It wasn’t as comforting as usual.

It’s not the things you can’t find that haunt you. It’s when you choose not to look. I hadn’t chosen to step back from this search.

Cady bent to pick up the hot chocolate Jude had left me. “It’s cold,” she commented.

“It’s late,” I shot back. “Bella?”

I’d stopped looking because Cady had made me stop looking. The least she could do was give me an update.

“We’ll regroup once the storm passes.” Cady paused, but she seemed to sense that stopping there wasn’t an option. “We traced Bella’s scent out of the cave system and into the valley before we lost the trail again. Whoever took her knows the mountain better than I do.”

The implication of that was clear. “The person who took Bella is local,” I said.

Mac saved Cady from having to reply. “The rangers are coordinating with the FBI and talking to the family to figure out who might have had access and motive.”

Bella’s kidnapper knows the mountain. The storm is washing away trace evidence as we speak.

“Saskia and I could go back out tomorrow.” I took a step toward Cady. “We’re fresh, and you need the numbers. When the storm passes—”

“When the storm passes, I’ll be rested.” Cady didn’t let me finish. “So will Mac. So will our K9s. I know you want to help, Kira, but the answer is no.”

It’s not the things you can’t find that haunt you. I didn’t want to feel like I’d been backed into a corner, but what Cady was asking of me wasn’t fair. Leaving me here, tying my hands, treating me like a child—

“It was my life and my choice,” I said softly. “That’s what you told Bales.” I should have stopped there. “You told him that Ash was worth it to you. This is my life, and my choice, Cady, and Bella—”

“Kira,” Mac cut in. “You do not want to go there.”

Cady whirled on him. “Don’t tell my daughter what to do.”

I heard the pain in her voice—worse than a yelp or a whine or a mewl. I knew that Mac wasn’t the one who’d hurt her. He wasn’t the one who’d lashed out.

“Cady,” I started to say, my mouth dry.

“Upstairs.” Cady stared at and into me. “We’ll finish this discussion upstairs.”

* * *

I waited for Cady in her room. When she came in, she was still holding the mug of hot chocolate. After a moment, she sat down on the end of the bed and held the mug out to me. “I heated it up.”