Page 101 of Distress Signal

The dichotomy was painful, knowing that if Lainey hadn’t gone missing, I wouldn’t have reconnected with this man who felt like the missing piece of my soul. Knowing that, without the pain of her absence, I wouldn’t have the joy of knowing Finn again.

I still couldn’t believe he’d been spending free time—of which I knew he had little—since I told him about my dream searching for areas where my sister might be. I’d already been half in love with the man, but my heart had expanded further with that knowledge.

We climbed into West’s truck, and as he turned to back out of Finn’s drive, he shot me a wink that had me shaking my head and grinning.

I was grateful he was taking the news that our relationship had turned physical so well, but I didn’t think it would surprise anyone. The way we moved around each other…it had started to feel more like an inevitability than a possibility.

“I’m happy for you both,” West said, breaking the comfortable silence as we drove out to the tiny airstrip outside of town.

“Thanks, West,” I said, and Finn mumbled a similar sentiment.

In an abstract sort of way learned through conversations with him and the family, I’d known Finn got his pilot’s license while he was in the service. Being confronted with the fact thathewas the one about to take me up in the air was an entirely different concept.

The airport was nothing more than a field of close-cropped glass surrounded by woods on three sides, the runway sitting parallel to the main road. We pulled to a stop in front of a tall, corrugated metal building and climbed out. At the opposite end of the field was a tower, a red light blinking atop it.

“How does this all work?” I asked when we headed inside the building. West hit a button on the wall, and the massive garage door at one end rolled upward.

“We don’t have full-time air traffic control out here, so we have to call up to Boise to make sure everything is clear before taking off.”

“What about a flight plan?”

“Before we went up the first time, we developed a search area and have been checking it off grid by grid. Since we fly lower than larger commercial and private passenger planes, we’re not at risk of disrupting their air space, so we file coordinates the day of,” Finn explained as he led me over to one side of the hangar, where a Cessna sat. The other bay held a search and rescue helicopter.

“I texted them in last night,” West said, joining us. “If there had been an issue with other trips in the area, they’d have called us off, so we’re good to go.”

The whole production was impressive, to say the least. The way the brothers moved around the hangar, Finn going through his pre-flight checklist, walking me through each step as he did it, while West ensured the path on the ground was clear, then spent some time consulting the map tacked to one wall.

I wandered over at one point, leaving Finn to finish his checks.

From what I could tell, the map was of Owyhee County, of which Dusk Valley was the seat. A copy was pinned next to it. While one was free of markings other than the ones it came with, the other was highlighted and scribbled on.

“These are all the spots we’ve searched already,” he said, indicating the portions highlighted in yellow. Some of them had circles, exes, and other markings within the squares. Pointing to the circles and exes, West explained, “Those are spots we think may be your farmhouse, or ones we’ve already managed to exclude.”

“I can’t believe you guys are doing this for me…forLainey.”

West snorted, but his big hand clamped around the ball of my shoulder. “I like you, Reagan, and I think you’re good for my brother, but trust me when I say this wasallhim.”

“Still…I appreciate you.”

“I don’t feel good about your sister being held against her will somewhere. And because she’s important to you, she’s important to Finn, which makes her important to me. We’ll find her, Reagan. I promise.”

All I could do was nod, not even able to look at him lest he see the tears that had welled in my eyes.

“You guys ready?” Finn asked from behind us.

Taking a brief moment to compose myself, I turned and headed for the plane.

Ten minutes later, we were in the air.

I thought Idaho was stunning on the ground, but it had absolutely nothing on the beauty and majesty of the landscape from the air. Though we were in an area not as mountainous as other parts of the state, peaks still jutted high into the sky, some of them snowcapped despite it being the middle of summer. Everything was lush and green, threaded and dotted with vibrant blue rivers and lakes. I captured it all as best as I could, the constant shutter click of my camera lost to the whirring of the plane’s engine and Finn and West’s chatter in my headset.

I had no idea what to look for considering I was unfamiliar with the area, and I’d only seen the farmhouse on the ground—and in a dream. It might not even be real, but it meant more to me than these men would ever know thatsomeonetook me seriously.

Methodically, Finn flew back and across the quadrant they’d sectioned off for that day. They located a singular area that looked promising.

By the time we touched back down several hours later, I was feeling lighter than I had in weeks.

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