Page 114 of Darkness of Mine

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ELI

Istand with my arms braced against the roof of the parked car, the grip I have on my Stetson crushing the firm material. “There has to be something else that can help narrow down the search area.”

“I’m thinking,” Jude snaps at me from inside the car. He stares at the back of the driver’s seat, doing that creepy as fuck thing where he reads through information stored in his head.

So far we only have one image of Zach’s van captured by a highway camera, but it was enough to tell us he was heading towards the Appalachian mountains. That information combined with the traces of echinacea laevigata found on Millie’s body means Zach’s hideout has to be in the George Washington National Forest. Only problem is, the forest is fucking huge.

We need something to help guide us and until we get it, we’re sitting on the border of the woods. River ordered the Alpha and Beta teams to take positions farther down and now all we’re doing is fucking waiting.

“Any luck with the satellite images?” River asks Oz from the driver’s seat.

Oz doesn’t take his eyes off his screen, but he shakes his head. “The canopy is too thick in most places to see any structures. I’ve switched to running through records for hunting cabins purchased in the last six months.”

“Eli, can you get in the fucking car?” Jude’s fist squeezes around one of his stones. “I can’t think with Allie shivering next to me.”

Freya’s sister tucks herself up against the seat and pulls the cuffs of her jacket over her hands. She winces but it’s not really her who Jude’s mad at. It’s not me either.

I climb into the SUV and close the door behind me, shutting out the frosted air. “You’ve got to let it go, Jude. Stop using that brain of yours to be pissed at River and start fucking thinking.”

“What the fuck do you think I’m trying to do?” Jude glares at me, his face pinched with desperation.

Allie cowers between us.

“Jude—” River starts but Jude cuts him off.

“No. You don’t get to talk to me.” He tugs at his hair. “You shouldn’t have let her go with him.”

The muscles in River’s neck stiffen. “If I hadn’t, it would be Allie lost out there with Zach and Harley. Do you think Freya would be okay with that?”

“I don’t fucking care.”

He does care. Out of all of us, he’s always the first one to take Freya’s feelings into account. Him and Oz. As much as I hate where it’s left us, River made the right choice. Jude’s just panicking too much to realize that right now.

“Guys,” Oz says, his fingers racing over the keyboard.

River twists to look between the seats at Jude. “Listen, you can be mad at me all you want but right now, the only thing that matters is finding Freya.”

Jude lifts his head, stone cold eyes hitting River’s. “Then maybe you should shut up and let me focus.”

“All of you shut up,” Oz shouts. “Freya’s tracker bracelet just came online. I have a location.”

We move like lightning. I switch out with River to drive so he can coordinate with the Alpha and Beta teams.

Oz directs me and I drive through the forest like it’s an open highway and not rough trails with blind turns. I speed along the track until a fallen tree cuts across the path. I slam my foot down. We jerk to a stop, my shoulders burning.

“I can’t get past.”

“The tracker’s stopped moving. She’s not far.”

River checks the chamber of his gun. “We go on foot. If Freya got free, Zach could be following. Be careful, have each other’s backs.”

We climb out the car and River turns to face Allie who’s frozen in the backseat. “Stay here. Lock the doors. The Alpha and Beta teams are on their way.”

She grips her seatbelt. “You’ll get my sister?”

River nods. “We’ll get her. I promise.”