Page 130 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

He sucked in a deep breath as he nodded. “Clear – and I don’t blame you, either.”

“Thank you. Do you know Lucky?”

He frowned, not understanding the question.

“Lucky – Evan Penny – he was on the teams when Cash and Mav were. He’s coming. His lady, Dee, let us use her plane; that’s how we got here so quickly.” She scowled. “I should have taken things more slowly. All I could think of was getting here and finding Shay. If I’d taken the time, I would have asked Lucky to come with us.”

Ty waited; he knew she must have a point, but he wasn’t getting it. This Lucky guy might be a former SEAL, but there were already more than half a dozen of them searching the mountainside for Shay. He didn’t get why Alma thought he might be the one to make a difference – until she explained.

“He was a K-9 handler. He’s bringing Echo with him.”

Ty closed his eyes as a wave of relief rushed through him. He’d envied the guys on the SEAL teams who worked with the dogs. Whether they were referred to as MPCs, Multi-Purpose Canines, or CADs, Combat Assault Dogs, Ty considered them to be among the most capable, and loyal of all SEALs.

“How long will it take?”

Alma didn’t manage to hide her frustration. “It’ll be another few hours – we had to send the plane back for him.” She held his gaze. “When they arrive, you’ll go with them.”

He didn’t need her to tell him that – there’d be no stopping him. Then it hit him. “Where are you going?”

She pursed her lips. “I’m going to find Carey Duncan.”

Did she think that he would’ve left Shayna? Did she think that Shay …?

She shook her head. “She’s alive, Ty. I know she is, but he’s a coward, and he’s going to try to save himself. He stands more of a chance of getting away on his own.”

Ty looked up into the trees. “He might already be gone.”

She nodded. “He might, but no matter where he is, I won’t stop until I find him.”

From the way she said it, Ty knew that if she didn’t find him on the mountain, she’d dedicate her life to hunting him down.

~ ~ ~

When Shayna opened her eyes again, the sky was starting to get light. She winced when she moved her head and a lightning bolt of pain shot down her neck. Her arm throbbed, her knee and ankle were swollen, she licked her lips – she was thirsty. But she was still alive. She’d made it through the night. She looked around. The trees all looked the same in every direction. She didn’t know how far she’d come last night, but it felt like she was still a long way up the mountainside.

Tears rolled silently down her face as she steeled herself. She needed to keep moving. She knew that there were thousands and thousands of acres of forest up here. If she wanted anyone to find her, she needed to do her part by trying to get to a place they might be looking.

She froze at the sound of movement behind her. She turned around slowly, not knowing what to expect. Would it be Carey, come back to finish her off? A wolf or a bear looking for breakfast? She let out a hysterical sounding laugh when she saw a deer. It startled and bounded off into the trees. Its flightdisturbed birds, and all the sounds of the forest changed as they flew up above the treetops.

It hit Shayna that if Carey was still somewhere close, surely he would disturb them, too? Then again, they hadn’t flown away because of her presence. She was tempted to sit and shout for help, but the fear that he might still be around made her opt to keep on making her slow progress downhill. The trouble was, she’d have to pee before she set off again, and that wasn’t going to be easy to do since she only had the use of one arm and couldn’t get to her feet.

By the time she’d managed to take care of business and had pulled her jeans back up again, her hand was shaking as she tried to fasten the zipper – she was exhausted from the effort. She dragged herself back to the tree where she’d spent the night and leaned against it. She’d just take a little breather before she started rolling.

When she leaned back against the bark, her head started to spin. A wave of nausea hit her – maybe she had a concussion? He’d hit her hard enough to knock her out, and then hit her again later. Perhaps she’d be better waiting a while. She closed her eyes again; she’d take a few minutes.

~ ~ ~

It was eleven o’clock in the morning by the time Lucky and Echo made it to the command post. Ty and Kolby were there waiting, as were most of the others.

Travis put his hand on Ty’s shoulder. “It won’t be long now. Echo’s a legend. She’ll find her.”

Ty just nodded as everyone gathered around.

“This is Lucky and Echo,” Cash said without preamble. “She knows Shayna, she’s already got her scent from her backpack.”

Echo let out a low woof that sounded like she meant business. She put her nose to the ground and trotted a little way up the trail that led off to the right. Then she came back and took Lucky’s finger between her teeth and started pulling him in that direction.

“Who’s with me?” Lucky asked as he followed her.

---