Keep going.
Most of the snow that’d fallen overnight had melted in the afternoon sun. Only scattered patches remained. In places, she saw soft, moist dirt, but it quickly merged with scree and dense vegetative ground cover. Her gaze alternated between the horizon and the trail as her brain processed each broken branch, every snapped twig, looking for a pattern. A sign someone had come this way before her.
Still no footprints.
But under these conditions a herd of elephants could’ve tromped through and left no tracks. The sand traps were definitely needed. She tripped over some knee timber, breaking the fall with her hands, but hit her hip hard against a rock. Her palms burned where they scraped the ground. Her chest ached, and her lungs were frostbitten, but she couldn’t stop to rest. Not without losing Pandy again.
Caitlin concentrated hard, dividing her thoughts between watching and wondering: watching for signs; wondering which way Laura would head if she was lost, or where she would hide if she didn’t want to be found. If she was disoriented, she might be wandering in circles or doubling back randomly.
Caitlin lifted her knees higher to cover ground faster. Tried not to focus on the low odds a hasty search like this one would produce results. It wasn’t until her teeth started to hurt, and her tongue went painfully dry that she realized her mouth was hanging open. She was panting like a winded pup.
The altitude!
Of course!
They were above 9,000 feet. Pandy might be little, but she hiked up here on a routine basis. She was acclimated to the thin air. No wonder she could move faster. Caitlin’s gaze darted to all sides and her frustration mounted. She could no longer see the back of a red head bobbing in the distance. How far behind the ranger was she?
“Pandy!”
Only a bird called back.
“Pandy, I need you to slow down!”
Still no response. She tried to accelerate, and though her muscles answered the call, her heart and lungs simply couldn’t.
She’d hit her max.
She needed oxygen.
She kept jogging anyway, but she knew she was flagging, falling farther and farther behind. The sun dipped below the mountains, and though there was still light, its red-gold hue made it hard to catch the detail she was after.
She flipped on her flashlight.
And froze.
There, in a dirty patch of snow, she saw two dents: prints from the heel and toe of a boot?
Her heart jumped to her throat.
“Pandy!” Her voice floated on the wind, bouncing off the boulders that seemed to rise up from nowhere. “Over here! I found something!”
Chapter 17
Thursday, October 24
5:45 P.M.
Eagles Nest Wilderness
Colorado
Laura woke to the sound of shouting. Her head jerked, and her ears rang from the crack of her skull hitting a rock. She raised her hand and felt her pulse throbbing in her temples.
She jumped up.
Quickly crouched back down.
Stay out of sight!
There it was again—a woman’s voice. Urgent. Determined. Getting closer.
They’re looking for you!
Laura bit her hand to keep from answering back. Her body drew tight as a slingshot ready to fire. Her heart and mind tugged in opposite directions until she thought she really might snap. Her heart told her to run straight into the arms of that shouting woman. Her heart wanted to be rescued. Her heart longed to be carried home to the safety of her parents and tucked lovingly into the comfort of her own bed.
But her mind screamed at her to get away. Home wasn’t safe.
It never had been.
She’d been kidnapped from her own bed once before, then returned to her family by rescuers, only to be made a prisoner in a house where she could never feel secure again.
And this time it would be worse.
Then she’d been presumed innocent: a young victim to be guarded and protected.
Now she’d be presumed guilty. It wouldn’t be her safety the guards would concern themselves with. Not this time. Not with these locks of hair in her possession. Not with that note, if they’d found it.
And if she’d truly done what the letter claimed, she’d be locked away for the rest of her days.
Silent sobs choked her as sure as hands tightening around her throat. She opened her mouth and gasped in breath after breath until the spasms passed.
Lies! Nothing but lies!
But lies written in her own hand . . . and all-too-real locks of hair stuffed in her backpack.
Her memory entirely black since Monday night.
How could she defend herself against the falsehoods if she didn’t have the truth on hand? If she went back now, she’d be thrown in prison, or even worse, locked away someplace for the criminally insane. Then she’d never be free of doctors who only made her worse and pills that made her crazy instead of sane.
She sneaked a glance between the boulders and saw no one. There was still time to make a run for it. Looking down, she watched her hands working busily, loading her pack, smoothing the ground to remove any trace she’d ever been here. Apparently her brain had overridden her heart without even notifying her. And rightly so, she thought, as she stealthily made her way across the rocky terrain, moving farther and farther from the voice.