Over the rushing of the waterfall, a crash of thunder made Zoey jump, then laugh because Killian had jumped too.
“I hate to say it, but this is getting bad.” Their guide cast around. “We need to get in. The lightning is coming.”
The path back up the trail wasn’t nearly as easy as the way down. The light rain turned heavier, and the slick slope became a muddy mess, requiring linked arms around tree trunks and chained hands to get back up. By the time they managed the climb, it was dangerously dark. Cory pulled out a light, but Zoey caught a glance of his face and saw true concern.
“Come on. We need to hurry,” he shouted at them, his voice nearly lost in the screaming wind. “We stayed too long!”
That was when the rain hit. Sheeting so bad Zoey could barely see in front of her, she was grateful for Killian keeping a hand on her arm as if afraid he would lose her over the edge of the cliff they knew was only feet away from them. The exhilaration quickly turned to fear as lighting filled the sky, the thunder rocking them.
They raced to the ATVs, starting them up. “Stay together!” Cory yelled, twisting to make sure they all were there before he stood up, pointed the direction of the trail, and took off. Killian and Haleigh raced after them, but Enzo’s ATV stalled. Cursing, he fought it before it caught gear, then he gunned forward, spinning mud and grass all over Zoey.
“Wait, I can’t see!” Zoey yelled, slowing enough to wipe the mud from her glasses on the relative dryness of her shirt beneath her raincoat. It was a streaked mess, with splatters of muck mixing with rain on the lenses.
Frustrated, she wiped them again, cleaning them enough so she could see. Even as she put them back on, her glasses were already covered with more rain. But Zoey couldn’t wait any longer. Hitting the accelerator, she took off dangerously fast, barely able to see the trail and hoping to glimpse Enzo’s taillights ahead. She never did. Through twist and turn, she tried to find her way, but in the stormy darkness, it was impossible to recognize anything.
Finally, she saw a familiar wooden marker post, but as she paused, trying to wipe the water from her glasses, Zoey couldn’t tell which way she was supposed to go. She didn’t know if the water rushing past her was because of the storm or if this was even the marker post she thought it was.
And as the storm unleashed itself, the skies opening right on top of her, Zoey knew she was screwed.
* * *
Answering a call from this particular person was the last thing Graham wanted to do. But Graham meant it when he said Lana was his friend, and when a friend called, he picked up—most of the time.
Besides, she’d called him three times in a row and seemed determined not to be ignored.
“What is it, L?” Maybe he was a teeny bit grumpy. “I’m busy being brokenhearted over here.”
“Graham, something happened.” Lana’s voice was panicked. “I need Easton’s number. He can find people, right?”
Standing up from his kitchen chair, Graham tensed. “Lana, calm down. I can get you to East, but tell me what happened first.”
“They went out on a tour, and when they came back, she was gone. They tried to find her, but she’s missing.”
“Who’s missing?”
“Zoey. Graham, she’s out in this. Someone needs to find her.”
With a curse, Graham told Lana to stay by her phone. This wasn’t the first time someone had gotten lost in these mountains. This wasn’t the first time this year someone had gotten lost in these mountains. But this wasn’t someone, it was Graham’s someone, and the storm outside raged. Graham knew far too well how much danger she was in, and his heart stayed in his stomach, twisted up in knots as he called everyone he knew to meet them at the ATV tour site.
Easton and Ash pulled up right as Graham skidded into the drive, both dressed for the weather and grim faced. Jonah, Rick, Marcus Garcia and his partner, even Frankie and Graham’s cousin…everyone who knew these mountains was there. Even Lana was there, although she was the last person Graham would send into the mountains to look for Zoey.
They all knew how bad this was.
The kid, Cory, was young and stupid enough to have taken them out. He was also brave enough to have spent the last hour trying to find Zoey, soaked to the bone and pale from cold. He told the same story to Easton and Graham, how he made sure they were all there. How he paused halfway back, thought he saw four sets of lights behind him, and kept going.
The kid was crushed, his hands shivering. “Maybe it was the last guy going over a bump? The rain was so bad. I screwed up, I screwed up. I sent them all to the resort to get help, and I went looking for her. I need to go back out there and keep searching. She’s out there because of me.”
The storm had whipped itself into a frenzy, with trees bending from the violent gusts of winds and sheets of sideways rain driving into anyone not taking cover. The skies had grown dangerously dark for anyone out in the woods. Streak after streak of lightning cutting through the darkness illuminated Easton’s features.
“Cory, you’re not going anywhere,” Easton said sternly, taking control of the group. “You’re dead on your feet, and this will turn into a double rescue instead of just her. We can’t risk anyone going out in this.”
Graham inhaled a tight breath, drawing himself up furiously, ready to fight, but Easton shot him a look. “Until it clears off, just the three of us will look. Ash, Graham, you follow the trail they were supposed to be on. You both know these woods blindfolded. Don’t let a tree fall on you, and keep those radios on. I’ll scout wider. But no one else.”
“Without a bigger search party, we might not find her.” Ash didn’t need to add the unspoken “in time.” They all knew what she was thinking.
“It’s the best we can do for now.” Easton turned to Jonah and Marcus. “As soon as the weather breaks, get dogs out here and get everyone involved.”
Taking his supplies and a gassed-up ATV, Graham looked at Ash. “We’ll find her,” she promised.
Sometimes people got lost in these mountains and never came back. But Graham wasn’t going to come back without her, weather be damned. He’d left her thinking he didn’t love her, and if that was the last conversation they had, Graham would never be able to forgive himself.
“We’ll find her.” Graham started the engine with a snarl of his own. “And then I’m never letting her go again.”
As they retraced the trail Cory had taken, the visibility was nearly nonexistent. Graham bellowed himself hoarse calling Zoey’s name, knowing Ash was doing the same just behind him. And still he could barely hear her. Rain and wind beat at them from all directions, and the storm had brought down tree limbs into their path. They rounded a corner and found a huge evergreen had downed across the trail, impossible to get around.