Page 46 of One Last Chance

Axel glanced at Moose. “You told him.”

“All of Copper Mountain knows, bro. Peyton called in the rescue to Echo who called it in to Air One, but we couldn’t get ahold of Echo when we brought you in, so we called Hank, and I’m sure word got around.” He reached the front passenger door, his father climbing in on the other side. “You scared a lot of people.”

He didn’t know what to do with that and simply climbed into the back seat.

Despite his bracing shower, fatigue had caught up with him on the flight north and now sat in his bones as they drove into town. “Can we stop by the ranger office?”

“After you see your mother. She’s minding the store.”

Right.

They pulled up to the family store, Ace’s Hardware, and he got out. His mother wore the last twenty-four hours in her expression as she came out from behind the counter and simply pulled him into a hug.

He put his arms around her. She was a sturdy woman, physically and emotionally, she wasn’t usually given to holding on quite so long.

Then again, he’d seen what losing a child had done to her sister, so?—

“I’m okay, Ma.”

“Yep.” She patted his back, his shoulders, and leaned away. “Yep. Yep.” Her eyes glistened, however, and she ran a quick hand across her cheeks. “I’ll make you some pasties for dinner.”

“I’ll never leave.”

“I won’t argue.”

He kissed her cheek. “I gotta find someone. I’ll be back to pick you up.”

Moose stood at the door and lifted his hand to their mom, followed Axel out to the ranger’s office.

For a moment, Axel thought the offices might be closed and checked his watch. Only four in the afternoon, but the place seemed quiet.

He went inside and spotted Parker reading a magazine behind the reception desk. She dropped it and stood up, smiling at Axel. “Hey. You okay?” Her eyes glowed and she seemed just a little too smiley. Weird.

“Yeah. Hey. So, is Peyton around?”

Parker wore a black T-shirt with the wordsBe a Wolf in a World Full of Sheep.Another wolf fanatic. Peyton had her own little club.

“She’s out in the bush checking on a pack.”

“Do you know where?”

She made a face. “Not exactly.”

“Is your dad here?”

“No. He’s dealing with a hiker gone missing up in the park.”

“Shoot. I was really hoping to track down Peyton.”

“I do know that he called in an update on a cache cabin on the river this morning. I heard him in his home office . . .” She came around the desk, through the swinging gate, and out to the massive topographical and elevation map tacked to the wall. Along with all the hiking trails in the area, the service had designated all the fire towers and cache cabins in their district. Most of the cache cabins were marked by a number.

Parker ran her finger down the highway, then over, along the river, up a tributary, and then stopped at a cabin located on the Jubilee Creek. “Number forty-seven. I think that’s right.” She looked at Axel. “But I’m not sure.”

“Axel, you can’t go all the way—" Moose started.

Axel shot him a look, then pulled out his phone and took a shot. But really, he knew the area.

Probably too well.

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