“Giveus time to get a full team in place,” Ranger Moore said, straightening from where he was bent over a map of the area.
“We don’t have time,” I gritted out.
Hayes gripped my shoulder. “He’s right. We don’t have enough daylight hours left to assemble a team. We’ll start the search and stay in radio contact.”
Moore’s jaw worked back and forth. “Isn’t she your sister? That’s gotta be a conflict of interest.”
“In a community this small, you have a relationship with just about everyone. That’s just how things work.”
Moore’s gaze shifted to me. “He’s not even law enforcement.”
I was going to punch this guy. “No, but I’m trained in search and rescue, and I have my EMT license.”
“It’s a bad idea—”
Shiloh stepped up to the table. “Listen, you overgrown toad. My sister is out there with some psychopath. If you think you’re going to stop Hayes and Calder from going after her, I’ll shoot you myself.”
The ranger’s jaw dropped open.
“That’s what I thought.” Shiloh pressed a holstered gun into my chest. “Here. Hayes won’t be able to give you one of his. I’m going to take Birdie and Sage to the ranch. They’re upset, and this isn’t helping.”
I looked over her shoulder to where my girls were huddled together. I set the gun down on the table and walked over to them, pulling them into my arms. “Love you more than words.”
“Where’s Hadley?” Sage asked.
“I’m going to find her, but I need to know you’re safe, so you’re going to the ranch with Shy.”
“No, Dad, we can help. We know where we were,” Birdie argued.
“I can’t be out there and worried about you. Please, just do this one thing for me.”
Birdie bit her lip but nodded.
Sage burrowed deeper into my side. “You’ll bring her back, right?”
“I’m going to bring her back.” Everything burned, my eyes, my throat, my chest. The words were a vow, and I wouldn’t settle for anything less. “Be good for Shy.”
I straightened and met Shiloh’s gaze. “Thank you. For everything.”
Shy’s hands flexed and clenched as she squeezed her eyes closed. “Just find Hads.”
I wanted to pull her into a hug, but I knew that was the last thing Shiloh would find helpful at the moment. “I will.”
I didn’t look back as I returned to the table. I knew if I did, I would second-guess walking away from the girls. They were my world. But Hadley was a part of that world, too, and she was the one who needed me right now.
I picked up the holster and fastened it to the side of my uniform pants, checking the gun. Hayes handed me a Kevlar vest. “I keep an extra in the SUV, just in case.”
“I’m glad you do.” I pulled it over my head and adjusted the straps.
“Would you two idiots think about this? Another hour or two, and you’ll have backup,” Ranger Moore argued.
Neither Hayes nor I bothered to say another word to the man. Hayes slung a pack over his shoulder and handed me a radio. “I’ve got water, food, and first-aid.”
“Let’s go.”
We took the trail at a jog, knowing we had to make up ground and hoping that Calla hadn’t taken Hadley off the path. This trail was much less populated than other tourist traps, which might mean that Calla would risk it.
We slowed when we reached the spot where Addie had clearly been injured. There was a disturbance in the brush and blood on a log.