Bad Boy Brody(91)

He seemed to want to say more, but stayed silent.

I said to Gayle, “Maybe you want to help Cheryl inside?”

“Of course.”

I gathered her shoulders and gently shifted her toward Gayle, who stepped up and wrapped her arm around Cheryl.

“Go with Gayle now.”

“Brody, find them. Find her too.”

That was the plan.

As soon as they were gone, Alfred started back in, “Uh, Finn said you have a relationship with his sister. He mentioned it’s normal for her to be out there, and you could find her?”

He coughed as he spoke, and I knew the elephant in the room was the paparazzi. He knew full well what Morgan could do and how I knew her. He also didn’t care, and that made me damned peachy.

“Yeah.” I gazed out over the search party. They had around sixty volunteers. “I’ll try.”

Alfred frowned and his brow pinching together in thought. “We’ve been pretty loud. You think there’s a shot she’s heard us, just hasn’t come to help?”

“There’s no way Morgan would hear you guys and ignore you. I need to know all of the sections you’ve covered, because she isn’t in any of those. She’s somewhere else.”

“You think something happened to Morgan?” It was the first trace of fear I heard from Finn since I got here.

I met his eyes once. “I don’t know.” I asked the man, “Have you seen the herd?”

He shook his head. “No, no horses. We were warned about them, but nothing.”

“That might be good.”

Finn said, “Morgan would be by the herd.”

“If they aren’t here, then she might be okay after all. She might just not be within hearing distance.” I turned to Finn. “There was a lot of press at the airport.” I recognized two of those reporters. “Reputable channels were there. Is there anything else going on?”

“Ah.” He scratched at his forehead, thinking.

“Yes.” His hand fell away. “My dad’s trial started today. I hadn’t even considered that with this going on.” He waved behind me. “Today was jury selection. That’s where Matthew is. He told us to handle this, and he’d handle Dad.” He turned to Abby and Jen. “I totally forgot.”

Jen reached for his hand but tried to put on a brave front as she turned to me. “Brody, find Morgan. If anyone can, it’s you.”

No more time was wasted after that.

I took my bag to the cabin I used before, and I felt Morgan’s presence as soon as the door swung open. It wasn’t that she was staying out in the wilderness like they thought; she had been using my place. I could smell her everywhere. She didn’t wear perfumes or lotions. She would’ve bathed out there so she wouldn’t smell like a human. She wouldn’t have wanted the herd to start wondering if she wasn’t one of them. I knew all that, but I still wasn’t ready for the impact. Her presence felt like a punch, even in her absence, and I shoved down the fear that I wouldn’t see her or my nieces again.

It wouldn’t come to that.

I changed into jeans, hiking boots, a shirt with a thermal pack, and a coat. A water bottle was hooked to my pack, and I had the essentials in there. If I had to stay out past a night, I could survive. Aside for the two times I took a walk and accidentally on purpose got lost so she would find me, Morgan and I spent a handful of days out there. Hopefully, some of the things she showed me stuck, and I could find my way back to the little spots she liked.

I made one more side trip to talk to the organizer and have him fill me in on the areas they had already covered.

She could hear better and see better than anyone I knew, but there were still some of her places that would’ve been beyond hearing distance.

I was clinging to that hope.

She was there, somewhere, and I would find her . . . or vice versa.

“You sure you can do this?” Alfred asked, the same worry in his voice that was just in Finn’s.

I grinned briefly. “Think I’m just a pansy-ass Hollywood boy?”

He grunted. “We’re searching for three bodies right now. I don’t want to add a fourth.”

Bodies.

He saw the look and corrected, “We say bodies. We’re always hoping to find them warm and kicking, if you get my drift.”

I did. I still didn’t like hearing it that way.

I nodded toward where the search party was congregating. “You guys are hitting the southwest section now?” More than half had recognized me and were watching us back, but I was grateful none pulled out phones. They weren’t turning this into a different situation than what it was.

Morgan, then my nieces. They were my only priorities.

“We hit the southwest section with the first search, but we’ll go past it now. There’s still a lot of land out there.”

And animals.

And ravines.

And sinkholes.

And so many other dangerous elements.

He asked, “You really think you might know where your girl is?”

“If she was in most of her spots, she would’ve heard you and come to see what was going on. She would’ve helped, but there are a few spots where she wouldn’t have heard you. I’m going to go there first.”

He was looking past me and into the thick forest. “You know enough of the land not to die?”