God, she loved this man. He was completely calm, ready to help at—she checked the time—3:37 in the morning. And he wasn’t even trying to take charge of the situation. He trusted her to know where he’d be the most help.
r /> “You are,” she assured him. “I’m going to call around, but it’ll take a little time to muster everyone out of bed at this time of night, and if this kid is injured out there in the mountains, we need to move as fast as possible. It might be you and I heading up to rescue him our own.”
“Got it,” Ty said. “Let’s get going, then.”
They finished pulling on their clothes and went out to their cars; it made more sense to drive separately, in case they needed to split up to get more help, but Misty felt a pang as they turned away from each other.
Ty must have felt the same, though, because he hesitated at the door to his rental, and then turned back and caught her swiftly up, planting a kiss on her mouth. “I’m glad to be here with you,” he murmured.
Misty smiled helplessly. “Me, too. There’s no one’s help I’d want more, when going to rescue a dumb teenager at four in the morning.”
“Right here with you every step of the way,” he said solemnly, and they turned away again. But this time Misty had a warmth in the pit of her stomach that lasted until they pulled into the Bigelows’ drive.
Diane met them, looking simultaneously terrified and furious. “Sheriff,” she greeted her. “You think you can find my son?”
“We’re going to do our absolute best,” Misty said sincerely. “Where’s Ryder?”
“In here.” Diane led the way to the front room, where Ryder was sitting miserably on a couch, shoulders slumped, hands dangling between his knees. He looked up when they arrived, and winced when he saw Misty.
“All right, Ryder,” Misty said. “Do you remember where you left Zeke?”
He hesitated, and her heart sank a bit. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?” she asked pointedly.
“I mean, we were just out running in the mountains—”
“They’d been drinking,” Diane put in, with a vicious look. “Pair of little idiots.”
“Is that true, Ryder?” Misty asked calmly.
Slowly, he nodded. He didn’t seem like he was still drunk, but shifters tended to metabolize alcohol more quickly than regular humans did. “It’s all kind of—we were just messing around, you know? Shifting, hunting some rabbits, running around. We were way up in the mountains. And then Zeke fell, and I—I just ran down until I knew where I was. I don’t know exactly...”
“All right, Ryder. We’re going to call the Park rangers and get them out to help,” Misty said, “and the sheriff’s office, and they’ll all have search-and-rescue equipment. But first, since Zeke might be really hurt and time is of the essence, you and I are going to head out ourselves.”
Ryder’s eyes flicked behind her shoulder, where she knew Ty was looming. “Him too?”
Misty turned to Ty. “You seem pretty good at bringing things with you when you shift. Could you take my radio?”
Ty nodded. “Pretty sure. It doesn’t work a hundred percent of the time, but it’s pretty reliable. I’ll put a cord in my pocket just in case it doesn’t work, so we can tie it around my neck while I’m shifted if we have to.”
Misty handed it to him, relieved. Silently, Diane disappeared into the house and returned with a length of twine, handing it to Ty. He thanked her sincerely.
“All right, Ryder,” Misty said. “We’re going to drive out until we reach a point where you think we should leave the road behind. You’re going to shift with us and lead the way. We’ll shift back and check in as we go, to see what you remember. If we can’t find him, we’ll radio the search-and-rescue teams and let them know they need to start running a search in the general area where you were. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ryder said, almost silent.
“All right,” Ty said, and the kid looked up. “Let’s get going, son.”
He stood up, still hunched and despondent, and followed them out to the car. Ty said, “I can drive if you need to make calls.”
“Good idea,” Misty said, handing him the keys to the Jeep. She motioned Ryder into the front, the better to give directions, and got in the back, already dialing her phone while Ty started the Jeep, talking quietly to Ryder as he pulled away.
Misty placed her first call to Laura, the night desk worker at the station, telling her to send out the deputies on duty and be ready to roust everyone out of bed if they had to, and secondly to Cal.
“Sheriff,” he answered, sounding tired but alert. “What can I do for you?”
“Cal, I hope I didn’t wake you.”