Page 67 of Smokescreen

Olive sucked in a breath. Tevin hadn’t checked in? That wasn’t like him.

Her heart pounded harder.

“I take it that’s not normal?” Reid asked.

“Not at all.” Trick ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I took it upon myself to go see if I could find him. I knew the basic area where he’d parked and where he was heading to do the flight. I found his van.”

“But?” Olive asked, knowing there was a “but” in there. Part of her didn’t want to know.

“His van was there, but Tevin was nowhere to be found,” Trick finished, a frown tugging at his lips.

The knot in Olive’s throat seemed to swell until she could hardly breathe. “What are you trying to say, Trick?”

“I’m afraid something happened to Tevin. I don’t know if it’s related to what’s going on here at the ranch or if a wild animal got to him or something else entirely. But I’m worried.”

Reid’s gaze narrowed with thought. “Does he have any wilderness survival training?”

Trick shook his head. “No, Tevin is strictly an office and gym workout kind of guy.”

Reid strode to his desk and pulled a gun from his drawer, shoving it in his waistband. “We need to look for him. He shouldn’t be out at night in this wilderness by himself. Wild animals, cliffs, fast-moving streams—and those are just nature’s dangers. Add the person who’s been sabotaging my land, and it’s even more dangerous.”

“Should we call the police?” Olive tried to think each scenario through.

“Let’s check everything out first,” Reid said. “But we’ll call them if we need to.”

“Okay.” The thought of Tevin being out there alone or hurt made her heart twist into a tight knot.

Reid turned back to Trick. “Gather some of the guys. Tell them that the surveyor I hired is missing. Cooper will know what to do. Tell him I’m going to start in the area where Tevin left his vehicle. I need you to go with him and keep an eye on things from that end.”

“Will do.”

“I’m going too.” Olive didn’t word it as a question.

“Of course—you should stay with me.” Reid nodded at the door. “Let’s go. There’s no time to waste.”

Olive and Reid drove down the service road, bumping on the unpaved lane. As they did, Olive called Rex and gave him an update on the situation.

“I can send backup,” he said.

She gripped the phone more tightly. “Give us some time first to make sure backup is needed. We’re doing our best to find him.”

“You’ve got two hours. Then I’m sending help, whether you want it or not.”

“Yes, sir.” Olive lowered her phone back into her lap and glanced around.

It was so dark around them. Darker than what Olive was used to experiencing without the lights of the city or homes or streetlamps.

Finally, Reid’s headlights illuminated a van in front of them. Tevin’s van.

Reid slammed on the brakes and threw the truck in Park. Then they both hurried out.

Before they reached the van, Olive held up her hands, motioning for Reid to stop. “I need to search the ground first, just in case there’s any evidence there. I don’t want us to trample it.”

Reid stopped where he was. “Makes sense.”

She pulled out a flashlight—a nice one, not just the one on her phone this time—and she shone it on the ground, searching for any clues as to what had happened.

Based on the footprints near the back of the van, Tevin had come to grab his drone. Then he’d walked to the front of the vehicle to an open space. Most likely that was where he’d done his launch.