“Both your girls are fine, just a little shaken up. We’re not totally sure what happened yet. There was an attack. Your daughter, Birdie, told me there was a woman with a gun.”
I froze. A woman with a gun? Jackie was supposed to be in the hospital, under arrest but cuffed to a hospital bed.
“I’ve got backup on the way, and they’ll search the woods. Do you want to meet us here or at the ranger station?”
“I’ll come directly there.” I hung up without another word.
“What the hell is going on?” Mac asked, following me as I headed for the door.
“Tell Cap I had to go. Call in emergency backup. Someone attacked the girls. They don’t know where Hadley is.”
The words burned as they crawled out of my throat, leaving a trail I knew would scar. I’d almost lost her once. That had been more than enough. It couldn’t be happening again.
I pulled open the door just as a sheriff’s SUV came to a screeching halt outside. Hayes rolled down the passenger side window. “Get in.”
I didn’t hesitate. I climbed in and slammed the door. “Tell me everything you know.”
“Dispatch got a call from the ranger station. Birdie and Sage flagged down a hiker in the parking lot at the trailhead. They were dirty and distraught, kept talking about a woman with a gun.”
“Did you check on Jackie?”
Hayes jerked his head in a nod as he pulled onto the two-lane highway. “She’s locked down. It’s not her.”
“Then who? Some random person, who decided to take someone hostage?”
“I don’t know,” Hayes gritted out.
I let a slew of curses fly. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t. I just—I can’t…”—my voice broke—“she has to be okay.”
Hayes pressed down on the accelerator. “She will be.”
We didn’t say another word on the twenty-minute drive out of town. It should’ve taken us almost twice as long, but Hayes kept his siren on and didn’t let up on the accelerator. Gravel flew as he skidded to a stop outside a cluster of emergency vehicles.
There were a couple of ranger vehicles, three belonging to the sheriff’s department, and an ambulance from a neighboring town. I jumped out of Hayes’ SUV as soon as he hit the brakes, scanning the crowd.
“Dad!” Birdie launched herself off the gurney she’d been sitting on and ran towards me.
I caught her on the fly, still moving towards the gurney where an EMT held an ice pack to Sage’s arm. “Are you guys okay? Are you hurt?”
Sage burst into tears and then jumped into my arms, as well.
I turned, sitting on the gurney to hold my girls. My heart shattered as my chest heaved. All I wanted to do was keep them safe, protected, and now they were terrified.
The EMT gave me a reassuring smile. “They are both uninjured. Sage just has a little bruise on her arm. That’s it.”
“Thank you,” I choked out. “What about the two women who were with them? Any word?”
“The rangers found one woman. She’s unconscious. They’re bringing her out now.”
Sage’s small form shook, and she sobbed. “H-H-Hadley saved me. She tackled the woman. But the bad woman hurt her.”
Birdie’s head bobbed up and down. “She was gonna hurt Sage. Hadley tried to switch places with Sage, but the lady didn’t want that. Then Hadley tackled her so she wouldn’t hurt Sage.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. My beautiful daredevil, through and through. “Do you know who it was?”
“Kind of. I saw her before,” Birdie said. “But I can’t remember her name.”
“Where did you—?”