fluttered uncertainly at his shoulders.“I’m sorry, I—”

“I thought I’d lost you,” Derek interrupted, his voice muffled against Briar’s ear.

Briar looked up at him, eyes weary but bright with love.Derek had never seen anything so precious.For a moment, they simply looked at each other, and the hell of the previous night fell away.

A discreet cough from West broke the spell.He was holding Sabbath by the collar while she whined and twisted to get free.

“Good to see you, man.” James was grinning ear to ear.“Let’s not do that again, huh?”

Briar chuckled, leaning heavily against Derek for support.“I’m never leaving home without a paper map again, that’s for sure.”

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