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“Sorry, kiddo,” Ajay said. He chuckled softly. “It wasn’t our save to make this time. You’ll get the next one.”

Pumpkin groaned, seeming to understand what her friend was saying to her. She suddenly lifted herself again and barked.

“Easy, girl,” Ajay responded. “There’s a storm coming in, and the wind is starting to pick up. We’ll be on our way as soon as I make sure everyone else is off this mountain.”

Pumpkin barked a second time, the high-pitched yelp capped with a low growl and then a grunt.

Ajay smiled, thinking if anyone could translate the conversation, they would have heard Pumpkin cursing him, not at all happy that she couldn’t still be outside running about. He and his furry friend had been conversing like that since she was a puppy. He talked to her as if she understood, and she answered in kind. They were inseparable, the bond between them as thick as the blackstrap molasses he hoarded during the winter months. Molasses and his grandmother’s homemade biscuits were a daily staple in both their winter diets.

His name echoing out from the shortwave radio pulled his attention from Pumpkin.

“Dispatch to Lieutenant Wright. Dispatch to Lieutenant Wright.”

Ajay pressed the talk button on his radio. “Go ahead, Dispatch.”

There was a swift moment of static before a voice broke through the quiet. “Ajay, this is Della.”

Della Winslow and Ajay were good friends. She was his first search-and-rescue partner when he’d joined the department. She’d found Pumpkin for him and had helped to train the pup. She was one of the best dog trainers in the field, and he had great respect for her. Occasionally, people questioned their relationship, but Della was engaged to be married, and he was excited for her. Her fiancé, and the love of her life, was FBI agent Max Colton, the eldest Colton son and brother to Malcolm. Ajay and Max were acquainted through Della, but the two men didn’t know each other well.

“What’s up, Della?”

“We’re short one volunteer. You didn’t pick up any strays, by chance?”

“No, ma’am. All my volunteers have been accounted for. There’s no one up here.”

“We need you to do a sweep of the area between Owl Creek and the Overview Pass. We’re looking for a woman. It’s Lizzy Colton, Max’s baby sister, and she wandered away from the group she was with. They last saw her headed up toward the back ridge. That was on the first day of our search for the Kraft children, and she’s been out of contact ever since. The family just realized no one had talked to her when she didn’t show up to see the kids with the rest of the family. They all thought one of them had spoken to her until they were all together and realized no one had. Doppler weather radar is now predicting this storm is going to be a beast, so we need to find her before the precipitation starts coming in.”

“We might be a little late for that,” Ajay said, noting the flecks of snow looking like tufts of white cotton falling from the sky. “Are we sure she didn’t just head home?” he asked. They often had volunteers who quit the job after discovering just how stressful it could be.

“It doesn’t look promising. Her brother Malcolm is headed to her house now to double-check. But her family swears she hasn’t been seen since they started searching for the missing kids. Max is nervous, so that makes me nervous.”

He sensed something in her voice as she mentioned the man with whom she would soon be united in matrimony. Something that gave him pause and put him on high alert. “Ten-four,” Ajay responded. “I’ve got my radio. Give me a shout-out if she turns up.”

“Be safe, Ajay,” Della said. “It looks like it’s going to get nasty out there.”

The radio clicked off in his ear. Ajay sighed as he shifted his gaze up the side of the mountain. The last slivers of bright light that had shone through the canopy of trees earlier in the day were beginning to disappear. The sky had gone a dull gray, and the temperature was dropping swiftly. The snow was falling steadily, settling in for the long haul. Ajay knew it wouldn’t bode well for anyone caught out in the elements unprepared.

He was familiar with Lizzy Colton through her brother Malcolm. He’d seen her that first day, frantic over the children being taken. The whole family had been at their wit’s end. She’d barely glanced in his direction, anxious to be searching. She’d been impatient throughout the safety talk, barreling toward the tree line as soon as it was finished. She’d been assigned to another group, and so she’d been someone else’s problem. Not his. Till now.

He blew another heavy sigh. “Let’s pony up, Pumpkin,” he said, the baritone in his voice echoing around them. “We’re still on the clock, girl!” He grabbed his backpack, checked its contents and slung it over his shoulder.

Pumpkin jumped from the Jeep, her tail waving with anticipation. She barked twice and then took off on an easy sprint through the tree line. Ajay shifted his bag against his broad shoulders and then followed after his dog.