Page 63 of Twin Threats In Austin
She was safe. Right?
Dammit. Camden doubled back. He’d been running for a long time and could no longer see any signs of the fire through the canopy. By this point, he hoped the blaze had been put out and emergency crews had arrived.
A quick check on his cell revealed no coverage out here. He’d expected no less but it was always good to be certain. His GPS wouldn’t work either. He couldn’t be one-hundred-percent certain this was the same trail he’d taken a few moments ago. Was he going in the right direction? Was he lost?
A twig snapped. Camden whirled around. A thought struck.
Was he lost or being hunted?
Chapter Twenty-Two
An hour passed without any sign of Camden. The fire had long since been put out. Yellow crime-scene tape cordoned off the trailer. Benny had found and returned Rochelle’s shoe. Her foot was tender to walk on, but JT had done an amazing job with the bandages. Now that she had a boot on her left ankle, she could put weight on that foot again.
“He had to be in the woods somewhere,” she said to Benny. “I’m going in.”
Benny’s face morphed into concern. “Absolutely not. I won’t allow it.”
“Seriously?” she asked. “You know how well I operate when I’m told I can’t do something.” She hadn’t moved up the ranks and made detective before age thirty because it had been easy. In fact, everyone told her to slow down. She had time. Rochelle realized early on after losing her best friend that time was guaranteed to no one. She was also beginning to realize just how much that loss had impacted her from an early age. Kept her from opening up to anyone. Kept her from letting herself fall in love.
Now?
Her strong feelings for Camden both scared and reassured her. At the very least, she was learning that she was, in fact, capable of falling in love.
“I do know how you are,” Benny said. And then he looked at her with the most lost look she’d ever seen. “Why couldn’t it have been me?”
“What?” She was genuinely confused by the statement from her best work bud.
“The way you look at him,” Benny said before stopping himself. “Never mind. We’re friends, right? It’s best that way.”
She caught his gaze and studied him for a long moment. “I used to have feelings for you.” Not like the way she felt with Camden but it was the closest she’d ever come.
“When?” He seemed genuinely shocked by the admission.
“We were in the academy,” she said.
“I was living with Lori back then,” he said. Realization dawned. His eyes widened.
“Being best buds kept us close,” she admitted. “Eventually, those feelings went away and turned into a brother-sister kind of love. But I do love you.”
He wrapped an arm around her and offered a wistful smile. “The ship sailed, and I didn’t even know it was in the harbor.”
“Something like that,” she said, giving him a jovial elbow jab. “This way, we stay in each other’s lives forever. It seemed like a good compromise.”
“I can’t imagine a life without you in it,” he said. “Let’s go find him.”
“You’d come with me?” she asked.
“It’s what best buds do for each other, right?”
Rochelle smiled back. “I think so.”
“Then let’s go.” With that, Benny started toward the tree line.
“While we have cell coverage, we should let our supervisor know what we’re going to do,” she said, pulling hers out and then firing off a text.
“I can do better than that,” Benny said. He rallied three other officers who were either fresh on the scene or not badly injured. After a quick update, they all spread out with one task: find their own.
“Thank you,” Rochelle said to Benny as they entered the woods. “Kage was here. He took me to safety. It’s possible he found Camden too.”
