Page 23 of Silver Secrets

“Sloane never came back.”

“She didn’t?” Mae’s eyes wandered along the path. She’d found her way back to the tent with slices of pie for the guys who hadn’t made it up to Dolly’s yet. Gage had set his slice aside, waiting for Sloane to show up. He was hoping to ask her to sit with him while they shared it. Extremely cheesy? Sure. But he was still hoping it would work. “We left her a long time ago. I just assumed she finished and went home without saying goodbye. You know how she can be.”

“Check the lists again. I’ve been waiting for her this whole time. She didn’t come out of those woods.” He pulled his cell phone out and tried to dial her number. Shit! It went straight to voicemail.

“Where did you guys leave her?” Gage looked at his watch.

“About halfway through the woods.” Mae nibbled on her thumbnail. “Do you think something bad happened to her? We should go back on the trail.”

“Slow down, Mae. Can you remember if Sloane was wearing her necklace this morning?”

“The one she’s always got on?”

Gage nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure she was. I’ve never been with her when she isn’t wearing it.”

“Okay. Good.” Gage opened the app on his phone and went through the steps of bringing up the tracking for the device he’d installed in her necklace. He hoped they’d be able to see that she was home and then he could breathe easier.

Until the program loaded and he realized her necklace wasn’t at her house. Which meant Sloane wasn’t at home either. It was pinging nearly a quarter of a mile off the trail she should have been walking back on. The fucking device only updated her location every couple of minutes, which meant they needed to move it if they didn’t want to lose her deeper into the woods.

“Is she home, Gage?” Stone asked.

“No. Grab your medical bag. She’s still in the woods, and I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”

* * *

“I feel better, Dr. Donovan. I’m sorry to contact you outside office hours.”

“I’m here for you, Geo. I want you to have the resources necessary to face your PTSD head on. But?—”

“I know. If things get bad, I can’t wait for you to pick up the phone. I’ve got to get myself help.”

“Good. I’ll see you this week at our normal time, unless you need me before then. I can move some appointments around to fit you in.”

“No need. I’m good now. Clear headed. Sorry to bother you on the weekend.”

“It’s no bother. I’m glad you called.”

“See you Tuesday.”

Her phone beeped just as she tried to say goodbye. Shit. Pulling her cell away from her ear, she saw the shutdown logo. Her battery had lasted just long enough for the call. That was good for Geo, but maybe not so good for her.

Sloane slid her phone into her pocket and groaned. She hadn’t realized how far off the path she’d wandered, but looking around, she had no idea where she even was. All the trees looked the same. Barren, but coming back to life after an unusually cold winter. They’d had some warm weather recently, but it still looked like they’d be getting a later than normal spring.

How had she walked so far? She couldn’t even hear people in the distance. She’d wandered, completely unaware of her surroundings. That’s how people got hurt.

Another unseasonably cold gust of wind raised the hair on the back of Sloane’s neck. She picked up her pace, desperate to get back to town.

“Shit!” Sloane’s foot caught on some sort of root and the world pitched, her arms flinging out in front of her in a whirl to try and catch herself before she slammed face-first into the ground. It worked. Well, at least she protected her face. The crunch in her left wrist as it landed on a rock made her scream out in pain.

Her leg burned. The shorts she was wearing provided no coverage further down her legs, and as soon as she collided with the debris scattered on the ground, she knew it would tear up her skin. But the searing pain down her leg wasn’t the worst of it.

Sloane grabbed her wrist, holding it gingerly against her chest as the pain throbbed up her arm and into her chest. She couldn’t bring herself to look at it. The pain, surrounded by the forest, was already triggering her. It was important to keep her mind in the present if she wanted to get back to Silver Springs while the sun was still high in the sky. It pained her to think of how her body would react if she was out in the woods at night.

How could she have been so distracted? So reckless?

She’d screamed loudly, but no one had come. No one had heard her. God, it might be worse than she thought. She had to have been walking, even though it was a slow pace, the entire time she was on the phone call.

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