“I know she’s in terrible danger. I know it.” She tucked the paper by her side.
Gabriel moved to sit next to Whiskey on the lawn and called the ranger station to get a report on the trail. The call went to an answering machine.
He’d already decided he was going after Sommer.
The decision was made before Gabriel rounded the corner to try the back door.
His next call was to Reaper. Gabriel walked away from Sloane’s hearing while he asked Reaper’s advice and to see if any of the Cerberus Operators wanted some practice time on the mountain.
“Under most circumstances,” Reaper said, “I’d take you up on the offer. It’s all hands on deck right now. I’m not surprised you got an answering machine at the ranger station. Here’s what’s happening in Virginia today. Up in themountains, there’s a massive manhunt going after four missing federal agents. You know about that?”
“I didn’t know they were shaking the bushes, no.”
“Anyone with a badge or who is badge adjacent got the call—federal, state, and local. There’s minimal law enforcement staffing available statewide. Then a family went missing: mom, dad, four kids under 8 years old. I was about to call you and see if you could pull yourself free from Foggy Bottom to bring Whiskey.”
“That’s in the mountains too?”
“They’re in Cyprus Swamp down on the North Carolina border. Teams Alpha and Delta are running part of the mission. I’m at Headquarters for the time being.”
“That family is hours away from the Bureau’s search area; that’s good, at least. I’ll tell you what, I’m going to get on this woman’s trail. I hope it’s a nothing burger. Then I’ll reach out and see if you need me. If you do, Whiskey can sleep in the car as I get down to the search site, but my guess is it’ll be at least tomorrow when I’m off the trail. I’d lend you Whiskey, but I think I’m going to need her.”
“We’ll stay in touch. Use your sat phone on the mountain if you run into issues. There’s no cavalry to ride to the rescue if something went sideways. I’ll do what I can to support you.”
“I appreciate that, brother.”
The next call Gabriel made was to Finley. He answered on the first ring.
“Atworth here. I understand you have boots on the ground?”
“The address you developed put us onto a chain. We think we’ve got this narrowed. The search is on.” He had the timbre of a man staging for battle.
“Is there anything for me to do on that case?” Gabriel asked, looking toward Sloane, who was staring at the itinerary as if she could read something between the lines.
“Not for now. We need to kick some doors and rattle some trees.”
“Good luck, man. If you don’t need me, then I’m not in the office today. I have some personal business I need to attend to, and I’ll be out of cell phone range. I’ll text you when I’m back in case things change.”
“Later today?” Finley asked.
“I doubt today. My guess is tomorrow night.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” Finley said. “Yeah, just shoot me a text.”
That ticked his boxes, and Gabriel moved back to stand near Sloane. “There are no emergency personnel available right now. Search and rescue has already been called out on a search that includes children. They would ask to see the itinerary, and no matter how strong your intuition or twin-connection, they wouldn’t go out until Sommer’s late, or there was a natural disaster.”
Sloane sat like a stone in a pot coming to a boil.
“Sloane, I need her picture and a scent source like a shirt she wore, and then we’ll take off.”
“What are you going to do?” she gasped out.
“Whiskey and I will see if we can’t catch up with Sommer on White Tail.”
“You’re an hour away. I can call the ranger. They’re already there.”
“She’s not overdue. They won’t start looking until Sunday morning. No one was answering the phone when I called the ranger station.”
Sloane narrowed her eyes as she assessed him. “I’m deciding if I can trust you.”
