“As a general rule,” Free added, drawing the sheriff’s attention away from me, “most dogs aren’t terribly fond of being manhandled by total strangers.”

There was a single beat of silence.

I didn’t realize that I’d stopped breathing until the sheriff took a half step back, and my lungs started functioning again.

“It’s a beautiful day to rescue lost children,” Jude offered brightly. “Wouldn’t you say, Sheriff?”

“Thinking this through a little,” the sheriff said, turning back to Bales, “we really only need two of them.” Something about his posture and the tone in his voice made me think of a house cat, batting a mouse between its paws. “Sorrow’s Pass is dangerous terrain. I want all our searchers working in pairs, and since there are three of them…” He paused and glanced back at Saskia—and at me. “Why don’t we give Kira and her…partner…a little break. Seems like they could use some time to decompress.”

I felt like he’d kicked me straight in the teeth.

“You need as many hands on deck as you can get,” Bales replied before either Jude or Free could.

“Bringing any of them into this goes against my better judgment,” the sheriff retorted. “I’m not opening this up for discussion, Bales. They search in pairs, or they don’t search at all.”

“Fair enough.” Bales turned his attention from the sheriff to the three of us. “Jude, you’re with Free. I have another partner for Kira. He knows the mountain better than anyone.”

That got a response out of the sheriff, the way that a match gets a response from gunpowder. “You can’t seriously think—”

“I think,” Bales said, his voice quiet and low, “that I know things that you would prefer I not know.” He gave the sheriff a moment to process that statement. “And I think Kira’s right. Talk isn’t going to bring that child home.”

Chapter 17

The sheriff didn’t drive us to the rangers’ station. Bales did, and the us in question included Gabriel. He knows the mountain better than anyone.

In the old man’s presence, Gabriel didn’t poke and prod at me, but he did seem to get some pleasure out of watching me. No matter what I did or how hard I stared back, he didn’t look away. I kept hoping Jude would explain to Bales that Saskia was my partner, that I didn’t need Gabriel, and that if I had to work with another human, I would have preferred one I knew.

Instead, Jude decided to make conversation. “If you were a crustacean,” he asked Gabriel, “what kind would you be?”

Gabriel blinked. Twice. “I’m going to pretend that’s a rhetorical question.”

Jude grinned. “But it’s not a rhetorical question.”