“My sister always tells her neighbor when she’s leaving and when she’ll be back.” The woman’s voice sounded steady and controlled, but every once in a while he could hear the cracks in her words. “Always. She never once failed to check in.”
Durbin said something low that Wyatt didn’t catch.
“Yes, she was alone.”
Durbin said something else.
“I don’t know if she’s ever hiked in winter. We hadn’t—” A brief pause. “We haven’t been in contact in recent months. But I’m still concerned about her. Certainly, you have protocols in place for this.”
Wyatt glanced back and saw Durbin grab a missing person intake form—the pale green one, three pages, carbon copy.
“We have procedures to follow,” Durbin said. “You’ll need to fill this out with whatever information you can provide.”
“Please.” The woman’s voice dropped into something close to desperation. “There’s a blizzard coming tonight. I don’t want to fill out a form. I want you to go out there and look for her.”
Thunder paused in the hallway and shook. His movement must have caught the woman’s attention because her gaze dropped to the dog. Something quick and involuntary moved across her face.
Was that fear? Not just mild fear either—it almost seemed primal.
He sometimes forgot that some people were terrified of dogs. He couldn’t imagine that. Thunder was smart, loyal, and the best listener Wyatt had ever had in his life—other than his mom. His life was better, richer with a dog. He couldn’t imagine anyone feeling differently.
“Do you know what trail she headed out on?” Durbin asked.
The woman pulled her gaze back and quickly composed herself. It happened so fast Wyatt might have missed it if he hadn’t been paying attention.
She cleared her throat. “I think it was Lost something. Lost Hill maybe?”
Wyatt went still. Despite his vow to stay in his lane, he couldn’t help but ask, “Do you mean Lost Hollow Trail?”
She glanced at him. “Yes. That sounds right.”
Why did that name keep coming up?
And it was never for any good reason.
“Did she take any gear with her?” Wyatt asked. “More than a day pack?”
She hesitated before shrugging. “My sister’s neighbor said she had a full pack. I mean, I would hope so. She knew she was leaving for four days.”
“So she was backpacking. Camping out there.”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
He turned that information over. A four-day backcountry trip in winter, solo, on a trail with a reputation for being challenging.
He knew people did solo hikes all the time. But that didn’t mean they were a good idea—especially not for a woman. He wasn’t sexist. That was just risk and reality.
The Blue Ridge Mountains looked peaceful, but they were dangerous, even for someone knew what they were doing.
“Lost Hollow is strenuous,” he said. “It’s a four mile out and back trail, with significant elevation gain in the second half. For a four-day trip she’d have gone well beyond the trail end and into unmarked trails in the open forest. People do that, but they usually need a backcountry permit.”
Durbin cleared his throat. “Now, Wyatt, she’s only a day overdue. People push their timelines all the time, especially on longer trips?—”
“The terrain can be disorienting.” He glanced at the window and saw that the sky had gone the color of pewter. “And we’ve got a foot of snow coming tonight.”
Worry filled the woman’s gaze. “Exactly. That’s why we need to move. We have to find her!”
“Not tonight.” Wyatt kept his voice even. “The storm hits in a few hours. Going in now means navigating that terrain in a whiteout, in the dark, with no visibility and no margin for error. We’d be adding to the problem.”
She opened her mouth. “But?—”
He raised his hand in a motion of peace. “ I know that’s not what you want to hear.”
She frowned like she wanted to argue. Instead, she said, “It’s not.”
“But that’s reality.” He turned to Durbin. “Listen, why don’t you let me take this one? I know I’m still learning the ropes, but search and rescue is what Thunder and I do. I think we can handle it.”
Durbin shrugged, something close to relief flashing through his gaze. “Sure. Go for it.”
Wyatt looked back at the woman. “Let’s sit down and talk.”
