“What are you doing here?” Dr. Hancock stood in the doorway.

My bad. “I was looking for a piece of paper to leave you a note.” Conor whipped out an excuse faster than a grinch with a stolen Christmas tree.

“Look, Mr. Sullivan. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but if you’re not out of this museum in one minute, I’m calling the police.”

Lindsay appeared in the doorway behind the doctor. “Here’s a box for your personal things.”

“Thank you.” Dr. Hancock said through clenched teeth. She took the box and set it on a chair. She gave Lindsay a White Witch–worthy glare. Lindsay backed away. Not as dumb as she looked.

Dr. Hancock frosted Conor next. “I would appreciate you vacating my chair and my office so I can pack up.”

Conor tried to shove the file under his arm, but she snagged it on her way past. “They canned you?”

Her lips compressed into a white, paper-thin line. “At this point, I’ll be lucky if I’m not arrested.”

“Why would you be arrested?”

“The thieves entered through a first-floor window. There was no sign of a forced break-in. I’m being investigated.”

“That sucks.” Conor lingered. “Since you’re already fired, why not show me that file?”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“Because if I find your stuff, it’ll clear your name.”

She hesitated for all of two seconds. “Meet me at the diner across the street in thirty minutes.”

With equally heavy feet and heart, Mandy emerged from the trail. Danny was right on her heels. Four vehicles sat in the clearing: the girls’ Ford Edge, Jed’s truck, and two other SUVs.

“You look beat.” Jed frowned at her.

Jed’s description summed it up. She’d taken a beating, both physically and emotionally. Lack of sleep. Hiking through most of the night. Making love with Danny again despite her decision to put distance between them.

Not finding the girls.

“Two other teams went out after the storms passed over. They aren’t back yet, but so far, no one has seen any sign of the girls.”

“Where’s Doug?” Mandy pulled the camera from her pocket. “We found this. But we don’t know if it belonged to one of them. It isn’t working.”

“He got a call. Said he’d be back.” Jed opened the truck door for her. “Doesn’t matter. He already called the state for help when you reached the lake this morning without finding anything. We’ll have a full-scale search-and-rescue operation up by this afternoon.”

Mandy swayed. Danny and Jed each grabbed an arm. With no energy left for protecting male egos, she ignored the look that passed between them.

“Let’s get her back,” Danny said.

In the truck, she leaned back on the seat and closed her eyes.

“We’re here.” Someone tapped her on the shoulder.