Page 13

Chapter 12

Bradford looked at the screen Berlin had pulled up. The little dot that represented Mari was flickering out again. “At least she’s been moving,” he murmured, even though he was still worried.

It was just Berlin and Bradford at the office downtown, but the others were waiting for their report. Bradford knew he didn’t have to be here, but he wanted to be close by, so he had updates as soon as they came in.

Berlin had discovered that Mari hadn’t closed out her flight plan and was basically MIA. Bradford was still learning about all this flight stuff, but it was his understanding that Mari had requested a “flight following” as she usually did when taking routine flights. Her route had ended in the middle of a field partway to her destination. The plane she was flying was equipped with ADS-B, a nav system that tracked aircraft in real time. So at least they knew where the plane was and that it hadn’t crashed.

“Yeah.” But Berlin looked just as worried as him. She shoved up from her computer and stretched. “The Flight Service Station has issued an alert notice and now a search and rescue team has started looking for her and Colin, officially . But I still don’t like this. That’s a lot of landscape to cover and they’re on foot. Or I’m assuming they are. The dispatched helicopters might not see them or even be able to get them out of there, depending on the terrain. And they don’t know which direction they went.”

“At least the authorities are taking this seriously.” Words he was repeating to himself, though they weren’t doing much to ease his worry. He adored Mari; they all did.

“I know. I just wish we could do more.”

“Me too.” Bradford’s gaze strayed back to the second screen, eyeing the weather. “But Adalyn says she can’t fly in this.” Which he’d known, given the storms that had moved in from the west and were now covering the northwest part of Louisiana. “If we don’t have anything pressing, I might drive up to St. Francisville, grab a room somewhere.”

“There’s not much there. I’ve looked.” Berlin glanced back at the screen with the weather radar. “But…I don’t hate that idea. Rowan and Tiago are due back by Wednesday and they haven’t needed me the last couple days. Chance and I could head out with you, just to be nearby

in case I find them and they need us.”

Bradford nodded. “I think Ezra needs to stay close to home right now, even if he hasn’t said anything.”

“Agreed. Magnolia needs him even if she doesn’t realize it. And they deserve the time together now. The three of us can handle this.”

Ezra had missed her first pregnancy due to extenuating circumstances, and Bradford wanted his best friend to be there for everything this time. He’d lost so much time with the woman he loved. Bradford knew from personal experience how hard it was to lose someone, to not know where they were and why they’d ghosted you. “I’ll text him, ask him to be our backup with Adalyn in case we need them.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll let Chance know to pack up and we can head out soon.”

Bradford just hoped that they found Mari and Colin. From what he knew of the other man, he had a decent amount of outdoor experience and had been a pilot for a little longer than Mari. The two of them were smart, but something must have happened for them to land the plane in the middle of nowhere.

And whatever that reason was, it wasn’t a good one.