Ignoring me, he drones out, “It seems I owe you lot an apology,” like he’s being forced to read from a speech he didn’t write and doesn’t believe a word of. His expression and tone attempt to appear humble but it doesn’t reach even the barest level of sincerity. “I should have never doubted you.”
Ignoring him, since we all know we’re guilty and deserve to rot in this cageandI couldn’t give a shit about what the sheriff thinks of me in that moment, I say again, “Where. Is. She?”
“Gone.”
My hands slip from the bars, and I stumble back an astonished step. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“She left about an hour ago,” he says shortly before unlocking the cage we spent the weekend inside and stepping back. “You’re also free to go.”
Seemingly satisfied with the blow he’s dealt, the sheriff walks away, leaving the cell door wide open. Freedom is right there, but the three of us are too stunned to move.
“He’s got to be fucking with us,” Khalil reasons when I feel my entire body start to tremble. “She wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, go fuck yourself…something. That’s not her style, man. You know that.” I don’t hear him stand or move in front of me, but then he’s there, gripping my biceps. “Pull yourself together and let’s go find our girl.”
“Fuck,” I exhale roughly when it feels like I can breathe again. I want to believe Khalil’s right, but my head is swimming, and the ground feels unsteady. “Let’s just go,” I say with very little feeling in those three words.
Khalil’s pace is fast as he leads us out of the holding cell, but Zeke is noticeably silent, and when I flick my gaze in his direction, even he seems confused and unsure as he follows us out. I don’t know what to make of it, and at the moment, I couldn’t care less.
The three of us leave the station and split up to search the town high and low for Aurelia. The sun is nearing the horizon when we finally admit defeat and leave Hearth. It takes us another couple hours to hike to the base of the trail where our truck is parked.
We usually avoid driving our truck up the mountain unless we’re hauling heavy loads, and even then we only dare traverse the trail during the spring and summer months since it’s treacherous even during favorable conditions. The hidden trail is completely impassable during the winter, which is the reason we leave the truck parked by the main road leading into town.
Today, we don’t have a choice but to risk it even though we haven’t had a chance to verify that our secret path is free of the snow and ice that could send even the most confident driver careening over the side without warning.
“It’s too bad we already swapped out the Ski-Doos for the ATVs,” Khalil sighs before climbing inside the cab of the truck on the driver’s side. He’s our best chance of making it up Big Bear in one piece since he’s the best driver out of the three of us.
Each year, before the last of the snow has a chance to melt, we bring down the Ski-Doos since driving them on bare ground could damage the engine, and we store them in the padlocked shed until the next snowfall. The ATVs would have been the best choice for navigating the tricky, thin trail leading up to the lonely cliff, but we drove them up a couple of weeks ago.
For a moment, I consider if plummeting to my death would be a better alternative than going back to that cabin without Aurelia before a horn blaring snaps me out of it and I see Khalil and Zeke staring at me through the windshield of the truck.
“Yo, Thor, you coming?” Zeke yells.
Shit.I climb into the back, and Khalil wastes no time speeding away. We travel for a few miles up the main trail until Khalil suddenly veers off and into the brush that conceals the hidden path. He doesn’t slow down either, even when we leave behind the flat forested path, climbing higher and higher until the trail becomes bumpier, the curves sharper and more frequent, and the knot in my stomach tighter when we creep a little too close to the rocky edge.
“Khal, what the fuck, man?” Zeke scolds through gritted teeth. He’s twisted in his seat to face Khalil, his back is to the door as he clutches the bar above his head with one hand while staring at Khalil like he’s lost his mind.
Khalil executes a sharp U-turn on the switchback path without losing speed, and now the truck’s engine is screaming,threatening to blow if we don’t slow down as we climb higher and higher.
Khalil blocks out Zeke’s and the truck’s protests, his laser-sharp focus on the road ahead, and it takes me a second longer to realize the reason for his hurry.
“You think she’s waiting for us at the cabin?”
Khalil risks turning his head to meet my gaze briefly before gripping the steering wheel tighter and accelerating. “Only one way to find out.”
“Yeah, assuming we get there alive.” Zeke scoffs.
“We really need to revisit our decision against giving her a radio,” I say as I lean through the gap in the front seats to stare through the windshield. This mystery would have been so much simpler to solve if she had a radio.
Up ahead the path widens slightly. The rock wall of the mountain on our right becomes shorter until it gives way to trees once again.
We’re nearly there.
Come on, come on, come on.
We drive for another mile before spotting our cabin up ahead at the edge of the cliff.
“The fuck?” Zeke mutters when we reach the clearing. Khalil stomps on the brakes, halting the truck abruptly when we notice the smoke coming out of the chimney.
Despite it being early May, it’s a little chilly today, especially this high up, so a fire makes sense. And there’s only one person who could have lit it.
