Harrington smiled a little. “Sure. There’s water in the back. Make sure you drink some.”
Reese made his way back to the SUV. Colonel Harrington and Phillips turned to the two army personnel who’d stayed behind. Whatever they said was lost under the crackle of radios and wind pushing against the treetops.
Reese opened the passenger door. Another vehicle pulled up beyond the cop cars, and Colonel Harrington and Phillips walked over to the woman who exited the car.
Reese pushed the door shut enough for it to catch, then slipped around the back of the vehicle. The tinted rear window filtered his view of Harrington and Phillips. When they didn’t look back, Reese hurried down the road out of range of the flashing lights. The steep incline of the gully lessened, and he edged his way to the bottom. The soles of his boots squeaked against the grass, but the tread kept him on his feet.
Dead leaves and sticks stuck to his shins as he waded through a pile of debris washed up by the recent downpour. Reese pulled up his hood and moved deeper into the forest.
The floodlights disappeared behind the trees and rocky terrain.
In the distance, dogs barked. Light darted between the trees.
Branchescaught Reese’s ankles, briar patches blocked his path. His pants snagged on the pricklybranchesof a sapling.
He tried to untangle himself from the limbs. When they wouldn’t let go, he yanked. A puff of damp air brushed his skin. He found the hole with his finger.
Reese cursed.
Moonlight broke through the cracks in the cloud cover, illuminating a deer trail on Reese’s right.
Trees swayed and the wind tossed his bangs.
Fog hung between the trees where the shadows filled gaps between the stumps.
Reese turned. More darkness, more nothing.
A faint bark echoed from far away, but no signs of any light from the search party. The moon slid behind the clouds. Reese took a few steps then stopped.
His eyes adjusted but not enough to see more than the subtle change in the shades of black and gray surrounding him.
He held out his hands. Rough bark grazed his fingertips. He dragged his touch around the tree keeping his feet close to the ground letting his boots scraped the forest floor, checking for downed logs and uneven ground.
The moon returned. He couldn’t have gone more than a couple yards, yet the area had already morphed into jutting rocks.
Raindrops shook loose from the trees pelting the ground with soft taps. Reese’s erratic heartbeat filled the silence in between.
How far had he gone?
No voices carried on the wind, no crackle of radios.
“Don’t panic.” A hillside of stone rose up on his left, dips in the earth and large branches cluttered his path.
What the fuck had Reese been thinking? Why the hell would he have any more of a chance at finding Nash than those men with tracking dogs?
He didn’t, and Reese knew it, yet he had to do something. Anything. Even if that anything put him in the line of fire.
Reese picked his way along the narrow dirt trail until he reached the rocks where it made a turn, cutting up a hill. The steep side sloped into an incline. He made his way up.
The clouds shifted, diluting the pale silver moonlight in slow flashes. Reese checked the ground with his foot when the shadows thickened. Soft earth shifted, small rocks rolled away, sticks broke under his hiking shoes. The ground leveled out, opening into a partial clearing.
A glimmer of flashlight reflected ice blue on the foggy horizon, followed by a muted dog bark.
At least he wasn’t as lost as he feared.
Reese moved into the open area. He stepped wide of a dip in the earth, but the shadow snagged his foot, pulling him off balance. He threw out his hands, the left one smacked against a puddle of muck and the right—
Black fur unable to reflect the ambient light. The Anubis’s lips were drawn up over white teeth. Ivory daggers as long as Reese’s fingers.