Mandy let it go but didn’t waste any time ushering the cop to the door. “You’ll let me know what’s going on.”

“Yes. And you’ll call me if the girls turn up.”

“Of course.” Mandy closed the door on Lang.

“So what do we do while we wait for Lang to call?”

Mandy went into a closet by the back door and pulled out a large backpack. “We don’t do anything. I’m going to get ready to search.”

“Do you have an extra pack?”

“Jed will probably come with me.” She pulled an ultralight tent and a sleeping bag out of the pack. “Or someone from town.”

“Anybody but me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Look, I’m not Mr. Outdoorsman, but the army did teach me a couple of things about survival in the wilderness. I assure you that I can hold my own out there.” He nodded toward the window.

“I’m sure you can.”

“If you don’t have a pack, I’ll borrow one from someone else,” Danny said. “If you’re going out there, where Nathan just might be running around abducting unsuspecting hikers, I’m following you.”

“The girls are probably just lost.” With a distracted and worried frown, she returned to her task. “But you can use Bill’s pack. I’ll pull it out for you.”

The faint rumble of distant thunder punctuated her offer. Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

“We could use some light, dense calories. Nuts, candy bars, stuff like that.”

Mandy opened the pantry. “I have some trail mix. I don’t keep candy in the house. It makes Bill hyper.”

“I’ll be right back.” Danny grabbed his keys and headed outside. A stiff, cool wind hit him, an about-face from the afternoon’s perfect weather. Mandy might not think he was much of an outdoor guy, but the army had taught him to scrounge food in the wild. In his opinion, eating bugs and squirrel kebobs was highly overrated. He drove to the convenience store and filled a basket with Peanut M&Ms and Slim Jims. If they were going to spend the night traipsing around the wilderness in the frigging rain, he and Mandy were going to need serious calories to stay ahead of the storm and find those girls in time.

A half hour later, Mandy was checking the contents of her first-aid kit when Danny returned. She stowed the red box in her pack. Jed paced the kitchen. Her mom and Bill sat at the island with Honey stretched out at their feet.

“Your pack is there.” She nodded toward the backpack lying on the table. “Doug called. We’re meeting at the trailhead in twenty minutes.”

“OK.” Danny opened the backpack and checked its contents, then added the beef jerky and candy. He tested the bag’s weight. “We have enough water?”

“Yes. And iodine tablets just in case,” she said.