“That was you? Up on the cliffs? I thought I was seeing your spirit.”
“You were, cuz,” called the little blonde, Drew, from the nearby canoe she shared with the vet, Maria. “It was just still in his body at the time.” Laughter floated over the water.
Ethan Brand said, “We’re glad we found you, Wolf.”
“So glad” was echoed by many voices.
“I can hardly believe this is real,” Ethan went on, then he sent a look Willow’s way. “Sorry I doubted you, cuz.”
The redhead in the boat with Drew said, “Hold up, hold up!” And everyone back-paddled or moved to one side out of the current. There was a fork where a small tributary veered off. The redhead padded into it real slow, looking around with care, then said, “This way!”
Nobody even questioned her; they all just followed. Wolf said, “She’s a veterinarian?”
“Her mamma is our dad’s baby sister, Jessi, and she can track like nobody’s business. Taught Maria how.”
“And Ethan’s my cousin, too?”
“Yes, he was adopted though. Found on the doorstep as a baby.”
He looked at her wide-eyed.
“Don’t worry, brother. I’ll catch you up on the family history once we rescue your lady fair.”
He felt his face heat, lowered his eyes, then looked up again, unable to stop asking questions. “What about our parents?”
“Their names are Wes and Taylor, and they are going to lose their freakin’ minds when we find a way to tell them.” Then she said louder, “How should we tell Mom and Dad? Should I call when we get a signal?”
“Let’s get Camellia back before we worry about that, huh?” Drew asked.
Up ahead, Maria had plucked a piece of duct tape from some branches along the water’s edge. Turning back, she held up a finger for quiet, then pointed to her eyes, and swept her hand in a wide arc.
He went very quiet and started watching the shoreline for any sign of Camellia. Willow was watching the left side, so he focused on the right. The only sounds were the gentle dips of paddles, and the dripping of water from their edges when they rose again. The sun was cooler in this wooded strand where branches caused its light to dapple the water.
Willow asked softly, “What happened to you, Wolf? How did you survive? Where have you been all this time?”
“It’s a long story,” he said. “And I don’t know how I survived the river. I only know I was found in the water by a girl. Fourteen. A runaway and a survivor. She raised me as her own. I didn’t know the truth until she told me on her deathbed a couple weeks ago.”
“Oh, God, you just lost your mom?”
He nodded. “And found my sister.”
“All that in a couple of weeks? And now this.” Then she blinked. “I’m not being a very good cop?—”
“You’re acop?”
“Deputy,” she said, keeping her voice low and her eyes on the shoreline. “Who is this guy who took your friend? Do you know?”
He nodded. “Earl Stafford. Her ex. He turned stalker after she broke up with him three years ago. But she said he’d been getting weird before that. Controlling and suspicious. Got in with some bad people, she thought. He stalked her and only stopped six months ago when he got a new girlfriend. That one took her own life, and he started up again with Camellia.”
Ahead of them, Maria, the redhead, raised a hand in the air, then pointed. He saw a small piece of rope on the shore, andthen spotted the ass-end of a canoe sticking out of some thick brush near the shore.
They beached their canoes, dragging them up out of the water as the little blonde raced ahead of the others to look at the boat.
She looked inside, then called back to them, “Camellia scratched her initials into the side, that clever little snoop.”
Willow went for a closer look as well but didn’t seem to find any additional clues. Maria called, “This way,” in a stage whisper.
Wolf walked up front with Willow and Maria, who skimmed the surroundings with her hawklike gaze, missing nothing. Seven people surrounded him, just like family. Maria found pieces of Camellia’s glorious hair, and footprints in the dirt, and broken branches. She said, “She’s leaving a trail for us.”
