“This way.” Gabriel barely looked back at the rest of us as he hoisted his pack onto his shoulders and headed across the packed dirt toward the tree line. For a good ten minutes, we followed him, Jude and Gabriel and Free taking turns filling the silence. The trek to the pass was steeper than I’d expected—not for the faint of heart. Free, Jude, and I had trained for this. Endurance was almost as important in search and rescue as the ability to assess the terrain and know your limits—and your K9’s.

“A little kid wouldn’t have come this way,” Gabriel commented as rocky forest flattened out in a clearing. “Obviously. If she was coming in from the southeast, there’s a path.”

“Path,” Jude murmured. “What is this path you speak of? I am a big fan of paths.”

Free tossed her blond ponytail over one shoulder. “I’m guessing the scenic route takes a bit longer and isn’t helicopter accessible.”

Gabriel glanced over at her. “Good guess.”

* * *

Cady met us at ground zero. There were a half dozen rangers in the area, already combing through the surrounding woods and calling Bella’s name. Instinctively, I began to scan the scene for the development in the case that had brought us here. I’d expected physical tracks, or another piece of our target’s jacket.

I hadn’t expected blood.

Gabriel knelt to the ground, touching the tips of his fingers to the dirt at his feet as he observed the trail. “Shallow wound.” There was no emotion in his voice, no hint that he was talking about a little girl. “Blood’s dripping, not pooling. And whatever happened, it didn’t slow her down.”

“That was my read as well.” Mac approached. He introduced himself to Gabriel.

“Any reason you’re standing around here instead of searching?” That was apparently Gabriel’s version of an introduction. “I somehow doubt that ‘wait for teenagers to arrive’ is search and rescue SOP.”

“Standard operating procedures,” Jude translated, whispering in my left ear. “And in case you can’t tell, our good friend Gabriel doesn’t appear to deal well with authority figures, our own dear grandpapa excluded.”

Mac didn’t rise to the bait. “The dogs needed to rest. So did Cady.”

“Cady can take care of herself.” My foster mother strode past Mac to address Gabriel directly. “You know this mountain?”

“I spent a lot of time out here growing up,” Gabriel stated. “Then again, from what I hear, so did you.”

Free chose that moment to lean forward and pluck a stray leaf from Cady’s hair. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like crap.”

Now that Free had mentioned it, I could see the strain on Cady’s face, the wear. She’d sent me home to sleep, but the dark circles under her eyes told me that she hadn’t gotten any herself.