He turned to Jake who was holding a pistol by the barrel. Shit. His gun and wallet had been taken by the officer with York and were still at the station.
Derek took the weapon from Jake’s hand. “Thanks.”
After checking the mag and ensuring one was in the chamber, he got out and immediately began yelling.
“Charlie!”
Beside him, Jake and Trevor waited a beat but they were met with nothing but silence.
“I don’t see her,” Derek stated the obvious.
Spinning around to take in a three-sixty view of the area, he tried to control the panic in his voice. He failed miserably.
“The tracker shows her here, but I don’t fuckin’ see her!”
Coop and Mac drove up, followed closely by Eric and York. Derek ran back to the truck and swung the laptop around.
“It says we’re right on top of the damned thing.”
Without waiting, he turned and ran toward the trees, hollering her name as he went. The others followed his lead.
“Look,” Jake said pointing to a broken limb just ahead.
Derek went to it, his heart rate spiking. Using his free hand, he ran his thumb along its rough edge.
“This is recent.” He took off again, continuing to shout out her name. “Charlie! Charlie, I’m here.”
While he and Jake followed the trail of broken limbs, the others spread out to cover more ground. Moving parallel with him, Trevor, Mac, and Coop were now on his left with Jake, and Eric was to his right with York.
As Derek continued to yell out for Charlie, conflicting emotions began to sink in. He prayed she was here, somewhere.
At the same time, another part of him was terrified of what they’d find if she were.
Derek and Jake stopped running. Taking a few seconds to study their surroundings more closely, they heard a twig snap in the distance.
Looking to his right, Derek found his brother standing a few yards away. He’d also stopped, but when Eric’s eyes met his, he shook his head.
The sound hadn’t come from them, which meant someone else was there.
He put his fist up to stop the others’ movements. After several seconds of silence, he was just about to blow it off as an animal and move on when he heard another twig snap and a soft, “Shh.”
Pointing to the direction the sound came from, Derek motioned for Jake to follow him. Weapons drawn, the two men began walking as quietly as possible while the others remained still.
Blood rushed past his ears, his silent breaths heaving in and out through his nose. Derek caught a slight movement from the corner of his eye and pointed his gun toward it.
The toe of a booted foot was barely visible from behind two trees that had grown closely together. Derek used his free hand to point toward it, making sure Jake saw it, too.
Jake nodded and the two men moved forward. The foot slid back behind the tree, and Derek’s heart slammed against his chest as he got closer.
Coming up from behind, he steeled himself, ready for whatever the person would come at him with.
Drawing in a deep breath, he stepped around the tree and yelled, “Don’t move!”
Shock left him momentarily stunned as he locked eyes with one of two young boys, the terrified look on their faces unmistakable.
One appeared to be about fourteen and the other a couple of years younger. And they both looked like they were about to piss their pants.
Seeing no threat, Derek lowered his gun. Before he could say anything, York came up from behind him and blew out a breath.
