Arriving at the camp, Eric took in Kerr’s worried expression. His friend had a nonchalant demeanor, arms relaxed, taking slow and casual strides, probably trying to keep the other two men calm, but the quick glance and rigid set of Kerr’s jaw told a different story.
If Eric had Shelby’s power, no doubt he’d pick up on anxious feelings spewing off of Kerr in all directions. The situation had gone well past salvageable hours ago. They flat-out needed to find that hunter.
What if the guide service folded? Kerr would always have his family.
Eric would have . . . nothing.
One of the clients wandered over. “This is the rescue party?” He snorted as he glanced around and then looked at Shelby.
He smiled. Little did the guy know what this woman could do.
Kerr clapped the man on his back. “My sister and Eric here are two of this region’s finest Search and Rescue team members. We’ll find your friend.”
“What if they can’t? What about more people looking? Police? Someone official.”
She stepped off the horse and tied the reins to a tree branch. With a groan, she dropped the backpack to rest on a tarp square. “Law enforcement has been called, but they’re dealing with some other emergencies in the county right now.”
“Really?”
“It’s a weird couple of weeks here in Copper River,” Eric said. You have no idea.
“So what’s the plan?” the man asked.
“I’d like for you gentlemen to hang out here,” Kerr said. “We’re going to find your friend. It may not be until after dark before we get back, though, so please be patient.”
“What if you don’t find him?” The guest’s eye roll in Shelby’s direction nearly lifted the top off of Eric’s skull.
Eric’s voice cut through the crackle of the fire and nickering horses. “We always find who we’re looking for.”
Shelby’s head whipped up, the ends of her orange hair peeking out from the wool beanie.
“Wow. Okay. If you say so.” The man shook his head and turned back around toward the fire. “We’ll keep this roaring for you, then.”
Kerr, Eric and Shelby stepped to the side where Eric picked up his Search and Rescue pack and slung it over his shoulders. He checked his watch. One o’clock. “Time’s wasting. Let’s get this over with.”
She mimicked his motion and hefted her pack back on her shoulders. “Yep.”
Kerr grabbed her arm. “Sis, I’m —”
She cut him off. “I know. Everyone’s sorry. I get it.” Spinning around she glared at Eric. “And you have to shut down that noggin. I need to concentrate. Actually, you’re going to have to stay back at least a hundred feet from me.”
“What the hell?” he spat. “Like a restraining order?”
She reared back. “Because of that ”—she waved her hand in the general vicinity of his forehead—“right there, yes. I can’t think both my thoughts and your thoughts, dude.”
He kept his hands curled into the backpack straps and ground his molars for a minute. More than anything, he needed to be close enough to protect her. “Okay. How about fifty feet and I try harder to keep a lid on the brain?” With even more effort than he had used before, he blanked his thoughts to duties of the task before them. His only concerns were for the dropping temperatures and remaining daylight. Geezus, it wore him out, focusing like that.
As for a future, what a joke. Hell, did he seriously think they had a chance, if she needed to be far away from him to maintain her own sanity? What had he been thinking?
Hope. Damn it, he’d have to think through this whole situation after they got back to the ranch. For now, he’d try not to impede her work. And he’d damn well keep her safe.
“Let’s go,” she said, spinning on a heel.
• • •
The crunches of hooves in snow and jangle of bits provided light percussion as they moved through the woods, retracing the steps Kerr and the men had traveled earlier today.
Once away from the hunting camp, Shelby opened up her mind and focused on the lost man. A stab of pain to her temple told her they were headed the right way. No idea the distance, but the direction was correct.
She wanted to determine his condition, but fear stopped her cold. The last time she did that, she went blind. No telling what would happen if she tried it again.
Throughout the woods, a second prickly, weird feeling developed on the back of her neck. Nothing specific, nothing she could mention. Just . . . strange. Like a sensation on the edges of her vision, like seeing something out of the corner of her eye. But it was a mental shadow, not a visual one.
She shook her head. After the stressful past few days, her nerves were frayed. This mission didn’t help any, either. Blinking hard, she pinched her nose, trying to lessen the headache that increased with every passing minute.
“Do you need to take a break?” Eric called from his horse, exactly fifty yards behind her.
She coughed. “No. It’s easier if I maintain a bead on the guy. We have to keep going.”
“Sure you don’t want to rest, sis?”
“I’m okay. Let’s get this over with.”
“Any idea of the distance?” Kerr asked.
“You know that I’m not that good. Hopefully not too far.” Five hours was an eternity in Search and Rescue. The victim could be miles away by now.
The terrain became rough, and the horses slid in the snow and on uncertain footing.
“Here’s where we stopped.” Kerr got off his horse and tied the reins to a tree branch.
Shelby did the same. She and Eric still had their Search and Rescue packs on.
Kerr pointed toward some tracks. “I thought he went that way. But I couldn’t find him. What do you think?”
Taking a deep breath, she dropped her filters and opened her mind. And got a face full of Eric’s churning thoughts. She staggered and grabbed onto a tree trunk.
“Can you go over there, please?” she asked him. “Sorry, but I can’t think with you, uh, thinking.”
With a backwards glance, he shoved his hands in his pockets and stomped away. The swirling ideas abruptly dropped in volume. Good guy, keeping it under control.
Kerr grinned. “So, did you two kiss and make up?”
“Not exactly.”
“Is there hope?”
“Dim.”
“Better than none.”
She snorted. Once again able to concentrate, she opened her mind up to locate the hunter. All of the sensations narrowed down to an area down a gully.
How strange. The guy wasn’t anywhere near where the tracks led. Had he backtracked, or were the tracks from one of the other men?
“This way.”
Kerr raised his orange eyebrows. “You sure?”
“Ok, seriously? You bring me out here for the one thing I’m really good at—finding people—and you ask me if I’m sure?”
“My bad, sis. Little prickly today, huh?”
She raised her gloved middle finger and started walking in the direction of the mental signal.