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It was a horrible day for her to be working. As the snow kept falling, the tenser I became. With it highly unlikely that anyone would be watching us, I sneaked out and went to hang out at the rental with the rest of the guys. If I stayed at her house alone, I’d be insane. As the hours passed, my uneasiness grew. Even as much as I fought it, the guys knew. They were watching me. I caught them numerous times, but they didn’t say anything.

As the clock crept to fifteen minutes until her quitting time, I knew my tension should have been easing, except it was doing the opposite. When it was precisely quitting time, I texted her.

Me: Be careful driving. Do you need me to come get you?

I paced as I waited for her to answer. When she didn’t, I waited five minutes before I tried calling her. She didn’t answer, which wasn’t like her. I called the office to see if they were out on a call. Percilla answered the call promptly.

“Hey, Percilla, this is Beau Powers. Is the team out on a call?”

“Hello, Beau. Yes, they are. They went out two hours ago. A man and his son are missing in the Bitterroot area. The last I heard about twenty minutes ago, none of the teams had found them. I can give her a message.”

“No, I can do that. She’s probably in a spot where she can’t get reception. Thank you. Will you let her know to call me if they come back in?”

“I will. Just so you know, I’m not at the office. Chief Becarra sent me home when they left. However, if anyone calls me, I’ll find out.”

“Thanks so much. Take care.”

“You, too.”

As I hung up, Justin came over. “Man, you need to unwind. Want to have a drink?”

“Give me a minute. I want to call and leave a message for her.”

He nodded and walked out of the living room into the kitchen, where the others were migrating. When her voicemail message ended, I left her a quick one.

“Hi, Babe, it’s Beau. I know you’re out on a call. Percilla told me. Just checking in. Be careful. Call me when you can. Love you.”

“Shit, did I hear you say I love you?” Aryan asked. I’d been walking toward the kitchen as I spoke.

“Yes, you did. Don’t give me shit about it. You should be so lucky to have a wonderful woman like Keeley. Now, what do you have to drink around here?” I said loudly.

I ended up drinking a highball, which was ginger ale and whiskey. I stuck to one in case she called and needed me to go pick her up. At least the snow had eased to a scattering of flakes. I kept checking my phone for messages or missed calls, even though I was holding it, waiting for it to do something. When it hit two hours after I spoke to Percilla, I was ready to lose my mind. The guys had given up trying to reassure me, but I saw their body language. They were worried as well. Justin came over to me.

“I don’t want to add to your stress, Beau, but my gut isn’t settling, man. Something isn’t right. Maybe you should call that dispatcher back or try Keeley’s phone again. Surely, dispatch has heard from them if Keeley can’t answer you.” He was frowning. The room had quieted, and I found them all nodding.

I was just about to call Keeley first, then Percilla if Keeley didn’t answer, when my phone rang. I wasn’t ashamed to say I jumped in surprise. I saw it was the rescue office’s number, so I answered it right away.

“I was about to call you, Percilla. You don’t know how glad I am to hear from you. Are they still in Bitterroot?” I asked, trying to keep the concern out of my tone.

My whole body went rigid when it wasn’t Percilla who answered me. “Mr. Powers, this is Chief Becarra, Keeley’s supervisor. We met when she gave you the tour.” He paused after he identified himself. I motioned for the others on my end to shut up.

“I do remember you, sir. Tell me what happened. Please tell me she’s alive.” I choked on the last word. Fear and dread instantly leaked into her pseudo-uncles’ faces. My guys were more stoic.

“The truth is, we don’t know. We’re looking for her, but we haven’t been able to find her.”

“Wait, back up. You can’t find her? Do you mean she and her search partner are missing? That they aren’t in their designated area?” I recalled how it worked when we’d been together.

He didn’t answer fast enough to suit me, but I bit my tongue to stop myself from barking at him to hurry up.

“Not exactly. We found her partner but not her. We — ”

I cut him off. “And what did he say? Why aren’t they together?” I snapped.

“I need you to remain calm. I know with her sister missing, you’re the only person who is like family to her. I’m just gonna say it. He can’t tell us because he’s dead. When they didn’t report in, another team went to find them. They found her partner, Deputy White, behind a deadfall. His neck had been broken. It wasn’t accidental. There was no sign of Keeley or where she might’ve gone. It could be she ran from whoever killed White and is still in hiding. We don’t know, but we’re getting more people out here to help us search.”

It took every ounce of discipline in me not to lose it right there. I steeled myself and brought my military training to the forefront.

“I need the exact coordinates of where you are. Some of my people and I will meet you there. In the meantime, I’ll call in more of mine, although hopefully, we’ll find her before they arrive from Virginia. You need to warn the people searching for her that she has likely been taken and whoever has her is extremely dangerous. Shoot first, ask questions later.”

My words energized the others in the kitchen. They were up and rushing out of the room. Becarra tried to argue.

“Mr. Powers, I —”

“It’s Beau. And there’s no use arguing with me. I work for an organization that does security and such for a living. Retrieving hostages and more is our specialty. I’ll be leading the search. My people will be coming. You can let us, or we can leave you and the locals in our dust. If you think I’m kidding, I can have the Montana governor and State Police call you within five minutes, giving command of this to my organization and me. It isn’t a missing person situation. This is an abduction. Do I waste time proving myself to you, or do you tell me your exact coordinates so the men I already have with me and I can get there? I have three men who are experts in survival with me. They are men who were friends with her dad. They can help us find her.”

“You have three of Ansel’s preppers with you? Why didn’t you say so? I’ll send the GPS coordinates to your phone. Is this the correct number for that?” he asked with a new attitude. There was no more trying to tell me to stay away.

Within minutes of hanging up, I was dressed in the appropriate gear and in the vehicle with Aryan, Justin, and the three preppers. Hang on, Keeley. We’re coming for you, baby . I prayed that she’d be safe and we’d find her quickly.