Page 5 of Mine to Protect

I bit back the smile that wanted to erupt at the kid’s typical teenage sulking. We had a lot of those here. They weren’t the first family to come to the Rockies to yank their kids away from their cell phones and iPads.

“Where are y’all from?”

“Denver. We came out last week. Been hiking every day since we arrived.”

“Ever hiked this trail?”

“No, we’ve been to a new trail every day.”

Hidden behind my back, I worked the cuticles of my thumbs as I processed his story, adding to the details John gave me in the briefing.

“Do you think she would’ve left on her own?”

A flash of annoyance and fury blazed across his features. Standing tall, he rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck, clearly uncomfortable with what my question was referencing. Out of caution and self-preservation, I backed up a step and rested a hand on my sidearm.

His eyes narrowed at my hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m not scared.” But I still wasn’t planning on removing my hand from the proximity of the gun.

“She wouldn’t have left us. And I’m a cop in Denver. She’s heard the stories I’ve brought home. She knows not to talk to strange men, knows how to defend herself. Christina wouldn’t have gone anywhere willingly.” Strong hands gripped my shoulders. Revulsion at his touch, the closeness sent my heart racing. I held in a deep breath, counting in my head to remain calm. “Find her. Please. I know the statistics. We have to find her soon. You have to find her. She’s our everything.” The crack in his voice sounded sincere. One thing was for sure—whatever happened to his wife, this man had nothing to do with it.

“Birdie,” John’s strong voice called at my back. Sliding his hands from me, the man shifted his focus over my shoulder. “I need you for a moment.”

Steeling my spine, I turned to face John. “I just finished getting his statement. We have what I need.” Turning back to the man, I stuck out my hand once again. “I’ll be back, Mr. Brown.”

Within two steps, John was at my side, keeping pace with my long strides. “He wasn’t hurting me,” I whispered.

John sighed and looked to the sky. “I know, but….”

I stopped midstride and turned with raised brows. “But what?”

He paused to look back at the man and his kids. “Birdie, we’ve been side by side for years. Don’t you think you flinching or nearly hyperventilating every time we happen to touch would be something a good officer like me would notice?”

“I thought I hid it well enough,” I grumbled.

“Not so much. Listen, I respect it. I hate it, but I respect it all the same because I know the reason why.”

“Hate it?” Playing the naïve card was bad form, but I didn’t want to dive into John’s feelings right now.

“Forget it. Come on, let's go talk to Search and Rescue to see where they’re going to start the search.”

Back in motion, we walked in silence for several feet before I spoke up.

“I have a weird feeling about this one, Johnny Boy. Something isn’t adding up. Women don’t disappear around here without due cause. My initial thought was she ditched the family, but after talking to the husband, seeing the kids, my gut is telling me she didn’t leave them. She wouldn’t. Something happened to her, I can feel it.”

“Feel it?” John said in disbelief.

“Yeah. Call it a sixth sense or whatever, but I know when something isn’t adding up or when something is out of place. This is it. But if she didn’t leave on her own….”

“Then someone took her unwillingly.”

His words fell around us like a heavy, somber cloud.

A burst of cold wind had me gripping the sides of the down coat and pulling them tighter together for more protection. Around us, the hustle of the Search and Rescue team gearing up overtook the calming nature sounds. The hairs on the back of my neck stood tall, and a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold racked my shoulders.

I closed my eyes and took a slow, deep breath in.

No one was watching me.

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