We’d found something.
We’d actually found something.
Georgia reached out as if to touch it, but pulled back at the last moment. She knit her hands together in front of her chest and started rocking slowly back and forth. Over her head, Gwen, Flo, and I all traded panicked glances. I was sure my own expression mirrored the shocked looks they were both wearing.
“What the fuck do we do now?” Flo hissed quietly, eyes darting down to the top of Gigi’s head.
“Why are you asking me?” I hissed back.
“You’re the one who dragged us out here!”
“That doesn’t mean I have a plan!”
“Shut up!” Gwen snapped, reaching into her back pocket for her cell. “We’re going to call for help. That’s what happens now.”
Right.
Of course.
We’d call Cade, he’d appear with a full cavalry?—
“Hellfire,” Gwen cursed.
“What?” I asked, seriously not liking the look on her face. Not one bit.
She held up her cell. “No service. We must be out of range.”
“Seriously?” Florence pulled out her own cellphone, glanced at the screen for a few seconds, and then screamed at the top of her lungs. “Fuck!”
Birds erupted from the trees overhead.
“Okay,” I said slowly, mind racing. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll wait here. You guys will bring Gigi back to the car. You can call for help once you’re back near civilization. There was service in the lot where we parked.”
Gwen shook her head. “I don’t think?—”
“We absolutely aren’t leaving youaloneout here!” Flo exploded, cutting her off. She leveled me with a glare. “Have you never seen a horror movie? The gang splits up and ten seconds later… cue the chainsaws.”
I looked pointedly down at Gigi. She was still rocking slightly back and forth, eyes fixed on the reflective panel. “She can’t stay out here.”
At my words, Georgia stopped rocking. She pulled in a breath, the sound ragged in her throat. Slowly, she got to her feet. When her eyes met mine, they were burning with determination. There was a set to her shoulders I’d never seen before.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Gigi—”
She turned to Gwen and Flo. “You two are going back to the car, getting help out here as soon as you can. Imogen and I are going on ahead.”
“That’s not?—”
Gigi cut Flo off before she even began. “So help me god, Florence Lambert, if you make one more snappy little comment about scary movies or fictional villains, I willscream. You want to talk horror? I’ve spent the past four daysliving it. Every hour without my boy, every minute, every damn second without him…” Tears misted her eyes as her finger jabbed down toward the juniper bush. “That, right there, it the first tangible piece of my son I’ve seen since he went missing. So, you get your ass moving down those tracks. You do it now. Or I swear—” She leaned toward Flo, expression menacing. “I willmakeyou move.”
Florence didn’t turn tail and go. Not immediately, anyway. First, she stepped forward, wrapped Georgia in her arms, and squeezed. Hard. Then, she grabbed Gwen by the hand and the two of them high-tailed it down the tracks, back the way we’d come.
“Don’t do anything stupid!” Flo screamed back at us over her shoulder. “We’ll be right back!”
When they were out of sight, I looked over at Georgia. Her gaze was heavy on my face. There was a question in her eyes. A plea. I knew what she wanted without her needing to ask aloud.
“Imogen…”