“You always have to hold a woman in place to have a conversation with her?”
She hadn’t known Ryan that well back in the day, but shedidremember he had the shortest fuse on the team.
“Touch me, and I call the sheriff,” Gerome said, almost taunting Ryan.
Connor stepped closer to Ryan, like a silent message for his friend to let it go. He did.
One side of Gerome’s mouth lifted. “That’s what I thought.”
When the two men disappeared inside the building, Connor turned to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Ryan turned next, anger still tugging his brows together. “Who are they?”
“Gerome is Ward’s son. I don’t know who his friend is.”
Connor’s brows flickered. “The sheriff’s son?”
“Yeah.” She looked at the shuttered windows before stepping closer to the two men and lowering her voice. “And you should know, they’re not happy you’re here.”
Ethan watchedthe drone rise into the tree line of the forest behind their headquarters. His license to fly the drone had finally arrived, which meant now he got to test it.
Drones didn’t replace boots on the ground. If people went missing, he and his team would be there. But theycouldsave time.
He flew the drone low and slow, adjusting the controller with his hands, tracking the machine as it disappeared into the branches.
There didn’t appear to be any signal distractions or lag. Good.
He moved it deeper into the trees.
The combination of dense forest and water made the area that needed to be searched for missing people extensive. Exactly why the lazy sheriff, and an elderly volunteer SAR team, had not found either of the missing women.
There were fast-moving sections of the river. There were also small banks that created little pockets of still water.
If Ward really cared about this town, he’d step down. He’d let go of the three years remaining in his term and accept both a rebuilding of the sheriff’s department and the presence of the SAR team.
But he wouldn’t do that. Because he didn’t care about this town and its safety. He cared about the badge. About being in charge. The other day, they’d gone into the station and asked for any information he had on the two missing women. He’d refused. Told them their place was here in the mountains, and they had no right to any of it.
Asshole.
Ethan pointed the drone back toward the river. That’s when the thermal imaging showed yellow patches. Heat signatures. People.
His phone buzzed with a text. He pulled it out to see it was the SAR group chat.
Zac: You spying on us, Moore?
He grinned.
Ethan: That a problem?
Joel: That thing able to bring me any snacks?
Ethan: Don’t you keep snacks with you?
Joel: I already ate my granola bar.
Zac: He didn’t just eat his granola bar. He ate TWO granola bars, a handful of loose nuts from his pocket, and finished a bottle of Powerade. We’ve only been out here an hour.
