Page 107 of Finding His Redemption

“How does this work?” Nessie asked, following them. She’d never seen a search dog in action before.

“King will smell Oliver’s scent on the backpack, then follow his trail,” Bear explained, unzipping the bag and holding it open for the dog. “He’s good at his job. If your boy came this way, King will find where he went.”

The dog buried his massive head in the backpack, his tail wagging harder. When he lifted his head, his whole body had changed, alert and ready to work.

“Find,” Bear said simply.

King immediately put his nose to the ground and started moving, weaving back and forth across the parking lot. Nessie held her breath, watching the dog work. After a few minutes, King’s head came up, and he trotted toward the edge of the school property, toward the tree line that bordered the playground.

“He’s got something,” Bear said, and Nessie’s heart jumped.

King disappeared into the woods, and Bear followed, calling back over his shoulder, “He’s heading toward the road that leads to the ranch.”

Oliver was trying to get to Valor Ridge, just like she’d feared. But it was miles away, and the storm clouds were getting darker by the minute.

“Come on,” Jax said, his hand finding hers. “We’ll follow in the truck.”

But she hesitated and glanced back at Brandt. He nodded. “Go. I’ll wait for the staties to get here.”

chapter

thirty-two

The search had been goingfor two hours when the first raindrops started to fall. By then, Nessie and Jax had left Bear and King to keep searching and circled back to the school in case one of the other teams found Oliver.

So far, nothing.

Nessie stood in the parking lot outside the gym, now their unofficial command center, watching the sky darken from gray to charcoal.

The rain started in earnest, fat drops that splattered against the asphalt and turned the dust to mud. Parents who’d volunteered for the search began trickling back to their cars, shaking their heads and offering apologetic smiles.

Sorry, but we have our own kids to get home to.

Sorry, but this weather’s getting dangerous.

She didn’t blame them. She’d have done the same thing in their position.

But the men from Valor Ridge kept going. She could see their flashlight beams cutting through the growing darkness, methodical and determined. They’d split into teams, covering the woods behind the school, the river that ran through town,the old railroad tracks, and other places a scared boy might run to hide.

“You okay?” Jax asked softly.

She turned at the sound of his voice, and the concern in his eyes almost undid her. How had she convinced herself she could push him away? Standing here in the rain, watching him organize search parties like Oliver was his own son, she felt like the biggest fool in Montana.

“No,” she whispered, the word barely audible over the wind picking up through the trees. “I’m not okay. My baby’s out there somewhere, probably scared and cold, and it’s getting dark.”

The raindrops were coming faster now, pattering against the asphalt and raising the scent of wet earth and ozone. She wrapped her arms around herself, but it didn’t help the chill that had settled deep in her bones.

“We’ll find him,” Jax said, the same words he’d been repeating for the past several hours. But his voice was steady, certain, and she wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.

“What if we don’t?” The fear she’d been holding back broke free, spilling out in a rush. “What if something’s happened to him? What if?—”

“Hey.” Jax stepped closer, his hands finding her shoulders. “Look at me.”

She lifted her eyes to his, and the intensity she found there took her breath away. Not the dangerous intensity she’d seen the day he punched Deputy Murdock, but something sweeter and more vulnerable. Something that looked dangerously like love.

“I promise you,” he said fiercely, “I will not stop looking until we find him. None of us will. You hear me?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice.