And enjoying it more than she would have expected. Wyatt had a special kind of calm about him, a confidence, Elsie guessed, that seemed to rub off on her. She felt safer when she was with him, braver.

But was that safe? She couldn’t afford to get her heart broken and already she could feel fascination with him growing. The image of his eyes, kind and intriguing, flashed into her consciousness.

Exhaling slowly, Elsie did her best to put it all out of her mind. Nothing was going to make sense to her tonight—there was no amount of thinking or overthinking that she could do. Relieved, she felt herself start to drift off.

The voice from her past, the man who’d been in her house, echoed loudly in her mind.

Who was searching for her? Why had they been searching?

And how did that tie into the darkness she remembered as a kid? The closet where she’d been...playing? Hiding?

Yelling.

What had she experienced as a young toddler? And was it going to impact the rest of her life?

Elsie woke when the weight that had been stretched across her legs went away. Willow must have lain down across her, she thought wearily as she struggled to wake up. Then she remembered all the events of the last few days and her eyes shot open.

She glanced at her watch. Just before 5:00 a.m. She’d had maybe four hours of sleep. Not enough, but more than she’d expected to get. She’d take it. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she went through the motions of dressing for the day, gathering the gear she’d need. She and Wyatt hadn’t discussed what time they’d be leaving, but the day before it had been seven. She wanted to be ready if he showed up early.

At six, Trooper Holland called to let her know they’d canvassed the area and found no evidence of the shooter. They were willing to let the search continue, and that was enough for Elsie. If someone died because of her, which was how this would feel, she might never forgive herself.

That someone out there wanted her dead and may have been involved in the disappearance of the person she was now charged with seeking registered, but only somewhat. She still felt responsible.

Heaviness felt like a cold weight on her this morning. Elsie attempted to settle her mind with yoga, which helped but not enough.

That was how Wyatt found her, standing on her yoga mat in the center of the small cabin, hoping that one more mountain pose would settle her mind.

“I knocked,” he said, voice nervous, “but you didn’t hear me. I don’t know if I should have come in, but the door was unlocked...”

His worries were written on his face, the things unsaid clear to Elsie. He hadn’t known what to expect. She felt bad she’d caused him so much anxiety.

“I left it unlocked after I let Willow out this morning,” she admitted, realizing even before she offered the explanation that it was a bad one. There was nothing that excused that level of carelessness for her safety.

“Hey, can’t change it now,” he said in a tone that was once again oddly reassuring to her. “Just do better next time.” Wyatt studied her for a minute and Elsie had to fight the urge to shrink away from his scrutiny. What would he notice in her expression, which she didn’t seem able to guard to her usual ability?

“I just...” How to even explain? “I don’t feel good about all of this.”

“Have you prayed about it?”

“No.” She didn’t hesitate to answer, thinking the question was strange coming from Wyatt, even though he’d grown up in a really religious family. “Do you think that actually works?”

“I’m sure it does.”

Speechless was an understatement. Elsie truly didn’t know what to say to that.

“You’re surprised.” Wyatt’s voice wasn’t judgmental, but he seemed surprised by her reaction. “You’re not a believer?”

That was a strange way to phrase it. “Like, in Jesus or Christianity or something?”

“Yeah.” His soft laugh wasn’t at her, somehow disarming her when she’d been ready to be defensive. “That’s okay, Elsie. I’m not, like, weirded out. I just always assumed. Lindsay talks about her faith all the time, and you’re best friends.” He shrugged. “I assumed and shouldn’t have.”

“I think people have to decide for themselves what they believe.”

“I agree.”

She’d expected judgment or an argument and wasn’t getting it. It almost frustrated her more than the uncomfortable feeling she’d had all morning.

“I’m praying about this case,” Wyatt finally said. “I’m not sure if it helps or hurts to know that, but I wanted you to know.”

“I appreciate it, I guess. I don’t know. If it makes you feel better...” She trailed off. Might something like that make her feel better? But that sounded like using religion as a crutch, and she was too strong for that. Plus, if God was real, if He was the God Lindsay believed Him to be, and apparently Wyatt, too, then it seemed insulting to reduce Him to a “crutch.” She and Lindsay had talked about faith enough over the years that Elsie would definitely say she believed in God, probably even the God the Bible described. But while she could respect Him, the idea of having any kind of relationship or interaction with Him seemed weird.

“It does. When do you want to leave this morning? I wasn’t sure, so I tried to get here early.”

Her mind still spinning, trying to make sense of his reaction, which was not what she’d expected, Elsie struggled to get her bearings. “Yeah, same, I wasn’t sure... I made coffee.” She cleared her throat, willed herself to get it together. “Would you like a cup?”

“I’d love one,” he said with a smile, and Elsie felt herself relax, just a little. The threat against her was still real and her anxiety loomed large and intimidating. But with Wyatt’s smile, and maybe with the faith she could kind of sense around him...somehow she felt a little less hopeless than she’d felt when she’d woken up.

She could only hope the moment of relative peace lasted, even though she was fairly certain it couldn’t. Nothing like that ever did.

SEVEN

“She’s got a scent.” Elsie’s voice was almost sparkling with excitement. She picked up her pace and Wyatt followed, hurrying into the dark woods, despite his misgivings about Elsie putting herself at risk. It seemed reckless for her to walk back into the woods that had proved so dangerous yesterday, but he understood her reasoning. Still, he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight today on a search, and he’d brought his revolver today as an extra precaution.

So far it had been a morning of ups and downs. It almost felt as if they’d shared something like a moment at her cabin, when he’d found her doing yoga and they’d had that brief conversation about faith. Wyatt had been surprised to hear that Elsie didn’t share his and Lindsay’s faith, but it didn’t change his view of her, really. He wished for her sake that she knew God, since he knew how much his own life had been made better by a genuine relationship with Him.

Then they’d flown to the island and met up with the state troopers, who had spent the night on the island in a makeshift command center they’d set up on the beach. The two officers from yesterday had been joined by several more, and one of them had met Elsie at the beach when they’d arrived with a manila envelope and a plastic bag with some kind of cloth in it, presumably something that had belonged to the victim. She’d spent a few minutes looking at the pages and mumbling to herself. Wyatt had figured it was best not to interrupt her, and then they’d taken off into the woods.

“How do you know she’s got a scent?” he asked now.

“’Cause she told me.”

Well. Obviously. He should have known. Wyatt grinned. “No, I mean—” he exhaled as they ran “—how did she tell you? I didn’t see her do anything.”

“She barked and took off. That’s her alert.”

“And she’s searching specifically for the missing person today?”

“Right. The troopers were able to get me more search data, including information on who she is and even something with her scent on it to smell.”

It seemed like it had paid off somehow because Willow was alert, clearly on the trail, and Elsie all but sparkled as she followed her.

They wound up toward the higher elevations of the island, crossing a small stream and stepping over countless roots. The woods and brush were thinner up here. He wondered if the missing person had tried to find a cell signal or something. That would be a pretty reasonable explanation for the scent going uphill.

Or trying to escape from someone.

They followed Willow for at least half an hour until the dog’s pace slowed, and she turned back to Elsie with a look that must have been something, because Elsie suggested they take a break.

“So what did you learn about the missing person?” Wyatt asked when they’d been sitting for a minute. He didn’t even have a name to mentally call the person, which seemed strange.