Page 123 of Love in the Wild

Gage looked around. He hadn’t seen her since before he scaled the last tree. “I thought she was with you.”

“She was, but she stopped for a break about ten minutes ago.”

Gage was still trying to calm his breathing. Holding himself and a chainsaw up for hours had him wishing for a break too. “And you haven’t seen her since?”

Travis stood from where he’d been chopping logs. “I haven’t seen her either, but maybe she needed a bathroom break.”

Gage pulled his phone from his pocket and called her. As soon as he pressed the phone to his ear, the chime of her ringtone called to him from a few feet away.

Mr. Benson picked the phone up from the leaves and looked around. “She dropped her phone.”

Gage’s chest heaved, despite his attempts to breathe through the growing unease. It didn’t mean she was in trouble. He’d just have to figure out another way to find her.

He looked up at the sky through the thick trees. The midday sun lit up almost everything from its position above them.

“Hadley!” Travis shouted.

Mr. Benson waved Gage and Travis over. “Come look at this.”

Gage was beside Mr. Benson in an instant, looking at the ground where he pointed.

“Everything is a little stirred up over here.”

There were gouges in the dirt, and places where the grass was smashed down. In the shade near the tree line, a patch of leftover ice had clear grooves in it.

“How did we all miss it?” Travis asked, monotone and hollow behind Gage.

The blood in his ears roared, drowning out everything except the places where the ground was disturbed. His body got the message loud and clear–it was time to panic. A wave of freezing cold slid down the sweat on his back.

Gage took Hadley’s phone from Mr. Benson. “What’s that way?”

“A creek and some bluffs. Not much.”

He turned to Travis and pinned his friend with a serious stare. “Call Dawson. Tell him what we’re dealing with and to send everyone he can.”

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t we look around a little?”

Gage was already on the trail, following the tracks in the ground into the woods. “Right now, Trav.”

Gage called over his shoulder to Mr. Benson who trailed behind him, “What’s the closest road to this area? Tell Dawson where to look. Call everyone we know.”

“Got it.”

Gage wanted to rush the search. Running would get him to her faster, but scanning for clues took precious time–time Hadley probably didn’t have.

Hadley. Just thinking about her had his throat in knots. Who got to her? Tommy was the only one out on bail. He wasn’t the instigator like Bruce, but there was a chance he wanted to get back at Gage.

This was all his fault. Hadley was in danger because of him. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her.

He couldn’t hear anything, and pulsing red tinged the edges of his vision. Everything blended together in leaves, dirt, and rocks. He looked ahead at more of the same. Nothing but trees in every direction he turned.

Soon Mr. Benson’s voice was behind him. He was doing exactly what Gage had asked him to–calling everyone they knew to come help with the search. Travis was on his cell somewhere to their right, also searching as he moved through the trees.

Gage’s phone rang, and he pulled it out without breaking his concentration. “Hello.”

“We’re on our way. Don’t do anything stupid,” Asa said.

“They have Hadley. I can’t make any promises.”

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