I’d eaten my fair share of MREs, but my nose still wrinkled at the thought of trying to choke down a rubbery, reheated over-easy egg. “I’ll do my best to make sure there isn’t a speck of food left.”
Ten minutes later, I had made good on my promise as I pushed my empty plate away and patted my stomach. “If you keep cooking for me like this, I’m going to gain ten pounds before I head back home.”
“Good, you lost too much weight after you got shot.” She reached across the table to pat my hand. “I think I’ll make cookies-and-cream pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.”
I hated how much my injury had scared her and vowed to tolerate her hovering without complaining too much. She’d certainly earned it with what I’d put her through. “Nobody cooks like you do.”
She wagged her brows with a mischievous grin. “Find me a daughter-in-law, and I’ll teach her all your favorites.”
My mom had been on my ass to settle down for a decade. Each time one of my team members got married, she amped up her efforts. She’d even tried setting me up with one of the nurses while I’d been flat on my back in the hospital. Luckily, the woman had nipped my mom’s matchmaking in the bud when she’d told her she was already in a serious relationship, so my mom couldn’t guilt-trip me into a date when I was vulnerable. I wouldn’t have put it past my mom to take advantage of my drugged-up state in her quest for grandkids.
“Sure, Mom.” I heaved a deep sigh as I got up to clear the table. “How about I bring home the next woman I meet so you can get to work on that?”
My mom ignored my sarcasm and happily agreed, “Please do.”
Reminding myself of the promise I’d made myself only minutes earlier, I held back my retort and focused on helping her clean up the kitchen. While I dried the last pan, she mumbled something about turning on one of her shows and headed into the living room. When I followed about a minute later, the television wasn’t on and she was staring out the front window with her hand pressed against her chest. “Oh, dear.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, moving across the room so I could look outside to see what had spooked her.
“The sheriff’s here.” I spotted his car in the driveway as she answered.
“Stay here,” I instructed, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze. “I’ll go see what he wants.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. Invite the sheriff in while I get him some hot coffee.”
I went over and opened the front door while she headed back into the kitchen. “Morning, Sheriff. Everything okay?”
Robert Halston had been voted in as the town’s sheriff while I’d been in the Army. But he’d grown up here, same as me, so we knew each other. “I wish I could say I stopped by to say hello, but I need your help with the search and rescue, Whit.”
“I’m home for vacation.” I patted my side as I made room for him to step into the house. “Still not back to one-hundred-percent after my injury.”
“I heard about the shooting.” His eyes were assessing as he scanned me from head to toe. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was necessary. You know this mountain better than most of the men in my department, and the kind of experience you have could be the difference between finding the woman alive and dead.”
“Oh, no,” my mom cried from behind me. “Someone’s missing on the mountain?”
The sheriff accepted the travel mug she handed him. “Sorry to interrupt your visit with Whit, Mrs. Baker.”
She waved off his concern. “No apologies needed.”
“How long has she been missing?” I asked.
The sheriff scrubbed his hands down his face. “Could be anywhere from one to twenty-four hours.”
When a person went missing outdoors, finding them became a fuck ton more difficult after the first twenty-four hours. “Why such a wide timeframe?”
“The woman is some fancy wildlife photographer. She set up camp five days ago. Missed her daily check-in with her dad this morning.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and tapped at the screen as he added, “Since she stayed in town the night before she went up the mountain, he called my office to file a missing person’s report.”
“You call the troopers?” The state police were normally in charge of search and rescue missions since they had the manpower and equipment needed to cover a large amount of terrain.
The sheriff nodded. “Yup, they’re sending down a couple of helicopters and about twenty people, but that’s all they can spare at the moment since they’ve got a missing hiker situation they’re already dealing with.”
“Damn.” The few searches I’d helped with in the past had more than double the manpower. “Do we at least have a good starting point for where she might’ve gone missing?”
“Yes, her dad had the coordinates for where she planned to set up camp. She confirmed that’s where she was and didn’t mention moving locations in her texts or when he talked to her again yesterday morning.” He tapped his cell phone screen a couple of times. “Just sent you an email with the information he shared, as well as a recent picture.”
My cell phone dinged with a notification, and I felt as though I’d been punched in the solar plexus when I opened his message. The missing woman, Victoria Ashe, was drop-dead gorgeous with honey-blond hair, brown eyes, a heart-shaped face, and full lips. I didn’t know her, but the thought of her lost on the mountain shook me to my core. Turning to my mom, I said, “I want to help look for her.”
“Of course, you’re going to join the search.” She gave me a hug. “Just be careful out there.”
