If it was that important to him, she would go inside. There was no reason to make him worry unnecessarily.
At least, not yet. Because Elsie still needed to pack. The clouds were breaking up overhead, glimpses of blue showing in the sky.
This might be her chance to get back to the island and find Noelle Mason. Hopefully still alive.
And with the way things had changed over the course of this day, she might let Wyatt come with her. He’d probably worry less that way.
As they made their way through the woods back to the cabin, Elsie tried to write his concern off as paranoia. But no matter how much she tried, she knew that she’d come close to being killed several times. And one detail was still bothering her about this last attack.
The man hadn’t killed her in her cabin. He’d been hired to take her...somewhere.
But where? Why?
And who was behind it all, pulling the strings?
Chills chased down Elsie’s spine and her earlier confidence was replaced by a sense of deep foreboding and pressing anxiety. Somehow, she felt like she was close to finding out the answers to her questions. But how would they be answered? And what would happen to her if they ever were? Those were questions that haunted her.
Wyatt was right to be worried.
Because no matter how much she might want to pretend otherwise, Elsie was still not safe.
Elsie had immediately started repacking her gear when they’d arrived at her cabin, and given the fact that the weather looked like it was clearing, Wyatt had stopped trying to argue with her about her desire to go back to the island to search.
He hoped she found Noelle alive. Hoped she got her answers about her own past, and that she could live with them. The stories she’d told him were difficult to process even for him, who hadn’t been there. He couldn’t imagine how she would deal with any truths her past might hold for her.
Especially when she didn’t know God, didn’t have faith in Him to help carry her through. God, help her to know You. He hesitated over the second part of the prayer. Whatever it takes. As much as he wanted her safe, well and happy, Wyatt knew that she was none of those things if she didn’t know Jesus.
He thought about what he wanted, for everything to work out. Bad guys? Gone. Elsie? Safe. The two of them...dating? Dating Elsie in the traditional sense of how people usually dated would seem weird somehow. She was too special for something like that. No, if they ever made the world safe for her again, he’d pursue her heart, be her friend, fall in love with her a little more every day and then for the rest of his life if she’d let him. He prayed.
Within the hour they were back in the air.
“You wish you were flying, huh?” Elsie sent him a sympathetic smile and Wyatt shrugged.
“At least my head injury wasn’t worse. And I appreciate that you waited until I thought it was safe.”
“You know a lot more about flying than I do.”
She wasn’t wrong. Wyatt just grinned, shrugged a little. Elsie smiled back.
So much had changed in the last few hours. Despite the danger and the fear, having Wyatt with her was like a dream come true. A dream she hadn’t even known she’d harbored. She’d always assumed that she would be alone. It had been how she’d lived most of her life and she’d never let herself wonder what it would be like to depend on someone else.
Wyatt himself was unexpected, but incredible. He’d grown so much from the handsome, unattainable boy of her teenage crush.
Wyatt reached for her hand, and she enjoyed the feeling of his warm fingers wrapped around hers. Now it was time to focus on finding Noelle.
All the way to the airport, they’d worked out a plan. There was another beach on the island, more remote, on the other side. They’d always landed at the main beach, where most hikers had boats or planes drop them off, so this time they’d start at the other.
There were two reasons for this. First, Elsie wanted the element of surprise. Whoever was after her might expect them to continue using the main beach, so there was a chance they’d arrive undetected.
Second, they’d come up empty too many times. Willow would find a trail and then it would go cold. She wasn’t sure if it would do any good, but Elsie hoped that changing the location where they started their search would help.
“You ready?” Wyatt looked at her and Elsie felt her confidence grow. All of the stress of the last few days had focused within her, giving her the drive to finish this search.
She could feel it. They were going to find this woman. Today.
“I’m ready.” Beside her, Willow’s eyes flashed. Today, they were both as ready as they could be.
Still, Wyatt looked uneasy. She laid a hand over his. “Don’t worry.”
Wyatt’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, but he was trying. She’d give him that.
The plane descended toward the island, the ocean seeming to rise to meet them. Her heart skipped a beat or two. It was time. No more planning. No more wondering if her new approach to the search would be successful.
As the plane touched down on the ocean waves, Elsie took a deep breath. The start of a search was sometimes chaos. Coordinates. Points last seen. Victim profile. The noise could get overwhelming, but then when the work started for the day, when it was her and her dog in the woods, everything was quiet. Fully focused.
It was time.
They grabbed their packs and climbed out of the small plane. As they organized their gear, the pilot took off again. He would be back for them in six hours, if all went according to plan.
“All right, boss. What do you want me to do?” he asked.
She took a deep breath, put her shoulders back. “Much will be the same as last time. Keep an eye out, have my back. We are looking for areas where a person with only casual wilderness skills would go.” She’d finally made more of a profile and thought that Noelle would likely have taken more established trails. They’d spent time the last few days walking through thicker woods, and while Willow had been able to catch the scent several times, she’d lost it also.
This new approach was going to help. Elsie was sure of it. She felt bolder, too, with the knowledge that whoever had been after her was possibly out of the picture. Even if, as they suspected, the man had been hired muscle, hopefully whoever was actually after her would not have had time to regroup. Everything was lining up for them this time. “Let’s go,” she said to Wyatt, taking a deep breath and heading to the woods in front of them.
Where the other side of the island boasted a trail that gradually led up, this one began with an immediate, drastic climb. It was steep enough in places that Elsie started to second-guess herself and wonder if Willow was going to be hindered in her movement, but her dog exceeded her expectations once again. Elsie reached up to get a grip on the rocky edge of the steep face they were climbing, needing three points of contact here where the rock was slick and wet.
“You okay?” Wyatt called from behind her.
