Chapter Seventeen
Sadie rubbedher fingers against edge of her T-shirt sleeve as she listened to her dad break down the rescue mission plan. The stuffy room was crowded with community members, family of the teens, and other SAR teams from around the state. The people pressed in on her, making her palms clammy and her heart race. The only thing that kept her sitting on the table was the kids needing help and Bjørn sitting next to her. Otherwise, she would probably have made a beeline for the door before the meeting had even started.
She wished her dad had moved to a bigger location so the room wouldn’t be so crowded. She brushed her shaky hands against her pants to wipe the sweat from them. Scanning the room, her gaze snagged on her ex-boyfriend, Leo, casually lounging against a table on the opposite side. He stared at her across the packed space, his lips curled up in an amused smirk. He’d been doing that the entire meeting. Catching her eye, his expression twisted in cruel humor. Why she’d ever found him attractive was beyond her.
He leaned to the person sitting next to him, whispered something, then jutted his chin toward her. His friend glanced across the room, then shrugged. Sadie jerked, her hands balling into fists on her lap. Bjørn’s head turned her way, so she tore her gaze away from Leo.
“You okay?” Bjørn leaned over and whispered, placing his hand over hers. His gaze darted across the room.
She forced a smile and nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. Forehead wrinkling in concern, he stared at her for a moment before turning his attention back to her dad. She wanted to lean up against him and soak in his strength, to take his hand in hers so her nerves would fire on alert for a reason other than fear. With her father’s disapproval hanging over her for the TV crew going on the mission, she didn’t want to push herself even further into the doghouse by clinging to Bjørn in front of her dad. He’d eventually have to get used to seeing her with Bjørn, but she didn’t need to flaunt it when he was under the pressure of the search.
“What I want to know is why you called off the search when you had a team willing to keep going?” Mr. Miller cut off her dad’s breakdown.
“Jim, you know how the fog can set in.” Dad’s low voice held a hint of exasperation. “Our team would’ve had zero visibility. It’s too dangerous to be flying in that.”
“You can’t possibly know that.” Jim waved his hands in the air, his face turning redder with each word. “This Rebel guy could’ve found my son by now if you hadn’t called them back. Do you even know what you’re doing?”
Bjørn shifted beside Sadie, his hands clenching on the table’s edge they sat on. How did Jim even know what Bjørn had said? He must’ve been listening in on the radio frequency. Sadie swallowed down the apprehension that built in her throat and stared at her dad. Jim was known for causing a ruckus. Would he create a problem for Dad just to get his way? Sadie took a deep breath and began praying for her dad. Jim would most definitely cause issues. It was what he excelled at.
He scanned the room, and Sadie tried to shrink from his searching. His eyes landed on Drew’s TV crew and narrowed. Oh, no. Sadie’s eyes widened as they darted to her dad. He looked at her, his cheek flexing, before he turned his focus back on Jim.
“And another thing.” Jim waved to Bo and Craig at the back of the room. “When did SAR turn into a reality TV show?” Jim’s words had Bo and Craig straightening in their chairs. “You’ll push your family’s agenda but won’t stay out there and look for our kids?”
Drew slid off the table next to Bjørn and stepped forward. “I assure you, my crew spent hours scanning the terrain for signs of those kids. Every single one of us has training in first aid and has extensive experience in the wild.” Drew’s comments eased some of her nervousness. “Nothing matters more to us than finding these teens.”
Jim’s wife pulled on his hand for him to sit down, but he yanked it free. “I want my kid found, whatever the cost.”
Ice slid down Sadie’s back. She wanted to believe that it was worry pushing his words, but from his past, she knew better. He didn’t care about other people, only about what benefitted him, which at the moment was them finding his son. He sat with a huff in his chair and crossed his arms.
Dad dropped his hands to his sides and widened his stance. “Okay. You all have your areas. Keep base updated with what you find.”
He turned to the table behind him and gathered up his stuff. Sadie had to get out of there before people started milling about and closed the space even smaller. Hopping from the table, she walked as fast as she could for the door without actually running. She burst from the building and sucked in a deep breath before stomping toward her vehicle. She needed to swing by the kennel to pick up Rowdy before she headed to the airstrip.
A hand grabbed her elbow and jerked her around. Leo sneered, stepped back, and wiped his hand on his pants like touching her made him dirty. She lifted her eyebrow, resisting the urge to cross her arms to hide her scars.
“Running to hide?” He drew out the words in a taunt as he looked pointedly at her arms.
“What do you want, Leo?” She really didn’t care.
Bjørn stepped out of the building behind Leo, his forehead scrunching when he saw her. Reporters hollered and rushed up to him. She hoped he’d blow them off and come up to her. Maybe then Leo would leave her alone. Leo followed her gaze, then turned back with a flush on his face.
“Looks like you’ve finally landed yourself a date.” Leo stepped closer. “I think I could be convinced to date you if it came with a TV endorsement too.”
She stepped back, cocking her head to the side at what he just said. He thought Bjørn was with her for the show. Her gaze darted to where he spoke with the reporters. The reporters hadn’t questioned anyone else, had they?
An unkind smile spread across Leo’s face as closed the distance between them and rubbed his hand down her arm. “I might even let you show these ugly arms if it meant people would flock to me.” He leaned in and whispered, “Everyone loves a sob story.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stepped back from him, turning her left side to him. She needed to leave before she did something she’d regret in front of the reporters.
He tipped his head to the reporters. “But they love the hero even better.”
White hot anger coursed from her chest. She threw a jab at his face with her left arm. His eyes widened as he dodged away from the punch, straight into her right cross. Pain exploded up her arm as her fist connected with his face. Satisfaction quickly replaced the pain as Leo stumbled back and fell to the ground with blood spurting over his mouth. Her dad’s hello and goodbye punch sequence he’d drilled into them had actually worked.
“You broke my nose!” Leo glared up from the cement.
“You said you wanted publicity.” She shook out her hand. “Go sob to someone who cares.”
She peeked up at Bjørn. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t come to her rescue, but an amused smile stretched across his face. She didn’t need a white knight to rush in and save her, but it sure would’ve been nice if he’d tried. All the reporters froze, their eyes bouncing between her and Leo like they were just waiting for something even juicier to jump on.
Sadie spun on her heels and stomped to her vehicle. She flexed her throbbing fingers and pressed her lips tight together as her heart shrank in her chest. She clenched her teeth and sniffled. She had work to do and kids to find.