“What happened to you?” He ran his hands over Orlando. The animal seemed to be in one piece.
“I missed you too.”
The dog broke free, then backed away. Barked.
“What? I know we’re stuck in here.”
The bell jangled.
“Trust me, if I could find a way out—”
The bell rang, louder. As if the dog circled, going to work.
“Hey, bud, don’t—”
The bell sounded, frenetic now.
“Wait!”
But the ring turned wild, and then ... faded in the darkness.
“Orlando, come!”
The black ate the sound, and silence filled in around it, save only the lonely beating of his heart.
16
This couldn’tbe happening.
And of course, Harley’s words from before, long ago, and too recently, echoed back at her.“I’m going to lose you all again.”
But maybe, this was exactly how it felt to have someone you love run into danger—
And never come back.
So, yeah, Harley’s chest had tightened the longer they looked for Jericho, as the sun slid over the day and behind the mountains.
As the chill of the approaching sunset slithered in and swallowed hope.
Harley paced the great room of the Eagle’s Nest, staring out into the bruised sky—numb, cold, unable to sit.
Unable to stand.
Behind her, the door opened, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Malachi enter, stamp his feet, and pull off his winter coat.
“Hudson is still out there digging, but they say it’s getting too late to set another charge,” he said. “They don’t want to dig in the dark.”
“And the snowpack is too unstable.” Sully’s voice carried as he followed his brother in from the cold, cheeks reddened, his thin beard holding snow. “Marla says we need to wait for the freeze overnight, or we could bring down the rest of the slope.”
Perfect. And then they’d have to wait until spring before...
This couldn’t be happening.
The first charge had cleared much of the debris field—not that it mattered. They’d found his walkie with his GPS.
But not Jericho.
After two hours searching, anyone under all that snow would be long dead.