Page 18 of Without a Trace
“Do I look like I want to sleep in the woods with you four?” I asked.
“I mean,” Kane said, smirking. “There’s a tent big enough for all of us.”
“No.”
“Just putting it out there.”
I groaned and sat down on a rock, hugging Hemingway to my chest. His snoring made me feel slightly less murderous.
“You know,” Rhett said, dropping beside me. “As survival scenarios go, this one’s not so bad.”
“Except we’re gonna die.”
“I give us three hours before someone cries,” Kane joked.
“I give us three minutes before I stab someone with a pinecone.” I glared.
“I think I saw water ahead,” Trace added. “A ridge. It might be a spring.” I squinted past him, shielding my eyes with one hand. The trees opened just enough ahead to let the light spill through—hot, sharp, and golden.
“Oh look,” I said. “A man with a plan. How refreshing.”
He started walking, ignoring me.
I rolled my eyes, set Hemingway down, and stood. “Let’s go, pug.”
Hemingway wheezed but followed Trace with me.
The others trailed behind us, cracking jokes, throwing sticks, probably wondering how the hell we got here.
And under all of it—beneath the laughter, the heat, the jabs—I felt it.
The pull.
The tension that hadn’t broken.
Scarlett
Ashimmer.
A break in the trees. A flash of silver blue. The sound—soft, falling water filled the air. Not a full waterfall, but a wide, stone-lipped spring spilling into a clear pool. Hidden away, like it didn't want to be seen.
“Holy shit,” Kane breathed. Stepping forward, stunned it was real.
“I second that,” Rhett added, yanking off his shirt.
“Oh my god,” I groaned blinking at them, heat already rising to my face. “Please keep your pants on.”
“No promises,” he called, launching himself into the water with a cannonball that sent Hemingway scrambling behind a log.
The splash soaked my legs. “Rhett!”
He came up laughing. “Refreshing!”
I tossed a twig in his direction. “Feral.”
Kane was next, stripping down to his gym shorts, tattoos wrapping up one arm across his chest. He tossed a beer to Rhett—pulled from a soaked side pocket in his backpack like this was his plan all along.
“You brought beer?”
