Taylor was now sending Conrad texts periodically to keep him updated.
It was something.
Wind strong. Temps dropping. Flakes starting to fall.
Conrad glanced outside, where street lights had come on, the sky darkened by storm clouds. If they didn’t hurry up and rescue her, Kenzie and Gizmo were going to be trapped on a mountainside in a blizzard.
* * *
Out of breathand cold to the bone, Kenzie leaned into the frigid wind, fighting her way up the steep slope, icy snowflakes blowing into her face, snow making each step treacherous. Gizmo had found the scent trail and was leading them upward, doing what he asked her to do even though he must be cold and tired.
She glanced down, saw that he was favoring his left front paw.
“We have to stop!” She had to shout to be heard above the wind.
She slipped out of her backpack, opened up the center side pocket, and took out the packet that held Gizmo’s protective booties. Close to tears, she slipped a warm bootie onto that sore front paw first. “I’m sorry, buddy. I’m so sorry.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Don bent down, shouting in her face. “We have to keep going!”
“He can’t! The snow and rock are hurting his paws!”
Don threw up his hands. “Fuck! Fuck!”
Kenzie finished covering Gizmo’s paws then poured a drink of water into a collapsible dog bowl. He lapped thirstily, then took a few treats from her hand.
She petted him, praised him, swallowing the lump in her throat. “You’re such a good boy, Gizmo. I love you.”
No matter how this ended, he had always been the best dog. He would follow her anywhere, even if it killed him. But she couldn’t let that happen.
“Come on! Move it!”
Kenzie put the treats and collapsible bowl back into her pack, slipped it onto her shoulders, and stood on tired legs. “We need to find shelter, ride out the storm! We’ll freeze to death out here!”
In the past few minutes, the storm had gotten worse, making it hard to see.
“No! You want to keep warm? Keep moving!”
Kenzie had no choice but to urge Gizmo onward.
Up they went, but soon the snow was falling so hard that she could barely see Don just a few feet ahead of her.
White-out conditions. A true blizzard.
She could turn and run downhill. If she could get far enough away, he wouldn’t be able to see to shoot her. But if she didn’t—if she slipped and broke her ankle—he would probably kill her outright.
She needed to get him to stop before they went much higher. There was no shelter above timberline and no dried wood for a fire. “We have to stop! We could walk off a cliff! Gizmo can’t track in this anyway!”
Don turned on her, gun drawn, his face pinched from cold. “If you stop again, I’ll kill you and take the dog!”
“You’re going to get us all killed anyway!”
Kenzie trudged after him, the trees thinning, the storm getting worse.
* * *
Conrad stoodin the kitchen at The Cave, wolfing down a microwaved burrito that Sasha had brought for him when she’d heard he hadn’t eaten lunch. Most everyone was here now, listening in on the radio, waiting this out.
Everyone loved Kenzie, but no one loved her the way he did.
