Page 47 of Raven

I stormed into the back room, where Dan and Troy had just gotten back from looking for their sister. They looked like neither had slept.

I glanced at her brothers. “She knows,” I said.

They stood there, silent.

“She knows,” I repeated, turning to them. “And we’re running out of time.”

“We’re putting together a search team,” I said. “Now.”

Troy grabbed his keys. “We have been searching. Where do you want to start?”

“Croft Ridge. Katherine let that name slip out. I think she took her there. I hope she left her stranded there and did nothing else. If she dumped Beatrice anywhere, it’s in that area.”

Dan nodded. “I’ll get the maps and see what’s up there. We’ll need volunteers—strong ones. People who won’t ask questions.”

“I’ll handle that,” I said. “I want quiet. No cops. No media. If Katherine gets wind we’re onto her, she’ll bolt. And weneedher to believe she still has time.”

* * *

An hour later,the back lot was filled with vehicles and familiar faces—firefighters, off-duty military friends, even two retired search-and-rescue guys who owed me favors.

Everyone fell quiet when I joined them.

“This isn’t official,” I said. “There’s no missing person bulletin. No formal orders. But Beatrice is gone. And we believe she was taken somewhere near Croft Ridge by someone she trusted not to harm her.”

No one asked who. They didn’t need to. They all knew who it was. They all believed Katherine did something to Beatrice.

“She’s injured. She’s alone. But if anyone can survive this long, it’s her. We move fast, we move quietly, and we bring herhome.”

They nodded.

I distributed maps, assigned zones, set radio frequencies, and ensured that everyone had a med kit and a rope.

“This mountain is dense. I need eyes in the trees, on the slopes, and in every crevice. If you see something—footprints, blood, clothing—you call it in. Don’t assume it’s nothing.”

Dan, Troy, and I would sweep the area around the abandoned building that Katherine mentioned.

I turned back to the group. “Let’s go.”

25

Beatrice

I’d fadedin and out of consciousness all night, waking only to darkness and pain. My mouth was dry. My arm throbbed. I couldn’t move it. I wasn’t sure if it was broken or dislocated, but it hurt like hell. Plus, it was my good shoulder.

The branch that had saved me creaked with every breath of wind. I couldn’t see the ground below me. Couldn’t even tell how far up I was. I just knew if I fell, I wasn’t getting up again.

My phone was gone.

My voice was hoarse from screaming, but I tried again anyway.

“Help!” I rasped.

Nothing but wind and trees.

Please, Raven… hurry. I knew he was coming home today. I talked to him last night.

I’d lost all sense of time.

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