“You’ll be one of the first to know,” Liam promised.
They got more coffee and chatted for a while about plans for the Halloween celebrations. Liam shared some of the events the library had coming up for the winter season. Justin filled him in on funny things that happened with his most recent tours and hunting customers.
“Have you heard anything more about poachers or missing hikers?” Liam asked. “I caught part of a conversation, but it wasn’t the kind of thing I could interrupt to ask for details.”
“Sheriff Armel knows,” Justin said. “I offered to do flyovers if it would help.”
“And it could be nothing,” Liam admitted. “Someone might have seen hunters somewhere they didn’t expect and blew it out of proportion. It’s happened before, but not for a long time.”
“I’ll keep my ears open,” Justin said.
Liam reminded him of an upcoming holiday committee meeting as they said goodbye outside the café. Justin waved as Liam walked back toward the library, unable to shake his restlessness. He checked the time and calculated where Scott would be. By now, he figured they should have had time to fly up to the mine area but probably weren’t finished with the photo shoot yet.
He couldn’t shake a sense of foreboding and took a less direct route back to his plane as he tried to focus on what he needed to do before his afternoon tours.
His phone buzzed with a text just as he reached the dock.
Scott:We’re going to crash—near the mines. Look for us. I love you.
Justin froze, feeling suddenly faint. He re-read the message, and his heart pounded. Frantic, he tried to return the call, but it rolled to voicemail.
The airport’s emergency alarm sounded on his phone. Justin pulled up the alert app, and the message made him go cold.“Small craft down,” the newest notice began. “Request rescue response.”
Scott, please be safe. Please, please, please.
Justin called Sheriff Armel, muttering under his breath as the phone rang before someone picked up.
“Sheriff’s office,” a chipper voice answered
“Is Sheriff Armel in? This is Justin Miller, and it’s an emergency.”
“Just a moment,” the voice replied, putting Justin on hold. He swore quietly as he waited.
“Justin, what’s your emergency, and why are you calling me and not 911?” Armel responded.
“There’s a plane down near Platt Mountain. Scott flew up there to do aerial research and get photos for his articles. I’ll do whatever will help, do recon to find the crash, or join the ground team for search and rescue.” Justin’s words came out in a tumble.
“How do you know it’s Scott?” Armel demanded.
“I got a text from him saying ‘we’re going to crash—near the mines, look for us’ and then the airport emergency channel reported a plane down.” Justin was doing his best to stay calm and barely managed.
“Shit,” Armel muttered. “You go talk to the airport people about the flight recorder or locator beacon. I’ll alert the search and rescue phone tree and see if I can reach any of the other sheriffs in that area.”
“Okay.” Justin tried to take slow, deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Justin closed his eyes and did his best to focus on his extra senses. He picked up a flicker of energy that he knew was Scott, but it felt weakened. Fear resonated through the fragile link, letting Justin know Scott was scared and hurt.
He thought about the conflicting weather reports, which could slow down an emergency response. Although Justin hoped the impending storm had cleared, his weather magic told him that rain and winds were on their way.
Next, he called Peter Kraft, his contact at the Fox Hollow airport. “Peter,” he dove in as soon as the other man picked up. “This is Justin Miller. What do you know about the plane that went down north of here near Platt Mountain?”
“Jesus. That just came in. Let me see what we’ve got from the locator and the transponder,” Peter replied. Justin heard typing and computer sounds.
“I can give you the coordinates that the locator is reporting, but there’s nothing to say why the plane went down.” Peter texted the information to Justin. “Someone you know?” Peter asked.
“My boyfriend was doing some research and photography,” Justin replied. “Was there bad weather up there?”
Peter was quiet for a moment. “Things were clear earlier in the day. They’ve got storms rolling in now and later in the day, but nothing that should have taken a plane down. I’m sorry, Justin. I hope he’s okay.”
