At the back of his car, Gabriel pulled on his pack, hoping he had the right equipment with him to deal with whatever came next, then went around to get Whiskey on trail.
Whiskey knew she was heading on a search, and her whole body radiated joy.
Gabriel was going to have to talk to Reaper about getting involved with a team. Gabriel couldn’t deny Whiskey her calling.
When Gabriel leaned down to offer her Sommer’s scent, Whiskey stuck her nose into the plastic bag. She chuffed then toddled over to Sommer’s car.
“That’s right, Beautiful. You’ve got this. Where’d Sommer go? Can you show me?”
And, per the itinerary on the kitchen table, Whiskey headed straight toward the White Tail Trailhead.
Gabriel planned to race the trail until he saw the trio. He’d say something pleasant, then keep going out of sight. Depending on their activity, he could pitch his tent and get some sleep. Then, like a stalker, he’d follow at a safe distance in case Sloane had a precognition, and the big bad hadn’t happened yet.
Once they got to their cars safely, the mission would be complete.
Gabriel would head home, clean up, and go and have a talk with Sommer about taking the video down that was getting Kate tagged.
But when he got about ten miles up the slope, not quite to the site where the women had said they’d be camping Wednesday night, Gabriel came across three arrows pointing off the trail, and before he stooped to read the pink trail tape, he knew it was Sommer.
Two females in serious medical distress on summit. Leaving the trail to walk toward traffic sounds for help.Please contact the ranger immediately.Then S.H. and the date.
She’d put this here today.
Should Gabriel track to Sommer or track to the women on the summit?
To Sommer. Then he’d find out the problem and make a plan with her on how to help.
There was no ranger to contact.
Gabriel opened his map app to see how things were configured. Up the road a few miles was a convenience store, so even if she hadn’t flagged down a ride, it would be easier to walk on the paved surface and a much shorter distance than getting back to the ranger’s station on the trail.
She knew what the hell she was doing. This signal couldn’t be clearer to a search party doing a hasty.
Whiskey was sniffing around the area, whole body wiggling.
“You have her, sweet girl? Can you take me to her?”
They started down the side of the mountain.
Every so often Gabriel could see where Sommer had skidded from tree to tree on the loose leaf litter.
It was probable that she’d reached the road and found help.
He’d see what Whiskey had to say about it. And if a car passed him, he’d flag it down and go back to the ranger station to see if a rescue was being mounted. At least there he could pick up a spotty cell signal. Once he was assured others were involved, Gabriel would be released from the mission, and he’d head home.
Or if he were needed, he’d reach out to Reaper for support.
When Gabriel had called for assistance earlier, Reaper hadn’t mentioned the videos again.
It weighed on Gabriel that Kate’s name was connected to the videos, but at this stage of the game, there was nothing to be done but plow forward.
Solve for this emergency, then deal with Kate’s safety, Gabriel thought as they reached the roadway, and he looked around for any sign of Sommer.
Whiskey had lost the trail.
That was expected. He checked the map and decided to hike toward the convenience store. If a car went by, he’d stick out a thumb.
But as he rounded a curve in the road, he saw an accident out ahead.
