“Yeah. Luckily, we set up camp before we scoped out the part of the riverbank where I fell, so I’m mostly dry, and we have a fire. Lana went back to get my pack. Hopefully, I don’t need to go looking for her.”
“No. You stay put. If she’s not back in a reasonable amount of time, call me again. I’ll do what I can to get in there.”
“That’s good, but I still won’t leave her out there, exposed to the elements. She doesn’t have any gear unless she gets to my bag.” I’d find a stick and fashion it into a crutch, risking splinters in my hand and armpit before I would leave her out there by herself.
Jesse sighed. “Don’t be stubborn, Toren.”
A low chuckle emanated from my chest. “Too late. Listen, the poachers aren’t my only concern. We’ve seen some sign of the missing hunter, Dustin. I don’t know his last name. He’s supposed to be alone, but I’ve seen at least two other sets of prints directly on top of his.”
“Hell,” Jesse muttered. “You think they’re following him, don’t you?”
“It’s highly likely, yes.” The more we walked, and the more prints I saw, the more worried I’d become that the poachers were tracking not just bears, but Dustin. Whether that was to take advantage of his skills at tracking bears or to eliminate a potential threat, I didn’t know.
“Okay. I’ll get a crew together and talk to the local authorities. As soon as we get a weather window, we’ll head up there. Text me those coordinates.”
“As soon as we hang up, I will. I’m going to call Walker Marlowe, too, and put him on standby to come get us.”
“Good deal. Holler if you need anything. I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks, Jesse.”
“No problem. Stay safe.”
Muttering a goodbye, I hung up, then texted Jesse the coordinates I logged earlier.
Once that was done, I dialed Walker’s number.
Like Jesse, he picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Walker, it’s Toren. So, I know the weather sucks, but how soon can you get out here?”
Walker let out a quick snort. “At least a day. We’re socked in down here with some crazy winds, and there’s snow coming down further north. If you’re not seeing that yet, you will soon.”
I muttered a curse.
“What’s the problem? Did you find the missing hunter? Is he hurt?”
“No, but I am.” My mouth flattened. “I took a fall on some rocks and busted up my hand and sprained an ankle. I can hobble, and that’s about it. It’s ended our search mission.”
“Damn. Are you and Lana safe? And dry?”
“Safe, yes. Dry, well, mostly. We found a shallow cave and set up the tent there. We just need to dry out from the hike.”
“Okay. Just stay hunkered down there and send me your coordinates. I’ll check my maps and find a place as close as possible to land, then fly up there as soon as the weather breaks.”
“Will do. Thanks, Walker.”
“Don’t mention it. Try not to do anything to make your injuries worse, yeah? I doubt the beautiful Ms. Decker can carry you to my plane, so you need to keep your ability to hobble, unless you want me calling in the Coast Guard.”
“Let’s leave that as a last resort.” I had no desire to create a fuss.
Walker chuckled. “Absolutely. Okay, I’ll see you soon.”
“Yep.” I ended the call and set the phone down, then propped my head in my free hand. Frustration gnawed at me. I had to sit here for a full day—or more—thanks to my own stupidity. We could have searched another couple of hours, at least, before returning to camp. We might have only lost twelve hours, then could have been back at it, if I hadn’t fallen. Now, we were done, and I had to rely on Jesse to get a team up here to search.
At least he hadn’t brushed off my concerns about the hunter. It probably helped that I’d found evidence of poachers in the same area. That put a little more urgency into finding Dustin.