Page 39 of Searching Blind

Which he wouldn’t have noticed when he fed her. And now that he thought about it, she had seemed reluctant to eat, but he’d chalked it up to the stress of their situation.

“Who would do that?” Bea asked.

“I imagine it was the same person who stuck a knife to Sawyer’s neck,” Lucy said from the doorway.

“You’re back! Is help coming?” Joel’s voice was full of hope.

Sawyer lifted his head from Zelda as he felt all the attention in the room turned toward her. He imagined her standing there in the doorway, tall and strong, her brown hair pulled back in that practical ponytail of hers.

“Not yet,” she said, her voice steady, but Sawyer could hear an undercurrent of frustration. “But I saw a cell phone tower not too far from here. It’s intact, but we’re too far away to pick up a signal from it. At first light tomorrow, Sawyer and I are going to hike closer and try to get a call out.”

“You’re taking him?” Chuck’s disgust was evident in the way he stressed the word him. “Why not take someone who can actually help you? Like Grant or Ethan.”

Sawyer clenched his teeth. He really disliked the guy.

“Shut up, Chuck.” There was no heat in Lucy’s statement. “I’m taking him because he has connections that could expedite a rescue. I’m also taking him because someone here just tried to kill him and his dog.”

A chorus of protests rose up from the group, which Lucy cut off with a sharp “Enough!” She stalked into the room, her boots thudding on the wooden floor. “The fact is, we have a potential killer in our group, and frankly, Sawyer is the only one of you I fully trust right now. So, yes, he’s coming with me.”

The silence that followed was electric. Sawyer sat, Zelda curled beside him, absorbing the charge of suspicion and fear in the room. Resentment simmered, radiating from Chuck’s direction, but he said nothing.

“And,” Lucy added, “we’ll need to take your phones with us.”

That caused another explosion of protests.

“Everyone, quiet!” Bea thundered, and the room fell into silence again. She moved across the room toward Lucy, and Sawyer tensed, but the woman just handed over something that had to be her phone. “It’s common sense. The more phones they have, the more chance at picking up a signal.”

Slowly, one by one, the others began to follow suit. Sawyer heard the shuffling of bodies and the soft clinks of phones being deposited into what he presumed was a bag. He heard Lucy’s soft words of thanks and felt a swell of gratitude for her leadership.

She was strong—so much stronger than she gave herself credit for. She’d get them out of this.

“And what if you don't get a signal?” Chuck asked.

Lucy paused, and then said coolly, “Then we try again. Until we succeed.”

chapter

thirteen

Lucy wasn’t surprised to see Sawyer awake before dawn the following morning. She’d stayed by his side all night and he’d slept restlessly.

In truth, so had she.

He sat out on the balcony again, his face lifted toward the warmth of the rising sun, his eyes closed. Zelda lay beside him, her eyes now bright and alert.

Lucy wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and padded out onto the balcony, careful not to disturb the others.

“Can’t sleep either, huh?” Sawyer asked without opening his eyes.

“Too many thoughts,” she admitted, running her fingers through her ponytail. “How’s Zelda?”

“She’s better,” he answered, scratching behind the dog’s ears. “She doesn’t seem to have any lingering effects.”

“That’s good.” She moved to sit down beside him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How do you always know it’s me approaching before I speak?”

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