Читать книгу Race to Rescue - Dana Mentink - Страница 13

Anita stayed silent on the drive back to her hotel. Her head was filled with dark images. Her brother lost, Feria standing over her, and fear that Booker was somehow involved with him. Booker’s admonishment was right, of course. His business didn’t concern her, but the fact that he might have gotten caught up with a drug dealer made her insides tremble. Was he that desperate? She decided to find out more about Booker’s ranch if she could.

His jaw was still set in a stubborn line as he dropped her off and told her what time Search and Rescue would return to the accident site.

“Got a job to do tomorrow, but I’ll get you a loaner car,” he said as he wrenched open the door and helped her from the truck. “Easier than relying on that rental company.”

“I’ll be okay.”

He looked at her, his face softening. “Look, I’m sorry about yelling at you. And I’m glad that everything turned out all right with Feria.”

She gazed into his eyes, lit by the moon, and saw grief and worry there that she hadn’t noticed before. Had everything turned out all right with Feria? She wasn’t so sure.

True to his word, she found a note from Booker slid under her door the next morning.

Chevy belongs to a friend. Radio’s busted but she drives okay. B

She smiled as she climbed in the old truck and headed to the crash site, breathing prayers as she drove. Her nerves grew more agitated with each passing mile. Had they found him? Had her brother crawled away from the crash site and gotten shelter in some rocky crevice? Or had he been too badly injured to survive in the desert? She swallowed hard, thinking about her own near deadly nocturnal encounter.

Sergeant Williams sipped from a cup of coffee. The temperature was already climbing as the sun unfolded around them.

“No sign of him yet, Ms. Teel.”

Anita took a steadying breath. “Sergeant, do you know a man named Feria?”

William’s eyes narrowed. “Bad dude. Why?”

Anita told her about their confrontation, leaving out the part about Booker’s strange mention of a business deal.

Her eyebrows lifted. “You do tend to attract trouble, Ms. Teel. Tires slashed, brother gone and Feria.” She whistled. “I’ll alert Border Patrol. They’ll be interested to know his whereabouts.” She retrieved a clipboard from the car and wrote down Anita’s statement.

As they were finishing up, a sweaty firefighter in brush gear made his way over to them.

Anita shot to her feet. “Did you find him?”