Then he signaled to Kori that she could come closer.
She knelt in front of the woman. “Hey, you’re okay. We’ve got you.”
The woman shook in long uncontrolled waves. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and her face turned down. The sounds coming out of her weren’t exactly cries. They were more like groans of desperation and fear.
Wyatt wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and handed her the water.
Then he stepped back, radio to his mouth. Kori knew he was calling in the update to someone.
Kori focused on the woman. “Can you tell me your name?”
Nothing.
“You don’t have to. But I’m Kori.”
The woman rocked, her eyes glassing over.
That was when Kori saw the woman’s legs.
Her pants rose just an inch or so. Just enough for Kori to see the scars near her ankles.
She sucked in a breath and glanced at Wyatt.
She knew by the set of his jaw that he’d seen her injuries also.
She looked back at the woman. “Will you let us help you?”
The rocking slowed.
Kori opened the water bottle and held it toward her lips. “You should really drink this.”
The woman lifted her head. Her face was gaunt and dirty, the wild look still in her eyes . . . but something behind it had shifted.
She looked at Kori. Then at Thunder.
Then she put one hand in the snow and pushed herself up.
She swayed. Kori caught her arm—felt how little was left beneath the jacket. She was all bones.
Wyatt moved to her other side. He helped her slip the jacket over her arms. Made sure she drank something.
Then he grabbed his backpack. He had to be chilly without his jacket. But that was the kind of person Wyatt was—and Kori admired him for being selfless.
They started toward the trail.
Thunder fell in close, his pace matched to hers.
Kori kept her hand on the woman’s arm and moved.
She was so glad they’d found her. That they could get her help. If they hadn’t located her, she probably wouldn’t have survived much longer out here.
But the fact remained that Mackenzie was still missing.
They’d come out here to find her, but they’d found someone else instead.
That reality sat in her gut like a stone.
