“Hey, Cooper,” Cash said. “We see the bomb. Thanks for the heads-up. Are there other doors?”
“Yes,” Cooper said, pressing his face to the door and hoping his voice reached them.
Clayton said, “Stay here, Cooper. We’re going to check the other entrances.”
The seconds before his friends returned seemed like years. Jace said, “One door is bricked over. The other has too much debris in front of it for us to get to you. We have no choice but to defuse this bomb if we’re going to get you out.”
“Marlee?” he asked, wondering why he didn’t hear her voice.
Brice answered. “We’ll fill you in on everything once you’re free.”
Cooper knew what that meant. Marlee wasn’t with them.
“Stand back from the door!” Cash shouted.
Cooper pressed himself against the same wall as the door but scooted down a ways. The entire time they worked, Cooper kept thinking about Marlee and all the different ways she could be hurt. The not knowing was the worst. Was she hurt? Or worse, dead?
Suddenly, the door opened, and his friends poured in. Cooper was soon surrounded. He looked at Jace and saw his pale face and the remnants of blood on him.
“He’s got a hard head. Like we’ve always known,” Caleb said.
Clayton urged them out. “We can do this in the truck. I’ll call Karl and Marina to the ranch so they can patch you up.”
“Tell me about Marlee,” Cooper demanded, “or I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 43
Cooper’s gut was twisted in a knot so vicious, he wasn’t sure it would ever unravel. Knowing that Marlee had left after the man’s call had Cooper seeing red. He would never forget that man’s face. And if it was the last thing he did, he’d hunt the bastard down himself.
“Drink,” his mom said as she handed him a mug before giving him a kiss on the temple and walking out.
People were talking all around him at the ranch as Marina and Karl cleaned his wound and bandaged him. He was lucky the bullet had gone clean through. Otherwise, he’d be in the hospital. He’d have to go eventually—Jace, too—but right now, there were more pressing matters to deal with. Like finding Marlee.
It had been nearly an hour since Jace had been brought to the ranch. He had a new bandage in place, aspirin to help with the pain, and copious amounts of water to help hydrate him. With a borrowed shirt from Clayton, Cooper found it difficult to sit any longer. He’d been sitting all day.
“I’ve got to get out there,” he said.
Cash met his gaze and nodded. “We’re doing the best we can. It’s a large area to cover, and we’re not sure which direction Marlee was headed in.”
“Actually,” Ryan said as he walked into the office, “we do. OnStar came through. We found the Suburban thirty miles west of here in a ditch.”
Cooper’s stomach fell to his feet. “Is … Marlee?”
“She wasn’t in the vehicle,” Ryan said.
Clayton smiled at Ryan. “Thank you.”
“Don’t suppose you want to come with us?” Jace asked.
Ryan suddenly grinned. “I was hoping you’d ask. I’ve got a dozen officers waiting to help, and Danny is meeting us there with some deputies. We’ll fan out and begin searching. We need something of Marlee’s for the dogs. Cooper. Good to see they found you.”
“Yeah.” Cooper looked outside. “It’s getting dark fast.”
“Let’s go, then!” Caleb shouted, getting everyone moving.
The drive to the Suburban was the longest of Cooper’s life. At least the rain had stopped. He held Marlee’s shirt in his hands, wishing it were her instead. He knew Marlee wasn’t with the SUV, but it still didn’t stop his mind from racing to figure out what she might have been thinking. When they pulled up, the area was roped off, and the road had been shut to any traffic by police cars with their lights flashing.
Cooper got out of the truck and looked down the ravine to where the Suburban was. He tried to put himself in Marlee’s shoes to imagine what had prompted her actions.
“What are you thinking?” Jace asked from beside him.
Cooper realized then that Cash, Brice, Caleb, and Clayton were there, as well. He shrugged. “I’m thinking that if the bastard who attacked us is the same one who called Marlee from your phone, then he brought her here.”
“Why here, though?” Cash asked. “What’s around here?”
Brice shrugged. “It’s mostly wooded area.”
“Some live out here and lease parts of their land to hunters,” Caleb said.
Clayton turned to Cooper. “I hate to say it, but it’s somewhere I’d bring someone if I wanted to make sure they were never found.”
Cooper nodded and kicked something. As he looked closer, he realized it was the remnants of a phone, but not just any cell—Marlee’s.
The K-9s were brought over, and he gave Marlee’s shirt to the officers to let the dogs get the scent. As the dogs searched the area, attempting to pick up the trail, Cooper looked around, trying to determine which way Marlee might have gone.
“The trees will make it difficult for a helicopter to see, but this might help,” Cash said as he pulled out another of his cases.
He opened it to reveal a drone. As he was getting it ready, the dogs began barking. Everyone jerked their heads across the road to where the dogs were headed, pulling their handlers along.
“North,” Jace said.
Cooper didn’t wait for the others as he followed the dogs. One deputy tried to stop him, but Cooper ignored him and ran past. The dogs moved fast, covering a lot of ground. Just when Cooper thought they might find her, the dogs lost the scent. Then, they found it and were off again.
After two miles, Cooper was beginning to wonder where Marlee had been headed. There was nothing out here but the forest. As the sun sank into the horizon, he knew they had to find her soon or it might be too late. The fact that the dogs kept the scent was good news. At least, that’s what he told himself.
The sound of the drone overhead caught his attention. He looked up and spotted it before he paused and glanced over his shoulder to find his friends following.
“We’ve got your back, Coop,” Jace said as he came up alongside him.
Jace’s face was paler than before, and Cooper knew he shouldn’t be out here. But he also knew that Jace wouldn’t leave. Cooper wouldn’t go if their positions were reversed.
“Thanks.”
“No need,” Jace replied with a smile.
By mile five, Cooper was growing more and more concerned. How far had Marlee been led out into the woods?
Suddenly, he heard a shout. Cooper didn’t even wait. He took off running to where the dogs and the police were gathered. He shoved past them to see a form lying on the ground. Cooper’s heart leapt into his throat. He kept repeating No in his mind because he refused to believe that this person was Marlee. The hood of the raincoat was pulled forward, keeping him from seeing any hair.
“Cooper,” Danny said as he walked up.
But Cooper wasn’t listening. He knelt beside the body and gently pulled away the hood of the coat to find blond hair.